[Culture] :
To strengthen the global competitiveness of K-contents, eleven organizations will pool their resources to create a strategic fund worth approximately 600 billion won, or over 454 million U.S. dollars. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Ministry of Science and ICT announced Wednesday that ...

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Hot peppers are tasty and nutritious fruits (not vegetables!) that create a spicy sensation on your tastebuds. They have been a staple of spicy foods for thousands of years, but in the last half-century, scientists have developed advanced cross-breeding techniques to craft the hottest pepper in the world — hotter than nature would concoct on its own.

You may have been awakened in the night by loud blaring noise and an alert text on your phone. Who sends these alerts, and why are you getting them?

What is geothermal energy?  British Geological Survey

New report assesses deep geothermal energy in the UK  British Geological Survey

BGS launches digital version of UK legacy geothermal catalogue  ThinkGeoEnergy - Geothermal Energy News

BGS breaks ground on geothermal heating system in Keyworth HQ, UK  ThinkGeoEnergy - Geothermal Energy News

Local MP checks in on development of new geothermal 'living laboratory' in Nottinghamshire  British Geological Survey

The Circular Electron–Positron Collider (CEPC) in China can also work as an excellent powerful synchrotron light source, which can generate high-quality synchrotron radiation. This synchrotron radiation has potential advantages in the medical field as it has a broad spectrum, with energies ranging from visible light to X-rays used in conventional radiotherapy, up to several megaelectronvolts. FLASH radiotherapy is one of the most advanced radiotherapy modalities. It is a radiotherapy method that uses ultra-high dose rate irradiation to achieve the treatment dose in an instant; the ultra-high dose rate used is generally greater than 40 Gy s−1, and this type of radiotherapy can protect normal tissues well. In this paper, the treatment effect of CEPC synchrotron radiation for FLASH radiotherapy was evaluated by simulation. First, a Geant4 simulation was used to build a synchrotron radiation radiotherapy beamline station, and then the dose rate that the CEPC can produce was calculated. A physicochemical model of radiotherapy response kinetics was then established, and a large number of radiotherapy experimental data were comprehensively used to fit and determine the functional relationship between the treatment effect, dose rate and dose. Finally, the macroscopic treatment effect of FLASH radiotherapy was predicted using CEPC synchrotron radiation through the dose rate and the above-mentioned functional relationship. The results show that the synchrotron radiation beam from the CEPC is one of the best beams for FLASH radiotherapy.

L-R: Three Southern California retro fanatics, John Rabe, Chris Nichols, and Charles Phoenix; Credit: John Rabe/KPCC

Is it possible that the two titans of retro Southern California - Charles Phoenix and Charles Nichols - have never been on Off-Ramp at the same time? But maybe that brings up a larger question. Is it even possible for them to exist in the same place, at the same time, or would their meeting cause a cosmic singularity, an undarnable rending of the time-space continuum?

The answers are, stupidly, yes; and thankfully, yes.

Over the 11 years of Off-Ramp, "God Bless Americana" author Charles Phoenix and Los Angeles Magazine's Chris Nichols have played a large part in bringing interesting and endangered places to our listeners. From Pomona to Chatsworth to Bellflower to Anaheim, both men have made careers of highlighting and preserving things that in their day were seen as expendable, flavor-of-the-month, mass marketed creations. Like programmatic architecture (buildings that look like what they're selling or making, i.e. the Donut Hole in La Puente, the Idle Hour - a giant wine cask - in NoHo).

Yet, with hindsight, we've been able to see them as archetypal and important touchstones of our region.

For their final appearances on the show, they got in the Mercedes and shared their love of getting lost in Southern California.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, leads some of the Biden administration's efforts to expand Medicaid access.; Credit: Caroline Brehman/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Imag

The Biden administration is quietly engineering a series of expansions to Medicaid that may bolster protections for millions of low-income Americans and bring more people into the program.

Biden's efforts — which have been largely overshadowed by other economic and health initiatives — represent an abrupt reversal of the Trump administration's moves to scale back the safety-net program.

The changes could further boost Medicaid enrollment — which the pandemic has already pushed to a record 80.5 million. Some of the expansion is funded by the COVID-19 relief bill that passed in March, including coverage for new mothers.

Others who could also gain coverage under Biden are inmates and undocumented immigrants. At the same time, the administration is opening the door to new Medicaid-funded services such as food and housing that the government insurance plan hasn't traditionally offered.

"There is a paradigm change underway," said Jennifer Langer Jacobs, Medicaid director in New Jersey, one of a growing number of states trying to expand home-based Medicaid services to keep enrollees out of nursing homes and other institutions.

"We've had discussions at the federal level in the last 90 days that are completely different from where we've ever been before," Langer Jacobs said.

Taken together, the Medicaid moves represent some of the most substantive shifts in federal health policy undertaken by the new administration.

"They are taking very bold action," said Rutgers University political scientist Frank Thompson, an expert on Medicaid history, noting in particular the administration's swift reversal of Trump policies. "There really isn't a precedent."

The Biden administration seems unlikely to achieve what remains the holy grail for Medicaid advocates: getting 12 holdout states, including Texas and Florida, to expand Medicaid coverage to low-income working-age adults through the Affordable Care Act.

And while some of the recent expansions – including for new mothers -- were funded by close to $20 billion in new Medicaid funding in the COVID relief bill Biden signed in March, much of that new money will stop in a few years unless Congress appropriates additional money.

The White House strategy has risks. Medicaid, which swelled after enactment of the 2010 health law, has expanded further during the economic downturn caused by the pandemic, pushing enrollment to a record 80.5 million, including those served by the related Children's Health Insurance Program. That's up from 70 million before the COVID crisis began.

The programs now cost taxpayers more than $600 billion a year. And although the federal government will cover most of the cost of the Biden-backed expansions, surging Medicaid spending is a growing burden on state budgets.

The costs of expansion are a frequent target of conservative critics, including Trump officials like Seema Verma, the former administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, who frequently argued for enrollment restrictions and derided Medicaid as low-quality coverage.

But even less partisan experts warn that Medicaid, which was created to provide medical care to low-income Americans, can't make up for all the inadequacies in government housing, food and education programs.

"Focusing on the social drivers of health ... is critically important in improving the health and well-being of Medicaid beneficiaries. But that doesn't mean that Medicaid can or should be responsible for paying for all of those services," said Matt Salo, head of the National Association of Medicaid Directors, noting that the program's financing "is simply not capable of sustaining those investments."

Restoring federal support

However, after four years of Trump administration efforts to scale back coverage, Biden and his appointees appear intent on not only restoring federal support for Medicaid, but also boosting the program's reach.

"I think what we learned during the repeal-and-replace debate is just how much people in this country care about the Medicaid program and how it's a lifeline to millions," Biden's new Medicare and Medicaid administrator, Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, told KHN, calling the program a "backbone to our country."

The Biden administration has already withdrawn permission the Trump administration had granted Arkansas and New Hampshire to place work requirements on some Medicaid enrollees.

In April, Biden blocked a multibillion-dollar Trump administration initiative to prop up Texas hospitals that care for uninsured patients, a policy that many critics said effectively discouraged Texas from expanding Medicaid coverage through the Affordable Care Act, often called Obamacare. Texas has the highest uninsured rate in the nation.

The moves have drawn criticism from Republicans, some of whom accuse the new administration of trampling states' rights to run their Medicaid programs as they choose.

"Biden is reasserting a larger federal role and not deferring to states," said Josh Archambault, a senior fellow at the conservative Foundation for Government Accountability.

But Biden's early initiatives have been widely hailed by patient advocates, public health experts and state officials in many blue states.

"It's a breath of fresh air," said Kim Bimestefer, head of Colorado's Department of Health Care Policy and Financing.

Chuck Ingoglia, head of the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, said: "To be in an environment where people are talking about expanding health care access has made an enormous difference."

Mounting evidence shows that expanded Medicaid coverage improves enrollees' health, as surveys and mortality data in recent years have identified greater health improvements in states that expanded Medicaid through the 2010 health law versus states that did not.

Broadening eligibility

In addition to removing Medicaid restrictions imposed by Trump administration officials, the Biden administration has backed a series of expansions to broaden eligibility and add services enrollees can receive.

Biden supported a provision in the COVID relief bill that gives states the option to extend Medicaid to new mothers for up to a year after they give birth. Many experts say such coverage could help reduce the U.S. maternal mortality rate, which is far higher than rates in other wealthy nations.

Several states, including Illinois and New Jersey, had sought permission from the Trump administration for such expanded coverage, but their requests languished.

The COVID relief bill — which passed without Republican support — also provides additional Medicaid money to states to set up mobile crisis services for people facing mental health or substance use emergencies, further broadening Medicaid's reach.

And states will get billions more to expand so-called home and community-based services such as help with cooking, bathing and other basic activities that can prevent Medicaid enrollees from having to be admitted to expensive nursing homes or other institutions.

Perhaps the most far-reaching Medicaid expansions being considered by the Biden administration would push the government health plan into covering services not traditionally considered health care, such as housing.

This reflects an emerging consensus among health policy experts that investments in some non-medical services can ultimately save Medicaid money by keeping patients out of the hospital.

In recent years, Medicaid officials in red and blue states — including Arizona, California, Illinois, Maryland and Washington — have begun exploring ways to provide rental assistance to select Medicaid enrollees to prevent medical complications linked to homelessness.

The Trump administration took steps to support similar efforts, clearing Medicare Advantage health plans to offer some enrollees non-medical benefits such as food, housing aid and assistance with utilities.

But state officials across the country said the new administration has signaled more support for both expanding current home-based services and adding new ones.

That has made a big difference, said Kate McEvoy, who directs Connecticut's Medicaid program. "There was a lot of discussion in the Trump administration," she said, "but not the capital to do it."

Other states are looking to the new administration to back efforts to expand Medicaid to inmates with mental health conditions and drug addiction so they can connect more easily to treatment once released.

Kentucky health secretary Eric Friedlander said he is hopeful federal officials will sign off on his state's initiative.

Still other states, such as California, say they are getting a more receptive audience in Washington for proposals to expand coverage to immigrants who are in the country without authorization, a step public health experts say can help improve community health and slow the spread of communicable diseases.

"Covering all Californians is critical to our mission," said Jacey Cooper, director of California's Medicaid program, known as Medi-Cal. "We really feel like the new administration is helping us ensure that everyone has access."

The Trump administration moved to restrict even authorized immigrants' access to the health care safety net, including the "public charge" rule that allowed immigration authorities to deny green cards to applicants if they used public programs such as Medicaid. In March, Biden abandoned that rule.

KHN correspondent Julie Rovner contributed to this report.

KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

NASA released a workshop report on the UNBOUND-FEW workshop series, which was facilitated in part by Tribal Resilience Learning Network staff from the Alaska CASC. The workshop report reveals key recommendations for making data tools more useful for climate adaptation planning.

Edgar Wright attends the 55th Annual International Cinematographers Guild Publicists Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on March 2, 2018 in Beverly Hills, California.; Credit: Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images

The joke about Sparks — if you’ve even heard of them — is that it’s the best British band to come out of America. That confusion is why Edgar Wright, the director of “Baby Driver” and “Shaun of the Dead,” wanted to make his first documentary about the group, headed by brothers Ron and Russell Mael. Quite simply, Wright was tired of explaining who the band was and why he loves them. His documentary, called “The Sparks Brothers,” premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. John Horn talked with Wright after its January premiere about his personal connection to the band, how he connected with the brother, the editing process of the documentary and more. The film is in theaters now.

With guest host John Horn

Guest: 

Edgar Wright, director of the new documentary “The Sparks Brothers;” he tweets @edgarwright

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

The Catawba County Board of Commissioners, at its January 19, 2010 meeting, joined with other local governments across the region in approving the agreement. The main points of the agreement hinged on Concord and Kannapolis modifying their ability, contained in their IBT certificate, to withdraw 10 million gallons of water per day (MGD) from the Catawba River at all times, by significantly limiting withdrawals during times of drought. The agreement limits withdrawals to 6 MGD during times of most severe drought, or �exceptional� drought; 7 MGD during �extreme� drought; 8.5 MGD during �severe� drought; and 9 MGD during �moderate� drought. Further, the agreement restricts Concord and Kannapolis from withdrawing more than 3 MGD from the Catawba until July 1, 2015, and after they first are withdrawing 5 MGD from the Yadkin River.

Family Builders, the adoption service of Catawba County Social Services, can now help adult adoptees, birth parents and their close relatives find each other. Not all counties in North Carolina offer this service, which is called Confidential Intermediary Services. Until recently all adoption records were sealed under North Carolina state law. In 2008, a new law took effect that allowed the release of certain records to adult adoptees and birth parents, if both parties agreed.

Alexander, Burke, Caldwell and Catawba County students in the 4th or 5th grades submitted posters related to the theme �Severe Weather Awareness� and illustrated an example of a natural hazard that affects North Carolina. One poster from each county and one overall winner from all entries were chosen as the winners of the Unifour Area Severe Weather Awareness Week Poster Contest. The winners were announced during Severe Weather Awareness Week with surprise presentations at each winner�s school.

Pro-Trump supporters storm the U.S. Capitol following a rally with then-President Donald Trump on Jan. 6.; Credit: Samuel Corum/Getty Images

An alleged member of the Oath Keepers has pleaded guilty to charges connected to the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol and agreed to cooperate with the government in its conspiracy case against the extremist group.

Mark Grods entered a plea of guilty to one count of conspiracy and one count of obstruction of an official proceeding. According to the statement of offense, the conspiracy's aim was to stop Congress' certification of the Electoral College count.

The plea marks another step forward for prosecutors pursuing a broader conspiracy case against 16 alleged members or associates of the Oath Keepers, a far-right, anti-government group. Last week, one of the defendants in that case pleaded guilty to conspiracy and obstruction, and agreed to cooperate with investigators.

Grods, who was charged separately but admitted to having coordinated with members of the Oath Keepers, has also agreed to cooperate with the government, including testifying before a grand jury or at trial.

In a court filing, prosecutors said Grods' case "is part of an ongoing grand jury investigation and plea negotiation related to United States v. Thomas Caldwell, et al.," which is the government's Oath Keepers conspiracy case.

At a court hearing Wednesday in Washington, D.C., just blocks from the Capitol, U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta went over the charges and the terms of Grods' plea deal, and told him his estimated sentencing guidelines range was 51 to 63 months.

"How do you plead on count one, the charge of conspiracy, sir?" Mehta asked.

"Guilty," Grods said.

"Count two, obstruction of an official proceeding, how do you plead, sir?" Mehta asked.

"Guilty," Grods replied again.

In his statement of offense, Grods admits to bringing firearms to Washington, D.C., and then stashing them across the Potomac River at a Virginia hotel — a detail the government says buttresses its argument that the Oath Keepers prepared for violence on Jan. 6.

The government alleges the group planned to store weapons in Virginia and ferry them into Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6 if the situation in the city got messy.

Grods' statement of offense says on Jan. 6, he rode in a golf cart with others through the city before parking a few blocks away from the Capitol and walking the rest of the way. He then linked up with other alleged Oath Keepers, who forged their way through the crowd, up the steps of the Capitol in a military-style "stack" formation and into the building itself.

Other members of the "stack" have been charged in the Oath Keepers conspiracy case.

Four minutes after entering the Capitol, the statement of offense says, Grods left the building as police shot pepper balls at a wall near him.

Two days after the assault on the Capitol, an unnamed individual told Grods to "make sure that all signal comms about the op has been deleted and burned," according to the statement of offense, which Grods confirmed he had done.

It is unclear how much additional information Grods will be able to provide investigators, but his plea agreement — the second in the span of a week — may prompt other defendants in the case to cut deals with prosecutors as well.

Overall, charges have now been brought against more than 500 individuals related to the riot at the Capitol.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Darkly colored, carotene-rich fruits and vegetables -- such as carrots, sweet potatoes, and broccoli -- provide the body with half as much vitamin A as previously thought.

Each year, tens of millions of Americans, young and old, choose to learn about science in informal ways -- by visiting museums and aquariums, attending after-school programs, pursuing personal hobbies, and watching TV documentaries, for example.

On average, Americans die sooner and experience higher rates of disease and injury than people in other high-income countries, says a new report from the National Research Council and Institute of Medicine.

Current federal tax provisions have minimal net effect on greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new report from the National Research Council.

A series of educational modules has been developed by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to help students in professional schools – law, public policy, medicine, journalism, and business – understand science and its role in decision making.

Our ability to observe and predict severe weather events and other disasters has improved markedly over recent decades, yet this progress does not always translate into similar advances in the systems used in such circumstances to protect lives.

Despite progress in recent decades, more than 10,000 alcohol-impaired driving fatalities occur each year in the U.S. To address this persistent problem, stakeholders -- from transportation systems to alcohol retailers to law enforcement -- should work together to implement policies and systems to eliminate these preventable deaths, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

While the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) provides mental health care of comparable or superior quality to care provided in private and non-VA public sectors, accessibility and quality of services vary across the VA health system, leaving a substantial unmet need for mental health services among veterans of the recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, says a new congressionally mandated report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

The current process for planetary protection policy development is inadequate to respond to increasingly complex solar system exploration missions, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

A new rapid expert consultation from a standing committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine responds to questions from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) regarding the effectiveness of homemade fabric masks to protect others from the viral spread of COVID-19 from potentially contagious asymptomatic or presymptomatic individuals.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s plan to dilute and dispose of 34 metric tons of surplus plutonium in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico is technically viable, provided that the plan’s implementation challenges and system vulnerabilities are resolved.

To better measure the changing nature of employment, independent contracting and freelance work, and jobs with unstable hours, a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine recommends that the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) add questions to the Contingent Worker Supplement (CWS) about work done by people who may not be steadily employed, details about secondary jobs, and work scheduling practices.

A new rapid expert consultation from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Societal Experts Action Network says strategies such as giving advance notice, partnering with trusted sources, and offering incentives can encourage individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19 to respond to health department contact tracing and share information about people they may have exposed to the virus.

This summer, the Gulf Research Program (GRP) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine started work on a new study that will assess how climate disasters, oil spills, and long-term environmental changes such as sea level rise are affecting environmental restoration projects in the Gulf of Mexico. The study will help fulfill one of GRP’s top goals — monitoring progress and documenting how the Gulf is changing over time.

This statement was inspired by the discussions at the 2021 Nobel Prize Summit, issued by the Steering Committee and co-signed by Nobel Laureates and experts.

Eleven years after the Deepwater Horizon disaster, the Gulf Research Program’s Offshore Situation Room event examined how to make sure another offshore oil spill doesn’t happen — and how we can be better prepared if it does.

To maintain U.S. global leadership and meet societal challenges — including generating medical advances, furthering the energy transition, and making food and water safer and more sustainable — new investments, collaborations, and educational practices in the chemical engineering field are needed.

A presidential commission on bioethics has not been appointed since 2017. The Biden administration should reinstate a presidential bioethics advisory commission to help inform policy decisions that have bioethical implications, urge the NAS and NAM presidents and other experts.

A new report examines how the U.S. Department of Defense can increase the capacity of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and other minority institutions to conduct defense and national security research.

Lack of representation in research is compounding disparities in health outcomes, with serious consequences for underrepresented groups and the nation as a whole. Urgent actions are needed by NIH, FDA, and others to boost representation of racial and ethnic minority groups and other underrepresented populations in clinical trials and research.

Science academies from the G-7 nations issued statements urging their governments to take action on four global challenges — developing antiviral drugs to prepare for future pandemics, speeding progress on decarbonization, protecting the oceans and sea ice, and implementing a One Health approach to zoonotic disease and antimicrobial resistance.

The CDC’s Division of Global Migration and Quarantine should create an effective and innovative quarantine station model to confront new challenges in preventing the spread of infectious diseases in the U.S., and requires new investment and regulatory reforms to do so.

Should the payment of a ransomware demand be illegal? Should it be regulated in some way? These questions are some examples of the legal minefield that cybersecurity teams must deal with

Keep your cool, arm yourself with the right knowledge, and other tips for staying unshaken by fraudsters’ scare tactics

Geothermal power is a renewable energy source that uses the Earth's internal heat to produce electricity and heat water. One-hundred and fifty megawatts is roughly enough electricity to power 38,000 homes.

The companies called EU to take “urgent” action to end “Apple's abusive behaviours.” A new Digital Markets Act has been passed by the EU and the companies said that the “EU has the opportunity to take the lead, but it must act fast, as every day that passes is a loss for innovation and for the welfare of European consumers.”

Starlink wants India to just assign a license for the service and not insist on auctioning the signal-carrying spectrum or airwaves. This stand finds Musk on the side of Tatas, Sunil Bharti Mittal's firm, and Amazon, who too prefer the same route. But Ambani's Reliance says there must be an auction of spectrum for foreign satellite service providers to offer voice and data services to provide a level playing field to traditional telecom players who offer the same services using airwaves bought in government auctions.

New product series provides faster, higher quality print and simple, untangled connectivity to simplify the portable, full-page thermal printing process.

ABA recently released an infographic about the demand for soybean oil and vegetable oils. The demand has currently exceeded the supply, causing prices to rapidly increase.  

"In 1970, my dad and uncle opened our first restaurant," says Daniel Schwartz, president, Schwartz Brothers Bakery, Renton, WA. "Three years later, they opened a concept called The Sandwich Shop and Pie Place. They were looking to source the very best pies to serve at their restaurant, and they couldn’t find any that they liked."

The collection includes chocolate-covered pretzels, graham crackers, and sandwich cookies, plus strawberry delights and Linzer cookies filled with raspberry jam. 

For this Mother’s Day, Grand Traverse Pie Company is thrilled to release a Strawberry Champagne Pie.

The Mondelēz International brand has announced the trio of treats ahead of the new year.