Screenwriters Have Reached a Tentative Deal to End the Strike. Here’s What Happens Next With the WGA and SAG

After five grueling days of negotiation, the screenwriters in the Writers Guild of America (WGA) have reached a tentative agreement with the studios and streamers, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), to end a strike that began in May. The key word here is tentative: Picketing has paused, but writers are still technically on strike until the deal is ratified.

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While we won’t see the fine print of the contract until the final language is agreed upon by both sides, the WGA did craft a residual formula for streamers—like Netflix, Max, Hulu, and Prime Video—in which TV shows and movies that reach certain performance benchmarks are essentially given bonuses. And a formula was created in which the number of episodes in a season will determine, on a sliding scale, how many writers must be hired to work on a show. Using AI to generate content—a major concern for both writers and actors—seemed to be a sticking point, and were among the last details debated before bargaining ended.

“We can say, with great pride, that this deal is exceptional—with meaningful gains and protections for writers in every sector of the membership,” the WGA wrote in an email to its members. “What we have won in this contract—most particularly, everything we have gained since May 2nd—is due to the willingness of this membership to exercise its power, to demonstrate its solidarity, to walk side-by-side, to endure the pain and uncertainty of the past 146 days.”

What does a tentative agreement mean for screenwriters?

Although picketing has been suspended, the strike itself is still in effect, meaning that screenwriters will not yet be returning to work. Once the nitty-gritty language in the contract is finalized, the WGA negotiating committee—the people who were actually at the table with the AMPTP—will vote. That will determine whether the contract will go to a vote by the leaders of the WGA.

If both of those votes go through, then the roughly 11,000 members of the WGA will also decide whether or not to accept the terms. If everyone agrees to the new contract, it will last for three years, until it’s once again up for reapproval.

“To be clear, no one is to return to work until specifically authorized to by the Guild,” the WGA wrote in its statement. “We are still on strike until then. But we are, as of today, suspending WGA picketing. Instead, if you are able, we encourage you to join the SAG-AFTRA picket lines this week.”

What does this mean for the SAG strike?

Of course, even if the writers return, there won’t be anyone to perform their work until the actors’ strike, by those in the Screen Actors Guild—American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), also ends. Nor will actors be able to promote their work, a concern that has prompted studios and streamers to push back some releases.

“SAG-AFTRA congratulates the WGA on reaching a tentative agreement with the AMPTP after 146 days of incredible strength, resiliency, and solidarity on the picket lines,” SAG-AFTRA said in a statement. “Since the day the WGA strike began, SAG-AFTRA members have stood alongside the writers on the picket lines. We remain on strike in our TV/Theatrical contract and continue to urge the studio and streamer CEOs and the AMPTP to return to the table and make the fair deal that our members deserve and demand.”

The streaming residual formula that the WGA accomplished should help lay the groundwork for a similar revenue-based residual system for SAG-AFTRA, something the latter has been striking for. For now, it seems likely that the coming end of the WGA strike may convince studios and streamers to move more quickly with SAG-AFTRA as well.

source https://time.com/6317199/wga-strike-tentative-agreement/

Swifties Are Studying Up on Football After Taylor Swift Went to the Chiefs Game

For people who have never watched football before, the rules admittedly can be a little confusing. But today, a whole new population of prospective fans are asking the necessary questions in order to get a handle on the sport. Sunday night, Swifties decided it was time to figure out how the game works after spotting Taylor Swift at the Kansas City Chiefs game. Swift was watching in tight end Travis Kelce’s family box, alongside his mother, following recent reports of the pair spending time together. On X, Swifties started helping each other understand how the game is played for future reference, in case Swift starts attending more regularly between her Eras Tour dates and her fans, in turn, start following along to catch a glimpse of the pop star.

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One Swiftie uploaded a post that broke the game into the simplest possible terms. Many of the replies were from confused Swifties asking questions about the sport. “Okay, so what’s a down?” one person asked. Users asked questions like, “What’s a field goal” and “Do you throw the ball or run with it?”

FOOTBALL EXPLAINER FOR THOSE CONFUSED

you have 4 tries (downs) to go 10 yards, if you do you keep the ball and the cycle repeats, and if you don’t the other team gets it

you can score touchdowns for 6 points or kick a field goal for 3

thats basically all you need to know

— shannon (is celebrating 1989 tv! 🩵) (@holygroundsound) September 24, 2023

Read more: The Staggering Economic Impact of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour

The original poster added a comment to the thread: “I regret to inform everyone who is giggling at this that we have been made to watch football for Taylor like 4 times this year, and I tweet this every time.” They also clarified that, “We are simply watching for Taylor Swift’s lil reactions. No one who doesn’t plan on watching regularly needed to know any of that other stuff.”

“you forgot xyz” baby we are simply watching for taylor swift’s lil reactions no one who doesn’t plan on watching regularly needed to know any of that other stuff 😭

— shannon (is celebrating 1989 tv! 🩵) (@holygroundsound) September 25, 2023

we are living in a world where travis kelce gets a TD and the camera pans to taylor swift screaming lets fucking go . pic.twitter.com/fi3LiAUZ4B

— ella 🫧 (@nhlella) September 24, 2023

Fans are also calling this new period in her romantic history the “American Revolution” because the last person Swift was allegedly romantically involved with was The 1975’s Matty Healy. Healy is from the U.K., whereas Kelce was born and raised in Ohio. “No more ugly British men… Truly, this is the American Revolution.”

“the american revolution” (via @emrofort) pic.twitter.com/HxmOe3V5xn

— Marlow Stern (@MarlowNYC) September 24, 2023

Other Swifties are questioning their relationship to the sport now that Swift might be attending more games. “Do I, a Taylor Swift fan, have to care about football now?” one person posted on X. Someone else seemingly coined the hashtag #FootballTaylorsVersion, in reference to the singer-songwriter’s project of rerecording her old albums to regain the master rights, and calling them all “Taylor’s Version.”

Do I, a Taylor Swift fan, have to care about football now?

— Alex Goldschmidt (@alexandergold) September 24, 2023

Someone: do you like football?

Me: only if it’s #FootballTaylorsVersion pic.twitter.com/cB0ncJJnrd

— aims 🦋 IS SEEING TAYLOR SWIFT (@shimmeringtay13) September 25, 2023

In July, the Chiefs tight end said on his podcast that he had attempted to give Swift his phone number on a friendship bracelet (a common accessory brought to her Eras Tour shows) but wasn’t able to. The Messenger reported earlier in September that the two were seen “hanging out” and when Kelce appeared on The Pat McAfee Show podcast, he invited Swift to come watch one of his games. According to PEOPLE, a source said that she is “very focused on work right now and hanging out with her girlfriends.” (She does, after all, have more than 80 shows around the world on a tour that is slated to run through November of 2024.) However, the source says, “Travis invited her to the game, and of course she said ‘yes.’ She thought it was a fantastic way to spend a Sunday.”

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce leaving Arrowhead together after the Chiefs game. pic.twitter.com/wuW4eDMMn6

— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) September 25, 2023

There hadn’t been public confirmation of the maybe-possibly budding romance before Swift was seen cheering on the Chiefs with Kelce’s mother. After the game, Swift and Kelce were seen leaving the stadium together in a video posted to X.

source https://time.com/6317151/taylor-swift-travis-kelce-swifties-football/

Is It Flu, COVID-19, or RSV? How to Navigate the New World of At-Home Testing

Before COVID-19, figuring out whether a sore throat, fever, and runny nose were caused by a cold, flu, or strep wasn’t a top priority. You either powered through, knowing you’d be miserable for a few days but would probably feel better soon or you visited the doctor’s office, urgent care, or emergency room where you might get a test to figure out which virus or bacteria was behind your misery, and maybe a prescription to treat it. But even doctors often don’t order tests, preferring instead to make diagnoses based on symptoms.

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During the pandemic, however, it became more critical to know who was infected with SARS-CoV-2 so those people could isolate and not spread the virus. At-home test kits became household products, and most people are by now adept at squeezing out a few drops of solution onto a card, sticking a swab up their nose, swirling the swab in the testing liquid, and waiting for a result.

Tests for COVID-19

A number of companies, offer at-home test kits for COVID-19 that people can buy without a prescription. Most of these are rapid antigen tests, which pick up antigens, or substances that the SARS-CoV-2 virus makes. While they are relatively accurate, because it takes some time for levels of these antigens to build up after an infection, these tests are less reliable in the day or so immediately after exposure to the virus. That’s why doctors recommend repeating the test a couple of days apart.

Then there are PCR, or molecular, tests, that are closer to the gold standard used in laboratories, and rely on finding the smallest genetic signatures of the virus and amplifying them. Cue Health sells a palm-sized COVID-19 PCR device that people can purchase for $300 that allows for 10 at-home tests and doesn’t require a prescription. The device reads a saliva sample and provides results to a smartphone app in 20 minutes.

Other testing companies, such as Labcorp and Everlywell, also sell PCR-based tests for COVID-19, but they are technically collection kits, which means that you have to send a saliva sample into a lab to get results, which can mean critical days will pass before you get results.

Tests for seasonal flu

There is only one at-home test authorized by the FDA for influenza: Lucira, now owned by Pfizer, makes a combined flu and COVID-19 molecular test. The kit uses a PCR-related method of amplifying and reading any viral genes in a sample, providing a result in about 30 minutes. In coming months, eMed, a digital health company that sells test kits and telehealth services, plans to offer that kit, as well another that is currently being reviewed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (The combined kit currently available on eMed’s website only tests for COVID-19 and provides a survey to help telemedicine professionals determine if a user likely has the flu.)

Tests for RSV

There currently aren’t at-home tests for RSV, because typically only infants and the elderly are at risk for severe illness. Doctors’ offices, hospitals, and urgent care centers can perform RSV tests that provide results in about 30 minutes.

The advantages of at-home testing

The currently cumbersome journey from symptoms to treatment rests on people making appointments with their doctors or at an urgent care center and could be contributing to the spread of viruses. Self-testing could reduce some of that risk since people are most infectious while they are waiting to get tested and receive treatment. Ideally, if someone tests themselves at home and finds they are positive for influenza or COVID-19, for example, they don’t necessarily have to physically visit their doctor or go into an urgent care or emergency room, where they could spread the virus to others. Instead, they could video conference with a doctor who could assess their symptoms and at-home test results, then write a prescription for, say, oseltamivir if it’s the flu, or Paxlovid if it’s COVID-19. “If you’re trying to minimize morbidity and mortality, and cut down on transmission, then [at-home] testing is an incredible tool to have,” says Thomas Denny, chief operating officer of the Duke University Human Vaccine Institute.

Read more: What It Will Take to Avoid a Tripledemic This Winter

In addition to the altruistic public health reasons to test yourself, there are more selfish ones. Knowing what infection you have means you can get the right treatment, and hopefully avoid prolonged and serious illness. And for the first time, there are effective ways to manage all three major respiratory illnesses that dominate the winter: flu, COVID-19, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Self-testing kits are especially useful for influenza and COVID-19, since antiviral treatments for both are most effective when people taken them within the first few days after their symptoms appear. (And while there aren’t treatments for RSV, new vaccines and antibody treatments can help to prevent infections and potentially serious complications in the most vulnerable.) Waiting to make an appointment to get tested at a health facility means many people could miss this small treatment window. “A lot of people are happy with the status quo, and don’t see a need for self-testing,” says Dr. Michael Mina, chief science officer at eMed.

And the availability of COVID-19 kits has set new expectations for at-home testing, leading both the public and health professionals to ask why more people can’t test for other illnesses themselves. In many cases, “we don’t need people to come into doctors’ offices,” says Dr. Howard Heller, an infectious disease specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. “The home testing space is evolving and snowballing.”

During the pandemic, the Biden Administration launched the Test to Treat program, which streamlined the process of getting a prescription from a doctor by making it possible for people to test themselves and then go to their local pharmacy where the pharmacist could write a prescription for COVID-19 antiviral medications if they were positive The availability of more self-tests means moving that entire process into the home, which would make testing and treating respiratory diseases more convenient and streamlined, which in turn could reduce their spread.

eMed is working with the National Institutes of Health to study what impact having more at-home tests will have in controlling spread of disease. The team is tracking the average time it takes for people who test positive using eMed’s at-home kits—combined with a telehealth visit on eMed’s platform—to get treatments compared to people who make appointments with their doctor or visit a pharmacy. NIH is funding the test kits and telehealth visits for 80,000 to 100,000 people who enroll in the study through June 2024.

Mina argues that wider testing, driven by at-home kits and telehealth, could lead more people to reach out to their health care professionals for the proper treatment, which in turn could keep spread of infectious diseases down, and lower hospital costs for those who develop complications. “A $25 home testing kit and telemedicine visit could avoid what could turn into an $8,000 hospital visit,” says Mina.

The negatives of at-home testing

There is a downside to more DIY testing, however. The results are essentially invisible to public health authorities, so they don’t have a clear picture of how many people are getting sick, and where. If at-home testing, especially for infectious diseases, continues to grow, then public health officials will have to look beyond lab-based results for alternative ways to track the ebb and flow of cases, such as relying on anonymous sampling of wastewater from communities.

The future of at-home testing

Researchers are continuing to work on improving the accuracy, convenience, and price of at-home tools to test for infections. They are developing cheaper versions of rapid antigen tests that utilize paper strips (similar those used for urinary tract infection tests) that could bring the price of these tests down from over $20 to a few dollars. These, and other rapid antigen tests, will continue to be useful for people who don’t have symptoms but want quick answers to whether they can safely visit loved ones in the hospital without putting them at risk—or, if they have symptoms, whether they should go to work or school if they aren’t feeling well. “If your kids are sick and you want to test them before sending them to school and causing a flu outbreak, you don’t need perfect tests when you’re trying to be a good citizen,” says Mina. “Rapid antigen tests that are 80% or more sensitive are amazingly important for public health.”

Read more: What to Know About the New COVID-19 Vaccine Booster

PCR-quality tests are also becoming cheaper and more effective. The FDA recently issued an emergency use authorization for a test made by Aptitude, called Metrix, that mimics PCR by relying on electrochemical signals from saliva or nasal swab samples that can pick up viral genes in about 30 minutes. The reader device, which can be reused, costs $75 and a single-use saliva test kit for COVID-19 is $48. Researchers are working on cheaper versions of these molecular tests, and some may eventually be read through devices that attach to smartphones.

“The biggest challenge continues to be price,” says Dr. Carlos del Rio, president of the board of directors of the Infectious Diseases Society of America and professor of medicine at Emory University. “We need to hopefully see the price come down like they have for some cell phones and computers.” Even the lowest-priced option, the rapid antigen tests, are currently in the range of $25 per test—which can add up, especially when families need to buy several kits to test everyone multiple times in a household.

Eventually, even PCR-based devices may become small, convenient, and cheap enough for people to have at home. Such diagnostic testing may follow the example of pregnancy testing, which for decades could only be done at a doctor’s office with blood and urine samples and can now be done at home with an inexpensive urine stick. “I truly believe that within five years we will have little molecular devices in our homes that can test for a panel of five things,” says Dr. Luis Ostrosky, chief of infectious diseases at UTHealth Houston and Memorial Hermann. “We’re living in a revolution in diagnostics.”

source https://time.com/6316682/at-home-tests-covid-19-rsv-flu/

What to Know About The Saltwater Threat to Louisiana’s Drinking Water Supply

A long-lasting drought in Louisiana is impacting the drinking water in the Mississippi River, posing a risk for the state’s near 5 million residents, and particularly those in the New Orleans area.

At the root of the cause are low freshwater levels in the Mississippi River, making it vulnerable to a process known as saltwater infusion, which brings an influx of saltwater from the Gulf of Mexico. This marks the second year in a row when drought has decreased the flow of the water in the Mississippi River. Much of the central and southern regions of the state are currently recording exceptionally high drought levels.

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The process is cause for concern. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said on Friday that he is just a few days away from requesting a declaration of emergency from the federal government to help. “Unfortunately, we just haven’t had the relief from dry conditions … so that intrusion is worsening, in the sense that it’s moving further up the river,” said Edwards during a Friday news conference. 

In the meantime, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell signed an emergency declaration for the city on Friday. And some areas of the state, including Plaquemines Parish and Empire Bridge in the southeast, are currently under drinking water advisories. 

Here’s what to know about Louisiana’s water emergency.

What is happening in the state?

When climate conditions are balanced, the movement of freshwater stops saltwater from infiltrating bodies of freshwater. But in a process called saltwater intrusion, the zone of transition between saltwater and fresh groundwater is affected and saltwater enters the aquifer, reducing the amount of freshwater.

Droughts are relatively common in Louisiana, where periods of dryness are a natural part of their climate. But global warming is increasing the risk of drought all across the country. The Southwest is expected to be particularly affected by droughts that occur more frequently, intensely, and for longer periods of time, according to the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions. 

“Most of the state has been experiencing prolonged drought and above-average heat, and has presented a number of challenges including wildfires, drought, heat-related deaths, injuries and so forth and now saltwater intrusion,” said Edwards during a press conference Friday.

How are officials trying to combat it? 

Officials built an underwater sill in the Mississippi River to reduce the flow of saltwater in July. Authorities are working on expanding that sill by 25 feet, but construction would take at least another 24 days and will only delay saltwater intrusion by another 10 to 15, according to a press release from the Louisiana Governor’s office.

The best thing that can be done to help avoid greater saltwater intrusion, however, is out of the officials’ hands. “I found out today that the forecast is for above average amounts of precipitation in winter. But that’s still several months away,” said Edwards. “And what we need most in Louisiana right now, for the Mississippi River, we need rain further up north in the Ohio Valley.” About ten inches of rain would be sufficient to help the river flow high enough to push back against saltwater.

For now, authorities advise residents to stay calm and avoid hoarding bottled water. “We just need to make sure that we are aware of the situation and that we don’t do anything that would exacerbate it and do anything that we reasonably can, as soon as we can, to help us get through this period of time,” Edwards said.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will also be sending 36 million gallons of freshwater daily to affected areas in southern Louisiana.

How is climate change impacting the state of Louisiana?

A 2016 Enviornmental Protection Agency report predicted that climate change in Louisiana would bring about severe floods and droughts, with rainfall expected to “arrive in heavy downpours,” impacting the soil’s health.

The Mississippi River has been at the center of climate emergencies for years, as intense flooding impacted the region in 2019, a year that was particularly rainy. Now, in 2023, we’re seeing the opposite. In August, residents were impacted by the Tiger Island Fire—the largest wildfire in Louisiana’s history—which forced 1,200 people to evacuate and took down at least 20 homes and structures. That same month Gov. Edwards issued a state of emergency due to record-breaking heat levels after temperatures reached the mid-90s and low-100s for weeks.

Aside from concerns about access to drinking water, increased temperatures due to climate change have already impacted people’s health. The state passed its average number of heat-related deaths and emergency room visits in mid-August, according to local public radio station WWNO.

source https://time.com/6317056/saltwater-threat-mississippi-river-drinking-water/

How NASA Captured a Piece of the Solar System’s Past From an Ancient Asteroid

Infrared sensors on the ground detected the heat signature of the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft’s sample-return capsule when it slammed into the atmosphere at more than 45,000 km/h (27,650 mph), at 8:42 a.m. MDT today. The 46 kg (101 lbs.) capsule was dropped off by its much larger OSIRIS-REx mother ship as that spacecraft went whizzing briefly by Earth. The capsule hit the air off the coast of California, aiming for a parachute landing in the Department of Defense’s Utah Test and Training Range southwest of Salt Lake City. Even before the capsule landed, four search helicopters scrambled to meet it, and the people at NASA waited anxiously to hear that it had returned safely.

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It had. The capsule thumped down at 8:55 a.m. MDT and the helicopter crews scooped it up and whisked it to a clean-room on the military base, preparing to send it off to the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The scientists there will have a lot to look at. Sealed inside the capsule are 250 gm (8.8 oz.) of rock and dust from the asteroid Bennu—a 4.5 billion-year-old fossil of the ancient solar system that NASA has spent more than $800 million and seven years working to explore. The return of the sample made OSIRIS-REx only the third spacecraft—and the first American one—to pull off the asteroid-spelunking trick, after Japan’s Hayabusa and Hayabusa 2 managed it in 2010 and 2020 respectively. Understand the chemistry and history of Bennu’s dust and you can understand the chemistry, history, and even origins of the solar system and the Earth—as well as the life that calls our planet home.

“It sort of speaks to the reasons people explore,” says Rich Burns, the OSIRIS-REx project manager. “We can learn about the evolution of the solar system, why the Earth exists in its present state, why it’s special. We can get at the question of where we come from.”

Collecting that Bennu sample was not easy. It was on Sept. 8, 2016, that OSIRIS-REx (short for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer) lifted off from Cape Canaveral in a round-about pursuit of Bennu. The asteroid is a small target—just 492 m (1,614 ft.) across—and circles the sun in more or less the same orbit as the Earth. At its most remote, it is about 300 million km (186 million mi.) from us. The most direct way to reach it would be to cut across the solar system in an as-the-crow-flies pursuit, intercepting Bennu on the other side of the sun. But that would have seen the spacecraft approaching the rock at a 90-degree angle, blazing past it at 19,300 km/h (12,000 mph). That’s fine for the kind of brief, photographic flybys the Voyager spacecraft conducted of the outer planets in the 1970s and 1980s; the OSIRIS-REx mission, however, called for the spacecraft not just to fly past Bennu, but to enter a lazy orbit around it. To do that, the ship had to make two complete circuits around the sun, slowly catching up to the asteroid and matching its speed and trajectory. During that time, OSIRIS-REx put more than 2 billion km (1.24 billion mi.) on its odometer.

On Dec. 3, 2018, the spacecraft at last caught up with Bennu and fired its thrusters to enter orbit around the rock. It took barely a puff of propellant to do that, and it would take just as little to pull away: Bennu’s gravity—to the extent that it has any at all—is 100,000 times less powerful than that of Earth. Settled into the asteroid’s tenuous gravitational grip, the spacecraft began a remote surveying campaign, using its multiple on-board instruments—including three cameras, an infrared spectrometer, an X-ray imaging spectrometer, and a laser altimeter—to study Bennu’s mineral and elemental makeup. It also exhaustively mapped the asteroid’s surface, looking for a place to collect its sample. At some points, OSIRIS-REx flew at altitudes as low as 1.6 km (0.99 mi.) above Bennu—the closest any spacecraft has ever gotten to any body it was orbiting.

Read more: Scientists Solve the Mystery Behind the Oumuamua ‘Alien Spacecraft’ Comet

Drawing so close came with perils. Bennu rotates on its axis once every 4.3 hours—giving it 2.15 hours of sun-facing day, and 2.15 hours of space-facing night. During those transitions, the temperature on any given spot on the rock swings from 116°C (240°F) to -73°C (-100°F) and back again. All those changes in thermal pressure make for a lot of expansion and contraction of the rocks and other rubble on the surface—enough to make them, effectively, leap off Bennu’s surface.

“It ended up looking like popcorn,” says Dante Lauretta, professor of planetary science at the University of Arizona and principal investigator on the OSIRIS-REx mission. “Every time we looked we saw stuff exploding off the surface. We were saying, ‘Oh man, this could be a hazardous environment for the spacecraft. We might have to back away and redesign the whole encounter.’” Ultimately the team concluded that that wouldn’t be necessary. It doesn’t take much energy for small rocks to pull free from Bennu’s microgravity grip, so even if the rubble struck the spacecraft it wouldn’t be packing any meaningful wallop. 

All of the up-close orbital scrutiny the rock got paid off: just a week after the spacecraft arrived at Bennu, NASA announced that it had discovered the presence of hydrated—or chemically water-logged—minerals mixed in with the soil. With no atmosphere and its mere whisper of gravity, Bennu could not harbor any deposits of pooling liquid, but the finding of even traces of water does suggest that the rock was once part of a much bigger mass—perhaps even a moon or planet—that did have muscle to hang onto its water.

“The thinking,” says Burns, “is that Bennu was part of a larger parent body that had a collisional event.”

It wasn’t until Oct. 20, 2020, nearly two years after OSIRIS-REx arrived at Bennu, that the spacecraft began the capstone maneuver of its mission—descending that last mile to collect its sample. NASA had narrowed the potential collection sites down to four candidates that it dubbed Sandpiper, Osprey, Kingfisher, and Nightingale—choosing those because they had the fewest rocky obstacles for the spacecraft’s descent, as well as abundant loose soil to collect. Ultimately NASA determined that Nightingale—located in a crater high in Bennu’s north—was the best of that group. 

Taking the sample required the spacecraft to land briefly on Bennu, in a maneuver NASA named TAG, for touch-and-go. In the 16 seconds OSIRIS-REx was on the surface, it extended its 3.3 m (10.8 ft.) robotic arm, which was equipped with a collection chamber at the end. At that point, nitrogen bottles in the arm fired, blowing soil and loose pebbles into a chamber. The lid to the chamber was then sealed and the precious sample transferred to the return capsule. On May 10, 2021, after completing nearly seven more months of orbital surveying, OSIRIS-REx at last peeled off and headed back for Earth.

Read more: NASA Tried To Knock an Asteroid Off Course—And Succeeded Wildly Beyond Expectations

With the Bennu sample now on the ground, more than 200 scientists from around the world will set to work studying it. The most intriguing questions they’re trying to answer concern the role incoming asteroids may have played in seeding the Earth with water, nitrogen, carbon, and other ingredients necessary for life to take hold. 

The moon is believed to have formed close to 4.5 billion years ago, when a Mars-sized planetesimal collided with Earth, throwing up a cloud of debris that coalesced into a brand new body. Any oceans, much of the atmosphere—and any potential earthly biology—that may have existed on our planet would have been wiped out in the violence. “We think the surface was completely sterilized,” says Lauretta. For life to reemerge, it would take asteroids crashing into Earth and resupplying it with the necessary chemistry. Studies of Bennu’s soil and rocks will help show if asteroids indeed carry sufficient quantities of those raw materials in the first place.

And as for OSIRIS-REx itself, which did not even pause in this morning’s flyby of Earth? Originally, the spacecraft’s mission was supposed to end after the sample-return capsule was released. In April 2022, however, NASA announced that it had other plans for the ship, and would be sending it off for a second orbital rendezvous, this time with the asteroid Apophis, after the 340-meter (1,100 ft.) rock makes a close approach by Earth in 2029. OSIRIS-Rex will spend about 18 months at Apophis—and some members of the team are dreaming that it may not be finished even then.

“Never say never,” says Lauretta. “I’m stepping down as the principal investigator and one of my mentees is taking over. I told her, ‘Don’t break the spacecraft. It might have a third asteroid in it.’”

source https://time.com/6316104/osiris-rex-returns-asteroid-sample-to-earth-nasa/

Some U.K. Police Refuse to Carry Guns After Officer Is Charged With Murder in the Shooting of a Black Man

LONDON — London’s police force said Sunday that some officers are refusing to conduct armed patrols after a colleague was charged with murder in the fatal shooting of an unarmed Black man.

A Metropolitan Police marksman was charged Wednesday over the September 2022 death of Chris Kaba, 24. Kaba was killed after officers in an unmarked vehicle pursued and stopped the car he was driving. He was struck by a single bullet fired through the windshield as he sat in the Audi car.

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The case renewed allegations of institutional racism within the London police department. Kaba’s family welcomed the murder charge against the officer, who has not been publicly named. He was granted conditional bail and is expected to stand trial next year.

Only about one in 10 of London’s police officers carry firearms, and the ones that do undergo special training.

The Metropolitan Police force said Sunday that “a number of officers have taken the decision to step back from armed duties while they consider their position.” It said officers were concerned that the murder charge “signals a shift in the way the decisions they make in the most challenging circumstances will be judged.”

The BBC said more than 100 officers had turned in their firearm permits and that police from neighboring forces were called in to help patrol London on Saturday night.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman, who is in charge of policing for the U.K.’s Conservative government, said she would review armed policing to ensure that armed officers “have the confidence to do their jobs.”

“In the interest of public safety, they have to make split-second decisions under extraordinary pressures,” Braverman posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. “They mustn’t fear ending up in the dock for carrying out their duties. Officers risking their lives to keep us safe have my full backing, and I will do everything in my power to support them.”

Fatal shootings by police in the U.K. are rare. In the year to March 2022, armed officers in England and Wales fired weapons at people four times, according to official statistics.

It is also extremely rare for British police officers to be charged with murder or manslaughter over actions performed while they were on duty.

In one of the few cases in recent years, a police constable was sentenced in 2021 to eight years in prison for the killing of Dalian Atkinson, a former professional soccer player who died after being shot by a stun gun and kicked in the head during an altercation. The officer, Benjamin Monk, was cleared of murder but convicted of manslaughter.

source https://time.com/6317036/uk-police-shooting-black-man-murder-charges/

Pope Francis Says Europe Doesn’t Have a Migrant Emergency

MARSEILLE, France — Pope Francis challenged French President Emmanuel Macron and other European leaders to open their ports to people fleeing hardship and poverty, insisting Saturday that the continent isn’t facing a migration “emergency” but rather a long-term reality that governments must deal with humanely.

For a second straight day in the French port city of Marseille, Francis took aim at European countries that have used “alarmist propaganda” to justify closing their doors to migrants, and tried to shame them into responding with charity instead. He called for migrants to have legal pathways to citizenship, and for the Mediterranean Sea that so many cross to reach Europe to be a beacon of hope, not a graveyard of desperation.

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The Mediterranean, Francis told Macron and a gathering of regional bishops, “cries out for justice, with its shores that on the one hand exude affluence, consumerism and waste, while on the other there is poverty and instability.”

The pope’s visit to the city in southern France, which drew an estimated 150,000 well-wishers Saturday, comes as Italy’s far right-led government has reacted to a new wave of arriving migrants by threatening to organize a naval blockade of Tunisia and to step up repatriations. The French government, for its part, has beefed up patrols on its southern border to stop migrants in Italy from crossing over.

After the bishops’ meeting ended, Macron and Francis held a private, half-hour meeting. They spoke about migration issues and a series of other topics, the French presidency said, adding that both leaders share a “joint will” to bring human solutions to the situation.

France is a “host country” to migrants — especially to asylum seekers — and is supporting European solidarity policies, including through financing and fighting human trafficking, the French presidency said. The Vatican provided no readout of the meeting.

Macron’s centrist government has taken a harder line on migration and security issues after coming under criticism from French conservatives and the far right. With elections for the European Union’s parliament set for next year, Macron is pushing for the EU to strengthen its external borders and to be more efficient in deporting individuals who are denied entry.

Macron greeted Francis on a wind-swept promenade overlooking Marseille’s old port, and helped him walk into the Palais du Pharo for the Mediterranean bishops meeting. With his wife by his side, the French leader listened as a young Italian volunteer working in Greece and the bishop of Tirana, Albania, who fled to Italy during Albania’s communist rule, spoke of the welcomes they received in foreign countries.

“May we let ourselves be moved by the stories of so many of our unfortunate brothers and sisters who have the right both to emigrate and not to emigrate, and not become closed in indifference,” Francis said. “In the face of the terrible scourge of the exploitation of human beings, the solution is not to reject but to ensure, according to the possibilities of each, an ample number of legal and regular entrances.”

Francis’ two-day trip was scheduled months ago, but it is taking place as mass migration to Europe is once again making headlines. Nearly 7,000 migrants who boarded smugglers boats in Tunisia came ashore on the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa within a day last week, briefly outnumbering the resident population.

Nevertheless, Francis said talk of a migration “emergency” only fuels “alarmist propaganda” and stokes peoples’ fears.

“Those who risk their lives at sea do not invade, they look for welcome, for life” he said. “As for the emergency, the phenomenon of migration is not so much a short-term urgency, always good for fueling alarmist propaganda, but a reality of our times.”

In addition to Macron, the pope’s audience on Saturday included European Commission Vice President Margarítis Schinás, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, who has said France would not take in new migrants from Lampedusa.

The French president and first lady Brigitte Macron later attended Francis’ final Mass at the Marseille Velodrome that drew an estimated 50,000 people and featured a giant banner of the pope hoisted up in the stands. The Vatican, citing local organizers, said 100,000 more lined Marseilles’ central Avenue du Prado to cheer as his popemobile passed by.

History’s first Latin American pope has made the plight of migrants a priority of his 10-year pontificate. For his first trip as pope, he traveled to Lampedusa to honor migrants who had drowned while attempting to cross the sea.

In the years since, he has celebrated Mass on the U.S.-Mexico border, met with Myanmar’s Rohingya refugees and, in a visible display of his commitment, brought home 12 Syrian Muslims on his plane after visiting a refugee camp in Lesbos, Greece.

Migrants and their advocates living in Marseille, which has a long tradition of multicultural hospitality, said Francis’ call for charity and paths to citizenship gave them hope that at least someone in Europe was sympathetic to their plight.

“It is a very beautiful opportunity for us,” said Francky Domingo, who is part of a Marseille-based association representing migrants seeking official identification documents. “We really want the pope to be our spokesperson to the politicians because the European policy on migration is very, very repressive for us migrants.”

Stephanie Tomasini, a 48-year-old Marseille resident who attended the mass, said the pope sent an important message. “We must be able to … extend a hand and share, all of us should do that. Today, we’re not faced with difficulties, but we could be tomorrow, and we will want someone to open the doors for us,” she said.

Many faithful came from across French regions to see the pope, who last visited the country almost a decade ago. Catherine Etienne, from Brest in western France, watched Francis’ parade with joy. “We are really happy to have seen the Pope. We’re very moved,” she said.

In his remarks, Francis also repeated his opposition to euthanasia, which he has long decried as a symptom of a “throwaway culture” which treats the elderly and infirm as dispensable. Listing euthanasia as a “social evil,” he criticized supporters of assisted suicide as providing “false pretenses of a supposedly dignified and ‘sweet’ death that is more ‘salty’ than the waters of the sea.”

The issue is current in France, where Macron is expected in the coming weeks to unveil a bill that would legalize end-of-life options in France. French media reported that he delayed the presentation of the measure until after the pope’s visit to keep the sensitive topic from interfering.

No details of the government’s proposal have been released, but several options are under consideration, including legalizing assisted suicide and euthanasia for adult patients with incurable conditions under strict conditions that guarantee their free and informed consent.

The French presidency said Francis and Macron discussed the issue during their bilateral meeting but didn’t enter into the details.

source https://time.com/6316960/pope-francis-europe-migrant-emergency/