Latest news with #Ceres
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
San Angelo city council approves $1 million task force for debris clean up
The San Angelo city council approved $1 million for a task order with Ceres Environmental to haul away flood debris. In a special meeting held by the city council on July 10, Shane Kelton, executive director of public works with the city, asked the council to consider approving Emergency Debris Collection Task Order 1 with Ceres Environmental for an amount not to exceed $1 million sourced from the Solid Waste fund balance. The task order allows Ceres Environmental to begin debris removal services under the contract the city already has with the company. Kelton said the cost may not exceed $1 million. The amount was based off the numbers the city had on Thursday. He said 1,520 iSTAT Damage Surveys were submitted, 705 homes had minor damage, 463 with major damage and 58 homes were considered a total loss. "This is also based on what this company has seen so far in other locations," Kelton said. "If they don't haul that much, they don't charge us." Kelton said this week, city crews will be around town helping citizens get ready for Ceres' arrival. "We will be out there with citizens working with them to make sure they are prepared and ready as they get here, so we can follow the FEMA guidelines that have been laid out, so that we would have the ability to seek any relief that they may allow for us," he said. Kelton said Ceres will begin mobilizing crews to come to San Angelo sometime this week. "We want to give everyone time to make sure they are able to muck and gut and get stuff out to the curb," he said. "We don't want to start too soon because with a debris removal company, they are only going to make two or possibly three passes in San Angelo." Kelton wanted to remind residents to keep their piles separated on the curb. He said there should be all separate piles for the following. Construction debris: flooring, carpet, furniture, etc. Electronics: TV's, computers, etc. Appliances: refrigerators, washers and dryers Brush: trees, large branches Kelton asked for household hazardous waste to be seperated to be picked up at a later time within 30 days, including oil, gas, fuels and cleaning supplies. The city also approved $350,000 for a contract with True North Emergency Management, LLC. "Ceres requires a third-party monitoring firm that watches everything as they are loading the product from the curb and into the truck and at the landfill," Kelton said. "This is a FEMA guideline requirement for us to be able to seek any assistance available to us." Kelton also mentioned the assistance available to citizens needing help with clean up. "If people are physically unable to or don't have the manpower to clean, we have assistance that is free of charge to utilize," he said. "We don't want people living in dangerous situations." If you need cleanup assistance, mold remediation or debris sorting on your property, fill out this form. For questions on debris removal or assistance call Kelton's office at 325-657-4206 or visit More: San Angelo residents now able to apply for FEMA assistance after Texas flooding More: Police, City of San Angelo issue order of restricted areas due to flooding This article originally appeared on San Angelo Standard-Times: Ceres Environmental coming soon to San Angelo to haul flood debris Solve the daily Crossword
National Geographic
6 days ago
- Science
- National Geographic
Pluto
The world was introduced to dwarf planets in 2006, when petite Pluto was stripped of its planet status and reclassified as a dwarf planet. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) currently recognizes two other dwarf planets, Eris and Ceres. What differentiates a dwarf planet from a planet? For the most part, they are identical, but there's one key difference: A dwarf planet hasn't "cleared the neighborhood" around its orbit, which means it has not become gravitationally dominant and it shares its orbital space with other bodies of a similar size. (Astronomers and other experts are debating this definition.) Is Pluto a Dwarf Planet? Because it has not cleared the neighborhood around its orbit, Pluto is considered a dwarf planet. It orbits in a disc-like zone beyond the orbit of Neptune called the Kuiper belt, a distant region populated with frozen bodies left over from the solar system's formation. The dwarf planet is a whopping 3.7 billion miles (5.9 billion kilometers) from the sun, and its average temperature hovers around -356 degrees Fahrenheit (-215 degrees Celsius). Pluto's surface is composed of a mixture of frozen nitrogen, methane, and carbon monoxide ices. The dwarf planet also has polar caps and regions of frozen methane and nitrogen. Pluto has three known moons, Hydra, Nix, and Charon. With a diameter of about 737 miles (1,186 kilometers), Charon is the largest of Pluto's moons. The duo's gravity puts them in a synchronous orbit, which means they face each other with the same side all the time. In January 2006, NASA launched its New Horizons spacecraft. It swung past Jupiter for a gravity boost and scientific studies in February 2007, conducted a six-month-long reconnaissance flyby study of Pluto and its moons in summer 2015, and culminated with Pluto's closest approach on July 14, 2015. As part of an extended mission, the spacecraft is heading farther into the Kuiper Belt to examine another of the ancient, icy mini-worlds in that vast region, at least a billion miles beyond Neptune's orbit. New Horizons also found Pluto to have blue skies and water ice. Pluto nearly fills the frame in this black and white image from the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) aboard NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, taken on July 13, 2015 when the spacecraft was 476,000 miles (768,000 kilometers) from the surface. This is the last and most detailed image sent to Earth before the spacecraft's closest approach to Pluto on July 14. Photograph courtesy NASA/APL/SwRI Ceres Also considered by many to be an asteroid, Ceres, like Pluto, was also renamed as a dwarf planet in 2006. Ceres was discovered by Italian astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi in 1801. Ceres's shape resembles a flattened sphere with a diameter of about 590 miles (950 kilometers). It is by far the largest and most massive known body in the asteroid belt, and it contains about one-third of the estimated total mass of all asteroids in the belt. Ceres is made up of a rocky inner core surrounded by a mantle of water-ice. A thin, dusty, outer crust covers the dwarf planet named after the Roman goddess of grain.
Politico
7 days ago
- Business
- Politico
California is still the state to beat on corporate emissions
With help from Alex Nieves, Nicole Norman, Juliann Ventura and Chelsea Harvey KEEPING THE TORCH: California is still the only game in town when it comes to corporate climate disclosure — even if it's taking its time on implementation. After California passed its pair of laws requiring big companies to report their emissions and their climate-related business risks and not only promptly got sued, but started watering down the requirements and timeline for enforcement, other states started stepping up to fill the void. But bills in Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Colorado and Washington have all stalled this year, leaving California as the de facto leader after the Trump-era Securities and Exchange Commission rolled back its federal rule. 'We didn't make it across the finish line,' said New York state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, whose second attempt to compel large businesses in his state to report their pollution failed last month. 'That's disappointing.' He conceded that there isn't yet the same level of support California saw for SB 253 and SB 261, when tech giants like Apple and Google came on board late in the 2023 session to push them over the finish line. 'I don't think it was a lack of interest or effort,' Hoylman-Sigal said. 'I think it was mostly due to a shorter legislative session. It's a complicated, big, important bill.' He said he thinks it can pass next year — but someone else will have to shepherd it, since he's leaving the Legislature to run for Manhattan borough president. Other bills have yet to be taken up or were scaled back. Washington's measure was turned into a study bill before failing to advance, while New Jersey's is expected to fall prey to lawmakers' election-year ambitions. Environmentalists who had been getting impatient with California's pace of implementation have since made their peace. Ceres, a sustainability nonprofit that counts Amazon, Bank of America and Target among its member companies, had gotten frustrated enough that it started backing copycat legislation in other states — a reversal from when both Ceres and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which is suing over the rules, agreed a 'regulatory patchwork' would be counterproductive. Now, Steven Rothstein, managing director of the Ceres Accelerator for Sustainable Capital Markets, said he feels comfortable enough with CARB Chair Liane Randolph's commitment to finalize rulemaking by the end of the year before companies start making disclosures of scopes 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions in 2026. 'We are responding to inquiries from states all the time,' Rothstein said. 'But we're not going out and beating the bushes.' The shift in tone is a notable new vote of confidence in CARB after we reported late last year that the agency won't seek corporate penalties for 'incomplete reporting' so long as a company makes a 'good faith effort' to retain data relevant to its carbon footprint, sparking a backlash from disclosure supporters. Gov. Gavin Newsom had also sought to delay corporate climate reporting by two years, and CARB suggested scrapping Scope 3 reporting requirements, which remain in the law and will kick in in 2027. But Rothstein said he's encouraged by the progress he's seen, which includes a workshop CARB held in May on the issue. 'We're eager to do it, but it's more important that it be done thoughtfully and in a diligent manner than a few months' delay,' he said. — JW Did someone forward you this newsletter? Sign up here! SOLAR TRUCE: A controversial proposal to reduce subsidies for a wide swath of rooftop solar customers is no more. Assemblymember Lisa Calderon agreed Tuesday to remove language from AB 942 that would have lowered payments to homeowners who installed solar panels before 2023 for surplus energy they sell back to the electric grid through a process called net metering. The amended measure cleared the Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee on Tuesday on a 9-4 vote. The bill would have aligned payments to early adopters of solar with less lucrative subsidies for homeowners who installed solar panels after the California Public Utilities Commission voted in 2022 to end net metering. That concept sparked a heated debate over who benefits from higher subsidies and whether rolling back net metering has hampered the state's climate goals. Utilities, labor unions and ratepayer advocates argue that subsidizing solar customers' energy bills means that homes without rooftop solar pay a disproportionate amount to maintain the electric grid. Meanwhile, the solar industry, developers and realtors argued that the proposal to reduce payments would have retroactively broken contracts between home sellers and buyers. The bill is now narrowly tailored to ding residential customers whose annual electric bills are under $300. They would no longer be eligible to receive a separate credit funded with cap-and-trade auction revenues. — AN SPEAKING OF AMENDMENTS: Senate Democrats also nixed language from a bill that would have required CPUC appointees to represent different regions of the state. Committee Chair Josh Becker said during a hearing Tuesday that the decision was made in light of Newsom's veto of a similar bill in 2022. At the time, the governor said mandating that commissioners come from different regions was unnecessary because he was committed to having state boards that 'represent California's diversity.' Assemblymember Rhodesia Ransom, author of AB 13, reluctantly accepted the amendment to the current bill, telling the committee that she was 'not excited' about the changes. Some lawmakers and ratepayer advocates have expressed concern that all five of the CPUC's current commissioners — each of whom was appointed by Newsom — live in the Bay Area or Sacramento region, which is served by one utility: Pacific Gas & Electric Co. The bill still contains a handful of proposed changes to CPUC's rules, including a requirement that at least one commissioner have a background in consumer protection and new reporting mandates when the commission decides to increase rates. — AN POINTING FINGERS: Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday that the federal government has not seen California's 'formal request' for wildfire aid, saying that there is a 'multistep process' that has not been completed. 'For whatever reason, Gavin Newsom seems to enjoy trying to stick his thumb in the eye of the White House and Congress, which seems to be counter purpose if he is requesting relief,' he said. Newsom's office clarified in a post on X that they have been in contact with the speaker's office. 'It's our understanding that the Speaker was referring specifically to the White House's formal appropriations request,' they clarified. Newsom took a trip to Washington in February to meet with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle on the issue. That month, he also sent a letter to Johnson and other House leaders asking for almost $40 billion to help with immediate and long-term recovery. — NN AI OBSTACLE — Looming budget cuts at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration could undermine the country's AI-powered weather forecasting capabilities. The funding threat comes as California tech companies have been seizing their moment in Washington in hearings focused on wildfire policy and technology. The Trump administration wants to slash the agency's budget by $2.2 billion — a move that experts say could stymie the improvement of AI weather models, Chelsea Harvey reports for POLITICO's E&E News. While AI did not predict the floods in Texas, the technology was showing potential with weather forecasting and new models are 'certainly capable of predicting 'out-of-sample' events — events that they haven't seen before,' said Corey Potvin, a scientist at NOAA's National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, Oklahoma. Meanwhile, Kim Doster, NOAA's director of communications, dismissed concerns, saying in an email that cuts would not negatively impact research and forecasting at NOAA. – JV — The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection put out a new map that shows the severity of all fires over 1,000 acres since 2015. — A new report on state efforts to reduce plastic pollution ranks California as the nation's leader. — The 2026 FIFA World Cup, hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, is going to have an extreme heat problem.
Associated Press
15-07-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Celebrate Boston Innovation and Impact With Ceres
Evening with Ceres Monday, October 6, 2025 · JFK Presidential Library, Boston · 6:00pm – 9:30pm Boston is a beacon of progress and Ceres proudly calls it home. This fall, we invite you to join us at the iconic JFK Presidential Library for our annual fundraiser—an evening dedicated to celebrating Boston and the Bay State's role as the emerging climate tech and clean energy innovation hub. This year's theme reflects Ceres' commitment to accelerating the transition to a cleaner, more just and resilient economy. Mark your calendars and stay tuned for more details. We look forward to seeing you on October 6! Register Our Speakers Katie RaeCEO and Managing PartnerEngine Ventures Mindy LubberCEO and PresidentCeres Yvonne HaoFormer SecretaryExecutive Office of Economic Development, State of Massachusetts Ed FarringtonPresident, North AmericaImpax Asset Management Event Details Guests Join investors, executives, policymakers, philanthropists, tech leaders, and social sector leaders who all share a commitment to building a just and sustainable future. Program Enjoy expert insights on clean energy economy and sustainability, and ample networking opportunities. Support Ceres' mission at the Sustain-a-Bid paddle raise. Dinner Savor a locally sourced, gourmet vegetarian menu in keeping with our efforts to embed sustainability into every aspect of our work. Venue Evening with Ceres is back at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, where modern architecture meets stunning harbor views. Host Committee Mark BarnettLoren BlackfordMichael and Caryn BradleyLaurie BurtPeter and Abby CoffinBill DavisGail GreenwaldSteven HochCatherine and Tom HughesRichard Marks and Jenny MorrisonJim MathesonBob and Tamsin RachofskyAdrienne Shishko and Joel SklarAdele SimmonsDebbie SimpsonNorman SteinLeah Wood Tickets Join us and support our mission of building a just and sustainable future. Our signature event offers several ways to be involved and make a meaningful impact. INDIVIDUAL $500 Experience an elegant evening of cocktails, dinner, and an engaging program—all in support of sustainability and innovation. NONPROFIT $325 Join us for a memorable celebration at Evening with Ceres! Enjoy a special 'at-cost' rate for nonprofit organizations. (Limited availability) *If you're interested in purchasing a table, please contact Nikhil Fereday at [email protected]. Can't Attend? Support Our Mission If you are unable to attend the event but still wish to contribute to Ceres' mission to accelerate the transition to a cleaner, more just and resilient economy, we welcome your generous donation. Donate to Ceres Young Climate Leaders Every year, we spotlight a young climate leader, celebrating their energy and innovation as they inspire impactful change. Please see some of our previous leaders at the links below. DEVISHI JHA (2022)WAWA GATHERU (2023)AY YOUNG (2024) Sponsorship To learn more about sponsorship opportunities, contact Brianna Kolder at [email protected]. About CeresCeres is a nonprofit advocacy organization working to accelerate the transition to a cleaner, more just, and sustainable world. Visit 3BL Media to see more multimedia and stories from Ceres
Tom's Guide
12-07-2025
- Tom's Guide
Meta Quest 4 rumors: Everything we know so far
It's hard to deny Meta is the undisputed king of VR right now, with its Quest 3 and Quest 3S being among the best VR headsets to get. So it's only fitting that a Meta Quest 4 is in the cards, and there's already a lot of talk about the rumored headset. Making VR accessible to all with the release of the Quest 3S in October 2024, along with the recent Quest 3S Xbox Edition in June, Meta appears to be on track to evolve its VR headset offerings, but it may not be the Quest 4 that comes first. With leaks of Meta smart glasses indicating it's pushed back the Quest 4 headset until a later date, along with a "high-end model that could eventually become a successor to the Quest Pro mixed-reality headset," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, it may be a while until we see what CEO Mark Zuckerberg has up his sleeve for its next VR headset. However, it's been reported that Meta is already working on a new Quest 4, so it may only be a matter of time until we find out what the Quest 4 has to offer. For the latest updates on Meta's highly anticipated VR headset, find out all you need to know about the Meta Quest 4 below There's no official word when the Meta Quest 4 may arrive, but rumor has it we won't see it anytime soon. The next trending device on the market is set to be smart glasses, almost an evolution of VR headsets. Meta is looking to beat its competition, including the rumored Apple smart glasses and upcoming Snap Spectacles in 2026, with its own high-end AR glasses that could arrive as soon as this year. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. Because of this, the Meta Quest 4 is now rumored to arrive in 2027. Meta appears to be shifting focus for its upcoming VR headset plans, with notable leakers Brad Lynch and Luna on X stating that the company may switch the release of the Quest 4 from next year to 2027. This is apparently due to two planned prototype headsets, codenamed "Pismo Low" (a budget model similar to the Quest 3S) and "Pismo High" (a high-end headset akin to the Quest 3), being canceled. That, and having another headset come in its stead. Now, we've got a first glimpse of what the next headset, or smart glasses, will be. Leaker Luna on X revealed several photos and videos showcasing Meta's next glasses, which are codenamed "Meta Celeste." The specs also appear to include wristbands known as "Ceres," which can be used to interact with AR environments seen in the glasses' display. Not exactly "virtual reality" as with a VR headset, and from the leaked video tutorials and image, along with the Ceres wristbands, it's looking like this isn't the Meta Quest 4 we've been hoping for. But for smart glasses, this is juicy. While the Quest 4 may not arrive until 2027 now, there's still AR glasses that seem to be on the way, and this may give us a taste of what to expect when the Quest 4 looks to launch. The Meta Quest 3 and Quest 3S have been applauded for their design, with the former's pancake optics offering better display resolution (2,064 x 2,208 pixels per eye), and the 3S featuring the same fresnel lenses as the Meta Quest 2 (1,832 x 1,920). Is there room for improvement? Sure. However, what's surprising is Gurman describing the future product as "Quest 4 VR goggles" rather than a headset. This may just be another way of Gurman saying headset or a nod to the smart glasses instead. But having a more slimmed-down design with design cues of Meta's upcoming AR glasses makes sense. While details on the Quest 4 (and a possible Quest Pro successor) are still up in the air, we may have some hints at what it may bring. For one, there's the rumored smart glasses come with "Ceres" wristbands along with a video tutorial leak of how they work. Meta Ceres EMG Wristband (FP Recording) 30, 2025 Is this an indication of a move to wristbands over the Meta Quest 3 controllers? For one, many VR games like Batman: Arkham Shadow and Asgard's Wrath 2 rely on buttons for much of their gameplay, so translating this into hand motions would be difficult. However, we may see further intergration of hand-tracking, which is currently included on the Quest 3/3S. Otherwise, there's still a lot to learn about the design of the Meta Quest 4, but with the success of the Quest 3 and 3S and with the 3S Xbox Edition making gaming the focus of VR, it's likely we'll see a similar design to the current VR headsets. That said, we hope to see improvements on its head strap for comfort, which is why other brands deliver better models, like the Kiwi Design H4 Boost Halo and K4 Boost. Compared to all other VR headsets on the market, the Quest 3 and especially the Quest 3S are the most affordable way to jump on the VR bandwagon. With prices at $499 for the Quest 3 and $299 for the Quest 3S, a lot of the success of these headsets rely on the price. That's something we hope to see with the Quest 4. We already saw the Quest Pro fall off due to its $999 launch price, and the $3,499 Apple Vision Pro didn't fair much better. If Meta is to succeed with its upgraded VR headset, it still needs to keep the price right. Seeing as the Quest 3 512GB version is set at $649, I wouldn't be surprised to see Meta's rumored headset to be around the same price at launch, especially if it delivers upgraded specs as assumed. This may drop further down the line, but we hope the Meta 4 price doesn't reach the heights of other headsets like the $999 HTC Vive Focus or $549 PSVR 2 (now $399), which you need a $499 PS5 to use. We're still a while away from a Meta Quest 4, so there's no telling how much it will end up costing. However, considering the success of Meta's current VR headsets, it's likely it won't be overly expensive. Reports that the Meta Quest 4 won't arrive until 2027 make sense seeing as the Quest 3S only launched in October 2024. With the Quest 2 launching in 2020 and the Quest 3 in 2023, the Quest 4 lines up with a 2027 release date after the tech giant has finally put its stamp in the AR glasses market. But there's a lot to look forward to once the Quest 4 arrives, if recent successes are anything to go by. We've seen impressive games such as Batman: Arkham Shadows, Meta's partnership with James Cameron for upcoming exclusive mixed-reality content and a pair up between the Quest 3/3S with Windows 11 to offer three virtual displays. With these perks in mind, Meta could continue to offer more advanced features such as these on its Quest 4. I've noted that Meta Quest saw its best year yet in 2024. Here's hoping the company continues that trend with its rumored upcoming devices.
