As we approach Earth Day‚ it is time to evaluate how green policies have performed. One such policy is the New Jersey Bag Ban‚ which was ostensibly designed to tackle plastic pollution‚ requiring stores over 2‚500 square feet in size to replace disposable plastic bags with reusable ones. The ban bag is an example of “extended producer responsibility‚” which is a waste policy that forces companies to use only reusable Or recyclable products. Advocates of extended producer responsibility champion measures such as plastic bag bans‚ but the real-world implementation has only fueled inflation with minimal environmental benefits.   Despite the ban effectively being a regressive tax on poorer residents‚ New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy praised the state for “addressing the problem of plastic pollution” that will “help mitigate climate change and strengthen our environment.” Unfortunately for the governor and other advocates of extended producer responsibility policies‚ a new study by the Freedonia Group has found a threefold increase in plastic consumption since the beginning of the May 2022 ban—from 53 million pounds to 151 million pounds—to create heavier‚ reusable bags (despite a 60% reduction in disposable plastic bag use). In addition‚ Freedonia found a $42 million increase in profits from a single 50-store retailer from selling these reusable bags. Researchers concluded that 90% of these reusable nonwoven polypropylene plastic bags are used only two to three times before being thrown away or lost. To add insult to injury‚ reusable bags use 15 times more plastic and emit five times the greenhouse gases during production compared to regular plastic bags. Additionally‚ reusable bags contain little to no recyclable materials and are often not recyclable themselves. These bags would need to be used 11 to 59 times just to break even on the increased greenhouse gas emissions from production. The American Recyclable Plastic Bag Alliance‚ an association of plastic bag manufacturers that commissioned the Freedonia study‚ argues that the environmental effect of disposable plastic bags is being overstated. The alliance claims that plastic bags account for less than 0.6% of litter cleanups and less than 0.3% of municipal solid waste. Instead of forcing everyone to use reusable bags that emit more greenhouse gases‚ the alliance argues that disposable bags should be properly recycled. These disposable plastic bags are then more easily used to create new bags. The alliance has a goal of 20% being made of recyclable material by 2025. California’s Carpet Stewardship Act provides another example of extended producer responsibility leading to suboptimal outcomes. The law has been imposing an increasing fee schedule on new carpets to support carpet recycling efforts. The enforcement of this extended producer responsibility in California raises input costs for producers‚ increasing the cost of carpeting‚ and substantially leading to increased costs of housing‚ which disproportionately affects poorer residents. The Carpet America Recovery Effort is the organization in charge of the stewardship program‚ and its executive director‚ Bob Peoples‚ admits that the tax “undoubtedly is a serious burden for the approximately 2‚000 California carpet retailers and the 79 carpet mills with operations in the state.” In January 2023‚ the price of carpet tiles increased by almost half. Naturally‚ the cost of the tax falls on consumers‚ who now pay nearly 50% more for their carpets. Extended producer responsibility policies often result in regressive‚ inflationary pressures without delivering on their environmental promises. Americans are grappling with soaring costs‚ from new homeowners needing 80% more income than they did four years ago to credit card debt reaching all-time highs. This is all while the federal deficit and interest rates soar. Inflationary pressures will continue to increase further if the Environmental Protection Agency’s push for Americans to buy expensive zero-carbon emission vehicles and trucks becomes law. Simultaneously‚ electricity costs have risen 20% since 2020 and will rise by another 20% in some states to meet renewable energy requirements imposed by state lawmakers. California residents alone have seen an 11% rise in electricity prices just over this past year.   From Earth Day to every day‚ it is crucial to recognize that green policies like extended producer responsibility are often touted as beneficial; however‚ many of these initiatives are simply using green code-phrasing to justify inflating the cost of goods while ignoring their minimal environmental impact. The post Examining the High Costs and Questionable Gains of ‘Green’ Policies as Earth Day Approaches appeared first on The Daily Signal.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties‚ subscribe to Reclaim The Net. Tim Pool‚ a well-known podcaster‚ has shed light on another prominent censorship action taken by YouTube. With retrospective effect‚ a couple of his most popular episodes of the Timcast IRL podcast have fallen prey to YouTube’s enforcement protocol. Podcast episodes that hosted personalities such as Joe Rogan‚ Michael Malice‚ and Alex Jones have now been eliminated from the platform‚ despite being on the platform for the last three years. In Pool’s words‚ “Youtube has declared war on Timcast IRL retroactively enforcing rules against our 2 biggest shows ever featuring Joe Rogan‚ Michael Malice‚ and Alex Jones.” YouTube’s justification behind this unexpected action‚ according to Pool‚ rested on baseless grounds. A glance back at one of the condemned episodes that aired in 2021 reveals a variety of subjects being explored in a conversation between Joe Rogan‚ Alex Jones‚ Blaire White‚ and Michael Malice. Topics ranged from coverage and insights on the Kyle Rittenhouse trial to discussions on the emergent border crisis. In a video about this issue‚ Pool voiced serious concerns regarding YouTube’s handling of its platform policies‚ which could potentially lead to significant changes in how he and others approach online content creation. Pool revealed that the inconsistencies in YouTube’s enforcement actions have prompted him to explore business negotiations with alternative platforms. https://video.reclaimthenet.org/articles/tim-pool-responds-censorship.mp4 According to Pool‚ the issue began when his show‚ along with many others on YouTube‚ experienced erratic behavior in terms of view counts. “Just yesterday‚ many people noticed the view count on the show was going all wild and crazy‚” Pool stated‚ highlighting that this was a widespread issue affecting numerous channels. This was followed by a more severe incident where the view counts on videos significantly dropped without explanation. Pool expressed his dissatisfaction with how YouTube is managing its relationship with its content creators. “I told Google‚ I cannot run a business. If this is how you treat your business partners‚ this is an ‘f you’ to me and a threat‚” he remarked. Pool described a situation where YouTube issued a warning on his channel and demanded he take a class to understand the alleged rules he had broken—rules he claims he did not violate. The platform’s recent actions have led Pool to fear a possible permanent ban‚ as YouTube indicated that any future infractions could lead to severe penalties. “We are prepared to permanently ban you. If we can find three more videos over the past four years that we can interpret as breaking the rules‚ your show is permanently banned in every respect off of YouTube‚” Pool said‚ speaking of YouTube’s attitude towards even its top talent. Pool’s concerns reflect a broader unease among YouTubers over unpredictable and heavy-handed policy enforcement by the platform‚ especially as it undertakes retroactive reviews of content from years ago. The post Top Timcast Episodes Are Deleted in YouTube’s Retroactive Censorship Raid appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties‚ subscribe to Reclaim The Net. Here’s a headline that surfaced on the internet this week: “US government tried to spy on people…” (…somebody‚ who happens to be the Telegram founder‚ “claims”.) What a shocker. Is this really newsworthy&;#63; Actually yes – because here‚ we’re seeing the opposite of clickbait – a subdued‚ to put it generously‚ headline in legacy US media‚ in an attempt to report about some of the things Telegram CEO Pavel Durov said during his interview with Tucker Carlson. Display content from Twitter Click here to display content from Twitter. Learn more in Twitter’s privacy policy. Always display content from Twitter Open content directly But behind this headline lies a pretty explosive‚ even if not surprising story – of how countries (in reality‚ more likely than one‚ but in this case‚ one is named) view the backbone of internet safety and integrity‚ namely – reliable‚ secure encryption. Long story short – they view it as the enemy. Durov‚ a Russian now in possession of multiple passports‚ based in Dubai‚ UAE‚ and often apparently butting heads with snooping efforts from governments (including Russian) revealed during the interview how the government in Washington one time tried to “break into Telegram‚” as he put it. But really‚ doing this successfully‚ given the nature of the encrypted app‚ would have meant not just breaking “into” – but‚ breaking Telegram. Durov spoke specifically about the spy agency activities when‚ according to him‚ they tried to recruit an engineer working for his company as obviously well-positioned to write encryption backdoor code (malware by any other name) the purpose of which would be to – well‚ break Telegram. The last time he was in the US‚ Durov told Carlson‚ he was accompanied by a Telegram employee‚ “an engineer (…) and there was an attempt to secretly hire my engineer behind my back by cyber security officers or agents.” What might the US agencies’ goals have been‚ Durov was asked. “They were curious to learn which open-source libraries are integrated to the Telegram app. You know‚ on the client side.” This‚ by the way‚ is a very important “little note” made by Durov – considering that Telegram’s client-side code is open-source – but the server-side is not (and as we know‚ nobody knows‚ or is accountable to the general public to disclose‚ what goes on regarding proprietary code). But he went on: “They (US authorities) were trying to persuade him (the engineer) to use certain open-source tools that he would then integrate into the Telegram code that‚ in my understanding‚ would serve as backdoors.” As for both Democrat and Republican “letters” (contradicting in demands – to reveal‚ and to keep data private) sent to the company in the wake of January 6‚ citing “US Constitution violations‚” Durov said Telegram “ignored them” because – “it’s such a complicated matter related to internal politics in the US.” The post Telegram Founder Reveals US Government’s Alleged Covert Maneuvers to Backdoor The App appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

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A study that sequenced the DNA of 3‚200 people across Japan has found suggestions that modern Japanese people are the descendants of three ancestral groups‚ not two as has been previously thought.For a long time‚ it has been believed that modern Japanese people were descended from two groups: early hunter-gatherers known as the Jomon‚ who lived in Japan from 16‚000 to 3‚000 years ago and were likely isolated from the rest of the world during the Last Glacial Maximum‚ and later immigrant Yayoi farmers who lived in Japan from around 900 BCE to 300 CE.But in 2021‚ a study of 12 ancient genomes found another ancestral group in the mix‚ likely arriving during the transition from the Yayoi to Kofun period (300–710 CE).&;quot;Our analysis finds that the Jomon maintained a small effective population size of ~1‚000 over several millennia‚ with a deep divergence from continental populations dated to 20‚000 to 15‚000 years ago‚ a period that saw the insularization of Japan through rising sea levels‚&;quot; the 2021 team wrote in their paper. &;quot;Rice cultivation was introduced by people with Northeast Asian ancestry. Unexpectedly‚ we identify a later influx of East Asian ancestry during the imperial Kofun period. These three ancestral components continue to characterize present-day populations‚ supporting a tripartite model of Japanese genomic origins.&;quot;The team believed that this fits with archaeological evidence of new large settlements at the time‚ as well as cultural and political changes.In the new study‚ researchers analyzed the ancestry of 3‚200 people‚ finding that Okinawa had the highest Jomon ancestry (28.5 percent)‚ followed by Northeast (18.9 percent)‚ with the lowest being in West (13.4 percent). Intrigued by previous studies‚ they discovered evidence that modern-day Japanese people descended from Jomon people‚ Yayoi people‚ and a third unknown ancestral group‚ likely from Northeast Asia‚ which &;quot;could potentially be connected to ancient populations in Japan and the Korean Peninsula&;quot;.&;quot;Our results indicated a significantly closer relationship between West and ancient Chinese groups around the Yellow River (YR) or upper YR region‚ specifically in the Middle Neolithic (MN) and Late Neolithic periods‚&;quot; the team wrote in their paper. &;quot;In contrast‚ individuals of Northeast showed significantly higher genetic affinities with Jomon and ancient Japanese genome from Miyako Island in Okinawa (which had a high Jomon proportion) and ancient Koreans from the Three Kingdoms (TK) period (fourth to fifth century CE). These results align with reports indicating that ancient Japanese in the Yayoi period and certain ancient Korean groups had a high proportion of Jomon ancestry.&;quot;The team suggested possible groups which could be responsible for the distinctive genes‚ but stressed further study is needed.&;quot;These data may suggest a potential link between Northeast and NEA [Northeast Asian]‚ although additional evidence is required to substantiate this connection‚&;quot; the team wrote in their discussion. &;quot;Historical records indicate that Northeast was inhabited by the so-called Emishi people‚ literally translated as 'shrimp barbarians'. The origin of Emishi is somehow understudied and remains a matter of debate‚ but it was proposed that they might be related to NEA. In addition‚ it has been suggested that the Emishi people might have spoken a distinct Japonic language‚ akin to the historical Izumo dialect.&;quot;The study is published in Science Advances.

A rediscovered photo captured two days after the Titanic sank is going on auction this month. The photo‚ taken by undertaker John Snow Jr‚ may show the iceberg that sank the ship on its maiden voyage 112 years ago on April 14.When the Titanic sank 640 kilometers (400 miles) off Newfoundland‚ Canada‚ over 1‚500 of the passengers‚ of which there were over 2‚200‚ died – many by drowning or immersion hypothermia. John Snow Jr was chief embalmer of funeral directors John Snow &; Co and was summoned to the wreck of the Titanic to help collect some‚ but not all‚ of the bodies for burial.The two – along with 100 coffins to place bodies in and 100 tonnes of ice to preserve those and other bodies – were aboard the Cable Ship Mackay-Bennett‚ the first of four chartered vessels to reach the Titanic to search for bodies. Assessing the scene‚ the crew quickly realized that there were a lot more bodies than they had expected‚ and a second boat would be necessary to help recover the deceased.   All in all‚ the crew of CS Mackay-Bennett recovered 306 bodies from the water. The class system in place onboard the Titanic was used to decide which would be taken back for burial‚ and who would get buried at sea.“Decisions about which bodies to bury at sea were made largely according to the perceived economic class of the recovered victims‚ and those with third-class tickets were far more likely to be returned to the water‚&;quot; assistant professor of urban sociology at Erasmus University Rotterdam Jess Bier explained to JSTOR.First-class passengers‚ including Isidor Straus‚ owner of Macy's department store‚ were embalmed onboard the ship and placed in coffins‚ second-class passengers were embalmed and wrapped in canvas‚ and 116 third-class passengers and crew were left at sea.Life insurance‚ a fairly new concept‚ likely dictated part of the decision. First-class passengers were more likely to have a policy that would pay for their burial or cremation‚ and insurance companies required an identifiable body before any payout could be made to relatives.It's not known when John Snow Jr took the photo‚ which can be viewed on the Henry Aldridge &; Son Auctioneers website‚ during the voyage.&;quot;Nobody can say for sure that this was THE iceberg that sank the Titanic. But what we can say is that after the rescue ship Carpathia‚ the Mackay-Bennett was one of the first ships to reach the wreck site and that the undertaker on board decided to take a photo of this iceberg‚&;quot; Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge at Henry Aldridge &; Son Auctioneers told The Mirror.&;quot;He must have had his reasons for taking a photo of this iceberg. He captioned it Titanic and mounted it for posterity. It hasn't been sold before and was acquired directly from Mr Snow's family by our vendor in the early 1990s. It is an extremely rare photograph and we are sure it will attract a lot of interest.&;quot;The photograph is being sold on April 27‚ and is expected to fetch around 4‚000-7‚000 GBP (5‚000-8‚700 USD).

The supernova SN 2023ixf offered astronomers an unusual opportunity when it exploded last year. Unfortunately‚ it has deepened‚ rather than resolved‚ the problem of explaining cosmic rays. It’s also thrown models of supernovae into doubt‚ but hey‚ if we had all the answers‚ we wouldn’t need scientists.We now detect thousands of supernovae each year‚ but most of these are billions of light years away‚ limiting how much we can learn about them on an individual basis. At 21 million light years away‚ SN 2023ixf was just around the celestial block‚ by comparison. This gave amateurs the opportunity to collect some stunning images of the supernova and its host galaxy‚ the Pinwheel. For professional astronomers‚ it represented the best chance to study a supernova’s gamma ray production since 2008‚ when the Fermi space telescope was launched.“Astrophysicists previously estimated that supernovae convert about 10% of their total energy into cosmic ray acceleration‚” said Dr Guillem Mart&;iacute;-Devesa of the University of Trieste in a statement. “But we have never observed this process directly.”Cosmic rays are charged particles (mostly protons) that have been accelerated close to light speed by some sort of astronomical event. They bombard the Earth constantly‚ and can have important effects on the atmosphere‚ such as producing the carbon-14 we use to measure the age of artifacts. However‚ when astronomers say they are produced by astronomical events‚ they are making assumptions based on there being no obvious alternative explanation. We don’t know what events produce them and in what quantities.It might seem like this should be easy to test – wait until we spot something dramatic happening and look for the rays afterward. However‚ there are two problems with this. Firstly‚ the delay can be rather long. Even if something is traveling at 99.9 percent of the speed of light‚ it can lag the photons released at the same time by thousands of years if the distance is great enough. Secondly‚ magnetic fields‚ including the Earth’s‚ bend the paths of incoming charged particles‚ so we can’t identify the direction they are coming from precisely.Fortunately‚ cosmic rays produce gamma rays when they pass through something other than a complete vacuum. Once formed‚ the gamma rays don’t deviate for magnetic fields (or much else‚ other than very large masses’ gravity). A burst of cosmic rays encountering gas clouds around the supernova should have produced gamma rays whose source could be traced. SN 2023ixf therefore provided an excellent opportunity to see how many associated gamma rays we could find. The answer turned out to be none‚ at least nothing significantly above background. “Fermi is the most sensitive gamma-ray telescope in orbit‚ so when it doesn’t detect an expected signal‚ scientists must explain the absence. Solving that mystery will build a more accurate picture of cosmic ray origins‚” said Dr Elizabeth Hays of NASA’s Goffard Space Flight Center.“With the new observations of SN 2023ixf‚ our calculations result in an energy conversion as low as 1% within a few days after the explosion. This doesn’t rule out supernovae as cosmic ray factories‚ but it does mean we have more to learn about their production‚” Mart&;iacute;-Devesa added.        There are different types of supernovae‚ so just because one doesn’t seem to have produced a lot of cosmic rays‚ doesn’t mean none do. To test that‚ we’re going to need more nearby supernovae‚ so it is just as well one was spotted at almost the same distance last week. The authors are also considering the possibility that 2023ixf did produce a lot of cosmic rays‚ but they‚ and the resulting gamma rays‚ were directed away from us. More study subjects could be handy in that case as well.Nevertheless‚ the findings are a puzzle. Supernovae (Type Ia aside) involve giant stars collapsing and then rebounding‚ producing a shock wave that ought to drive particles before it to create cosmic rays. If 2023ixf didn’t create many‚ that takes some explaining.Moreover‚ it’s more than a decade since Fermi observations proved supernovae remnants thousands of years old are still slinging cosmic rays at us‚ which then generate gamma rays as they pass through nearby material thrown off before the explosion.However‚ the rate of production of these remnants can’t account for all the cosmic rays we see – either most are released in the explosion itself‚ or there’s some other source out there. The 10 percent of supernovae energy going into cosmic rays would neatly explain the number and spectrum we see after allowing for those produced by remnants. If the figure is 1 percent‚ that leaves most unaccounted for. That’s why Fermi’s failure to detect any from 2023ixf raises more questions than it answers.The study is to be published in Astronomy and Astrophysics.

When you think of octopuses‚ you probably imagine a fleshy bag of an animal with eight arms – but there’s a lot more to these creatures than meets the eye. For starters‚ they have three hearts that pump blue blood‚ and one species even packs venom 1‚000 times more powerful than cyanide. Don’t believe us&;#63; Just watch Secrets of the Octopus.This three-part docuseries from National Geographic explores their camouflage‚ social lives‚ and intelligence‚ from fighting fish to hiding in coconuts‚ and even shielding from irritating shrimp. Narrated by Paul Rudd‚ and directed by National Geographic explorer-at-large James Cameron‚ the series is accompanied by a book of the same name‚ written by naturalist and author Sy Montgomery. We caught up with Montgomery to find out what it was like uncovering the Secrets of the Octopus.          How was it writing the book‚ Secrets of the Octopus&;#63;I had previously written a book‚ The Soul of an Octopus‚ in which I came to know a bunch of octopuses personally. And since that came out in 2015‚ there was a tonne of new science. And in many cases‚ the discoveries that were being reported explained things that I had wondered about for years‚ and shed new light on these behaviours that had enchanted me when I was spending so much time with these animals.Just how strange are octopuses&;#63;They are so different from us‚ you really would have to go to science fiction or outer space to find something so alien. I mean‚ their head isn't even where we think their head is‚ then their arms are attached to their head‚ and their mouth is in their armpits. They're very unlike us‚ and they have no bones‚ and they change colour‚ and shape‚ and they pour them themselves through tiny openings. They taste with all of their skin and they have three hearts‚ and they have blue blood and‚ like‚ wow&;#33;Learn all about their camouflage‚ social lives‚ and intelligence from April 22.Image credit: National Geographic WILDDo you have a favorite scene from the series&;#63;One of the scenes that really sticks with me is there's an octopus‚ who is beset with an annoying shrimp. And you would think like‚ “Oh‚ a shrimp‚ what's that going to do&;#63;” Well‚ there are certain shrimp that have these pointy spears on their bodies‚ and they can poke you with it. And the octopus is a soft-bodied creature. He doesn't like that. So‚ he's on a sand substrate‚ and he doesn't want to leave‚ but the shrimp keeps annoying him. And he looks around‚ he sees this shell over here. He picks it up and holds it up like it's a shield. It's so insightful. It's so smart.Secrets of the Octopus premieres on National Geographic WILD at 8 pm on Monday April 22‚ as well as on Disney+.Look out for the next series of The Big Questions to catch the interview with Sy Montgomery in full.