Latest news with #Nordhaus
05-08-2025
- Science
Aug. 5 might be one of the shortest days of the year: Here's why
Scientists predict Aug. 5 just might be one of the shortest days of 2025. On Tuesday, Earth may rotate up to 1.25 milliseconds faster, according to an updated prediction shared on Multiple factors can contribute to changes in Earth's rotation rates, including atmospheric wind currents, the position of Earth's seas, and the position of the moon. Jason Nordhaus, an associate professor of physics at Rochester Institute of Technology in New York, says scientists have been tracking and collecting precise data since the 1960s and 70s that show the length of days has fluctuated over the decades. "It used to be that the Earth is actually spinning much slower, maybe like, three milliseconds slower per day," Nordhaus told ABC News. "Then, it's been steadily heading in the opposite direction, and then in the last maybe five years, it's really spun up. It's going faster, and so you're getting these shorter days." Earth's rotational changes are imperceptible to the human eye, said Nordhaus. "This is nothing anyone would notice," the professor said. "If you wake up in the morning and you look out, you don't know what a millisecond is like." But the tiny changes can be picked up by the atomic clock, a precise tool scientists use for space navigation and for GPS systems, and the changes are more noticeable over time. "If you get it wrong and you're off by a millisecond or two milliseconds, I think that works out to be something like, you get your positions off by maybe 50 centimeters to maybe 100 centimeters. And so, then if you accumulate that over the course of a year, you might be off by half a kilometer in your GPS system," Nordhaus explained. Scientists use the idea of leap seconds to take the changes into consideration, similar to the concept of a leap year. "If you look back through the '70s to today, there's been something around … 25 or 30 leap seconds have been added to counter all this over time," said Nordhaus. This summer, there have been three other days – July 9, July 10 and July 22 – where Earth has appeared to rotate more quickly than usual. On July 9, Earth appeared to rotate 1.23 milliseconds faster, 1.36 milliseconds faster the following day and then about 1.34 milliseconds faster on July 22, according to
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Texas National Guard continues flood response with Czech team joining effort
Kerrville, Texas — With about 100 people still missing after devastating floods, the Texas National Guard and local officials leading recovery efforts received additional international support this week when a specialized detachment from the Czech Republic arrived ready to help. Sixteen civilians and four cadaver dogs from a Czech search and rescue team landed Sunday in Texas on a U.S. military flight from Ramstein Air Base in Germany. National Guard Bureau Chief General Steve Nordhaus coordinated the team's arrival and met the team leads in person on Tuesday while he was visiting Kerrville, Texas, for updates on response efforts. "Thanks for being here, Texas and the Czech Republic were partners right from the beginning in 1993 and what just an amazing partnership," Nordhaus told the team leads at the Kerrville-Kerr County Airport. The Texas and Nebraska National Guard have since 1993 shared a military relationship with the Czech Republic as part of the National Guard Bureau's State Partnership Program that pairs states with countries to train together. There are over 100 partnerships with about 115 countries around the world, according to the National Guard, and the one with the Czech Republic was one of the first after the initiative began in 1991. The Czechs providing support in the wake of floods in Texas follows assistance the Texas National Guard gave last year when the Czech Republic experienced severe flooding. When a flood hit Ostrava in the Czech Republic in September 2024, a Texas Air National Guard unit training in Europe diverted an MQ-9 Reaper drone to Ostrava to provide aerial assessments for recovery efforts. In Texas, about 230 members of the Texas National Guard are currently supporting response efforts. According to the Texas National Guard, members of the guard rescued over 500 people in the initial 24 hours after the flooding began. About 360 of those were evacuated using UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters. During a Black Hawk flight over the Guadalupe River Tuesday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott pointed out to Nordhaus flood-impacted areas, explaining where the water rose at a terrifying speed — prompting urgent evacuations — and emphasizing how intensive the search will remain for the roughly 100 people still unaccounted for. After the flight, both Abbott and Nordhaus spoke to members of the Guard who have assisted in rescue and recovery efforts since the floods began on July 4. One of the air rescues came on July 4 when two Guard helicopters evacuated 130 children from Camp Mystic, a summer camp severely impacted by floods that led to the deaths of at least 27 campers and counselors. The 130 rescued the day of the flood by the guard were evacuated from Camp Mystic and taken to higher ground, according to Captain Connor Garrison, who led one of the aircraft and recounted the mission to Nordhaus and Abbott. "I appreciate you, I couldn't be prouder," Abbott told Garrison and other members of the Guard. The Texas National Guard is receiving support from other states like Arkansas, Arizona and North Dakota, which are providing additional personnel or equipment. For instance, North Dakota has sent down one of its own MQ-9 Reaper drones to help survey debris scattered along the still swollen Guadalupe River. Mike Johnson breaks from Trump, calls on DOJ to release Epstein files Trump says Powell is "terrible" for not lowering interest rates, denies plans to fire him Apps help undocumented people avoid immigration agents and ICE raids
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Request for 20,000 Guardsmen to Help with Immigration Crackdown Under Review, Guard Chief Says
The Defense Department is reviewing a request from the Department of Homeland Security for 20,000 National Guardsmen to help with the Trump administration's mass deportation efforts, the chief of National Guard Bureau told lawmakers Tuesday. At a House hearing Tuesday, Gen. Steven Nordhaus was asked about a report last week in The New York Times that Homeland Security officials requested the Guardsmen to help with "interior immigration enforcement" -- which would mark a major change from the supporting role that the Guard has traditionally played in security at the southern border. "I do know that the Department of Defense has received a request for assistance," Nordhaus said. "It is just initially into the building and is being staffed. I don't have specific details or how the department will execute on that request for assistance at this time." Read Next: Veterans Mortgage Assistance Plan Approved by House After VA Ends Rescue Program The National Guard has buttressed U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents at the U.S.-Mexico border for years, assisting with tasks such as patrols and building barriers. But President Donald Trump, after winning with a presidential campaign message that vowed "mass deportations now," has increasingly turned to the military to deliver that promise. Trump has deployed roughly 10,000 U.S. troops to the border, as well as more heavy-duty equipment primarily meant for overseas combat, and given active-duty troops new roles such as patrols. He also designated a large stretch of land along the border as a military zone as a way to increase criminal charges against those arrested for crossing the border. The military has also been tapped for deportation flights and housing migrants at the Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba while they await deportation. If the National Guard is tasked with helping immigration enforcement inside the U.S., it would be an unprecedented mission. At Tuesday's hearing before the House Appropriations Committee's defense subcommittee, Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn., pressed Nordhaus on several outstanding questions about the role the National Guard could play in deportations, including whether troops would be tasked with arrests, what legal authority they would have to conduct law enforcement activities, and what law enforcement training they would have. "I think there's a lot of legal questions that our Guardsmen and women need to know before they're assigned to duties, and I expect due diligence to be done," said McCollum, the ranking member of the subcommittee. While Nordhaus had few specifics to offer, in general, he vowed that the National Guard would adhere to the Constitution. "We operate under the authorities of either the state and the governor, or operate under authorities from Congress," he said. "And so we take those things very seriously, and we make sure that we're following the Constitution, we're following the law, and any policy and guidance." He also appeared to downplay the unprecedented nature of the request, comparing it to the support the National Guard provides law enforcement at presidential inaugurations. McCollum also pressed Nordhaus over how the Guard's increasing mission on the border is affecting its ability to train for war. Nordhaus brushed aside those concerns, saying that the Guard is "always ready, always there." That stands in contrast to Nordhaus' predecessor, who issued a stark warning last year about border missions distracting from training. Related: How Trump Is Leaning on the Military to Fulfill His Hopes of Mass Deportations and an Immigration Freeze
