US Deep Freeze, Frog Mystery Revealed, and Tracking Santa

America on Ice

An Arctic cold front fell over much of the US yesterday, triggering dangerously cold temperatures and bringing blizzard conditions to the Midwest, Great Lakes, and Northeast. The “once in a generation” weather system brought rare subfreezing temperatures, with many areas seeing temperatures plunge into the negative double digits within only a few hours—Cheyenne, Wyoming, recorded a drop from 43 degrees to 3 degrees in just 30 minutes.

The expansive weather pattern managed to drop multiple inches of snow (see photos), with the storm developing into a bomb cyclone early this morning near the Great Lakes region. Additionally, the low temperatures and high winds—over 50 mph in some areas—crippled many power systems, with over 100,000 people across multiple states without power as of this morning. 

The weather caused the cancellation of more than 2,400 flights yesterday within, into, or out of the US. Around 7.2 million Americans were expected to travel by air ahead of the Christmas holiday.  

Jan. 6 Report Released

The House Jan. 6 Committee released the full version of its final report last night as the curtain closes on the committee's 18-month investigation. The release comes after the panel voted to refer criminal charges against former President Donald Trump to the Justice Department Monday for his alleged role in the day's events. The referrals are not binding and carry no legal weight, but act as recommendations. See key takeaways here.

The 845-page report is divided into eight chapters corresponding to each of the summer's prime-time hearings. It focuses on efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election as well as intelligence and security failures around Jan. 6. Although the report is not binding, special counsel Jack Smith has requested full access to the committee's documents for use in the Justice Department's criminal investigation. See a photo essay of the panel here.

Five Republican congressmen—the original GOP nominees to the committee who were later pulled by GOP leadership—released their own report highlighting security failures at the Capitol complex.  

Nature's Invisibility Cloak

The mechanism that allows some species of frogs indigenous to Central and South America to become semitransparent has been revealed, according to new research published yesterday. The discovery has implications for our understanding of the circulatory system and the role of blood cells in maintaining vital functions.  

A few centimeters in size, glass frogs are active at night and become translucent during the day. While sleeping, only their bones and internal organs are visible, allowing them to effectively blend in with the foliage. Using a radar-like imaging technology utilizing sound waves, scientists discovered the frogs are able to store red blood cells—which scatter light, making the animal opaque—in their livers. 

How the animals survive the sequestration of red blood cells is unclear—the adaptation should both deprive the animals of oxygen while running the risk of blood clotting in the liver. See video of translucent glass frogs here. 

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Politics & World Affairs

In-Depth

> Christmas in Kyiv

Guardian | Michael Safi, Isobel Koshiw. (Podcast) As families prepare to celebrate Christmas in Ukraine, the 10-month war rages on. (Listen)

> Cheating with ChatGPT

WSJ | Joanna Stern. A reporter tests if she can use the new deep-learning chatbot to fool an AP Lit teacher. (Watch)

> Defining Death

Popular Mechanics | Esther Landhuis. If researchers can revive a pig brain that has been dead for hours, what does that mean for our standard definition of death? (Read, paywall)

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Historybook: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints founder Joseph Smith born (1805); Businesswoman Madam CJ Walker born (1867); Vincent van Gogh cuts off his ear (1888); Voyager aircraft is first to fly around the world without refueling (1986).