Homes With Toxic Smoke Damage Deepen Insurance Nightmare in LA
Months after fire tore through Los Angeles' Pacific Palisades neighborhood, homeowners are struggling to get reimbursed — not for houses reduced to rubble, but for the damage of smoke and toxins in the properties that remain.
For residents such as Keri Homolka, fighting for a payout has become a full-time job. The Jan. 7 blaze caused the window frames of her home to buckle and crack. Paint on the walls bubbled. While the residence was spared from total destruction, its insides were tarnished by ash and soot, residue from the burned-out houses on either side.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Forbes
an hour ago
- Forbes
How Your Choice Of Major Can Impact Your Ivy League Admissions Odds
Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA - July 18, 2023: Lehman Hall is a Georgian-revival building by Charles ... More Coolidge completed in 1925. Lehman Hall, located in Harvard Yard, is the student center of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS). Choosing a major is one of the most exciting and consequential decisions in the college admissions process. Not only can a student's choice of program impact their future career path, but it can also have an immediate impact on their college admissions prospects. While your intended major isn't a binding commitment to a specific academic path, it can play a critical role in shaping how admissions officers evaluate your application. An applicant's intended major tells a story about how they foresee using their background, skillset, and core passions on their college campus and in their future profession. Thus, students shouldn't just apply to a major that initially appeals to their interests or a field they assume is exciting or lucrative; instead, students should devote time to researching their selection strategically. As applicants weigh their options, here are three key insights to consider about how an intended major can impact a student's odds of admission at top schools: A Student's Intended Major Should Align with Their Hook For many students, college is a time to reinvent themselves and try new things. While you might dream of trying new clubs, joining an intramural sports league, or learning a new language, your intended course of study should be a natural continuation of the coursework, extracurricular activities, and independent learning you completed during your high school years. Starting freshman and sophomore years, students should begin intentionally exploring their interests and narrowing their involvements based on their guiding passions. The foundational interest(s) that students pursue constitute their hook—from the leadership positions they assume in clubs and organizations to the advanced courses they take and summer programs they participate in, a student's applicant profile should clearly demonstrate their hands-on experience with and genuine enthusiasm for their intended area of study. This does not mean that a student should pursue activities related to only one subject; in fact, some of the most eye-catching and dynamic hooks are those that demonstrate a student's creative, interdisciplinary perspective by bringing together two or more distinct disciplines. Admissions officers at top schools don't just want to see that a student has a passing fancy for a particular subject—they want to see the demonstrable ways in which they have already engaged with that discipline through hands-on experiences in and outside of the classroom. It is not enough to take a couple of classes or join a school club related to the major you choose during your junior year—top schools expect students to have interned in the profession, conducted independent research with a professor, developed a passion project to use their discipline to better their communities, won competitions, or participated in a related, prestigious, merit-based summer program. Choosing a major that clearly and compellingly corresponds to your hook will show admissions officers that you are knowledgeable about your field and prepared to dive into challenging coursework when you arrive on campus. Students' interests will likely change and develop throughout high school; some will reach senior year unsure about which major to choose. In these cases, students should focus on telling a clear story through their application so that it doesn't appear as though they have arbitrarily chosen a major in a field in which they lack experience. For instance, a student with an extensive resume of robotics competitions, clubs, and summer programs who initially intended to pursue engineering might discover they are more interested in medicine after taking Anatomy and Physiology. These students might choose to study biomedical engineering, which bridges the gap between their interests in medicine and engineering. Alternatively, they can strategically use their essays to show how the problem-solving skills, detail-oriented mentality, and technical skills they gained have uniquely prepared them for medical study. Less Popular Majors Can Boost Your Chances—But Only If You've Done Your Research Given the popularity of majors such as business, psychology, and political science, many students assume that applying to an obscure or unpopular major will boost their odds of admission, as they will be competing against fewer applicants. To a certain extent, this is true—the admissions pool for popular areas of study is often highly saturated. This can make it more challenging for students to catch admissions officers' eyes, whereas it can be easier to stand out in the smaller pool for underenrolled majors. But this doesn't mean that applying to study Egyptology will guarantee you a spot at your dream school. Admissions officers can clearly identify a student who has applied to a major solely because of its higher admissions rate. Not only should applicants' major selection clearly align with their hook (meaning that a student with coursework and activities related to physics will make for a poor Egyptology applicant), but they should also demonstrate a depth of knowledge about the nuances of the major to which they are applying (for instance, why they want to pursue Egyptology rather than archaeology or classical studies). Instead of opting for a lesser-known major because you think it might give you a competitive edge, consider this path only if it makes sense within the broader narrative of your application. A student with years of independent Latin study, a summer internship with a museum of antiquities, and a passion project in the digital humanities diagramming Egyptian papyri is a strong candidate for Egyptology—a student who has spent their high school career preparing for a major in political science who happens to like reading about Egypt in their free time is not. Look for Niche Programs Within More General Fields Finally, while students shouldn't pursue a niche or obscure major simply to leverage their chances of acceptance, one of the most effective strategies for major selection is to look at majors offered in subdisciplines of your broader field. For instance, business is a highly saturated major, but if you have a keen interest in music, you might apply to music management or production. Comparative literature is a broad field, but if you know you enjoy Afrocaribbean literature, you might consider applying to Latinx studies. Likewise, Politics, Philosophy, and Economics might offer you a more specific and tailored experience than political science. Finding and educating yourself about these programs requires time, effort, and introspection—students should explore the options available to them, consider the specific niche they hope to fill within their given field, and choose the degree path that most closely aligns with their particular interest within the discipline. Of course, the same program might not be offered at each of the schools to which they are applying, so applicants should research offerings at each school on their list and tailor their applications accordingly. Choosing a major involves more than simply identifying a topic of interest—it requires students to consider why they are interested in a particular subject and how they hope to uniquely contribute to their field. Starting early, prioritizing introspection, and conducting extensive research will help students not only identify the right program for them, but also maximize their chances of success in the competitive admissions process.
Gizmodo
an hour ago
- Gizmodo
Failed Orbital Mission Loses Human Remains, Space Pot
A spacecraft carrying the remains of more than 160 people crashed into the Pacific Ocean on Tuesday, June 24, causing its contents to be lost at sea. The mission intended to return the remains to the families that provided them following a brief stint in space, but now, they will never be seen again. On Monday, June 23, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the Transporter-14 rideshare mission from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base, carrying 70 payloads to low-Earth orbit. The largest was Nyx, a 1.6-ton (1.45-metric-ton) reentry capsule produced by The Exploration Company, a German aerospace startup. Dubbed 'Mission Possible,' it was the company's first attempt to carry customer payloads, taking roughly 660 pounds (300 kilograms) of cargo on a trip around the Earth. This included the ashes and DNA of more than 166 deceased people provided by Celestis, a memorial spaceflight company based in Houston, Texas. Though Nyx successfully reached orbit, its parachute system failed during reentry, according to Celestis. 'As a result of this unforeseen event, we believe that we will not be able to recover or return the flight capsules aboard,' the company said in a statement. 'We share in the disappointment of our families, and we offer our sincerest gratitude for their trust.' Though the mission achieved several key milestones—including a successful launch, orbit, and controlled reentry—Celestis acknowledged that its unsuccessful landing marks a significant personal loss for participating families. 'In the coming days, our team will reach out to each family individually to offer support and discuss possible next steps,' the company said. 'Though we currently believe that we cannot return the flight capsules, we hope families will find some peace in knowing their loved ones were part of a historic journey, launched into space, orbited Earth, and are now resting in the vastness of the Pacific, akin to a traditional and honored sea scattering.' This isn't the first time a Celestis mission hasn't gone as planned. In May 2023, a UP Aerospace rocket carrying the cremated remains of a late NASA astronaut exploded just seconds after liftoff over the New Mexico desert. The rocket was also carrying more than a dozen student experiment payloads for NASA. In a statement posted to social media Tuesday, The Exploration Company deemed Mission Possible a 'partial success,' explaining that the capsule managed to power its payloads nominally in orbit, stabilize itself after separating from Falcon 9, reenter Earth's atmosphere, and reestablish communications after the brief blackout period. 'But it encountered an issue afterwards, based on our current best knowledge, and we lost communication a few minutes before splash down,' the company stated. 'We are still investigating the root causes and will share more information soon. We apologize to all our clients who entrusted us with their payloads.' In addition to the human remains and other payloads, Nyx carried cannabis provided by Martian Grow, an open-source citizen science project. The project, which ultimately aims to grow marijuana on Mars, secured a spot on Nyx to send seeds and plant matter to low-Earth orbit and study how microgravity affects their germination and resilience. 'Cannabis is resilient, multipurpose, and biologically complex—making it ideal for studying how life adapts to extreme environments like space or Mars,' the Martian Grow website states. Unfortunately, the cannabis was lost at sea along with the rest of Nyx's payloads. Gizmodo reached out to Martian Grow for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication. Mission Possible was The Exploration Company's second flight. The first, Mission Bikini, launched a smaller reentry capsule aboard the first Ariane 6 flight in July 2024. The rocket's upper stage suffered an anomaly that prevented it from launching the capsule in its reentry trajectory, leaving it stuck in orbit with Bikini still attached. This week's mission was more ambitious, testing both reentry technologies and all the technologies that support Nyx, which is designed to eventually transport cargo to and from low-Earth orbit. Future iterations of this spacecraft could even be used to carry crews to space, according to SpaceNews. This week's crash underscores the realization that Nyx won't be ready to fly astronauts anytime soon. Victor Maier, lead for Germany and central Europe business at The Exploration Company, told SpaceNews that the company has no plans to conduct additional test missions ahead of a Nyx demonstration flight to the International Space Station in 2028. That mission is pending support from the European Space Agency. The Exploration Company will, however, consider ground tests for some of the spacecraft's subsystems, Maier said. The company's Tuesday statement suggests otherwise. 'Leveraging the technical milestones achieved yesterday and the lessons we will extract from our ongoing investigation, we will then prepare to re-fly as soon as possible,' it reads.
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Video Shows Engine Fire as Plane Returns to Las Vegas Airport Just After Takeoff
An American Airlines plane that had what appeared to be an engine on fire returned to the airport in Las Vegas and landed shortly after takeoff on Wednesday, according to video of the plane and the Federal Aviation Administration. A video of the plane, which was operating as American Airlines Flight 1665, showed it banking in the sky with smoke and what appeared to be flames sputtering from an engine. My parents are in Vegas right now a planes engines caught fire right after take off.. The F.A.A. said the crew had reported 'an engine issue,' and the plane, which was headed to Charlotte, N.C., 'returned safely' to Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas at about 8:20 a.m. local time. It was unclear how many people were on board. American Airlines did not immediately respond to a request for comment. FlightRadar24, a flight tracking service, showed the plane, an Airbus A321, took off at 8:11 a.m. and flew in a small loop around the Las Vegas area before landing at the airport.
