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Daily Archives: December 28, 2021

Scientists build new atlas of ocean’s oxygen-starved waters

MIT News: “Life is teeming nearly everywhere in the oceans, except in certain pockets where oxygen naturally plummets and waters become unlivable for most aerobic organisms. These desolate pools are “oxygen-deficient zones,” or ODZs. And though they make up less than 1 percent of the ocean’s total volume, they are a significant source of nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas. Their boundaries can also limit the extent of fisheries and marine ecosystems. Now MIT scientists have generated the most detailed, three-dimensional “atlas” of the largest ODZs in the world. The new atlas provides high-resolution maps of the two major, oxygen-starved bodies of water in the tropical Pacific. These maps reveal the volume, extent, and varying depths of each ODZ, along with fine-scale features, such as ribbons of oxygenated water that intrude into otherwise depleted zones…”

Winter storms are breaking snow and temperature records and there’s more to come

NPR: “Winter storms sweeping parts of the Western U.S. and the Pacific Northwest have brought heavy snow and record low temperatures in some areas — and there’s more to come. A winter storm warning continues into Wednesday for parts of the border area of Northern California and Nevada. “We’ve had quite a series of storms… Continue Reading

13 battery gigafactories coming to the US by 2025

electrek: “There are 13 new battery cell gigafactories coming online in the US by 2025, according to the Department of Energy. These factories are ushering in a new era of battery production in the US. Aside from Tesla and Panasonic’s Gigafactory Nevada, which supplies battery cells for the production of Tesla Model 3 and Model… Continue Reading

How Your Returns Are Used Against You at Best Buy, Other Retailers

WSJ [paywall – alternative free source] – “At Best Buy, returning too many items within a short time can hurt a person’s score, as can returning high-theft items such as digital cameras. Every time shoppers returns purchases to Best Buy, they are tracked by a company which has the power to override the store’s touted… Continue Reading

“Tactical empathy” key to navigating workplace negotiations

Quartz at Work: “…Tactical empathy requires demonstrating to your counterpart how deeply you’re listening to their words and, in effect, how thoughtfully you’re considering their position…A negotiation is typically portrayed as a winner-take-all skirmish. Be it haggling for a higher salary, asking for a promotion, or closing a deal, the process might summon tactics, for… Continue Reading