XPost: alt.global-warming   
      
   Shell says its oil production has begun a long-term decline   
   Laura Hurst, Bloomberg via Carbon Brief   
   Shell has published today new details about its "accelerated strategy"   
   for achieving its own net-zero goals. Bloomberg says the oil major   
   says "its carbon emissions and oil production have already peaked and   
   will decline in the coming years". The outlet continues: "In a sign of   
   how much the petroleum industry has shifted away from its mantra of   
   growth and exploration, Shell said its oil production will fall by 1%   
   to 2% a year. Output of `traditional fuels' will be 55% lower by   
   2030. In a wide-ranging strategy update#the Anglo-Dutch company set   
   new targets for electric-car charging, carbon capture and storage, and   
   electricity generation. It also sought to reassure investors that it   
   could maintain returns through the energy transition, reiterating its   
   pledge for an annual dividend increase of about 4% and the resumption   
   of share buybacks once its net-debt target has been achieved." Reuters   
   notes that: "The company had previously said it would reduce its net   
   carbon footprint emission intensity metric by at least 3% by 2022, 30%   
   by 2035 and 65% by 2050 from a 2016 baseline. Intensity levels   
   represent emissions per unit of energy produced, technically allowing   
   higher production."   
      
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   Astronomers Just Confirmed The Most Distant Known Object in The Solar System   
   ScienceAlert, 11 Feb 2021 07:36Z   
   The most distant known object in the Solar System is now confirmed.   
   FarFarOut, a large chunk of rock found in 2018 at a whopping distance of   
   around 132 ...   
      
   Video Game-Playing Pigs Stretch Our Concepts of Animal Intelligence   
   Gizmodo, 11 Feb 2021 06:11Z   
   The 4 pigs came to win. If they played the game well, they got delicious   
   dog food (they used to get M&Ms, but the humans decided those were too sugary).   
      
   Former Republican officials in talks to form center-right anti-Trump party:   
   report   
   The Hill, 11 Feb 2021 04:09Z   
   A contingent of former Republican officials are in talks to form a political   
   party that would break away from supporters of former President Trump,   
      
   [Peter Ridd:]   
   Controversial marine scientist gets chance to fight his dismissal in High Court   
   ABC News, 11 Feb 2021 05:22Z   
   A Queensland academic who was sacked from James Cook University after making   
   critical comments about the research of his colleagues gets the chance to   
   argue his case in the High Court.   
      
   CDC: COVID-19 quarantine unnecessary for fully vaccinated people   
   ampAxios, 11 Feb 2021 0:42Z   
   People who are fully vaccinated no longer need to quarantine after   
   exposure to someone infected with the coronavirus, the Centers for   
   Disease Control and ...   
   [How could this policy *possibly* go wrong?  Elsewhere the cluster of   
   B117 cases that somehow(TM) escaped Melbourne's quarantine system has   
   grown to 11.  Several states have moved to bar people from Melbourne   
   crossing their borders until further notice].   
      
     Cathay Pacific temporarily suspends all flights to Australia, except to   
   Sydney   
     ABC News, 11 Feb 2021 03:23Z   
     Cathay Pacific temporarily suspends all flights to Australia, except to   
     Sydney, after the Hong Kong Government imposes new COVID restrictions.   
      
   Poll: 1 in 3 Americans say they definitely or probably won't get a COVID   
   vaccine   
   OregonLive, 10 Feb 2021 21:38Z   
   About 1 in 3 Americans say they definitely or probably won't get the   
   COVID-19 vaccine, according to a new poll that some experts say is   
   discouraging news if the ...   
      
   Scientists Are Pretty Sure They Found a Portal to the Fifth Dimension   
   Popular Mechanics, 10 Feb 2021 20:37Z   
   In a new study, scientists say they can explain dark matter by positing a   
   particle that links to a fifth dimension. Here's what that means.   
      
   Millions in UK face financial ruin while stuck in "death trap" homes   
   CBS News, 10 Feb 2021 19:48Z   
   As an official inquiry reveals a US company's link to the deadly Grenfell   
   Tower disaster in London, flammable building materials continue to pose a   
   threat to ...   
      
   United Airlines orders 200 vertical-takeoff electric airplanes   
   Ars Technica, 10 Feb 2021 22:47Z   
   The success of uncrewed electric drones in the last couple of decades has   
   caused some people to wonder if similar construction techniques to those   
   used in ...   
      
   DARPA's `Manta Ray' Underwater Drone Could Be a Game Changer   
   The Debrief, 10 Feb 2021   
   The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) announced three   
   prime contractors' selection to advance the development of a new   
   unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) codenamed: Manta Ray.   
   With Manta Ray, DARPA hopes to field a payload-capable UUV able to   
   operate for long-duration, long-range missions in ocean environments.   
   One of the most critical components of Manta Ray is the development of   
   new undersea energy harvesting techniques that could end up having an   
   immense impact on all sectors of the naval and maritime industry.   
      
   Why Thousands of Republicans Are Leaving the Party   
   The New York Times, 10 Feb 2021 10:36Z   
   Voting registration data indicates a stronger-than-usual flight from the   
   G.O.P. since the Capitol riot, with an intensely fluid period in American   
   politics now ...   
      
   Life on Mars? Escaping water vapour offers new clues   
   The Guardian, 10 Feb 2021 23:20Z   
   Researchers detected water emanating high up in thin atmosphere of red   
   planet while Tianwen-1 probe entered orbit on Wed.   
      
   Conch shell in French museum found to be 17,000-year-old wind instrument   
   The Guardian, 10 Feb 2021 19:20Z   
   A 17,000-year-old conch shell that lay forgotten for more than 80 years in a   
   museum collection has been discovered to be the oldest known wind instrument   
   of its ...   
      
   How US Grid Operators Plan To Tackle Energy Storage at Gigawatt Scale   
   Greentech Media News, 10 Feb 2021 18:18Z   
   Batteries and hybrid renewables-plus-storage projects will be a massive grid   
   resource. Transmission grids and energy markets will need to adapt.   
      
   Mini Nuclear Reactor at Government Lab Shut Down After Radiation Leak   
   Gizmodo, 10 Feb 2021 21:17Z   
   A small-scale nuclear reactor at a govt neutron research facility was   
   shut down last week after it began to spew elevated amounts of ionizing   
   radiation.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)