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Overnight News Digest for January 1 (In the Year 2025 edition) [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-01-01
Even just one or two drinks can have a big impact starting at a certain age. Dr. Elizabeth Landsverk, a geriatrician and dementia expert, tells HuffPost that the way alcohol impacts the body will vary based on your age. If your 2024 goals include plans to drink in moderation, here’s what she wants you to know Your 20s, Landsverk says, are a resilient time for the body — which is probably why hangovers aren’t nearly as bad during that decade. “The liver and brain have the most resilience during that time,” she said. “The frontal lobes (reasoning, and judgment) are not quite developed. One is more likely to be open to drinking more or taking more risks, and this can set habits that will cause problems down the line.” ...older people are more likely to lose the enzyme to metabolize alcohol (alcohol dehydrogenase). “At this point, I can tolerate about one glass a week,” Landsverk noted. “If I had it daily, I would feel sick with just one glass a day. Older people have less reserve in the brain, liver and kidneys. The damage to the brain from even one glass a day is worse [when you’re over 60].”
This is an open thread where everyone is welcome, especially night owls and early birds, to share and discuss the happenings of the day. Please feel free to share your articles and stories in the comments
Over the past decade, many of us in the scientific community have come to appreciate the existential threat we face today—a threat unlike any we’ve witnessed since the days of the U.S. and Soviet Cold War in the last half of the twentieth century. While even today the specter of nuclear annihilation remains, especially given the escalation of hot wars in Ukraine-Russia and Israel-Iran, we now face entirely new twenty-first-century forces that place the future of humankind in even greater peril. Our newest and gravest challenge may not feel as acute as the 1980s Cold War threat of mutual assured destruction (MAD). There are no missiles with nuclear warheads crisscrossing the oceans. But it is every bit as real, posing a threat to civilization and our planet. This NextGen MAD consists of three synergistic components. The first component is the unprecedented warming of our planet and temperatures that one of us (Michael Mann) highlighted more than two decades ago while still a postdoctoral researcher in the form of the now-famous “hockey stick” curve. The warming of the planet and its impacts—which include coastal inundation from melting ice and intensified more deadly hurricanes, droughts, heat waves, and wildfires—is taking an increasing toll on our civilization by any measure, be it loss of life (which can be measured in millions of lives per year) or economic costs (which can be measured in trillions of dollars per year in lost GDP globally). Look no further than deadly temperatures that exceeded 50oC (122oF) this past summer. More than 2,000 Americans died from extreme heat in 2023, a tragic new record. The death and destruction will continue to accelerate as long as we fail to address the problem at its source: chiefly, our ongoing reliance on fossil fuels for energy and transportation.
Detractors and skeptics of House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) appear to be only digging in ahead of the House speaker election on Jan. 3. Why it matters: House GOP hardliners' continued hesitance to coalesce around Johnson suggests that President-elect Trump's endorsement of the incumbent speaker has had little effect so far. ...What they're saying: Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) told Axios that "a growing number of members" want "at minimum, assurances" from Johnson on "meaningful cuts" to spending before they vote to re-elect him. He joins roughly a dozen House Republicans who declined to commit to voting for Johnson even after Trump endorsed him on Monday.
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) is the latest, with her office declining to comment on Tuesday when asked how she plans to vote.
The president-elect said he will ‘stop the wave of frivolous litigation from environmental extremists’ but the ability to block suits will be limited, experts say Donald Trump has promised to deregulate the energy sector, boost fossil fuels, dismantle environmental rules and otherwise attack climate progress. However, experts and advocates say that lawsuits that aim to hold the fossil fuel sector responsible for deceiving the public about the climate crisis still “have a clear path forward”. “The overwhelming evidence of the industry’s lies and ongoing deception does not change with administrations,” said Richard Wiles, president of the non-profit Center for Climate Integrity, which tracks and supports the litigation. There are more than 30 accountability lawsuits active around the US brought by states and municipalities accusing fossil fuel interests of covering up the climate risks of their products or seeking damages for impacts. “Climate deception lawsuits against big oil have a clear path forward no matter who is in the White House.” ...But the administration’s ability to block the suits will be limited, Wiles said. Since the federal government is neither plaintiff nor defendant in any of the suits, Trump’s election will not directly affect their outcome. And since each case was filed in state court, the president cannot appoint judges who will oversee them.
A new study published in the journal Renewable Energy uses data from the state of California to demonstrate that no blackouts occurred when wind-water-solar electricity supply exceeded 100% of demand on the state’s main grid for a record 98 of 116 days from late winter to early summer 2024 for an average (maximum) of 4.84 (10.1) hours per day. Compared to the same period in 2023, solar output in California is up 31%, wind power is up 8%, and batteries are up a staggering 105%. Batteries supplied up to 12% of nighttime demand by storing and redistributing excess solar energy. And here’s the kicker: California’s high electricity prices aren’t because of wind, water, and solar energy. (That issue is primarily caused by utilities recovering the cost of wildfire mitigation, transmission and distribution investments, and net energy metering.) In fact, researchers from Stanford, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and the University of California, Berkeley found that states with higher shares of renewable energy tend to see lower electricity prices. The takeaway – and the data backs it up – is that a large grid dominated by wind, water, and solar is not only feasible, it’s also reliable.
Majority state-owned Russian company Gazprom discontinued its gas supplies to Moldova at 7:00am local time on January 1, saying that Moldovagaz, in which the Russian company holds a majority stake, “constantly failed to pay the bills, which is a significant breach of the contractual terms”. Gazprom discontinued its supplies to Moldova, including the pro-Russian, separatist Transnistria region, concomitantly with the closure of the transit route through Ukraine, enforced by the authorities in Kyiv as of January 2025. However, the Russian company cited Moldovagaz’ payment discipline and not technical obstacles, when announcing its decision. ...Gazprom’s decision may seem unexpected after the company has delivered gas to Transnistria for years without expecting payment – but it may be linked to the moderate attitude of the separatist authorities in Tiraspol, which have so far avoided conflicts with the central authorities in Chisinau. Indeed, on December 28, while Russian gas was still flowing through Ukraine, Transnistria had already cut the gas supplies to some public institutions on the territory controlled by central authorities in the Security Zone, controlled by both sides but supplied by Tiraspoltransgaz. For the rest of Moldova, the new energy shock will result in higher energy prices, likely to create a public sentiment conducive to anti-government narratives ahead of the parliamentary elections in 2025.
Yup, 2024 is a wrap. Looking back to determine the biggest electric vehicle stories of the year, I could look through thousands of stories to try to identify the biggest — and I’ll probably do that as well — but trying to answer that question just by digging through my memories, four big stories stand out to me. Let’s roll through them. 1. BYD’s rapid rise up the sales charts BYD has grown its sales tremendously in the past year. It was already a large automaker in 2023, but the company has rolled out several new models, grown to dominate more and more of the Chinese EV market, and started exporting vehicle to numerous countries. As a result, it was the 2nd best selling auto company in the world in November! And it could rise from 4th in the first 11 months of the year to 3rd across the full calendar year. It’s a stunning achievement. Read more about it here. 2. Xiaomi’s stunning entrance on the EV market Xiaomi is the 2nd best selling smartphone brand in the world, and it’s now using that large brand appeal and tech expertise to become a leader in the electric vehicle arena. In just nine months, its first model has gotten more than 130,000 sales! Every EV startup would dream of such an entrance and fast rise up the sales charts. As if this hot start wasn’t enough, Xiaomi wants to become one of the five biggest auto brands in the world. Given BYD’s success in achieving that, it’s a little easier to imagine Xiaomi achieving that target. How high will Xiaomi rise a year from now, and with more models on the market?
..There were a handful of repeat offenders in some categories this winter, but for the most part the winners you selected in each category were either newcomers who saw their political star ascend during 2024’s election cycle — or under-the-radar old faithfuls who let their freak flags fly in entirely new and creative ways this year. The hosts of The Josh Marshall Podcast, TPM’s Josh Marshall and Kate Riga, announced the winners of this year’s Golden Dukes live on the podcast. Watch as the envelopes are unsealed and winners unveiled or peruse the results of our annual commemoration of the year’s most radiant rats below Best Scandal – General Interest Winner – John Roberts & the conservative justices [51.6% of the vote] 2nd place – Elon Musk [15%]
3rd place [tie] – Donald Trump [14.2%]
3rd place [tie] – Bob “Gold Bars” Menendez [14.2%]
5th place – The billionaire owners of the WashingtonPost & the LA Times [5%] The Takes [edited for clarity] Josh: “I have to say, they earned it. I think I agree with the Academy on this one.” Kate: “If you want to take the more traditional scandal lens to this choice, I think the voters might have been thinking particularly of the Alito flag scandal, the Clarence Thomas billionaire stuff. Obviously, [the Court is] scandalous, kind of writ large, in terms of being fairly illegitimate. But you know, in terms of active, old-school scandal … they’ve been dipping their toes in that as well.
Scientists are challenging the existence of dark energy with a new model called “timescape,” which suggests the Universe’s expansion might be influenced by its uneven structure rather than an invisible force. This theory could resolve ongoing cosmological debates, with upcoming satellite data playing a key role in confirming its validity. Implications of the Timescape Model It takes into account that gravity slows time, so an ideal clock in empty space ticks faster than inside a galaxy. The model suggests that a clock in the Milky Way would be about 35 percent slower than the same one at an average position in large cosmic voids, meaning billions more years would have passed in voids. This would in turn allow more expansion of space, making it seem like the expansion is getting faster when such vast empty voids grow to dominate the Universe. Professor David Wiltshire, who led the study, said: “Our findings show that we do not need dark energy to explain why the Universe appears to expand at an accelerating rate. “Dark energy is a misidentification of variations in the kinetic energy of expansion, which is not uniform in a Universe as lumpy as the one we actually live in.”
A new, large-scale study of body temperatures has found that “normal” isn’t one size fits all — it varies by age, sex, weight, time of day and more. Most of us can recite 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit as the normal human body temperature, but it turns out there is no such thing. A new study by Stanford Medicine scientists found that normal body temperature varies from person to person, depending on their age, sex, height and weight, among other factors — and it fluctuates throughout the day. The normal body temperature of a tall, underweight, 80-year-old man in the morning, for instance, could be nearly 1 degree lower than that of a short, obese 20-year-old woman in the afternoon. “Most people, including many doctors, still think that everyone’s normal temperature is 98.6 F. In fact what’s normal depends on the person and the situation, and it’s rarely as high as 98.6 F,” said Julie Parsonnet, MD, professor of medicine and of epidemiology and population health as well as the George DeForest Barnett Professor in Medicine. She is the senior author of the study that was published Sept. 5 in JAMA Internal Medicine.
..The team reviewed 618,306 oral temperature readings from adult patients collected between 2008 and 2017. Advanced computer algorithms were used to remove data influenced by illnesses, ensuring the accuracy of the analysis. The findings reveal that normal body temperature ranges between 97.3°F to 98.2°F (36.2°C and 36.8°C), with an overall average of 97.9°F (36.6°C). “Most people, including many doctors, still think everyone’s normal temperature is 98.6°F (37°C),” Parsonnet said. “In fact what’s normal depends on the person and the situation, and it’s rarely as high as 98.6°F (37°C).” ...The study also found that the average body temperature in the U.S. has dropped by at least 0.09°F (0.05°C) every decade since the 19th century. Researchers attributed this decline to improved living conditions, better public health, and advancements in healthcare, which have reduced chronic infections and long-term health issues. “Physiologically, we are simply different from what we were in the past,” Parsonnet explained.
Apple TV+ is dropping a little gift into your lap this weekend: it’s free to stream January 4-5. The promotion’s social media announcement came with a tease of several popular series, but it’s no accident the first clip is from Severance. The Emmy-winning show finally returns January 17, and a weekend is absolutely enough time to binge the nine-episode first season. But Severance season one isn’t the only sci-fi show you should try and check out during the free period; as io9 has noted before, Apple TV+ is an excellent destination for genre fare. The list of original series has continued to grow, but these are the five must-see titles, starting with the one we’ve already been hyping up. ...There are also tons of buzzy, non-genre original shows on Apple TV+, including Ted Lasso, Presumed Innocent, Shrinking, and The Afterparty—and movies too, including Napoleon and Killers of the Flower Moon. Should you decide to stick around after your free trial, a monthly subscription to Apple TV+ is $9.99 and it includes a free week. Find out more here.
What are YOU watching in this brave new year of 2025? Tell us all about it in the comments!
The crew of the Overnight News Digest consists of founder Magnifico, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, Chitown Kev, eeff, Magnifico, annetteboardman, Besame, jck, and JeremyBloom. Alumni editors include (but not limited to) Interceptor 7, Man Oh Man (RIP), wader, Neon Vincent, palantir, Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse (RIP), ek hornbeck (RIP), rfall, ScottyUrb, Doctor RJ, BentLiberal, Oke (RIP) and jlms qkw.
OND is a regular community feature on Daily Kos since 2007, consisting of news stories from around the world, sometimes coupled with a daily theme, original research or commentary. Editors of OND impart their own presentation styles and content choices, typically publishing each day near 12:00 AM Eastern Time.
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