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Associated Press
22-05-2025
- Science
- Associated Press
After a Century, Eels and Shad Return to Their Historic Waters
By Page Leggett Consider the eel. Unlike most eel species, which live in saltwater their entire lives, the American eel spends most of its life in freshwater before returning to the Sargasso Sea to spawn. It's probably their final journey, but scientists say much about their life cycle remains a mystery, said Mike Abney, a project manager with Duke Energy, whose expertise comes from a decades-long effort to restore eel populations in the Catawba-Wateree and Pee Dee rivers. But eel aren't the only species making a comeback. Duke Energy is also reintroducing American shad, another migratory fish that, in reverse, hatches in rivers, matures in the ocean, then returns to freshwater to spawn. A 100-year homecoming Historically, eels thrived in the Pee Dee River, but in 1912, a Duke Energy dam near the North Carolina/South Carolina border blocked their migration to generate electricity that would drive the region's economic growth. 'As the U.S. developed, rivers were altered for industry, power, and infrastructure. One of the drawbacks, however, was reduced habitat for some species,' said Jason Brown, lead Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) consultant at Duke Energy. A newly constructed eel ladder at Blewett Falls Hydroelectric Station in Lilesville, N.C, is changing that. To date, nearly 18,000 still-maturing eels have taken up residence in the waters near Blewett Falls Lake. 'By restoring access to hundreds of miles of habitat, the American eel can access previously blocked upstream riverine habitat. We want to bring the river systems back to what they once were,' Brown said of the company's work to enhance environmental habitats for fish and other aquatic life. How the eel ladder works The ladder guides eels upstream using flowing water and was designed with help from the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service (a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – NOAA for short). 'Eels sense moving water and follow it to continue their migration upstream,' Brown explained. 'We provide flow by pumping water from the lake down a long ramp. That gets them over the dam and into the lake.' Eels travel up the ladder, which consists of five aluminum ramp sections connected by resting pools, and into a collection tank where the team counts, measures and weighs them – both to ensure they are healthy and to track how many eels migrate each year. Then, the eels are funneled to Blewett Falls Lake. Eventually, Duke Energy will phase out manual collection, allowing eels to migrate independently – a Duke Energy first. Their lifespan in Blewett Falls Lake is about eight to 10 years, Brown explained, so they'll likely be here for an extended stay before instinct lures them back toward the Sargasso Sea. Shad make their return Unlike eel, shad are picky about their migration routes. 'The eel ladder is simple and runs on its own, so you don't need a person on-site to operate it,' Abney said. 'American shad, however, required a more sophisticated approach.' Siting studies were done to position both facilities in the right spot. 'We did extensive studies back in 2015 and '16 to see where the majority of eel and shad congregate,' Brown said. 'Had we not, we could've constructed them in the wrong spot.' Migrating shad are similarly attracted toward flowing water, but the shad facility lifts collected fish up two levels where they are sorted through a system of tanks. This requires a dedicated team of scientists to carefully examine and sort the shad from other species. American shad are loaded into a large tank on the back of a pickup and transferred above the dam and into the lake, while other fish and aquatic life return to the river through several large pipes. Conservation in action Blewett Falls Lake remains a popular destination for boating, swimming, and fishing – but anglers must release any American shad they catch. 'If there's one in Blewett Falls Lake, that means we passed it,' Abney said. 'And if we're putting in all this effort, we don't want people taking them home.' For Abney and Brown, seeing these species return is deeply rewarding. 'Watching critters use the passageway we created – and in large numbers – is gratifying,' Brown said. 'It's a key milestone in my career.' Many who helped launch the project have since retired. 'When this project was first discussed, we talked about it taking decades,' Abney said. 'John Crutchfield, one of our project managers retired. He was instrumental in those early discussions.' Though this restoration took years, its impact will last for generations. 'I want my kids to enjoy what I got to experience growing up,' Brown said. 'This project builds a bridge to the future.' Also happening at Blewett Falls Alongside efforts to restore migratory eel and fish populations, Duke Energy has enhanced its water management system at Blewett Falls Hydro Station with new spillway gates designed to enhance operational efficiency and lake management. The gates allow for more precise control of water levels, improving conditions in Blewett Falls Lake and downstream areas. Their modular design simplifies maintenance, while a pneumatic support system ensures reliable operation – even during power outages. The gates also allow for safe passage of floodwaters, helping protect upstream properties by minimizing the risk of overtopping. View original content here. Visit 3BL Media to see more multimedia and stories from Duke Energy Corporation
Axios
20-05-2025
- Business
- Axios
Exclusive: Applied Intuition unveils programs to power autonomous drone swarms
Applied Intuition is unveiling new products that, according to one executive, will enable swarms of autonomous military ground vehicles, vessels and drones. Why it matters: The Pentagon is bullish on smart machinery — but a lack of physical and digital infrastructure hamstrings the grand vision. The latest: Applied's announcement Tuesday includes its Axion and Acuity product lines. The former is a "developer cloud" made "specifically for the development of military-grade autonomy," Jason Brown, the company's general manager for defense, told Axios. The latter, he said, "is the output of that." Think of one as the brain and the other as the textbook from which it learns. Together, they hope to account for the "hyper-dynamic realities of warfighting," said Brown, "and of the operating environments that our warfighters find themselves." Programming autonomous weapons and machines to work on war-torn landscapes and on fast-changing battlefields is a huge challenge for militaries and their contractors. Speedy updates are a necessity. Zoom in: The newly disclosed software has been used across the services, including aboard the X-62A VISTA, a modified F-16. Context: Applied in December acquired EpiSci, which was involved with the VISTA and its dogfighting trials.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Why first-time stock market investors should learn the 'power of patterns'
Listen and subscribe to Financial Freestyle on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your favorite podcasts. Investing for the first time can be daunting for those who aren't familiar with stock market patterns. Take it from investor and author Jason Brown, who said he lost $1,300 his first time investing. Brown recounted on Yahoo Finance's Financial Freestyle podcast how he took the $2,000 he was given for his high school graduation and asked the bank to invest it in aggressive funds. When he returned two years later, his initial investment was worth just $700. Brown reinvested most of what was left of that investment. However, it wasn't until he learned to watch market patterns that he was able to actually make money, he said. "When I made my first $100, that made me realize the power of patterns," Brown said (see video above or listen below). This embedded content is not available in your region. Once he felt confident that he understood how stock market patterns worked, Brown took out a $10,000 student loan and invested it all in the stock market. "[I] grew it to over six figures," he said. "But I had to practice with my 500 bucks to have the confidence to take that $10,000 student loan to get there." Brown said that uptrending, downtrending, and sideways channeling are the three most profitable patterns investors should learn. "Those are the three basic ones that most people should start with because they're easy to recognize, and it's super profitable once you get good at spotting," Brown explained. In a sideways channel, the price of a stock remains generally steady, giving investors an idea of the price range at which that stock might be considered undervalued or overvalued. Being able to spot ascending and descending trendlines can also be lucrative for investors. Brown added that he mostly trades options instead of individual stocks, which are often done on a contract basis. Before choosing investments, though, he recommended looking at the company's previous trends to understand how their stocks typically behave. "When you're looking at the technical analysis of the chart, you typically want to look at six to 12 months, so that will give you at least four quarters of earnings and a nice range to kind of see what the pattern is," he said. "You want to look at about a year if you're trading, but then you can buy options. You could buy options that are as far out as three years ... You can be super safe." He advised against short-term trading, especially for early investors. Trading on time frames anywhere from 30 days to six months can be risky unless the investor feels confident they understand the trends of the investments they're making. At the end of the day, Brown emphasized that investing is a "game" anyone is capable of learning how to play. "It doesn't matter about the money or how much you had to start with. My advice is learn the game, because once you learn the game and see the power of it, you'll find the money," he said. Every Monday, Financial Freestyle host Ross Mac talks with key guests to discuss their wealth-building journeys and what it takes to build a lasting financial footprint. You can find more episodes on our video hub or watch on your preferred streaming service. Sign in to access your portfolio
Hindustan Times
11-05-2025
- Sport
- Hindustan Times
Philly Cricket Club's 14th hole shrunk to almost the length of a football field at taut 95 yards
FLOURTOWN, Pa. — With the tease of a possible ace on each tee shot, golf fan Jason Brown hunkered down early at the Philadelphia Cricket Club's 14th hole. This was no ordinary par-3, and Brown — like most of the fans who crowded the area — had to take a look at not only the shortest hole in the Truist Championship, it was the shortest par-3 for a regular PGA Tour event in decades. Try a taut 95 yards. Leave the driver and the power game in the bag. Heck, forget the rangefinder. Take aim instead on a hole shorter than a football field and let the birdies fly. It was the rare hole that let the country club members and weekday warriors at the Wissahickon Course dream for a moment that, yes, they could play every bit as well as Keegan Bradley, Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler or any other pro that took aim at the hole. At the very least, fans considered how they would use the bag. 'I would just hit a three-quarter pitching wedge,' the 54-year-old Brown said. 'If I hit a sand wedge off the tee, I'd probably take a chunk. Try to hit it a little long, maybe spin it down.' The move is a nod to Philly Cricket's original St. Martins Course, built in 1895. Expanded to 18 holes in 1897, the course hosted the U.S. Open in 1907 and 1910. At the U.S. Open in 2023, the 15th hole at Los Angeles Country Club played 81 yards in the third round. But since the debut of Shotlink, a real-time golf shot tracking system used by the PGA TOUR that started in 1983, no non-major event has ever had a hole as pint-sized as the one Sunday. Tom Hoge, who has one career Tour victory, said he used a 60-degree wedge on the hole and finished 14 at par. 'I think it's cool from a player's point of view,' he said. 'you stand there with a sand wedge in your hand and you think, if you hit a good shot, you've got a good shot at the hole.' The hole with a green protected by deep bunkers had a pitch-and-putt feel, and normally plays at 105 yards for members. Except for the golden, airy fescue, the hole might have seemed more at home at Top Golf. The first round played at 109 yards, with 24 birdies and 12 bogies; the second round played at 117 yards and 70 of 72 players shot a birdie or at par; and windy third round on Saturday that blew the ball right at 127 yards had 65 players score a birdie or par. The hole — which shared a tee box with the par-4 No. 4 hole that stretched beyond 400 yards — failed to produce an ace in the tournament won by Sepp Straka. 'I think good short par-3s are, I wouldn't say lost in modern golf architecture, but they're rare, and much more rare. That one is just the perfect example,' said Keith Mitchell, who shot a career-best 9-under 61 on Friday. Sean Kaufmann, of nearby Conshohocken, plays golf twice a week as a member of the 1912 Club. He surveyed the hole and figured he'd use a 52-degree wedge, land the ball in the center of the green and two-putt for par. 'Nothing crazy,' he said. 'I don't think I'm spinning it on command or anything. Nice and easy.' Easier said behind the ropes than done, of course, at a rare PGA stop in the Northeast. 'I'd probably shank it with this many people watching,' Kaufmann said with a laugh. Most players never played a hole so snug as a professional. Justin Thomas, who tries to win his third career PGA Championship next weekend at Quail Hollow, said he enjoyed No. 14 as much as any on the course with roots in the 1800s. 'I don't dislike any of them. I think 14 is an awesome hole, the short par-3,' Thomas said. 'I will take that to my grave that short par-3s are just so much better than any long par-3. I don't think I've ever played a par-3 over 200 yards that I would call memorable for its design versus it seems like all par-3s that are short like that are great. So I think holes like that are fun.' golf: /hub/golf
Hamilton Spectator
11-05-2025
- Sport
- Hamilton Spectator
Philly Cricket Club's 14th hole shrunk to almost the size of a football field at taut 95 yards
FLOURTOWN, Pa. (AP) — With the tease of a possible ace on each tee shot, golf fan Jason Brown hunkered down early at the Philadelphia Cricket Club's 14th hole. This was no ordinary par-3, and Brown — like most of the fans who crowded the area — had to take a look at not only the shortest hole in the Truist Championship, it was the shortest par-3 for a regular PGA Tour event in decades. Try a taut 95 yards . Leave the driver and the power game in the bag. Heck, forget the rangefinder. Take aim instead on a hole shorter than a football field and let the birdies fly. It was the rare hole that let the country club members and weekday warriors at the Wissahickon Course dream for a moment that, yes, they could play every bit as well as Keegan Bradley , Rory McIlroy , Rickie Fowler or any other pro that took aim at the hole. At the very least, fans considered how they would use the bag. 'I would just hit a three-quarter pitching wedge,' the 54-year-old Brown said. 'If I hit a sand wedge off the tee, I'd probably take a chunk. Try to hit it a little long, maybe spin it down.' The move is a nod to Philly Cricket's original St. Martins Course, built in 1895. Expanded to 18 holes in 1897, the course hosted the U.S. Open in 1907 and 1910. At the U.S. Open in 2023, the 15th hole at Los Angeles Country Club played 81 yards in the third round. But since the debut of Shotlink, a real-time golf shot tracking system used by the PGA TOUR that started in 1983, no non-major event has ever had a hole as pint-sized as the one Sunday. Tom Hoge, who has one career Tour victory, said he used a 60-degree wedge on the hole and finished 14 at par. 'I think it's cool from a player's point of view,' he said. 'you stand there with a sand wedge in your hand and you think, if you hit a good shot, you've got a good shot at the hole.' The hole with a green protected by deep bunkers had a pitch-and-putt feel, and normally plays at 105 yards for members. Except for the golden, airy fescue, the hole might have seemed more at home at Top Golf. The first round played at 109 yards, with 24 birdies and 12 bogies; the second round played at 117 yards and 70 of 72 players shot a birdie or at par; and windy third round on Saturday that blew the ball right at 127 yards had 65 players score a birdie or par. The hole — which shared a tee box with the par-4 No. 4 hole that stretched beyond 400 yards — failed to produce an ace as Sunday's play was underway. 'I think good short par-3s are, I wouldn't say lost in modern golf architecture, but they're rare, and much more rare. That one is just the perfect example,' said Keith Mitchell, who shot a career-best 9-under 61 on Friday. Sean Kaufmann, of nearby Conshohocken, plays golf twice a week as a member of the 1912 Club. He surveyed the hole and figured he'd use a 52-degree wedge, land the ball in the center of the green and two-putt for par. 'Nothing crazy,' he said. 'I don't think I'm spinning it on command or anything. Nice and easy.' Easier said behind the ropes than done, of course, at a rare PGA stop in the Northeast. 'I'd probably shank it with this many people watching,' Kaufmann said with a laugh. Most players never played a hole so snug as a professional. Justin Thomas, who tries to win his third career PGA Championship next weekend at Quail Hollow, said he enjoyed No. 14 as much as any on the course with roots in the 1800s. 'I don't dislike any of them. I think 14 is an awesome hole, the short par-3,' Thomas said. 'I will take that to my grave that short par-3s are just so much better than any long par-3. I don't think I've ever played a par-3 over 200 yards that I would call memorable for its design versus it seems like all par-3s that are short like that are great. So I think holes like that are fun.' ___ AP golf:
