Technology

"The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources heard testimony Wednesday on the Energy Efficiency Reform Act. The new bill would make it much more difficult for the Department of Energy to update energy efficiency standards for home appliances like dishwashers, washing machines and boilers. It would also set a path for the department to backslide on existing energy efficiency mandates."

"The House on Tuesday passed a bill aimed at shielding Americans from increased electricity costs associated with data centers"

"When officials in Wyoming conducted a routine test on the water that was being discharged from a massive under-construction Meta datacenter, it was a shock to find it contained a rare and potentially hazardous bacterium."

"The Environmental Protection Agency is finalizing a rule that’ll drastically weaken restrictions on “stripper wells,” which tend to be old, poorly maintained and prone to leaking methane, the highly potent greenhouse gas."

"The Richmond airport is renewing its stormwater discharge permit, and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) added general requirements for the airport to monitor and lower its discharge of PFAS. Some stakeholders say that’s not enough and are asking for specific reduction targets."

"Chinese political leaders and commentators aligned with China’s government hit back at calls from U.S. artificial intelligence executives for companies to agree to slow down the development of the technology, complicating the prospects of such a pact being implemented."

"Opposing teams of attorneys spent hours on Monday battling over a proposed $7.25 billion settlement of the US Roundup cancer litigation that, if approved, would allow Bayer to keep selling its controversial glyphosate weed killers while providing roughly $10,000 to $165,000 for individuals suffering from cancer they blame on Roundup use."

"An official in Pennsylvania has confirmed the measles-related death of a 40-year-old woman. Jefferson County Coroner Greg Furlong told NPR that the woman, who died on Saturday, was unvaccinated."

"It could launch a bioweapon attack, or a global drone war. It could set off a nuclear bomb. Or it could destroy human society more gradually, by hoarding all the world’s economic resources and depriving us of food, housing or medicine."

"Rabies cases in the United States from July to August increased 17 percent compared to the same period last year, following several “high-profile rabies outbreaks” and exposure events, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday."