The Daily Valet. - 4/20/23, Thursday
✔️ From Trash to Ecosystem
Thursday, April 20th Edition
By Cory Ohlendorf, Valet. Editor
I surely wouldn't mind a vintage Bronco souped up with all the modern amenities.
Today’s Big Story
From Trash to Ecosystem
The oceanic soup of plastic fragments is now so huge, sea creatures Are Migrating to it
This is something of a shocking find. Ocean-dwelling animals have long been known to inhabit the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, but researchers found organisms among the waste thriving thousands of miles from their natural habitat.The 620,000 square mile swirl of trash, also known as the Pacific trash vortex, spans waters from the West Coast of North America to Japan. And it's now providing a home for coastal species to thrive in the open ocean thousands of miles from shore. According to Scientific American, that's especially concerning since it increases the odds of biological invasions wreaking havoc on nearby ecosystems.“As humans, we are creating new types of ecosystems that have potentially never been seen before,” one biogeographer told The Atlantic. The Garbage Patch, far from being some barren wasteland, is now the site of an active experiment in biology. Spinning circular currents keep the garbage within the same area. And while there are at least five garbage patches in the world, the Great Pacific patch contains the most plastic.Unlike organic material that decomposes and sinks within months or, at most, a few years, plastic debris can float in the oceans for a much longer time, giving creatures the opportunity to survive and reproduce in the open ocean, essentially forever. Which is why clean-up efforts are so important.Remember The Ocean Cleanup? It was the ambitious plan hatched by an 18-year-old Dutch entrepreneur to use a floating system of nets to rid the oceans of all this plastic. After several years of testing and a few underwhelming early launches, they're currently deploying a new system, complete with an onboard plastic compactor. There's still much to figure out, but it sounds like they're, at least, making some progress.
Get Invovled:
Cleaning the oceans is a massive undertaking. It's a problem so large, it will take a multi-pronged solution but CleanHub has a playbook.
What Exactly Are ‘Stand Your Ground’ Laws?
What states have them and When Do They Apply?
You've no doubt heard the term “stand your ground” a lot this week. The recent shootings of two people who accidentally came to the wrong address—a 16-year-old boy in Kansas City and a 20-year-old woman in rural New York—have renewed concerns over the controversial laws which are a modification to the traditional rules around self-defense.The term first entered our collective consciousness after the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin. George Zimmerman said he shot the Black teenager because he felt threatened. A Florida jury later acquitted him of all charges after they received instructions on the state's “stand your ground” law. It goes further than basic Castle Doctrine laws, which give people in their own homes protection from harming an intruder. “Stand your ground” applies anyplace you have a legal right to be (not just at home) and they erode the longstanding “duty to retreat,” a classic self-defense legal theory that says deadly force is only justified as a last resort.Since first being enacted in Florida, “stand your ground” laws have spread across the country, mostly in states with Republican-controlled legislatures. About 35 states have enacted some form of the law, with each one defining how and where a person can defend themselves. But according to NPR, there's growing evidence that states with such laws may experience more gun violence. In a study last updated in 2023, a review of 16 studies by researchers at RAND found a significant link between such laws and an increase in firearm homicides.
FYI:
The American Bar Association said these laws created a “misconception that these laws provide carte blanche for people to use deadly force in public areas.”
India Becomes World’s Most Populous Country
It WIll surpass China by mid-year, U.N. Says
India is set to surpass China as the world's most populous nation, with almost 3 million more people by the middle of this year, data released by the United Nations on Wednesday showed. India's population by mid-year is estimated to be at 1.4286 billion, against 1.4257 billion for China. (The United States is a distant third, with an estimated population of 340 million).According to CNN, China has held the distinction of most populous country since at least 1950, when the UN population records began. And while India's 254 million people between ages 15 and 24 is the largest number in the world, China is struggling with an aging population and stagnant population growth. That's sparked expectations that the demographic changes could pave the way for India to become an economic and global heavyweight.As the New York Times puts it, “with size comes geopolitical, economic and cultural power that India has long sought.” And with growth comes the prospect of a “demographic dividend.” Currently, the rate of development across the huge country remains widely unequal, with some Indian states akin to middle-income nations and others struggling to provide the basics.
FYI:
By 2050, eight countries will account for half the projected growth in global population: The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Tanzania.
Kindred Unveils Bronco Restomod Trail Edition
The new Bronco is great. But Not as cool as a resto-modded classic version.
Ford has been doing its legendary Bronco proud, continually refining the newest lineup with new versions like the ultra-rugged Bronco Raptor. But it'll be hard to ever top the classic Bronco, especially swanky restomod versions like the ones that Kindred Motorworks builds.The California auto brand has quickly developed a rep for breathing new life into classic American rides by maintaining all the good while upgrading the technology, performance and comfort. Their latest release is the Bronco Trail Edition. The prototype—which features a front impact bumper with an integrated Warn Zeon 10-S winch and a rear impact bumper with an integrated hitch and tire carrier—is currently undergoing warm and cold-weather capability testing.HiConsumption says the Trail Edition also benefits from the enormous slew of upgrades and amenities that are present on Kindred's existing restomods, everything from luxe leather seats to keyless entry and an infotainment system. Gear Patrol says it maintains the classic aesthetics, but upgrades just about everything else, because “you don't really want to drive a classic Bronco.”
Want It?
Kindred Motorworks is currently accepting Bronco pre-orders. Builds start at $169,000.
In Other News
“They’re much better at catching you off balance or making a turn that you didn’t see coming.”
Have you heard about ...
The Long Read
Duolingo's founder believes that artificial intelligence is going to make computers better teachers than humans.
In 2009, Von Ahn sold reCAPTCHA to Google for a sum that he said was sufficient to insure that neither he nor his future children would ever need to work. He briefly considered retirement. “But only for a second,” he told me. “I get really bored.” Instead, he began a new project, Duolingo, which is now the most frequently downloaded education app in the world. ”
- By Carina Chocano
Read It:
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Shopping
What We’re Buying
A rapid cold brew maker
Making good cold brew takes time ... or does it? This streamlined and well-reviewed brewer by Dash will prepare a fresh batch of flavorful cold brew in as little as nine minutes. Simply load in your ground coffee of choice, select between mild, regular or bold brew styles (the bold is particularly good for at-home espresso martinis), and this vacuum-powered machine starts extracting the brew without any heat to retain the smoothest and brightest flavors. It does the same with iced tea too, if that's more your vibe.
Get It:
Rapid cold brew coffee maker, $149.99 / $129.99 by Dash
Morning Motto
Be mindful of where you focus your attention.
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