Author: James Martin
Placeholder while article actions loadIt’s not a topic most people like to think about, but the sooner we start planning for what happens to our online accounts — from social media to smartphones — when we die, the better it is for loved ones.This week, we’re going to run through some of the places you can set up legacy contacts, and what to do if it’s not offered or was never added.Access to online accounts after death: Can you please comment on the best way to set up accounts and passwords (or a password manager?) such that another (trusted) person…
Placeholder while article actions loadSummer Game Fest is around the corner, and media entrepreneur Geoff Keighley hints at a month of news starting on June 9.“First couple of weeks of June are going to be a good time for gamers as always,” Keighley said.The host of the Game Awards and Summer Game Fest said people might look back at June as an exciting start to the year’s game release news, which has been on the quieter side when it comes to big titles. When asked whether that means people can expect major game announcements, Keighley demurred.“June is definitely a good…
Placeholder while article actions loadAt the heart of Turkey’s threat to stop NATO’s Nordic expansion is a clash of viewpoints over Kurdish political groups. Sweden, which along with Finland is seeking entry into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, has been one of Europe’s most willing recipients of migrants fleeing conflict, including Kurds. Turkey opposes Kurdish demands for statehood and its president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has called Sweden a “nesting ground for terrorist organizations.” Since NATO admits new members only by unanimous consent, his views can’t easily be ignored. 1. Why do the Kurds matter to Turkey?The Kurds are an Indo-European people,…
Placeholder while article actions loadWhen global economy-watchers talk about the outlook for so-called emerging markets these days, they’re kicking around some alarming terms: They see a toxic cocktail of risks, warn of a train wreck and are braced for a potential cascade of disasters. It’s the fallout from a mix of external shocks and mounting financial troubles washing over low- and middle-income countries, creating perhaps the biggest confluence of challenges since the 1990s, when a series of rolling crises sank economies and toppled governments. Turmoil fed by rising food and energy prices is already gripping places such as Sri Lanka,…
Placeholder while article actions loadThe global eradication of smallpox more than 40 years ago was one of the greatest achievements in public-health history, vanquishing a cause of death, blindness and disfigurement that had plagued humanity for at least 3,000 years. But, on the downside, it led to the end of a global vaccination program that provided protection against other pox viruses. That includes monkeypox, which has been spilling over from its animal hosts to infect humans in Africa with increasing frequency since the 1970s. More recently, monkeypox has sparked outbreaks in Europe and North America, demonstrating again how readily an…
Placeholder while article actions loadThe Indian government’s unwillingness to condemn Russia forcefully for its invasion of Ukraine seems to have woken up leaders in Washington to a long-simmering problem: how to wean the Indian military off its dependence on Russian arms. According to Bloomberg News, the U.S. government is considering a $500 million defense package for India, to finance the purchase of US weapons systems.While half a billion dollars may seem like a lot of money, it really isn’t when compared to the scale of the problem. Until recently, India bought almost all its frontline weaponry from Russia. Researchers at…
Placeholder while article actions loadMortgage rates ticked downward this week, rocked by an undercurrent of economic uncertainty, but continue to be elevated above the familiar days when they hovered around 3 percent.The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.25 percent as of Thursday, a dip from last week when it averaged 5.3 percent, according to data released by Freddie Mac. This time last year, the 30-year rate was 3 percent.The rate for the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.43 percent, down from last week’s average of 4.48 percent. A year ago at this time, it averaged 2.29 percent. The five-year adjustable rate averaged…
Waste from abandoned and bankrupt mines has contaminated more than 12,000 miles of waterways. Now states are looking at how to extract critical elements from those waters to try to offset the high cost of cleanup.May 19, 2022 at 10:54 a.m. EDTUniversity students sift iron oxide-filled mud from acid mine drainage collected from a discharge site next to Sunday Creek in Millfield, Ohio, in October. (Dane Rhys)On the site of a shuttered and bankrupt coal mine near the headwaters of the Potomac River, the state of West Virginia is building a demonstration plant that researchers say could help spur efforts…
Placeholder while article actions loadFood and Drug Administration commissioner Robert M. Califf told lawmakers Thursday that his agency has been working “tirelessly” to increase supplies of baby formula nationally and that he expects an Abbott Nutrition plant in Michigan that made much of the country’s formula to be operating again within two weeks.But Califf, speaking before a House appropriations subcommittee, called the food supply fragile and urged Congress to authorize more funding to expand staffing and inspections to stave off additional supply chain crises. “We could be one natural disaster or cyberattack from being here again,” he said.The FDA has…
Placeholder while article actions loadNow that Ukraine has evacuated its fighters from Mariupol, ceding control of the city to Russian forces, we can begin to sort the consequences. One has so far gone largely unexplored — the effect on the production of noble gases. Azovstal, the besieged steel plant in Mariupol, is one of only a handful of facilities in the world capable of producing the materials needed to cost-effectively make noble gases such as neon, krypton, xenon and helium, which are critical for global manufacturing. What’s needed now is a better understanding of how supply has been hit so that alternative sources can be…