Senate Parliamentarian Rules Against Path To Citizenship In Democrats’ Spending Bill

The ruling is a setback for immigration reform advocates working on behalf of the country’s undocumented immigrants.

Partner Of Fallen Capitol Police Officer ‘Enraged’ By Trump’s New Support For Rioters

“When I heard that, I was enraged,” Sicknick’s partner, Sandra Garza, said of Trump’s comments.

2021 Emmys Open With Musical Biz Markie Tribute, Rapping Rita Wilson

Cedric the Entertainer kicked off the ceremony by performing a riff on the late hip-hop legend’s “Just a Friend.”

Emmy Awards 2021: See What The Best-Dressed Celebrities Wore On The Red Carpet

TV’s biggest stars from hit shows like “The Crown, “Ted Lasso,” and many more brought drama and class to the carpet.

Tesla to Expand Full Self-Driving Beta, But Top Safety Official Says It Needs to Tackle 'Basic Safety Issues' First

Tesla is getting ready to roll out a sweeping update for its “Full Self-Driving” mode that would extend the feature’s beta testing to more customers and areas. But before it does, the automaker needs to address some “basic safety issues,” said Jennifer Homendy, head of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, in…

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Body Found During Search For ‘Van Life’ Blogger Gabby Petito

The 22-year-old was last seen in Grand Teton National Park, near where a body was found on Sunday, according to reports.

Ultra-white paint could reduce the need for air conditioning

White houses are often boring, but they might just save the planet. As USA Todayreports, Purdue University researchers have developed an ultra-white paint (it just earned a Guinness World Record) that reflects 98.1 percent of solar radiation while outputting infrared heat. As this leaves the surface cooler than the environment (regular paint warms the surface), it could effectively replace air conditioning in some cases — it produces a cooling power of 10kW for a 1,000sq. ft. roof, or more than a typical house AC unit.

There are existing paints made to reflect heat, but they reflect no more than 90 percent of sunlight and don’t cool surfaces. The team didn’t have much breathing room, either — an even whiter paint might have compromised it.

The trick was to use a high ratio of barium sulfate, a compound you often see in cosmetics and photo paper, in varying particle sizes. The wider range of sizes helps scatter more of the light spectrum and thus reflect more sunlight.

It’s not clear how close this extremely white paint is to your local store, but the researchers are fully bent on commercializing their work. They’ve teamed with a company to mass-produce and sell the paint, and have already filed patents. If it lives up to the billing, though, it could play an important role in fighting climate change. It could reduce or eliminate the need for air conditioning in some homes, particularly in warm regions with ample sunlight. That could reduce emissions and power consumption, and might save you some money on hot summer days.

NASA's chief scientist will retire in 2022

NASA is about to close an important chapter in its history. Chief Scientist Jim Green, who has worked at the agency for over 40 years, now plans to retire in early 2022. He started by developing NASA’s equivalent to the internet (the Space Physics Analysis Network) shortly after he arrived in 1980, but he’s best known for overseeing some of NASA’s biggest space exploration projects in the past 15 years — you’re likely very aware of his work.

Green directed NASA’s Planetary Science Division during the Curiosity landing in 2012, and played a key role in both promoting and explaining the Mars rover to the public. He further took leading roles during the Juno probe’s investigation of Jupiter, Messenger’s tour of Mercury, Dawn’s visit to Ceres and New Horizons’ historic flyby of Pluto. The scientist also greenlit plans for the Perseverance rover currently roaming Mars.

It’s not yet clear who will succeed Green, although he will assist with the search for his replacement. However, it’s safe to say he’ll have a healthy legacy. He both nurtured missions and made them more accessible to the public — he helped explain why Curiosity, New Horizons and other vehicles were exciting. If you’re pursuing a career in space science, Green’s work might well have served as an inspiration.

Facebook VP Disputes Reports That Company Ignored Platform-Wide Issues Harming Users

Facebook on Saturday pushed back against recent reports from the Wall Street Journal that cited a trove of leaked company documents to outline how Facebook executives have been slow to respond to known problems across its platforms that harm users. In a company blog post, Facebook’s vice president of global affairs,…

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Chris Rock Urges People To Get Vaccinated After Getting COVID-19

Chris Rock said he has been diagnosed with COVID-19 and sent a message to anyone still on the fence: “Get vaccinated.”