Latest news with #WesternHemisphere
Bloomberg
4 hours ago
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Under New Leadership, OAS Is Determined to Show Progress on Haiti
Amid pressure from Washington to resolve the crisis in Haiti, the new head of the Western Hemisphere's top multilateral organization pledged to work with the United Nations and international donors to chart a roadmap for peace in the violence-torn island nation. In an interview, Organization of American States Secretary General Albert Ramdin described finding a solution for Haiti as a 'moral obligation.'
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
This airborne toxin was discovered in the US for the first time
If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, BGR may receive an affiliate commission. A new study from researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder included a shocking revelation. According to this new paper, published in ACS Environmental Au, researchers detected an unexpected airborne toxin in US air for the first time. The toxins in question are known as Medium Chain Chlorinated Paraffins (MCCPs). These toxins are considered toxic organic pollutants, and this is the first time they've been discovered in the air in the Western Hemisphere. The reason these toxins are considered organic is because they tend to be found around wastewater. Today's Top Deals Best deals: Tech, laptops, TVs, and more sales Best Ring Video Doorbell deals Memorial Day security camera deals: Reolink's unbeatable sale has prices from $29.98 As a result, these airborne toxins can end up being released when wastewater is removed from liquid in a treatment plant. It can also end up in biosolid fertilizer, which is likely the reason that the researchers detected it, as they were set up near fields that utilize the fertilizer to help grow its crops. The researchers say they can't guarantee that is where the toxins came from. However, they believe that it is a reasonable explanation for why the MCCPs are ending up in the air. Because as the 'sewage sludges,' which is how the researchers referred to the biosolid fertilizers, are spread across the fields, the toxins could very easily be released into the air. The smaller cousins of these airborne toxins, known as Short Chain Chlorinated Paraffins (SCCPs), are currently policed by the Stockholm Convention, and the EPA in the United States since 2009, though it's unclear how much longer the EPA will continue to police these types of toxins following massive changes under the Trump administration. The toxins are known to travel long distances and remain in the atmosphere for long periods of time, making them harmful to human health. The researchers believe that by regulating the SCCPs, though, we may have inadvertently increased the amount of MCCPs in the environment. It is currently just a hypothesis, but the researchers note that regulating one thing often ends up with another product filling that space, as the item is still needed in products where it was useful. The researchers detailed their findings in the new study, highlighting that they measured the air near the fields 24 hours a day for one month. They found that there were new patterns that looked different from the standard chemical compounds found in the fertilizer. With some additional research, they discovered they were airborne toxins known as chlorinated paraffins. MCCPs are similar in makeup to PFAS, which are often known as 'forever chemicals' because of how long they take to break down. Now that researchers have measured MCCPs in the wild, it's time to dig deeper and see just how widespread the toxins have spread, and whether or not the concentration within the air changes each season. The researchers say that despite identifying them and knowing they exist, we still don't know much about what MCCPs do when in the atmosphere, or even how they might affect human health long-term. More research will be needed to figure out just how dangerous these airborne toxins are. More Top Deals Amazon gift card deals, offers & coupons 2025: Get $2,000+ free See the
Fox News
5 days ago
- Business
- Fox News
US needs a new Monroe Doctrine -- this time to guarantee AI dominance
In 1823, President James Monroe drew a firm line in the sand: the Western Hemisphere would be closed to further European interference and, most importantly, America's primary domain of industrial, political, and military control. The Monroe Doctrine, while audacious, proved effective and laid the groundwork for the Western Hemisphere as America's stepping stone to the rest of the world. America was not yet a superpower and could not enforce it alone, however. Instead, America aligned British naval dominance with our interests to build a coalition of opportunity. America asserted its position, secured a partner through alignment against common rivals, and laid the groundwork for its emergence as a global find ourselves at a similar inflection point. The battleground isn't about territory or shipping lanes, however. Today, it's about computing power and associated techno-industrial dominance. Given the rate of change and speed of adoption, the stakes are higher than ever. Artificial intelligence turns data centers into industrial hubs for exponential innovation. Today, a country's value lies not only in human capital and raw resources but also in hardware, the sovereignty to choose its own destiny, and control of the global AI technology ecosystem. To maintain dominance in this new era, America needs a new Monroe Doctrine, for AI: one founded on realism, committed to fostering hemispheric stability, and laser-focused on expanding our technological sphere of influence to secure the future. Export controls have become the default tool for U.S. policymakers attempting to contain China's rise in AI, but they are backfiring. Instead of crippling China, they have harmed America's most important tech company: NVIDIA. Its market share in China has plummeted from 95% to 50% in just four years, not due to superior Chinese competition, but because U.S. policy rendered the sale illegal. This created a vacuum in the world's second-largest AI market. Into that vacuum stepped Huawei, offering not only rival chips but also building an entire AI ecosystem from the ground up: rare earth mining, chip design, infrastructure, and models. They aren't just catching up. We're handing them the advantage. Rather than making ourselves an unreliable trading partner for countries eager to buy our most critical export, the U.S. should saturate the free world with American chips, which are hardened at the hardware level for security and compliance. This isn't merely about defeating China. It's about becoming the system that others rely on. The goal is to make our stack, our chips, our software, our standards, as indispensable as the dollar. Power comes from ubiquity, not scarcity. The Western Hemisphere remains America's home-field advantage. Leaders like Nayib Bukele in El Salvador and Javier Milei in Argentina are discarding outdated anti-American orthodoxies. They are pragmatic, growth-focused, and receptive to deeper cooperation. Now is the time to act. Nearshoring involves more than just mitigating supply chain risks; it represents an industrial strategy. The U.S. should concentrate on high-end manufacturing: data center infrastructure, power systems, and semiconductors. Meanwhile, our neighbors in the Americas can handle lower-margin but crucial production that supports AI infrastructure at a lower cost than China, along with enhanced trust and transparency. Mexico is among the most affordable locations globally for manufacturing and assembly. Artificial intelligence turns data centers into industrial hubs for exponential innovation. Today, a country's value lies not only in human capital and raw resources but also in hardware, the sovereignty to choose its own destiny, and control of the global AI technology ecosystem. Re-anchoring our hemisphere to America's AI ecosystem is how we create a foundation for the AI age, a Marshall Plan for computing, chips, and code. Let China maintain its Belt and Road of low-cost spyware. We'll develop a hemisphere of excellence and trust. Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan are the front lines of U.S.-China tech competition. Their fabrication facilities, standards, and developer ecosystems shape the global AI ecosystem. If we don't support them with open access to U.S. technology and customers for U.S. products, China will. China is willing, and increasingly able, to fill any vacuum we leave behind. And it's not just the big three who are part of the Ring of Fire. Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam are all in play. Each has a tense, complex relationship with Beijing and is actively seeking deeper tech and trade ties with the U.S. The window is open, but not forever. That means rethinking how we deploy tools like export controls and tariffs. Tariffs misalign incentives, punish allies, and raise the cost of the very inputs we need to reshore advanced manufacturing. Export restrictions that limit friendly access only help China's competitors build alternatives. Export controls and tariffs should hamper our adversaries, not our companies and platforms. Let's be clear: the primary goal isn't to slow China down. China is going to China. The goal is to stay ahead and play to our strength: open markets that scale. That's how we win. With America's AI lead established and our exports increasingly central to global tech supply chains, it's time to seize the moment, not squander it. If the goal is to contain China, rather than ceding market share and fueling anti-American resentment, then we need to reassess what AI means to us and the world. With America's AI lead solidified and our exports increasingly anchoring global tech supply chains, now is the moment to act boldly, not cautiously. If the goal is to contain China, not cede ground or fuel anti-American resentment, we must rethink what AI represents, not just as a tool, but as a geopolitical weapon of alignment. Misguided export controls and blanket tariffs don't protect us—they shrink U.S. market share, raise production costs, and hand China the time and space to build behind a wall of protectionism. That's not industrial strategy. That's industrial retreat. The solutions are simple. What's required is political will. If China achieves independent AGI and exports its standards to our current allies, we won't just lose influence; we'll lose the framework that made us a superpower. But if we establish the U.S. as the default AI stack, flood friendly markets with our computers, and build a hemispheric manufacturing base around it, we won't just hold the lead and we'll lock it in for a generation. The original Monroe Doctrine laid the groundwork for the American century. It worked because we had aligned allies and clear strategic priorities. In the AI era, we need the same: nearshored production, fortified Indo-Pacific alliances, and a trade regime that builds markets, not walls. That's how you make Beijing panic.
Bloomberg
13-06-2025
- Bloomberg
Big Waves and High Tides Can Be Just as Insidious as Hurricanes
A couple of days before Christmas last year, battered by heavy waves, the end of the half-mile-long Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf unexpectedly tumbled into Monterey Bay. A tourist magnet claiming to be the longest fully wooden structure of its kind in the Western hemisphere, the wharf was open for business when the collapse happened, forcing visitors and workers to evacuate. Two engineers and a project manager at the wharf's terminus fell in the water but escaped serious injury. Some heavy construction equipment and a large public restroom weren't so lucky.
Fast Company
10-06-2025
- Climate
- Fast Company
The June full moon tonight is also a low ‘strawberry moon.' Here's what that means and the best time to see it
The hit 1962 song 'Up on the Roof' reminds listeners that when the world is getting you down, 'at night the stars put on a show for free.' While not expressly stated in Carole King and Gerry Goffin's lyrics, it's implied that the moon gets in on the action and romance as well. About once a month, the night sky takes things to the next level with a full moon. June's offering, which is nicknamed the Strawberry Moon by the Old Farmer's Almanac, is extra special for those in the Western Hemisphere because its peak will be at its lowest in almost 20 years thanks to a major lunar standstill. Let's break down the science of it all before we discuss how best to view the nighttime spectacular. Strawberry Moon: What's in a name? The origin of the Strawberry Moon nickname comes from Native American culture and has nothing to do with the appearance of the full moon. The Algonquian, Ojibwe, Dakota, and Lakota people used the moniker because that's when the delicious summertime fruit is ripening and ready to be picked. This year, because of the moon's low position and the wildfires in Canada, the orb might actually have a pinkish tint. Why is the full moon so low this month? The Strawberry Moon is always low because of the time of year. The orb is always opposite the sun and June's full moon takes place around the same time as the summer solstice, when the sun is at its highest point. This year it is even lower because of a recent major lunar standstill. The Earth orbits the sun and the moon orbits the Earth, but in different planes. This 5 degree tilt impacts the appearance of the moon in the night sky. Every 18.6 years, this tilt goes through a cycle of change. When the moon is in the highest or lowest periods of this cycle, it is called a major lunar standstill. When is the best time to see the Strawberry Moon? The Strawberry Moon will reach peak illumination at 3:43 a.m. on Wednesday, June 11. If that seems too early, never fear, you can catch it this evening (Tuesday, June 10) and it will already appear full to the naked eye. There's no need to lose any sleep. In fact, thanks to the moon illusion—the phenomenon that makes the orb seem bigger near the horizon because our brains compare it to nearby objects, such as trees and buildings—it is better to view it when it is rising: If you are in New York City, this takes place at 8:26 p.m ET Moon watchers in Los Angeles should look up at 8:05 p.m. PT. To find out when the moonrise occurs in your city, use this handy tool from TimeandDate. Once you know the optimal time, head up on a roof, preferably away from city lights and enjoy the show. Your cares might just drift right into space like King and Goffin promised.
