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[ad_1] Joseph M. Hendrie, a physicist who led the Nuclear Regulatory Commission during the country’s worst nuclear power accident, at Three Mile Island — a mishap that chilled Americans’ trust in nuclear energy for decades — died on Dec. 26 at his home in Bellport, N.Y., on Long Island. He was 98. His daughter Barbara Hendrie confirmed the death. An expert in nuclear reactor safety, Dr. Hendrie was chairman of the commission on March 28, 1979, when a commercial reactor located on an island in the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania experienced a sudden loss of cooling water and a partial meltdown of its radioactive fuel. Two days later, on Dr. Hendrie’s advice, the governor of Pennsylvania ordered the evacuation of pregnant women and preschool children within five miles of the area. Minimal radioactivity was released, and there were no immediate deaths. But official miscommunication and lingering confusion over the severity of the threat inflamed a long-running national debate about...

[ad_1] The signature cherry blossoms in Washington, D.C., have arrived early after a warm winter, matching the second-earliest peak bloom in more than a century of record-keeping. “PEAK BLOOM! PEAK BLOOM! PEAK BLOOM! Did we say PEAK BLOOM?!” the National Park Service announced on Sunday , trumpeting the arrival of the delicate flowering. “The cherry blossoms are popping!” the Park Service said. “Gorgeous clouds of white and pink blossoms ring the Tidal Basin, creating a splendid spring spectacle. Come enjoy the beauty.” More than 1.5 million people descend on the Tidal Basin, a reservoir wedged between the National Mall and the Potomac River, each spring to meander among the hundreds of the Japanese flowering trees as they burst into color, usually around the end of March. The Park Service had originally estimated that Washington’s cherry blossoms would reach full blossom on March 23. But after an unusually warm winter, the trees reached peak bloom — in case the Park Service state...

[ad_1] You've probably had it happen to you before - you're trying to watch your favorite streaming show, and it won't load, or you're scrolling through Facebook, and none of your friends' posts are coming up.   This is likely because your browser is too slow, and there are multiple reasons why this could be happening. The good news is there are ways for you to fix the issue.  CLICK TO GET KURT’S CYBERGUY NEWSLETTER WITH QUICK TIPS, TECH REVIEWS, SECURITY ALERTS AND EASY HOW-TO’S TO MAKE YOU SMARTER   Google Chrome displays on the computer (Cyberguy.com) Why is my browser so slow?   There are many reasons why your browser is running extra slow, and it could be any of the following:  Malware:  your computer could potentially have a virus that you're unaware of. See my expert review of the best antivirus protection for your Windows, Mac, Android & iOS devices by searching ‘Best Antivirus’ at CyberGuy.com by clicking the magnifying glass ic...

[ad_1] For the past two and a half years, Oregon has been trying an unusual experiment to stem soaring rates of addiction and overdose deaths. People caught with small amounts of illicit drugs for “personal use,” including fentanyl and methamphetamine, are fined just $100 — a sanction that can be waived if they participate in a drug screening and health assessment. The aim is to reserve prosecutions for large-scale dealers and address addiction primarily as a public health emergency. When the proposal, known as Measure 110 , was approved by nearly 60 percent of Oregon voters in November 2020, the pandemic had already emptied downtown Portland of workers and tourists. But its street population was growing, especially after the anti-police protests that had spread around the country that summer. Within months of the measure taking effect in February 2021, open-air drug use, long in the shadows, burst into full view, with people sitting in circles in parks or leaning against street s...

[ad_1] Over 60 million fellow Americans rely on Medicare for their healthcare needs, so you need to be aware of this horrible new scam.  CLICK TO GET KURT’S CYBERGUY NEWSLETTER WITH QUICK TIPS, TECH REVIEWS, SECURITY ALERTS AND EASY HOW-TO’S TO MAKE YOU SMARTER With Medicare being a multi-billion dollar plan, there are scammers out there who are taking advantage of and abusing the system by tricking those of you who are on Medicare. That’s why the AARP Fraud Watch Network is taking a stand and warning all Medicare patients to watch out for this new scam. VIRTUAL EMPLOYEES ON THE RISE IN CHINA, SHOULD AMERICANS BE WORRIED? What is the Medicare scam? The most recent scam affecting Medicare beneficiaries relates to " free" medical equipment. Scammers who are disguising themselves as Medicare representatives are making unsolicited calls to people under the guise of Medicare and offering them free medical devices such as back braces. These scammers are extremely pushy, implo...

[ad_1] When the United Arab Emirates hosts this year’s United Nations climate summit, it will elevate the Gulf nation’s global profile. But the conference is also inviting scrutiny of the Emirates’ record on human rights as well as its position as a leading oil producer. A leaked recording of a February meeting between representatives from the United Arab Emirates and summit organizers provides a candid look at their efforts to respond to the criticism. It also highlights the authoritarian state’s focus on its image, managed through contracts with public relations companies, lobbyists and social media specialists around the world. Hosting the global summit, known as COP28, had given rise to unwelcome questions about the Emirates’ human rights record and “alarm bells started going off,” one Emirati official, who identified herself as head of the human rights office at the presidential court, told the gathering. Taped in its entirety by a participant, the recording was obtained by t...

[ad_1] This week, we invite participants to try birding by ear. Practice identifying five species common to your area by their vocalizations. The Sound ID feature of the free Merlin Bird ID app can offer suggestions for which species are calling or singing around you. (People who are deaf or hard-of-hearing may find Merlin’s spectrograms helpful as visual representations of the sounds.) Tell us : If you’re an experienced birder, share tips for identifying birds from their sounds. And if you’re trying this for the first time, let us know how it goes. Michael Hurben, 56, first got into birding in his 20s. He also got interested in Claire Strohmeyer, who happened to be a more experienced birder. On their third date, when she mentioned that she was going on a walk with the Audubon Society, Mr. Hurben knew he had met the woman for him. “I just lost it, because she had been doing this her whole life,” he said. “That was our instant bond. I wasn’t going to let her go after that.” They ...

[ad_1] New Delhi:  India's first solar mission, Aditya L-1, is in good health and on its way to the Sun-Earth L1 point, according to the Indian space agency ISRO. The spacecraft's onboard instrument, the magnetometer, will be activated again in a few days as the mission progresses along its intended path. ISRO has reported that the Aditya L-1 spacecraft had to undergo a Trajectory Correction Maneuver (TCM) on October 6, 2023, lasting approximately 16 seconds. This maneuver was necessary to correct the trajectory, which was evaluated after the Trans-Lagrangean Point 1 Insertion (TL1) maneuver performed on September 19, 2023. Aditya L-1 was launched on September 2, 2023, at 11:50 IST from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, an island off the coast of the Bay of Bengal. The mission was conducted using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C57 rocket). Aditya-L1 Mission: The Spacecraft is healthy and on its way to Sun-Earth L1. A Traje...

[ad_1] When Voyager 1 launched in 1977, scientists hoped it could do what it was built to do and take up-close images of Jupiter and Saturn. It did that — and much more. Voyager 1 discovered active volcanoes, moons and planetary rings, proving along the way that Earth and all of humanity could be squished into a single pixel in a photograph, a “ pale blue dot, ” as the astronomer Carl Sagan called it. It stretched a four-year mission into the present day, embarking on the deepest journey ever into space. Now, it may have bid its final farewell to that faraway dot. Voyager 1 , the farthest man-made object in space, hasn’t sent coherent data to Earth since November. NASA has been trying to diagnose what the Voyager mission’s project manager, Suzanne Dodd, called the “most serious issue” the robotic probe has faced since she took the job in 2010. The spacecraft encountered a glitch in one of its computers that has eliminated its ability to send engineering and science data back to Ea...

[ad_1] Imagine being able to prevent a fire from spreading and destroying your home, your belongings, and your loved ones. Now, imagine being able to receive a text message on your phone that alerts you of that unattended fire in your house, even when you are away. And what if you learned that the person who invented that device is only 12 years old? That's right, 12 years old. CLICK TO GET KURT’S FREE CYBERGUY NEWSLETTER WITH SECURITY ALERTS, QUICK VIDEO TIPS, TECH REVIEWS, AND EASY HOW-TO’S TO MAKE YOU SMARTER Shanya Gill holds her fire detection system invention. (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson) Meet the young inventor Meet Shanya Gill from San Jose, California, who was so affected by a fire in her neighborhood that she designed a fire detection system that is more effective, faster and cheaper than traditional smoke detectors. Shanya Gill displays her fire detection system invention. (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson) MORE: THE 3 RANDOM WORDS THAT COULD SAVE Y...