Gaythia Weis @Gaythia@social.cleverlibre.org

This is Arp 271, a pair of spiral galaxies locked in a gravitational dance. In a few billion years the #MilkyWay and the Andromeda galaxy might look like this!

This is the very last #photo ever taken with the VIMOS instrument at ESO's Very Large #Telescope in #Chile, back in 2018. After I finished the decommissioning procedures that night, I decided to take one last image as a farewell, and this was the result.

➡️ https://www.eso.org/public/images/potw1821a/

#astrodon #astronomy #space #astrophotography

Updates from the Mayor of #Yellowknife, Rebecca Alty:

- Please Evacuate
- if you can drive out, please do so asap
- if you don't have a vehicle, please register now for air lift evacuation (free)
- commercial flights are still running, you can also buy a flight out on a commercial flight

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaHVblAk4Vw

#Canada #NWT #Wildfires #Emergency

Why was there no water to fight the fire in Maui?

"Big corporations, golf courses and hotels have been taking water from locals for years. Now the fire may result in even more devastating water theft."

"All over Maui, golf courses glisten emerald green, hotels manage to fill their pools and corporations stockpile water to sell to luxury estates. And yet, when it came time to fight the fires, some hoses ran dry. Why?"

"This is a classic case of the most craven disaster capitalism: a small elite group using a profound human tragedy as their window to roll back a hard-won grassroots victory for water rights, while removing civil servants who pose a political inconvenience to the administration’s pro-developer agenda."...
by Naomi Klein and Kapuaʻala Sproat

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/aug/17/hawaii-fires-maui-water-rights-disaster-capitalism
#bushfires #disasters #water #rights #theft #golf #plantations #developers #resorts #SettlerCulture

The elites organize and grab all for themselves as the commoners grieve and struggle. Please don’t turn a blind eye. #Water #Maui #Justice #Greed #Power https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/aug/17/hawaii-fires-maui-water-rights-disaster-capitalism

@Gaythia my understanding is that's not quite accurate even though the thought process was as you say. The siren definitely was intended to be an "all hazard" warning and not just a tsunami siren; it's described that way on official state emergency response pages and in discussion of the system from before the fire. But I think the idea that in the moment many people wouldn't realize that distinction and would react *as if it was* a tsunami warning is at least plausible. So a minor point here.

The decision to take away the ability to block on Twitter epitomizes the rightwing project to restore dominance: It creates a paradise for racists, misogynists, bigots of all kind to attack and abuse anyone they refuse to accept as equal, anyone who has the audacity to demand respect.

JUST IN: Federal appeals court derails Uinta Basin Railway plan to send billions more gallons of Utah crude through Colorado

https://coloradosun.com/2023/08/18/uinta-basin-railway-waxy-crude-colorado/?utm_content=buffer7d6a2&utm_medium=social&utm_source=Mastodon&utm_campaign=buffer

Today is a good day to learn more about LA County Flood Risks. League of Women Voters posted some links and a video https://lwvbeachcities.org/natural-resources.html (Scroll down to Nov 2022)

We learned in the Berkeley Hills & Santa Barbara fires that traffic chokepoints are deadly. Yet, we build still entire subdivisions with a few chokepoints (RED X). One cul-de-sac can only evacuate through a flood point (BLACK X)

One of the things that scares me is that the western approach to the closest major hospital, Torrance Memorial MC, would be under 6' of water. The airport to the S and the discontinuous street grid (everyone in Torrance wants to live in a cul de sac) means a long ambulance detour

New probe confirms Trump officials blocked Puerto Rico from receiving hurricane aid https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/new-probe-confirms-trump-officials-blocked-puerto-rico-receiving-hurri-rcna749

At five years old, I couldn't grasp the concept of a scapegoat; all I understood was that, because of Japan’s aggression that pulled the United States into the war, my family and I had to leave our home at gunpoint, taking with us only what we could carry. As I got older, I understood scapegoating for what it is: a channel for hate, blame, and bigotry.

My lifelong mission has been preventing this from happening again, yet my heart aches as the LGBTQ+ community faces it now. We've fought for our rights to live, love, and be ourselves—a vibrant, misunderstood, and often mistreated rainbow of identities.

I have seen where scapegoating, if left unchallenged, leads. And it is a very dark place. This week, I chose to share my story with you in the hopes that we never repeat the heinous mistakes of the past. https://thinkbigpicture.substack.com/p/takei-scapegoating-lgbtq-japanese-internment

I write about water. I'm a quasi-academic, currently Writer in Residence at the Utton Transboundary Resources Center at the University of New Mexico School of Law.

I'm optimistic about our ability to solve western North America's water challenges - but less optimistic than I was five years ago.

#ColoradoRiver is my preferred hashtag.

@augieray
I was just discussing with my husband the high COVID wastewater counts in rural Latah County, ID where his elderly parents live.

He made a good point: His parents aren't connected to a wastewater system. They have a private well and septic system.

This is certainly the case for many conservative-leaning people in rural areas. Their data isn't being captured in these wastewater tests.

Many are unvaccinated or only received one dose or maybe a booster long ago.

Residents on city water can serve as a proxy for the entire area, including those with septic systems, but I'm betting COVID rates are much higher in rural areas than the data shows.

#COVID #COVIDIsNotOver #MaskUp #USPol #USPolitics

This has absolutely no business, none whatsoever, being as good as it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzR9HwhhlkA

Lunar Trailblazer Gets Final Payload for Moon Water Hunt

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasas-lunar-trailblazer-gets-final-payload-for-moon-water-hunt

Search over 2,000 astronomy and space news releases at www.stars-n-stuff.com/news-stories

#astronomy #space #science #news #AmateurAstronomy #stargazing #NASA #Moon #Trailblazer

Image: Lockheed Martin Space