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THE PEOPLE WANT TRUMP! FOX News Reports New Hampshire Voters Have Been Waiting for Hours in 6 Inches of Snow to See Donald Trump and Vivek (Video)
WE ARE WITNESSING HISTORY BEING MADE!
New Hampshire voters wait for hours in s snowstorm to see President Donald Trump with Vivek Ramaswamy!
FOX Reporter Bryan Llenas: Good afternoon. In just two hours, former President Donald Trump will hold his first rally here in New Hampshire in a month’s time. You can see behind me this is the line of folks who have been out here braving the snow since 05:00 this morning to see former President Trump after his landslide victory in Iowa last night. Now those folks who are braving this 29 degree weather and six inches of snow are also going to see Vivek Ramaswamy share a stage with Trump for the first time, marking their first event together. I should say, since Vivek Ramaswamy stepped down, dropped out of the race and endorsed former President Trump last night.
The Trump Resurgence has begun!
Via Johnny MAGA.
-Jim Hoft, The Gateway Pundit
Watch:
Chinese Researchers Engineer Deadly Coronavirus Strain Targeting the Brain and 100% Kill Rate in Mice, Acknowledge Potential Human Spillover Risk
A team of Chinese researchers has successfully developed a mutant strain of the coronavirus with an alarming 100% kill rate in mice, specifically designed to target brain cells, the Daily Mail reported.
The findings, detailed in a contentious study, highlight the pathogen’s enhanced lethality and the potential risk it poses for spillover into human populations.
The preprint study, which was published on the bioRxiv website on January 3, detailed the experiment conducted by these researchers using a variant of the “pangolin coronavirus”. This virus was introduced to a group of mice to study the effects.
“SARS-CoV-2-related pangolin coronavirus GX_P2V(short_3UTR) can cause 100% mortality in human ACE2-transgenic mice, potentially attributable to late-stage brain infection. This underscores a spillover risk of GX_P2V into humans and provides a unique model for understanding the pathogenic mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2-related viruses,” according to the study.
The researchers claimed that two pangolin coronaviruses, named GD/2019 and GX/2017 were identified even before the COVID-19 outbreak. These viruses were isolated and cultured in different years: GD01 in 2020 and GX_P2V in 2017.
The results were alarming, as all the mice that were infected with the live virus died within 7-8 days post-inoculation.
The virus was not only found in the bodies of the mice but had reached critical organs such as the brain, eyes, and lungs.
The researchers noted a rapid weight loss in the infected mice within five days, followed by other symptoms such as sluggishness and white eyes.
In the later stages of the infection, it was observed that the viral load in the lungs had significantly decreased by day 6.
However, the viral RNA loads and viral titers in the brain samples increased substantially by day 6, suggesting that severe brain infection was the primary cause of death.
The researchers have expressed concern over this virus’s potential spillover into humans.
Former National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Dr. Francis Collins admitted to congressional members that the coronavirus lab leak theory was indeed plausible.
The Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic released a damning report asserting a coordinated effort to downplay the lab-leak hypothesis of COVID-19’s origin and suppression of scientific discourse.
The report implicates none other than Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).
Last week, during Fauci’s two-day depositions, GOP Rep. Brad Wenstrup of Ohio, the panel’s chairman, said Fauci “testified that the lab leak hypothesis — which was often suppressed — was, in fact, not a conspiracy theory,” Wenstrup said. The lab leak theory claims that the coronavirus was released from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China, and not from natural sources, as Fauci initially claimed.
The release noted that the admission came “nearly four years after prompting the publication of the now infamous ‘Proximal Origin’ paper that attempted to vilify and disprove the lab leak hypothesis.” The release also said Fauci, who denied trying to pressure the CIA on the lab-leak theory, “played semantics with the definition of a ‘lab-leak.’”
Boston Researchers Develop COVID Strain
Meanwhile, in 2022, at Boston University, scientists created a new deadly COVID strain with an 80% death rate compared to the approximately 1% rate of COVID-19.
What is more shocking is that those experiments at Boston University were not done in its high containment Biosafety Level-4 facility, but used a lower Safety Level-3 protocol, enormously increasing the risk for human infection and transmission.
China-linked Bio Lab Discovered in Fresno Co, California – Had Over 900 Mice “Genetically Engineered to Catch and Carry the Covid-19 Virus
On March 3, an illegal bio lab was discovered in a believed-to-be vacant building in Reedley, California in Fresno County. City code enforcement stumbled upon the building in December 2022 when they discovered a garden hose running up into the building through a hole in the wall.
“From May 2 through May 4, the CDC’s Division of Select Agents and Toxins inspected 850 I Street. Court documents confirm the CDC found potentially infectious agents at the location. These included both bacterial and viral agents, including chlamydia, E. Coli, streptococcus pneumonia, hepatitis B and C, herpes 1 and 5 and rubella. The CDC also found samples of malaria,” Mid Valley Times reported.
Scientists In London Lab Created A Mutant Super Strain of COVID And It’s Reportedly Lethal
British scientists have reportedly deliberately created deadly hybrid Covid strains in a university lab in London.
Twenty scientists at the Imperial College in London infected hamsters with mutant viruses, including strains of the original coronavirus and parts of Omicron or Delta, according to the Daily Mail.
Dr. Richard Ebright, a molecular biology expert at Rutgers University, warns the experiment could ignite another pandemic wave.
“At least four labs on two continents now have construed non-natural, lab-generated viruses that retain the high immune escape of Omicron and acquire higher severity than Omicron and that, as such, are reasonably expected to increase transmission or pathogenicity in humans,” Ebright noted on Twitter.
-Jim Hoft, The Gateway Pundit
Watch:
NEW: Travelers at Dulles and Reagan Airports Exposed to Measles Linked to ‘International Traveler’
Travelers at Dulles and Reagan airports were exposed to measles linked to an ‘international traveler’ earlier this month.
It is unclear if the ‘international traveler’ is an illegal alien.
“Measles is a highly contagious illness that can spread easily through the air when an infected person breathes, coughs, or sneezes. Measles symptoms usually appear in two stages. In the first stage, most people have a fever of greater than 101 degrees, runny nose, watery red eyes, and a cough. These symptoms usually start 7 to 14 days after being exposed,” the Virginia Department of Health said in a statement, according to Fox News.
“The second stage starts 3 to 5 days after symptoms start, when a rash begins to appear on the face and spread to the rest of the body,” the agency said. “People with measles are contagious from 4 days before the rash appears through 4 days after the rash appeared.”
Fox News reported:
Health officials in the nation’s capital are warning of a possible measles exposure Tuesday after a person with a “confirmed case” traveled through two of the busiest airports in the region while returning home from an international trip.
DC Health says the potential exposure occurred in the international arrivals area of the main terminal at Dulles International Airport between 4 and 8 p.m. on Jan. 3, then at terminal A at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport the following day from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m.
“DC Health has been notified of a confirmed case of measles in a person who traveled through DC area airports when returning from international travel,” the agency said in a statement. “While the threat of transmission is low, DC Health is notifying District residents who were at these locations about their possible exposure.”
More on this story from Fox News:
-Cristina Laila, The Gateway Pundit
“DISEASE X” — Are The Globalists Planning Another Pandemic?
People all over the world never want to hear the word “vaccine” again after the pandemic debacle.
Yet, with new mRNA biotechnology ready on the computer screen for the next genetic code to come in, you can see how vaccine ideologists cannot wait for another pandemic to test out the rapid release and enjoy booming sales of vaccine lots to governments.
What is “Disease X”?
It’s no surprise that the WHO and the WEF have formalized and endorsed this planning process for future Big Pharma profits, with the catchy name “Disease X.”
According to the WHO: With fresh warnings from the World Health Organization that an unknown “Disease X” could result in 20 times more fatalities than the coronavirus pandemic…”
WEF Plans are Underway
This week, at the annual World Economic Forum Meeting in Davos, the WEF will devote a panel to discuss “novel efforts” needed to prepare the healthcare systems for the multiple challenges ahead. Among the hosts: who’s-who of Big Pharma.
As if this wasn’t ominous enough, the session is also linked to the “Collaborative Surveillance Initiative of the World Economic Form”.
Disease X not real? Think again.
Says Dr. Peter McCullough, America’s leading cardiologist and outspoken critic of the COVID-19 response:
“Disease X is supposed to be caused by a ‘pathogen X.’ Such a pathogen is expected to be engineered in a biolab, most likely an RNA virus, emerging from gain of function research where the right mix of genetic alterations highly promotes the risk for sustained transmission.”
-The Gateway Pundit
John Kerry Snaps at Reporter Who Ambushes Him on the Streets of Davos Outside WEF Meeting (VIDEO)
Joe Biden’s soon-to-be former ‘Climate Envoy’ John Kerry was ambushed on the streets in Davos, Switzerland at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting.
Rebel News reporters caught up with John Kerry and his staffers were not happy about their questions.
“What’s the carbon footprint for these events every single year that you come here,” Rebel News reporter Avi Yemini asked John Kerry. “You think it’s worth it? Peasants pay for your crimes?”
John Kerry snapped at the reporter: “That’s a stupid question.”
The reporter snapped back: “Is it really? Is it more stupid than you traveling here to tell us..”
Kerry’s aide physically assaulted the Rebel News reporter as she shouted, “We’re done!”
John Kerry accused the reporter of “making up stupid questions.”
Earlier this week it was reported that John Kerry will step down as Joe Biden’s Climate Envoy this winter or early spring after operating in secret for three years.
Kerry, 80, was appointed as Joe Biden’s Climate Czar in November 2020 during the transition.
John Kerry, the private-jet-setting hypocrite, operated in secret for three years as he traveled around the world and advocated for global Communism.
Protect the Public’s Trust (PPT) filed a FOIA lawsuit in an effort to obtain emails between John Kerry’s office and various climate change groups.
The emails turned over to PPT from John Kerry’s office were heavily redacted.
Not one staffer’s name was revealed.
-Cristina Laila, The Gateway Pundit
“This is Crazy, It’s a Disaster” – Public Charging Stations Turn into Electric ‘Car Graveyards’ in Bitter Chicago Cold (VIDEO)
Image Credit: WFLD / Fox News
Electric vehicle owners in the Chicago area have not been able to charge their overpriced method of transportation in the bitter cold this week, leaving scenes of dead electric cars littered across public charging stations.
It turns out buying a worthless car to virtue-signal for the environment has unintended consequences.
Fox Chicago reported Monday the charging stations have turned into electric car graveyards over the past two days as temperatures in the Windy City and its suburbs have dipped to the negative double digits.
One man, Tyler Beard, to the outlet he had been trying to recharge his Tesla at an Oak Brook Tesla supercharging station since Sunday afternoon.
“Nothing. No juice. Still on zero percent. And this is like three hours being out here after being out here three hours yesterday.”
But Beard was just one of dozens of Tesla owners trying and failing to power up their vehicles at this same Oak Brook charging station. Fox 32 Chicago noted the scene was reminiscent of long lines and abandoned cars at several other charging stations around the Chicago area.
“This is crazy, it’s a disaster. Seriously,” she said.
One man offered a concise and pointed response to the disaster at the Oak Brook charging station and across the area: “We got a bunch of dead robots out here.”
Kevin Sumrak told Fox 32 that he landed Sunday night at Chicago O’Hare International Airport and found his Tesla dead. He was forced to hire a flatbed tow truck to locate a working charging station.
Tesla refused to comment on the situation despite multiple media requests.
These individuals could have avoided their current predicament by sticking with traditional gasoline-powered vehicles. As several car experts have explained, electric car batteries lose significant range and power when the weather gets cold.
But in far-left Chicago, basic common sense is in short supply.
-Cullen Linebarger, The Gateway Pundit
ICYMI: Greg Abbott Deports Over 100,000 Illegals From Texas to Blue States and Sanctuary Cities – Elon Musk Responds, “Open Borders Will Kill America”
Image Credit: Immigrants at the southern US border, some wearing t-shirts that read “Biden Please Let Us In” at San Ysidro crossing port in Tijuana, Baja California state, Mexico on March 2, 2021, photo by Guillermo Arias AFP/Getty
Elon Musk recently reacted to a fraction of the number of illegal immigrants (new Democrat voters) that have invaded Texas on Joe Biden’s watch, saying “open borders will kill America.”
This comes after Greg Abbott said Texas has moved “over 100,000” illegals out of his state and into sanctuary cities — a small number compared to the over 10 million that Biden rolled out the welcoming mat for.
We like based Elon. It’s too bad his X social media platform continues to suppress The Gateway Pundit and some of our contributors.
Texas is ground zero for illegal immigration, and because Joe Biden is suing Greg Abbott for attempting to install razor wire at the border and enforce newly passed state laws that require illegals to be arrested and deported, Abbott has no other choice but to send aliens to cities that purport to welcome illegals. Not to mention, The Biden Regime and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas are already sending the millions of illegals encountered at the border to a city of their choosing.
The so-called “sanctuary city” leaders are finally getting fed up now that their towns are being overrun with illegal immigrants. But they aren’t pointing the finger at Biden’s open-border policies. It’s the Republicans and Greg Abbott’s fault, according to far-left leaders.
After introducing new restrictions on buses carrying illegals into New York City to better handle the flood of migrants invited by Joe Biden, Mayor Eric Adams is now suing bus companies for transporting illegals to his city.
The Democrat mayor of Edison, New Jersey, Sam Joshi, recently aired his complaints, citing security and health risks and adding, “We don’t want them in Edison, period. That’s the bottom line.”
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey recently declared a state of emergency and asked her citizens to provide extra room in their homes to house dangerous illegal immigrants.
And the latest Democrat leader to cry foul at Joe Biden’s open border policies but blame Greg Abbott is Illinois Governor JB Pritzker. The Gateway Pundit reported that Pritzker, the same guy who diverted rental assistance funds meant for American citizens to house illegal border crossers and declared Illinois “the most welcoming state in the nation” for illegals, is begging for “mercy,” asking Greg Abbott to stop sending illegals!
But he wasn’t begging for mercy for his citizens. He was pleading on behalf of the illegal immigrants, who he feared would be left out in the cold.
Abbott boasted last week that he had already transported 100,000 illegals out of his state and into the once open arms of Democratic mayors and governors.
Elon Musk responded, noting the destruction this is causing America:
Greg Abbott: Texas has transported over 100,000 migrants to sanctuary cities to relieve overwhelmed border towns. Until Biden reverses course on his open border policies, Texas will continue transporting migrants to these cities. We will not back down on our efforts to secure the border.
Elon Musk: Open borders will kill America
That’s what the Democrats and the Globalists want: a dead America.
-Jordan Conradson, The Gateway Pundit
EXPOSED: ‘Deep State Military Coup’ Planned Against Trump “if Re-elected” | Elijah Schaffer’s Top 5 (VIDEO)
STORY 2: BREAKING: Vivek Ramaswamy Drops Out of 2024 Republican Presidential Race — Endorses President Trump
STORY 3: BREAKING: ALREADY CALLED! Trump Wins Iowa Caucuses in MASSIVE Landslide
Please leave your opinions / comments on these stories below as Elijah reads every single one and appreciates your perspective.
-Elijah Shaffer, The Gateway Pundit
Watch:
Putin says past U.S. elections were rigged
Image Credit: Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the all-Russian municipal forum in the town of Odintsovo in Moscow region. (Reuters)
(Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin, running for a new six-year term in an election that his opponents say is a parody of democracy, said on Tuesday that past U.S. elections had been rigged by postal voting.
"In the United States, previous elections were falsified through postal voting ... they bought ballots for $10, filled them out, and threw them into mailboxes without any supervision from observers, and that's it," Putin said, without providing evidence.
Putin's opponents say the March election in Russia is no real contest as the president wields unchallenged power and his main rival, Alexei Navalny, is serving more than 30 years in jail on charges that Navalny says were trumped up.
They say the use of electronic voting creates scope for authorities to manipulate the vote in Putin's favour without detection.
-Maxim Rodionov, Reuters
BREAKTHROUGH Scientists keep cloned monkey alive for 2 YEARS in world first – using ‘Dolly the sheep method’
Image Credit: Qiang Sun
A CLONED monkey has lived for more than two years in a first for wacky scientists.
The rhesus macaque, grown by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is the longest lived primate to have been made with DNA from adult cells.
The monkey clone has lived for at least two years and was still alive when the scientists wrote their paper.
But critics say the process is still too risky to take us anywhere near human clones.
The lab in Shanghai used the same method that created the first ever animal clone, Dolly the sheep, in 1996.
The technique, called somatic cell nuclear transfer, takes DNA from something like a skin cell from a normal grown monkey.
This is then injected into an embryo that has had its own DNA removed, which is carried to term by a surrogate.
Most attempts to clone monkeys this way fail.
Experiment chief Dr Qiang Sun, who created the first successful monkey clones in 2018, said he managed to develop a healthier placenta that improved the latest creature’s development.
He claims the team has “improved the efficiency” of cloning monkeys which they hope can one day be used for lab research.
Writing in the journal Nature Communications, Dr Sun called the success “remarkable” and said: “This is a promising strategy for primate cloning.”
But the success rate is poor with only one live birth from 113 attempts.
Dr Lluís Montoliu, of the Spanish National Centre for Biotechnology, was not part of the research but said: “This cloning demonstrates two things.
“First, it is possible to clone primates.
“Second, but no less important, it is extremely difficult to succeed with these experiments, with such low efficiencies once again ruling out human cloning.”
Animal cloning is controversial because it is so difficult and can cause animal suffering.
Dr Montoliu added: “These experiments could not have been conducted in Europe.
“Legislation prohibits the use of non-human primates unless the experiment is aimed at investigating a serious, life-threatening disease, which is not the case in this experiment.”
-Sam Blanchard, The Sun
A Wary World Braces for Trump’s Return to the White House
(Bloomberg) -- When Estonia’s much-fêted prime minister, Kaja Kallas, went to Washington in November, she didn’t just meet with White House officials. She also made sure to talk to key allies of Donald Trump.
A month earlier, her foreign minister was in the heart of Trump country, thanking workers at a Lockheed Martin Corp. factory in Arkansas for their contribution to his country’s security — in the form of the HIMARS multiple rocket launchers made there. “It’s important that we take these messages not only to Washington but also to other part of American society, to states that are perhaps a little more conservative,” Margus Tsahkna told reporters.
The outreach is just one example of how countries around the world are delicately — but urgently — preparing for Trump’s possible return to the White House. It’s a reality that’s likely to resonate at this week’s meetings of the global elite in Davos after the former president’s convincing win in the Iowa caucuses further tightened his grip on the Republican nomination, setting up a probable rematch with Joe Biden, who lags in national polls.
Back in 2016, Trump’s election stunned US allies and rivals alike. This time, leaders aren’t taking any chances.
Residents of Washington’s Embassy Row have been scouring the city to meet ex-officials and anyone else close to the former president to get a read on his foreign policy plans. Some have even reached out directly to Trump, massaging his ego, or in Estonia’s case, seeking to head off his habitual complaint that Europe isn’t spending enough on defense.
Others are sounding the alarm publicly. “It is clearly a threat,” European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde told French TV last week, citing the lessons of Trump’s first term.
Few in power are so open. But interviews with government officials from Europe to Asia, Africa and Latin America lay bare their concerns — in some cases, their hopes — about the impact of a Trump reprise, for security, trade, and climate action, and the balance of global power. Most asked not to be named discussing what’s nominally an internal US matter, with the campaign only now picking up and predicted to be tight.
Fears, Hopes
Many US allies are concerned about Trump’s America First rhetoric and threats to pull out of NATO, not to mention his protectionist trade policies. At European Union summits, some leaders are scared to even mention the prospect of his return for fear of making it more likely, one senior diplomat said.
With Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine heading into its third year, 2024 could be a tipping point for Europe’s security, said a Baltic official. In the Middle East, Trump’s unquestioning embrace of Israel has some EU diplomats worried the Gaza war might worsen, fueling a new wave of refugees heading for Europe.
But some nations of the Global South see opportunities in the former president’s more transactional approach.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi enjoyed a personal rapport with Trump and his government preferred the previous administration to Biden’s, which has lectured New Delhi on human rights even as it has sought to enlist its support against China, according to officials. Their fondest hope: Trump picks Indian-American Vivek Ramaswamy as his running mate.
Brazil, which assumed the Group of 20 presidency from India, sees President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s G-20 plans for climate action, poverty reduction and reform of the International Monetary Fund as vulnerable to a resurgent Trump.
Italy’s agenda for its G-7 presidency is similarly affected by the specter of his return. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also faces a personal and political dilemma, having cheered on Trump while in opposition at an event in Washington in 2019, but in office cultivating a close relationship with Biden.
Perhaps counter-intuitively, the view from Beijing is one of little change in the fundamental trajectory of China-US relations. Wang Yiwei, director of Renmin University’s Institute of International Affairs, noted that tariffs levied during the Trump presidency remain in place, and despite positive signals from last year’s presidential meeting, what he called the US containment of China hasn’t changed, bringing “real harm.”
Trade Worries
In fact, China’s economy would benefit modestly from one of Trump’s signature initiatives, the imposition of 10% across-the-board tariffs on imports and the likely retaliation it would bring, according to estimates by Bloomberg Economics. US growth and employment would slow. Canada and especially Mexico, fellow signatories of the USMCA trade deal, would suffer disproportionately.
Read more from Bloomberg Economics on the terminal.
Canada’s business community sees the USMCA as an existential issue – and it’s due for a joint review in 2026. Still, as a veteran of Trump’s first term, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took care to stay on good terms with him in public while his senior aides forged relationships with Trump’s staff behind the scenes. That gives his team some confidence they can “stick-handle” another Trump presidency, though no one pretends it would be easy.
Mexican officials are having conversations with all camps including people in Trump’s orbit, and see their successful dealings with Trump before on complex topics like trade and migration as giving them confidence they can wrangle him again. What’s more, even though June elections mean a new Mexican president is due to take office in October, a singular focus in Washington on migration at the southern US border is likely to be something of a relief after the Biden administration’s additional interest in democracy, human rights and the environment.
The EU, which engaged in tit-for-tat sanctions with the Trump administration over US tariffs on steel and aluminum, wants to “Trump proof” agreements with the US, though it’s not clear how successful those efforts will be. One senior EU diplomat — who put the chance of a Trump return at 50-50 — said there is a greater awareness of the bloc’s dependencies in energy and raw materials, and the need to address them. His possible return has come up several times at official meetings.
Defense, Security
Many of the most critical — and anxious — voices are to be heard in Europe, where governments are bracing for the potential impact of Trump 2.0 on Russian relations, the Ukraine war and the future of NATO.
Several European delegations have been shuttling to Washington to reach out to Trump’s representatives and to the Heritage Foundation that’s working on his policy platform. The aim is partly to sound out who might be part of his administration to get a better handle on what to expect and to convey the message that Europe is paying its way in defense terms.
-Bloomberg News via yahoo!finance
More than half of US's 25,000 cities are predicted to become ghost towns by 2100... so, will YOUR area be affected?
Half of the nearly 25,000 cities in the US could become ghost towns by 2100, a study suggests.
Researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago found that in a modest scenario, around half of cities could lose up to a quarter of their resident populations by the end of the century.
If fertility rates continue to decline and the exodus from cities gets worse, as many as two-thirds of US cities could see their populations shrink significantly.
The team warned: 'The implications of this massive decline in population will bring unprecedented challenges, possibly leading to disruptions in basic services like transit, clean water, electricity and internet access' as cities shrink and populations age.
High taxes and cost of living associated with bustling metropolises have been pushing people away from cities for decades, trends which data suggests were exacerbated during Covid when companies allowed employees to work from home.
The exodus will be felt more in the Northeast and Midwest than in the South and West regions, with Hawaii and the District of Columbia experiencing no loss of people at all, the study's authors predicted.
Population has been on the rise since the 1600s – before the 'United States' even existed. But US Census data suggests that the country as a whole will experience population decline by 2080, which aligns with the findings of the new study.
For the latest study, the researchers used existing trends from the past 20 years to predict what the next 80 will look like.
The team looked at the change in cities' populations from 2000 to 2010, 2010 to 2020, and 2000 to 2010, while also taking into account each city's average annual population change from 2000 to 2020.
They categorized cities with a yearly drop of five per cent or higher as severely depopulating, from one per cent as moderately depopulating, and from 0 to 1 percent as slowly depopulating.
Midwestern cities like Detroit, Michigan; Cleveland, Ohio; and St. Louis, Missouri, fell into the 'moderate to slow depopulation' category, as did southern cities including Columbus, Georgia; Birmingham, Alabama; and Memphis, Tennessee.
For the future predictions, the researchers didn't name specific cities, but estimated the percentage of cities for each state and region.
One of their models showed that half of the 24,295 cities are expected to see a population drop of about 12 to 23 per cent by the end of the century in the most likely scenario.
A more extreme estimate predicted the number of cities in decline could reach 64 per cent.
In the future, the depopulation numbers will be higher in the Northeast and Midwest regions of the country than in the South and West, the study's data suggest.
More than 80 per cent of rural cities in the Northeast region could lose population numbers by 2100, according to an intermediate estimate.
About 77 per cent of urban cities in the region would grow, though.
The intermediate estimate also predicted most rural cities in the South will lose population, while all urban cities will gain population.
It can be hard to forecast how population growth trends will be altered by the effects of uncertain futures: changing job markets, sea level rise, climate change, immigration, new laws, and all the other factors that can make people move to or away from a given city.
In the coming decades, there will be cities or states in a region that don't adhere to the regional trend, the researchers wrote: For example, California's southern coast may lose population, but its northern coast may gain population.
And even though Texas and Utah are currently growing, many cities in each of these states will experience substantial population loss by the century's end, the researchers concluded.
Historically, a big portion of the depopulation trend has hit rural areas as young people moved to cities, leaving behind an aging population - people who were not having babies.
And the new study supported this trend.
Looking at population density – the number of people who live in a given area – revealed that the cities experiencing severe depopulation tend to have low population density.
Researchers also looked at how incomes link up to the population trends.
They found that cities in the Northeast and Midwest regions with lower median household incomes were more likely to depopulate over time.
'Such trends could exacerbate socioeconomic challenges experienced by lower-income households in these regions,' they wrote, 'given that population decline can create affordability concerns with infrastructure services, such as water and electricity, due to a dwindling tax base, and operations, management and maintenance (OMM) challenges.'
By contrast, high-income cities across all the regions will likely experience population growth.
And for some rural cities with low median incomes, populations are likely to grow.
Only time will tell how large regions and specific cities will be affected by populations over time.
Stagnant cities can usually support their population, but as cities shrink, the ability of city services to support the population may not keep up with the local demand.
This, in turn, can speed up depopulation as people move away from cities that become unlivable.
-Peter Hess, The Daily Mail
Bill Gates explains how AI will change our lives in 5 years
Image Credit: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/AP
New YorkCNN —
It’s no secret that Bill Gates is bullish on artificial intelligence, but he’s now predicting that the technology will be transformative for everyone within the next five years.
The rise of AI has elicited fear that the technology will eliminate millions of jobs around the world. The International Monetary Fund this week reported that about 40% of jobs around the world could be affected by the rise of AI.
Gates doesn’t necessarily disagree with that notion, but he believes history shows with every new technology comes fear and then new opportunity.
“As we had [with] agricultural productivity in 1900, people were like ‘Hey, what are people going to do?’ In fact, a lot of new things, a lot of new job categories were created and we’re way better off than when everybody was doing farm work,” Gates said. “This will be like that.”
In an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria on Tuesday, Gates predicted that AI will make everyone’s lives easier, specifically pointing to helping doctors do their paperwork, which is “part of the job they don’t like, we can make that very efficient.”
Since there’s isn’t a need for “much new hardware,” Gates said accessing AI will be over “the phone or the PC you already have connected over the internet connection you already have.”
He also said that the improvements with OpenAI’s ChatGPT-4 were “dramatic” because it can “essentially read and write” thus it’s “almost like having a white collar worker to be a tutor, to give health advice, to help write code, to help with technical support calls.” He said that incorporating that technology into the education or medical sectors will be “fantastic.”
Microsoft has a multibillion-dollar partnership with OpenAI. Gates remains one of Microsoft’s largest shareholders.
“The goal of the Gates Foundation is to make sure that the delay between benefitting people in poor countries versus getting to rich countries will make that very short,” Gates told Zakaria at Davos for the World Economic Forum. “After all, the shortages of doctors and teachers is way more acute in Africa then it is in the West.”
The IMF, in its report this week, had a much less optimistic view. The group said AI would deepen inequality without intervention from politicians.
Giving away his wealth
Gates is worth $140 billion, making him the fourth-richest person on Earth, according to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index. But he likely would still be the world’s richest person if he hadn’t committed to giving away all of his money.
He told CNN that he doesn’t worry about losing his wealth.
“I have more than enough money for my own consumption,” Gates said when Zakaria asked how philanthropic efforts are going. “I’m getting myself to go down the list, and I’ll be proud when I fall off altogether.”
The Microsoft cofounder and his ex-wife, Melinda French Gates, have both pledged to donate the vast majority of their wealth to the foundation they established together 20 years ago, as well as to other philanthropic endeavors.
In 2022, Gates announced the foundation’s intention to give away $9 billion annually by 2026. He said he’s “excited that will have so much impact” to the organizations he’s giving it to.
He said he and partners like Warren Buffett have given away about $100 billion into his foundation. At a rate of $9 billion a year, Gates anticipates he’ll have given away all of his money in about 20 years.
-Jordan Valinsky, CNN
Infinite energy? Dirt-powered fuel cell ‘can potentially last forever’
EVANSTON, Ill. — A new fuel source has been right under our feet the entire time — and scientists are not talking about oil. Northwestern University researchers have made a revolutionary advancement in sustainable energy by developing a novel fuel cell powered entirely by microbes in dirt. This innovation, about the size of a standard paperback book, offers a promising renewable energy alternative to traditional batteries, which often contain toxic chemicals and have environmentally harmful supply chains.
The soil-powered technology, ideal for powering underground sensors in precision agriculture and green infrastructure, could revolutionize how we manage and monitor agricultural environments. Unlike batteries that contain hazardous substances and contribute to electronic waste, this soil-based fuel cell harnesses energy sustainably and harmlessly.
Image Credit: The fuel cell, coated in dirt after being pulled from the ground. (credit: Northwestern University)
In tests, researchers successfully used the new fuel cell to power sensors that measure soil moisture and detect touch, an important feature for tracking wildlife. The device also includes a tiny antenna for wireless data transmission to a base station, enhancing its functionality in field applications.
Remarkably, the fuel cell’s performance exceeded similar technologies by 120 percent, proving effective in both wet and dry soil conditions. This adaptability is crucial for reliable operation in varying agricultural environments.
The research is particularly significant as the team has made all their designs, tutorials, and simulation tools publicly available. This open-source approach encourages further innovation and application in the field.
Image Credit: Lead researcher Bill Yen in the lab at Northwestern. (credit: Northwestern University)
“The number of devices in the Internet of Things (IoT) is constantly growing,” says study author Bill Yen, a Northwestern alumnus, in a university release.
“If we imagine a future with trillions of these devices, we cannot build every one of them out of lithium, heavy metals and toxins that are dangerous to the environment. We need to find alternatives that can provide low amounts of energy to power a decentralized network of devices. In a search for solutions, we looked to soil microbial fuel cells, which use special microbes to break down soil and use that low amount of energy to power sensors,” Yen continues.
“As long as there is organic carbon in the soil for the microbes to break down, the fuel cell can potentially last forever.”
The microbial fuel cells (MFCs) operate like a battery, with an anode, cathode, and electrolyte. However, instead of chemicals, they use bacteria naturally present in soil, which release electrons during the decomposition of organic matter. These electrons flow from the anode to the cathode, creating an electric circuit that generates power.
“If you want to put a sensor out in the wild, in a farm or in a wetland, you are constrained to putting a battery in it or harvesting solar energy,” explains Yen. “Solar panels don’t work well in dirty environments because they get covered with dirt, do not work when the sun isn’t out and take up a lot of space. Batteries also are challenging because they run out of power. Farmers are not going to go around a 100-acre farm to regularly swap out batteries or dust off solar panels.”
While MFCs have been known for over a century, their practical application has been limited due to performance issues in low-moisture conditions. To overcome this, Yen and his team experimented with different designs and found success with a unique perpendicular geometry. The anode, made of carbon felt, lies horizontally, while the conductive metal cathode stands vertically, ensuring consistent hydration and oxygenation.
Image Credit: This schematic shows an “exploded view” of the device. (credit: Northwestern University)
Researchers also plan to develop a fully biodegradable version of their soil-based MFC, moving away from conflict minerals and complicated supply chains.
“With the COVID-19 pandemic, we all became familiar with how a crisis can disrupt the global supply chain for electronics,” says study co-author Josiah Hester, a former Northwestern faculty member who is now at the Georgia Institute of Technology. “We want to build devices that use local supply chains and low-cost materials so that computing is accessible for all communities.”
The study is published in the journal Proceedings of the Association for Computing Machinery on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies.
-Study Finds
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