Quantum messaging links China and Austria 22 Jan 2018

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

Water restrictions still stand as rain hits drought stricken Cape Town
" 'We need much, much more rain to start re-filling our dams. Please continue to save water as before. Level 6B restrictions still apply. Thank You,' she tweeted."
Western Cape Government | Water Alert

Extreme water savings are needed in the following regions:  

• City of Cape Town - level 6B water restrictions.
  
• Drakenstein Municipality - level 6 water restrictions in effect.
  
• Saldanha Municipality - level 5 water restrictions in effect.
  
• Stellenbosch Municipality - level 5 water restrictions in effect.
  
• Swartland Municipality - level 5 water restrictions in effect.

High Alert: City of Cape Town
Residents and visitors in the City of Cape Town are restricted to using 50 litres of treated water per person, per day for the purposes of drinking, washing and cooking. All exemptions have been revoked.
[...]
Cape Town dam levels on 29 March 2018:  22.1%

archived
Don't Ask Me About Day Zero, 16 Apr 2018

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

Scottish renewable energy enjoys record year

A record high of 4.8TWh of electricity was transferred from Scotland to England in the final quarter of 2017, almost double that recorded in the same period a year earlier, with overall transfers south up 31 per cent in 2017 compared to 2016. [...] It is estimated that the equivalent of 68.1 per cent of gross electricity consumption came from renewable sources, up 14.1 percentage points from 54 per cent in 2016. The Scottish Government said: "This is 45 percentage points more than the equivalent figure for the rest of the UK." [...] "Despite damaging policy changes from the UK Government that will soon come into full effect, we continue to harness, galvanize and support Scotland's renewables potential, both in generation and infrastructure."

Scottish Power chief: Subsidy free wind is "bonkers"
"During a panel debate on `post-subsidy' renewables at Aurora's Spring Conference, Anderson said the UK market was not mature enough for power purchase agreements (PPAs), which large organisations use to mitigate risks."

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

photo credit: Aerospace Corporation

China's falling space station highlights the problem of space junk crashing to Earth

By some estimates, the amount of space junk is in the hundreds-of-thousands to millions of pieces and this interactive illustration shows some of them.
[...]
Electro-Optic Systems (EOS) and Mount Stromlo Observatory are part of the Space Environment Research Centre (SERC) which is planning to build a laser system capable of safely de-orbiting [!] small bits of space junk

You'd be surprised how often space junk falls out of the sky
"A rocket booster from the recently launched Cygnus spacecraft fell back down to Earth over Saskatchewan, creating a spectacular plume of light in its wake."
China Space Lab Mostly Burns Up on Re-Entry in South Pacific
"The lack of control was not unusual given that about 15 percent of satellites re-enter the atmosphere prior to the end of their useful lives, [Brad Tucker, astrophysicist] said."

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

Environment Commissioner Karmenu Vella confirms that infringement procedures will indeed be launched on #airquality against a number of member states in April. Background on #cleanaireu here: https://t.co/svap6RVx8F

— Sam Morgan (@SamJamesMorgan) March 26, 2018

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

In the movie this apocalypse arrives over, like, eight weeks weeks. Or three months? In any case, less time than it takes a high school student reach final exam period. Then again, the timeline must be sketchy to make haste for the moral.
Gulf Stream system at weakest point in 1,600 years

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.