ScienceAlert: 84% of Earth’s Coral Reefs in Crisis as Worst Bleaching Event on Record Hits
An unprecedented coral bleaching episode has spread to 84 percent of the world’s reefs in an unfolding human-caused crisis that could kill off swathes of the essential ecosystems, scientists warned Wednesday.
Since it began in early 2023, the global coral bleaching event has mushroomed into the biggest and most intense on record, with reefs across the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans affected.
Coral turns ghostly white under heat stress and the world’s oceans have warmed over the last two years to historic highs, driven by humanity’s release of planet-warming greenhouse gases.
Reefs can rebound from the trauma but scientists told AFP the window for recovery was getting shorter as ocean temperatures remained higher for longer.
Manton Reece: AI web search
If you havenât been following the latest AI models closely, you may have missed what is happening with integrating web search results into answers.
Inside Climate News: A Grim Signal: Atmospheric CO2 Soared in 2024
Scientists are worried because they canât fully explain the big jump, but they think it might mean that carbon absorption by forests, fields and wetlands is slowing downâa major problem for the world.
HowToGeek: Netflix’s New Dialogue-Only Subtitles Won’t Clutter Your Screen
Streaming services, TV networks, and movie studios generally use SDH/CC as the be-all-end-all subtitle format. Subtitles for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (SDH/CC) contain dialogue along with ancillary information like speaker names, noises, and descriptions of music. But viewers who aren’t hard of hearing may prefer simplified captions, especially if they’re using a large font size or solid-color background that takes up a lot of space on their screen (yeah, Netflix lets you customize subtitle size and color).
According to Netflix’s internal data, half of all American viewing hours are with subtitles enabled. A decent number of these subtitle-loving viewers are deaf, hard of hearing, or have mild hearing loss (which is far more impactful than the name would suggest), but most of them just have trouble hearing dialogue because modern TV speakers are terrible and studios are obsessed with theatrical audio (quiet dialogue with stupidly loud sound effects). So, a dialogue-only subtitle option makes a lot of sense.
InsideEVs: Slate’s Affordable EV Truck Has No Screens, Uses Your Phone For Updates
It sports an index-card-sized display that shows basic info like your speed, and thatâs about it. Thereâs no infotainment system or speakers, which also means no radio. The truck even lacks an internet connection, something that’s common in modern cars for things like remote access, map updates and media streaming. This all tracks with Slateâs goal of making a âback-to-basicsâ vehicle that costs less than $20,000 after federal EV incentives. That meant cutting nearly all the fat, save for stuff that doesnât help the truck go or make it safer.
Last Updated: 24.Apr.2025 23:41 EDT
