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Wembanyama leads Spurs to brink as Timberwolves routed
Victor Wembanyama scored 27 points as the San Antonio Spurs moved to within one win of the NBA Western Conference finals with an emphatic 126-97 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday.San Antonio kept the points flowing in the fourth, outscoring Minnesota 35-24 to wrap up a deserved victory.
How Close Jeffery Simmons Thinks Titans Are to Winning Football
Despite an 0-4 start, the star defensive tackle insists Tennessee is on the brink of a breakthrough if they can finally master the art of forcing turnovers.
Rights group warns Israel's policies are pushing the West Bank healthcare system to collapse
A new report by Physicians for Human Rights Israel warns that Israel’s policies in the occupied West Bank have pushed the territory’s health system to the brink of collapse.
Ex-politician on mission to save the printed word
Pat Davis, who served two terms as an Albuquerque city councilor, rescued Roswell's newspaper from the brink.
What climate science tells us about the causes of the Colorado River crisis
The scientific consensus is that rising levels of greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere have pushed the Colorado River to the brink.
The next unit of science: Is the scientific paper due to be replaced?
Artificial intelligence is pushing scientific publishing to the brink. For a field as sprawling as neuroscience, the crisis may also be an opportunity to finally connect findings across subfields.
Libya power cuts push small businesses and weary citizens to brink
Power cuts have been a fact of life for years for Naseem Al-Akkari, who owns a chain of restaurants in Libya's capital, Tripoli.
Win over Knicks puts Spurs back in it
NEW YORK — Victor Wembanyama shook off his miss at the buzzer in Game 2 by taking over Game 3 of the NBA Finals and preventing the San Antonio Spurs from getting pushed to the brink of elimination. Wembanyama made the first two shots he attempted on Monday night on the way to scoring 32 […]
Judge isn't swayed by government's claims that plans for an 'anti-weaponization fund' are dead
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema in Virginia rejected the notion that the case's claims are moot because the Trump administration says the fund is dead and won't go forward.
Benson-Brinks ticket vows to put Michigan families first
Michigan Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, running mate to Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jocelyn Benson, said their campaign would focus on putting Michiganders first, lowering costs, and addressing priorities like health
‘It will never be the same’: How Trump turned on the Kennedy Center and brought it to its knees
Nine months from the day when cranes first placed Trump’s name on the marble façade, the institution has been brought to the brink
Scientists May Have Detected The First Signature of a Black Hole's Event Horizon
We're getting closer to the brink.
I’m an IVF Doctor. Business Is Booming Because Ob-Gyns Aren’t Doing Their Jobs.
Just last Monday, a woman sat across from me in my office and asked a question I have come to dread. Why had no one told her? She is 33, a therapist, married three years, and she has been to her gynecologist every year since high school. She was also on the brink of perimenopause. She had assumed that when she was ready, her body would be too. No one in two decades of annual visits had ever explained that the most consequential decisions about her capacity to bear children were being made by her ovaries on a calendar she could not see, while her doctor took her blood pressure and refilled her birth control. She is the patient I see several times a month. She is the most preventable tragedy in American medicine. I am board certified in both obstetrics and gynecology, and reproductive endocrinology. There’s a fertility crisis happening right now in America—and a furious debate about who is to blame. The alleged culprits include housing, smartphones, and capitalism. One group is getting off lightly: ob-gyns. Read [ How Perimenopause Became America’s New Health Scare ](https://www.thefp.com/p/how-perimenopause-became-americas) In July, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that the U.S. fertility rate had fallen to fewer than 1.6 children per woman—the lowest figure in our history—despite a 2025 survey of American Gen-Z women that found that nearly three-quarters intended to become mothers. American women are not opting out of building a family. They are running out of time.
Bison Have Rebounded From Brink Of Extinction To Become Big Business In Wyoming
American bison have rebounded from the brink of extinction to become one of the West’s great conservation stories. It happened in part because Wyoming…
Three things to watch before Ligue 1 matchday 4
Penultimate Ligue 1 matchday before the international break: coaches in the hot seat need to convince, teams on the brink of crisis need reassurance, and we, the followers, are eager to savour it all!...
Penalty trouble pushes Golden Knights to brink of elimination
Unfortunately for the Vegas Golden Knights, the Carolina Hurricanes would be the first team to figure out how to control a game in a wild Stanley Cup Final.
Judge extends block on Trump's $1.8 billion 'Anti-Weaponization Fund'
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema ruled that the fund will remain blocked until further notice from the court.
Brinkley, Guttenberg revel in retro joy of ‘American Summer’
Sweetly nostalgic as it looks back at one teenager’s “best summer ever,” “American Summer” is also a nod to the friendships and romances that unfold as adulthood beckons.
Is the Saudi sports boom over?
Also in today’s newsletter: Spurs on the brink of unprecedented relegation
Joel Klatt says Big Ten-SEC football challenge is imminent
The Big Ten and SEC run college football, but as the sport tries to chart its future, the two sides haven’t found much in common. Until now? After an exhausting period of negotiations, brinksmanship, and fan unrest, college football is moving towards a 24-team College Football Playoff. The Big Ten had held out against the…
Democrats’ factional battle hits a swing district in Michigan
Michigan’s 7th District swung to the GOP in the 2024 election after Democrats flipped it in 2018. Now, a fractious Democratic primary has drawn national attention and money.
'Everything we know about space travel is going to change within a decade': The fusion breakthrough that could unlock a path to the stars
Several companies have made significant headway toward nuclear fusion propulsion drives. Is humanity on the brink of a revolution in spaceflight?
Kennedy Center reportedly on brink of bankruptcy and could close as early as Tuesday
Center’s Trump-installed leaders claim putting president’s name on its facade may be only way to avoid ‘fiscal collapse’
'The Brink of War' tells story of Reagan-Gorbachev nuclear discussions
Jeff Daniels stars as Ronald Reagan in "The Brink of War," a film about the Reykjavik summit that paved the way for the historic INF Treaty.
TST Best Bets: May 9, 2026
Two teams down 0-2 face the brink of elimination on Saturday, as the Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Lakers try to steer their respective series in their favor on their homecourts. For the Cavs, the solution may be as simple as being back in Cleveland, as they are undefeated at home and winless on the road so far this postseason. However, it seems to be almost too tall a task for the Cavs to secure a win with the level of play they have gotten from James Harden, who has 11 turnovers to just
American Summer: Steve Guttenberg, Christie Brinkley Film Gets Release
Mia Talerico also stars in Michael W. Gray's coming-of-age feature that hits theaters later this year from Blue Harbor Entertainment.
Diesel prices near $6 push timber industry to brink
American Loggers Council Executive Director Scott Dane discusses how soaring diesel prices are impacting the timber industry, raising operating costs to unsustainable levels.
EU removes two Russian oligarchs form sanctions blacklist
Latvia will abstain on the decision after a row that took EU sanctions regime to the brink of collapse
Brinks says Senate won’t vote on Money Out of Politics measure, leaving voters to decide
The Michiganders for Money Out of Politics ballot proposal seeking to bar political contributions from major utility companies and government contractors is headed for the November ballot, after Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids) said the chamber will not take up a version of the proposal in the Legislature.
Sudan health system faces collapse, Doctors Without Borders says
Sudan's healthcare system is on the brink of collapse as cuts to aid funding force clinics and outpatient facilities to close across the war-torn country, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said. The organ...
Chicago Bears youth movement faces training camp test
The Chicago Bears are a team on the rise. The Monsters of the Midway put the league on notice in 2025 by winning the NFC North, which is possibly the toughest division in football, winning a Wild Card game against their hated rivals, and pushing the Los Angeles Rams to the absolute brink in the ...
'Every cost has gone up': Science museum on the brink
Nikki Burton says Catalyst has faced "a perfect storm" of rising costs and lower visitor numbers.
Rights group warns Israel’s policies are pushing the West Bank healthcare system to collapse
A new report by Physicians for Human Rights Israel warns that Israel’s policies in the occupied West Bank have pushed the territory’s health system to the brink of collapse.
Cowboys Weekend Headlines: History's brink, Quinnen, Parker dilemmas
The Cowboys are looking to avoid an inglorious feat in 2026, while there are close eyes on two key components in the fight.
TST Best Bets: May 3, 2026
After the Philadelphia 76ers became the 14th team to ever come back from a 3-1 lead to win the series, the Detroit Pistons enter Sunday on the brink of history themselves. Detroit looked to be in dire straits against the Orlando Magic, as their physical defense made for a very poor matchup with the Pistons’ lack of secondary offensive creators behind Cade Cunningham. However, aided by an untimely injury to Franz Wagner for the Magic, the Pistons have started to look like the 60-win team they wer
‘We feel like we are failing’: Myanmar doctor speaks out as health system teeters on ‘brink of collapse’
Elle’s story is one of personal sacrifice, deciding to help people despite the risk of attack by the military. Her story reflects that of a healthcare system in peril
NZ on the brink after shock defeat by Sri Lanka
Defending champions New Zealand suffer back-to-back defeats at the Women's T20 World Cup after another woeful performance in the field.
This rare Nebraska district backed Harris but sent a Republican to Congress. Can Democrats win here?
Retiring Rep. Don Bacon’s open seat pits fellow Republican and Omaha City Councilmember Brinker Harding against Democratic activist Denise Powell.
Braves News: Robert Suarez, division on the brink, more
Atlanta Braves news and notes from Saturday
Judge temporarily blocks payouts from Trump's $1.8B 'anti-weaponization' fund
Judge Leonie Brinkema also barred the government from moving forward with the fund's creation while litigation is pending to challenge it
Brewers put Dodgers season on the brink with stunning comeback Game 3 win
The Dodgers embarked on this postseason in search of World Series three-peat history.
On the brink: Black lawmakers could lose decades of gains in one year
The US is on the brink of the largest reduction in Black representation in Congress since the enactment of the Voting Rights Act almost 61 years ago.
The genetic secret helping bats survive a deadly epidemic
We’re easing you into Halloween season with an episode about bats. There’s a silent serial killer decimating little brown bats as they hibernate. White nose syndrome has driven populations across the U.S. to almost the brink of extinction over the last decade. But recently, conservation biologist Giorgia Auteri and her team noticed several genetic mutations in the survivors. These mutations could explain how natural selection has shifted the existing population – and inform conservation efforts in the future.Interested in more animal science? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org.
Oil jumps on Mideast missiles while AI bulls carry stocks higher
Oil prices rose for a third day running on Wednesday and the dollar was on the brink of breaking above 160 yen as fresh hostilities flared in the Gulf after U.S.-Iran peace talks stalled.
⚾️ Y! Sports AM: Seasons on the brink
The Braves, White Sox, Yankees and Padres took Game 1 to open the MLB postseason.
Fellow coastal scientists, advocates reflect on Joe Ramus' life
The respected professor, prolific researcher, former Duke University Marine Laboratory director, and environmental steward died Tuesday.
Merchants of Doubt and the attacks on Extreme Event Attribution science
Last week, I attended a meeting at Columbia University on attribution science and climate law, hosted by the Sabin Center. It was a fantastic event, bringing together scientists and legal experts working at the intersection of extreme event attribution and climate law. Subscribe For those unfamiliar with it, extreme event attribution attempts to quantify the contribution of climate change to an extreme event. For example, several groups analyzed the impact of climate change on Hurricane Harvey’s enormous rainfall totals over Houston, Texas and they found that climate change increased rainfall by 15 to 38%. One thing that came up again and again was how terrified fossil-fuel interests are of extreme event attribution science. They are acutely aware that this research could land them in court. And losing those cases would leave them legally liable for billions of dollars in climate damages. Because the legal stakes are so high, the blowback has turned ugly. I spoke with several scientists at the meeting who are facing ongoing harassment over their work. This blowback is a coordinated campaign to make the entire field look suspect. The goal is to create the impression that attribution science is too uncertain, too political, or too conflicted to be useful in court or in public policy. The strategy is not based on actual science or evidence of misconduct, but on the generation of doubt. The new Merchants of Doubt We’ve seen this before. In fact, not that long ago: We only have to go back a year to the Department of Energy (DOE) Climate Working Group (CWG) report to see an example of using doubt as the tool to push back against well-established science. This strategy is laid out in an email from a member of the CWG, Dr. Roy Spencer, that was released during litigation over the Climate Working Group process. The key quote is: About all I can hope is that what we write will provide sufficient “reasonable scientific doubt” regarding the science claims in the 2009 TSD [technical support document], based upon almost 2 decades of new science, to call into question the original reasoning for the EPA Administrator’s decision that CO2 presents a threat to human health and welfare. This statement is strong evidence that at least some members of the committee were working to support a particular policy outcome: revoking the Endangerment Finding. The email also explains how they planned to do it: by attempting to generate “reasonable doubt”. This is going to be hard, Spencer implies. Despite falsely claiming that “2 decades of new science” weakens the case, Spencer explicitly acknowledges that the actual peer-reviewed science of climate change overwhelmingly rejects his position: But if the science argument is decided upon by a vote, or by the number of published citations, we lose the science argument. We can go back even further: This CWG email shares unmistakable DNA with the infamous 1969 tobacco memo that declared: “Doubt is our product, since it is the best means of competing with the ‘body of fact’ that exists in the mind of the general public. It is also the means of establishing a controversy.” The tobacco memo also acknowledges the limit of this strategy: Like the CWG, they knew the science was not on their side. Share The new new Merchants of Doubt The people attacking the IPCC chapter on extreme event attribution are the newest iteration of the Merchants of Doubt. Their goal, like all Merchants before them, is to introduce doubt into the process. Because the report is not even out yet, they cannot attack its conclusions. So they are attacking the authors instead. Here is a press release from the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee: In the letter, the Chairmen express concerns about potential conflicts of interest involving members of the Attribution Committee, stating that “publicly available information suggests a troubling pattern” in which committee members are affiliated with nonprofits that support climate accountability lawsuits, “raising the appearance of impropriety and member bias.” To be clear, this is just innuendo. There is no actual evidence of bias. And given the robust process that these reports go through, including multiple lines of peer review, it seems very unlikely that significant bias can survive into the report. When the report comes out, critics will have the opportunity to make legitimate criticisms of the report — if any exist. If none do, however, they’ll still make criticisms, but they’ll be bogus, simply designed to generate doubt. We’ll see. A note to the press: Fix your frame To any journalists reading this: The public debate over extreme event attribution science is not going away. The science is simply too dangerous to fossil-fuel interests for them to stop fighting it. You very well might be assigned to write an article about this area of research in the future. When you do, do not automatically adopt the framing that climate misinformers want you to use. They want you to frame the story around questions like: Are climate scientists trying to put their thumb on the scale to achieve a predetermined, politically motivated result? Are climate scientists improperly letting their politics invade the science of the IPCC? That frame is a trap. Instead, you need to view this through the historical lens of the Merchants of Doubt. How does the ecosystem of doubt operate? Who funds it? What methods do they use to misrepresent science and slime researchers? What scientific results are they trying to keep people from understanding are legitimate? Ultimately, you instead need to focus your article on the generation of doubt as a way to maintain the fossil fuel industry’s social and legal license to keep burning oil, gas, and coal. If you treat the misinformers’ frame as a legitimate, good-faith scientific critique, you are helping them produce doubt. Don’t do it. Don’t be a Merchant of Doubt. Thanks for reading The Climate Brink! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support our work. Subscribe other stuff The Staying Curious Substack has an interesting post about the different flavors of climate sensitivity. This is crucial information if you want to understand how scientists think about how much warming the Earth will experience. I’d be grateful if you could hit the like button ❤️ below! It helps more people discover these ideas and lets me know what’s connecting with readers.
Toothbrush on dish rack, roaches in cabinets: Jefferson County’s worst April health scores
One Jefferson County establishment was on the brink of being shut down do to health violations.
'Food insecurity is no longer just about low-income countries': Environmental economist explains how climate change is pushing agricultural systems to the brink
As a U.N. report warns that extreme temperature swings are disrupting crops and endangering agricultural workers, we spoke with environmental economist Shouro Dasgupta about farming in an overheating world.
Today on Pinstripe Alley
Three games against the Rockies offered the Yankees an opportunity, and it was one they took. A sweep of Colorado has New York on the brink of clinching a playoff spot, and though the Rays did take two of three from Atlanta this week, the Yankees managed to draw within three games of Tampa in […]
Two Unfathomable Stats from Giants' Latest Meltdown
Late-inning meltdowns and a high blown save rate have pushed the San Francisco Giants to the brink of the division cellar as the bullpen squanders yet another late lead.
Congress is on the brink of a rare bipartisan victory: From the Politics Desk
Plus, the latest on the talks to end the Iran war.
Cristiano Ronaldo Nearing End To 5-Year Trophy Drought
Cristiano Ronaldo has put Al-Nassr on the brink of Saudi Pro League glory after inspiring his side to a vital 2-0 victory over rivals Al Ahli.
'Tired' start costs Ireland in World Cup defeat by Scots
Ireland coach Gareth Grundie describes the performance in the 2-1 defeat by Scotland as "not to the standard that we'd set ourselves". With an opportunity to take a big step towards a top ten finish in the World Cup with a win against a side ranked four places below them in the world rankings, Ireland produced their worst performance of the tournament. It was way below the level they’d shown when pushing the third best side in the world, Belgium, to the brink of elimination in the Pool stages. S
AI and Funding Cuts Worsen Crisis for Child Abuse Investigators
The unrelenting pace of AI-generated child abuse material is pushing law enforcement to the brink.
Daughter Saves Dad’s Beloved Business on the Brink of Closing. Now There’s an Hours-Long Line Out the Door
The Obama Presidential Center was meant to lift up local contractors. Some are now fighting for survival.
Some subcontractors on the $850 million project say they are being pushed to the financial brink as they quietly fight to collect millions of dollars in unpaid bills.
As Congress debates college sports, athletes-turned-senators like Eric Schmitt get in the game
The Protect College Sports Act is on the brink of passing in the Senate, where a handful of former college athletes who are now senators on both sides of the aisle have an extra say in the debate. Sen. Eric Schmitt, a Republican from Missouri, is determined to get it passed.
Sudan's healthcare system on brink of collapse after cuts, medical charity warns
Médecins Sans Frontières is urging world leaders to increase funding to help the millions who need aid.
Five moments it all went wrong for Starmer
Winter fuel and welfare U-turns, national insurance hikes, Peter Mandelson’s appointment and disastrous local elections have brought PM to the brink
Ted Cruz’s college sports bill on brink of U.S. Senate vote
The Protect College Sports Act gained a burst of momentum with last week’s support from the SEC and Big Ten, but the clocking is ticking as the Senate prepares to leave town.
Academy of Sciences secures grant to help endangered sea stars, Bay Area's coastal ecosystem
There's an update on a Bay Area project -- spearheaded by the Academy of Sciences -- to help bring a struggling sea star species back from the brink of extinction, which would help put our coastal ecosystem back in balance. Here's a look at the latest breakthrough as researchers try to determine how to safely reintroduce the sea stars back into the ocean.
Science history: Chernobyl nuclear power plant melts down, bringing the world to the brink of disaster
On April 26, 1986, the Chernobyl nuclear reactor melted down, but the rest of the world wouldn't learn how close it came to nuclear Armageddon until weeks later.
In ‘The Brink of War,’ a Return to an Era of Razor-Edge Diplomacy
A new film depicts the 1986 nuclear arms summit in Reykjavik, Iceland, between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, which both offered and dashed hopes of a dramatic breakthrough.
MRN BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT: The Daily Grind
More than just coffee. The Daily Grind in Mendon has been brewing up more than your favorite drinks since opening in 2022. From breakfast and Underbrink’s treats to a brand-new drive-thru and a freshly renovated space, Chloe Shaffer and Megan Kirby are creating a place where everyone feels welcome. Hear their story on the latest...
Scientists discover a way to reverse coral bleaching at record speed
For the first time, scientists have observed bleached corals on the brink of death fully recover through brief contact with healthy clones. Ghostly white corals returned to full health in a laboratory ...
How Bournemouth are on brink of Europe despite losing stars
Bournemouth have brushed off being raided for their star players and are now on the brink of a European spot for next season.
Top 5: UFC Winnipeg ‘Fight of the Night’ candidates
A crowd-pleasing style had Kyler Phillips on the brink of contention in the Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight division not that long ago.
Fine-Tuning — for the Universe or for Life?
Teetering on the brink of science fiction is the supposition that advanced civilizations would utilize black holes for energy sources.
Demichelis Already Facing a Fight to Save His Leipzig Job
Consecutive defeats and locker-room communication barriers have pushed the Argentine to the brink, leaving Sunday’s clash with Hamburger SV as a must-win to avoid a premature exit.
Scientists Thought This Wolf Pack Was Too Inbred To Survive, Here’s What A New Study Found
Park officials gambled that bringing 19 wolves to a struggling island ecosystem would save a pack on the brink of collapse. Five years later, researchers got an answer, along with a new set of complic...
Brewers blasts leave Dodgers on brink
The Milwaukee Brewers produced a late home run blitz to defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 and leave the reigning World Series champions on the brink of elimination from Major League Baseball's playoffs on Wednesday.That rally came after starting pitcher Blake Snell produced a dazzling performance from the mound to keep the reigning MLB champions in the game.
From The Sports Desk: Check engine
The top-seed Detroit Pistons are on the brink of elimination.
Trade war shock: Tariffs push Canadian small businesses to the brink
The economic pain that Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney warned would come from a trade war is now a harsh reality for some small businesses that export to the US.
Your Weekly Michigan Political Brief
Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed has been endorsed by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and the IAM Union’s Michigan Machinists Council. EMILYs List endorsed Michigan Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks for Michigan lieutenant governor. Former U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow has endorsed Rebecca Amidon, Democratic candidate for Michigan’s open 32nd […]
Campaign finance reform proposal heads to Michigan voters after Senate declines to act
A proposal to ban utility and contractor political contributions will go to Michigan voters in November after the Senate declines to act.
'Resilient' Knicks on brink of NBA title after record rally
OG Anunoby's game-clinching tip-in to put New York on the brink of an NBA title will go down as one of the greatest plays in Knicks history, coach Mike Brown said."The tip, how he had to control it and tip it in -- that has to be the most iconic shot in the history of New York basketball."
Bournemouth v Man City: Key stats and talking points
BBC Sport examines some of the key themes before Tuesday's match (19:30 BST), with Manchester City needing a win [TO KEEP THEIR TITLE HOPES ALIVE]. This will be Andoni Iraola's final home game as Bournemouth boss and comes with his team on the brink of qualifying for Europe for the first time. A point would ensure the Cherries can finish no lower than eighth, which – as a result of Manchester City's victory in the FA Cup final – will be worth a place in next season's Conference League.
Sudan’s healthcare system on brink of collapse, MSF warns
More than a third of Sudan's health facilities are nonoperational as aid cuts deepen crisis, medical charity says.
Business Monday: Hilo baker nears goal of making 12,000 macarons for Made in Hawaiʻi Festival
For her third showing at the Made in Hawaiʻi Festival, Nikki Kawahine and her team at Cupcakes, BOOM! are on the brink of baking 12,000 handcrafted macarons for the event.
4 Takeaways From Week 9 Of The 2026 UFL Season
Quarterback Chandler Rogers has the Louisville Kings on the brink of reaching the playoffs with a game left in the UFL regular season
Trump’s Kennedy Center takeover has pushed this nearby restaurant to the brink
The drama engulfing the arts institution is hurting the small businesses that surround it.
Ultra-Orthodox conscription dispute pushes Israeli government to brink
Israeli government faces collapse as coalition parties clash over military draft exemptions for Haredi constituents.
Keir Starmer to face crucial cabinet meeting as ministers and MPs urge him to resign
PM on the brink with Yvette Cooper and Shabana Mahmood believed to be among those urging him to set out a timetable for departure
Dodgers, on the brink of clinching the NL West, now have another injury to worry about with Blake Snell
A spirit of resilience helps Venezuelans face healthcare challenges after the quakes
The economic collapse of Venezuela has pushed its healthcare system to the brink. The disaster is now adding to the stress.
NBA Playoffs: Los Angeles Lakers fall 2-0 down to Oklahoma City Thunder as Detroit Pistons double advantage over Cleveland Cavaliers
Oklahoma City Thunder take 2-0 lead over Los Angeles Lakers; Thunder extend perfect start to playoffs to 6-0; Detroit Pistons double lead over Cleveland Cavaliers; Pistons have now won five straight games since being on brink of elimination in first round
Dodgers make surprising decision on Shohei Ohtani
The Los Angeles Dodgers are on the brink of elimination in the National League Championship Series, trailing the Milwaukee Brewers 3-0, and Shohei Ohtani has been one of the biggest reasons why their offense has gone cold. But rather than dropping Ohtani further down the order or benching him completely, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts went…
Venezuela Quakes Push Fragile Health System to the Brink
Earthquake victims are overwhelming healthcare centers in Venezuela’s coastal state of La Guaira and beyond, pushing an already fragile health system past its limits.
How Science Works
The 2nd Weather and Climate Livestream is now underway. It is organized by a group of early-career researchers concerned about declining funding for the field and eager to demonstrate how weather and climate research makes a difference in our lives. Last year’s event was a great success, drawing terrific press coverage including a piece in the NY Times. This year features a strong lineup of talks aimed at a general audience — I highly recommend tuning in. Share I gave a talk yesterday about How Science Works in Three Steps. You can see the short presentation here (I’ve appended a transcript below): And please tune into the livestream here. It runs through tomorrow at 6 pm ET. Thanks for reading The Climate Brink! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support our work. Subscribe Cleaned up transcript: Thank you, and thanks to everyone tuning in. I want to talk about something I think a lot of people don’t really understand: how science actually works. Arguments over any scientific topic — climate change, vaccines, you name it — revolve around competing claims. For climate change, the claims are: Is the Earth warming? Are humans to blame? What will the impacts be? Over the last 150 years, the scientific community has developed a remarkably robust method for sorting out which claims are true and which aren’t. That method is what I want to walk through. So how does science generate knowledge? If you ask a high schooler, they’ll give you the version they learned in ninth grade: an individual scientist forms a hypothesis, runs an experiment, and draws a conclusion. That’s more or less what happens at the individual level, though in practice it’s more iterative — you design, test, and refine all at once, landing on a slightly different idea each time until you reach a conclusion about whatever hypothesis you’ve ended up with. But this isn’t science. It’s only step one. Any individual scientist can make mistakes — scientists are human. Maybe there’s a bug in the code, maybe there’s an error in the experiment. Just because someone ran an experiment and reached a conclusion doesn’t mean it’s right, and scientists don’t treat a single result as settled truth. Step two is peer review, the first layer of quality control. The scientist writes up what they did and submits it to a journal, which sends the paper to other experts in the field. Those experts judge whether the methods are sound, whether it properly references prior work, and whether the conclusions actually follow from the data. Ask any scientist and they’ll tell you peer review is miserable — the comments come back brutal, often harsh, and you have to revise and resubmit, sometimes multiple times, before an editor finally accepts the paper. Peer review catches an immense amount of bad science, but it can’t catch all of it. Reviewers get sloppy or overworked, they miss obvious mistakes, and they can’t catch hidden errors — a bug in the code, a misread instrument. So a peer-reviewed paper making it into a journal doesn’t mean the paper is right. Nobody treats a single paper as the final word. That’s where step three comes in: the crucible of science. Important results get retested by the broader community. If you publish something interesting, it gets dissected. Sometimes people try to reproduce your work directly but more often they test its implications. If someone claims X is true, and that implies that Y is also true, then scientists will go check Y. If a claim survives this gauntlet long enough, it becomes accepted. That’s how we generate knowledge. Let me give an example: the ozone hole. In 1985 — and I doubt many people watching were around then, but I remember it well — Joe Farman and his colleagues published observations from Antarctica showing that a huge chunk of ozone was disappearing every year. This was shocking because most atmospheric chemists had expected ozone loss to occur at mid-latitudes and high altitudes, not over the South Pole. When scientists see something they don’t understand, they rush to explain it, and several competing hypotheses quickly appeared in the peer-reviewed literature. One pointed to chlorine chemistry from chlorofluorocarbons. A second blamed nitrogen chemistry, possibly driven by solar proton events — meaning the sun was responsible. A third argued it wasn’t chemistry at all but dynamics: winds were carrying naturally low-ozone air from the lower atmosphere up into the stratosphere. Then the community went to work testing which theory could survive the crucible. Aircraft flew into the ozone hole and found no nitrogen, ruling out the nitrogen theory. Measurements showed the air in the polar vortex was descending, not rising — which would bring high-ozone air down, eliminating the dynamics theory. Meanwhile, those same flights measured enormous amounts of chlorine, strongly correlated with exactly the regions where ozone was being destroyed. That became known as the “smoking gun” paper, and it established that chlorine chemistry was the cause. Through this process, a consensus emerged. And it’s worth being clear that this consensus is organic. There’s no vote, no poll, no meeting where it gets decided. Scientists go to conferences, talk to one another, and independently arrived at the same answer. It’s the ultimate free market of ideas. After the consensus was established, the peer-reviewed literature doesn’t even mention the rival theories — it simply takes chlorine chemistry as given. That’s what a consensus looks like. It doesn’t mean every single scientist agrees, but it does mean there’s no longer any legitimate debate. So where can you see what scientists actually think? It’s all in the peer-reviewed literature, which contains the entire historical record of the argument: the discovery, the competing theories, the debate, the testing, and finally the community coalescing around one answer. But there’s a lot of room for misrepresentation. You can dig up an old paper claiming the ozone hole was caused by dynamics and wave it around as if there still was a debate about the cause of the ozone hole — without mentioning that the idea was disproven long ago and that even its own authors no longer believe it. There’s a bigger problem, though: the peer-reviewed literature is written in a language I call “nerd.” It’s extremely hard to read — honestly, some of it is hard for me to follow. It takes graduate students years to work through the literature in a single field, so we can’t expect policymakers or ordinary people to do it. This is where scientific assessments come in. The most famous is the IPCC — the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The job of an assessment is to read and summarize the peer-reviewed literature, synthesizing what’s settled, what’s been disproven, and what remains genuinely debated. To ensure the assessments accurately summarize the peer-reviewed literature, assessments are written by large teams, which are far less prone to bias than individuals and which dilute the influence of any one scientist with an axe to grind. The teams are deliberately assembled to avoid stacking the deck, and the reports themselves go through multiple rounds of peer review. That rigorous process is exactly why you can trust them and why people consider the IPCC to be the gold standard of what we know about the climate system. An assessment produced through a different process may well not be credible. You can even watch the consensus evolve across assessments. Take the attribution of warming. The 1990 IPCC report said the observed warming was broadly consistent with model predictions but also comparable to natural variability — in other words, we don’t know whether humans are responsible. By 1995, it concluded that the balance of evidence suggested a discernible human influence — a sentence only a committee could write, and one that barely commits to anything. By 2001, most of the warming over the previous 50 years was judged “likely” due to greenhouse gases; by 2007, “very likely”; by 2013, “extremely likely.” The 2023 report says essentially the same as 2013 — there’s not much stronger language available. So, to wrap up: science is our ultimate tool for deciphering the universe — the most successful method we’ve ever developed for determining what’s true and what isn’t. Our understanding is written into the peer-reviewed literature, so if you want to know what scientists think, that’s where to look. And for those of us who don’t speak nerd, scientific assessments are the Rosetta Stone — they translate nerd into English. Let me open the floor to questions. Thank you.
D-FW business datebook for the week of Aug. 9
A pivotal CPI report is released Wednesday and local companies including AECOM, Brinker International and Yesway are gearing up to release earnings reports.
They're Building Half A Bridge to Save Science...
Today’s post is about science: what you can do now to protect it from unprecedented threats, and how your action is the first half of a long-term program that Congress must take up next. Let me start with describing the embryonic state of science advocacy. There are many well-meaning organizations: the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Research!America, and subject-specific organizations such as the Society for Neuroscience and the American Physical Society. Their general approach is to emphasize the common good: the remarkable value that science and innovation have provided to all Americans. However, these organizations are offering an incomplete solution. Before I start, a preliminary: If you already know about the threat, go ahead and weigh in with OMB at this link. Ideas about what to say come from Research!America and the American Physical Society. You have until Monday, July 13 at 11:59pm Eastern. Then come back here and read the rest of this post. Finally, get in touch with whoever is likely to be your next member of Congress in 2027. The threat: An end to merit-based science… The onslaught of attacks on science is accelerating. It’s not just cuts to grants, which was the last battle. That battle is not done yet, but there is a new and worse threat. Now comes a proposed public rule from the Office of Management and Budget. The rule would take decision-making power over grants away from experts and put it into the hands of political appointees. Former NIH official Elizabeth Ginexi wrote an excellent summary of what OMB is trying to do, which is codify the executive branch’s ability to award or terminate grants, for arbitrary cause or no stated cause. Since World War II, a necessary step in scientific grant-making has been consideration of scientific merit. This approach has made America into a dominant scientific superpower, the envy of the world. Of course, political considerations do come into the mix. The proposed rule tilts the balance dramatically away from merit. …but why? Many people have difficulty comprehending why Russell Vought and OMB would want to damage science in this way. If you’re a working scientist, you are likely to be particularly uncomprehending. Who would hurt an activity so self-evidently good? The answer is: this is part of the program to replace the rule of law with a personalist regime. OMB Director Russell Vought, a Christian nationalist, would like to implement what legal scholars call a “unitary executive,” and what I would call a dictatorship. Or if you like, a personalist authoritarian regime. I am a working scientist. This rule will debilitate my research. It may chill the speech of scientists for speaking freely in the public sphere. It is a form of personalizing power and decision-making within the executive branch. In short, it sacrifices science in the service of tyranny. To Russell Vought, a decrease in the quality of science might be an acceptable cost. He might even consider it an added benefit to weaken a pillar of soft U.S. power based on knowledge and skepticism. The professional societies are building half a bridge The nonprofits are asking you to make public comment. Public comment is like building the first half of a bridge. Before implementation, OMB is compelled by law to have a period of public comment. Rules have to be consistent with the law and the Constitution. They express the federal government’s stance toward how those laws will be implemented. When a presidential administration works in good faith, these public comments are used to inform their eventual action, and sometimes mitigate it. The comment period reflects our First Amendment right to petition our government. The executive branch is then supposed to take those comments into account - completing the bridge between us, the people, and our government. Project 2025 seeks to take away the second half of the bridge. We have to replace it. The first half of the bridge Organizations like AAAS, Research!America, and SfN are partly right. You should certainly comment. Their core model is earnest: if enough of us make noise, then we will achieve change. This idealistic point of view is offered in good faith. That point of view is also currently bullshit. The fundamental reason is that the federal rulemaking process has two parts: There has to be a period of public comment. OMB makes the final rule…but is free to disregard public comment. Oops. That’s a loophole. However, not all is lost. Congress can complete the bridge Congress has enormous power. That power suggests a roadmap for how to proceed. This lawless administration is still going to issue that rule. Nonetheless, your comments still play an essential role. Here are two steps you can take. Step 1: Send your comment to your Representative and Senator. Whether they are Democrats or Republicans, many of them support science. Whatever you wrote as public comment in the Federal Register, also send it to your member of Congress. You can include information about jobs in your district or state by looking at Joshua Weitz’s ScienceMatters interactive map. Call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and give your town, zip code, or state, then deliver your message. Step 2: Politicize the hell out of science. You heard me, politicize it as an issue. We hear a lot from the old scientific establishment about science being nonpartisan. This is obsolete, sentimental thinking. Under normal conditions, it was true. But we can no longer make that assumption. We can keep on pretending, but we’re putting science at risk. There is a way forward. Rules are subordinate to the law…and Congress makes laws. Therefore Congress can step in. In this fall’s election, it is likely that Democrats will retake the House of Representatives. That puts at least one chamber of Congress in the hands of Democrats. They are far more inclined than the current Congress to investigate and legislate. This opens a path to undoing the damage. It also creates a permission structure for pro-science Republicans to find a way back from the brink. We have to encourage them. In the House, every district is up every two years. In your district, contact both of the major party candidates. If your state has a Senate race, contact those candidates too. Specifically mention the proposed OMB rule. Ask for two things: For this year’s appropriations process in August and September, ask that amendments be added to stop the implementation of the new rule. Those amendments should support peer-reviewed science and stop political interference. Looking ahead to next year, ask the Congressman/Congresswoman/Senator to work to hold hearings in 2027 on the importance and benefits of peer-reviewed science for health and prosperity. What hearings and amendments will accomplish Congress can use its investigatory power to summon heads of agencies and the director of the OMB. That will allow fact-finding regarding the consequences of this rule. Congress can override the rule through the appropriations process. They can write into statute a requirement to follow peer review and best scientific practices. In this way, Congress can stop the attacks on science. Postscript: Moving forward Now I have a request for you, to help me. As many of you know, I ran for Congress in order to save democracy and science. Although I did not win, that battle continues by other means. I met and heard from thousands of supporters both here in New Jersey and nationally. I learned that pro-science, pro-democracy activists have the potential to become a much greater force. In the weeks and months ahead, I will be building ways to harness that energy. I will be announcing those plans soon. In the meantime, an important step is to wind down the Congressional campaign, which has a few remaining bills to pay. Please help me retire that last debt.
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