An artistic representation of a satellite in Earth’s orbit
Yusery Yilmaz/Shutterstock
In the event that all satellites ceased their ability to maneuver, a collision would likely happen in just 2.8 days, underscoring the dense nature of Earth’s orbital space.
Over the past seven years, the number of satellites has more than tripled, soaring from 4,000 to nearly 14,000. A significant factor driving this surge is SpaceX’s Starlink program, which currently includes over 9,000 satellites situated in low Earth orbit between 340 and 550 kilometers above our planet.
This dramatic rise necessitates that satellites frequently adjust their positions to avoid collisions, which could create thousands of metal fragments and make parts of Earth’s orbit unusable. This process is referred to as a collision avoidance maneuver.
Between Dec. 1, 2024, and May 31, 2025, SpaceX executed 144,404 collision avoidance maneuvers within the constellation, averaging one every 1.8 minutes, per company reports. Notably, there has only been one documented orbital collision. In 2009, a functioning satellite from Iridium Communications collided with a defunct Russian Cosmos satellite, leaving hundreds of debris scattered in orbit.
Sarah Thiele and researchers from Princeton University utilized publicly available satellite tracking data to simulate the impact of increasing satellite numbers on collision risk. They introduced a novel measure named the Collision Realization And Significant Harm (CRASH) Clock to evaluate this risk. The title draws parallels to the well-known Doomsday Clock, which symbolizes the imminent threat of nuclear warfare. “We discussed it extensively,” he notes. Samantha Lawler, another team member from the University of Regina in Canada, contributed to this effort.
Their findings revealed that if all satellites in orbit as of 2018 (prior to the inaugural Starlink launch in 2019) suddenly lost control, a collision would have been imminent within 121 days. Presently, due to the surge in operational satellites, this timeframe has drastically reduced to a mere 2.8 days.
“We were astonished by how short it was,” Thiele comments.
The 2.8 days assumes a scenario where an event—such as a severe solar storm—renders all satellites incapable of altering their trajectories. In May 2024, a significant solar storm caused some Starlink satellites to react dramatically. A recurrence of the Carrington Event, the strongest solar storm on record from 1859, might bring serious challenges; Wind Vatapally from Luxembourg’s SES Satellites believes not all satellites would be incapacitated at once. “It would be implausible for all of them to fail simultaneously,” he states.
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Indicators like the crash clocks serve to emphasize the congested state of Earth’s orbit, he remarks. Hugh Lewis from the University of Birmingham in the UK questions, “Can we keep piling on this precarious structure?” He adds, “The more elements you introduce, the greater the risk of a collapse when problems arise.”
With plans for tens of thousands more satellites to be launched in the coming years by SpaceX, Amazon, and various Chinese enterprises for their extensive constellations, it’s plausible that the CRASH clock will indicate an even shorter timeframe, raising the potential for collisions. “It’s quite frightening to consider,” Thiele adds.
The initial months of this year marked the highest incidence of weather and climate disasters on record in the United States, as revealed by a recent analysis from the nonprofit Climate Central.
This crucial information may have remained unknown to the general public. Earlier this spring, the Trump administration shut down the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s program that monitored weather patterns. This event resulted in damages exceeding $1 billion. Adam Smith, the researcher who spearheaded the analysis, left NOAA in response to this decision.
Following his departure, Climate Central, a research organization dedicated to studying climate change impacts, employed Smith to revamp a database with records dating back to 1980.
Their latest analysis indicates that 14 individual weather events caused damages exceeding $1 billion in the first half of 2025. The wildfires in Los Angeles during January represented the most expensive natural disaster thus far this year, incurring costs over $61 billion, making it the most destructive wildfire recorded.
These findings illustrate that the financial toll from weather and climate disasters continues to escalate as extreme weather events become more frequent and severe, while populations migrate to areas increasingly vulnerable to wildfires and floods.
The report serves as a testament to the shift towards nonprofit organizations taking over federal initiatives that traditionally monitored and measured the effects of climate change, particularly as the Trump administration moves to scale back climate science funding. President Trump labeled climate change as a “crook’s job,” and the administration has reduced funding for clean energy initiatives while stripping the Environmental Protection Agency of its ability to control greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to global warming.
Jennifer Brady, a senior data analyst and research manager at Climate Central involved in the project, noted that the staff was profoundly affected by the discontinuation of NOAA’s extensive disaster database, prompting them to take action.
“This has always been one of our most valued datasets. It narrates diverse stories. It articulates the narrative of climate change as well as the implications of where individuals reside and how they live at risk,” Brady stated. “I am ready to take it home.”
Kim Doster, a spokesperson for NOAA, expressed appreciation that the $1 billion disaster product has secured funding from sources other than taxpayers.
“NOAA remains committed to upholding ethical, unbiased research and reallocating resources to products that comply with executive directives aimed at restoring high standards in science,” Doster conveyed via email.
This database has been a source of political contention. House Republicans raised concerns with NOAA officials in 2024 regarding allegations of “deceptive data.” Recently, Senate Democrats proposed legislation to obligate NOAA to publish and update this dataset biannually, claiming it helps lawmakers in disaster funding decisions. However, this bill is currently stalled in committee and faces bleak prospects in the Republican-majority Senate.
Last month, officials from the Trump administration informed NBC News that NOAA terminated the database project due to uncertainty in accurately estimating disaster costs. The official highlighted that the project would incur annual costs of around $300,000, require considerable staff effort, and yield “pure information at best, with no clear objective.”
“This data is frequently utilized to bolster the claim that climate change enhances the frequency, severity, and expense of disasters, neglecting other factors like increased development in flood-prone and weather-sensitive areas as well as the cyclical variations in climate across different regions,” the official remarked at the time.
Despite this, Brady contends that the database has always acknowledged the significance of population shifts and climate change in exacerbating disaster costs.
She noted that Climate Central’s study employs the same methodologies and data sources as the NOAA database, including claims from the National Flood Insurance Program, NOAA storm event data, private insurance claims, and more.
This analysis captures the “direct costs” of disasters, such as damage to infrastructure, buildings, and crops, while omitting other considerations like loss of life, health-related disaster expenses, and economic losses to “natural capital” such as forests and wetlands. All data has been adjusted for inflation.
A recent evaluation of the first half of 2025 suggests that this year is on track to become the deadliest recorded year, despite the absence of hurricanes making landfall in the continental United States.
In the previous year, NOAA reported that $27 billion in disaster costs totaled around $182.7 billion, marking the second-highest total of billion-dollar disasters in the report’s history, following the figures from 2023.
Climate Central is not alone in its efforts to reproduce the work previously undertaken by the federal government as the Trump administration cut back on climate science.
A collective of dismissed NOAA employees established climate.us, a nonprofit successor to climate.gov, the former federal site that offered data and analyses to help the general public grasp climate issues. The site went offline this summer.
Edited by Rebecca Lindsay climate.gov. Before her termination in February, along with other NOAA colleagues who co-founded the nonprofit, Lindsay stated they had raised about $160,000 with plans to host climate.gov, where they will share their archives and begin publishing new articles on climate change in the upcoming weeks.
“We are preserving this information to ensure that when people seek answers about climate status, they can find them,” Lindsey asserted.
Both the American Geophysical Union and the American Meteorological Society have announced intentions to publish a special collection of studies focused on climate change, particularly after the Trump administration informed volunteer scientists working on the National Climate Assessment that their services were no longer required.
The administration dismissed employees from the U.S. Global Change Research Program, responsible for organizing the National Climate Assessment and coordinating climate research initiatives across various federal offices.
Walter Robinson, from the American Weather Society’s publication committee, highlighted that the National Climate Assessment was “effectively stopped” due to the government’s decision, which he described as an “abandonment” of federal duty.
Though the new collection cannot replace comprehensive assessments, it aims to consolidate the latest scientific understanding on climate change impacts within the United States, he added. The research will be featured in numerous scientific journals on an ongoing basis.
“Individuals are stepping up,” Robinson remarked regarding his group’s endeavors. “As scientists, we do our utmost.”
The National Weather Service is gearing up to deliver compromised forecasts. Scientists are advised to suspend all but essential travel, while university-based researchers report that a multi-million dollar federal grant for climate modeling has been abruptly withdrawn.
This represents a new standard within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the US’s primary weather and climate agency, as indicated by interviews with current and past personnel, along with research collaborators.
Six months into the new US administration, the ramifications of significant political shifts are becoming apparent. Although official budget discussions are ongoing, a quiet dismantling is already in progress. Employees warn this jeopardizes the agency’s capacity to safeguard the public against climate-related threats such as floods, wildfires, and hurricanes.
The repercussions extend beyond US borders. NOAA’s research and data underpin the initiatives of global organizations like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the World Weather Organization.
If the US steps back, other nations might need to fill that void, risking missed early warnings for imminent disasters. In fact, EU countries and academic institutions are already racing to recruit former NOAA staff in hopes of bridging the gap.
“It’s nothing but confusion and uncertainty,” said a current NOAA scientist with over 15 years of experience, as reported by BBC Science Focus. “Planning anything is incredibly challenging due to persistent unpredictability.”
Service Reductions and Research Loss
Earlier this year, the National Weather Service (NWS), a division of NOAA, entered into an agreement that led to a reduction of services at 122 weather offices nationwide, stemming from a significant staffing shortage after a wave of early retirements and layoffs.
Currently, public forecasts remain available. However, as wildfire and hurricane seasons peak, vulnerabilities in the system could quickly surface.
The NWS is permitted to hire meteorologists, hydrologists, and radar engineers to fill 450 critical vacancies, but former staff members caution that it might already be too late.
“Public safety is undeniably at risk due to a hastily executed process led by individuals who are overwhelmed by this new role in the NWS,” said meteorologist Alan Gerald, who spent 35 years with NOAA before accepting an early retirement package this year.
While recruitment and training could take months, the departure of senior personnel means lost institutional knowledge could be permanent, Gerald noted.
Even if staffing shortages are ultimately addressed, current personnel are warned that the repercussions may impact long-term preparedness. “What is sacrificed is the research aspect and our ability to continue advancing our modeling and prediction expertise,” stated NOAA scientists.
NOAA’s National Hurricane Centre provides crucial forecasts for tracking the paths of powerful storms, such as the devastating Hurricane Beryl in 2024. – Photo credit: Getty
External partners are already experiencing the consequences. A researcher associated with NOAA shared with BBC Science Focus that a multi-million dollar next-generation weather modeling initiative is now in jeopardy after losing federal backing.
“We’re already not perfect in our work,” the researcher remarked. “And with the climate changing, leading to more extreme events, if we don’t evolve accordingly, lives will be lost, property damage will escalate, and we risk missing critical storm warnings.”
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“Avoid the term climate.”
Internally, scientists have been instructed to halt all non-essential travel, including attending conferences, which are vital for collaboration across scientific disciplines. This policy was reportedly communicated verbally without formal documentation.
Several sources noted that oral directives have become the norm, often lacking written records.
Scientists added that there is growing reluctance to mention the term “climate.”
“While I’ve never been directly told, ‘Don’t publish this’ or ‘Don’t address climate,’ it’s implicit. For example, external funding guidelines suggest we approach topics differently,” explained a NOAA scientist. “So when working with external colleagues, we often hear ‘don’t mention climate and let’s frame this differently.’
This self-censorship is part of a broader crackdown on climate-related initiatives.
In April, the Commerce Department withdrew nearly $4 million in NOAA funding from Princeton University, effectively terminating three significant collaborative agreements aimed at predicting coastal flooding, sea-level rise, droughts, fires, and floods.
In a general statement, the department criticized one of the Princeton awards for promoting “unfounded and inflated climate threats” and creating “climate anxiety.” Another was deemed no longer aligned with the Trump administration’s priorities, justifying that it suggested significant fluctuations in water availability due to global warming.
The statement proceeded to describe changes in precipitation patterns and rising sea levels as “suspected” effects.
Protesters gathered at a rally outside NOAA Headquarters to protest recent staff reductions on March 3, 2025 – Credit: Getty
In May, NOAA’s Grant Management Department terminated the Northwest Climate Resilience Collaborative (NCRC), a University of Washington initiative that assisted rural communities and tribes in adapting to flooding and intensified heat.
Reports indicate that grants are being cut to “rationalize and reduce federal expenditures and size” since they no longer align with “program goals or agency priorities.”
Separately, the White House also slashed funds associated with the Sixth National Climate Assessment (NCA), despite legal mandates to prepare a comprehensive climate report every four years. Originally scheduled for release in 2028, its future now hangs in uncertainty.
“Part of this is a tactic to downplay the significance of the work being done,” remarked a NOAA scientist.
“For instance, we now refer to what we consider ‘climate’ as something broader than weather patterns. While we traditionally described forecasts as ‘climate,’ we’ve stopped using that term to avoid attracting attention to it.”
Erosion of Knowledge
Since the new administration took office, NOAA has lost around a fifth of its workforce, with over 1,000 employees, many holding senior leadership positions, opting for early retirement or buyouts this year.
“When experienced staff leave due to exhaustion, that’s one thing,” Gerald remarked. “But losing a significant portion of seasoned personnel is a different issue entirely.”
Morale has plummeted. Employees report that independent programs are being restructured or eliminated with little notice or explanation, and even if funding is restored, considerable damage may already be irreversible.
“We’re talking about a research infrastructure cultivated over 50 or 60 years,” Gerald stated. “That could essentially collapse within a year.”
Carl Gouldman, who recently led the US Integrated Ocean Observing Systems office within NOAA, echoes these concerns.
“The relationships and partnerships necessary for innovation and creating essential features are at substantial risk and may never recover,” he warned. “Humpty Dumpty is shattered, and you can’t reassemble him.”
Negotiations for NOAA’s 2026 budget are still proceeding. The White House’s proposal suggests a 40% cut in institutional funding. Alternate proposals from the House and Senate are more generous, but a compromise could still be months away.
However, Gerald is particularly worried about the interim actions of the administration. He recently referred to a public statement from Russ Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, who indicated that the administration “is not aligned with the legislative department’s understanding of its own authorities and responsibilities.”
“We still have a chance to reevaluate this and consider its implications,” Gerald said. “With climate change and the expanding human footprint—more people causing harm for various reasons—the demand for warnings and predictions is only escalating.”
NOAA has not responded to requests for comment.
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About Our Experts
Alan Gerald is a meteorologist with over 35 years of experience in issuing warnings and forecasts, focusing on reducing the social impacts of hazardous weather, water, and climate events. He has served for more than 20 years in senior leadership roles at NOAA and most recently was the director of analysis and understanding for the National Intense Storm Institute until March 2025.
Karl Golman is a recently retired director of NOAA’s US Integrated Ocean Observing Systems office, with 25 years of leadership experience in the agency. During his tenure at NOAA, he oversaw annual budgets ranging from $5 billion to $200 million.
As Texans look for solutions to flooding issues in the hill country, prominent meteorologists and policymakers are advocating for the creation of a disaster review board similar to the National Traffic Safety Commission, which investigates all civil aviation incidents and significant traffic occurrences.
The proposal for an independent committee to evaluate weather-related disasters is not a recent idea; however, it seems to have gained renewed momentum following floods in Texas that have claimed over 120 lives and left another 170 unaccounted for.
During a Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday for the head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Neil Jacobs expressed his support for the initiative when Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) inquired about how he would enhance public response to emergency weather notifications.
“We also need more data and need to conduct post-storm evaluations,” Jacobs stated. “I have been involved with some aviation incidents at the NTSB, and we’re looking at something similar here, requiring data to identify what went wrong, whether proper warnings were issued, and how to respond to weather-related disasters.”
Neil Jacobs in 2019. Get McNamee/Getty Images files
Lawmakers from both parties have taken the initiative.
In 2022, the House of Representatives passed legislation that included provisions for creating a Natural Disaster Safety Committee; however, it failed in the Senate.
Cassidy and Schatz did not respond immediately when asked whether they feel there is renewed momentum in Congress for establishing a disaster review panel. Notably, Porter is no longer serving in Congress.
In a communication to NBC News, the only meteorologist in Congress, Rep. Eric Sorensen (D-Ill.), indicated he is collaborating with colleagues to initiate an NTSB-style program to investigate severe weather events.
A flooded home in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Michael Appleton / New York Daily News / Getty Image File
“It would be incredible if meteorologists had access to research reports that could inform their future actions, regardless of past mistakes,” Sorensen remarked.
Illinois also faced significant flooding this week, with around five inches of rain descending in just 90 minutes at Garfield Park on Chicago’s west side, leading to multiple rescue operations.
The floods in Chicago and Texas were among four extreme rainfall events occurring within a week, events researchers describe as once-in-a-thousand-years occurrences.
The notion of an independent disaster review board has circulated within meteorological and disaster management circles for years. Mike Smith, a meteorologist and former senior vice president at Accuweather, has championed this concept since the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
On May 20, 2025, Donald Trump unveiled the Golden Dome, marking one of the most ambitious and contentious defense projects in US history.
The $175 billion initiative that Trump aims to implement before his term ends in January 2029 seeks to establish a comprehensive missile defense system designed to guard the United States against nuclear threats, including intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and advanced weaponry.
Inspired by Israel’s Iron Dome, the proposal envisions a global network of both terrestrial and space-based detectors and interceptors, enabling the destruction of enemy missiles in the atmosphere before they reach US soil.
While the administration has yet to clarify the operational details, critics argue that the concept is not only impractical but could also foster dangerous instability.
A New Era for Space
“The Golden Dome is reminiscent of a rebranded Strategic Defense Initiative,” says Dr. Michael Mulbihill, a researcher at Teesside University specializing in the geopolitical and technical ramifications of space weaponization. BBC Science Focus. “There are numerous political dynamics at play.”
The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), proposed by President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, aimed to create a US missile defense system using lasers, satellites, and other space-based technologies to intercept incoming Soviet missiles. Eventually, the project was abandoned due to concerns over its technical feasibility and astronomical costs.
Critics warn that the Golden Dome could revive similar flawed thinking, leading to severe ramifications for space security.
Although space has historically supported military operations through satellites for tracking, communication, and navigation, it hasn’t typically been viewed as a battlefield. In fact, the Outer Space Treaty explicitly prohibits the use of outer space for hostile purposes.
However, the Golden Dome might change that paradigm.
“This initiative could serve as a catalyst for the weaponization of space, prompting the development of various systems that have emerged in recent years,” warns Mulvihill.
The concern isn’t solely about US weapons in orbit; it extends to potential responses from other nations, such as Russia, raising the specter of an extensive orbital arms race.
Fueling an Arms Race
Critics like Mulvihill underscore that space-based missile shields could ultimately backfire, making the world less safe. The logic is straightforward: if one side creates a defense system capable of intercepting missiles, the opposing side is likely to retaliate by increasing its missile arsenal to overwhelm those defenses.
“This has been a consistent issue with anti-ballistic missile systems,” Mulvihill points out. “They can be overloaded, as seen in the 1960s and ’70s when both the US and USSR significantly increased their warhead counts.”
All defense systems come with inherent limitations. The Cold War taught us that the goal is often to amass enough warheads to ensure that at least some can reach their targets.
According to Mulbihill, the Golden Dome poses a risk of repeating this cycle on an even larger scale.
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Low Earth Orbit: A Crowded Space
Implementing the Golden Dome would require thousands of new satellites. This space component could involve Starlink-like megaconstellations equipped with interceptor missiles to target ICBMs during the initial launch phase.
That isn’t just ambitious—it’s hazardous.
A 2024 study published in Nature’s Sustainability estimated that there could be over 100,000 low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites by 2034. According to NASA, there are already more than 25,000 objects greater than 10cm in size, along with approximately 500,000 smaller fragments.
Even in the absence of weapons, navigation in space is becoming increasingly challenging. The addition of thousands of military satellites could dramatically heighten the risk of collisions and debris.
“If one of these interceptors malfunctions or detonates, it doesn’t just result in the loss of a single satellite; it can render entire orbits unusable for years,” warns Mulvihill.
He provides a stark analogy: “In naval warfare, when a ship sinks, the battlefield is abandoned. In space, the debris remains, circling the Earth at incredibly high speeds.”
A rocket launched from Gaza is intercepted on October 9, 2023, by the Israeli Iron Dome near Ashkelon, Israel.
Is the Golden Dome Feasible?
In addition to the geopolitical and environmental concerns, the Golden Dome faces fundamental operational challenges that could hinder its effectiveness.
While it may be capable of intercepting slower threats such as drones and short-range missiles, the difficulties presented by ICBMs are significantly greater.
“Interdicting an ICBM during its boost phase is extraordinarily challenging,” says Mulvihill. “Those missiles are launched from locations that could include central China or central Russia.”
To achieve global coverage within such a limited window, a tremendous number of space-based interceptors would be necessary.
According to a February 2025 Report from the American Physical Society (APS), over 1,000 orbital weapons would be essential to intercept even North Korean ICBMs during their boost phase. For 10 missiles launched in quick succession, around 10,000 interceptors would be required.
The costs entailed would be astronomical, and vulnerability to anti-satellite attacks from countries like Russia adds another layer of complexity. Reports suggest that such developments pose severe risks.
The APS report concludes with cautionary insight: “Even relatively modest numbers of nuclear-armed ICBMs present substantial challenges for creating reliable and effective defenses.”
“An extensive review of published literature highlights that many key challenges identified in developing and deploying efficient ballistic missile defenses are likely to remain unresolved beyond the 15-year timeframe we studied.”
Not Just Another Iron Dome
While the Golden Dome draws its name and inspiration from Israel’s Iron Dome, the comparison is misleading.
“People tend to focus on the success of the Israeli Iron Dome, but we must remember that it’s designed to protect against much lower-altitude projectiles and even some handheld rockets,” asserts Mulvihill. “ICBMs operate in an entirely different arena.”
Despite the ambitious plans for the Golden Dome, Mulvihill remains doubtful about its viability as a serious defense mechanism.
“It seems more like a spectacle fueled by political motives and opportunism from the aerospace industry,” he concludes.
About Our Experts
Michael Mulbihill is a researcher at Teesside University focused on sociotechnical and astrophysical phenomena stemming from nuclear deterrence and space technology. He also serves as the deputy convener for the Military War and Security Research Group and is a member of the Space Cooperative Working Group of the British Association for International Studies.
St. Louis has experienced two tornadoes within the last two months. A recent fire led to the evacuation of a new nursing home in Enterprises, Alabama, last month. Meanwhile, Cleveland dealt with a blackout as crowds attended the NCAA Women’s Basketball Final Four.
In these incidents, local health officials managed aftermaths, supported hospitals, located new residences for displaced individuals, and coordinated efforts with fire services, police, and other municipal sectors.
The total cost of these responses reached approximately $735 million, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The budget proposed by President Trump allocates zero funds for such efforts.
The proposed budget cuts have increased anxiety among health officials, especially following a $12 billion reduction to state and local health agencies in March. Nineteen states and the District of Columbia have filed lawsuits aiming to stop these cuts.
“Both artificial and natural disasters are not reliant on federal funds, but the response aimed at saving lives certainly is,” stated Dr. Matifha Fratova Davis, Health Director of St. Louis. (Dr. Davis has resigned but will remain until a replacement is appointed.)
The city faces substantial sinkholes and is situated on fault lines prone to floods, in addition to being at risk for earthquakes. “We genuinely depend on this fundraising,” Dr. Davis remarked. Without it, “the entire community of St. Louis and its visitors will stay at risk.”
The Department of Health and Human Services directed budget-related inquiries to the Office of Management and Budget, which did not reply to requests for comments.
The funding has garnered interest from local health sectors via the Public Health Emergency Preparedness Cooperation Agreement, established after the September 11, 2001 attacks to prepare for biological threats and other emergencies.
This funding aids authorities in overseeing public health implications of both natural and artificial disasters while also containing infectious disease outbreaks. It also finances salaries of experienced officials tasked with readiness and mitigation of public health issues.
Funding amounts vary by jurisdiction. St. Louis and Cleveland each receive roughly $250,000, covering salaries for three staff members. In comparison, Dallas is allocated nearly $2 million, supporting salaries for 17 employees.
“There’s minimal cushion for these funds, especially at the local level,” noted Dr. Philip Fan, director of the Dallas County Health and Human Services Department in Texas.
If these funds vanish, even larger cities like Dallas will feel the effects. “The smaller the health department, the more pronounced the impact will be,” he explained.
Dr. Davis indicated that her department receives less than 1% of the overall St. Louis city budget. Should CDC public health emergency funds be reduced, Missouri and its cities may need to compensate for the deficit, as current budgets imply.
“These individuals will soon find themselves jobless,” Dr. Davis remarked regarding employees funded through the grant.
In Alabama, emergency response programs are fully financed through federal grants. Winter tornadoes, hurricanes, and ice storms can wreak havoc and necessitate intervention from health authorities.
“Accusations have been made against the Alabama Department of Public Health,” stated Dr. Scott Harris, state health officer.
In several jurisdictions, staff depend on hundreds of volunteers to assist with COVID-19 and MPOX vaccinations. Nevertheless, paid staff is essential for coordinating those activities and training volunteers, Dr. Huang explained.
“You can’t appear before everyone claiming, ‘Yes, I’m a doctor,'” he added. City officials will verify volunteer qualifications and mobilize them for emergencies as needed.
In Cleveland, health officials responsible for preparations receive midnight calls from hospitals regarding potential charcoal or other bacterial infectious threats.
“We’ve encountered numerous challenges with our efforts,” commented Dr. David Margolius, Director of Public Health in Cleveland. “However, it’s always better to be prepared than to be caught off guard.”
Some officials have expressed concern since the election about whether the Trump administration will continue funding for these programs. However, they did not anticipate a sudden cessation of funds, as seen with other CDC funding streams.
If Congress implements a funding cut, he noted, “We’ll have to urgently assess their situation.” “It’s entirely unfair for these teams and Cleveland residents to rely on these services under such circumstances.”
The fabled “Doomfish” has reappeared in California.
The rare and long ribbon-shaped oarfish, often seen as a sign of impending disaster, has washed ashore on a California coast for the second time this year.
Alison Laferriere, a doctoral candidate at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, found the nearly 10-foot-long oarfish on a beach in Encinitas, Southern California, last week.
Oarfish are mysterious creatures that reside in the mesopelagic zone, deep underwater where sunlight cannot reach, often up to 3,300 feet below the surface.
These enigmatic fish, reaching lengths of up to 20 feet, have not been extensively studied by scientists, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Because of their unusual appearance and legendary status, with myths dating back for centuries, oarfish are sometimes referred to as the “fish of the end” due to their supposed ability to predict natural disasters and earthquakes.
The legend of the “earthquake fish” resurfaced in 2011 when 20 oarfish washed up before Japan’s largest recorded earthquake, resulting in a devastating tsunami.
According to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, only 21 oarfish have been documented washing up on California beaches since 1901.
Researchers speculate that changes in ocean conditions and a possible increase in the oarfish population are contributing to the rise in sightings.
This year, a 12-foot-long oarfish was seen by kayakers and snorkelers in La Jolla Cove, north of downtown San Diego, and later taken to NOAA’s Fisheries Science Center for further examination.
Studies are ongoing to unravel the mystery surrounding oarfish sightings and their potential links to seismic events.
A 2019 study found no solid evidence linking oarfish to earthquakes, leaving the interpretation open to speculation.
New DNA analysis has shed light on the victims of the Pompeii disaster, challenging previous assumptions.
Researchers from the United States and Italy conducted a recent study that uncovered remains believed to be of family members, suggesting that the gender of some individuals may have been misidentified. Source
The study’s scientists argue that gender roles may have influenced the misconceptions about the victims of Pompeii.
“This study highlights the unreliability of narratives based on limited evidence, often reflecting the biases of researchers at the time,” explained Dr. David Carameli, co-author of the study and researcher at the University of Florence.
When Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, over 2,000 people perished, and Pompeii was buried under 3 meters of volcanic material. The city was preserved until its rediscovery in 1599.
Using plaster casts created by archaeologist Giuseppe Fiorelli in the 19th century, researchers could analyze bone fragments mixed with plaster to extract DNA information about the victims’ gender, genetic relationships, and ancestry.
It is believed that, in the absence of DNA evidence, past researchers made assumptions based purely on the physical appearance of the casts.
For instance, a family discovered in the House of the Golden Bracelet in Pompeii was re-examined. Initial assumptions about their relationships were proven wrong through DNA evidence.
Notably, experts previously misidentified a pair as sisters or mother and daughter, while genetic testing revealed one of them to be male.
The study, which examined 14 victims and was reported in the journal current biology, hopes to improve the understanding of archaeological data and ancient societies in Pompeii and beyond.
circleWhen Atomfall was first revealed at the Xbox Games Showcase in June, many people asked, “Is this the British Fallout?” “In some ways it is, and in some ways it’s not,” says Ben Fisher, vice head of design at Rebellion, the Oxford-based studio that developed Atomfall as well as games like Sniper Elite 5 and Zombie Army 4. He explains that Rebellion head Jason Kingsley’s original idea was to look at Fallout’s free-form, self-guided experience and think about how it could be applied to something more familiar.
The difference with Atomfall is in its structure. “It’s a much denser experience,” Fisher says. “One of our benchmarks is Fallout: New Vegas, which is a denser experience than Fallout 3 or 4 in that it’s primarily one interconnected storyline, with layers driven by the player’s choices.” Rather than one giant open-world map, Atomfall features a series of interconnected maps, similar to the levels in the Sniper Elite games. “That’s what we’re good at,” Fisher says, adding that many of the game’s most interesting secrets are buried in bunkers deep underground.
Buried secret…Atom Fall. Photo: Rebellion
Atomfall tells an alternate history of the Windscale fire, Britain’s worst nuclear disaster, which occurred in 1957, which led to a large swath of the Lake District being placed under long-term quarantine in the game’s world. Atomfall’s Windscale factory is in a slightly different location to the real factory (now renamed Sellafield), which is part of a science park and where sinister secret experiments take place. Players wake up in a quarantined area five years after the disaster, but with no idea who they are. “Your role in the game then is to uncover what happened and, to some extent, decide what to do about it,” says Fisher.
The feel of the gameplay is reminiscent of the film Children of Men. “It’s a desperate battle for survival,” Fisher says. “You’re not a master assassin; it’s more like a pub brawl.” Players must craft weapons like hatchets, Molotov cocktails and bows and arrows, but because Atomfall is set in Britain there are very few guns or ammo, although there are cricket bats. “The fights are intense,” Fisher says. “It’s kill or be killed, and you or your enemy go down quickly.”
But far from gritty realism, Atom Fall boasts influences from pulp novels, with Fisher citing The Quatermass Experiment, The Prisoner, classic Doctor Who and The Wicker Man as major inspirations. “The Day of the Triffids was also a big inspiration,” he adds. “The idea of a feel-good catastrophe, of waking up in the middle of something and not knowing what’s happened.” It’s no coincidence that there’s a village called Wyndham, where you can also encounter a strange, deadly plant.
Folk horror runs deep in Atomfall. Some villagers trapped in the quarantine zone have rekindled an old pagan cult that dates back to the dissolution of the monasteries. “There was an old monastery, and the monks may have been worshipping things they shouldn’t have been worshipping,” Fisher hints, adding that the cult is based on ancient British symbolism, such as the Green Man. This is just one of the factions you can ally with in the game. The other is the Protocols, a remnant of the military sent to control the population after the disaster. But after five years of isolation from the outside world, the soldiers have become more authoritarian. “They’re kind of a warlord at this point.”
Other beings players might face include a fire-breathing ’50s robot from a British Atomic Research Department facility, disaster-related wildlife and flocks of bats, rats and crows that have “gone a bit crazy”, says Fisher. There’s also a local vicar and a jolly woodland witch, while the game’s bandits are a cross between Morris dancers and football hooligans. “There’s a distinctive Britishness that comes through in the features,” he says, adding that it could be the first game to include a Last of the Summer Wine Easter egg.
Freedom is at the core throughout. “We don’t offer a main quest in the traditional sense,” Fisher says. “We’ve made the game structure around discovering clues and piecing them together to figure out what you can do next.” After that, what you do with that information is entirely up to you. “We even allow you to kill every single character in the game,” Fisher says. “Nobody has plot armor.”
During the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D., residents were trapped under ash and rock, unable to escape. Surprisingly, a new study shows that some people did survive, only to meet their end later due to a different natural disaster.
The eruption covered the city in ash and rock particles for 18 hours, preserving the Roman inhabitants in a protective shell of solidified ash. However, experts discovered two skeletons in a house buried on top of the ash, rather than beneath it, indicating a massive earthquake as the cause of death.
Researchers investigating the house, Casa dei Pittori al Lavoro, noticed the absence of typical volcanic signs in the excavation near Vesuvius. Further examination revealed that the two men found in the house, around 50 years old, suffered severe injuries and were crushed by a collapsing wall due to the earthquake.
Scientists have discovered two skeletons in the ruins of a building in Pompeii and concluded that the cause of death was the collapse of a wall caused by an earthquake. – Image courtesy of Pompeii Archaeological Park
Residents who survived the initial eruption likely thought they were safe and attempted to flee, only to be met with powerful earthquakes. The combination of volcanic and seismic effects made it difficult to study the coincident earthquakes occurring at that time.
Researchers suggest that seismic activity during the eruption played a significant role in the destruction of Pompeii and may have affected the decisions made by its inhabitants facing imminent death.
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If you squint, you might think it’s a photograph at first glance. His Facebook ad for the Queensland Symphony Orchestra (QSO) shows a couple cuddling in the front row of a concert hall.
But take a second look and you’ll see why this caused an uproar among creative workers and the unions that represent them. The couple’s tangled fingers are too big and too many. It has a strange sheen and looks like a wax figure. She is wearing a jewel-encrusted tulle dress and he is wearing a tuxedo, but he is also wearing a jewel-encrusted tulle dress. Also, she has a large cube on her lap.
“Why don’t you do something different this Saturday? Come see the orchestra play.” read the ad. This was clearly created by someone who had never seen an orchestra perform, and it shows rows of violinists sitting in the audience, often playing with three hands, one hand, or no hands at all. I imagine it is.
Queensland Symphony Orchestra ad created by AI. Photo: Facebook
This photo, shared by QSO on February 22nd, appears to be sourced from stock image aggregator Shutterstock. where is it listed Under the AI prompt, “Two people go on a date at a romantic indoor classical music concert.”
On Tuesday, industry group Media Entertainment Arts Alliance (MEAA) called it “The worst AI-generated artwork I’ve ever seen.”
“This is inappropriate, unprofessional, and disrespectful to the audience and the QSO musicians,” they added. “Creative workers and audiences deserve better from arts organizations.”
The post also received criticism in the replies. One comment reads, “Next time, please use a paid photographer.” Another person criticized it, calling it “terrible, an arts organization that literally doesn’t use artists.”
Classical Music Industry Blog Slipped Disc The ad was first reported by claimed that it caused “uproar” and “fury” among the orchestra’s players.
The Queensland Symphony Orchestra did not comment on the claims but justified its use of AI imagery in a statement to Guardian Australia. We are an orchestra for all Queenslanders, so we will continue to use new marketing tools and techniques.
Daniel Boudot is a Sydney-based freelance photographer who is often hired by major performing arts companies for promotional images and production shots. Although he hasn’t yet seen his own work being taken over by AI, he says: “I’m getting more and more briefs where mockups are done by AI, so design agencies and marketers are I would be using AI to visualize a concept, and then it would be presented to me in a way that makes it a reality. This is a reasonable use of AI because it doesn’t take away anyone’s job.”
He called QSO advertising “not well thought out.”
“For me, this should have been a mock-up for the actual shoot. It’s a great concept. But have real musicians playing in a real theater.”
“I sympathize, too. It would cost thousands of dollars to make it happen in the real world.
“But the images they used are terrible, so that doesn’t mean photographers will lose their jobs. But I hope that as technology advances, it doesn’t become the new norm.”
AI-generated images have sparked a lot of discussion and outrage since their rise in recent years due to the accessibility of consumer tools like Dall-E and Midjourney. Much of the controversy revolves around the potential for AI to devalue or plagiarize human artists.
In the past 18 months, at least two art awards have made headlines after winners were found to have used AI to generate or alter their works. “I’m not going to apologize for that.” Jason M. Allen said, winner of the Digital Artist Award at the 2022 Colorado State Fair. “I won the award. I didn’t break any rules.”
In 2023, German artist Boris Eldergsen won the Sony World Photography Award for his AI-generated black and white photo of two women. He later admitted he had “entered as a cocky monkey” to incite discourse on AI ethics and refused to return the award.
Last September, the Australian Financial Review included an AI-generated image of the subject in its annual list of the country’s 10 most culturally influential people.
“How quickly can you tell it’s fake?” the publication asked. Editor Justify your decisions at the time.
For many, the answer was “surprisingly fast,” given the eccentricity of the marionette-like Margot Robbie and multi-fingered Sam Kerr.
WWho is behind the most notorious ‘deepfake’ apps on the internet? The Guardian’s new podcast series ‘Black Box’ has been trying to answer that question for months now, as we explore a hall of mirrors. It was like wandering.
The app, ClothOff, has hundreds of thousands of followers and has already been used to generate dozens of images of underage girls in at least two cases. The photos have traumatized the girls, outraged their parents and left police at a loss as to how to stop it.
Producers Josh Kelly, Alex Atack and I followed Cross-Off’s footsteps to a nondescript, seemingly vacant address in central London. We’ve encountered fake businesses, distorted voices, and fake employee photos.
This was a frightening insight into the future we’re all heading into in our careers. In the age of artificial intelligence, is everything you see and hear on your screen real?
The search for ClothOff is just one story to tell about the times we live in. We’re in the first few years of AI infiltrating our lives, but it’s not yet deep enough that we can’t remember what life used to be.
We wanted to take a snapshot of this moment in time to explore the impact AI is already having on the world and look for clues about what’s to come. We met the scientists who pioneered AI software until they dramatically turned against it last year. We’ve heard stories of people reminiscing about their first dates with their boyfriends (smartphone chatbots), and stories of heartbreaks when the same lover turned cold due to system girlfriend updates. Ta.
We’ve been hearing about the prospect of AI systems that can detect cancer years before doctors and machines could offer desperate people what no one else has: humanity.
Everywhere we go, we encounter an even bigger mystery: people using AI. What has fascinated us again and again is the way in which we are already reshaping what it means to be human in a series about artificial intelligence that is not just about technology, but actually about us.
michael safi Presenters, today’s highlights
This week’s picks
Ash Sarkar, one of the hosts of If I Speak. Photo: Antonio Olmos/Observer
Hear Me Out Wide range of weekly episodes available Get to know some of the dramatic talents of multiple stars in this chatty theater podcast from actor Lucy Eaton. They each choose their favorite speech and act it out in a private chat, giving it a Desert Island Disc feel for the stage. In the first episode of the new series, hear Mark Gatiss perform Hamlet’s “Longing” and “Rage” “Speech the Speech” soliloquy from Jack Thorne’s Motives and Clues. Alexi Duggins
dead river Wide range of weekly episodes available This alarming story focuses on one of the most devastating environmental catastrophes in history: the 2015 Mariana Dam disaster in Brazil. The disaster led to the largest class action lawsuit in British history involving 700,000 claimants. It’s an emotional and worrying listen, packed with music that tugs at your heartstrings as you hear locals talk about their fears that the dam is sick. advertisement
The Blame of Fame: Milli Vanilli Wide range of weekly episodes available You may already know the story of Rob Pilatus and Fab Morvern, but Insecure’s Amanda Seales brings you the inside story in this fun podcast. When German producer Frank Farian asks the tight-trousered pop duo to make a deal with the devil, they are exposed as impostors, leading to exploitation and tragedy. Hannah Verdier
Time Capsule: Silver Chain Wide range of weekly episodes available The 1970s swing scene is the stuff of myth and legend, so when Paul Ditty heard that the secret club Silver Chain had kept a stash of newsletters in a safe deposit box, he couldn’t resist investigating. His brilliant unraveling of the mysterious Minnesota club begins with a simple question. How did they find the time to swap partners? HV
if i speak Wide range of weekly episodes available Novara Media journalists Ash Sarkar (above) and Moya Lothian-McLean have questions on their minds, including “Can I really be friends with my boss?” and “Are dating apps dead?” By grappling with questions, he swaps politics with personal (of sorts) issues. “Should I give my mom some money?” As Sarkar says, this is “the place where we can reveal our most free and nosy selves without judgment.” Holly Richardson
There’s a podcast for that
Comedian Paul Sinha hosts new podcast Pub Quiz. Photo: Martin Godwin/The Guardian
this week, robin winter choose the best five Comedy podcasts that actually teach you somethingfrom comedy quizzes with Chase star Paul Sinha to investigating urban legends in black culture.
Do Go On It’s surprising how little-known this Australian podcast is despite its longevity. Hosted by incredibly likeable Melbourne comedians Matt Stewart, Jess Perkins and Dave Warneke, each week one of them chooses a topic to report on. Recent episodes include History of Monopoly, Pirate Queen of Ireland, Eurovision, and more. Unlike many other long-running podcasts (Do Go On is entering its ninth year), the inside jokes are easy to follow and there’s a genuine, contagious enthusiasm from the trio.Rare podcasts that will make you laugh out loud and Full of fascinating stories.
Paul Sinha’s Perfect Pub Quiz The Chase’s Paul Sinha is also a popular touring comedian and combines these pursuits in this clever BBC Radio 4 podcast. If you can imagine him doing his set of tight 20-minute stand-up encyclopedias, you’ll be able to get pretty close to this vibrant show. In series two, Sinha takes his trivia skills to different parts of the country, testing Ipswich residents on their most famous politicians and Manchester’s tallest buildings. However, there is not much time to think, so the listener needs to respond quickly.
mom taught me Comedians Langston Carman and David Goboly explore black conspiracy theories, superstitions, urban legends, and, in their words, “the old lady’s story that your uncle told you about who wore jeans to the beach.” Dive deep into the world of “public pool. They often have hilarious guests to discuss reader suggestions. After almost 300 episodes, there’s no sign of running out of material.
big flop With only a handful of episodes to date, The Big Flop explores everything from the laughably bad movie Cats to the banned Four Loko, an alcoholic energy drink invented by a bunch of frazzled boys. It’s a show that focuses on events that didn’t go well. Hosted by actor, singer, and TikTok star Misha Brown, it was produced by pod giant Wonderly. Two weekly guests (mostly American stand-ups and performers) bring freshness to each episode, and thanks to an experienced behind-the-scenes team, it’s well-researched and well-produced.
That’s not true fish If you love comedy podcasts, you’ll be spoiled for choice with No Such Thing As a Fish, created by the writers of the long-running BBC quiz show QI. The authors started the podcast in 2014 after discovering interesting facts that weren’t aired during their research. Now his 500-episode podcast is the granddaddy of the genre, unapologetically nerdy but beautifully accessible even for non-Oxbridge fans. Winner of many well-deserved awards and published as a book, No Such Thing As a Fish is a must-listen for anyone looking for quirky facts to share at the pub table.
Why not try it…
In an 8-part series show on the streetcelebrities are taken out of the studio and presenter and veteran podcaster Alex Lugui takes the driver’s seat as they embark on a personal road trip through the places that shaped them.
just jack and will is the ultimate Will & Grace rewatch podcast with Sean Hayes and Eric McCormack.
Who is a good person? So who is the bad guy? alphabet boys Revealing secret investigations by the FBI, DEA, ATF, and other three-letter agencies in the United States.
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