Each week, BIV staff will share with you some of the interesting stories we have found from around the web.
Glen Korstrom, reporter:
Given that the Watergate break-in was 50 years ago as of June 17, it was interesting to read Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein’s new perspective piece comparing former U.S. presidents Richard Nixon and Donald Trump. It is also a forward in the new edition of All The President’s Men. – Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/06/05/woodward-bernstein-nixon-trump/
Timothy Renshaw, managing editor:
On the reading list this week: adventures in 21st century Earth-bound transportation Innovations and insights into a key architect of other-worldly metaphysical transportation originally jump-started in the Swinging Sixties.
First, some potentially good news for green transportation enthusiasts who are not big on searching out EV charging station locations: the world's first solar-powered car appears ready for prime time, according to this Electric Vehicles Research story. Months of commuting without having to recharge, even in cloudy conditions? Tell me more.
And, from the future of maritime cargo movement file, an artificial intelligence answer to the deep-water crew shortages facing global shipping lines that have worsened with Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The Mayflower Autonomous Ship project, officially launched in September 2020, recently celebrated the first successful transatlantic voyage of an autonomous ship from Plymouth, U.K., to Halifax, Nova Scotia. No crew aboard. No skipper on the bridge. – Artificial Intelligence Research
Meanwhile, in experimental psychological transportation news from another dimension, this ATI story chronicling the exploits of the psychedelics kingpin who at one time reportedly manufactured 90 per cent of the world's LSD will be of interest to members of the generation who grew up in the Timothy Leary tune-in, turn-on, drop-out era. – All That’s Interesting
https://allthatsinteresting.com/william-leonard-pickard
Nelson Bennett, reporter:
All earth-based geoengineering proposals aimed at cooling the planet carry a risk. No one knows what the unintended environmental side effects might be of seeding the ocean with iron or stratospheric aerosol injections. But the big brains at MIT have come up with an approach that could address that problem. They propose a sheet of space bubbles positioned between the earth and sun that would deflect 1.8% of the solar radiation from the sun. This sheet of thin silicon bubbles would need to be the size of Brazil, however. A new project for Elon Musk, perhaps? – Gizmodo
https://gizmodo.com/mit-space-bubbles-climate-change-1849065455
GHGSat, a Canadian company that uses satellites to detect methane, has identified the largest single-source emitter of methane it has yet to see – a coal mine in Russia. The company says the Raspadskaya coal mine in Russia is emitting methane at a rate of 90 tonnes per hour. – BBC
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-61811481
How did central bankers and federal governments get it so wrong on inflation? Economist Jack Mintz explains: “In part, the problem was not understanding the difference between supply-induced and demand-induced recession.” The result was federal governments and central banks pumping too much money into the economy in response to the pandemic. He predicts inflation is with us for “most of this decade.” – The National Post
