Daily-Dose/archive-daily-dose/01 May, 2023.html

591 lines
86 KiB
HTML
Raw Blame History

This file contains invisible Unicode characters

This file contains invisible Unicode characters that are indistinguishable to humans but may be processed differently by a computer. If you think that this is intentional, you can safely ignore this warning. Use the Escape button to reveal them.

This file contains Unicode characters that might be confused with other characters. If you think that this is intentional, you can safely ignore this warning. Use the Escape button to reveal them.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="" xml:lang="" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head>
<meta charset="utf-8"/>
<meta content="pandoc" name="generator"/>
<meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0, user-scalable=yes" name="viewport"/>
<title>01 May, 2023</title>
<style>
code{white-space: pre-wrap;}
span.smallcaps{font-variant: small-caps;}
span.underline{text-decoration: underline;}
div.column{display: inline-block; vertical-align: top; width: 50%;}
div.hanging-indent{margin-left: 1.5em; text-indent: -1.5em;}
ul.task-list{list-style: none;}
</style>
<title>Daily-Dose</title><meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" name="viewport"/><link href="styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><link href="../styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><style>*{overflow-x:hidden;}</style><link href="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.css" rel="stylesheet"/><script src="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.js"></script></head>
<body>
<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="daily-dose">Daily-Dose</h1>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="#from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-vox">From Vox</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Security Camera for the Planet</strong> - A new satellite, funded by a nonprofit, aims to pinpoint emissions of methane—a gas that plays a major role in global warming. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-climate-action/a-security-camera-for-the-planet">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Week the Biden-Trump Rematch Got Real</strong> - One difference from 2020: the Republican attacks on the Presidents even more unpopular Veep. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-bidens-washington/the-week-the-biden-trump-rematch-got-real">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Climate Crisis Gives Sailing Ships a Second Wind</strong> - Cargo vessels are some of the dirtiest vehicles in existence. Can a centuries-old technology help to clean them up? - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-a-warming-planet/the-climate-crisis-gives-sailing-ships-a-second-wind">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Curious Side Effects of Medical Transparency</strong> - When we peer into our patient portals, we dont always see ourselves more clearly. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/essay/the-curious-side-effects-of-medical-transparency">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Risky Gamble of Kevin McCarthys Debt-Ceiling Strategy</strong> - In the face of a catastrophic default, the House Speaker has pitted his most extreme members against the President. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-political-scene/the-risky-gamble-of-kevin-mccarthys-debt-ceiling-strategy">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>Smaller, cheaper, safer: The next generation of nuclear power, explained</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="A hilly landscape with scattered trees and the sun rising in the background. Oversized nuclear power sources are emanating light in different colors amongst the landscape: a small modular reactor, a MARVEL microreactor, a portable reactor, and power plant cooling towers." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/v55I84l_afN2VBxLtL7zdjML3n8=/240x0:1680x1080/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72237362/Final_NuclearPower_PaigeVickers.0.jpeg"/>
<figcaption>
Advanced nuclear reactors, especially smaller designs, could help solve many of the persistent problems with nuclear energy. | Paige Vickers for Vox
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The nuclear industrys big bet on going small.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="m7Xu8h">
<strong>IDAHO FALLS, Idaho</strong> — Inside the Transient Reactor Test Facility, a towering, windowless gray block surrounded by barbed wire, researchers are about to embark on a mission to solve one of humanitys greatest problems with a tiny device.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="p2psoH">
Next year, they will begin construction on the <a href="https://www.energy.gov/ne/articles/new-marvel-project-aims-supercharge-microreactor-deployment">MARVEL reactor</a>. MARVEL stands for Microreactor Applications Research Validation and EvaLuation. Its a first-of-a-kind nuclear power generator, cooled with liquid metal and producing 100 kilowatts of energy. By 2024, researchers expect MARVEL will be the zero-emissions engine of the worlds first nuclear microgrid here at Idaho National Laboratory (INL).
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zrqM4m">
“Micro” and “tiny,” of course, are relative. MARVEL stands 15 feet tall, weighs 2,000 pounds, and can fit in the trailer of a semi-truck. But compared to conventional nuclear power plants, which span acres, produce gigawatts of electricity to power whole states, and can take more than a decade to build, its minuscule.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LeadhT">
For INL, where scientists have tested dozens of reactors over the decades across an area three-quarters the size of Rhode Island, its a radical reimagining of the technology. This reactor design could help overcome the biggest obstacles to nuclear energy: safety, efficiency, scale, cost, and competition. MARVEL is an experiment to see how all these pieces could fit together in the real world.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LRlIHS">
“Its an applications test reactor where were going to try to figure out how we extract heat and energy from a nuclear reactor and apply it — and combine it with wind and solar and other energy sources,” said Yasir Arafat, head of the MARVEL program.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Ah9mYf">
The project, however, comes at a time when nuclear power is getting pulled in wildly different directions.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uGso8n">
Germany just <a href="https://apnews.com/article/germany-nuclear-power-plants-shut-energy-376dfaa223f88fedff138b9a63a6f0da">shut down its last nuclear reactors</a>. The US just started up its <a href="https://www.energy.gov/lpo/vogtle">first new reactor in 30 years</a>. France, the country with the largest share of nuclear energy on its grid, saw its nuclear power output decline to the <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2023-europe-energy-crisis-updates-france/">lowest levels since 1988</a> last year. Around the world, there are currently 60 nuclear reactors under construction, with <a href="https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/country-profiles/countries-a-f/china-nuclear-power.aspx">22 in China alone</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qbckrL">
But the world is hungrier than ever for energy. Overall electricity demand is growing: Global electricity needs will increase nearly 70 percent by 2050 compared to todays consumption, according to the <a href="https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=42555">Energy Information Administration</a>. At the same time, the constraints are getting tighter. Most countries in the world, including the US, have now committed to <a href="https://www.vox.com/22777957/cop26-un-climate-change-conference-glasgow-goals-paris">zeroing out their net impact on the climate</a> by the middle of the century.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WJ2cVm">
To meet this energy demand without worsening climate change, the US Energy Departments <a href="https://liftoff.energy.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/20230320-Liftoff-Advanced-Nuclear-vPUB-0329-Update.pdf">report on advanced nuclear energy</a> released in March said “the U.S. will need ~550770 [gigawatts] of additional clean, firm capacity to reach net-zero; nuclear power is one of the few proven options that could deliver this at scale.”
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Photo of MARVEL project lead Yasir Arafat in front of a prototype of the reactor" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/LwBZ1ZNOR0BLqNDD4XSk7-JnEBc=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24618023/image.png"/> <cite>Idaho National Laboratory/US Department of Energy</cite>
<figcaption>
MARVEL program director Yasir Arafat, in front of a prototype microreactor, said the project will study how small nuclear reactors could function on a power grid.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LOUtOc">
The US government is now renewing its bets on nuclear power to produce a steady stream of electricity without emitting greenhouse gases. The <a href="https://www.energy.gov/articles/us-department-energy-releases-guidance-second-award-cycle-bipartisan-infrastructure-laws-6">Bipartisan Infrastructure Law</a> included $6 billion to keep existing nuclear power plants running. The Inflation Reduction Act, the US governments largest investment in countering climate change to date, includes a number of provisions to benefit nuclear power, including <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/legalindustry/new-era-nuclear-energy-post-inflation-reduction-act-2022-12-21/">tax credits for zero-emissions energy</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5AIOsL">
“Its a game changer,” said <a href="https://bios.inl.gov/Lists/Researcher/DisplayOverrideForm.aspx?ID=307">John Wagner</a>, director of INL.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QXuMAP">
The tech sector is jumping in, too. In 2021, venture capital firms poured <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-22/tech-billionaires-rally-around-nuclear-as-energy-crisis-looms">$3.4 billion into nuclear energy</a> startups. Theyre also pouring money into even more far-out ideas, like nuclear fusion power. Public opinion has also started moving. An April <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/474650/americans-support-nuclear-energy-highest-decade.aspx">Gallup poll</a> found that 55 percent of Americans favor and 44 percent oppose using nuclear energy, the highest levels of support in 10 years.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hBDu9i">
But nuclear energy is still facing some long-running headwinds. Its the one power source whose operating costs have actually increased over time. Recent construction efforts have run years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget. Most reactors still rely on enriched uranium, a pricey fuel to mine and process. Finding a place to store nuclear waste remains a problem. The workforce needed to build and operate plants has withered, due to the decades between reactor builds. And now, with rising interest rates, its more expensive to finance ambitious energy projects.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FgJUzr">
Can the nuclear energy industry invent its way out of its toughest problems?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FwBEpn">
Advocates certainly hope so, and the potential for nuclear energy to meet the challenge of climate change is immense. Many new nuclear power technologies are now in design and testing phases. But one of the most promising strategies for nuclear is to go big by going small.
</p>
<h3 id="NXI6y5">
The new generation of nuclear power, explained
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="h5qfXS">
Splitting atoms is the largest source of greenhouse gas-free electricity in the US and the second-largest in the world behind hydropower. Nuclear fission produces <a href="https://www.iea.org/reports/nuclear-power-in-a-clean-energy-system">10 percent of the worlds electricity</a>. The US has the largest nuclear reactor fleet in the world, with <a href="https://www.nei.org/resources/fact-sheets/u-s-nuclear-plants">92 reactors</a> across 53 power plants in 28 states.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MqFLV1">
The current crop of nuclear reactors use a variety of different design approaches, tailored to their specific needs. That helped these power plants better fit into the power grids when they were initially built, but it made it harder for them to adapt to changing demands and for newer plants in other places to learn from them.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cllsQl">
To understand what sets the new reactor designs apart, it helps to know how earlier designs worked. Generally, civilian nuclear reactors are divided into “generations” that refined the technology, economics, and safety with each iteration.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GShcf0">
The first generation of reactors were proofs of concept, according to <a href="https://inl.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/20-GA50518_Gehin-Long_Bio-1.pdf">Jess Gehin</a>, associate director for nuclear science and technology at INL. From there, they scaled up in size and added safety features to make them more usable in the real world, forming the second generation. The bulk of the worlds operating nuclear reactors right now are second-generation designs. They are also the foundation of most business models and the basis for nuclear energy regulations.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NqjAZo">
More recent third-generation reactors advance this with improved safety features. “Several of those have been built that actually start moving away from the active safety systems to more passive systems,” Gehin said. The recently opened reactor at the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant in Georgia is a design called <a href="https://www.westinghousenuclear.com/energy-systems/ap1000-pwr">AP1000</a>. Its considered a generation three-plus reactor that uses fewer moving parts than conventional designs and can cool off on its own should something go wrong. “You can go 72 hours without any operator interaction,” Gehin said.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Photo of the Transient Reactor Test Facility" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/E0U9HwXpMFECmTuYhfZW9zAqpWA=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24618030/DSC01114.jpeg"/> <cite>Umair Irfan/Vox</cite>
<figcaption>
The Transient Reactor Test Facility at Idaho National Laboratory will host the MARVEL microreactor.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OLiF4c">
Fourth-generation reactors are now in the works. Unlike current reactors that mainly use water to control the reaction and to stay cool, these designs use other materials like liquid metal, pressurized gas, and molten salt. The advantage is that they can reach higher operating temperatures, which can lead to greater efficiency. Industrial processes like steel production could also draw on that extra heat.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zERzY8">
Many fourth-generation designs can also use cheaper, lower-grade nuclear fuels. Thats one of the approaches being developed by <a href="https://www.terrapower.com/">TerraPower</a>, a nuclear company founded by investor Bill Gates. Some fourth-generation designs can even use <a href="https://www.energy.gov/ne/articles/3-advanced-reactor-systems-watch-2030">waste from other reactors</a>. They can also integrate equipment that allows them to ramp up and down more readily to scale with energy demands.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="auuioZ">
These combined effects improve the economics of nuclear power, streamlining the overall process from reducing fuel costs to generating power more effectively to reducing waste and to improving safety.
</p>
<h3 id="EJ4stb">
Nuclear can do more than generate electricity
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yThGGZ">
Some of the most significant advances in nuclear energy, however, may not be in the reactors themselves. Their biggest benefits could come from rethinking how they fit into the existing power infrastructure.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qNnzCm">
The Energy Department has suggested that hundreds of <a href="https://www.energy.gov/ne/articles/doe-report-finds-hundreds-retiring-coal-plant-sites-could-convert-nuclear">sites for coal power plants</a>, which are rapidly shutting down across the country, could be repurposed for nuclear energy. The advantage is that they already have many of the necessary permits and the equipment to plug into the power grid, saving some of the startup costs of a new plant.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="w5qSiP">
Most conventional reactors are optimized to run flat out, with a steady output of energy. But demand on the power grid varies widely as lights switch on in the evening or heaters turn on during the day. While some nuclear power plants can ramp up and down, its not always easy. Windy and sunny days can also mean that theres a surfeit of cheap electrons from renewables and undercut nuclear electricity on price. And since nuclear plants have high fixed costs even when theyre turned down, they prefer to stay up and sell as much of their electricity as possible.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LS93yo">
Now, engineers are planning nuclear reactors with this capricious demand in mind. “New reactors are designed to be dispatchable and flexible,” said <a href="https://inl.gov/article/christine-king-named-director-of-gateway-for-accelerated-innovation-in-nuclear/">Christine King</a>, director of the Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear at INL.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Photo of scientist operating remote armature" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/95cpGwmi68nQ4mPd01KgarZMj6M=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24618041/DSC01149.jpeg"/> <cite>Umair Irfan/Vox</cite>
<figcaption>
A researcher at Idaho National Laboratory investigates nuclear materials inside a containment chamber.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KTpBCu">
One idea is to integrate energy storage. Molten salt, for instance, can be used to store heat from a nuclear reactor for hours at a time and dispatch it as needed. Another approach is to use the heat from a reactor not just to boil water but to provide industrial heat to factories. Researchers are also designing reactors that can produce hydrogen when they have excess power, which in turn can run fuel cells in cars or put electrons back on the grid.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JvcxNJ">
Electricity from nuclear power plants doesnt necessarily have to feed into the power grid either, according to King. It can instead power dedicated processes like capturing carbon dioxide directly from the air. Capturing this carbon dioxide is a highly energy-intensive process, though, and nuclear could provide the requisite power without making the problem worse. That captured carbon could then serve as a building block for synthetic fuels, particularly for sectors that are hard to electrify, like aviation and shipping.
</p>
<h3 id="a2QVPa">
Its hard to build anything these days
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Hb9sUN">
The virtues of advanced nuclear reactors are all great in theory. In practice, building anything big is really, really hard.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TUl7KZ">
<a href="https://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/about-us/people/bent-flyvbjerg">Bent Flyvbjerg</a>, a professor at the IT University of Copenhagen and a professor at the University of Oxford, recently co-authored a book called <a href="https://sites.prh.com/how-big-things-get-done-book"><em>How Big Things Get Done</em></a><em>.</em> It examines why so many major infrastructure projects like high-speed trains, IT systems, and even home renovations run behind schedule and over budget. Often, these problems arise from a failure of planning, inadequate expertise, political pressure, and limited experience.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NCRW67">
Nuclear energy brings even more unique challenges. One is that the technology itself is evolving, so its difficult to learn from past efforts to build reactors. Nuclear regulators also built their rules around second-generation designs. So as engineers come up with new ways to split atoms, nuclear observers also have to come up with new standards to make sure theyre safe. The back-and-forth between developers and regulators adds another layer of complexity to the design process.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9SMk6x">
And anytime theres a problem with a nuclear power plant anywhere, regulators step up their scrutiny. “Once they had adapted to a certain set of standards, they would be raised because there was a nuclear incident or accident,” Flyvbjerg said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jHnJ1a">
Most existing commercial reactors also dont scale up and down easily, so they have to start with bigger, more expensive designs at the outset. That means they have to recover that cost over decades, but if utilities get their electricity demand forecasts wrong, then nuclear power plants end up having to raise their prices or lose money. With new reactors being built for the first time, theres little experience to draw on. Builders often encounter unanticipated problems that require more money and resources to fix.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Hliu7R">
The Vogtle Plant was nearly six years behind schedule, and its cost was almost double its initial budget of $14 billion, for example. Utilities in <a href="https://www.postandcourier.com/business/3-years-later-how-the-fallout-from-scs-9-billion-nuclear-fiasco-continues/article_5d2a2684-d264-11ea-946f-935bbd3ffa98.html#newsletter-popup">South Carolina abandoned a $9 billion effort</a> to build two AP1000 reactors in 2017. If youre an investor or a public utility, its enough to grind your molars into dust. Developing fourth-generation reactors stands to be an even more expensive, time-consuming process.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3mx373">
But there are some potential ways to chip away at these monumental challenges. One way is for governments to step in and provide research support to these new designs and test them out.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Photo of the Materials and Fuels Complex and Idaho National Laboratory" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/jSUGLSCWyOVVhz0XjBC6L5yiTHQ=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24618075/DSC01117.jpeg"/> <cite>Umair Irfan/Vox</cite>
<figcaption>
Idaho National Laboratory builds and tests nuclear reactors to help the industry figure out how theyll work in the real world.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uuLFji">
For the nuclear industry, the hot new strategy is to scale down with small modular reactors, or SMRs. Rather than building huge, customized reactors on site, companies like NuScale are developing smaller reactors, on the order of 10 to 50 megawatts, that can be built in factories and trucked or shipped around the world. The standardized designs could save costs. And by starting small and scaling up, they could meet a variety of use cases.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="YCXEZ5">
This approach has already caught eyes around the world. The US Navy already operates <a href="https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/non-power-nuclear-applications/transport/nuclear-powered-ships.aspx">more than 200 small nuclear reactors</a> to power submarines and aircraft carriers. The test is to see whether the business case makes sense on land. China and Russia are <a href="https://www.neimagazine.com/features/featureiaea-ups-support-for-smrs-10528638/">already running SMRs</a>, and 19 countries are developing them. Canadian Prime Minister <a href="https://twitter.com/energybants/status/1650574651783798784">Justin Trudeau</a> said in April that Canada is making “a return to nuclear, which were very very serious about, and investing in some of the small modular reactors.” One of the first SMR plants in the world is now planned in <a href="https://www.nuscalepower.com/en/News/Press-Releases/2022/NuScale-Announces-First-International-E2-Center-at-University-Politehnica-of-Bucharest">Romania in 2028</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ShKHpC">
“This is the right experiment to be doing,” Flyvbjerg said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="V9JScn">
And with designs like MARVEL, researchers are investigating even smaller reactors that can power remote communities, back up renewables, or provide emergency power after a disaster. As reactors get smaller, though, the question is how many it will take in order to achieve economies of scale.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5m3uXI">
“A lot of learning has to do with how many you build,” said <a href="https://lafollette.wisc.edu/people/nemet-gregory-f/">Gregory Nemet</a>, a professor at the University of Wisconsin Madison and author of <a href="https://www.routledge.com/How-Solar-Energy-Became-Cheap-A-Model-for-Low-Carbon-Innovation-1st-Edition/Nemet/p/book/9780367136598"><em>How Solar Energy Became Cheap</em></a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WV629d">
Technologies like wind turbines, photovoltaic panels, and lithium-ion batteries saw huge price drops in part because it was easy to build a lot of them, so small improvements in performance had big ripple effects. If smaller nuclear reactors could achieve even a fraction of these cost declines, they could finally push the cost curve of nuclear power in the other direction.
</p>
<h3 id="TZsK25">
Its not clear how much advanced nuclear will cost
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vRBZQ6">
Balancing the books may prove to be a bigger obstacle for nuclear power than splitting the atom.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4LfzB8">
A new report from the <a href="https://www.nationalacademies.org/our-work/laying-the-foundation-for-new-and-advanced-nuclear-reactors-in-the-united-states">National Academy of Engineering</a> says the economics of nuclear power “is perhaps the largest challenge to the commercial success of advanced reactors.” Advanced nuclear reactors are especially tricky to game out.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QuGaJF">
“Let me just say that anyone making estimates of what it will cost to produce electricity from these power plants has got to have a whole series of embedded assumptions, theres a lot of uncertainty,” said <a href="https://www.cov.com/en/professionals/m/richard-meserve">Richard Meserve</a>, a former chair of the nuclear regulatory commission and a co-author of the report, during a briefing about the report.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uT2TjJ">
Another big issue is that most countries still dont have a long-term solution for dealing with nuclear waste, which can remain hazardous for hundreds of years. Its a huge technical and political problem.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MoN2TQ">
And while there is more demand for clean energy, interest rates are rising, making it more expensive to borrow money to build anything, let alone financially risky novel reactors. INLs Wagner noted that US reactor construction halted in the 80s due in part to high interest rates at the time. “When interest rates go to 10, 12, 15 percent, what happens? Youve got cost overruns,” he said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0JNzMZ">
At the same time, the world is about to overrun its carbon budget and <a href="https://www.vox.com/climate/23648274/climate-change-report-ipcc-ar6-warming-overshoot">overshoot the goal of limiting warming</a> to less than 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit (1.5 degrees Celsius) this century.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="eeljbr">
The US has now committed to cutting its <a href="https://www.vox.com/22397364/earth-day-us-climate-change-summit-biden-john-kerry-commitment-2030-zero-emissions">greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030</a> compared to 2005 levels. Its unlikely that new nuclear power plants will make much progress toward that goal, now less than seven years away. But the US and more than 130 countries in the world want to eliminate their contributions to climate change entirely by 2050. That goal demands far cleaner, more abundant, and reliable energy than we have now.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="d1wxEE">
Nuclear could help the world achieve this. Its a risky and expensive investment, but the foundations for this future have to be laid now.
</p></li>
<li><strong>The fight to make it harder for landlords to evict their tenants</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="A protester holds a sign that reads “No eviction! Good cause!” at a housing justice march in New York City." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/PYQ9W4K7bT2D-gQBbEKRj4DolJk=/0x943:2500x2818/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72237303/1364686227.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
Pablo Monsalve/VIEWpress via Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Landlords can kick renters out of housing for basically any reason. “Good cause” laws would change that.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="F1tWFs">
In most US communities, renters have very little assurance of staying in their homes long term if theyd like to. Landlords can hike rents, evict tenants through court with little difficulty, or simply choose to not renew their lease. Nearly <a href="https://www.newamerica.org/future-land-housing/reports/displaced-america/">5 million Americans</a> lose their homes through eviction and foreclosure every year, and millions more deal with threats of housing loss.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2xz9ee">
In July 2021, local lawmakers in Albany approved <a href="https://nysfocus.com/2021/07/21/albany-passes-good-cause-eviction/">New Yorks first “good cause” eviction law</a> — a city ordinance affirming tenants right to renew their leases, defining what could lead to eviction, and protecting<strong> </strong>them against “unconscionable” rent hikes exceeding 5 percent. Within a few months, four more upstate New York cities — <a href="https://hudsonvalleyone.com/2022/01/13/good-cause-eviction-passes-kingston-common-council/">Kingston</a>, <a href="https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/hudson-valley/public-safety/2021/10/26/newburgh-good-cause-eviction-law-passes">Newburgh</a>, <a href="https://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/news/local/2021/11/16/poughkeepsie-passes-good-cause-eviction-law-protect-tenants/8637589002/">Poughkeepsie</a>, and <a href="https://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/news/local/2022/03/08/good-cause-eviction-beacon-passes-why-debated/9428908002/">Beacon</a> — followed suit.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8QL0m5">
But tenant advocates didnt have long to celebrate. Landlords challenged the measures in court,<strong> </strong>arguing the local laws<strong> </strong>violated their state<strong> </strong>property rights. In three separate rulings over the last six<strong> </strong>months, the courts agreed, and “good cause” laws in Newburgh, Albany, and Poughkeepsie were<strong> </strong>struck down. Kingston lawmakers <a href="https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailyfreeman.com%2F2023%2F04%2F20%2Fkingston-committee-votes-to-repeal-citys-good-cause-eviction-law-as-other-local-laws-have-been-struck-down%2F%23%3A%7E%3Atext%3DPUBLISHED%253A%2520April%252020%252C%25202023%2520at%2Cpassed%2520this%2520session%2520in%2520Albany">preemptively repealed</a> their own measure two weeks ago.<strong> </strong>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KP6FqW">
A statewide “good cause” eviction law is now at the heart of<strong> </strong><a href="https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/new-york-elections-government/ny-aoc-new-york-budget-good-cause-20230413-d5zr43ifhfelppfjkgddcyg7fi-story.html">one of the most high-profile battles</a> in New Yorks legislature. It mirrors the growing focus of housing advocates across the country, who argue lawmakers need to do more to prevent <a href="https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hpb20210315.747908/">the harms clearly linked</a> to losing ones home, including <a href="https://academic.oup.com/socpro/article-abstract/63/1/46/1844105?login=false">higher job loss</a>, <a href="https://www.urban.org/policy-centers/cross-center-initiatives/opportunity-ownership/projects/cost-eviction-and-unpaid-bills-financially-insecure-families-city-budgets">debt</a>, <a href="https://jech.bmj.com/content/70/4/409">suicide</a>, and reduced <a href="https://cowles.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/pub/d21/d2186.pdf">credit access</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9jwq16">
Similar state-level “good cause” measures have passed recently <a href="https://www.weho.org/city-government/rent-stabilization/rental-housing/ab-1482-california-tenant-protection-act#:~:text=Starting%20January%201%2C%202020%20AB,units%20subject%20to%20the%20RSO.">in California</a>, <a href="https://www.oregonlandlord.net/landlord-tenant-law/legislation-sb-608-pcc-30-01-085/">Oregon</a>, and <a href="https://www.opb.org/article/2021/05/10/wash-governor-signs-bill-requiring-just-cause-eviction/">Washington state</a>, and legislators in <a href="https://kdvr.com/news/local/just-cause-eviction-bill-passes-colorado-house/">Colorado</a>, <a href="https://www.ctinsider.com/news/article/CT-rent-cap-tenant-union-no-cause-eviction-17713934.php">Connecticut</a>, and <a href="https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/hb0881?ys=2022RS">Maryland</a> have taken up the idea this year, too.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JuAnwV">
Landlord groups argue “good cause” eviction rules will upend the housing market during an already volatile period, and slow down <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy/23595421/biden-affordable-housing-shortage-supply">much-needed new construction</a>. Supporters of the protections say this is just real estate industry<strong> </strong>fear-mongering, noting that in states that have already passed “good cause” eviction laws, construction has continued apace.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nJks9X">
No state has had a “good cause” ordinance longer <a href="https://slate.com/business/2022/02/new-york-good-cause-eviction-new-jersey-housing.html">than New Jersey,</a> which passed its own version in 1974.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oQF8I1">
“Theres a thriving rental market in New Jersey, it has not collapsed by any stretch of the imagination,” said Peter Hepburn, a sociologist at Rutgers University-Newark and an analyst at <a href="https://evictionlab.org/">Princetons Eviction Lab</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Bj8K7V">
Julia Salazar, the New York senator leading the push in her state legislature for “good cause” eviction, said opposition is led largely by those “who want to exploit the need people have to be housed.” She argued theres been a lot of misinformation about her bill.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KpPiy1">
“No one is saying we have enough housing stock or we dont need to build, and I believe we urgently need to build more housing,” she told Vox. “If good cause were in fact any impediment to that then I would certainly be concerned, but the reality that weve seen in states like New Jersey and Oregon is its just not.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="W2s2Qd">
However, whether these laws will provide the kind of protection advocates yearn to see is not clear, since many common reasons for eviction — like being a nuisance or damaging property — are listed as “good causes” in the statutes. Theres also been little<strong> </strong>research on the effectiveness of the laws in the states that have recently passed them, partly because theyre so new and partly because its challenging to disentangle the effect of “good cause” from all the other Covid-19 tenant protections.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qNAZDV">
In New Jersey, advocates concede, “good cause” has not been a strong deterrent<strong> </strong>against evictions, partly because <a href="https://www.nj.gov/dca/divisions/codes/codreg/pdf_regs/2A_18_61.pdf">its language barring “unconscionable” rent increases</a> lacks a specific threshold (like 5 percent, for example), making enforcement difficult.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2nsgOE">
“The note of caution I would sound is that every good cause statute permits eviction for nonpayment of rent,” said Hepburn. “And nonpayment of rent is far and away <a href="https://www.apartmentlist.com/research/rental-insecurity-the-threat-of-evictions-to-americas-renters">the most common cause</a> that evictions are filed.”
</p>
<h3 id="mGPPlD">
How “good cause” eviction laws work
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ooBD24">
Laws requiring “good cause” for eviction (sometimes called “just cause” or simply eviction “for cause”) are tenant protections meant to give renters a greater sense of housing security and empower them to hold landlords accountable for poor conditions without fear of retaliation.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="P7uK84">
The laws vary from place to place but they always include specific reasons a landlord could choose to legally evict a tenant or opt not to renew their lease. A tenant can then challenge an eviction in court if they feel it was ordered without legitimate cause.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NkkC0s">
The National Low Income Housing Coalition lists <a href="https://nlihc.org/sites/default/files/Promoting-Housing-Stability-Through-Just-Cause-Eviction-Legislation.pdf">three core components</a> of “good cause” legislation. Beyond defining the legal grounds for an eviction, advocates say most place limits on rent increases (some of these limits are vaguer than others), and most laws also include enhanced requirements for written eviction notices, so tenants have enough time to gather any documentation they need to challenge it. In Oregon, for example, landlords have to provide a tenant they want to evict with 90 days notice.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Yj9phO">
While there has not been much research to date on the impact of “good cause” eviction laws, some evidence suggests they make a difference. <a href="https://jpia.princeton.edu/news/effect-just-cause-eviction-ordinances-eviction-four-california-cities">One study found</a> local “good cause” ordinances in four California cities lowered eviction rates between 2000 and 2016. The researcher concluded the measures “have a significant and noticeable effect on eviction and eviction filing rates” and provide a low-cost policy solution for other states and cities.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ywBWnn">
Ned Resnikoff, the policy director for California YIMBY, said he doesnt believe theres any reliable data yet on Californias statewide “good cause” measure that took effect in 2020, partly because some eviction moratoriums remain in effect. “But the Terner Center has <a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__ternercenter.berkeley.edu_wp-2Dcontent_uploads_2022_09_AB1482-2DBrief-2DFinal.pdf&amp;d=DwMFaQ&amp;c=7MSjEE-cVgLCRHxk1P5PWg&amp;r=qZLA9xQgGlxUr0U6NvKAiy6fS-EwRVQRODHMm2i1d9M&amp;m=JKewnFqXSl4soWGld4LzoUlkriMxTQOvbB34aGMxjpubrrhPg3U4UPD4br12TDhl&amp;s=EIoPTe2Vsc1-cjQs7UOreJ3z5A-qFb37ubMNSVjOPlg&amp;e=">found</a> that the rent stabilization piece of [the law] isnt being adequately enforced, so I think its reasonable to surmise that we might face a similar issue with just cause protections,” he told Vox.
</p>
<h3 id="f7qVYU">
Progressives are throwing their weight behind the fight in New York
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="itkFDM">
Progressive activists have named “good cause” eviction <a href="https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/new-york-elections-government/ny-aoc-new-york-budget-good-cause-20230413-d5zr43ifhfelppfjkgddcyg7fi-story.html">a top priority</a> for this year, and powerful congressional Democrats including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Jerry Nadler, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries have also come out in support.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jhSoy4">
The bill would bar rent increases that exceed 3 percent of the previous rental amount, or 1.5 percent of the Consumer Price Index, whichever is higher. This could provide significant protection: Even among New York Citys 1 million rent-stabilized apartments, tenants are looking at rent increases for next year that could range <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/20/nyregion/rent-stabilized-apartments-nyc.html#:~:text=by%2016%20Percent%3F-,Here's%20What%20to%20Know.,%2Dyear%20leases%20%E2%80%94%20are%20unlikely.">between 5 and 16 percent</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="t04MAC">
New Yorks bill would go further in protecting tenants than the “good cause” laws that passed on the West Coast, as New Yorks proposed limits on rent increases would apply not only to old units, but also to new and future housing.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Jzgw4b">
The Community Service Society of New York, a progressive advocacy group, estimates that <a href="https://www.cssny.org/news/entry/good-cause-eviction-resources-information">1.6 million New York households</a> would be protected from eviction based on unreasonable rent increases under Salazars bill.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Plywfw">
<a href="https://www.thecity.nyc/housing/2023/3/28/23659366/chinese-landlords-good-cause-eviction-democrats">Landlords</a> are <a href="https://www.thecity.nyc/housing/2022/2/15/22936346/landlords-wage-crusade-against-good-cause-anti-eviction-bill">fighting back</a>, arguing the eviction moratorium from the pandemic already put them under severe financial strain, will lead to more backlogged court cases, and will leave them financially vulnerable in an inflationary period. The right-leaning New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/03/24/progressives-good-cause-eviction-bill-spells-doom-for-nyc-housing/">blasted the proposed law</a> for potentially discouraging new housing and driving existing landlords out of business.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ULUhfT">
Tim Foley, the CEO of the Building and Realty Institute, which represents Westchester and mid-Hudson region real estate professionals, told Vox his members worry it will hurt their ability to get financing to complete their projects. He pointed out that banks, including <a href="https://www.bankrate.com/banking/signature-bank-collapse/">the recently collapsed</a> Signature Bank, <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/signature-banks-new-york-real-estate-problem/">paused or stopped lending</a> following the passage of New Yorks 2019 state tenant protections. His organization also found repairs and maintenance in rent-stabilized units decreased after the 2019 law,<strong> </strong>suggesting <a href="https://www.realestateindepth.com/news/new-study-concludes-2019-rent-laws-having-tangible-and-unintended-consequences-on-county-buildings/">there could be “unintended consequences”</a> to the tenant rights law.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0S90UL">
Foley said his members instead back bills <a href="https://nyassembly.gov/leg/?default_fld=%0D%0A&amp;leg_video=&amp;bn=1493&amp;term=2023&amp;Summary=Y&amp;Actions=Y&amp;Committee%26nbspVotes=Y&amp;Floor%26nbspVotes=Y&amp;Memo=Y&amp;Text=Y">to expand legal representation for low-income New Yorkers</a> during eviction proceedings (known as “right to counsel”) and to <a href="https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/central-ny/ny-state-of-politics/2023/02/14/statewide-housing-voucher-bill-advances-in-new-york-assembly">expand access to housing vouchers</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="k4mmkI">
Ann Korchak, the board president of Small Property Owners of New York, a landlord advocacy group with roughly 600 members, told Vox she believes her state “already has incredibly strong tenant protections” and disagrees with advocates who say otherwise.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wVA9jz">
Salazar told Vox she sees Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul as their biggest political obstacle, and <a href="https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/new-york-elections-government/ny-aoc-new-york-budget-good-cause-20230413-d5zr43ifhfelppfjkgddcyg7fi-story.html">previously indicated</a> shes open to making modifications to her bill. Lawmakers tried and failed to pass a similar bill in 2019, but Salazar thinks there are more elected officials now who embrace a “housing justice” platform.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7EWdTB">
Hochul, who introduced <a href="https://www.governor.ny.gov/programs/new-york-housing-compact">her own housing agenda</a> earlier this year, has thus far signaled disinterest in the proposed “good cause” eviction bill, though her proposals <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/04/kathy-hochuls-plan-for-affordable-housing-was-doomed.html">have failed to gain traction</a> and pressure remains for lawmakers to do something on the affordability crisis.
</p>
<h3 id="qvnXS6">
Evictions are life-altering and preventable
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SrSlaJ">
Despite research showing harms related to eviction,<strong> </strong>it wasnt until the pandemic that the government stepped up to help families avoid this traumatic experience. One of the most significant Covid-19<strong> </strong>social policy developments was the <a href="https://www.vox.com/23140987/evictions-housing-rent-assistance-erap-tenant">creation of the federal Emergency Rental Assistance Program</a>, which authorized $46.5 billion to help people stay housed. More<strong> </strong>than half of states passed their own eviction prevention measures as well.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RBPb2v">
But now emergency rental aid has mostly tapped out, state and local eviction moratoriums have mostly expired, and <a href="https://www.bennet.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2021/6/bennet-portman-brown-and-young-reintroduce-bipartisan-legislation-to-tackle-the-eviction-crisis">a federal bill</a> to establish a permanent eviction prevention fund died in Congress.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RviF4H">
Advocates say “good cause” measures, especially since they can be passed at little cost to governments, represent a meaningful<strong> </strong>interim step lawmakers can take now as they continue fighting for more rental assistance, <a href="https://www.vox.com/22547660/section-8-housing-vouchers-landlords-realtors-lawsuit-century-21-keller-williams-realty">source-of-income discrimination bans</a>, and right to counsel. To make “good cause” ordinances more effective, tenant advocates say local courts and legislators must also develop stronger enforcement mechanisms, including better ways to track and analyze eviction filings and judgments. The National Low Income Housing Coalition also emphasizes the need to pass “equitable marketing strategies” that can help tenants learn how to exercise their rights.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tmHDR2">
Hepburn, of Rutgers and the Eviction Lab, said “good cause” eviction measures are worthy ideas, especially in a place like New York, which has the <a href="https://www.move.org/states-with-highest-lowest-owner-occupied-homes/">highest share of renters</a> among all 50 states. Yet he noted the unfortunate reality that gaps in housing security between blue and red states continue to widen.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="d3G1PD">
“These laws should happen, but it should be noted that where theyre passing are in places that have tenant protections already,” he said. “These bills are not coming up in places like South Carolina, like Virginia, like Georgia. How do we do something like this in Indiana?”
</p></li>
<li><strong>Save the male chicks</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="A close-up of a baby chick with a black background. " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/XHcyvA76laOSfw9zvwMWQtKdi_k=/240x0:4016x2832/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72237227/GettyImages_185284289.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
mericsso/Getty Images/iStockphoto
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The egg industry brutally grinds up billions of male chicks each year because they cant lay eggs. But new tech could change that.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GvXXmK">
Even the most clueless consumer likely suspects that all is not well on the big factory farms that raise animals for food, but let me share the details of one practice with which you might be unfamiliar: Every hour, across the world, around <a href="https://www.fwi.co.uk/livestock/poultry/layers/what-the-poultry-sector-is-doing-to-address-male-chick-culling">742,000</a> freshly hatched male chicks are born. A <a href="https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/ATAG/2022/739246/EPRS_ATA(2022)739246_EN.pdf">few hours later</a>, theyre <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZEsElYyO0Y">tossed into a grinder</a>, which kills them instantly, or gassed with carbon dioxide, which knocks them unconscious before killing them. (Rarer methods include <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFJPWknSEtk">burning</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070927010751/http://www.agri.gov.il/AGEN/Reports/Shamir001.html">electrocution</a>, <a href="https://www.fwi.co.uk/livestock/poultry/layers/animal-rights-group-films-chick-maceration-french-hatchery">suffocation</a>, and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFJPWknSEtk">drowning</a>).
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CG18ZF">
While the female chicks go on to lay the more than <a href="https://www.internationalegg.com/resource/global-egg-production-continues-to-grow/#:~:text=There%20is%20a%20large%20variation,eggs%20per%20person%20per%20year.">1.2 trillion eggs</a> humans consume annually, <a href="https://www.fwi.co.uk/livestock/poultry/layers/what-the-poultry-sector-is-doing-to-address-male-chick-culling">6.5 billion</a> male chicks each year are hatched, only to be quickly snuffed out. Thats because they dont lay eggs, so theyre of no use to the egg industry, and because they dont grow as big and fast as other chicken breeds, theyre of no use to the chicken meat industry. Even though culling costs egg producers an estimated <a href="https://foundationfar.org/programs/egg-tech-prize/">$500 million</a> a year, it makes more economic sense to just kill the males on day one, rather than spend an additional dollar raising them.
</p>
<div class="c-float-right">
<div id="vWyJig">
<div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Q64Eo1">
<a href="https://london.ctvnews.ca/undercover-video-brings-unwanted-attention-to-hanover-chick-hatchery-1.1777604">Undercover</a> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/19/animal-rights-activists-call-for-ban-after-video-shows-male-chicks-being-shredded">investigations</a> into hatcheries have drawn some public attention to male chick culling, enough that in recent years a number of European countries, including Germany and France, have gone so far as to ban the practice, giving hatcheries and egg producers a few options: raise male chicks for meat (albeit inefficiently), raise <a href="https://blog.meyerhatchery.com/2018/08/5-dual-purpose-breeds-to-consider/">“dual-purpose”</a> breeds (ones that lay a relatively moderate number of eggs and grow to a moderate size), import hens from neighboring countries, or shut down operations.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lJSqB3">
But theres another option: They can use emerging technology to identify the sex of the chick while still in the egg so they can destroy it before it hatches, before the chick can feel pain.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/zFPoEsFHbpxnP5jm-dOMROdxaBs=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24617878/WAM8052.jpg"/> <cite>Luis Tato/<em>Hidden: Animals in the Anthropocene</em>/We Animals Media</cite>
<figcaption>
Workers sort hours-old chicks on a conveyor belt at a chicken hatchery in Spain.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kyJkwD">
That last possibility has gained momentum in recent years. Since 2019, <a href="https://animallaweurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Animal-Law-Europe-%E2%80%93-Chick-Killing-Report-2023.pdf">five</a> <a href="https://www.hendrix-isa.com/en/news/hendrix-genetics-and-orbem-have-announced-the-successful-launch-of-mri-based-technology-for-in-ovo-sexing-poultry-eggs-on-a-commercial-scale/">companies</a> have managed to commercialize in-ovo — meaning in egg — sexing technology that enables them to identify the sex of the chick around either day nine or day 12/13 from when the egg incubation starts, depending on the approach. Such advances have already saved tens of millions of male chicks from being born, only to be swiftly culled. Its estimated that <a href="https://www.animalinnovation.org/blog/market-snapshot-in-ovo-egg-sexing">10 to 20 percent</a> of Europes hen flock now comes from cull-free hatcheries.<strong> </strong>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="iyVMd8">
But theres a catch: Scientists believe that chick embryos could potentially feel pain as early as <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/22374193/eggs-chickens-animal-welfare-culling">day seven</a> of their 21-day incubation period. That means that even with the most advanced in-ovo sexing, male chick embryos could still be experiencing suffering.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cQUuK4">
A <a href="https://www.bmel.de/SharedDocs/Pressemitteilungen/DE/2023/036-schmerzempfinden-huehnerembryonen.html">new preprint study</a>, funded by the German government and conducted by researchers at the Technical University of Munich, provides some evidence that chicken embryos may not be capable of feeling pain until much later in the incubation period, after day 12.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dPzydc">
<a href="https://service.ble.de/ptdb/index2.php?detail_id=52203310&amp;ssk=673b20eafa&amp;site_key=141&amp;stichw=H%C3%BChnerembryonen&amp;zeilenzahl_zaehler=1#newContent">Researchers</a> applied potentially painful stimuli like heat and electricity to chicken embryos from day 7 to day 19 of their 21-day incubation, measuring their heart rate, blood pressure, brain activity, and movement, all in an effort to uncover whether the stimuli translated to experienced pain. Brain activity only began on day 13, movement from beak stimulation increased significantly on day 15, blood pressure increased significantly on day 16, heart rate jumped on day 17, and body movement increased significantly on day 18.
</p>
<aside id="n0r3dA">
<div>
</div>
</aside>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XGIVSM">
The findings arrive at a critical juncture for the effort to end the annual shredding and gassing of 6.5 billion male chicks. Beginning in 2022, <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/germany-bans-male-chick-culling-from-2022/a-57603148">Germany required</a> hatcheries to destroy male chick embryos prior to hatching, and <a href="https://www.bmel.de/SharedDocs/Pressemitteilungen/DE/2023/036-schmerzempfinden-huehnerembryonen.html">starting in 2024</a>, German hatcheries must destroy eggs containing male embryos before day seven of incubation. That would require in-ovo sexing technology that works earlier than any company has yet been able to commercialize.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1N9saA">
As a result of the new study, however, Germanys Ministry of Food and Agriculture has <a href="https://www.bmel.de/SharedDocs/Pressemitteilungen/DE/2023/036-schmerzempfinden-huehnerembryonen.html">suggested</a> the government will instead require hatcheries to destroy eggs before day 13, which means the companies that cull at days 9 and 12 are in the clear (Frances ban on chick culling, which went into effect in January of this year, starts on <a href="https://www.connexionfrance.com/article/French-news/50-million-male-chicks-saved-as-France-bans-egg-industry-from-culling">day 15</a>).
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4DajZU">
The study also provides clarity to policymakers elsewhere — Italys ban goes into effect in 2026 but doesnt yet stipulate a cull-day threshold, while the European Commission is <a href="https://www.euractiv.com/section/agriculture-food/news/commission-to-propose-eu-wide-phaseout-of-male-chick-killing/">expected</a> to eventually ban the practice continent-wide.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="E9MI2p">
But the German study may not be the final word. Future research could determine the pain threshold to be sooner or later than day 13.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0GMdhh">
“We have to see whether this will become the new consensus or whether more confirmatory research has to be performed,” said Matthias Corion and Simão Santos, leading in-ovo sexing researchers at the MeBioS division from the Department of Biosystems at the University of Leuven in Belgium, over email to Vox.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="s95Le9">
Animal advocates are cautiously optimistic. “I think that we need to be very flexible,” said Sharon Nuñez Gough, president of Animal Equality, an animal rights group that has campaigned in Europe to end male chick culling. “I think if [German policymakers] move it up to day 13 its wonderful … but there could be studies that come out in a couple of years that say no, its actually day 11 or its actually day 10.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XxWvOy">
Jörg Hurlin, managing director of in-ovo sexing company Agri-AT noted over email to Vox that the study leaves the door open to pain perception beginning even later: “[T]he scientists only say that from the 12th day of incubation, a pain sensation can no longer be excluded, but they do not prove it either.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NPrqPU">
Despite the scientific and political tailwinds behind efforts to phase out male chick culling, they face strong headwinds with the global egg industry under pressure to take on other costly issues, like converting barns to <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/22331708/eggs-cages-chickens-hens-meat-poultry">cage-free</a> and bringing <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/07/wholesale-egg-prices-have-collapsed-from-record-highs-in-december.html">record prices</a> down amid high inflation and a <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2022/11/22/23472207/bird-flu-vaccine-turkey-prices-chickens-hens-cull-depopulation">deadly bird flu</a> outbreak that has resulted in the death of tens of millions of hens.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JgU0gs">
Those challenges aside, ending the culling of 6.5 billion male chicks is a critical and doable low-hanging win for animal welfare — if the technology can further advance.
</p>
<h3 id="iXmJBi">
Theres more than one way to sex an egg
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="iDeOb4">
One thing the in-ovo sexing field has going for it is that there are <a href="https://www.animalinnovation.org/blog/market-snapshot-in-ovo-egg-sexing">so many ways</a> to identify the sex of chickens before they hatch, which is why some <a href="https://animallaweurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Animal-Law-Europe-%E2%80%93-Chick-Killing-Report-2023.pdf">13 companies</a> and academic teams have sprung up over the last decade to turn their theories into workable technology.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="E8un4s">
Some companies employ noninvasive imaging to look inside the egg, which is what Agri-AT uses in its Cheggy machine, scanning 20,000 eggs per hour at nine hatcheries across Europe. Its fast and low-cost, but it only works for brown eggs, and it identifies the sex on day 13 — meaning the embryos could feel pain — though it can <a href="https://www.agri-at.com/en/products/in-ovo-sex-determination/stunny">stun</a> them prior to killing them, rendering them insensitive. It can also work on day 12, though its <a href="https://www.agri-at.com/presse/15-pressemitteilungen-in-ovo/234-cheggy-technologie-auch-an-tag-12-moeglich">less accurate</a>. The company is currently trialing a new approach with researchers at the Technical University of Dresden to identify the sex as early as between <a href="https://animallaweurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Animal-Law-Europe-%E2%80%93-Chick-Killing-Report-2023.pdf">day four</a> to day six of incubation.
</p>
<aside id="aHkFC5">
<div>
</div>
</aside>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qmOTjX">
<a href="https://www.hendrix-isa.com/en/news/hendrix-genetics-and-orbem-have-announced-the-successful-launch-of-mri-based-technology-for-in-ovo-sexing-poultry-eggs-on-a-commercial-scale/">Orbem</a>, another company that uses noninvasive imaging, recently deployed its technology in a French hatchery and says it works on day 12 and for both white and brown eggs.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="My6DLi">
Another approach is allantoic sampling, which entails making a tiny hole in the egg and extracting fluid for rapid analysis, not unlike the amniocentesis tests used on pregnant people. Its nearly <a href="https://www.seleggt.com/seleggt-milestones/">100 percent</a> effective as of around day eight or nine of incubation, though its slower and costlier than the imaging technology. Three companies in Europe have commercialized this approach and grocery shoppers in Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and elsewhere in Europe can find both eggs and egg-based products under the <a href="https://www.respeggt.com/en/">Respeggt brand</a> that come from supply chains free of male chick culling, with an additional cost of around one to three Euro cents per egg or more. (Aldi, one of the largest grocers in Europe and Germany, has <a href="https://www.aldi-nord.de/content/dam/aldi/germany/verantwortung/ALDI_National_Animal_Welfare_Purchasing_Policy_ENG.pdf.res/1571815025029/ALDI_National_Animal_Welfare_Purchasing_Policy_ENG.pdf">pledged</a> to phase out male chick culling from its egg supply in Germany, but declined to answer questions about the status of its progress.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OUJt5R">
And there are other approaches in the innovation pipeline. Late last year, an Israeli research center <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-63937438">successfully gene-edited DNA</a> into chickens so that when their eggs are exposed to blue light, the DNA is activated and the development of male embryos stops. Gene editing is potentially much cheaper and faster (once the technology is fully developed) than the other approaches, but it likely faces steep political hurdles: Many European countries have slow regulatory processes for genetically edited food, and the same consumers who might be willing to pay extra for cull-free eggs could balk at a gene-editing process. Its worth noting, however, that the eggs consumers eat wont be genetically altered — female embryos are genetically left untouched.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/dI5zJkf9FIGZ1DyBWDup7IwJULo=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24617894/Circuit_Line.jpg"/>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BWqGBQ">
“Farmers will get the same chicks they get today and consumers will get exactly the same eggs they get today,” one of the Israeli researchers <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-63937438">told the BBC</a>.
</p>
<h3 id="DyPL5W">
The promising if shaky start to the end of male chick culling
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yBOQzu">
Despite the burst of innovation, <a href="https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/202303.0288/v1">experts say</a> no single approach has yet met all six criteria hatcheries require to scale up: the ability to process a <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/369272127_Insights_and_Interpretation_of_the_Trends_for_in_ovo_Sexing_Technologies_in_Papers_and_Patents">high volume</a> of eggs (20,000 to 30,000) per hour, effective for both white and brown eggs, 98 percent or higher accuracy, low cost, sex identification early in the incubation period, and high hatchability rates. That has kept the egg industry from fully adopting any of them, and while regulation is coming down the pike (or already in place), lack of clarity about which day of incubation will be the cut-off further complicates matters.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NG2IHa">
“There is always a trade-off somewhere,” said Corion and Santos over email. “Hatcheries are reluctant to adopt a technology right away because these technologies are still in development and when they invest, they want it to hold for years.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GLWGay">
Robert Yaman of Innovate Animal Ag, a new organization based in the US that aims to speed up the development of animal welfare technology, said that while in-ovo sexing isnt where it needs to be, it will get there.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hqulZm">
“With any sort of industrial agricultural technology, it just takes time to roll out,” Yaman said. “Once the technology is ready, youre not going to see it in every country around the world the next day. Its going to take time to manufacture the equipment, to work on those commercial partnerships. And so I think if you look at the rate of progress and speed of uptake, its actually going very well.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KrHlci">
While its impressive that an estimated <a href="https://www.animalinnovation.org/blog/market-snapshot-in-ovo-egg-sexing">10 to 20 percent</a> of Europes hen flock now comes from cull-free hatcheries, a shift that occurred from 2019 to 2023, there have been some unexpected consequences to Germany and Frances laws.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Q9Psuq">
Public policy often lags behind technological change, but the case of male chick culling is the opposite: Germany banned the practice in 2019 (the ban went into effect in 2022) when the technology was just starting to go online in European egg hatcheries. While the technology has been adopted relatively quickly, and policymakers have moved uncharacteristically fast on the issue, many egg companies are holding out until the technology develops further — and have found loopholes around the law in the meantime.
</p>
<aside id="H3mBUU">
<div>
</div>
</aside>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9puQmI">
According to the German magazine <a href="https://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/kuekentoeten-warum-das-verbot-kein-erfolg-fuer-den-tierschutz-ist-a-a5b5d196-2a91-4a62-9a3b-7e237279df12">Der Spiegel</a>, many male chicks hatched in Germany were raised for meat, and at least 300,000 male chicks have been hatched and transported to other countries to be raised for meat, including Poland, where animal welfare standards are weaker. Many German egg producers are <a href="https://www.wattagnet.com/articles/42211-german-male-chick-culling-could-create-market-disadvantage">importing egg-laying hens</a> from the Netherlands to stock their farms.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6bNGf4">
Frances ban went into effect at the start of 2023, but egg producers <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230102-france-fails-to-end-culling-of-male-chicks">received permission</a> to continue culling male chicks from white chicken eggs as complying with the ban required the allantoic sampling approach, which is costlier. (Most eggs in France are brown; white eggs account for just a little over 10 percent of the egg supply — however, the company Orbem, which just launched, can sex both brown and white eggs). One animal rights group <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230102-france-fails-to-end-culling-of-male-chicks">called</a> the carve-out a “betrayal.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qdGnl6">
The US, by contrast, has moved far slower on the issue, with the only significant contribution coming from the Foundation for Food &amp; Agriculture Research — an organization that collaborates with industry and academia — and its <a href="https://foundationfar.org/programs/egg-tech-prize/">Egg-Tech Prize</a>, which is offering up to $6 million in prizes to in-ovo sexing researchers and startups. Open Philanthropy, a foundation that funds animal welfare initiatives, contributed up to <a href="https://www.openphilanthropy.org/grants/foundation-for-food-and-agriculture-research-egg-tech-challenge/">$3 million</a> to the contest.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FQhThJ">
In 2016, the United Egg Producers (UEP) — the US egg industrys main trade group — <a href="https://unitedegg.com/united-egg-producers-updated-statement-on-male-chicks-2/">called for the elimination</a> of male chick culling by <a href="https://www.vox.com/2016/6/9/11896096/eggs-chick-culling-ended">2020</a>, but in 2021 <a href="https://unitedegg.com/united-egg-producers-updated-statement-on-male-chicks-2/">said</a>, “[A] method that meets the food safety, ethical standards and scalable solutions needed for the United States is not yet available.” UEP declined responding to questions,<strong> </strong>but did recently tell <a href="https://agfundernews.com/egg-tech-prize-unclaimed-as-no-applicants-met-criteria">Ag Funder News</a> that nothing had changed since its 2021 statement. This means that American consumers, unlike their European counterparts, have no real way to buy eggs free of the taint of culling.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="u9cf9S">
However, USPoultry — an organization representing egg and poultry trade groups, including UEP — <a href="https://unitedegg.com/uspoultry-announces-funding-for-egg-tech-prize/">donated</a> toward the Egg-Tech Prize in 2020.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yoGH5a">
“You tend to think of the US as an innovation leader and technological leader but I think this is one area where were kind of falling behind,” Yaman said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="J5pFgS">
Carmen Uphoff, COO of Respeggt, said the company hopes to expand into the US soon and help pioneer a new higher-welfare egg category, like organic or cage-free.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tMWOpE">
“Hatcheries dont like to do chick culling, its just they didnt have any other solutions until now,” she said, later adding, “The technology is actually there and could be ordered … the market is ready.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Xwg11D">
As is the case with so many other animal welfare issues, the US is lagging years behind Europe. If that holds true on the matter of ending the brutal culling of billions of male chicks, Americas egg supply probably wont have cull-free eggs anytime soon. But if the technological and political progress continues at the pace it has, it could only be a matter of time until in-ovo sexing isnt just the more ethical choice for US egg producers, but also the more economical one.
</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Referees error in Dortmund vs Bayern Munich match casts pall on Bundesliga race; no help from VAR</strong> - The video assistant referee didnt intervene to award a penalty in Borussia Dortmunds game on April 28 as the team was held to a 1-1 draw, a result that could have a major impact on the title race</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Sanjam gets the better of Ritu in the first round</strong> -</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Premier League | Chelsea can learn from Arsenal rebuild, says Lampard</strong> - Chelseas 2-0 defeat by Brentford last week left them 12th in the standings, stumbling towards possibly their worst campaign since the 1993-94 season</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>For injury hit Satwik, this Asian championship title is a stepping stone for Olympics</strong> - For injury-hit R. Satwiksairaj, it has never been easy to stage those comebacks given the kind of mental and physical challenges he has to face</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Keralas iconic Thrissur Pooram held in full grandeur featuring Lionel Messi during Kudamattam</strong> - During the Kudamattam the Thiruvambady side stole the show with a display of an impressive, illuminated cutout of Argentinian football legend Lionel Messi holding the World Cup</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>After Bihar, Odisha govt. begins Backward Class survey</strong> - The social and educational conditions of 208 OBC communities enlisted by the State government will be collected during the survey</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Congress MP Rahul Gandhi asks why Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not mention B.S. Yediyurappa, Basavaraj Bommai in his speeches in Karnataka</strong> - Rahul Gandhi addressed a rally at Arsikere in Hassan district</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Nitish will fail in uniting opposition, says Kushwaha; pledges not to merge Party</strong> - Mr. Kushwaha claimed that his entire attempt will have no outcome and he is just trying to make the perception of the oppositions unity which will ultimately fail</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Watch | This cattle fair in Tamil Nadu goes back over 1,000 years</strong> - A video on the 1,000-year-old Kannapuram Cattle Festival at Kangeyam near Coimbatore.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Here are the big stories from Karnataka today</strong> - Welcome to the Karnataka Today newsletter, your guide from The Hindu on the major news stories to follow today. Curated and written by Nalme Nachiyar</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Ukraine war: Russia launches second pre-dawn missile attack in three days</strong> - The city of Pavlohrad, a logistics hub, was hit ahead of a much-anticipated Ukrainian counter-offensive.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Pope Francis urges Hungarians to open doors to migrants</strong> - The pontiff addressed up to 100,000 people, including Hungarys nationalist PM Viktor Orban.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Bulgari store in Paris robbed in broad daylight</strong> - Video shows suspects making a getaway on motorbikes from the citys flagship Bulgari store.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Napoli 1-1 Salernitana: Hosts forced to wait for first Serie A title in 33 years after draw</strong> - Napoli are forced to wait for their first Serie A title in 33 years after a 1-1 draw with Salernitana at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Portugal: Four dead after suspected pigeon racer dispute</strong> - A man in Portugal reportedly shot three people before killing himself in a feud related to pigeons.</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Those scary warnings of juice jacking in airports and hotels? Theyre nonsense</strong> - Juice jacking attacks on mobile phones are nonexistent. So why are we so afraid? - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1935117">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Driving across the American West in techno-excess with the BMW XM</strong> - “Hey Batman, turn on the seat massage.” - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1935214">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Curious about screen-based fitness machines? Here are the best weve found</strong> - We tried the most interesting devices on the market to see whats worth your dollar. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1934016">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>An ominous heating event is unfolding in the oceans</strong> - Average sea surface temperatures have soared to record highs—and stayed there. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1935397">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Sensitive data is being leaked from servers running Salesforce software</strong> - Theres disagreement about how easy it is to configure Salesforce Community. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1935543">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Three nuns die in a car accident and arrive at the pearly gates.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
St. Peter says to the first nun, “Sister, youve lead an exemplary life, performed many good deeds, feed the hungry, cared for the sick. Do you have anything to confess before I let you in to heaven?” The nun looks serious and answers him, “St. Peter, I have to confess something. Once, when I was a young novice and naive about the world, I gave a man a hand job in the confessional.” St. Peter is surprised, but he tells her, “Well, sister, that was one tiny mistake in a lifetime of pious service. Wash your hands in the holy water, say 10 hail Marys and you can go on in to heaven.” Seeing all this, the third nun in line taps the sister in front of her and says, “Sister, would it be ok if I cut in front of you in line?” The second nun says, “well, certainly sister, but why?” The third nun replies “I want to gargle that holy water before you stick your ass in it.”
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Necessary_Web4029"> /u/Necessary_Web4029 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/133v7zv/three_nuns_die_in_a_car_accident_and_arrive_at/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/133v7zv/three_nuns_die_in_a_car_accident_and_arrive_at/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Your momma so ugly…</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
She went into a haunted house and came out with a job application
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Sharpguy6559"> /u/Sharpguy6559 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1344ed8/your_momma_so_ugly/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1344ed8/your_momma_so_ugly/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Is it ok for me to start drinking as soon as the kids are at school?</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Or does that make me a bad teacher?
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/TackyKnacky"> /u/TackyKnacky </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1348wwp/is_it_ok_for_me_to_start_drinking_as_soon_as_the/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1348wwp/is_it_ok_for_me_to_start_drinking_as_soon_as_the/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>So I broke up with my handicapped girlfriend and stole her wheelchair..</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
But guess who came crawling back!!?!
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/BarryMcCockenor"> /u/BarryMcCockenor </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/134jdvz/so_i_broke_up_with_my_handicapped_girlfriend_and/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/134jdvz/so_i_broke_up_with_my_handicapped_girlfriend_and/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Two asexuals are sitting in a tree</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
S-I-T-T-I-N-G
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Doctor__Hammer"> /u/Doctor__Hammer </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/133xkuh/two_asexuals_are_sitting_in_a_tree/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/133xkuh/two_asexuals_are_sitting_in_a_tree/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
</ul>
<script>AOS.init();</script></body></html>