Emergency Management & Safety Solutions Inc.

What are the chances of this being captured? A doorbell camera on a Canadian home has captured rare video and sound of a meteorite striking Earth as it crashed into a couple’s walkway. When Laura Kelly and her partner returned home after an evening walk, they were surprised to find their walkway littered with dust and strange debris, according to the Meteoritical Society, which posted the video with its report. They checked their security camera and saw something slamming against their entranceway, producing a cloud of smoke and a crackle. The pair reported what they found to the University of Alberta’s Meteorite Reporting System and the curator, Chris Herd, examined samples of the debris to confirm its interstellar origins. Meteorites are bits of space rock that hit Earth after surviving a trip through its scorching atmosphere. About 43 tonnes (43,500kg) of similar debris strikes Earth every day, according to Nasa, but is much more likely to plunge into an ocean than on to someone’s front stoop. The space rocks also streak the night sky as shooting stars during meteor showers that happen several times a year. The footage from July is believed to be a first. While cameras have captured meteors streaking through the sky, it is rare to capture the sound of a complete meteorite strike on video. The space rock, officially registered on Monday, was named Charlottetown after the city on Prince Edward Island in eastern Canada where it struck. https://lnkd.in/gbW3-YQh

This is a fabulous interview on the science of kindness and why hope outweighs cynicism - so crucial now. So many people are jumping in to help neighbors, friends, even strangers affected by the L.A. fires. Volunteering, donating, hosting people who’ve evacuated, providing meals and organizing drives to collect toiletries and clothes. Turns out, science shows we humans are actually wired for this kind of kindness, connection and empathy. That’s what Dr. Jamil Zaki has discovered in the Stanford Social Neuroscience Lab. He’s a professor of psychology and the author of Hope for Cynics: The Surprising Science of Human Goodness. He shares some data-driven reasons why we shouldn’t be cynical, even in really hard times. Zaki spoke about his research. https://lnkd.in/gMKuZ2Ge

Looking for some weekend reading? This book explores how democracies can be undermined by elected leaders who subvert the rules of the game, rather than by military coups. It compares the cases of Chile, Germany, Venezuela, and the United States, and warns of the dangers of democratic erosion. This link connects you to a downloadable PDF of the entire book. Download it and add to a kindle app for easy reading. Here is the introduction: Is our democracy in danger? It is a question we never thought we’d be asking. We have been colleagues for fifteen years, thinking, writing, and teaching students about failures of democracy in other places and times—Europe’s dark 1930s, Latin America’s repressive 1970s. We have spent years researching new forms of authoritarianism emerging around the globe. For us, how and why democracies die has been an occupational obsession. But now we find ourselves turning to our own country. Over the past two years, we have watched politicians say and do things that are unprecedented in the United States—but that we recognize as having been the precursors of democratic crisis in other places. We feel dread, as do so many other Americans, even as we try to reassure ourselves that things can’t really be that bad here. After all, even though we know democracies are always fragile, the one in which we live has somehow managed to defy gravity. Our Constitution, our national creed of freedom and equality, our historically robust middle class, our high levels of wealth and education, and our large, diversified private sector—all these should inoculate us from the kind of democratic breakdown that has occurred elsewhere. Yet, we worry. American politicians now treat their rivals as enemies, intimidate the free press, and threaten to reject the results of elections. They try to weaken the institutional buffers of our democracy, including the courts, intelligence services, and ethics offices. American states, which were once praised by the great jurist Louis Brandeis as “laboratories of democracy,” are in danger of becoming laboratories of authoritarianism as those in power rewrite electoral rules, redraw constituencies, and even rescind voting rights to ensure that they do not lose. And in 2016, for the first time in U.S. history, a man with no experience in public office, little observable commitment to constitutional rights, and clear authoritarian tendencies was elected president. What does all this mean? Are we living through the decline and fall of one of the world’s oldest and most successful democracies? https://lnkd.in/g4tYnPng

The US supreme court has issued a ruling upholding a nationwide ban on TikTok. The nine justices voted unanimously in a 17 January decision that sides with the majority of US Congress and the US Department of Justice that the hugely popular social media app is a threat to US national security. “We conclude that the challenged provisions do not violate petitioners’ First Amendment rights,” the justices wrote. “The judgment of the United States court of appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is affirmed.” In December, a Washington DC appeals court upheld the ban. This means TikTok, which is used by 170 million people in the US, will no longer be available for download in app stores starting on 19 January. Trump has positioned himself as the savior for TikTok and his first buddy, Elon Musk. Chinese officials have reportedly held preliminary talks about a potential option to sell TikTok’s operations in the US to the billionaire, should the short-video app be unable to avoid an impending ban. Another option is for Musk to act as a broker in a deal to sell the app. How cozy. https://lnkd.in/gAZA-5jc

One of my all-time heroes! Julie Packard, the marine biologist who has presided over the Monterey Bay Aquarium since it opened in 1984 and shepherded it through the Covid pandemic, announced her retirement as executive director on Wednesday. Ms. Packard has helped repurpose the thick-glassed fish museums of old into potent forces for ocean conservation action. Built with a $55 million donation by her parents, David and Lucile Packard of the tech giant Hewlett-Packard, the aquarium has received tens of millions of visitors. Sightseers at the aquarium, a Northern California institution, have taken in a number of world firsts: the successful exhibition and release of great white sharks; the reintroduction of orphaned Southern sea otter pups to the wild; and the large-scale display of creatures such as salmon snailfish and vampire squid, found far below the reach of sunlight in a region known as the midnight zone. Rising ocean temperatures are altering water chemistry, changing fish migration patterns, and making marine life more susceptible to the effects of overfishing. Ms. Packard’s staff has demonstrated how to restore ocean health by reducing plastic pollution and raising awareness of environmentally sustainable seafood. The aquarium’s partner organization, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, has developed and deployed robotic submersibles that are transforming how scientists explore the ocean. Julie Packard and her team at the MBA have done fantastic work. If you have not yet been, it is a must-see if visiting California. Spend a complete day, walk out amazed, and work to save the ocean and all her critters. https://lnkd.in/g-4wpkgP

Diets high in processed meats, like bacon, hot dogs and sausage, were associated with a 13 percent higher risk of dementia later in life, according to a new study published in Neurology. To assess the risk of dementia and cognitive decline, Massachusetts General Hospital researchers followed 133,771 participants for up to 43 years. They found that participants who ate the equivalent of two slices of bacon or a hot dog compared to those who consumed less than one-tenth a serving each day had a 13 percent higher risk of developing dementia, adjusting for numerous clinical, demographic and lifestyle factors such as socioeconomic status and family history of dementia. The researchers are still exploring possible mechanisms by which processed meats may be linked to dementia risk. While follow-up studies must corroborate the team’s data, the researchers recommend updating dietary guidelines, so consumers know that reducing red meat consumption can promote cognitive health. Previous research has linked red meat consumption with poorer health outcomes, including cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. https://lnkd.in/gxwX3fsm

This is a good move for the #CDC to look for #H5N1 in the current influenza samples in laboratory samples. Today, the CDC issued a Health Alert Network (HAN) Health Advisory to clinicians and laboratories due to sporadic human infections with avian influenza A(H5N1) viruses amid high levels of seasonal influenza activity. CDC recommends a shortened timeline for subtyping all influenza A specimens among hospitalized patients and increasing efforts at clinical laboratories to identify non-seasonal influenza. Clinicians and laboratorians are reminded to test for influenza in patients with suspected influenza and, going forward, to now expedite the subtyping of influenza A-positive specimens from hospitalized patients, particularly those in an intensive care unit (ICU). This approach can help prevent delays in identifying human infections with avian influenza A(H5N1) viruses, supporting optimal patient care and timely infection control and case investigation. https://lnkd.in/gw-58cmU

Finally! The #FDA on Wednesday banned the use of Red Dye No. 3 in food, beverages and drugs, more than three decades after the synthetic coloring was first found to cause cancer in male laboratory rats. The dye, a petroleum-based additive, has been used to give candy, soda and other products their vibrant cherry red hue. Consumer advocates said the F.D.A.’s decision to revoke the authorization was long overdue, given the agency’s decision in 1990 to ban the chemical for use in cosmetics and topical drugs. Under federal rules, the F.D.A. is prohibited from approving food additives that cause cancer in humans or animals. “This is wonderful news and long overdue,” said Melanie Benesh, vice president for government affairs at the Environmental Working Group, one of several organizations that petitioned the agency to take action on the additive. “Red Dye 3 is the lowest of the low-hanging fruit when it comes to toxic food dyes that the F.D.A. should be addressing.” Beginning in 2027, companies would have to start removing the dye from their products. Imported foods would also have to lose the additive to be sold in the United States. Although the dye is still used in hundreds of products, many companies have been switching to other food colorings, a move that accelerated after California in 2023 became the first state to ban Red 3 along with three other food additives that have been linked to disease. The dye has also been linked to health concerns for children. In announcing the ban, the agency downplayed the risks to humans, saying that researchers had not found similar cancer risks in studies involving animals other than male rats. Claims that the use of Red Dye No. 3 “in food and in ingested drugs puts people at risk are not supported by the available scientific information,” Jim Jones, the F.D.A.’s deputy commissioner for human foods, said in a statement.

It is about time—just in time. The Biden administration, in its waning days, is allocating $306m to respond to public health threats from bird flu. Public health experts applaud this move as the H5N1 outbreak continues to expand among people and animals in the US. Experts say that as the outbreak intensifies, the US should continue investing in pandemic response, such as wastewater monitoring, vaccine manufacturing and distribution, rapid test development, and other pressing needs to curtail the outbreak. But it’s not clear whether the incoming Trump administration will continue such work. About $183m of the new funding will go toward pandemic preparedness writ large, especially treatment, at the regional, state and local level, while $103m will be spent monitoring people who have been exposed to the bird flu virus. Another $8m will go to test manufacturing and distribution, and $11m is set aside for research on how to combat H5N1. “These investments are critical to continuing our disease surveillance, laboratory testing and monitoring efforts alongside our partners at USDA,” Xavier Becerra, secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), said in a statement. The new funding will be distributed within weeks. Because the money has already been appropriated, it cannot legally be reversed if the incoming Trump administration lays out diverging priorities. While the Biden administration has spent about $1.8bn responding to bird flu so far, the majority of those funds have gone to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to address the outbreak among animals. https://lnkd.in/gJqEjEXe

A new government proposal to display #nutritionallabels on the front of food packaging is aimed at helping Americans make more informed choices about what they eat. An eventual side effect, research and expert commentary suggests, could be nudging the food industry to make healthier food, too. The #FDA on Tuesday unveiled a proposal, long in the works, for a mandatory food labeling system that it says is intended to combat chronic diseases, including heart disease, cancer, and diabetes, that have been linked to excessive consumption of saturated fats, sodium, and added sugars. Sixty percent of Americans live with at least one chronic disease, and 40% live with two or more. “We believe food should be a vehicle for wellness, not a contributor of chronic disease,” Rebecca Buckner, the agency’s associate deputy director for human food policy, said in a press briefing on Tuesday.  The proposed label is a black-and-white box that shows the percentage of the daily recommended amount of sodium, added sugar, and saturated fat included in a serving and rates whether a serving has a “low,” “medium,” or “high” level of each nutrient. The FDA says the ratings could incentivize manufacturers to reduce levels of those three nutrients, although that’s not the agency’s goal in proposing the change. “We assume there may be manufacturers who would want to reformulate to move from the high to the medium category or from the medium to low category,” Buckner noted. Does reading a label change your behavior and purchasing decisions?