In communities living next to factory farms, residents have long voiced their concerns about environmental pollution. Now, research shows that not only can we see the air pollution generated by industrial swine facilities, but we can see that its disproportionately affecting communities of color all the way from space.A new study published in Environmental Science & Technology used satellite data to measure ammonia a common pollutant produced by factory farms from the massive amounts of animal manure in North Carolina. Across the eastern part of the state, University of Virginia researchers saw that ammonia levels were elevated in areas where there were high concentrations of industrialized pig facilities. In their research, they found significant population disparities. From 2016 to 2021, ammonia levels were 49 percent higher for Indigenous communities, 35 percent higher for Hispanic and Latino communities, and 27 percent higher for Black communities, compared to non-Hispanic white communities. Ammonia columns (figure a), permitted animal and swine facilities (figure b), and population by race/ethnicity (figure c). Environmental Science & Technology/Sally PusedeAmmonia has a distinctly unpleasant smell and can irritate the respiratory tract and skin. So for the people who live near these facilities, these findings likely wont come as a surprise they can smell and feel it. In the 2022 documentary The Smell of Money, which follows a communitys fight against a factory farm in North Carolina, residents talked about the revolting odor theyre forced to smell daily and their experiences of difficulty breathing, nausea, and chronic conditions like asthma. But as obvious as this information may be to residents affected by factory farms, having data to back up their claims of air pollution and other nuisances is important, said Sally Pusede, lead author of the study and an associate professor at the University of Virginias Department of Environmental Sciences. What makes this study unique, she argued, is that its taking measurements of an air quality impact and proving that its unequally distributed to communities of color in Eastern North Carolina.The study also highlighted a gap in tools and regulations: The researchers used space-based technology to consistently measure ammonia, which isnt regularly monitored by state or federal agencies.There are very few measurements of air pollution associated with industrialized agriculture from the ground, Pusede told Vox. Even if residents are experiencing the health effects of exposure to ammonia, little can be done if theres no data or a system in place to show theyre being exposed. Without data to show that and support that, those claims can be contested. How to measure ammonia from spaceThere are five criteria for air pollutants that the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) monitors, as mandated by the Clean Air Act: particulate matter, ozone, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide.Enacted in 1963, the Clean Air Act aimed to mitigate the pollution from a growing amount of cars, power plants, and other industrial pollution sources. Notably, ammonia isnt one of these regulated pollutants, nor are other agriculture-related pollutants like nitrogen oxide or hydrogen sulfide. In a 2018 settlement, North Carolinas Department of Environmental Quality agreed to conduct an air monitoring study in Duplin County after local environmental justice groups filed a 2014 federal civil rights complaint claiming pollution emitting from nearby swine facilities was disproportionately in nonwhite, low-income communities.As part of the settlement, the state environmental departments Division of Air Quality (DAQ) measured pollutants including ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, and PM2.5 (a deadly pollutant also known as fine particulate matter) over the course of a year. When the DAQ finished the study, it presented its findings: ammonia concentrations were not detectable aside from five occasions, and only one of those occasions approached North Carolinas acceptable ambient level. So how could the states measurements find nearly no measurable concentrations of ammonia, despite residents longtime experience with strong odors and health conditions? Pusede says the results from her teams study raise a lot of questions about how well the states study was done.I think that theres a conflict between an agency that has as its primary goal regulatory compliance, versus one that has as its primary goal protection, said Pusede. She also noted that the instrument used by DAQ may not have been able to properly detect ammonia levels. For Pusedes study, researchers measured ammonia levels with an Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI), which resides on satellites in orbit. Its a space-based instrument that takes advantage of the fact that certain gasses interact with very specific wavelengths of light, said Pusede. You can take that interaction and use it to produce a column concentration of specific pollutants.IASI collects data spatially every day. That allowed the researchers to map ammonia levels across entire regions of North Carolina and across an extended period of time. Alongside the IASI, the researchers used data from the US Census Bureau to access race and ethnicity data in North Carolina, weather condition data to calculate mean wind speeds and air temperature, and the North Carolina Department of Environmental Qualitys database on permitted industrialized swine facilities.Researchers also found that weather conditions could exacerbate these inequalities. On hotter days, ammonia inequalities were higher by 31 percent for Black communities than for white communities. On days with calm winds, ammonia inequalities were higher by 64 percent in Indigenous communities double the disparity from windy days.According to Pusede, ammonia can travel downwind, deposit onto the ground, and then as surfaces warm up, the pollutant can return back to the air in a process called ammonia bidirectional flux. This means that ammonia can degrade the air quality beyond the immediate vicinity of a swine facility, at an average of 5 kilometers (or a little over 3 miles) downwind of these facilities from April through August, the study says. But in all 50 states, right to farm laws have limited who can file complaints. In North Carolina, only people living a half-mile from the site of a claimed nuisance (such as awful odors) can take action.Heightened ammonia levels on hot days are also cause for concern when were facing a global warming crisis. More hot days means more opportunity for ammonia to spread and further intensify air pollution inequalities for Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous communities. But none of these results surprised Pusede. What we found was consistent with what people were saying, she said.I think part of the question is, why do we have a black hole over eastern North Carolina in terms of ammonia? said Chris Brown, director of research and education at North Carolina Environmental Justice Network. (This was one of the groups that filed the 2014 complaint). Its because our regulators have made it so that there can be this rapid expansion of an incredibly environmentally hazardous economic model, they told Vox.The scope of this new UVA study helps show the scale of the issue, says Brown.The long-documented health consequence of factory farms Indeed, theres a healthy amount of scientific evidence that shows the agricultural industry has adverse consequences on air quality in places like North Carolina, one of the nations top pork producers. One study found that there are 17,900 deaths annually because of reduced air quality from the industrys activities and that a large driver of these deaths came from ammonia emissions from animal waste and fertilizer application. It can affect the quality of your health while youre alive, said Jason Hill, lead author of this study and a professor at the University of Minnesotas Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering. But it also can increase your likelihood of dying early as a result of those acute conditions of heart attacks, strokes, cancer, and so forth.Hills research found that there are a number of different inventions that could be taken to reduce air quality deaths from food producers: reducing food waste, lowering emissions from equipment, and improving fertilizer application processes, as well as manure management. Together, his team estimated that this could reduce premature deaths associated with food production by 50 percent.Pusede says the findings from her teams research could be used by the state for future decision-making, including incorporating the researchs measurements into the Department of Environmental Qualitys community mapping tool, which gives the public a map of the spatial relationship between demographics like race, factory farms, permits, and health data.Brown says the UVA study shows the need for air quality permits. There needs to be a standard in which each facility has to manage and monitor their own air emissions, to be able to have some accountability there, they said.Its not just air pollution that people are worried about, either. Waterways are prone to becoming contaminated with pollutants from factory farm waste, risking the publics health and the integrity of another one of our key natural resources. North Carolina is also a particularly hurricane-prone state, and when these disasters hit, factory farms flood and all of their feces, urine, waste goes everywhere, said Brown.Despite research and lived experience showing the health impacts of the agricultural industry and a range of solutions to alleviate these harms, little has been done to change this on a policy level even for something as seemingly straightforward as regulating and monitoring these pollutants. There are very strong interests in not knowing what those emissions are, and not having them tied to specific facilities, said Hill. Having that knowledge, via mandated measurements and monitoring of pollutants, would then hopefully force the agricultural industry to take some accountability. But with the industry as powerful as it is, its unlikely that theyll be required to take steps to protect the public anytime soon.Even when we gain a tool for accountability, the power structures of agriculture within our state legislature is so tight that any tools that we have get taken away, said Brown.For now, studies like Pusedes back up communities claims of harms on their health and livelihood from these facilities and fuels their fight to clean air and water.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:

Some archaeologists believe that when future civilizations sort through the debris of our modern era, we wont be defined by the skyscraper, the iPhone, or the automobile, but rather something humbler: the chicken bone. The reason? We eat so many chickens. So, so many. In 2022 alone, people around the world consumed over 75 billion of them, up from 8 billion in 1965. On Sunday, Americans will likely eat a record-breaking 1.47 billion chicken wings as they watch the Eagles take on the Chiefs at Super Bowl LIX. And that makes it all the more astonishing that, according to chicken industry lore, the system that makes it possible for us to eat so much chicken in the first place originated with a minor clerical error. Want to eat less meat but dont know where to start? Sign up for Voxs Meat/Less newsletter course. Well send you five emails one per week full of practical tips and food for thought to incorporate more plant-based food into your diet.The story begins over 100 years ago, in 1923, with homemaker and farmer Cecile Steele of Ocean View, Delaware. Steele, like many other rural Americans in her time, kept a small flock of chickens that she raised for eggs and waited to slaughter them for meat once their productivity waned. But one day by accident, the local chick hatchery delivered 500 birds, 10 times more than the 50 Steele had ordered. Five hundred hens was a lot bigger farms at the time had only 300. Returns werent really an option in these pre-Amazon days, so she kept them anyway, feeding and watering the chicks by hand in a barn the size of a studio apartment 256 square feet that was heated by a coal stove. Four and a half months later, over 100 of the original 500 chicks had died, but she still made a sizable profit off the 2-pound survivors almost $11 per pound in todays dollars, adjusted for inflation and began to ramp up her operations.Her husband, David Wilmer Steele, quit his job in the Coast Guard to help Cecile expand, and within three years, they were raising 10,000 chickens. Word of the Steele familys success spread, and by 1928 there were hundreds of farmers in the area raising chickens primarily for their meat (before Steele, most farmers raised chickens just for their eggs).Ike Long, a farmer, Cecile Steeles children, and Cecile Steele. National Archives and Records AdministrationBy todays standards, a 10,000-chicken farm is tiny a single industrial-style chicken barn will now house upward of 40,000 birds at a time, and farmers usually own several barns apiece. But in Steeles day, her operation was massive. And the hatchery accident occurred at a fortuitous time it was the Roaring 20s, a decade of immense economic growth in the US, which meant Americans had more money in their pockets to eat more meat. Simultaneous advancements in agricultural refrigeration and transportation, along with the rise of chain grocery stores and the expansion of agriculture financing, made that meat more plentiful.Around this time, there were also seemingly small advances around nutrition that had huge implications for mass agriculture. One was the discovery of vitamin D in 1922, according to Emelyn Rude, author of Tastes Like Chicken: A History of Americas Favorite Bird. Chickens would often die of rickets when kept indoors during cold winter months (rickets is caused by a lack of vitamin D, stemming from lack of sunlight). That helped cap the number of chickens that could be raised at any given time, especially in cooler climates. But once farmers began fortifying chicken feed with vitamin D, they could suddenly raise them in larger numbers indoors and year-round.Not only was Steeles timing lucky, but so was her location. The Delmarva Peninsula, where Steeles farm was located, was also the perfect place for large-scale chicken farming to take off. There was cheap, abundant land a relatively short distance from the hungry consumers of Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York City.A freight train filled with chickens in Delaware. Delaware Public Archives/Delaware Agricultural MuseumSteeles accident set off the chicken revolution as we know it. In the first half of the 20th century, chicken accounted for well under 20 percent of meat consumption in the US. Today, its about 45 percent. Over time, chicken benefited from perceptions that it was healthier than red meat, and became cheaper to produce, thus cheaper for consumers. Today grocery stores charge $4 to $11 a pound for beef and pork, while chicken can cost as little as $1.80 a pound. Bacon and steak may take center stage for meat lovers, but when it comes to whats for dinner, the answer is more often poultry.Steele didnt live to see where her experiments ultimately led. With earnings from their burgeoning poultry empire, Steele and her husband who had become a state senator in 1937 bought a $10,000 yacht named The Lure. One October day in 1940 they took it out fishing with three guests, and while near Ocean City, Maryland, the carburetor backfired, causing the boat to explode. The others survived, but tragically, Cecile and Wilmer Steele did not. Through a mix of coincidence and ambition, Steele set off a race to put chicken at the center of the American plate, changing the face of agriculture forever. In the process, we bent the chicken to our will, pushing the species to its biological limits, polluting waterways and our lungs along the way, all to supply a growing population with cheap protein.The chicken of tomorrow and todayTheres disagreement over when and where humans first domesticated the spry, tropical, multicolored red junglefowl of South and Southeast Asia the ancestor of modern-day chickens but the latest research estimates it occurred over 3,000 years ago in what is now Thailand. Over the following centuries, humans brought the species through China, India, the Middle East, Northeast Africa, Italy, Britain, and up to Scandinavia, and at some point it was likely cross-bred with Indias gray junglefowl. Chickens have been in the Americas almost as long as Europeans, first stepping foot on what is now the Dominican Republic in 1493, on Christopher Columbuss second voyage. As prevalent as chicken is today, archaeologists believe the birds were first domesticated for cockfighting, not farming the ancient Greek city of Pergamum even built a cockfighting amphitheater. And even up until the 1940s, chickens played a small role in agriculture compared to beef and pork. That all changed, due to Steele and other pioneers in the 1920s and 1930s, but also sophisticated breeding techniques in the decades that followed, which transformed the chicken from a small egg-layer into a giant, meat-producing machine.In 1946, two decades after Steele demonstrated how to raise thousands of chickens for meat indoors, a legion of scientists, government employees, meat producers, and volunteers launched a nationwide contest called The Chicken of Tomorrow to design a bigger bird. At the time, chickens were bred to lay a lot of eggs, but the grocery chain A&P wanted a chicken that could provide as much meat as possible. And that meant a bird with a big breast.Out of 40 final contestants, California farmer Charles Vantress came out on top. Vantress cross-bred two varieties the New Hampshire Red and the Cornish to create a hybrid bird that, most importantly, converted feed to muscle more efficiently than his competitors (judges scored chickens on 18 criteria in total). For his achievement, Vantress was celebrated with a parade through Georgetown, Delaware a 40-minute drive from Cecile Steeles farm replete with a Festival Broiler Queen (the industry calls chickens raised for meat broilers).A 1946 Chicken of Tomorrow contest in Connecticut. UConn Photograph Collection, Archives and Special Collections/UConn LibraryVantress went on to dominate the field of poultry genetics, eventually selling his breeding lines to chicken giant Tyson Foods in 1974. Twelve years later, Tyson merged his company with a breeding competitor called Cobb to form Cobb-Vantress and by 2016, almost half of the worlds chickens raised for meat were the Cobb 500 breed.Around the same time, there was also a leap forward in animal feed. In 1928, Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin, a class of antibiotics that revolutionized modern medicine. Two decades later, American scientists discovered that feeding the antibiotic aureomycin to farmed animals made them grow much faster, a revelation that sparked the rapid adoption of antibiotic use on the farm (one that public health officials, worried about growing antibiotic resistance in humans, have been trying to reverse for decades, with little success).Human health concerns played a role as well: By the 1970s, public health professionals had increasingly linked consumption of dietary fat to rising rates of heart disease, culminating in a 1977 Senate report Dietary Goals for the United States that advised Americans to decrease consumption of animal fat, and choose meats which will reduce saturated fat intake. They recommended chicken, turkey, and fish instead and for once, Americans listened to experts medical advice. Between 1970 and 2019, US beef consumption per person fell 28 percent, while poultry consumption has increased by 173 percent. (Pork consumption per person, despite the industrys efforts to mimic the success of chicken with the other white meat ad campaign, remained largely unchanged over the decades.)Soon food companies got to work. The chicken nugget was invented in 1963 by an American poultry scientist as a frozen, breaded chicken stick, but it wasnt until the 1983 national launch of the McNugget, which was concocted by a French chef, that it shot into the stratosphere. Stores quickly sold out amid long lines, and over 40 years later its still a top earner for the company. In 2019, Americans ate an estimated 2.3 billion servings of chicken nuggets. Chicken has also undergone a cultural makeover. Emelyn Rude, author of Tastes Like Chicken, notes that chicken was long considered feminine, while beef was considered masculine. According to the humorism system of medicine developed by ancient Greek physician Hippocrates, chicken was mainly just considered a weak and delicate food suitable for weak and delicate people, Rude said. But over time, chicken has changed into the meat of choice for bodybuilders and Paleo dieters, due in part to the rise of nutrition science, which classifies foods by their constituent parts protein, fat, and carbohydrates. Chicken contained protein, so it was like other meats, but less fat, so it was superior to them, according to dietary guidelines published in the 1980s, said Rude. You can still see this sort of idea of red meat and masculinity. But chicken has definitely made a lot of inroads.As much as the chicken has come to be an affordable source of protein, breeding over 9 billion of them for meat in the US each year has proven to be an environmental, labor, and animal welfare catastrophe. Weve changed them, and in turn, theyve changed us and the planet.What our love for chicken has done to chickens (and us) If you went inside one of the industrial barns that are home to Americas 9 billion chickens, youd find most of them sitting down in their own waste. Its not because theyre lazy, or that they like to hang out in manure. Its because most of them simply cant walk. Inside a Costco chicken supplier in 2021. Courtesy of Mercy for AnimalsThe Chicken of Tomorrow contests of the 1940s gave way to a new breed of bird so top-heavy that their skinny legs can easily buckle under the weight of their enormous body. Back then, it took 84 days for chickens to reach their market weight of three pounds; today, it takes almost half the time to grow more than twice as big.A now-famous study by Canadian poultry researchers illustrates just how far poultry companies have pushed chickens biology. The researchers took breeds from 1957, 1978, and 2005, and fed each bird the same diet for 56 days. At the end of the experiment, the 1957 breed had reached 2 pounds, the 1978 breed reached 4 pounds, and the 2005 breed reached a gigantic 9.2 pounds.Making chickens grow bigger and faster may be good for the consumer (and the poultry companies), and, counterintuitively, todays rapid-growth model has a smaller carbon footprint than slower-growing, heritage breeds. But the rapid-growth model of today is godawful for the chickens, saddling them with a long list of health problems. And as weve covered at Vox, the societal shift of replacing beef with chicken means were killing far more individual animals for food. Because chickens are so small, you have to kill about 100 of them to get the same amount of meat you would from one cow. And over the last 50 years, despite a growing US population, the total number of cattle raised and slaughtered for beef each year has actually declined by a few million. Meanwhile, the number of chickens killed annually has increased by 6 billion. Another way to think about it: In 1970, around 16 chickens and one-fifth of a cow were slaughtered for each American. In 2020, it was 23.5 chickens and less than one-tenth of a cow. And while conventionally raised cattle hardly have it great, chickens suffer far more.Raising and slaughtering chickens is dangerous, precarious work, too. Most chicken farmers work on contract and take on huge amounts of debt to start their farm; the margins are razor-thin, leaving some to say they feel more like a serf than a farmer, while slaughterhouse work is considered to be one of the most dangerous jobs in America. Simply living near a chicken farm or slaughter plant can be bad for your health. That much is apparent in Steeles home state of Delaware which, despite making up less than 0.1 percent of the US land mass, raises 6 percent of the countrys 9 billion birds. Over 500 million are raised in the Delmarva Peninsula alone each year.Sacoby Wilson, a professor of applied environmental health at the University of Maryland, said pollution from chicken manure comes in many forms: Nitrates can contaminate wells, ammonia can cause respiratory issues, and poultry dust, or particulate matter, can cause respiratory and cardiovascular problems. In 2022, the Environmental Integrity Project a nonprofit that advocates for stronger enforcement of environmental laws found that Delaware and Maryland were the only states where 100 percent of their estuaries were impaired with pollution, in large part due to the high amounts of chicken manure that leaks into streams near farms.Blessing Greenhouses and Compost, a chicken waste facility just a 40-minute drive from Cecile Steeles original farm. The company has garnered criticism over allegations of water and air pollution. To the right sits an enormous mound of chicken waste exposed to the elements, and beside it, runoff from the mound, according to Maria Payan of the Socially Responsible Agriculture Project. Socially Responsible Agriculture ProjectChicken waste is hazardous waste, Sacoby said. It needs to be treated the same way we treat other major industries. But animal farms are largely exempted from air and water regulations.When Cecile Steele took a chance a century ago and raised 500 birds instead of 50, she had no idea of the long chain of events she would set off, and she died many years before chicken took over our plates. But she sparked a wholesale transformation of our farming and food systems, our air and water, and the chicken itself a transformation that made meat more affordable than ever, but with a high cost diffused throughout society and the environment.It occurred at a time in American history when such costs could hardly be conceived of, a time when people had suffered immense poverty and hunger for years during World War I. But in the 100 years since, weve overcorrected, valuing abundance and affordability over public health and environmental sustainability while pushing more than 9 billion chickens and hundreds of thousands of workers and farmers to their limit.An exact replica of Steeles first chicken house on display in Ocean View, Delaware. Devry Becker JonesAnd theres seemingly no relief in sight. The problem is we have this food system geared towards incredibly efficient meat production, so it just keeps going and keeps increasing, Rude said. Theres no indication that global meat consumption will decline.But over this next century, we may witness another overhaul of our food system. In 2022, two startups making chicken directly from animal cells, known as lab-grown or cell-cultivated meat, received regulatory approval to sell to US consumers. One hundred years from now if artificial intelligence hasnt put journalists out of work a future writer might regale us with the story of the next Cecile Steele. Instead of a farmer, she could be a scientist in a lab somewhere, cooking up the chicken-free chicken of 2125.Update, February 9, 6 am ET: This story was originally published on February 10, 2023, and has been updated to reflect new data on chicken production and consumption and new information on lab-grown meat.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 Margherita Bassi Published February 9, 2025 | Comments (0) | The black and purple dots point to the location of the 2024 earthquake, as well as the previous two quakes. Triangles pinpoint the seismometers the team used to study the 2024 earthquake. Iranian nuclear facilities are indicated with yellow and black dots, and red lines highlight fault zones. Benjamin Fernando / Johns Hopkins University, with topography provided by NOAA On October 5, 2024, Iran was struck by an earthquake. Just minutes later, rumors began to spread on social media that it hadnt been a natural event, but a secret Iranian nuclear weapons test. Now, researchers led by Johns Hopkins University have debunked these claims in a study published on February 3 in the journal Seismica. Their work reaffirms that the quake was a normal seismic event while highlighting the risk of weaponized scientific misinformation during periods of geopolitical tension. There was a concerted misinformation and disinformation campaign around this event that promoted the idea this was a nuclear test, which is not something you often see happen with an earthquake, Benjamin Fernando of Johns Hopkins University, who led the study, said in a university statement. This shows how geophysical data played an important role in a geopolitical crisis. Less than a year after Hamas attack on Israel, a magnitude 4.5 earthquake (the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization reported a magnitude of 4.2) struck roughly 31 miles (50 kilometers) southwest of the Iranian city of Semnan, and 135 miles (216 km) east of the capital, Tehran. Months later, Fernando and his colleagues analyzed the event using publicly available data from seismic monitoring stations. Seismologists study earthquakes by recording their seismic waves from different points around the planet. They concluded that the source [of the earthquake] was what we call a reverse faulta motion associated with the Earths crust being crushed as the Arabian and Eurasian plates collide, Fernando explained. They categorically ruled out any association between the event and a secret nuclear test. Nuclear tests have very different signatures, which are explosive, Fernando added.Additionally, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), which tracks nuclear tests around the globe, confirmed that similar earthquakes had occurred in the region in 2015 and 2018. Because of its location between the converging Arabian and Eurasian tectonic plates, Iran is known to be a seismically active region. Nevertheless, rumors that the seismic activity was not natural quickly spread on social media. According to the study, the first such post appeared on X less than 20 minutes after the tremblera comment claiming that the shaking was caused by an Israeli strike on Iran. The first suggestion that a nuclear test caused the earthquake appeared 27 minutes after the shaking. From there the misinformation spiraled, highlighting incorrect interpretations of seismic data and attracting conspiracy theories, as well as what the authors identified as active disinformation.Irans nuclear program has been at the center of tensions in the Middle East for decades, with Iran maintaining it has peaceful intentions while the U.S. and its allies work to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons. Allegations of secretive nuclear weapons tests could potentially push the regionand the worldto the brink of war. The challenge in identifying active disinformation lies in distinguishing strategic misinformation from simple ignorance. However, a pattern of substantial and sustained engagement with other users, and a knowledge of seismology, seen within certain social media interactions does potentially imply a human author with some specialist knowledge of this material, the researchers explained in the study, suggesting an intentional effort to mislead.As the scientists pointed out in the new study, newspapers around the world quickly picked up on the frenzy, including outlets in the U.S., France, the U.K., Israel, India, Pakistan, and Zimbabwe. Mainstream English-language media outlets almost exclusively speculated (or otherwise entertained the idea) that this event may have been a nuclear test, the researchers wrote. As a result, these articles could be seen as indirectly supporting the propagation of misinformation by giving credence and visibility to misinformed interpretations of complex seismic data and by failing to seek independent, expert verification. On the other handand perhaps unsurprisinglythe researchers found that Persian-language media generally reported the event more accurately, frequently relying on local experts.The researchers ultimately provided suggestions for how the scientific community can potentially prevent such widespread misinformation in the future. Scientific agencies could issue detailed reports swiftly to counter misinformation, suggested Saman Karimi of Johns Hopkins University, a co-author of the study. Giving amplification to contents coming from verified scientific accounts could help reduce the misleading narrative. This can be done via partnership between social media platforms and trusted seismologists or agencies such as the U.S. Geological Survey. Ultimately, the study highlights how scientific misinformation could have dire global consequences.Daily NewsletterYou May Also Like By Matthew Gault Published January 30, 2025 By Matthew Gault Published January 24, 2025 By Matthew Gault Published December 24, 2024 By Matthew Gault Published December 17, 2024 By Matt Novak Published December 16, 2024 By Matt Novak Published December 11, 2024

New Office Building Carbonera / Carlana Mezzalira PentimalliSave this picture! Marco CappellettiOffice BuildingsVascon di Carbonera, ItalyArchitects: Carlana Mezzalira PentimalliAreaArea of this architecture projectArea:13255 mYearCompletion year of this architecture project Year: 2025 PhotographsPhotographs:Marco CappellettiManufacturersBrands with products used in this architecture project Manufacturers: CEIR, Selvazzano, Falegnameria Longato, Greenstyle Srl, ITF Group Srl, Keimfarben Srl, Michelin Group Srl, Pellizzari Building Srl, Risp Srl Carbonera , Stingers More SpecsLess SpecsSave this picture!Text description provided by the architects. Architectural firm Carlana Mezzalira Pentimalli (carlanamezzalirapentimalli.com) has unveiled the new headquarters for Itagency, Faba, Maikii, and Exclama in Vascon di Carbonera, a region north of Treviso known for its dense industrial warehouses. Thisproject merges architecture, art, and community to create an innovative and collaborative workspace that also considers its social impact.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!The design by Carlana Mezzalira Pentimalli revolutionizes the traditional workplace to embrace remote working and digitalization, prioritizing a sustainable balance between work and personal life. The offices are dynamic, flexible, and designed for adaptation, fostering informal, homely spaces. A new anthropocentric venue, full of sharing environments, open-air activity areas and seamless indoor and outdoor spaces. "Our projects are invitations to innovate and explore. We see each building as a generous space that encourages social interaction and community building," say the leading architects Michel Carlana, Luca Mezzalira, and Curzio Pentimalli.Save this picture!This development includes a new headquarters for the group and transforms existing offices into additional warehouse space, with an extension northward. This rearrangement and the addition of a new cargo yard make the area more efficient interms of logistics and flexibility, while also cutting construction costs. At the heart of the design is its transformative potential. Each architectural detail is crafted with adaptability in mind, ensuring the building can evolve over time. From a structural frame that opens the interior to a roof designed as a communal area, to the building's four-storey layout that encourages employee interaction.Save this picture!The ground floor serves as a multipurpose area for meetings, exhibitions, and other events, while the upper floors house adaptable office spaces. Mobile walls and modular elements allow for quick reconfiguration of meeting areas, while glass and fabric devices serve as visual and acoustic dividers, to help redefine the large open spaces. The design includes secluded spots for private calls and quiet work, blending with the open exhibition spaces. A modular desk and shelving system allows for customizable privacy levels, providing alcoves for working, discussing ideas, sitting, and, most importantly, socializing. A neatly arranged mechanical system, hidden behind a modular metal grille, brings industrial contemporary dynamism. The layout's flexibility supports various work styles and fulfills individual employee needs, while also enabling organizations to adjust to changes in the market or workforce quickly.Save this picture!Save this picture!A far cry from the typical industrial subdivision, the building offers a unique gathering spot on its rooftop, which doubles as a plaza for relaxation and mingling. This area, enhanced by artist Lorenzo Mason's work, becomes a platform for expression beyond the usual office boundaries.Save this picture!Save this picture!Mason's art, a graphic interpretation of non-verbal communication, turns the space into a lively hub for human interaction, pushing past the daily grind. The intertwining of his artistic vision and Carlana Mezzalira Pentimalli's architecture enriches the space, making it a source of inspiration and humanity, evident in other studio projects like the Music School in Bressanone. "Our approach integrates architecture, urban planning, engineering, and art, aiming totailor each design to its environment and embrace change over time," the architects assert.Save this picture!Save this picture!Carlana Mezzalira Pentimalli's philosophy manifests in a building that's both a functional workspace and a living artwork. This flexible design evolves with its surroundings, recalibrating positive impact and redefining the hybrid office space for community life.Save this picture!Project gallerySee allShow lessProject locationAddress:Vascon di Carbonera, Treviso, ItalyLocation to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.About this officePublished on February 09, 2025Cite: "New Office Building Carbonera / Carlana Mezzalira Pentimalli" 09 Feb 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1026569/new-office-building-carbonera-carlana-mezzalira-pentimalli&gt ISSN 0719-8884Save!ArchDaily?You've started following your first account!Did you know?You'll now receive updates based on what you follow! Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors, offices and users.Go to my stream

If youre dreading the long winter nights, the Kinhank Super Console X2 Pro is here to save the seasonand your sanity. With over 70,000 pre-loaded retro games, this gaming emulator console brings back the joy of childhood classics while offering all the modern conveniences youd expect today.From Pac-Man and Sonic to Dark Souls and Rocket League, youll find titles spanning generations and genres. The best part? It all runs smoothly thanks to the powerful S905X2 chip and the Mali-G31MP2 GPU, delivering stunning 4K UHD visuals for a truly immersive experience.This isnt just any retro gaming boxits a two-in-one powerhouse. Powered by dual systems, Android 9.0 for streaming and apps, and EmuELEC 4.5 for gaming, the Super Console X2 gives you versatility at your fingertips. Switch effortlessly from binging your favorite streaming apps to playing 8-bit classics or even downloading free 3D games for endless adventures.Connectivity? Its got you covered. With dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, and plug-and-play functionality, this console works seamlessly with your TV, computer, projector, or laptop. Plus, it supports multiplayer gaming, so you can challenge friends and family to see who still dominates Street Fighter II or Mario Kart.At just $99.99, this compact console packs massive entertainment value into one sleek device. Whether youre revisiting retro favorites, discovering new 3D hits, or streaming shows, its the perfect companion for those chilly months indoors. Invite some friends over and make a retro game night out of it.Turn your winter hibernation into a retro gaming marathon with this retro gaming and streaming console.Get the Kinhank Super Console X2 Pro with two controllers, a 256GB game card, a4GB TF card, and a remote for just $99.99 (reg. $159).StackSocial prices subject to change.Kinhank Super Console X2 Pro Retro Gaming Emulator & Streaming ConsoleOnly $99.99 at Popular Science

Looking at AI art shows that machines may never truly understand the human mind, as there are states of mind that can never be automated.

NASA shares an iconic image of carbon dioxide ice erupting in geysers when Martian winter turns to spring.

The ending of One Piece has always been a highly discussed topic within the community. Being such an incredibly long series, many fans are anxious to see what the ending of One Piece will bring. However, so far, the end of the series has been an incredibly well-kept secret, with fans only being left to guess what might be in store for them during One Pieces final chapters.

The fundamental point of Palworld is to keep catching Pals in order to improve one's collection. However, once players catch their first Pal, they will notice that it is just the type of Pal that matters. Each individual Pal can be greatly buffed or nerfed depending on the condition of its passive skills. Players should note that each Pal has 0-4 passive skills ranked on a tier scale system that can make or break that Pal.

Listen, Im all about staying abreast of current events but watching the fascist, white, cis, hetero patriarchy put boots on the necks of anyone they want to gets old fast. Sometimes, engaging in civil discourse in the marketplace of ideas falls short, and you just need to unleash some unbridled rage on some fools. If you feel like dismantling the systems of oppression with wanton destruction, these games provide that sweet feeling you get from bringing the ruling class down a peg.While the evergreen violence of the Wolfenstein franchise is a natural starting point, we know that fascism doesnt always wear a uniform tailored by Hugo Boss. Regardless of the motivations of the overarching antagonists, our recommended titles all feature enemies that are just following orders responsible for upholding corrupt systems or institutions. So you dont have to feel bad about sending any of these suckers to an early grave. Go ahead, give your empathy the day off and become the Blazko that you wicz to see in the world.WolfensteinWhere you see a world run by Nazis, B.J. Blazkowicz sees a target-rich environment. The entirety of the Wolfenstein franchise, but specifically MachineGames Wolfenstein: The New Order and Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus, are all about streamlining the fascist-to-dog-food pipeline. And thanks to current events, its never been easier to identify with a motley crew of weirdos hell-bent on toppling a fascist regime. While these games are usually about new and creative ways to send goose-stepping morons to an early grave, both The New Order and The New Colossus still serve up plenty of poignant story beats to remind you what youre fighting for. Alice JovaneFallout: New VegasFallout: New Vegasbegins with the protagonist betrayed, bound, and shot in the head. Being pulled out of a shallow grave is just the start of their revenge quest, and tracking down the gunman is just the start. Playing a pacifist is possible, but tough, especially when confronted with the brutal expansionism of Caesars Legion or the machinations of Mr. House and the Vegas Strip.Your first introduction to Caesars Legion is probably the Lottery, a mass slaughter on an unassuming town with just one deeply traumatized survivor. You can confront the perpetrators in an optional, tough boss fight and I always do. Every time I playNew Vegas, I raze the Legion from the Mojave, enjoying every time a head pops off or a guy gets turned into giblets.New Vegasconfronts you with some of the worst indignities man can inflict on man, but then the game gives you a shotgun. The narrative built around each faction and the final choice makes playing as the Courier so satisfying, especially when youre pulling a big risk by assassinating Caesar in his camp or, with one pivotal choice with Mr. House, literally eating the rich. Cass MarshallFinal Fantasy 7 RemakeThe fight-the-power theming applies just as much to the original version of FF7, but not everyone has the patience for 90s-era RPGs. (If you do, the Nintendo Switch port of the 1997 classic is pretty decent.) Theres a reason why so many people quote the character Barret from this video game when he says, The planets dyin, Cloud. Its not just a throwaway line; its the point of the whole game, and it becomes not just Barrets motivation but everyone elses, too even the skeptical and emotionally distant Cloud. This is a game in which the ecoterrorists are the heroes, and they must fight against an evil, authoritarian corporation thats sucking the planet dry to satisfy the myopic purposes of its immoral higher-ups. Its cathartic as hell, and it still holds up after all these years which is why Remake (and its sequel, Rebirth) have been so popular in the modern day. Maddy MyersMetal Gear Rising: RevengeanceQuite possibly the most satisfying action game of the previous decade, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance gives players control of the cyborg Raiden in a hardcore action game thats all about slicing his enemies to bits. It certainly helps that the people you pure with Raidens superpowered katana are members of a private military corporation bent on destabilizing the world to fuel the military-industrial complex in the name of endless war and profiteering.But the most satisfying death and destruction youll deal in Revengeance is against the corrupt government official Senator Armstrong. In the games ultimate battle, a grueling 30-minute showdown between Raiden, the giant Metal Gear Excelsus machine, and the nanomachine-powered Armstrong, youre subjected to his make-America-great-again doublespeak, in which he pledges to fuel the war of all wars so he can end war as a business.If youve ever wanted to slay a greedy, toxic politician with confused, libertarian, dipshit ideals and do it as a cybernetically enhanced child soldier who rightly points out that millions will suffer under Armstrongs plan play Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. Its cathartic in a way that calling your local elected official rarely is. Michael McWhertorDying Light 2 Stay HumanThis is more a game about fighting zombies and doing cool parkour stunts as opposed to facing off against fascists, but I did take great personal pride in refusing to join up with the Peacekeepers, the cop-like faction in the game. You only have two choices Peacekeepers or Survivors and they both have advantages and disadvantages. The story of this game isnt really deep enough to bother providing you with much motivation either way, so most players will be looking at the mechanical advantages to each side. Its true that if you join the Peacekeepers you do get a crossbow, but is that really worth selling your soul? Id say not. M. MyersHardspace: ShipbreakerThere are precious few games where the endgame boss is your actual boss. Hardspace: Shipbreaker not only nails the Working Joe in space vibe, it accurately depicts the struggles associated with forming a union. As an indentured employee of the dystopian Lynx corporation, your body is literally company property. You spend endless shifts breaking down spaceships for parts as you and your fellow employees realize that collective action is the only way to free yourselves from the shackles of debt. Methodically stripping ships for parts can be fulfilling, but nothing satisfies quite like telling your boss where to stick their performance review.AJMetaphor: ReFantazioThis lengthy RPG isnt so much about fighting the power as realizing that everything is a lot more complicated than you thought it was, so its not exactly the cathartic, Nazi-punching experience that, say, Wolfenstein might provide. And yet this game is very much about fighting against bigots, of which there are many in this fantasy world. You have to do your fighting in a literal combat sense, of course, but you also get opportunities to fight with words as well and convince people theyre wrong, which lets all admit, thats also an enjoyable fantasy, eh? M. Myers