Below the Fold - 🚢 nuclear-powered ships in the Arctic

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You’ve likely seen pictures of (or have been fortunate enough to visit) the beautiful Northern Lights in Iceland, also known as the aurora borealis. Similar auroras light up Jupiter’s North and South poles, but they come with a side of X-ray pulses so regular it’s like clockwork. Puzzled, scientists looked for other things happening on Jupiter with similar timing to the pulses, but couldn’t explain how they would end up as a pulse of X-ray.

Now, the 40-year-old mystery is solved. Turns out, there’s a type of rippling electromagnetic wave called EMIC (present also on Earth) “carrying” energetic ions from one of Jupiter’s volcanic moons through to the poles and powering the X-ray pulses (to put it very simply). These EMIC waves were previously overlooked, but this has enlightened researchers to their importance in understanding the mechanics of the universe.

ARCTIC

Russia’s investing in nuclear-powered ships for Arctic dominance
Thu Jul 15

Russia is touting its icebreaker development — not the team-building exercise, but the ships designed to navigate through ice-covered waters. Historically, ships have only been able to operate in the eastern Arctic during warmer months. But for Russia, that all changes with the introduction of new nuclear-powered icebreakers that can smash through ice as thick as 9.2 feet (2.8 meters), clearing a route that’s 15 days faster than non-Arctic ones.

With fewer travel days using less fuel, these new ships save time and money on oil and gas deliveries to Southeast Asia, but not everyone is enthused by Russia's progress.

In addition to their icebreakers, Russian military activity in the region has the Pentagon on alert — especially as easy shipping routes also make for easy missile routes.
Global competition for the Arctic’s transit routes has exacerbated tensions between the U.S., Russia, and China. In fact, China is working on its own nuclear icebreaker quite comparable to Russia’s.
And environmentalists are concerned over the increased use of an already sensitive region. Last year, temperature in the Arctic Circle reached a record-breaking 100.4°F (38°C) due to human-driven climate change.

Beyond shipping routes, the Arctic is an attractive destination for mining natural resources. Recent estimates suggest it holds 412 billion barrels of oil, or 22% of the world’s undiscovered oil and gas. This could further increase traffic in the region as ice continues melting — helpful for accessing those resources but detrimental to the Arctic’s ecology.

Some additional resources...

→ Initial coverage: D igital Journal
→ Debut of Russia’s nuclear-powered icebreaker: CBS News
→ How green nuclear energy is: Physics World
→ Arctic heat wave: CBS News
→ China’s nuclear icebreaker: The National Interest
→ Economic and ecological impact of a high-traffic Arctic: Smithsonian
→ U.S. national security interest in Arctic: U.S. Army

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PRIVACY

It’s not too late to protect your contact lists from mobile apps
Thu Jul 15

When downloading mobile apps, allowing access to our contacts is almost second nature. Now, the consequences of trusting these products with such access is emerging after a number of Venmo users (including President Biden) found their entire contact lists publicly available on the internet. Unlike sharing location or browsing histories, contacts reveal sensitive information about personal, familial, and professional relationships — one therapist who uses Venmo for payments discovered all her clients’ information online.

Why do these apps need access to our contacts anyways? Companies use birthdays, addresses, or even who your banking contact is to target you with ads, get your friends to sign up for their product, or sell your data altogether (which some did secretly until Apple banned it). And if those companies don’t have the right protections in place, scammers can take advantage of the leaked information. To understand the access level these companies have, the Washington Post reached out to 30 different companies, a third of which didn’t respond. Those who did varied in how much detail they collected from names and emails to birthdays and images while others pointed to privacy policies that didn't actually answer the question.

Privacy experts say it’s time for mobile operating systems to update their practices, such as requiring apps to list exactly which contact fields they take, allowing users to specify which contacts they’re willing to share, or providing the ability to organize our address books into shareable versus non-shareable sections. Until then, there’s a number of ways to start protecting yourself.

For iPhone users, go to Settings → Privacy → Contacts. You can then turn the slider off for any apps you don’t want accessing your contacts.
For Android users, go to Settings → Privacy → Permission Manager → Contacts and follow a similar process.
When apps ask you for contact access moving forward, be sure to evaluate if access is essential to the app’s functionality, such as messaging apps. Otherwise, tread with caution.
More involved alternatives include getting a burner phone or alternative phone number with Google Voice.
And if you live in California or Virginia, state law lets you force companies who already have access to your information to delete it (though some companies will still honor the request no matter where you live).

Some additional resources...

→ Extensive coverage: Washington Post
→ Apple ends secret sale of contact lists: Seattle Times
→ Why apps ask for contact lists: Sydney Morning Herald
→ How to protect your contacts: Washington Post

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ASCII OF THE WEEK

    |>    |>    |>
    ||    ||    ||
  ._||____||____||_____
  |                   /
  |     S.S. BTF     /
  |_________________/
   | o  o  o  o  o |
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But what about the potential environmental concerns?

Ship happens.



Art Credit:  Below the Fold

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Below the Fold - 🚢 nuclear-powered ships in the Arctic

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