An outbreak of extreme weather has roiled the country with deadly dust storms in the plains and hundreds of tornadoes across the eastern U.S. over the past few weeks.
Now, heavy rainfall across parts of the South and Midwest is prompting comparisons with some of the worst flooding on record for the region.
Very moist air from the record-warm Gulf of Mexico is being drawn northward into a stalled frontal system creating a perfect recipe for torrential rains. Parts of the Ohio and Mississippi River Valleys received more than 15 inches of rain over the past four days.
High water swept away buildings, forced water rescues in river towns, and cut off rural areas when roads flooded. More than 18 people have died, just days after damaging tornadoes swept through some of the same locations.
The rains prompted dire wording from the National Weather Service including warnings of a potentially historic, prolonged flash flood event and serious concern of catastrophic, life-threatening consequences from generational rainfall.
This isnt routine. This is a rare, high-impact, and potentially devastating event, said a social media post from the Memphis office of the National Weather Service.
This weeks floods are set to reach a mark set only a handful of times over the past 200 years. The region’s last floods of this magnitude were in 1997 and 2011. In 1997, parts of western Kentucky received more than 10 inches of rain in a single day, which created turbulent currents on the Ohio River strong enough to flood the lock-and-dam infrastructure that allows barge traffic to operate.
In 2011, water rose so rapidly that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had to blast a hole in levees along Mississippi River farmland in rural southern Missouri in a last-ditch effort to avoid an uncontrolled breach of the levees further downstream in Memphis, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans.
The worst-case scenario for the Ohio River was the flood of 1937in which the river peaked about 10 feet higher than current forecasts. Although that magnitude isn’t expected this time, a similar amount of rain felljust about 100 miles further north than this weeks storms, enough so nearly all runoff went into the Ohio River. More than a million people were homeless after the 1937 flood, and only one bridge was left intact between Pittsburgh and Memphis. The flood struck during the middle of the Dust Bowl and at the end of the Great Depression, and it paved the way for the modern system of flood control through levees and dams.
Although weather forecasts for the rains have been reliable, the National Weather Service continues to be stretched thin due to Trumps budget cuts.
A staffing assessment gathered by NWS employees and published by the Associated Press on Friday found that nearly half of all local forecast offices are now critically understaffed, reducing meteorologists ability to interface with the public and local emergency management.
Detailed vacancy data for all 122 weather field offices show eight offices are missing more than 35% of their staffincluding those in Arkansas and Kentucky where tornadoes and torrential rain hit this week, said the report.
A four-day total rainfall of 15 inches is more than Memphis typically receives in April, May, and June combined. According to NWS data, in a stable climate, that kind of rainstorm is only expected to recur approximately once every 500 to 1,000 years.
This is exactly the sort of extreme weather event that our infrastructure isn’t built to handle. According to the Corps of Engineers, many of the locks and dams along the Ohio River are beyond their 50-year lifespan. Climate change increases the risk of extreme rainfall events, and the Corps is in the process of updating its flood maps to account for those changes nationwide.
This weeks rains have already created major flash flooding in cities and smaller rivers from Texas to Ohio. Near the confluence with the Mississippi River, the Ohio River is expected to crest by mid-April at its highest level since 2011just a few feet below the tops of the levees there.
All that water will gradually make its way into the Mississippi and out to the Gulf of Mexico through Louisiana. In addition to physical damages, the flooding could bring weeks of shipping delays for companies that rely on the roads and river barges that form the backbone of the Midwests economy. This weeks flooding could add to supply chain chaos as Trumps latest tariffs go into effect.
The governors of Arkansas, Kentucky, and Tennessee have asked the federal government for help, and Kentucky has also activated its National Guard to help respond to the floods. The governors have also declared states of emergency as waters continue to rise.
Chinese aerospace giant Comac has unveiled its plans for the C949, a supersonic aircraft designed to fly 50% farther than the Concorde and produce sonic booms quieter than a hairdryer. Scheduled to debut in 2049coinciding with the centenary of the People’s Republic of Chinathe aircraft positions China to challenge US supersonic projects like NASA’s X-59 and Boom Supersonic’s Overture in a race to redefine global air travel.
The most important thing here is that this shows supersonic is a raceand Chinas interested, says Blake Scholl, CEO and founder of Boom Supersonic. Advanced airplanes symbolize technological superiority, and its no accident that China wants that crown.
In a scientific paper published last month in the peer-reviewed journal Acta Aeronautica Sinica, Comac engineers detailed a Mach 1.6 aircraft capable of flying 4,225 miles, surpassing the Concorde’s 2,796 miles. The key to its design is a reverse-camber fuselage. In aerodynamics, this term refers to an unconventional curvature design in the fuselage or wings that inverts traditional airfoil shapes (which usually turns down from front to back). For the Comac C949, this term specifically describes a concave midsectioncurving inward rather than outwardalong the aircrafts body. The team claims this curved midsection weakens shockwaves. This silhouette combines with a long needle-shaped nose that splits pressure pulses, and aerodynamic bulges near the engines to disperse exhaust turbulence. The airplane doesnt have a regular cockpit.
[Image: Comac/South China Morning Post]
Similar to the X-59
If the long dart shape looks familiar, it’s because you probably saw it before: NASA’s X-59 uses a very similar design. According to the research paper reported by the South China Morning Post, the team led by Comacs chief aerodynamicist Wu Dawei did simulations that demonstrate that the C949 aerodynamic features will reduce its sonic boom noise to just 83.9 perceived level decibels (PLdB), about the sound of a hairdryer. This is only 5% of the 105 PLdB noise generated by the Concorde. NASA’s aircraft will have a 75 PLdB boomcomparable to the hum of a dishwasherso the C949 will be slightly louder.
Comac, like NASA with the X-59, believes that a quieter boom will make the case for removing the supersonic flight ban over land that’s been in place since 1971. The company says that the take-off noise will be within the international limits for take-off in airports near cities. The state-owned company, which aims to become the next Boeing or Airbus, knows that this is crucial for its commercial viability all around the world.
Both the C949 and X-59 employ elongated noses and redesigned fuselages to fracture shockwaves, but the C949 adds artificial intelligence systems not found in NASA’s demonstrator. The paper claims that its artificial intelligence-powered fly-by-wire control system adjusts the aircraft’s surfaces 100 times per second to counteract instability at high speeds.
The C949s twin turbofansthe jet engines that provide the thrustare adaptive-cycle, which means that they will alternate between two modes. One, when flying at a cruise altitude of 52,000-feet, is a fuel-efficient mode at 1.7 times the speed of sound (Mach 1.7). The other one, at lower altitudes, a low boom mode at Mach 1.6.
Like the C949, the X-59 features a 30-meter needle-shaped nosenearly half its lengthto stretch and disperse shockwaves, while its engine is positioned atop the fuselage to direct noise upward. It’s all about the geometry, Lockheed X-59 program director Dave Richardson told me in an interview. There’s no exotic technology, just a meticulous way to turn a bang into a dull thud. Lockheed has envisioned that, using its aerodynamics, a 44-passenger commercial aircraft would be 61 meters long. Richardson acknowledges there will be obstacles: Scaling [the X-59] requires engines that can sustain Mach 1.8 without afterburnersa challenge, but not impossible. The Chinese engineers will have to develop a new engine too, just like Boom Supersonic.
NASA’s Quesst prototype uses a virtual cockpit system that uses HD cameras to project the frontal outside view on internal screens that traditional pilot’s glass cockpit. This eliminates protuberances from the fuselage that would amplify the sonic boom sound. While Comac hasnt disclosed if the C949 will feature a full digital cockpit, its the only possible design option. Overture will also use one, like the Boom Supersonic XB-1, the prototype that served Scholl and his team to test their design ideas for Overture and their idea of boom-less supersonic flight.
The Overture avoids these extreme aerodynamic shapes, leveraging an atmospheric phenomenon called Mach cutoff. At 18,000 meters, its boomless cruise technique uses temperature and wind gradients to bend shockwaves upward, preventing them from reaching the ground. The sonic boom occurs but never reaches the ground. Not even as a dull thud, like the C949 and X-59. The company demonstrated this in two supersonic flights over the Mojave Desert, California, just a few months ago. Its not magic, just math, says Scholl, who aims to offer Mach 1.7 flights at business-class prices by 2029. We dont need new materials, just smarter engineering, he adds.
Challenges and advantages
According to Scholl, the X-59 and the C949 won’t be able to operate at current airports due to their size and shape, hindering their commercial adoption. The X-59 requires new airport infrastructureits too long for existing gates, tells me. Overture, by contrast, fits current airports, he says.
Regardless, Comac faces considerable challenges. It’s a relative newcomer to commercial aviation. Its first airliner, which includes a first homegrown engine, the C919, entered service in 2023. The company lacks the certifiation experience or supply chain power of Boeing or Airbus. Still, its ambitious timeline includes delivering a wide-body airplane called the C929 (an equivalent to the 787 Dreamliner) by 2027; and an ultra-long haul, 400-seat airplane called the C939 (equivalent to Boeings 777-9) by 2039. Then it plans to launch the C949 in 2049. So many complex projects, all built from scratch, carry the risk of delays, especially with unproven engine technology, according to industry experts.
But if any country can pull this off, it’s China. Beijing has developed a very mature aerospace industry. The country is manufacturing a completely new, homegrown Chengdu J-20 Mighty Dragon stealth fighter in large quantities. It is now testing two different new sixth-generation fighters, which broke cover months before the U.S. announced its future sixth-generation fighter, the F-47, for now just a 3D render. And, to top it all, Beijing is ahead in another key aerospace race: hypersonic flight.
General Mark Milley, then chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, recognized this fact when the Pentagon detected a Chinese secret test that defied physics in 2021, qualifying it as close to a Sputnik moment, referring to the day the Soviet Union left the U.S. behind in the space race. China has the economic and technological power to make it happen, and state funding shields Comac from market pressures.
The supersonic endgame
Its a real danger, especially when the U.S. is abdicating leadership, warns Scholl. Look at Boeingthey havent launched a new plane in decades [Boeing’s last new commercial airliner was the Dreamliner, which was announced in 2003 and took off in 2009 for the first time] China aims to replicate their industrial success in aviation. Look at what happened with cars. Chinese cars take over in markets without any tariffs. That shift happened in 10 years, he says. China aims to replicate this in aviation.
The C949 is feasible and fits into Chinese aerospace ambitions, but Comac still have to turn its idea into realityand from scratch. For now, NASA’s X-59 must demonstrate that its boom is acceptable to regulators. Boom Supersonic has shown that quiet supersonic flight is possible, but needs a new fuselage and new engines that balance speed and efficiency. Almost everything remains to be done, and the race has just begun. But Scholl warns: They have put a date on it. They have a model number. They are very serious. Theyll move as fast as engineering allows, without our regulatory red tape.
Weve seen what happened in semiconductors when we lost leadership. We cant let that happen here, Scholl urges. And Wu and his team knows it, as they write in their paper: The winner will dictate 21st-century aviation. For now, all three contenders are rewriting the rules for this race, almost silently.
President Donald Trump has just expanded the social media surveillance system for immigrants.
Starting in May, the United States will begin collecting the social media handles of all permanent resident applicants. That means anyone seeking a Green Cardincluding those already living in the United Statesmust sign up to be digitally surveilled by the government. Marco Rubio also reportedly demanded that diplomats scrutinize the social media accounts of student visa applicants, withholding approval from those who criticize the United States or Israel.
This expansion is expected to have a chilling effect on the internet economy. Under government surveillance, current and future immigrants may shut down their online presences out of fear of retribution. Social media CEOsMark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai, and othersstood at Trumps inauguration and donated to his Victory Fund. Will they continue to support him now that hes threatening their bottom line?
Trumps moves against immigrants’ online freedom
During Trumps first administration, the Department of Homeland Security began tracking the social media accounts of immigrant and nonimmigrant visa applicants. But the former president has now expanded that policy through an executive order titled Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats. Immigrants will now have to disclose their social media handles when applying for Green Cards, asylum, or any other immigration benefit.
For those who have already entered the country, the executive order suggests that future forms will likely require social media disclosures as well.
Most experts predict this policy will crush digital free speech. Even the Department of Homeland Security appears wary. It issued a 60-day call for public comment, inviting agency representatives and citizens to share concerns. Since the forum opened a month ago, it has received over 1,000 comments, calling the policy a gross violation of civil liberties, an unreasonable violation of privacy, and Orwellianism. One commenter wrote, Simply – Stay out of people’s lives who are here legally.
Meanwhile, DHS Secretary Marco Rubio is intensifying scrutiny of student visa holders. Following Trumps executive order, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has begun detaining student protesters across the country. One such case involved Rumeysa Ozturk, a Tufts PhD candidate, who was apprehended on the street by plainclothes, masked officers.
Now Rubio is demanding that diplomats inspect the social media pages of student visa activists. According to a cable reported by The New York Times, Rubio instructed that certain applications be sent to the fraud prevention unit for a mandatory social media check. This includes individuals suspected of having terrorist ties or sympathies, as well as anyone who held a student visa beginning on October 7, 2023the date of Hamass attack on Israel.
Will Silicon Valley take note?
There are nearly 13 million legal permanent residents in the U.S.13 million social media users who may quiet or delete their online presences due to the expansion of Trumps digital surveillance state. Thats not even counting the countless foreign nationals seeking student or travel visas who could do the same.
Such behavior could significantly shrink the user bases of major social media platforms. And the CEOs of those companiesmany of whom supported Trumpmight start to feel the effects. Among those onstage at his inauguration were Mark Zuckerberg (Meta), Sundar Pichai (Google), and Shou Zi Chew (TikTok). What happens when immigrant users stop turning to Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok out of fear?
Zuckerberg, in particular, has recently leaned into the rights free speech rhetoric. In January, he cut Facebooks already limited fact-checking operations, claiming they were too politically biased and shut down opinions and shut out people with different ideas. It was a bold move in the name of online free expressionif youre aligned with the right ideology. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is using Zuckerbergs own platforms to surveil people with the “wrong” ideologies and deny them entry into the countryor worse.
What will it take for these Big Tech CEOs to abandon their MAGA pipe dreams? For some financiers, it was tariffs. Maybe for them, itll be a direct hit to their customer base.
Planned Parenthood is facing a new wave of existential threats, this time targeting its funding as a womens health provider. Three years after the U.S. Supreme Court removed the federal right to abortion, Planned Parenthood President and CEO Alexis McGill Johnson shares why shes now turned to the same court to protect her organization from an attack by South Carolinas governor. Big funding attacks are also underway from Texas and the Trump Administration. McGill Johnsons approach to conflict, and how she motivates herself and her team, provides a telling window into leadership in duress.
This is an abridged transcript of an interview from Rapid Response, hosted by the former editor-in-chief of Fast Company Bob Safian. From the team behind the Masters of Scale podcast, Rapid Response features candid conversations with todays top business leaders navigating real-time challenges. Subscribe to Rapid Response wherever you get your podcasts to ensure you never miss an episode.
Planned Parenthood is at yet another inflection point. We’ve talked previously about the Dobbs case, the Supreme Court decision that allowed states to ban abortions. With the election of Donald Trump, there’s a new wave of challenges, particularly around funding for Planned Parenthood. This week, you’re back in front of the Supreme Court for oral arguments over South Carolina’s efforts to block Medicaid coverage of Planned Parenthood health centers. How uneasy is that? You haven’t had much luck with the Supreme Court recently.
Well, what can I say? They’re coming from all sides. They are coming from a whole administration approach to try and take away healthcare for millions of people in this country.
At every level of government we are under attack, and I do think that this Trump era, this new Trump era 2.0, is different, because they have consolidated power in every single branch, and they are using it with abandon, and watching them try, whether it’s a Medicaid defund, a Title 10 defund, potentially the Supreme Court case that could deny us access to Medicaid state by state, it just feels like everywhere we turn, they’re coming for us even when they know it’s not popular.
Planned Parenthood’s known for its policy advocacy, but it operates 600 some health centers around the country providing care beyond just abortion services. The South Carolina case that is this week, it has this sort of potentially massive implications for that work. Something like half of the patients at Planned Parenthood centers use Medicaid, so this is sort of a way to shut down the flow of resources.
Yes, and you’re absolutely correct. I mean, first of all, just to level set who Planned Parenthood is, Planned Parenthood is first and foremost a healthcare provider, providing millions of patients access to basic STI testing, and family planning, everything that you could imagine with respect to sexual and reproductive healthcare.
Fifty percent of our patients are also Medicaid patients. Over 60% of our patients are in rural areas. This Supreme Court case, Medina v. Planned Parenthood of South Atlantic, is really about Governor McMaster, the governor of South Carolina, trying to insert his own opinion in order to deny South Carolinians the right to choose Planned Parenthood as a provider.
Denying South Carolinians who use Medicaid from using that insurance at a Planned Parenthood means he would deny Planned Parenthood patients the right to choose their own doctor. It is so anti-freedom, is so anti-choice, is anti-libertarian, so anti-conservative government, but it is about power, and control, and trying to deny us access to care.
The concern here is not only about the South Carolinians; it’s that this is a national case where other states could in fact follow McMaster’s lead if the Supreme Court gives them a go-ahead, and they could similarly try to deny access to Medicaid for Planned Parenthood patients.
And it’s not specifically Medicaid that is being spent on abortions.
Right, because Medicaid isn’t being spent on abortions because of the Hyde Amendment because Congress already has an amendment to most bills where federal tax dollars are not being spent on abortion services.
This is about denying access to birth control, STI testings to breast cancer screenings, to wellness exams. One-out-of-three women comes to a Planned Parenthood, and have been to a Planned Parenthood in their lifetime. So a very significant reach in terms of who we see, and who we serve, and it’s trying to deny them access to choosing who their doctor should be.
The administration strategy sometimes seems like they want to flood the zone with so much pushing of opponents, pushing organizations, corporate organizations to cause organizations to give up on something in order to protect a higher priority. Do you feel any of that pressure to prioritize in a different way in this environment?
I can say I feel disappointment. I feel concerned for a number of really critical institutions in our society.
Corporations are feeling a financial pressure to go against their core values. There may be lots of ways in which they’re reconciling that. I know as a leader that your values are, that’s your integrity, that’s who you are. And so I cannot actually stand here as the president of Planned Parenthood, and say, “We’re going to walk away from the very communities that we have committed ourselves to providing care for just because the administration may be a little bit easier on me.”
It goes very much against what Planned Parenthood stands for, and how we were founded. We were founded by providing birth control, which at the time was not actually legal. We were literally born into resistance.
And I do think that the word resistance is a little funny these days, but when you are providing care that has been stigmatized, that in itself is an act of resistance, that’s how we have to stay grounded in our mission.
Planned Parenthood is, as we’ve said, under constant attack, sometimes metaphorically, sometimes financially, sometimes physically. Do you feel like you’re personally under attack, and, sort of, what’s the mood and morale for your team?
The Planned Parenthood health center workers who walk through protesters, who walk through probably more protesters now, given that the Trump essentially gave immunity to several of those protesters who had been arrested under the Face Act, and allow them to essentially come back to harassing our workers, I’m worried about them. I’m worried about the patients who have to navigate that. I’m worried about the abortion providers who are day in, day out, sometimes traveling hundreds of miles back and forth between cities and affiliates in order to ensure that everyone can meet the need. I think for my team, we center them, and we ensure that they have what they need. I chose this fight. You don’t come to Planned Parenthood by accident. I don’t worry about myself. I worry about supporting all of the people who show up every day because they care about this mission.
You have days though, sometimes you’re like, “All right, I signed up for this fight, but this fiht has become harder, and harder, and harder, and I’ve been in this fight, and maybe it’s time to just make my life a little easier.”
Well, I mean, there are always days, but I think sometimes, and I think this is a particular kind of leadership, where sometimes you see a fight, and you want in on it, and I think you can’t do this job unless you relish taking on the fight because you really believe in the cause.
And so are there days where I’m tired? Are there days where I think I can’t get on another plane, or I’m trying to balance a lot with my family, and make sure I’m back for the high school musical?
Those are the sorts of things that every executive is making a choice on, but I can tell you what does pull me through, and that is those moments when I am sitting on a plane, and someone comes up, and they say, “Thank you for doing what you’re doing.” They may grab my hand a little tighter. They may look me in the eyes. They may tell me their whole story.
Being able to bear witness to the difference that Planned Parenthood has made in their lives, I think is something different than what a lot of CEOs may experience in their day-to-day life. And so it is grueling. I won’t lie on that regard, but it really means something. This is just an honor. I don’t know how to top this. It will be an honor to have served in this role.
When my emergency IAR app sounds at 3 a.m., theres no room for ego, second-guessing, or hesitation. In that critical moment, all that matters is trust, teamwork, and execution.
While I have spent decades in the corporate world, some of my most valuable leadership lessons have come from my experience as a volunteer EMS first responder. In the field, when Im assisting in a life-threatening trauma situation or responding to a car accident, leadership is put to the test under extreme pressure.
But whether Im piloting an ambulance on a dark highway or guiding my company through turbulent times, the principles remain the same: Know your role, remove the noise, maintain a true north, and harness the power of the collective.
First responders make real-time decisions under pressure, relying on trust and collaboration, and CEOs today must embrace the same mindset. While I see some leaders reverting to top-down management in response to rapid change and shifting policies, this approach can actually hinder long-term success.
True leadership isnt about command and controlits about creating an environment of clarity, trust, and adaptability, where teams are empowered to act decisively and navigate uncertainty together. Its especially critical that executives embrace this ethos as their organizationsand their teamsare increasingly beset by outside noise and pressures that can potentially distract from their mission.
Heres what leaders can learn from first responders:
Know When to Take a Back Seat
In emergency response, knowing your role is crucial. A 17-year-old EMT might direct someone twice their age, and thats exactly as it should be. Whether you are administering first aid, navigating traffic, or coordinating logistics, each team member must be clear about their responsibilities so they can work together in harmony.
I recently watched a young ambulance corps captain in her mid-20s take command of a complex mental health emergency. With police on the scene and tensions high, she led with a calm, tactical presence that turned a chaotic situation into a controlled, compassionate response. Her ability to take charge had nothing to do with age or rankit was about skill, confidence, and knowing when to step up.
The same holds true in any organization. Leadership isnt about titles or hierarchy; its about recognizing strengths and empowering the right people to lead when it matters most.
Remove the Noise, Focus on Your North Star
In an emergency, chaos surrounds you: passing traffic, weather conditions, bystanders, distraught family members. First responders must filter out this noise to focus on their task at hand.
A clear example of this is a severe car accident I responded to where an older gentleman had driven off the highway into the woods. The vehicle was so badly damaged that we couldn’t even identify what kind of car it was. In these emergency situations, it’s the moments you take to assess the situation that make all the difference. Moving quickly doesn’t mean rushing in. It means taking the time to carefully evaluate the scene, calculating the arrival time of fire and additional emergency services, and identifying the right individual to enter the vehicle.
By filtering out the surrounding chaosthe twisted metal, the external commotion, the emotional intensitywe were able to focus on our critical mission of saving the mans life.
As a leader, removing noise isn’t about ignoring those external factors. It’s about relying on a wealth and depth of experience to create a protective structure that allows your team to execute effectively. I approach an important meeting the same way I handle an emergency situation: by carefully assessing the context, gathering critical data points, and clearly outlining the objective. This ensures my team has all the information they need to contribute meaningfully toward our shared goal.
Time is our most valuable currency. By setting a clear direction, I keep the focus on what matters, enabling diverse perspectives to informbut not derailthe final decision.
The Power of the Collective
Individual skill is essential, but the power of the collective is truly transformative. Every first responder brings their own expertise and intuition, but success comes when these individuals work together in harmony. A single person may perform a critical task, but its the combined effort of all team members that ensures the best possible outcome.
For executives, operating in isolation is a recipe for failure. Just like AI algorithms, leadership decisions are only as good as the inputs we apply. To harness the power of the collective, you must value every voiceregardless of volume. Some team members are naturally outspoken, while others hold back critical insights. Effective leaders create spaces that draw out diverse perspectives, whether its proactively calling on a subject matter expert to weigh in or setting up a roundtable discussion to give everyone a chance to chime in. Its not just about making space; its about knowing when a nudge is needed.
Getting Comfortable with Change
Change has always been a constant in business, but its pace and unpredictability have grown in recent years. Just like in emergency response, where rapid shifts require clear thinking and decisive action, businesses must not only accept change but develop the confidence to navigate it effectively.
The leaders who build strong, agile teamsnot just obedient followerswill be the ones who thrive. Its about creating the conditions where teams can perform at their best, even in the most challenging circumstances.
I see this firsthand every Monday night when Im on call from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.and it continues to shape my leadership long after the shift ends.
As renewable energy gathers steam around the world, the harms of mining its mineral components continue to grow. On the environmental front, for example, theres the destruction of Indonesian rainforests to mine nickel and the draining of precious South American groundwater reserves to obtain lithium. Theres also the human toll, which can be seen in forced displacement and child labor exploitation in the cobalt-rich Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as violence toward Indigenous people living on nickel-studded lands in the Philippines.
The devastation raises the question: Is the world better off just sticking with the status quo? With these factors, is renewable energy and clean technology any better than fossil fuels?
Whatever the answer, the comparison must account for the continued and additional coal, oil, and gas use that will happen in the absence of a mineral-powered energy transition. Not only does the status quo involve devastating greenhouse gas emissions that wreak havoc on the whole planet, but it also requires local ecological disruption in the form of fossil fuel extraction, which will continually expand as existing fuel deposits are depleted. Fracking and drilling for oil and gas can cause groundwater contamination, oil spills, and the uncontrolled release of planet-warming methane. And mining for coal, of course, is similarly destructive as other kinds of mining.
Nickle mining on Hinatuan Island in Surigao del Norte province, Philippines. [Photo: Erwin Mascarinas/AFP/Getty Images]
While theres a lot of room for improvement with metals mining, said Julie Klinger, a mineral supply chains expert at the University of Delaware, look at the devastation that fossil fuel extraction has brought.
Indeed, the most mined resource today is coal, with around 8.7 billion tons produced in 2023 alone. We need fossil fuels in such large quantities precisely because they are fuels, continuously shoveled into power plants to generate energy. By contrast, solar panels and wind turbines require a fixed quantity of metals only during the construction phaseand once built, they can produce energy for several decades without additional inputs. Because of this, experts agree that the world will actually see a net decrease in energy-related mining if we replace fossil fuels with metals-powered technologies.
In 2023, a team of scientists and Deloitte consultants in the Netherlands projected future metal and coal demand under an ambitious scenario where humanity reaches net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. They found that, despite a more than sixfold increase in demand for energy-related metalsbringing the total up to just over 3 billion tonstotal global ore extraction would decrease by a third because of the decline in coal mining.
In any case, mining for energy transition minerals will likely only ever constitute a relatively small proportion of global mining activity. Mines cover less than 0.02 percent of Earths surface, but many of them are for iron and aluminum, which we need in ever-increasing quantities to build the world around us, regardless of where we get our energy. That will dwarf anything thats actually used for the energy transition, said geologist Gawen Jenkin of the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom.
Most importantly, perhaps, while fossil fuels can only be burned once, many minerals can in principle be used many times over. The Netherlands study estimates that we could slash energy-related mining demand by an additional third in the 2050 net-zero scenario if we were to massively upscale recycling of EVs, wind turbines, and solar panels. The fundamental issue, said Raphael Deberdt, a socioeconomic mining expert at the Colorado School of Mines, is that our economic system incentivizes as much extraction as possible in order to fuel infinite consumption. But shifts to reduce resource consumptionthink electric buses and trains rather than SUVs, and reusing old solar panels and EV batteries wherever possible, for instanceand a circular economy that makes the best use of every resource would do wonders to ease the burden of mining.
There are other actions we can take to further reduce the adverse effects of mineral mining. For example, engineers can substitute materials connected to labor or human rights abuses with ones that can be more responsibly sourced; Tesla, for instance, has begun to equip its electric vehicles with iron-phosphate batteries that are cheaper and dont require cobalt or nickel, which have been linked to environmental and social damage in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Indonesia, respectively. This reflects a broader shift across auto industrieswith manufacturers like Renault and Volkswagen reportedly following suitwhile iron-phosphate batteries are also becoming increasingly popular for general electricity storage.
There are also many opportunities to extract minerals from the waste of existing mines that were originally built for different purposes. Research by mining and sustainability expert Tim Werner of the University of Melbourne has estimated that waste from a single Canadian zinc mine could supply several years worth of global demand for indium, which is used in solar cells, and there are already efforts to recover cobalt from old lead mines in Missouri. Nascent attempts to recover critical minerals from ocean water, plant life, and even asteroids have shown promise, though they are not developed enough to displace traditional methods.
In short, the mantra reduce, reuse, recyclein precisely that orderretains its importance in an all-renewables world. The more of these changes we adopt, the more luxury well have to choose where and how minerals are mined. This transition needs to happen, Werner said. But we have to be really strategic, really smart, and really conscientious and responsible about where theyre coming from.
Katarina Zimmer, Grist
This article originally appeared in Grist, a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. Sign up for its newsletter here.
When deciding if something is worth the effort, whether youve already exerted yourself or face the prospect of work, changes your calculus. Thats what we found in our new research, published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General.
When you consider a future effort, more work makes the outcome less appealing. But once youve completed the work, more effort makes the outcome seem more valuable. We also discovered that hiding behind this general principle of timing there are individual differences in how future and past effort shapes peoples value for the fruits of their labor.
Whats it worth to you?
In our experiment, we gave participants a choice between a fixed amount of money and a household itema mugthat they could take home if they exerted some amount of physical effort, roughly equivalent to walking up one, two, or three flights of stairs.
This setup allowed us to determine the value each person placed on the effortdid it add to or subtract from the value of the item? For instance, if putting in a little more effort made someone switch their decision and decide to go with the cash instead of the mug, we could tell that they valued the mug plus that amount of effort less than that sum of money.
We also manipulated the time aspect of effort. When the effort was in the future, participants decided whether they wanted to go with the cash or get the mug with some effort. When the effort was in the past, participants decided whether they wanted to cash in the mug they had already earned with effort.
As we had expected, future effort generally detracted from the value of the mug, but the past effort generally increased it.
But these general trends do not tell the whole story. Not everyone responds to effort the same way. Our study also uncovered striking individual differences. Four distinct patterns emerged:
For some people, extra effort always subtracted value.
Others consistently preferred items with more work.
Many showed mixed patterns, where moderate effort increased value but excessive effort decreased it.
Some experienced the opposite: initially disliking effort, then finding greater value at higher levels.
These changing patterns show that ones relationship with effort isnt simple. For many people, theres a sweet spot: A little effort might make something more valuable, but push too far and the value drops. Its like enjoying a 30-minute workout but dreading a two-hour session, or conversely, feeling that a five-minute workout isnt worth changing clothes for, but a 45-minute session feels satisfying.
Our paper offers a mathematical model that accounts for these individual differences by proposing that your mind flexibly computes costs and benefits of effort.
Why violate the law of less work?
Why should timing even matter for effort? It seems obvious that reason and nature would teach you to always avoid and dislike effort.
A hummingbird that prefers a hard-to-get flower over an easy equal alternative might win an A for effort, but, exhausted, would not last long. The cruel world requires resource rationalityoptimal, efficient use of limited physical and mental resources, balancing the benefits of actions with the required effort.
That insight is captured by the classic psychological law of less work, basically boiling down to the idea that given equivalent outcomes, individuals prefer easier options. Anything different would seem irrational or, in plain language, stupid.
If so, then how come people, and even animals, often prize things that require hard work for no additional payoff? Why is being hard-to-get a route to value? Anyone who has labored hard for anything knows that investing effort makes the final prize sweeter, whether in love, career, sports, or Ikea furniture assembly.
Could the answer to this paradox of effort be that in the hummingbird example, the decision is about future effort, and in the Ikea effect, the effort is in the past?
Our new findings explain seemingly contradictory phenomena in everyday life. In health care, starting an exercise regimen feels overwhelming when focusing on upcoming workouts, but after establishing the habit, those same exercises become a source of accomplishment. At work, professionals might avoid learning difficult new skills, yet after mastering them, they value their enhanced abilities more because they were challenging to acquire.
What still isnt known
Sayings like No pain, no gain or Easy come, easy go populate our language and seem fundamental to our culture. But researchers still dont fully understand why some people value effortful options more than others do. Is it physical aptitude, past experiences, a sense of meaning, perception of difficulty as importance or impossibility, moralization of effort, specific cultural beliefs about hard work? We dont know yet.
Were now studying how effort shapes different aspects of value: monetary value; hedonic value, as in the pleasure one gets from an item; and the aesthetic value, as in the sense of beauty and artistry. For instance, were investigating how people value artful calligraphy after exerting different amounts of effort to view it.
This work may shed light on curious cultural phenomena, like how people value their experience seeing the Mona Lisa after waiting for hours in crowds at the Louvre. These studies could also help researchers design better motivation systems across education, health care and business.
Piotr Winkielman is a professor of psychology at the University of California, San Diego.
Przemysław Marcowski is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, San Diego.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Chances are, you or someone you know has been the target of a scam. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), reported scams cost Americans more than $12.5 billion in 2024a 25% increase from the previous year. But as scams grow more sophisticated, so do their opponents.
A growing number of online vigilantes are flipping the script, turning the scam on the scammersand racking up millions of views in the process. Mashables Chris Taylor recently spoke to a few whove turned scambaiting into full-time work.
Rosie Okumura got into scambaiting after her mother was tricked out of $500 by a pop-up on her computer. Now, she channels her acting skillsmimicking well-known voices like Britney Spears and Kim Kardashianto waste scammers time while entertaining her audience. Her YouTube channel, IRLrosie, boasts most than 1.6 million subscribers, with another 1.2 million followers on TikTok.
“I feel like teaching people how to avoid scams is better than helping someone who’s lost a ton of money, or putting myself in a dangerous situation,” Okumura said.
Ashton Bingham and Art Kulik, the duo behind the YouTube channel Trilogy Media, also have 1.6 million subscribersbut they take their scambaiting offline. Their most-watched video, Hunting a Scammer with Cops, has amassed more than 5.6 million views since its 2022 release. In it, Bingham and Kulik team up with law enforcement to confront a refund scammer in person, armed with $40,000 in fake cash and a camera crew. With a subscription platform, Trilogy+, and a freshly signed deal for an unscripted TV show, scambaiting has become a profitable venture.
Some scambaiters argue that by wasting a scammers time, theyre preventing real victims from being defrauded. But whether this tactic actually reduces online fraud is still debated. Research has also flagged ethical concerns, as some early scambaiters used racist, extreme, or even violent methods when confronting scammers.
Still, for Okumura, the response has been overwhelmingly positive. The best part is getting recognized at restaurants, she told Mashable. They will comp my bill!
Roughly half a mile behind the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Ariels Grotto in Walt Disney World sits a nondescript cement warehouse with the words the can-do people written on the outside. Should tourists somehow get lost in that corner, located just outside the Magic Kingdom, its a place they would never pay attention to. What they might never imagine, however, is that generic building is the lynchpin of the Disney experience.
Welcome to Central Shops, a rarely spoken part of Disney thats off-limits to visitors and most of the companys cast members (Disneys term for its employees). Its ground zero for Disney Worlds ride safety and an essential part of park operations around the world.
With 417 employees spanning 15 trades, from electricians to carpenters to painters, Central Shops is where every ride in the four Orlando theme parks is regularly inspected to ensure theyre safe to ride. At the same time, its also the corner of Disney where character heads for in-park meet-and-greets and parades in all global parks are manufactured. (Put another way, every Goofy, Mickey, Minnie, and Donald you see at the parks had their noggins made here.)
[Photo: Disney]
Ripping apart Disney World rides
Ride inspection is, arguably, the most important job of Central Shops. Every ride vehicle in the four Orlando theme parks ends up here on a recurring basis for inspectionand its far from a quick one. Ride vehicles are torn apart, down to their components. Every panel, bolt, etc. is inspected individually, a process that generally takes between 12 and 18 weeks from start to finish, says Fred Cox, director of manufacturing.
For dark rides, like a Haunted Mansion Doom Buggy, a log flume from Tianas Bayou Adventure, or a horse on Prince Charmings Carousel, thats done on a calendar basis, scheduled breaks when select cars are taken out of commission and inspected. For thrill rides, like Space Mountain, its meter-based, meaning vehicles are taken off the line after theyve been ridden a predetermined number of times.
On a recent press trip through Central Shops, we saw a number of rides in various states of inspection. A collection of parts on one side was barely identifiable as a ride car from Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. A few steps away, a honey pot from The Many Adventure of Winnie the Pooh gleamed, following a touch-up to its fiberglass. Sitting off to the side was a disassembled teacup from the Mad Tea Party.
And scattered throughout the shop were parts of Astro Orbiter, a ride that has been completely (and temporarily) removed from the Magic Kingdom. Every 10 years, explained Rich Votava, manager of manufacturing, the bearing at the bottom of the ride (which sits atop the People Mover in Tomorrowland) needs to be replaced. Imagineers remove it completely, giving Central Shops a chance to inspect all the ride elements, from the boom arms on the decorative planets on the ride to the ride cars. (The Disney World ride is expected to be back in the park this summer, likely in May or June.)
After ride cars are dismantled, each part is carefully inspected, some under X-ray to look for microscopic cracks in the metal. Once each part has been examined and refurbished (if needed), the components of vehicles are put back together, while the shells are repainted or refreshed. Once they are reassembled, cars are then returned to the park, where they run without riders for another two weeks to ensure everything is working properly. After that, visitors begin to pile in once again. (The maintenance schedule of most ride vehicles is staggered so that rides arent forced to close completely, like Astro Orbiter has.)
We break it down to the blueprints, says Votava.
Safety inspections go beyond ride vehicles, of course. Workers from Central Shops are in the parks nightly once visitors leave to make any necessary repairs and safety inspections for rides. Sometimes, thats done with drones, which inspect areas humans cant easily reachsuch as atop Spaceship Earth in Epcot or under the water at one of the resorts boat piers. And a tool called the Resistograph is used to check the density of wood throughout the park to alert Imagineers if theres rot inside and a piece needs to be replaced.
[Photo: Disney]
More than machines
While theres a lot of engineering work that goes on at Central Shops, theres also a surprising amount of detail touch-up.
In addition to creating character heads (in a top-secret room that Disney did not allow members of our press tour to view), the facility also handles repairs to character costumes at the Florida parks. Shoes get scuffed and details torn as Mickey and Buzz Lightyear interact with visitors. The stormtroopers are also getting a glow-up as Star Wars Day (May 4) approaches. Costumes are bought here, where theyre refurbished (a process that can take a week or two).
Meanwhile, horses on the Magic Kingdoms carousel are getting a touch-up. They have a lot of sentimental value, as they were purchased by Walt Disney himself, so the hand-carved maple stallions are treated with an especially delicate touch, with touch-ups done by artists and old layers of paint carefully sanded off so as to not hurt the detail of the carving.
Some small elements that guests might not even notice are handled in Central Shops as well, such as adding details like the small trunk hairs on a baby elephant from The Jungle Cruise, which have to be inserted one at a time by hand.
Its detail-oriented work thats done well out of view, so guests can stay in the Disney bubble. But with more than 115 attractions at the parks (along with more than 50 character experiences), Central Shops is essential to keeping the rides running smoothly and maintaining the parks reputatin as the so-called happiest place on earth.
If you’re finding yourself contemplating whether you can get an extension on this year’s tax return, you’re not alone. Forty percent of Americans still haven’t filed.
Theres something almost perverse about the IRS placing tax day smack-dab in the middle of the loveliest month of the year. Want to enjoy the warm weather, cherry blossoms, and the sunshine reflecting off the pasty white skin of everyone venturing outside for the first time since last fall? Too bad! You have to excavate all of your financial decisions from the previous year while simultaneously trying to remember your math skillsor risk the wrath of an IRS agent named Spike.
Thats why its something of a relief that every American taxpayer can get an automatic six-month extension on filing their federal income taxes. But, since this is the IRS were dealing with, there is a catch: You still have to pay what you owe by Tax Day.
If filing your 2024 taxes has crept up on you this year (when did it get to be April already?), heres what you need to know about getting an extension while staying on Spike the Auditors good side.
File for an extension with Form 4868
While all taxpayers are eligible for an automatic tax return extension, you still need to request one. Thats where Form 4868, Application for Automatic Extension of Time to File U.S. Individual Income Tax Return comes in.
Anyone who fills out and turns in Form 4868 (which can be filed electronically using IRS Free File) by the tax filing deadline of April 15, 2025, automatically receives a six-month extension for filing their 2024 taxes. This pushes the tax filing deadline back to October 15, 2025.
Unlike your 1040 and other required tax forms, Form 4868 does not require a great deal of information from you. All you need to provide on this form is the following
Your name
Current address
Social Security number
Estimated tax liability for 2024
Amount of 2024 tax you have already paid
The form also asks you to subtract your total 2024 payments from your estimated liability to calculate your balance due.
Once you have completed and filed the form, you will automatically receive the filing extension. Just remember that youve only extended the deadline for filing your tax paperwork. You still have to hand over your estimated tax liability by April 15.
Estimate your tax liability
If you, like me, have never once figured out your tax liability (or overpayment, in the years you get a return) without actually filing your taxes, you might be wondering how youre supposed to calculate your estimated tax liability for Form 4868. It doesnt help that the IRS offers this not-at-all ominous warning on Form 4868:
Make your estimate as accurate as you can with the information you have. If we later find that the estimate wasnt reasonable, the extension will be null and void.
Just in case you werent already stressed about tax season.
Thankfully for those seeking a tax return extension, there are some guidelines for making a reasonable estimate of your tax liability.
Knowing whats reasonable
Since one taxpayers reasonable is anothers gross negligence, the IRS helpfully defines a reasonable estimate as being 90% of the total tax you owe. If your estimate is at least 90% of the real number, and if you pay the remaining 10% or less balance when you file your tax return by the end of the six-month extension period, the IRS considers you all good.
W-2 employees
Traditionally employed taxpayers will typically have the easiest time estimating their liability. If you remained in the same job in 2023 and 2024 and your income didnt change a great deal, youll just need to look back at your total tax liability for 2023. Go back to your 2023 tax return and check line 24, labeled your total tax.
When youve found your 2023 total tax number, subtract the following from it:
Any taxes you have already paid in 2024, includingmoney withheld from your paychecks by your employer
any estimated tax payments you made
Any 2024 tax credits you qualify for, includingthe child tax creditthe child and dependent care credit
the earned income tax credit
Taking your 2023 total tax liability and subtracting any 2024 taxes paid and 2024 tax credits from it should give you a reasonable approximation of your current liability.
Self-employed taxpayers
Freelancers, gig workers, entrepreneurs, and small business owners seeking a tax return extension have a tougher task ahead of them when estimating their tax liability. Instead of a handy-dandy W-2, these taxpayers have to rely on their own records to know their income and estimate their taxes.
For these taxpayers, start with your total profits and losses from 2024 to get a back-of-the-envelope estimate of your income for the year. Plug that income estimate into a marginal tax rate calculator like this one from Bankrate to calculate your tax liability. Once you have that number, you can subtract any quarterly estimated taxes you paid in 2024, as well as any tax credits you qualify for. This should give you a reasonable estimate of your liability.
Job-hopping taxpayers
If you had more than one job in 2024, had an extreme change in your income, or otherwise had kind of a weird year money-wise, its probably best to calculate your tax liability with the IRS 1040-ES Estimated Tax Worksheet.
This is a 12-page form, which means it will take more work than filling out Form 4868. (It may even be the IRSs Machiavellian scheme to encourage procrastinating taxpayers to just file their taxes already, since this requires almost as much work). But using the 1040-ES will give you the most accurate method of calculating your tax liability if you need to file for the extension.
Pay what you oweor else pay even more
If you dont cough up the taxes you owe by April 15, there will be consequencesof the financial variety.
The first consequence is a late payment penalty. This penalty charges you 0.5% of the unpaid taxes per month or partial month that the taxes remain unpaid. For example, lets you owe Uncle Sam $5,000 for your 2024 taxes. Instead of making the $5,000 on April 15, you wait to pay until you file your tax return on October 15. You will face a 3.0% penalty or $150 because you made your payment six months after the April 15 deadline.
The second penalty youll face will be interest chared on your unpaid taxes, which can really be a pain in your bank account. The IRS sets its interest rate at the federal short-term rate, plus 3%, and it changes the rate on a quarterly basis. As of April 2025, the IRS currently charges an interest rate of 7% per year, compounded daily, for underpayment of individual taxes.
That means waiting until October 15 to pay your $5,000 in taxes would mean owing $178 in interest (provided the rate does not change). And that interest will continue to accrue until you pay what you owe.
Dont forget about state taxes
If you live in a state with income tax, you probably need an extension for your state tax filing deadline, too. The good news is that many states automatically grant an extension for state taxes when you apply for a federal tax extension. But thats not true of all statessome require a separate form to receive a state-level extension. You can find out what your state requires here.
Just remember that you also have to pay your state income tax by the spring tax deadline, even when you apply for a state-level extension. Theres no avoiding the spring tax payment.
Give yourself some breathing room
If tax season snuck up on you, an automatic extension can give you more time to file your taxes. Just remember that Uncle Sam still expects the money you owe him on April 15.
