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☆ Ukraine wants F-16s to shoot down Russian strike fighters dropping bombs it can't beat. Airpower experts say give them the jets.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Its defenses struggle to counter the bombs, so Ukraine wants tools to take out the Russian strike fighters. "Guided bombs are tricky for air defense because they have short flight times and usually very little infrared signature," he said. "The air defense system with the longest distance available to us is the S-300, but it's Soviet-era weapons." That is absolutely unrealistic," he said, challenging the arguments against sending fighter aircraft. There are significant training, supply chain, and operational hurdles to overcome, making essential ground-based air defense a priority in the meantime.

☆ The US Air Force has big plans for the next-generation drones that will fight alongside its fighters and bombers
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

It's now developing collaborative combat aircraft, which can fight alongside piloted jets or on their own. A need for 'affordable mass'MQ-9s on a runway at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico in April. Worse, the Air Force faces a pilot shortage and its overall number of flight hours has been decreasing. The Air Force also continues to develop top-tier assets like the F-35, the B-21 stealth bomber, and the Next Generation Air Dominance program, or NGAD. "Without it, it's very difficult to envision how we could keep the Air Force at the size it currently is."

☆ Ukraine's fighter jet fleet is slowly growing, but its weapons to bring down Russian jets are dwindling, leaked US document shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Christopher Woody | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The jets will bolster Ukraine's fighter fleet, which is still under fire from Russia's larger air force. But air-defense ammunition is a more urgent need, one underscored in recently leaked US documents. Berlin approved Warsaw's request to send jets to Ukraine on Thursday, the same day it was received. Both air forces have shifted tactics and now operate farther from the front line, playing to the advantage of the Russian aircraft, which have an edge at longer ranges. Without the threat posed by those interceptor missiles, Russian aircraft would have greater freedom to attack Ukrainian aircraft and bomb Ukrainian targets, including in support of Russian front-line troops, the leaked document says.

☆ These eight charts show why climate change matters right now
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +11 min

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment ReportGlobal warming is caused when greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane trap heat in the atmosphere. Climate change is already having impacts on human life and well-beingZoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards This chart shows the various impacts climate change has on water availability, food production, health and well-being, cities and infrastructure and biodiversity and ecosystems. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment ReportMany of the worst impacts of climate change will come to pass in the lives of the youngest humans. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment ReportThe globe has warmed by 1.1 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, the IPCC report says. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment ReportA slight change in the average change of the earth's temperature will impact different populations differently.

☆ Even with F-16s, Ukraine's pilots still wouldn't be 'out of the woods' against Russia's air force, US officials say
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Christopher Woody | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Polish and Slovakian MiG-29s would add to Ukraine's fleet and be familiar to Ukrainian pilots but won't bring much more capability than Ukraine's current MiG-29s. 'The hard work'A pilot exits a Polish Air Force F-16 at an airbase in Poznan in November 2006. If the US or another NATO country elected to supply Ukraine with F-16s, Kelly said his first question would be "what sustainment depot are they going to use? "Again, that's just for the short-term of being able to launch or recover aircraft," Baum said. Ukraine's new jets would also be flying against Russian air-defense weapons that have claimed dozens of Ukrainian aircraft and continue to contest the airspace around the front lines.

☆ China is getting rid of its 'grandpa' fighter jets, but they may make a comeback for a one-way mission against Taiwan
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

China's last J-7 fighter jets may leave active service this year, according to Chinese state media. China's air force may convert some J-7s into drones, which could be used in an attack on Taiwan. (Between its air force and navy, China now has the world's third-largest aviation force, according to the Pentagon.) A J-7 fighter at the People's Liberation Army Aviation Museum in Beijing in December 2013. UCAVs make it possible for China's air force "to use relatively cheap, capable, low-risk airframes as a first-in asset to either strike or soften Taiwan's air defense systems," Rice added.

☆ Fact Check-Eight cooler years cannot be extrapolated to draw conclusions on long-term global warming
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

SHORT TERM FLUCTUATIONSGlobal surface temperatures are heavily influenced by annual Pacific Ocean patterns known as El Nino and La Nina, and collectively as ENSO (El Niño–Southern Oscillation). A large El Nino event followed by a La Nina can “lead to a temporary ‘pause’ in global temperatures over timescales of a decade or so”, Hausfather said. This is “what we are now seeing after the 2015/2016 super El Nino event”. Whenever there is a trend with variability like global temperatures, “you can isolate cherry-picked intervals and claim that something has paused or accelerated, but this is not appropriate”, Colose said. Temperature data for the past eight years do not reflect long-term trends, experts say, and longer-term data clearly show a continuing rise in overall global temperatures.

☆ We could be the last humans to see the green comet passing Earth for the first time since the Ice Age. Here's how, where, and when to watch it.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | Kenneth Niemeyer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Astronomers recently discovered a green comet approaching Earth for the first time in 50,000 years. Here's how, where, and when to see Comet ZTF as it passes Earth in late January and early February. When to see the green cometYou may need a small telescope to spot Comet ZTF, but binoculars could be enough. Amateur astronomers have already begun photographing the green comet to show what you could see. Where to look in the night sky for comet ZTFLook to the right stars to see the green comet.

☆ Now's the best time to see the green comet passing Earth for the first time since the Ice Age. Here's how, where, and when to see it.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | Kenneth Niemeyer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Astronomers recently discovered a green comet approaching Earth for the first time in 50,000 years. Comet ZTF may never return, so we could be the last humans to see it. C/2022 E3 (ZTF), or Comet ZTF for short — the name astronomers gave this space snowball after the Zwicky Transient Facility discovered it in March — hasn't been in our cosmic neighborhood since the last Ice Age. When to see the green cometYou may need a small telescope to spot Comet ZTF, but binoculars could be enough. Where to look in the night sky for comet ZTFLook to the right stars to see the green comet.

The planet had one of its hottest years on record in 2022, as ocean heat soared and sea ice coverage in Antarctica melted to near-record lows, two federal science agencies announced Thursday. Last year was the fifth-warmest in recorded history, with global average surface temperatures that were 1.6 degrees Fahrenheit (about 0.8 degrees Celsius) warmer than the 20th century average, according to the latest yearly analysis by NASA. A separate report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) found that Earth had its sixth-warmest year on record. That’s not a robust change,” Gavin Schmidt, director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, said Thursday in a news briefing. The key thing is the long-term trends, and they’re very consistent from one record [to the next].”

☆ 2022 was one of the top 10 hottest years on record and the warmest La Nina year on record, according to government scientists
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

New data from the U.S. government shows that 2022 was one of the top 10 hottest years on record, with data going back to 1880. And of particular note, 2022 was the warmest year on record when there was a La Nina trade winds pattern, which is a weather event that has a cooling effect on global temperatures. According to both NOAA and NASA scientists, global temperatures were about 1.6 degrees Fahrenheit above their respective baseline averages from the 20th century. 2022 had a La Nina weather pattern, which generally lowers global temperatures compared to what they would have been in a normal weather pattern year. El Nino and La Nina refer to opposite weather patterns determined by trade winds that blow in the Pacific ocean.

☆ After years of arguing, Congress is finally letting the US Air Force send some A-10 Warthogs to the boneyard
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Thomas Novelly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The defense policy bill for 2023 will allow the US Air Force to retire 21 A-10 Warthogs. The Air Force has wanted to get rid A-10s for years, but Congress has blocked it from doing so. The Air Force has another 260 A-10s in service, but lawmakers may be more open to scrapping them. That Air National Guard wing previously flew earlier models of the F-16 until they were replaced — to much fanfare — with the Warthog back in 2010. Airmen reconfigure weapons on an A-10 during an exercise at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida in November 2019.

☆ Fact Check-Lengthier Artemis I trajectory toward Moon compared to Apollo 11 is not proof that space travel is a hoax
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The Artemis I mission took a different, less direct route toward the Moon compared to the 1969 Apollo 11 mission. The Artemis I lengthier trajectory is not proof of inferior technology, nor is it proof that space travel is a hoax, despite claims made online. Social media users shared a meme claiming to show the number of days it took for the Apollo 11 spacecraft to reach the Moon compared to the November 2022 Artemis I mission. A graphic released by NASA showing the Apollo 11 flight trajectory can be viewed (here), with the Artemis I trajectory viewable (here). “The Apollo 11 mission had a very direct path to a low lunar orbit to deliver the crew to the lunar surface.

☆ Fact Check-Artemis I capsule entering low-Earth orbit before heading to Moon is not proof of flat Earth
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The Artemis I Orion capsule entered low-Earth orbit prior to making a maneuver toward the Moon. Users pointed to the curved trajectory, seemingly moving away from the Moon, as proof that the capsule went off course. Per ESA, a low Earth orbit was done to allow mission control to perform final checks before departing toward the Moon (here). A photo showing the Artemis I Orion capsule flying past the moon in its trajectory is not proof the earth is flat, as online posts say. The spacecraft performed a low Earth orbit before completing a translunar injection toward the Moon.

☆ Xi’s ‘action men’ now lead China’s military. Here’s what that means for Taiwan
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Brad Lendon | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The rhetoric from both sides and Beijing’s recent maneuvers have stoked fears that an attempted Chinese military takeover of Taiwan could be next on the horizon. Besides that joint command experience, He possesses another key attribute sought in top PLA leadership – field experience in hostile situations. Carl Schuster, a former director of operations at the US Pacific Command’s Joint Intelligence Center, said He was one of Xi’s “action men” on the military commission. Zhang served on the previous military commission and has been retained and promoted despite being past the unofficial retirement age of 68. There’s just too much work to be done with Xi’s military modernization to achieve good odds of success, they said.

Persons: Xi Jinping’s, Xi, –, Tsai Ing, ”, James Char, ” Char, Weidong, Nancy Pelosi, Rod Lee, Lee, Xi Jinping, ” Lee, Carl Schuster, Zhang Youxia, Zhang, Xi’s, Meia Nouwens, Joel Wuthnow, he’s, ” Wuthnow, Zhang’s, Li Shangfu, Wuthnow, There’s, “, Char Organizations: CNN, Central Military Commission, Communist Party’s National, People’s Liberation Army, PLA, Chinese Communist Party, China Program, Institute of Defense, Strategic Studies, Theater Command, Eastern Theater Command, US Air Force Air, China Aerospace Studies Institute, People’s Armed Police, Pacific Command’s Joint Intelligence Center, International Institute for Strategic Studies, Center, Chinese Military Affairs, US National Defense University, Party, US Air University Locations: China, Taiwan, Beijing, Taiwan Strait, Asia, Singapore, India

The "check your kids’ Halloween candy" meme, which first went viral in meme form in October 2014, parodies "a Halloween urban legend about people hiding needles and razors in candy before giving them out to trick-or-treaters," according to meme database Know Your Meme. We just found the Carina Nebula in a candy bar. No words," the LinkedIn official Twitter account wrote in an Oct. 11 tweet, featuring an image of a beach inside a candy bar. Arcade and restaurant Dave & Busters tweeted: "Be diligent and check your child’s candy this year, just found a finger trap shoved inside a candy bar. The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation joked it had found a slimier surprise in a candy bar.

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