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Los Angeles Times
2 days ago
- Health
- Los Angeles Times
New network of air pollution monitors launches near Palisades fire
LOS ANGELES — UCLA researchers have launched 20 new air pollution monitors across northwest Los Angeles County to better understand how much fine ash and coarse dust are being kicked up in the Palisades fire burn area as reconstruction advances. The network stretches from Topanga State Park through Brentwood and Santa Monica, updating every five to ten minutes on an online map. 'We heard clear community needs — real-time data, user-friendly design, and granular neighborhood coverage,' said Yifang Zhu, a professor in the UCLA Department of Environmental Health Sciences and director of the project. Zhu had seen that Caltech had put up a similar network for areas affected by the Eaton fire. The new sensors track airborne particulate matter — a complex mix of substances such as soil, dust, and metals — in two main sizes: fine, PM 2.5, no larger than 2.5 microns, or roughly 1/30 the width of a human hair, and coarser particles, PM 10, roughly the size of a cotton fiber. All are small enough to be inhaled into the nose, throat, and upper airways and can cause a wide range of health issues. PM 2.5 is linked to asthma attacks, premature death as well as acute and chronic bronchitis. Although less studied, PM 10 has been tied to adverse health effects, especially among infants, children, and older people who have lung or heart conditions. The public already can see real-time air pollution levels on several websites, including those of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the South Coast Air Quality Management District, Purple Air and IQAir. The problem, researchers say, is that these often do not track the larger PM 10 particles, the kind more likely to be kicked up into the air by construction. 'The January wildfires were massive and they highlighted gaps that we in the air pollution science community knew about, but the larger community wasn't necessarily aware of,' said Rima Habre, an associate professor of environmental health sciences at USC and collaborator on the project. After the fires, people were looking at air quality readings from the existing network, and couldn't tell how much of the dirty air was due to the larger particles. The new network, known as CAP AIR, was designed to provide hyperlocal and real-time data. The dashboard is color coded from green for good air to dark red for hazardous air to help residents quickly interpret the risk. 'You can see PM 10 levels spike if trucks are hauling debris nearby, and wait until they drop again to go out and jog along the road,' Habre said. Bill Magavern, policy director of the Coalition for Clean Air, pointed out that California has the worst air in the country. 'It's important for people to know how much particle pollution they're being exposed to. So we strongly support expanded monitoring and making the information available as widely as possible so people can make informed decisions about when and if they spend a long time outside, when they're doing strenuous activities like exercising, when they might want to not have their children be outside playing.' Residents can also sign up for email updates when sensors near their home show particle levels surge. 'Sometimes people are anxious or scared about what's going on — it's just because of a lack of information,' Zhu said. 'Now, this network can provide that information.'
Time of India
2 days ago
- Sport
- Time of India
A step away from history, Nagpur's chess queen Divya in World Cup Final 4
Nagpur: World Junior Champion Divya Deshmukh scripted history by becoming the first Nagpur master to make it to the final four of the Women's World Cup in Batumi, Georgia, on Monday. In an all-Indian quarterfinal, the 19-year-old International Master (IM) Divya defeated experienced GM D Harika in the first set of tie-breaks played in Divya's favourite rapid format. The win saw her take a bold step towards qualifying for the Women's Candidates tournament. From Tuesday, the semifinal battles will be played between India and China. Divya will face China's World No. 8 Tan Zhongyi, and Koneru Humpy will be up against top seed Lei Tingjie. With the top three finishers qualifying for the Women's Candidates tournament, both Humpy and Divya can earn the right to fight in the event from where the World Champion Challenger will be identified. A day after both Divya and Harika drew their classical games, tie-breaks in the rapid and blitz formats in different time controls were played to identify the semifinalist. Divya won both her games played with the white and black pieces to clinch the quarterfinal 3-1. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like G+35 Tower | 2, 3 & 4 BHK Homes in Navi Mumbai L&T Panvel Enquire Now Undo On her plans against Tan in the semifinals, Divya said, "I always wanted to avoid tie-breaks, but it's not in my hands. I just want to forget everything and eat now. After that, I will start preparing." As a 15th seed, the 2463 Elo Divya started the World Cup by winning the second and third rounds 1.5-0.5 against Georgia's Mgeladze Kesaria and Serbian IM Injac Teodora respectively. In the pre-quarterfinals, Divya was up against China's World No. 6 Zhu Jiner. For the first time in her career, Divya defeated the in-form Zhu when she utilised her opening advantage with the white pieces to surprise the China No. 4 in 49 moves. In the following classical game, Divya failed to defend with the black pieces, and Zhu brought parity with a 57-move win. Divya then made the most of her favourite rapid format to again surprise Zhu and take the lead before she ended the Chinese GM's campaign by playing out an entertaining draw while defending with the black pieces.
Time of India
5 days ago
- Sport
- Time of India
Women's Chess World Cup: Brave Divya stuns China's World No. 6 Zhu, again
Divya Deshmukh in action (Image via X/@FIDE_chesss) Divya enters quarterfinals with India's top three ranked players — Humpy, Harika, Vaishali World Junior No. 1 Divya Deshmukh and India's top three ranked players — Koneru Humpy, D Harika and Vaishali Rameshbabu — made it to the quarterfinals of the FIDE Women's Chess World Cup in Batumi, Georgia, on Friday. All four Indians confirmed their last eight berths through the tiebreak route played in the shorter rapid and blitz formats with different time controls. Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW! Playing an all-out attacking game became Divya's winning weapon against China's World No. 6 and experienced GM Zhu Jiner as the 19-year-old won her first rapid tiebreak game while defending with black pieces to take the lead before playing out a fighting draw with her whites to clinch the fourth round 2.5-1.5. India No. 1 Koneru Humpy outclassed Switzerland's Alexandra Kosteniuk 2.5-1.5 by winning the first rapid tiebreak game, utilising her opening advantage with white pieces and splitting the point with the black bits. Poll Do you think the presence of four Indian players in the quarterfinals is a significant achievement? Yes, it's historic No, it's expected It's impressive but not surprising Harika registered a superb come-from-behind victory over higher-ranked Kateryna Lagno of Ukraine 3.5-2.5 in the second rapid tiebreak played with a 10-minute time control. Vaishali took the blitz route to enter the quarterfinals. Vaishali rallied splendidly after losing her opening tiebreak game to get the better of lower-ranked Kazakhstan IM Meruert Kamalidenova 4.5-3.5. For Divya, making it to the quarterfinals with a stunning win over a player who in the morning took her live classical ranking to world No. 3 was a bit of an emotional moment. After controlling her tears, Divya nervously cracked her fingers and shook hands with Zhu. The day started with Divya toppling Zhu in the marathon 99-move battle while defending with black pieces in the opening game of the tiebreaks. In the rook and threepawn endgame, Divya was just a move away from exchanging her pawn, which left Zhu with no option but to resign. Following up her thrilling win where she converted the drawish position into a winning one, Divya fought bravely in the second game with white pieces. Making the most of Zhu's 45th move blunder, Divya, despite being a pawn and a piece down but with an attacking queen, played out a 57-move draw by repetition to advance to the quarterfinals. With Divya forcing Zhu to make an early exit, the quarterfinal lineup will now have four Indians, three Chinese, and a Georgian GM. A total of six Grandmasters and two young 19-year-old International Masters (IMs), including Divya and China's Yuxin Song, remain in the fray to grab the three spots for the Women's Candidates tournament. In the quarterfinals, Divya will face Harika, ensuring India's presence in the semifinals. Humpy will take on Chinese youngster Yuxin, Vaishali will be up against Tan Zhongyi, and top seed Lei Tingjie will square up against Nana Dzagnidze. Catch Rani Rampal's inspiring story on Game On, Episode 4. Watch Here!
Time of India
5 days ago
- Sport
- Time of India
Brave Divya stuns China's Zhu again, leads India's charge to Chess WC quarters with Humpy, Harika, Vaishali
1 2 3 4 5 6 Nagpur: World Junior No. 1 Divya Deshmukh and India's top three ranked players — Koneru Humpy, D Harika and Vaishali Rameshbabu — made it to the quarterfinals of the FIDE Women's Chess World Cup in Batumi, Georgia, on Friday. All four Indians confirmed their last eight berths through the tiebreak route played in the shorter rapid and blitz formats with different time controls. Playing an all-out attacking game became Divya's winning weapon against China's World No. 6 and experienced Grandmaster Zhu Jiner as the 19-year-old won her first rapid tiebreak game while defending with black pieces to take the lead before playing out a fighting draw with her whites to clinch the fourth round 2.5-1.5. India No. 1 Koneru Humpy outclassed Switzerland's Alexandra Kosteniuk 2.5-1.5 by winning the first rapid tiebreak game, utilising her opening advantage with white pieces and splitting the point with the black bits. Harika registered a superb come-from-behind victory over higher-ranked Kateryna Lagno of Ukraine 3.5-2.5 in the second rapid tiebreak played with a 10-minute time control. Vaishali took the blitz route to enter the quarterfinals. Vaishali rallied splendidly after losing her opening tiebreak game to get the better of lower-ranked Kazakhstan IM Meruert Kamalidenova 4.5-3.5. For Divya, making it to the quarterfinals with a stunning win over a player who in the morning took her live classical ranking to world No. 3 was a bit of an emotional moment. After controlling her emotions, Divya nervously cracked her fingers and shook hands with Zhu. The day started with Divya toppling Zhu in the marathon 99-move battle while defending with black pieces in the opening game of the tiebreaks. In the rook and three-pawn endgame, Divya was about to win the rival rook by queening her pawn. Zhu had no option but to resign. Following up her thrilling win where she converted the drawish position into a winning one, Divya fought bravely in the second game with her white pieces. Making the most of Zhu's 45th move blunder, Divya, despite being a pawn and a piece down but with an attacking queen, played out a 57-move draw by repetition to advance to the quarterfinals. With Divya forcing Zhu to make an early exit, the quarterfinal line-up will now have four Indians, three Chinese, and a Georgian GM. A total of six Grandmasters and two young 19-year-old International Masters (IMs), including Divya and China's Yuxin Song, remain in the fray to grab the three spots for the Women's Candidates tournament. In the quarterfinals, Divya will face Harika, ensuring India's presence in the semifinals. Humpy will take on Chinese youngster Yuxin, Vaishali will be up against Tan Zhongyi, and top seed Lei Tingjie will square up against Nana Dzagnidze.
Indian Express
5 days ago
- Sport
- Indian Express
Divya Deshmukh defeats Zhu Jiner, qualifies for FIDE Women's World Cup quarterfinals
Divya Deshmukh on Friday knocked out Chinese GM Zhu Jiner to qualify for the FIDE Women's World Cup quarterfinals, The 19-year-old Divya defeated Zhu in Game 1 of the 25+10 Rapid tiebreaks and drew Game 2 to win the match. On Thursday, Deshmukh had lost her second game with black pieces to Zhu after defeating the world no 6 from China with white pieces a day previously. Meanwhile, GM Koneru Humpy also knocked out GM Alexandra Kosteniuk and went through to the Quarterfinals. Both their classical games ended in a draw. Humpy defeated Kosteniuk in Game 1 of the 15+10 Rapid tiebreaks, and held a draw in Game 2 to win the match. The tournament format for the FIDE Women's World Cup is such that all games are played in a head-to-head elimination format over two classical games with players playing once each with white and black pieces. If after two classical games there is no clear winner, the battle enters tiebreaks, where the time control keeps reducing until there is a winner. While the two classical games are played over two days, the tiebreaks happen on the third day. At first, both players will play best-of-two games in the 15 minutes (+10 seconds increment per move, popularly called 15+10) format. If that also cannot separate the two players, the time gets reduced to 10 minutes (+10 seconds increment per move, called 10+10). Once again there will be two games. If even this cannot provide a winner, the time trickles down to five minutes + three seconds (5+3). After this point, if players are still deadlocked, the game enters chess' equivalent of a sudden death: a winner-takes-all single game of three minutes + 2 seconds. This 3+2 game will be played until there's a winner. The FIDE Women's World Cup offers the top three finishers a spot at next year's Women's Candidates tournament, which is the final step towards challenging the reigning women's world champion.
