XCR1250

https://people.com/toddler-hears-monsters-in-bedroom-walls-over-50-000-bees-found-exclusive-8639105

Fact check: Biden repeats his claim that he ‘got arrested’ defending civil rights. There’s still no evidence for it DANIEL DALE Updated April 26, 2024 at 4:06 PM Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images President Joe Biden went on “The Howard Stern Show” on Friday and repeated his familiar story about the time he supposedly “got arrested” trying to defend the civil rights of Black Americans. As in the past, Biden told the story on Friday while recounting what his mother supposedly said while urging him to accept Barack Obama’s 2008 offer to be his running mate. His mom, he said, did not want him to turn down a man who was vying to become the first Black president. Biden told Stern: “She said, ‘Joey, let me — remember’ — true story, she said — ‘Remember when they were desegregating Lynnfield, the neighborhood … suburbia — and I told you — and there was a Black family moving in and there was — people were down there protesting; I told you not to go down there and you went down, remember that? And you got arrested standing on the porch with a Black family? And they brought you back, the police?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, Mom, I remember that.’” Facts First: There is no evidence Biden ever got arrested during a civil rights protest, as The Washington Post and PolitiFact found when they looked into this claim in 2022 — and Biden has at least twice told the story of his supposed presence at this particular Delaware protest without mentioning any arrest, instead claiming that the police merely took him home that day. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday. The Post noted that in the version of the story Biden told during a public conversation with Oprah Winfrey late in the 2020 presidential campaign, he said the police escorted him home from the protest because they thought he would get in trouble; he did not say they arrested him. The Post reported that he told Winfrey his mother said: “And there were people protesting and I told you not to go down there and you went down and the police brought you back because you were standing on the step with the Black family. You were standing with them. And the police brought you home because they thought you’d get in trouble.” He told Winfrey that he responded, “Yeah, Mom, I remember that.” As the Post and PolitiFact also noted, Biden’s 2017 memoir included an abbreviated version of the story about his mother’s 2008 comments urging him to accept Obama’s running mate offer, but it made no mention of an arrest. No other Biden memoir, either, says he was arrested at such a protest. The Post and PolitiFact did find that there were protests roughly matching Biden’s description in early 1959, when Biden was 16 years old, in communities not far from Biden’s home in Delaware. Crowds protested against a Black couple that had bought a home in a previously all-White community and against the realtor who sold it to them. But the Wilmington News Journal reported that the four teenagers arrested at the protest at the couple’s home were arrested for possessing fireworks — and that all seven of the arrests that day were of people in the anti-integration crowd outside the home. The newspaper reported that the police on scene were defending the home and the Black couple. It also quoted one member of the couple as saying, “Nobody’s behind us.” It’s impossible to definitively prove whether or not Biden was present at this protest or any similar protest 60-plus years ago. (Biden’s mother died in 2010.) Previous false claims Biden has made a series of false claims about his personal past in the last two weeks. They include the false claim that he “used to drive an 18-wheeler” and the false claim that he has never earned $400,000 in a year. And while running for president in 2020, Biden claimed he was “arrested” as a US senator as he tried to visit South African anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela while Mandela was imprisoned. After media outlets found no evidence of such an arrest, Biden told CNN that he had been “stopped” in South Africa but did not mean to say arrested.

Federal regulator finds Tesla Autopilot has 'critical safety gap' linked to hundreds of collisions ROB WILE AND LORA KOLODNY, CNBC Updated April 26, 2024 at 3:41 PM Federal authorities say a “critical safety gap” in Tesla’s Autopilot system contributed to at least 467 collisions, 13 resulting in fatalities and “many others” resulting in serious injuries. The findings come from a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration analysis of 956 crashes in which Tesla Autopilot was thought to have been in use. The results of the nearly three-year investigation were published Friday. Tesla’s Autopilot design has “led to foreseeable misuse and avoidable crashes,” the NHTSA report said. The system did not “sufficiently ensure driver attention and appropriate use.” NHTSA’s filing pointed to a “weak driver engagement system,” and Autopilot that stays switched on even when a driver isn’t paying adequate attention to the road or the driving task. The driver engagement system includes various prompts, including “nags” or chimes, that tell drivers to pay attention and keep their hands on the wheel, as well as in-cabin cameras that can detect when a driver is not looking at the road. According to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation data, 13 fatal collisions evaluated in the probe resulted in the deaths of 14 people. The agency also said it was opening a new probe into the effectiveness of a software update Tesla previously issued as part of a recall in December. That update was meant to fix Autopilot defects that NHTSA identified as part of this same investigation. The voluntary recall via an over-the-air software update covered 2 million Tesla vehicles in the U.S., and was supposed to specifically improve driver monitoring systems in Teslas equipped with Autopilot. NHTSA suggested in its report Friday that the software update was probably inadequate, since more crashes linked to Autopilot continue to be reported. In one recent example, a Tesla driver in Snohomish County, Washington, struck and killed a motorcyclist on April 19, according to records obtained by CNBC and NBC News. The driver told police he was using Autopilot at the time of the collision. The NHTSA findings are the most recent in a series of regulator and watchdog reports that have questioned the safety of Tesla’s Autopilot technology, which the company has promoted as a key differentiator from other car companies. On its website, Tesla says Autopilot is designed to reduce driver “workload” through advanced cruise control and automatic steering technology. Tesla has not issued a response to Friday’s NHTSA report and did not respond to a request for comment sent to Tesla’s press inbox, investor relations team and to the company’s vice president of vehicle engineering, Lars Moravy. Following the release of the NHTSA report, Sens. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., issued a statement calling on federal regulators to require Tesla to restrict its Autopilot feature "to the roads it was designed for." On its Owner's Manual website, Tesla warns drivers not to operate the Autosteer function of Autopilot "in areas where bicyclists or pedestrians may be present," among a host of other warnings. "We urge the agency to take all necessary actions to prevent these vehicles from endangering lives,” the senators said. Earlier this month, Tesla settled a lawsuit from the family of Walter Huang, an Apple engineer and father of two, who died in a crash when his Tesla Model X with Autopilot features switched on hit a highway barrier. Tesla has sought to seal from public view the terms of the settlement. In the face of these events, Tesla and CEO Elon Musk signaled this week that they are betting the company’s future on autonomous driving. “If somebody doesn’t believe Tesla’s going to solve autonomy, I think they should not be an investor in the company,” Musk said on Tesla’s earnings call Tuesday. He added, “We will, and we are.” Musk has for years promised customers and shareholders that Tesla would be able to turn its existing cars into self-driving vehicles with a software update. However, the company only offers driver assistance systems and has not produced self-driving vehicles to date. He has also made safety claims about Tesla’s driver assistance systems without allowing third-party review of the company’s data. For example, in 2021, Elon Musk claimed in a post on social media, “Tesla with Autopilot engaged now approaching 10 times lower chance of accident than average vehicle.” Philip Koopman, an automotive safety researcher and Carnegie Mellon University associate professor of computer engineering, said he views Tesla’s marketing and claims as “autonowashing.” He also said in response to NHTSA’s report that he hopes Tesla will take the agency’s concerns seriously moving forward. “People are dying due to misplaced confidence in Tesla Autopilot capabilities. Even simple steps could improve safety,” Koopman said. “Tesla could automatically restrict Autopilot use to intended roads based on map data already in the vehicle. Tesla could improve monitoring so drivers can’t routinely become absorbed in their cellphones while Autopilot is in use.”

Ghana man hugs 1,123 trees in an hour for world record UPI Staff Fri, April 26, 2024 at 1:27 PM CDT·1 min read A Ghana man studying forestry in Alabama set a world record for most trees hugged in an hour when he hugged 1,123 trees at Tuskegee National Forest. Photo courtesy of Guinness World Records April 26 (UPI) -- A Ghana man studying forestry in Alabama set a world record for most trees hugged in an hour when he hugged 1,123 trees at Tuskegee National Forest. Abubakar Tahiru, 29, became interested in nature conservation while growing up in a farming community in Tepa, Ghana. He is pursuing a master's degree in forestry at Auburn University. The record attempt required that Tahiru wrap both of his arms around each tree in a close embrace without causing any damage to the trees. No tree could be hugged more than once, requiring Tahiru to move quickly between each hug. Tahiru was fasting for Ramadan at the time of his record attempt, which presented another challenge. "Not being able to drink water throughout the attempt posed a significant challenge, especially give the physical exertion required," he told Guinness World Records. "However, this also proved to be helpful in a way, as there was no need to pause for water breaks, allowing me to continue the attempt uninterrupted from start to finish." Averaging 19 trees per minute, Tahiru easily surpassed the minimum requirement of 700 trees to establish the record. The record raises awareness of the importance of trees and environmental conservation.

That worked, thanks.

Hmm, wonder what it could be????

This is all it shows: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6NnEZYrYmY/

Do not have Instagram.

Wife works at Walmart, this is not the case here anyhow.

We had multiple truck farms in the area I lived in, many neighborhood kids worked at them every year including my sister.

No local Teens willing to work in the Summer for $30/hr?

I have no problem if they come here Legally, illegal, ship 'em to MC's neighborhood.

Which SXS you have?

ECONOMY MOBILITY ENERGY TECHNOLOGY ENVIRONMENT TRENDING ECOTICIAS This is the unique 360 hp 5-stroke hydrogen engine: it’s definitely the end of EVs by D. García 04/24/2024 in Mobility Credits: hydrogentoday.com EVs are seen as an advance towards the future of mobility, but to what extent will they dominate the zero-emission car industry? What we have just learned could bring internal combustion, scorned as unsustainable, back to the forefront. This is the first 5-stroke hydrogen engine in history, with power that exceeds conventional engines and zero emissions. Electric vehicles (EVs) have been gaining popularity in recent years as consumers look for more sustainable transportation options. However, EVs face limitations in driving range, charging times, and upfront costs that have prevented widespread adoption. Hydrogen fuel cell cars can refuel faster than EVs can recharge and provide longer driving ranges comparable to gasoline vehicles. But hydrogen’s infrastructure for production, distribution and refueling stations remains lacking. Fuel cell vehicles also currently cost much more than EVs. Some innovators are now exploring a different approach – hydrogen combustion engines. These engines burn hydrogen as fuel like gasoline engines burn petrol, rather than relying on fuel cells. The goal is to leverage existing internal combustion engine technology while taking advantage of hydrogen’s benefits as a clean fuel. New 5-stroke hydrogen engine: the invention that could lead the way to future FCEVs The 5-stroke hydrogen engine is an innovative new internal combustion engine designed to run on hydrogen fuel. Unlike conventional 4-stroke engines that power most vehicles today, the 5-stroke engine has an extra “idle” stroke that allows for the injection and ignition of hydrogen directly into the cylinder. This hydrogen-powered engine was developed by the British company EHM to overcome some of the efficiency challenges of using hydrogen in standard engines. By adding an extra stroke specifically for hydrogen ignition, the fuel can be burnt more efficiently, extracting more energy from the hydrogen. The 5-stroke cycle works by drawing air into the cylinder on the intake stroke, compressing it on the compression stroke, injecting a mist of hydrogen during the dedicated hydrogen stroke, igniting the hydrogen for the power stroke, and finally expelling exhaust gases on the exhaust stroke. This unique sequence allows hydrogen’s properties to be fully utilized. The engine is designed for hydrogen direct injection, where pure hydrogen is injected at high pressure directly into the cylinder. This maximizes combustion to capture the most energy output from the minimal amount of fuel. The 5-stroke process, at detail: that´s how this hydrogen engine works The 5-stroke hydrogen engine operates on a unique 5-cycle process that allows it to run directly on hydrogen gas. This eliminates the need for hydrogen fuel cells and batteries like in electric vehicles. The engine has 5 cylinders and pistons. Each cylinder goes through the following cycles: Intake – Hydrogen gas is drawn into the cylinder through the intake valve Compression – The hydrogen gas is compressed Combustion – The compressed hydrogen is ignited by a spark and combusts Gas exchange – The burned gas is pumped out and new hydrogen is brought in Ignition – The hydrogen is ignited again for a second combustion This 5-stroke process allows the engine to extract more energy from the hydrogen fuel as it combusts twice in each cylinder. The engine runs lean on a direct hydrogen injection system. The hydrogen gas is injected directly into the cylinders, eliminating the need for a conventional fuel system. As you can see, the first 5-stroke hydrogen engine will follow the path of other prototypes we have seen, such as the one from Ferrari or AVL. However, in this case (and without wishing to make comparisons that would leave anyone in a bad place), it is an invention that aims to revolutionize internal combustion. Several years of development lie ahead, as the manufacturers themselves have pointed out.

'Extraordinary': George Washington's 250-year-old cherries found buried at Mount Vernon JULIA GOMEZ, USA TODAY Updated April 23, 2024 at 8:19 PM Archaeologists found something incredibly rare in the cellar of George Washington's home at Mount Vernon: Two intact jars of cherries buried in the basement of the first U.S. president's house. Nick Beard, project archeologist at Mount Vernon, told USA TODAY on Tuesday that he had been excavating the basement "for quite a while" when he saw the lip of one of the jars in November. When the bottle started to peek out from the earth, he proceeded carefully but said he didn't think it would turn out to be anything out of the ordinary, adding that it's common to find wine bottles and glasses at the site about 15 miles south of Washington, D.C. In fact, Beard stepped away from the bottles to help on a more immediate project. Only when he returned several weeks later did he realize what he discovered. As he worked, more and more glass became exposed. He tried to wiggle the glass out of its resting place, but when he did his fingers got a little wet. That's when he noticed whatever he was working on was full of liquid. "Which means if it's that full of liquid then it has to be intact enough to hold that liquid," said Beard. "That's not common, so that immediately got me excited." The bottles were originally uncovered in November 2023, but weren't fully excavated until March 22, 2024. Uncovered jars reveal centuries-old cherries When Beard further revealed the jars, he called other archeologists to come check his findings. The jars were fully excavated on March 22. The cherries were removed from the bottles to help preserve the glass, but after April 30, the glass will be sent off for conservation. Its contents will be sent to a lab for analysis and be tested in a controlled environment by specialists, according to a press release from Mount Vernon. "It's extraordinary," Jason Boroughs, principal archaeologist at Mount Vernon, told USA TODAY on Tuesday, saying something similar has only happened twice in Virginia in the past six decades: Archeologists work to uncover jars of cherries in Mount Vernon cellar. What was in the jar? Beard and Boroughs said that cherries and a mystery liquid were found in the jar. And the cherries, Boroughs said, actually look like cherries, even after hundreds of years. "They're plump, they have flesh, they have pits and stems," Boroughs said. "They don't look as if they've been sitting in a bottle for 250 years, although they have." The liquid inside even smelled like cherry blossoms, according to Mount Vernon. Containers with samples of the liquid found inside the cherry jars. The cherries in the bottles were probably dry when they were buried, Boroughs said. While the archeologists know what the cherries are, the liquid is still a bit of a mystery. Lily Carhart, curator of the preservation collections at Mount Vernon, said it's possible the groundwater got into the bottle after the cork that sealed it deteriorated. The liquid still needs to be tested, Boroughs said. And there is a small possibility it could've been a type of alcohol, like a brandy or cognac. The glass jars were emptied to preserve the glass. They will be sent for conservation, and the liquid contents inside will be sent to a lab for analysis, states a press release from Mount Vernon. Why were the cherries buried? Enslaved laborers picked the cherries, wiped them off to avoid condensation and placed them into the jar. Then, that jar was corked and buried sometime between 1758 and 1776, when both George and Martha Washington were living at the home, according to Boroughs. He added that the method would've kept the fruit inside the bottle preserved for up to a year. It was one of the most popular ways to preserve berries and its how folks in colonial America preserved food before there were refrigerators. "It pretty much keeps them isolated and sealed from the atmosphere, from air and from fungus and other things that could attack" he said. According to Boroughs, the cherries were supposed to be served on George Washington's dinner table, but instead were forgotten and buried under a brick floor that was placed in the 1770s, sealing its fate as a sort of a "time capsule." The glass jars were emptied to preserve the glass. They will be sent for conservation, and the liquid contents inside will be sent to a lab for analysis, states a press release from Mount Vernon. Can you still eat the cherries? "You would not want to put that close to your face," Carhart said about the cherries. Boroughs said that it could actually be possible to eat them, but "nobody wants to try." Why is this discovery significant? Boroughs said the discovery is remarkable because he "can't count the number of times 18th-century food remains have been found intact" the way the cherries were. "We're the first people to touch these objects since they were put in the ground by an enslaved person," Boroughs said. While the discovery itself is incredible, the archeologist said the stories that can be uncovered from it are just as amazing. "We think of these items sort of as the material bits of lives that we can recover from the ground," Boroughs said. "These bottles tell stories. They're attached to people who had real lives and if we know how to put the pieces together, we can piece together something about their lives." Beard added that it feels "surreal" to have such an "immediate connection with the people that lived back then." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: George Washington's 250-year-old cherries found buried at Mount Vernon