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Eastern Ukraine residents say Russia is wiping their towns off the map

Eastern Ukraine residents say Russia is wiping their towns off the map

Politico reports: Mark Holtsyev knew the window to rescue desperate residents of Lyman before Russian forces razed the town was closing fast. The tall, amateur equestrian turned volunteer paramedic jumped in his ambulance and hurtled down the road, past rocket craters and plumes of black smoke rising from the surrounding fields. Holtsyev is one of dozens of volunteers who have been risking their lives day in and day out, zipping over some of the most treacherous roads of eastern Ukraine’s…

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U.S. technology, upon which Russia has long relied, becomes a vulnerability

U.S. technology, upon which Russia has long relied, becomes a vulnerability

The New York Times reports: Since Western allies announced extensive restrictions on exports of semiconductors, computers, lasers, telecommunications equipment and other goods in February, Russia has had difficulty obtaining microchips to replenish its supply of precision-guided munitions, according to one senior U.S. official, who, along with most other officials interviewed for this article, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss matters based on intelligence. On Tuesday, when asked if a chip shortage was crippling the Russian military, Commerce Secretary…

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Companies that failed to exit Russia are being punished by markets

Companies that failed to exit Russia are being punished by markets

MarketWatch reports: The almost 1,000 companies that have opted to pull out of Russia following its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine are not just benefiting from a reputational boost. They are also being rewarded by financial markets, while those who remain behind are being punished. That’s according to a new report from Yale Professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and his research team at the Yale School of Management. The team has been monitoring almost 1,300 companies that do business in Russia and has…

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Carbon dioxide levels have reached the highest in human history

Carbon dioxide levels have reached the highest in human history

The New York Times reports: The amount of planet-warming carbon dioxide in the atmosphere broke a record in May, continuing its relentless climb, scientists said Friday. It is now 50 percent higher than the preindustrial average, before humans began the widespread burning of oil, gas and coal in the late 19th century. There is more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere now than at any time in at least 4 million years, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officials said. The concentration…

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Average liver is no more than three years old, no matter the age of the person carrying it

Average liver is no more than three years old, no matter the age of the person carrying it

Gizmodo reports: Our liver stays plenty youthful even as we get older, new research this week suggests. Using a form of radioactive dating, the researchers estimate that the average age of our liver’s cells is around three years. Some cells seem to live longer than others, however, a finding that may one day help scientists better understand how and why conditions like liver cancer can happen. The new study was led by scientists at the Dresden University of Technology in…

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Putin’s threats highlight the fragility of nuclear arms control

Putin’s threats highlight the fragility of nuclear arms control

The New York Times reports: The old nuclear order, rooted in the Cold War’s unthinkable outcomes, was fraying before Russia invaded Ukraine. Now, it is giving way to a looming era of disorder unlike any since the beginning of the atomic age. Russia’s regular reminders over the past three months of its nuclear might, even if largely bluster, were the latest evidence of how the potential threat has resurfaced in more overt and dangerous ways. They were enough to draw…

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The U.S. can’t keep ignoring the threat that nuclear weapons pose

The U.S. can’t keep ignoring the threat that nuclear weapons pose

Tom Nichols writes: In the early days of my career, I was a Russian-speaking “Sovietologist” working in think tanks and with government agencies to pry open the black box of the Kremlin’s strategy and intentions. The work could be unsettling. Once, during a discussion of various nuclear scenarios, a colleague observed matter-of-factly, “Yes, in that one, we only lose 40 million.” He meant 40 million people. The end of the Cold War, however, led to an era of national inattentiveness…

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Putin treated for cancer in April, U.S. intelligence report says

Putin treated for cancer in April, U.S. intelligence report says

William M Arkin reports: Vladimir Putin’s health is a subject of intense conversation inside the Biden administration after the intelligence community produced its fourth comprehensive assessment at the end of May. The classified U.S. report says Putin seems to have re-emerged after undergoing treatment in April for advanced cancer, three U.S. intelligence leaders who have read the reports tell Newsweek. The assessments also confirm that there was an assassination attempt on Putin’s life in March, the officials say. The high-ranking…

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Documents reveal that hundreds of Russian troops broke ranks over Ukraine orders

Documents reveal that hundreds of Russian troops broke ranks over Ukraine orders

The Wall Street Journal reports: Hundreds of Russian soldiers have escaped the fighting in Ukraine or refused to take part during the early stages of the war, according to military decrees viewed by The Wall Street Journal as well as accused soldiers and lawyers defending them. Military analysts and Ukrainian officials say there have been many more. Russia’s army stumbled badly early in its invasion of Ukraine and suffered thousands of casualties and the loss of an estimated quarter of…

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Pollution from Russia’s war will poison Ukraine for decades

Pollution from Russia’s war will poison Ukraine for decades

Vox reports: In late May, a large plume of pink smoke erupted from a chemical plant and rose above apartment buildings in Ukraine’s eastern city of Severodonetsk. The smoke was toxic — it came from a tank of nitric acid that was struck by Russian military forces. “Do not come out of shelters!” the region’s governor, Sergiy Gaiday, said on Telegram, following the attack. “Nitric acid is dangerous if inhaled, swallowed, and in contact with skin.” Since Russia invaded Ukraine,…

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The U.S.’s new record in renewables, explained in three charts

The U.S.’s new record in renewables, explained in three charts

Inside Climate News reports: To make a swift transition to a cleaner grid, the United States needs to set records for renewable electricity generation pretty much every single quarter. So far in 2022, the numbers are encouraging. From January to March, renewable energy power plants generated 242,956 gigawatt-hours, which was 23.5 percent of U.S. electricity generation, both records—an increase from 19.5 percent in the first quarter of 2021, and 20.8 percent in the full year. The growth was thanks in…

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How a special immune system protects the brain

How a special immune system protects the brain

Nature reports: The brain is the body’s sovereign, and receives protection in keeping with its high status. Its cells are long-lived and shelter inside a fearsome fortification called the blood–brain barrier. For a long time, scientists thought that the brain was completely cut off from the chaos of the rest of the body — especially its eager defence system, a mass of immune cells that battle infections and whose actions could threaten a ruler caught in the crossfire. In the…

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Russian state TV hosts and pundits raise specter of ‘a real war’: World War III

Russian state TV hosts and pundits raise specter of ‘a real war’: World War III

Julia Davis reports: While some in the West are pondering what kind of a concessions would allow Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin “to save face” in Ukraine, leading Russian lawmakers and top propagandists are advocating smashing the West, which they say is Russia’s ultimate target. On the state TV show 60 Minutes, host Olga Skabeeva announced: “I have some unpleasant news… Even though we are methodically destroying the weapons that are being delivered [to Ukraine], but the quantities in which the…

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Biden: What America will and will not do in Ukraine

Biden: What America will and will not do in Ukraine

In an op-ed for the New York Times, Joe Biden writes: The invasion Vladimir Putin thought would last days is now in its fourth month. The Ukrainian people surprised Russia and inspired the world with their sacrifice, grit and battlefield success. The free world and many other nations, led by the United States, rallied to Ukraine’s side with unprecedented military, humanitarian and financial support. As the war goes on, I want to be clear about the aims of the United…

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