Transcript

8.7.25 · Science Show KY

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Speaker 1: Welcome to Radioized Diary of Science and Nature. Your reader's
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Kenny Taylor. I have some stories related to the topics
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of science and nature, but first a reminder. RADIOI is
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a reading service intended for people who are blind or
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have other disabilities that make it difficult to read printed material.
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Starting off today, we have an article from Ours Technica
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and the headline reads, vast majority of new US power
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plants generate solar or wind power. This is from August
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the first. The United States added twenty two thousand, three
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hundred and thirty two megawatts of power plant capacity in
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the first half of this year, and the vast majority
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of it was utility scale solar batteries and onshore wind.
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Natural gas was next, and there was zero new coal
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or nuclear. According to the Energy Information Administration, through twenty thirty,
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the US energy landscape looks a lot like these last
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six months in terms of the mix of new power plants,
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with solar and batteries leading the way according to the
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EIA's list of planned power plants. I'm digging into the
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numbers to try to make sense of the contrast between
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the Trump administration's push to expand use of natural gas,
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coal and nuclear power, and the reality of which which
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kinds of power plants, mainly renewables, are on track to
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serve the grid of the near future. Some of this
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contrast can be explained by the normal lag to develop
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a power plant. Most of the recently completed projects have
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been in the works since about twenty twenty, which feels
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like ancient history. The Trump administration's policy changes, which tend
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to favor fossil fuels and disfavor renewable energy, haven't had
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much time to translate into product with firm timelines. But
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even so, it's important to note that the administration is
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limited in how much and how quickly it can change
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trends in energy development, said David Victor, professor of Innovation
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and public Policy at the University of California, San Diego. Quote,
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there's a lot of inertia in the system, which means
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that when you're trying to build new clean stuff, it
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takes a long time to get going in that direction.
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But when you're trying to stop building clean stuff and
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build dirty stuff, which seems to be the Trump policy,
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it takes a long time for that signal to be
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felt in the system. He said. Some wind and solar
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projects may be canceled because of the rapid phase out
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of tax credits in the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act,
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which Trump signed this month. The new law affects the
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Investment Tax Credit and production tax Credit, the main incentives
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for companies building utility scale renewables, but Victor views this
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as more of a slowdown than a reversal of momentum.
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One reason is that demand for electricity continues to rise
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to serve data centers and other large power users. The
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main beneficiaries are energy technologies that are the easiest to
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build and most cost effective, including solar, batteries and gas.
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In the first half of this year, the United States
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added three hundred forty one new power plants or utility
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scale battery systems, with a total of twenty two thousand,
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three hundred thirty two megawats of summer generating capacity. According
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to EIA, more than half the total was utility scale
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solar with twelve thousand, thirty four megawats, followed by battery
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systems with fifty nine hundred megawatts, onshore wind with twenty
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six hundred megawats, and natural gas with seventeen hundred megawats,
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which includes several types of natural gas plant. The largest
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new plant by capacity was the six hundred megawatt Hornet
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Solar in Swisher County, Texas, which went online in April.
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Quote Hornet Solar is a testament to how large scale
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energy projects can deliver reliable domestic power to American homes
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and businesses, said Juan Suarez, co CEO of the developer
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Vesper Energy of the Dallas area. The plants being completed
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now are special in part because of what they have endured,
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said Rick O'Connell, executive director of grid Lab, a nonprofit
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that does technical analysis for regulators and renewable power advocates.
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Power plants take years to plan and build, and current
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projects likely began development during the COVID nineteen pandemic. They
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stayed on track despite high inflation, parts shortages, and challenges
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in getting approval for grid connections. It's been a rocky
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road for a lot of these projects, so it's exciting
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to see them online, O'Connell said. Looking ahead to the
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rest of this year and through twenty thirty, the country
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has two hundred and fifty four thousand, one hundred and
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twenty six megawatts of planned power plants. According to EIA,
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solar is the leader with one hundred twenty thousand megawatts,
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followed by batteries with sixty five thousand and natural gas
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with thirty five thousand megawats. There are zero coal fired
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power plants and one nuclear plant, the Chemera Unit one
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in Lincoln County, Wyoming, developed by Terra Power, which is
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listed with projected completion by December twenty thirty. The proposed
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restarts of closed nuclear plants, such as Palisades in Michigan,
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have not yet shown up in the data. The planned
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capacity is a lot for perspective. The country's current power plants,
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including the word ones it began operation this year, have
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about two and a half million megawats, a caveat when
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comparing different power technologies, Generating capacity is only part of
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the picture. It's important to consider the typical electricity production
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of a plant and how predictable this output will be.
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For example, a combined cycle gas plant, the most common
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type of gas plant, as an average capacity factor of
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sixty percent. This is a number that shows how much
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electricity a plant produces compared to if it were running
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at full strength all the time. Utility scale solar as
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an average capacity factor of twenty three percent limited by
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the fact that the sun goes down at height, so
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solar's dominance in terms of new capacity coming online is
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tempered by its limitations. Developers work around this by building
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solar alongside battery energy storage. Some of the largest projects
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this year were solar arrays located next to battery systems,
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such as Sunstreams four, which is a three hundred megawatt
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solar project and a three hundred megawatt battery project in
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Maricopa County, Arizona. Gas also has plenty of problems, including
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vulnerability to interruptions in fuel supply and fluctuations in fuel prices,
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long waits for parts required for new plant construction, and
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of course, the release of greenhouse gases that are making
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the earth less habitable. These problems are part of Whyle
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O'Connell is skeptical of the Trump administration's ability to encourage
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more growth in gas fired power than was already happening. Quote,
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there are real questions about how much gas we can
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really build, he said. I realize this view may be
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hard to swallow considering all of the attacks on renewable
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energy and the government's support for fossil fuels, but I
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also know from years of covering energy, at times like these,
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with major policy changes and uncomfortable levels of chaos, are
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some of the worst moments to think with clarity about
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what may be ahead. And turning now to space dot
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Com for an article that's headlined Curiosity Rover celebrates thirteen
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years on Mars with well deserved naps and red planet
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Coral Coral is in quotes. Thirteen years into its mission,
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NASA's Curiosity Rover is still uncovering Martian mysteries and learning
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to do more with less, and this was published August six.
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Since landing on Gale Crater in twenty twelve, Curiosity has
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traveled more than twenty two miles, studying rock layers, analyzing soil,
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and revealing mars ancient past, including signs that the planet
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once harbored liquid water, a thicker atmosphere, and conditions that
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might have supported microbial life. And despite the toll of time,
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including worn wheels and mechanical blitches, engineers have kept the
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rover rolling with creative workarounds, remote fixes, and adaptive driving strategies. Now,
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thanks to recent software upgrades, the Rower has gained new
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autonomy that allows it to multitask and put itself to
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sleep early when it finishes its daily tasks. This new
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ability helps conserve energy from its aging nuclear power source
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and extend its scientific lifespan. Quote. We were more like
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cautious parents earlier in the mission, says writer Larsen, a
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flight systems engineer at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. It's
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as if our teenage rover is maturing and we're trusting
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it to take on more responsibility. Curiosity, which is the
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size of a small ISSUV, is powered by a multimission
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radioisotope thermoelectric generator MMRTG, which converts heat from the natural
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decay of plutonium into electricity to recharge the rovers batteries.
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But as a plutonium decays, the system gradually produces less energy,
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meaning it takes longer to recharge the batteries and leads
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less power for science each day. To make the most
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of the diminishing energy supply, engineers have been working to
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boost the rover's efficiency by combining previously standalone tasks like driving,
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taking photos, and transmitting data. By consolidating these activities, engineers
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have been able to shorten each day's operational plan, reducing
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the amount of time heaters and instruments need to stay
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powered on, saving valuable energy in the process, and instead
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of idling while waiting for new commands, Curiosity can now
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put itself to sleep as soon as it finishes the
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day's work. These small adjustments, even trimming just ten or
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twenty minutes per day, can add up over time and
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help preserve power and extend the rover's mission. These new
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energy saving habits come as the rover has spotted an
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eye catching rock formation that resembles a piece of coral.
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Captured on July twenty fourth, twenty twenty five, The rock,
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nicknamed Poposo, is about two inches wide and was photographed
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using a camera perched at the end of the rover's
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robotic arm. Poposo likely formed billions of years ago, during
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a time when Mars is much wetter than it is today.
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Mineral rich water likely seeped into cracks in the rock,
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leaving behind hardened deposits. Over time, powerful winds would have
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sculpted the exposed material into the delicate branching shape seen
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by the rover. Curiosity is currently exploring a region rich
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in so called box work formations, a network of ridges
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that likely formed underground through ancient water activity. These features
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crisscross the lower slopes of Mount Sharp, the three mile
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high mountain above the floor of Gale Crater that the
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rover has been ascending for years. All in all, Curiosity
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remains in good health, NASA says, bolstered by smart engineering,
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updated algorithms, and now a little more rest quote together,
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these measures are doing their job to keep Curiosity as
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busy as ever. The agency's statement says, now, we'll go
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to the Weather Channel and they have an article that
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is headlined, Phoenix is facing a heat crisis. Here's a
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glimpse of our climate future. This is from August fifth.
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Phoenix is no stranger to hot summers, but even for
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a desert city that is accustomed to blazing temperatures, the
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extreme heat is facing now is next level, with record
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breaking temperatures becoming the new normal. Scientists say that Phoenix
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and much of the Southwest are entering uncharted territory when
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it comes to heat, which could lead to serious consequences
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when it comes to health, infrastructure, and the environment. Places
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like Arizona are absolutely entering uncharted territory when it comes
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to heat, said doctor Zachary Labe, climate scientist at Climate Central.
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In recent summers, we've seen prolonged stretches of extreme temperatures
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that break not just daily records, but monthly and even
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all time records. In the coming days, Phoenix is expected
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to break even more records. Their high temperature on Thursday
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could hit one hundred and seventeen degrees, which would tie
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an August all time monthly record, and the record heat
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in and around Phoenix is expected to last through the
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end of the week. Just last summer, Phoenix made headlines
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when it recorded one hundred and thirteen consecutive days of
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one hundred degree temperatures or higher, the longest stretch ever observed,
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and in twenty twenty three, the city also experienced a
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record setting thirty one consecutive days over one hundred ten degrees,
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a brutal stretch that strained power grids, overwhelmed cooling centers,
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and tested the limits of human endurance. Quote. Climate change
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is pushing baseline temperatures higher, thinking it more likely for
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heat waves to reach unprecedented levels, Labe explained. He added
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this includes over night hours too, when temperatures aren't cooling
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down like they did before. What used to be rare
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is now becoming more common and more dangerous. That lack
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of nighttime relief is especially concerning. Hot nights prevent the
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body from recovering after sweltering days and make heat related
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illnesses more likely, especially among older adults, children, people with
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chronic illnesses, and outdoor workers. Tucson, Arizona is experiencing three
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times more extreme heat streaks compared to the nineteen seventies.
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As global temperatures rise, Lavee says the Southwest should expect
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to see longer, hotter, and more frequent heat waves over
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the next several decades. Quote This has wide reaching implications,
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from public health risks, especially for outdoor workers and vulnerable populations,
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to strains on water resources and infrastructure. Those ripple effects
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touch nearly every part of life in Arizona and the
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broader region. The agriculture industry could suffer, Roads and rails
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may buckle under extreme heat. Energy demand will surge as
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people try to stay cool, putting a dish stress on
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the power grid, which is already being tested each summer.
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Even tourism, a major economic driver in Arizona, may suffer
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as more days become dangerously hot for hiking, sightseeing, or
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simply being outdoors. We've already seen some of the most
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visited national parks forced to close this season due to
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extreme heat. Earlier in the spring, Lake Mead was forced
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to close after one person died and more than thirty
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hikers had to be rescued when they fell ill from
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the heat. Unfortunately, challenges and risks from the heat are
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only expected to intensify in many areas across the country. Quote.
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Extreme heat often interacts with and worsens other climate related problems.
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Lade said. Longer heat waves can dry out soils, intensified
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drought conditions, and increase the risk of wildfires in quote
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in a region already known for water scarcity, those hotter
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conditions put extra stress on red resers, rivers, and underground aquifers.
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Crops may struggle, ecosystems may shift, and certain areas could
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become increasingly difficult to live in during the summer months.
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Phoenix and the Greater Southwest are at the frontline of
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climate change and heat, and what's happening here may soon
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become more common in other parts of the US. Quote.
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We're seeing what happens when climate extremes collide with growing
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cities and aging infrastructure. Labe explains the choices we make
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now will shape how livable these places are in the
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decades to come. Quote now we'll go to BBC News.
17:41
Great Barrier Reef suffers worst coral decline on record. Parts
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of the Great Barrier Reef have suffered the largest annual
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decline in coral cover since records began nearly forty years ago,
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according to a new report. Northern and southern branches of
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the sprawling Australia Reef both suffered their most widespread coral bleaching.
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According to the Australian Institute of Marine Science, reefs have
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been battered in recent months by tropical cyclones and outbreaks
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of crown of thorns starfish that feast on core, but
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heat stress driven by climate change is the predominant reason.
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The Australian Institute of Marine Science or AIMS, warrants that
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habitat may reach a tipping point where coral cannot recover
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fast enough between catastrophic events and faces a volatile future.
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AIMS Suffered surveyed the health of one hundred and twenty
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four coral reefs between August twenty twenty four and May
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twenty twenty five. It's been performing surveys since nineteen eighty six.
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Often dubbed the world's largest living structure, the Great Barrier
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Reef is a twenty three hundred kilometer or fourteen hundred
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miles expanse of tropical corals that houses a stunning array
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of biodiversity. Repeated bleaching events are turning vast swaths of
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once vibrant coral white. Australia's second largest reef, Ningaloo, on
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Australia's western coast, has also experienced repeated bleaching, and this
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year both major reefs simultaneously turned white for the first
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time ever. Coral is vital to the planet. Nicknamed the
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sea's architect, it builds vast structures that house an estimated
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twenty five percent of all marine species. Bleaching happens when
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coral gets stressed and turns white because the water it
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lives in is too hot. Stressed coral will probably die
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if it experiences temperatures one degree centigrade or one point
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eight fahrenheit above its thermal limit for two months. If
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waters are two degrees sent celsius higher, it can survive
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around one month. Unusually warm tropical waters triggered widespread coral
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bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef in twenty twenty four.
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In the first few months of twenty twenty five, as
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well as climate change, natural weather patterns like El Nino
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can also play a role in mass bleaching events. The
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reef has experienced unprecedented levels of heat stress, which caused
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the most spatially extensive and severe bleaching recorded to date.
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According to the report. Any recovery could take years and
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was dependent on future coral reproduction and minimal environmental disturbance.
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According to the report, In the latest AIMS survey results,
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the most affected coral species were the Acropora, which are
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susceptible to heat stress and a favored food of the
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crown of Thorn starfish. These corals are the fast to
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grow and they are the first to go, says AMES
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Research lead doctor Mike Emsley. The Grape Barrier Reef is
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such a beautiful, iconic place. It's really really worth fighting
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for and if we can give it a chance, it's
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shown an inherent ability to recover. He said. There has
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been some success with the Australian government's Crown of Thorne
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starfish culling program, which has killed over fifty thousand starfish
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by injecting them with vinegar or oxmile quote. Due to
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crown of Thorne starfish control activities, there was no potential,
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established or severe outbreaks of crown of Thorne's starfish recorded
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on central Grape Barrier reefs in twenty twenty five. The
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AMES report noted the creatures are native to the Grape
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Barrier reef and are capable of eating vast amounts of coral,
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but since the nineteen sixties their numbers have increased significantly,
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with nutrients from land based agriculture runoff regarded as the
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most likely cause. Richard Leck from the global environmental charity
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WWF or a World Wildlife Fund, said the report shows
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that the reef is an ecosystem under extreme, incredible stress,
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and scientists are concerned about what happens when the reef
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does not keep bouncing back the way it has. Leck
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said some core reefs around the world are already beyond recovery,
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warning the Great Barrier Reef could suffer the same fate
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without ambitious and rapid climate action. Great Barrier Reef has
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been Heritage listed for over forty years, but UNESCO warns
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the Australian icon is in danger from warming seas and
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pollution will go down to Science Focus magazine. The headline
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for this article is removing microplastics possible, necessary or just
22:55
the latest celebrity trend. The actor Orlando Bloom recently made
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headlines when he reportedly paid thirteen thousand, six hundred dollars
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to have his blood removed so that any microplastics in
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it could be separated and filtered out. His decision to
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pay for this drastic treatment highlights the growing worry over
23:17
an unsettling truth. There's simply no avoiding these minuscule particles
23:22
of plastic. They're everywhere, from the top of Mount Everest
23:25
to the inside of our brains according to some studies.
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They're also all over the media, and understandably, the perceived
23:32
danger of having microscopic flakes of plastic floating around inside
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us has raised public and scientific concern. Microplastics are often
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linked to disease, but the testing for them and their
23:45
effects is still at an early stage and no scientific
23:49
consensus has been reached. So should we be worried about
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what they're doing to our bodies and should we be
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queuing up to get our blood cleaned? The term microplastic
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describes any plastic particle or fiber measuring less than five
24:05
millimeters in size. Typically, these particles are so small that
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we need a microscope to see them. Scientists also use
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the term nanoplastic to describe even smaller particles, which is
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less than point zero zero one millimeter. These are challenging
24:23
to see even with advanced microscopes, but evidence suggests they
24:27
could be released from plastic materials and into the surrounding environment.
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Part of my research group's work has been to measure
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the levels of plastic and other particles in the air
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we breathe. In London, we've seen microplastics in the air
24:42
pollution small enough to travel deep into our lungs. To
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test whether microplastics are in the body, pieces of whole
24:49
tissue or blood are processed and then filtered to concentrate
24:54
any microplastic amounts. Then analysis can take place either through
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a chemistry takesechnique which quantifies the amount of plastic in
25:02
a sample, or a microscope based physical chemistry technique. We
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count the number of plastic particles and note their size
25:10
and shape in a sample. Each method has its merits,
25:14
but they both suffer from the same drawback. The modern
25:17
laboratory is a hot bed for microplastic contamination. It's full
25:21
of plastic wear, plastic consumables, and of course people. Because
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of this, the actual process of extracting and testing samples
25:30
for microplastics can be a source of pollution itself. Often
25:34
we see microplastic particles in samples that we'd previously thought
25:38
were too big to be absorbed and distributed throughout the body.
25:42
Some reports claim that humans could be ingesting as much
25:45
as a tea spoon of plastic every day. Generally speaking,
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particles smaller than point zero zero one millimeter can cross
25:55
through the lungs and enter the bloodstream at the air
25:58
blood barrier. This is the thin layer of tissue in
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the lungs that separates air in the air sacs alveoli
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from blood in the surrounding tiny blood vessels capillaries. In
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the gut, microplastics can cross into the lymphatic system, the
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body's waste removal structure. From here, the smallest particles enter
26:19
the bloodstream, while larger particles become trapped in the gut.
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Lining contamination from the lad could therefore provide an explanation
26:28
for the biggest pieces of plastic found in the body.
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Another issue is that some of the biological components in
26:35
samples generate similar signals to plastics. Specifically, fats interfere with
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the signals of polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride, which can lead
26:48
to an overestimation of how present these plastics are if
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a sample isn't adequately processed. With all this in mind,
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the high amounts of micro plastics reported to be in
27:01
our bodies are likely overestimated. Amounts vary significantly from nanograms
27:07
to milligrams, depending on the study location, tissue type, and
27:11
analytical method followed. In a recent rigorous study, a conservative
27:16
estimate was made that there's around zero point one point
27:19
five micrograms of plastic per millilter in our blood. To
27:24
put that into perspective, that's less than the weight of
27:27
a single human hair. Still, it's also worth noting that
27:31
this study only looked at polystyrene, as it's the only
27:35
type of microplastic that's easy to test for. Based on
27:39
these levels, it's probably more important to focus on where
27:42
the microplastics end up in our bodies instead of how
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many of them are actually there. But again, it's difficult
27:49
to measure the amount of microplastics gathering in different parts
27:52
of our bodies. One study published in Nature Medicine this
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February suggested that the brain is a hot spot plastic,
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claiming that it accumulates on average four point five bottle
28:05
caps worth. Well that's all for today's Diary of Science
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and Nature. Your reader is Kelly Taylor. Now stay tuned
28:13
for the Health Corner on RADIOI