Good News: We Have Extra Time Before Sun Ends Life On Earth

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Good News: We Have Extra Time Before Sun Ends Life on Earth (Maria)

The author writes, “It’s a bit worrying when a scientific paper begins, ‘How long will life on Earth survive?’ But in this case — a study by Jacob Haqq‐Misra of Blue Marble Space and Eric Wolf at the University of Colorado Boulder — the billion-plus-year timeline under consideration shouldn’t cause you too much existential panic. The context for this question is that we understand the sun will brighten as it eventually matures into a red giant that swallows the Earth in a solar furnace. So, where along that 5 billion year path will life on Earth, in fact, be cooked?”

Epstein Paid Palm Beach Deputy To Get Special Treatment in Jail, Ex-Aide Says (Reader Steve)

From the Miami Herald: “Sarah Kellen, a longtime personal assistant to sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, has disclosed for the first time that Epstein’s preferential treatment at the Palm Beach County jail may have been the result of him paying off Palm Beach sheriff’s deputies. Kellen, during her interview with the House Oversight Committee last month, was questioned about perks that Epstein received while he was incarcerated at the Palm Beach County Stockade, a facility where Epstein was jailed from 2008 to 2009. She said she visited Epstein several times at the jail, and one time, when she was home, he was able to use Skype from a jail computer to contact her. He used that computer to get her to undress for him on camera while he was in the jail, Kellen testified.”

DHS Contractor Bulldozes Thousand Year Old Archeological Site (DonkeyHotey)

The author writes, “There was a time, and it wasn’t long ago, when this story would’ve ended differently, because there were still people in the room who knew the difference between a job and a desecration. The Las Playas Intaglio is among the oldest surviving works of art in the American Southwest, an archeological and cultural wonder, that a government contractor just cut it in half. It’s an intaglio, a figure etched into the desert floor, in the shape of a fish, laid across a dry lakebed inside the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge west of Ajo, Arizona. The ancestors of the O’odham people laid out this figure across some two hundred feet of desert that not one of them could ever step back far enough to see whole. It was made to be read from above, by something other than a person standing beside it. Whoever held that design in their head worked toward a vision they had no way of confirming from the ground, and they got it right.”

Trump Demands GOP-Controlled House Expel Dem Lawmaker Jamie Raskin (Reader Jim)

From Truthout: “Last week, President Donald Trump demanded that Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland — a Democrat who played a major role in the impeachment proceedings against him in his first term — be expelled from Congress. The demand flouts separation of powers standards dictating that the executive and legislative branches govern and enforce rules for themselves without interference from the other. It is also an extreme request, as expulsion for members of Congress is generally reserved for greater offenses, not political disagreements.”

Peter Thiel’s ‘Dialog’ Network Was Super-Secret. A Data Leak Changed That (Sean)

The author writes, “Twenty years ago, the tech billionaire Peter Thiel and an associate founded Dialog, an invitation-only network of elites from business, academia and politics. Dialog was so secretive that it never had a public-facing website, and its participants were never identified to outsiders. Until now. Data related to Dialog, which Thiel created with the Silicon Valley investor Auren Hoffman, has been exposed online, opening a window onto the influential but discreet organization.”

Scientists Discover Inherited Traits That Break Mendel’s Laws of Genetics (Mili)

The author writes, “A major mouse study found that some inherited traits are passed down through epigenetic changes that break the classic rules of genetics. Researchers discovered hundreds of cases where these chemical DNA marks behaved unexpectedly, including some that seemed to emerge out of nowhere. They also identified the first known naturally occurring paramutation in a mammal, hinting that environmental influences may play a larger role in inheritance than scientists realized.”

A Day in the Life of a ‘Retired’ Aquarium Penguin (Dana)

From National Geographic: “It’s 9:15 a.m. at the New England Aquarium in Boston — breakfast time for the seven African penguins who live on a small, fenced-off island near the aquarium’s front entrance. Here, the seabirds are quiet, much quieter than their neighbors in the larger African penguin colony to their left and the Southern Rockhopper colony around the corner to their right. They swim lazily in the water, preen their feathers, and relax on their chosen perches, waiting patiently for breakfast to arrive in colorful refitted popsicle stick holders. There’s no jostling or squawking—they have the best etiquette out of the facility’s more than 70 penguins. These are the aquarium’s ‘retired’ African penguins.”