Latest news with #GoddardInstituteforSpaceStudies
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Danger of synthetic opioids, rise of stablecoins, big day for gamers: Catch up on the day's stories
👋 Welcome to 5 Things PM! It's a big day for gamers. Some Nintendo fans camped out overnight to get dibs on the new Switch 2 console, which arrived on store shelves. It marks the gaming giant's first major launch since the original Switch came out in 2017. Here's what else you might have missed during your busy day: 1️⃣ Synthetic opioids: Overdoses and drug poisonings are now the third-leading cause of death in people younger than 20 in the US, behind firearms and motor vehicle crashes. An emergency room doctor explains why opioids are so dangerous. 2️⃣ 'Absolute sh*tshow': NASA scientists are in limbo after the Trump administration proposed eliminating the Goddard Institute for Space Studies. Closing the lab could jeopardize the country's leadership role in global climate science. 3️⃣ Travel ban: President Donald Trump announced a sweeping crackdown that prevents citizens from a dozen nations from entering the US — and seven more face partial restrictions. Here's what we know about the countries on the list. 4️⃣ All about stablecoins: They're a type of crypto asset that is tied to the value of another currency, such as the US dollar or gold. The coins have grown in popularity in recent years for use in digital payments, and now Congress is debating how to regulate them. 5️⃣ Worms galore: For the first time, scientists were able to capture images of nematodes that stack themselves into a wriggling, vertical tower. Watch the tiny architects in action. 👃 The nose knows: Nasal strips can help prevent snoring and improve sleep — and they may even enhance athletic performance. Tennis star Carlos Alcaraz is a big fan of wearing them during matches to aid in his recovery between points, but do they actually work that way? An expert weighs in on the benefits. • Feud between Trump and Musk explodes into public view• Judge says Sean 'Diddy' Combs could be excluded from courtroom for nodding at jury• Supreme Court sides with straight woman in decision that makes it easier to win 'reverse discrimination' suits That's how many men in Australia reported using violence with an intimate partner in a study that shows gender-based abuse is rising. 🔍 'Borrowed': Greenpeace activists took a wax statue of French President Emmanuel Macron from the Grévin Museum and placed it outside the Russian embassy in Paris to protest continued business ties between the two countries. 💬 Politics of fear: The actor sat down with CNN's Anderson Cooper on the set of his Broadway play 'Good Night, and Good Luck,' which focuses on Edward R. Murrow's famous battle with Sen. Joseph McCarthy. 🪡 Michaels is expanding its fabric selection following the collapse of which competitor? A. JoannB. A.C. MooreC. Hobby LobbyD. Factory Direct Craft⬇️ Scroll down for the answer. ⚽ A goal-orious mistake: The manager of Finland's women's national soccer team accidentally called up a 51-year-old with the same surname as a 23-year-old she meant to select. Stina Ruuskanen, who last played for the Finnish national team 29 years ago, took it all in good spirits. 'I'm definitely ready if the call comes!' she joked. 👋 We'll see you tomorrow. 🧠 Quiz answer: A. Michaels is jumping into the void left by the collapse of Joann. Test your knowledge with CNN's weekly news quiz in tomorrow's 5 Things newsletter.📧 Check out all of CNN's newsletters. 5 Things PM is produced by CNN's Chris Good, Meghan Pryce, Kimberly Richardson and Morgan Severson.
Scientific American
29-05-2025
- Politics
- Scientific American
Why Is NASA Shuttering This Iconic Institute in New York City?
In the early 1980s, then real estate developer Donald Trump famously tried to evict a group of New York City residents from a rent-controlled building that he wanted to replace with a luxury high-rise. The tenants eventually beat back the plan. Today President Trump is having more luck with NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS). Ensconced on six floors of a building on Manhattan's Upper West Side, GISS has been a small-but-mighty source of world-changing scientific research for more than a half-century. NASA scientists first moved into the building, which another federal agency leases from GISS's institutional partner, Columbia University, in 1966. Last month, at the behest of the Trump administration, NASA officials told GISS it had to move out before the end of May. In response, more than 100 staffers have abandoned the facility, leaving its tastefully decorated halls and offices littered with boxes, papers and packing tape. On supporting science journalism If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today. Although it may be best known to the public indirectly (its building often appeared in the hit sitcom Seinfeld as the site of 'Monk's Café'), GISS has been a leader in Earth science and climate research for decades. The work within its halls was crucial for sparking broader public awareness of anthropogenic climate change in the 1980s and has contributed to cutting-edge weather forecasting and multiple interplanetary missions, as well as the underpinnings of the past, present, and future habitability of Earth and other worlds. Yet now that rich legacy and prospects for further breakthrough research are at risk, GISS personnel say, jeopardized by the White House's demands for notionally better government efficiency. Ironically, however, the effective eviction of GISS may well result in more costs to taxpayers rather than less. A Federal Mandate to 'Institutionally Couch Surf' GISS itself has not been disbanded. But without a physical home and under the looming threat of a White House–proposed 50 percent cut to the entirety of NASA's science for the 2026 federal fiscal year, the Institute's future can only be called uncertain. Many of its staff are now operating as academic nomads—working remotely and scrambling to secure office space at other locations in the city. 'We're being told to institutionally couch surf,' says one senior GISS researcher, who, like many others in this story, asked not to be identified because of the possibility of reprisal. In April Makenzie Lystrup, director of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, which technically includes GISS, e-mailed GISS personnel about the eviction, explaining it was part of White House efforts to review government leases. Sources familiar with the situation, however, tell Scientific American the termination was specifically set in motion earlier this spring by an employee of the U.S. DOGE Service (a newly minted federal entity that was, until recently, led by the world's richest man, Elon Musk). That employee, the sources say, approached NASA administrators, who ultimately agreed to the move out of fear of losing their jobs. A GISS scientist recounts the sudden events: 'On Wednesday afternoon of April 23, NASA GISS workers were informed that there would be an all-hands Thursday morning meeting (the next day) with folks from HQ ... the topic of which was not mentioned,' the scientist says. 'The next morning, we were promptly told ... the decision was made to vacate our building by the end of May and that the decision was made as part of a broader DOGE assessment of federal leased spaces. They also mentioned that this decision was made by NASA within just a few days.' According to this scientist, the move deadline changed several times. This account is supported by others who spoke to Scientific American. Multiple GISS personnel consulted for this story say there will be no cost savings because the $3-million-per-year lease on the space remains in place through 2031. That lease is between Columbia and the General Services Administration (GSA), a federal agency that is tasked with providing workspace for some governmental employees. Even if a new tenant is found, the lease is likely to remain in force because terminating it will result in major financial penalties per the leasing agreement. The lease, they say, is about half the current commercial rate in New York City, and for now, the GSA continues to pay rent. 'Columbia is fully committed to our longstanding collaboration with NASA and the scientific research at the Goddard Institute for Space Studies,' said Millie Wert, a spokesperson for the university, when reached for comment for this article. The suddenness of the move has stunned GISS researchers and personnel, one of whom calls the decision 'idiocy.' 'One hundred and thirty scientists must move all their books and office equipment,' the senior researcher told Scientific American shortly after GISS received the eviction notice. 'A library and $400,000 in tech must be moved out. We also have historical items here: Where are we supposed to put them?' Much of this material is reportedly going into storage at warehouse space in New Jersey. Another staffer adds that 'we have no information about what will be discarded.... Ironically, many of us decided not to accept new furniture [recently] because our existing 1950s furniture is perfectly good—and that would save the taxpayer money.' As GISS employees packed their belongings, they saw workers dismantling a recently renovated conference room and a brand-new security system, according to documents obtained by Scientific American from the departing staff. The documents also note that computers and servers are 'at risk of damage while being moved in haste.' Two protest letters against the eviction that were sent from the International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers (IFPTE) to particular congressional representatives and senators, respectively, noted that a recent renovation of GISS is nearly complete at a cost of more than $6 million. In the letter to members of the House of Representatives, IFPTE called the dispersal of staff and equipment 'blatantly wasteful financially.' An Institutional 'Diaspora' GISS is globally renowned for tracking and predicting climate conditions with GISTEMP (GISS Surface Temperature Analysis), along with other datasets and modeling that involve planetary science beyond Earth and that are focused on weather, fire and agriculture on our world. GISS also has played roles in missions across the solar system, the discovery of the big bang's all-sky afterglow, and more. According to firebrand climate researcher and former GISS director James Hansen, now retired from NASA, the institute was deliberately located in New York City because physicist Robert Jastrow, its founder, wanted a NASA center that was not a closed campus. Being in the heart of a city with academia and industry outside the door has been an asset to GISS, according to Hansen and others. The process of developing GISS began modestly, with 'Jastrow ... interviewing people in an office over a furniture store in Silver Spring, Md.,' Hansen says. 'The 'GISS Formula' ... was to have a minimum government staff, which allowed the research focus to change with time as the need dictated.' One such focus was the high levels of carbon dioxide on Venus, which Hansen was studying decades ago. That led to his trailblazing work on what was then called ' the greenhouse effect,' including his famous testimony before Congress on human-driven climate change in 1988. Climate modeling, says a different senior GISS researcher, 'is what drove the development of supercomputing, [and] we continue to use the same Earth climate modeling to understand Venus and Mars and constrain their potential habitability.' From climate feedback loops to ocean heat transport, GISS is at the center of important science, its researchers say. But the GISS dispersal, along with other disruptions, such as frozen grants and proposed science budget cuts at NASA, the National Science Foundation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, among other agencies, 'represent a monumental step backwards,' a GISS scientist says, 'not just for understanding a climate that will still change due to human activities ... but also for operational weather prediction that saves lives due to forecast and warnings, pollution and contamination assessments.' GISS's current director Gavin Schmidt tells Scientific American that 'the issue of whether to do something with the GISS lease goes back a year or two due to a shift in how these things are paid for at NASA.... [The agency] commissioned an external panel to look at [this], and they concluded (last year) that the status quo was the most efficient plan. I am not privy to who decided to raise that idea again in recent weeks.' Other GISS researchers complain that, to their knowledge, no administrators above Schmidt went to bat for keeping the institute in its building. 'I think there was pushback initially at HQ,' Schmidt says, 'but by the time we were told at GISS, it was a done deal.' Concerns now include the lack of in-person interaction and a general loss of support for postdoctoral researchers. 'It's pretty dire,' one scientist says. 'I'm now watching people who have dedicated their entire careers to understanding the most pressing issues of our time deciding whether they might have to leave the place they've built their life around,' says Alessandra Quigley, an early-career scientist, who is affiliated with GISS. 'This is the only positive takeaway I can find: the fact this administration cares so much about ending climate science just demonstrates how important [this science] is, and I hope the public comes to see that, too.' While Lystrup called GISS's work 'critical' and promised support during the transition in her e-mail, which was obtained by Scientific American , Schmidt says that 'people are shell-shocked and anxious—and that is not conducive to doing high-quality science.' He adds that 'we will nonetheless push through and try and make the GISS diaspora function as well as it can. We have been contacted with many offers to help.' Asked for comment by Scientific American, a NASA spokesperson referred to the situation as 'part of the administration's government-wide review of leases to increase efficiency.' While NASA 'seeks and evaluates options for a new space for the GISS team,' the spokesperson added, the institute's work remains 'significant' and 'critical.' But at least one GISS researcher isn't convinced. Angry that the agency didn't do more to stop the eviction and even had tasked officials with frequent check-ins to ensure the move was underway, the researcher says, simply, 'NASA is the new thug.'
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
'This is an attack on NASA.' Space agency's largest union speaks out as DOGE cuts shutter science institute located above 'Seinfeld' diner in NYC
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. NEW YORK — NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies has stood on a Manhattan corner near Columbia University's campus since 1966. The institute, called GISS for short, shares the building with Tom's Restaurant, a diner made famous by its regular appearance on the hit sitcom "Seinfeld." As George and Jerry discussed their dating lives over coffee, scientists two floors up were busy developing probes for NASA's Voyager program and analyzing the composition of Earth's atmosphere. But thanks to the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency, led by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, all that is coming to an end. In April, GISS employees received word that their office was being shuttered as part of the administration's latest round of federal funding cuts. They had until May 31 to move out completely from the institute's offices at the corner of Broadway and West 112th Street. "This is an attack on NASA," Matt Briggs, president of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) — NASA's largest union — told Tuesday (May 27) during a news conference outside the GISS offices. IFPTE represents 8,000 NASA scientists and engineers, including a number at GISS. The air at the press conference was somber. We stood on the sidewalk outside Armstrong Hall, the Columbia building that houses GISS. As reporters approached, a few lingering GISS employees scattered. We were later told that they had been instructed not to speak with the press under threat of losing their jobs. "As part of the administration's government-wide review of leases to increase efficiency, NASA is canceling its lease of Columbia University's Armstrong Hall in New York City, home to the Goddard Institute for Space Studies," a NASA spokesperson said in a statement emailed to "Over the next several months, employees will be placed on temporary remote work agreements while NASA seeks and evaluates options for a new space for the GISS team." But critics point out that closing the office won't actually save the agency much money. NASA already signed a $3 million per year lease on the building through 2031, and they can't sublet the space to outside parties. Those dollars ultimately come from taxpayers. "It makes no fiscal sense whatsoever," said Briggs. In addition to the financial waste, the shuttering makes little sense from a research perspective. GISS has a stellar scientific pedigree going back decades. In 1966, it hosted the meeting that birthed the theory of plate tectonics. GISS personnel worked on instruments for NASA's historic Mariner 5, Pioneer 10 and 11, and Voyager missions. (Voyagers 1 and 2, launched in 1977, are now exploring interstellar space.) The facility also houses climate change records dating back to the 1880s, and its scientists were involved in modeling potential flooding in New York City that became invaluable during Hurricane Sandy in 2012. While Briggs spoke, movers began wheeling stacks of boxes bearing labels like "LONG TERM STORAGE/GISS LIBRARY" past us. Some were bound for storage on Columbia's campus, while others will likely be shipped to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. But it is unclear whether all of the files — both physical and digital — at GISS will end up in these locations. RELATED STORIES: — Trump administration cancels lease for NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies lab in New York City — Experts alarmed as White House proposes 'largest single-year cut to NASA in American history' — Scientists warn of consequences as over 800 NOAA workers are fired: 'Censoring science does not change the facts' Photos obtained by show the inside of the building gutted. Conference rooms stand empty. A handful of neon sticky notes, left by employees, speckle a NASA logo. Written on them is the oath that the researchers took upon becoming civil servants, according to one IFPTE member who asked not to be named. Briggs sees the closure as part of an ongoing attack by the Trump administration on both science and higher ed. Columbia in particular has been singled out by the administration, which withdrew $400 million in federal grants from the institution in March. But Briggs and IFPTE have no intention of throwing in the towel. Their next move is to petition congressional lawmakers to explicitly write GISS's funds into an appropriations bill. "What we're trying to do is get Congress to do their job and protect this place," Briggs said.
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Record January warmth puzzles climate scientists
Last month was the world's warmest January on record raising further questions about the pace of climate change, scientists say. January 2025 had been expected to be slightly cooler than January 2024 because of a shift away from a natural weather pattern in the Pacific known as El Niño. But instead, last month broke the January 2024 record by nearly 0.1C, according to the European Copernicus climate service. The world's warming is due to emissions of planet-heating gases from human activities - mainly the burning of fossil fuels - but scientists say they cannot fully explain why last month was particularly hot. It continues a series of surprisingly large temperature records since mid-2023, with temperatures around 0.2C above what had been expected. "The basic reason we're having records being broken, and we've had this decades-long warming trend, is because we're increasing the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere," Gavin Schmidt, director of Nasa's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, told BBC News. "The specifics of exactly why 2023, and 2024, and [the start of] 2025, were so warm, there are other elements involved there. We're trying to pin those down." January 2025 ended up 1.75C warmer than January temperatures of the late 19th Century, before humans started significantly warming the climate. Early last year, global temperatures were being boosted by the natural El Niño weather pattern, where unusually warm surface waters spread across the eastern tropical Pacific. This releases extra heat into the atmosphere, raising global temperatures. This year, La Niña conditions are developing instead, according to US science group Noaa, which should have the opposite effect. While La Niña is currently weak - and sometimes takes a couple of months to have its full effect on temperatures – it was expected to lead to a cooler January. "If you'd asked me a few months ago what January 2025 would look like relative to January 2024, my best shot would have been it would be cooler," Adam Scaife, head of monthly to decadal predictions at the UK Met Office, said. "We now know it isn't, and we don't really know why that is." A simple guide to climate change What is El Niño and how does it change the weather? A number of theories have been put forward for why the last couple of years have been warmer than anticipated. One idea involves a prolonged response of the oceans to the 2023-24 El Niño. While it was not especially strong, it followed an unusually lengthy La Niña phase from 2020-23. The El Niño event might therefore have "lifted the lid" on warming, allowing ocean heat that had been accumulating to escape into the atmosphere. But it's unclear how this would still be directly affecting global temperatures nearly a year after El Niño ended. "Based on historical data, that effect is likely to have waned by now, so I think if the current record continues, that explanation becomes less and less likely," says Prof Scaife. The fact that sea temperatures in other regions of the world remain particularly warm could suggest "that the behaviour of the ocean is changing", according to Samantha Burgess, deputy director of Copernicus. "We're really looking to see how the ocean temperatures evolve because they have a direct influence on air temperatures." Another prominent theory is a reduction in the number of small particles in the atmosphere, known as aerosols. These tiny particles have historically masked some of the long-term warming from greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane by helping to form bright clouds and reflecting some of the Sun's energy back into space. Aerosol numbers have been falling recently, thanks to reductions in tiny particles from shipping and Chinese industry, for example, aimed at cleaning the air that people breathe. But it means they haven't had as large a cooling effect to offset the continued warming caused by greenhouse gases. And this cooling effect of aerosols has been underestimated by the UN, argues James Hansen, the scientist who made one of the first high-profile warnings on climate change to the US Senate in 1988. Most scientists aren't yet convinced that this is the case. But, if true, it could mean there is greater climate change in store than previously assumed. The "nightmare scenario", says Prof Scaife, would be an extra cloud feedback, where a warming ocean could cause low-level reflective clouds to dissipate, in turn warming the planet further. This theory is also very uncertain. But the months ahead should help to shed some light on whether the "extra" warmth over the past couple of years is a blip, or marks an acceleration in warming beyond what scientists had anticipated. Currently, most researchers still expect 2025 will end up slightly cooler than 2023 and 2024 – but the recent warmth means they can't be sure. What they do know, however, is that further records will follow sooner or later as humanity continues to heat up the planet. "In time, 2025 is likely to be one of the cooler years that we experience," Dr Burgess said. "Unless we turn off that tap to [greenhouse gas] emissions, then global temperatures will continue to rise." Graphics by Erwan Rivault 2024 first year to pass 1.5C global warming limit Climate change made LA fires worse, scientists say Could the UK actually get colder with global warming?
MTV Lebanon
06-02-2025
- Science
- MTV Lebanon
Unexpectedly warm January puzzles climate scientists
Last month was the world's warmest January on record and raised further questions about the pace of climate change, scientists say. January 2025 had been expected to be slightly cooler than January 2024 because of a shift away from a natural weather pattern in the Pacific known as El Niño. But instead, last month broke the January 2024 record by nearly 0.1C, according to the European Copernicus climate service. The world's warming is due to emissions of planet-heating gases from human activities - mainly the burning of fossil fuels - but scientists say they can't fully explain why last month was particularly hot. It continues a series of surprisingly large temperature records since mid-2023, with temperatures around 0.2C above what had been expected. "The basic reason we're having records being broken, and we've had this decades-long warming trend, is because we're increasing the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere," Gavin Schmidt, director of Nasa's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, told BBC News. "The specifics of exactly why 2023, and 2024, and [the start of] 2025, were so warm, there are other elements involved there. We're trying to pin those down." January 2025 ended up 1.75C warmer than January temperatures of the late 19th Century, before humans started significantly warming the climate. Early last year, global temperatures were being boosted by the natural El Niño weather pattern, where unusually warm surface waters spread across the eastern tropical Pacific. This releases extra heat into the atmosphere, raising global temperatures. This year, La Niña conditions are developing instead, according to US science group Noaa, which should have the opposite effect. While La Niña is currently weak - and sometimes take a couple of months to have its full effect on temperatures – it was expected to lead to a cooler January. "If you'd asked me a few months ago what January 2025 would look like relative to January 2024, my best shot would have been it would be cooler," Adam Scaife, head of monthly to decadal predictions at the UK Met Office, said. "We now know it isn't, and we don't really know why that is." A number of theories have been put forward for why the last couple of years have been warmer than anticipated. One idea involves a prolonged response of the oceans to the 2023-24 El Niño. While it was not especially strong, it followed an unusually lengthy La Niña phase from 2020-23. The El Niño event might therefore have "lifted the lid" on warming, allowing ocean heat that had been accumulating to escape into the atmosphere. But it's unclear how this would still be directly affecting global temperatures nearly a year after El Niño ended. "Based on historical data, that effect is likely to have waned by now, so I think if the current record continues, that explanation becomes less and less likely," says Prof Scaife.
