The massive Palisades and Eaton fires ripping through Los Angeles show how quickly brush fires can escalate under dry, windy conditions.A home is engulfed in flames during the Eaton fire in the Altadena area of Los Angeles County. Josh Edelson/AFP More than 70,000 people were under evacuation orders on Wednesday afternoon. Officials have warned that people in many other surrounding regions should prepare to leave their homes at a moment's notice.Pat Durland, a wildfire-mitigation specialist and instructor for the National Fire Protection Association with 30 years of federal wildfire management experience, told Business Insider that if he lived in the area, he would leave before evacuation orders even hit his home."I would have left and gone to the beach or gotten a hotel," he said.A giant smoke plume was rising over Santa Monica within an hour of the Palisades Fire igniting Tuesday morning.Smoke from the Palisades Fire rises above Santa Monica. ALERTCalifornia | UC San Diego UC San Diego's ALERTCalifornia camera network captured it from the other side of Santa Monica. At that time the fire covered about 200 acres. So many people had to evacuate that Palisades Drive was gridlocked.Residents evacuate on foot from the Palisades Fire on Tuesday. Qian Weizhong/VCG/Getty Images Many people abandoned their cars and fled on foot. Since then, the Palisades Fire has burned through more than 15,800 acres. This was the area with evacuation zones early Wednesday afternoon.The area of the Palisades Fire with evacuation zones as of 2:30 p.m. Pacific Time on Wednesday, from the California state fire agency, CalFire. CalFire That's where the acreage stood at 2:30 p.m. PT on Wednesday. Throughout the morning it was increasing hour by hour.The most up-to-date evacuation orders and warnings are available through CalFire. Photos are emerging from areas where the Palisades Fire has burned its way through.A neighborhood ravaged by the Palisades Fire. AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes The Eaton Fire in nearby Pasadena also rapidly ballooned overnight and Wednesday morning.Megan Mantia, left, and her boyfriend Thomas, return to Mantia's fire-damaged home after the Eaton Fire burned it down. AP Photo/Ethan Swope The Eaton Fire covered 10,600 acres as of 1 p.m. PT on Wednesday. Images from that area show a similar situation to Pacific Palisades: frantic evacuations and destroyed homes.A walker lies on the ground after the Eaton Fire forced evacuations in Altadena, California. David Swanson/REUTERS The smoke from the fires filled the Los Angeles area, darkening the skies and causing unhealthy air quality.Multiple fires covered the Los Angeles skyline with smoke. Carlin Stiehl/REUTERS A powerful windstorm spread the flames quickly, sending embers flying and igniting new spots, even jumping across roads.The wind whips embers as the Palisades Fire burns on the west side of Los Angeles. Ringo Chiu/REUTERS Hurricane-force winds peaked overnight and Wednesday morning, and firefighters were unable to contain the blazes."Despite the efforts we put in with well-trained firefighters and equipment and aircraft, the wind and the weather still are ruling these situations," Durland said of major, fast-moving fires like these.Another ALERTCalifornia camera captured the rising smoke from a ridge on the other side of the fire about an hour after it started.The view from Temescal Trailhead at 11:56 a.m. on Tuesday shows smoke crawling over the hillside. ALERTCalifornia | UC San Diego This was the view from the same trailhead Tuesday night. This camera has since gone offline.The view from Temescal Trailhead at 10:36 p.m. Tuesday shows the Palisades fire spreading west. ALERTCalifornia | UC San Diego Bone-dry vegetation provided abundant fire fuel due to a phenomenon called weather whiplash.A firefighting plane makes a drop on the Palisades fire. Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images The last two winters in Southern California have been quite wet, even causing flooding. That led to an explosion of grasses and shrubs, nearly twice as much as a normal season, according to the UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain.However, this winter has been different. Months without precipitation have dried out all that vegetation, blanketing the LA hillsides with fire fuel. Grasses and shrubs help spread the fire, but it's "human fuels" that ignite homes, Durland said.A firefighter douses a hot spot near a home in the Pacific Palisades. David Swanson/AFP/Getty Images "It's bark mulch, it's ornamental grasses, it's structures that are readily flammable," Durland said."This is an urban fire. We're burning urban fuels," he added.That means that cities and homeowners can do something about it. More fire-resistant landscaping and construction can help protect homes from future firestorms like this. There are always houses that survive wildfires, Durland said, and everyone can learn from that.The Palisades Fire approaches homes on Tuesday. Ringo Chiu/REUTERS It helps to build homes with ample space between them and maintain a perimeter of at least five feet that's totally free of dry or flammable vegetation or mulch.Homeowners can also keep their roofs and gutters clear and remove anything flammable from underneath porches and decks. The Palisades were full of multi-million-dollar homes, which means this could be the costliest fire in US history, Swain said.The remains of a home's staircase in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles. AP Photo/Ethan Swope According to a preliminary estimate from JP Morgan, insured losses alone could amount to $10 billion.

North Carolinas Supreme Court has temporarily prohibited the states Board of Elections from certifying the election of sitting Democratic Justice Allison Riggs to the bench on Tuesday, despite her 734-vote victory over Republican challenger Jefferson Griffin. The courts decision is not an out-and-out bar on the certification of the elections results; its a stay, meaning the board of election cant declare the results final. The state Board of Elections was set to certify the results of the November 5, 2024, election Friday absent the courts intervention.Griffin, who sits on the states Court of Appeals, and state Republicans have filed hundreds of cases challenging Riggss victory. Those cases hinge on the claim that 60,000 ballots are ineligible, primarily because voters did not provide their drivers license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number when registering to vote.The battle for the Supreme Court seat is part of the power struggle that has long animated North Carolina politics, particularly in the past eight years since the election of former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper. The effort to seat Griffin follows congressional gerrymandering meant to favor the GOP, legal maneuvering weakening the power of incoming Democratic officials, and the establishment of a GOP supermajority in North Carolinas legislature in 2023. Though Republicans currently control North Carolinas partisan, seven-member Supreme Court, a successful challenge by Griffin could give the party nearly absolute control: Currently, the states highest court has five Republican members and two Democratic justices, one of whom is Riggs.This is the latest setback in a two-month sagaOn Election Day, Griffin appeared poised to beat Riggs, a longtime civil rights lawyer, by 10,000 votes. But a 10-day process known as canvassing in which county elections officials count mail-in votes and provisional ballots revealed the election had gone in Riggss favor. However, because her margin of victory was so slim only 635 votes at that point Griffin demanded a recount, which he was entitled to under state law. (If a candidate bests another by fewer than 10,000 votes, the losing candidate can request a recount, but one is not automatically triggered.) The board of elections performed a machine recount, then a hand tabulation, both of which showed Riggs as the winner by a narrow margin but by then, Griffin had already taken the fight to the courts.Griffins claims are based on a 2023 complaint challenging North Carolinas registration paperwork, alleging that voter registration forms violated the 2002 federal Help America Vote Act. That act states all voter registration forms must include a drivers license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number, with some exceptions; according to the complaint, North Carolinas voter registration material did not make it clear that either a drivers license number or the Social Security identification was required. The state board of elections agreed and amended the registration paperwork but ruled that it should be able to accept the old voter registration forms as well. That 2023 complaint that provides the foundation for Griffins challenge was filed by a private North Carolina citizen, Carol Snow, who called herself an election denier in an email to CBS News last year. According to CBS News, Snow is part of an activist group connected to the Election Integrity Network, which was started in an effort to overturn the 2020 election, through a North Carolina umbrella group.Griffins challenge made it to a federal Court of Appeals, which then kicked it back down to the state Supreme Court. The Supreme Courts Tuesday decision halts the certification while the Court hears the case.Complicating the case is the question of whether a federal or state court should have jurisdiction in the case. The case came before the state Supreme Court after a federal district judge ruled that it didnt need to be decided at the federal level. However, the board of elections is still pursuing the case in the Fourth US Circuit Court of Appeals,federal appeals court decide the issue. The Griffin camps theory is, theres a parallel statute in North Carolina, this is a state race for state office, Bob Orr, a former associate justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court, told Vox. Theres nothing federal about it, and therefore the state court should resolve it. North Carolinas Supreme Court has become increasingly partisan in its decision-making, most notably when it comes to abortion rights. Riggs holding onto her seat wouldnt change that reality, but it would help Democrats maintain a presence on the court that they could try to build on in future election cycles. Thats especially significant as the federal Supreme Court has decided issues like abortion should be left to the states to decide.Democrats are digging themselves out of a hole on the Court, and they need to hold this seat, Michael Bitzer, a professor of political science at Catawba College in North Carolina, told Vox. Its kind of like what they needed to do with the General Assembly, and that is break at least one chambers supermajority Republican numbers. If they were to lose the seat, that drops them down to one: Democratic Justice Anita Earls, whose eight-year term ends next year.That means whether or not Riggs can take her spot on the bench is important not just for current Democratic priorities in the state, but also for future Democratic goals in the state. Griffin must submit his legal argument to the North Carolina Supreme Court by January 14.Youve read 1 article in the last monthHere at Vox, we're unwavering in our commitment to covering the issues that matter most to you threats to democracy, immigration, reproductive rights, the environment, and the rising polarization across this country.Our mission is to provide clear, accessible journalism that empowers you to stay informed and engaged in shaping our world. By becoming a Vox Member, you directly strengthen our ability to deliver in-depth, independent reporting that drives meaningful change.We rely on readers like you join us.Swati SharmaVox Editor-in-ChiefSee More:

By Passant Rabie Published January 8, 2025 | Comments (6) | Blue Origin's New Glenn is set for launch after a hot fire test. Blue Origin Just days before Blue Origins highly anticipated rocket launch, the company was fined for a previous New Glenn test conducted without a permit. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) issued a $3,000 fine (adding up to a paltry $3,250 plus costs) to Blue Origin for the unauthorized use of a water deluge system during a static fire test of its New Glenn rocket, according to local media reports. In September 2024, Blue Origin ran a fueling test of its upcoming rocket at Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. The hot fire test lasted for 15 seconds, and its purpose was to validate interactions between the subsystems on the second stage, its two BE-3U engines, and the ground control systems, Blue Origin wrote in a statement at the time. The FDEP, however, had not yet issued Blue Origin the required permission to use the launch pads water deluge system, but the company went ahead and used it anyway, resulting in the fine.While Blue Origin applied for a permit for the LC-36 deluge system on May 31, 2024, no permit has been issued to date and the system may not be placed into service, The FDEP wrote in a letter. This static fire appears to constitute an intentional unauthorized discharge of untreated industrial wastewater to the environment.Blue Origins heavy-lift vehicle is set for launch no earlier than Friday, January 10 during a three-hour launch window that opens at 1 a.m. ET. For its inaugural flight, New Glenn will carry Blue Origins Blue Ring Pathfinder, and its debut will also double as the rockets first certification flight, paving the way for it to carry national security payloads on future missions. The rocket has been in development for nearly a decade, but a recent series of tests that took place last year paved the way for its first liftoff. New Glenn was originally scheduled to debut in 2020, however, delays in the development of its seven BE-4 engines (which are designed by Blue Origin) have pushed its inaugural flight back by several years. Standing at around 320 feet tall (98 meters), New Glenn is capable of lifting 45 tons to low Earth orbit and 13 tons to Geostationary orbit. The rocket features a reusable first stage thats designed to last for 25 missions.Like Blue Origin, industry rival SpaceX has also bypassed regulations with its launch pads water deluge system. In 2023, SpaceX tested its water deluge system without applying for the environmental permits necessary to do so. The company was fined for discharging wastewater around the launch pad without a permit, but it left little impact on SpaceX. The fines were merely a slap on the wristhardly a deterrent for a company owned by the richest man in the world. In August 2024, CNBC reported that SpaceX had allegedly violated environmental regulations by releasing industrial water through the water deluge system at the companys Starbase facility in Texas.With New Glenns upcoming debut, Blue Origin may have a chance at competing with industry giant SpaceX, further fueling a feud between the two rocket billionaires Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, both of whom are notorious for their contempt of regulations. Under a Donald Trump presidency, with Musk by his side, these types of regulations could become even less effective as the space industry looks to bolster its activities with no strings attached.Daily NewsletterYou May Also Like By Passant Rabie Published January 7, 2025 By Passant Rabie Published January 6, 2025 Isaac Schultz and Passant Rabie Published January 4, 2025 By Passant Rabie Published January 2, 2025 By Passant Rabie Published December 18, 2024 By Passant Rabie Published December 16, 2024

Though paleontologists have been discussing the origin and spread of dinosaurs for decades, the widely accepted theory was that they emerged in the southern part of the ancient continent of Pangea over 200 million years ago, and only spread northward millions of years later. A new study dramatically changes the conversation. University of WisconsinMadison (UWMadison) paleontologists announced the discovery of a new dinosaur that challenges the conventional theory about the dinosaurs origin and spread. The location and age of the newly-described fossils suggest that dinosaurs prowled the northern regions of Pangea millions of years earlier than previously hypothesized. The findings were detailed in a January 8 study published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. Were kind of filling in some of this story, and were showing that the ideas that weve held for so long ideas that were supported by the fragmented evidence that we had werent quite right, Dave Lovelace of the University of Wisconsin Geology Museum, who co-led the study, said in a UWMadison statement. We now have this piece of evidence that shows dinosaurs were here in the northern hemisphere much earlier than we thought.The paleontologists uncovered the theory-defying fossils in present-day Wyoming in 2013. Due to Earths shifting tectonic plates, this region was located near the equator over 200 million years ago on Laurasia, the northern half of Pangea (the southern half was called Gondwana). While the remains were fragmented, the paleontologists were able to attribute the fossils to a new dinosaur species they named Ahvaytum bahndooiveche, which was likely an early sauropod relative. Ahvaytum, however, looked very different from the iconic long-necked herbivores. It was basically the size of a chicken but with a really long tail, said Lovelace. We think of dinosaurs as these giant behemoths, but they didnt start out that way. The adult specimen was just over a foot tall (30.5 centimeters) and about three feet long (91.4 cm). Perhaps most shockingly, however, is the age of the fossil. Lovelace and his colleagues used radioisotopic dating (a method for determining the age of materials by measuring radioactive decay) to determine that the rock layers where theyd found the Ahvaytum fossilsand thus roughly the remains themselveswere about 230 million years old. This makes Ahvaytum the oldest known Laurasian dinosaur, and about equivalent in age to the earliest known Gondwanan dinosaurs, according to the study. Dinosaurs first emerged during the Triassic period, around 230 million years ago. This era, which lasted from about 252 to 201 million years ago, saw the rise of the earliest dinos, before they became dominant in the Jurassic period.We have, with these fossils, the oldest equatorial dinosaur in the world its also North Americas oldest dinosaur, Lovelace added. The fact that the oldest known Laurasian dinosaur is about as old as the earliest known Gondwanan dinosaurs consequently challenges the theory that dinosaurs originated in the south of the ancient continent and only spread north millions of years later.The site of the discovery is within the ancestral lands of the Eastern Shoshone Tribe. As a result, the researchers partnered with tribal members throughout their work, and included Eastern Shoshone elders and middle school students in choosing the new dinosaurs name. Ahvaytum bahndooiveche roughly translates to long ago dinosaur in the Eastern Shoshone language. The region also yielded additional finds. The team identified an early dinosaur-like footprint in older rock layers, meaning that dinosaurs or dinosaur-related creatures were calling Laurasia home even before Ahvaytum. The paleontologists also uncovered the fossil of a newly described amphibian, which was also named in the Eastern Shoshone language.In challenging long-standing theories about how dinosaurs spread across Pangea, the discovery of the chicken-sized Ahvaytum ultimately paints a clearer picture of the creatures that walked the Earthand wheremillions of years before us.

After Dune: Part Two hit theaters, director Denis Villeneuvewho found great success with the first Dune, and enjoyed a similar blockbuster response to its sequelunderstandably said hed be taking a break from Frank Herberts world before wrapping up the epic trilogy with Dune Messiah. But last fall, he said he realized his desire to get back to Arrakis was greater than his desire for some downtimeand a new interview suggests that might happen very soon indeed. Talking to the Wrap, Villeneuve was asked what the standout element of his Dune experience has been so far. After explaining that he had a pinch-me moment after Dune: Part Two was completedjust absorbing that hed actually completed a Dune adaptation, something he called an incredible privilegehe confessed that even after all that work, he hungered for more.I think my biggest surprise about this is that I dont want to run away from Arrakis. Im still inspired to go back, he told the trade. Thats the thing that I was the most surprised by. I felt that after Part Two, I would need a break. I thought that I would want to go write a few films or do a couple of things before going back to Dune Messiah. But the images that kept coming back to my mind, the appetite is absolutely intact. Thats the biggest surprise. I still want to go back to Arrakis.He clarified that his return trip to Arrakis will be in service of Dune Messiahand then hell be ready to move on. After that, it would become unhealthy, he joked. Theres no timeline yet on when Dune Messiah might appear, but we do know that in June 2024, Warner Bros. planted a flag on December 18, 2026 for a Villeneuve project described only as an event film. (Worth noting: as of November 2024, theres no longer an untitled Star Wars movie also slated for that date.) Release dates are always subject to change, of course, but for now thats the best intel we have on when those sandworms might rise again. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, whats next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

Sometimes its good not to wash the dishes. Food preparation tools recovered from an Israel archeological excavation that started in 1989 have pushed back evidence of ancient hominid plant processing by about 400,000 years all because they werent cleaned. Starch residue on flat basalt anvils and small, round pounding rocks also add grist to the argument that the Paleo Diet included heavy portions of plants, rather than the meat-dominant version many people have now adopted as a weight-loss strategy. The paper detailing these findings was recently published in PNAS.Rethinking Ancient DietsThe findings were possible because Naama Goren-Inbar, a professor at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, had preserved some items found in the decade-long dig near now-drained northern Hula Lake south of the Jordan River, without cleaning them. Archeologists often wash such objects to photograph and preserve them.But in this case, the dirty dishes were a gift to Hadar Ahituv for which he is grateful; the unwashed stone tools provided the backbone of his dissertation as well as this potentially paradigm-shifting paper in PNAS. It was so amazing for me to get from her the materials, says Ahituv, now an archeology professor at Haifa University.The tools differed from those collected from other hominids in several ways. First, they were made of basalt, rather than flint a standard material for chopping tools such as axe heads from that same era. Then there was the shape which seemed best suiting to grinding and pulverizing plants, rather than cutting meat. These tool types are not common in other sites, says Ahituv.This Significance of StarchAnd, finally, they contained starch residue. Its presence is significant, because, unlike pollen, starch is generally not found in the soil in which the items were buried.Starch remnants on the tools indicates crushing or grinding providing evidence that the early hominids used the tools akin to a Stone-Age Cuisinart. Archeologists had previously found what they call microbotanicals on the Israel site tiny evidence of acorns, seeds, and fruits from hundreds of thousands of years ago. But no one could point out direct evidence of how these plants could have been processed, says Ahituv.Culinary SophisticationThere were other clues that indicated the sites inhabitants culinary expertise or, at least, the ability to adapt. Analysis showed that the processed plants came from a variety of environments, and likely from several seasons. They found evidence of wheat and barley seeds, likely from spring and summer. But they also detected traces of acorns, likely from fall and winter. Remnants of water chestnuts and the ground roots of water lilies also indicate that the hominids didnt limit their gleaning to land.Finally, they found evidence that some starches were damaged by heat. That, of course, indicates cooking.This work further complicates our understanding of what the Paleo Diet was historically. And, perhaps it might persuade contemporary people who follow it to either consider renaming it, or adding fruit, vegetables, and carbs to the mix.Article SourcesOur writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:Before joining Discover Magazine, Paul Smaglik spent over 20 years as a science journalist, specializing in U.S. life science policy and global scientific career issues. He began his career in newspapers, but switched to scientific magazines. His work has appeared in publications including Science News, Science, Nature, and Scientific American.

Nature, Published online: 08 January 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00006-5Dust cloud is thought to be the first debris disk to be seen around a planetary nebula.

Nature, Published online: 08 January 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-024-08571-xAuthor Correction: A deep catalogue of protein-coding variation in 983,578 individuals

Nature, Published online: 08 January 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-024-07975-zReply to: Amino acids and KLHL22 do not activate mTORC1 via DEPDC5 degradation

Star Trek: Lower Decks - The Complete Series (Blu-ray Steelbook) $53 ($59) | Releases March 25 Preorder at Amazon Star Trek: Lower Decks - The Final Season (Blu-ray) $26.49 | Releases March 25 Preorder at Amazon Star Trek: Lower Decks is getting a collectible box set featuring all five seasons of the superb animated show on Blu-ray. Slated to release March 25, Star Trek: Lower Decks - The Complete Series comes with two steelbook cases and a collectible art card. The box set retails for $59, but Amazon is offering a preorder discount that drops the price to $53.Considering individual seasons of Lower Decks typically sell for around $25, The Complete Series Steelbook is surprisingly cheap. With Amazon's preorder price guarantee, you'll pay the lowest price offered between the time you order and release.Continue Reading at GameSpot