Winter Is Getting Shorter Across Nearly 200 US Cities, Climate Analysis Finds
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Winter Is Getting Shorter Across Nearly 200 US Cities, New Climate Analysis Finds (Maria)
The author writes, “Across the United States, winter’s chill is getting shorter by more than a week, even if it might not feel like it for those in the Northeast still thawing out from back-to-back winter storms. A new Climate Central analysis shows that in 195 of 245 major U.S. cities studied, the period of historically winterlike temperatures has shrunk, with the coldest part of the year now lasting about nine days fewer on average, compared with 1970-1997 averages.”
The Immigration Debate Came to Rural Kansas. Locals Stood by Their Mayor. (Al)
From The New York Times: “The Mexican-born mayor of Coldwater was accused of voting illegally as a noncitizen. Many of his neighbors want state and federal officials to back off.”
Pentagon Makes Largest Known Arms Purchase From Israel — For Banned Cluster Weapons (Laura)
From The Intercept: “The Department of Defense has quietly signed a $210 million deal to buy advanced cluster shells from one of Israel’s state-owned arms companies, marking unusually large new commitments to a class of weapons and an Israeli defense establishment both widely condemned for their indiscriminate killing of civilians. The deal, signed in September and not previously reported, is the department’s largest contract to purchase weapons from an Israeli company in available records, according to an online federal database that covers the last 18 years.”
Scientists Figured Out the Problem With Johnson & Johnson’s COVID Vaccine (Sean)
The author writes, “Rare but dangerous blood clotting associated with that vaccine as well as AstraZeneca’s had a genetic cause, according to a new paper.”
Another ‘Millionaires Tax’ Finds Seattle Is Far Richer Than Anyone Knew (Reader Steve)
From The Seattle Times: “Seattle’s new mayor was speaking to a roomful of supporters the other day when she dropped a rather blunt assessment of our city. ‘You know what?’ Katie Wilson said. ‘This city is filthy rich.’ The crowd laughed a bit. Can you say that when you’re mayor? Should you say that? It bears some examination, because of what was announced next. The city’s new social housing tax, levied on lofty pay packages to pay for public housing, was due Jan. 31. The startling news was that it blew the projections out of the water.”
Watch Kanzi the Bonobo Pretend To Have a Tea Party (Dana)
The author writes, “Little kids hosting make-believe tea parties is a fixture of childhood playtime and long presumed to be exclusively a human ability. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University presented evidence in a new paper published in the journal Science that a bonobo named Kanzi was also able to participate in pretending to hold a tea party. For the authors, this suggests that apes are capable of using their imagination just like human toddlers.”
