Category: Fringe News

WASHINGTON (AP) — Summer’s most dazzling meteor shower, the Perseids, peaks early Wednesday. At the same time, Venus and Jupiter will converge in the sky — overlapping like a very bright star.

If your focus is the meteor shower, it’s worth knowing that this year a bright moon will dampen viewing during the pre-dawn peak, so some experts recommend waiting a week or so to glimpse shooting stars against a darker sky.

The Perseids “are an incredible meteor shower,” said Thaddeus LaCoursiere, planetarium program coordinator at the Bell Museum in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Under dark skies with no moon, the Perseids can produce between 60 to 100 meteors per hour, he said. Since the moon will be around 84% full during the peak, skywatchers might expect between 10 to 20 meteors per hour, according to the American Meteor Society.

“This year I’m actually recommending that people go out a little bit later” — a week or so past the peak when the moon will not be as bright, LaCoursiere said.

Viewing of the Perseids lasts until August 23.

What is a meteor shower?

As the Earth orbits the sun, several times a year it passes through debris left by passing comets and sometimes asteroids.

The source of the Perseids is debris from comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle.

When these fast-moving space rocks enter Earth’s atmosphere, the debris encounters new resistance from the air and becomes very hot, eventually burning up.

Sometimes the surrounding air glows briefly, leaving behind a fiery tail — the end of a “shooting star.”

You don’t need special equipment to see the various meteor showers that flash across annually, just a spot away from city lights.

How to view a meteor shower

The best time to watch a meteor shower is in the early predawn hours when the moon is low in the sky.

Competing sources of light — such as a bright moon or artificial glow — are the main obstacles to a clear view of meteors. Cloudless nights when the moon wanes smallest are optimal viewing opportunities.

And keep looking up, not down. Your eyes will be better adapted to spot shooting stars if you aren’t checking your phone.

When is the next meteor shower?

The next major meteor shower, the Orionids, peaks in late October.

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

TOKYO (AP) — One of the world’s strongest earthquakes struck Russia’s Far East early Wednesday, an 8.8-magnitude temblor that caused a tsunami in the northern Pacific region and prompted warnings for Alaska, Hawaii and other coasts south toward New Zealand. Several locations advised evacuations, but no major injuries have been reported.

Cars jammed streets and highways in Honolulu as the tsunami alerts coincided with the Tuesday afternoon rush-hour. Warning sirens blared as people moved to higher ground. Hawaii schools canceled after-school and evening activities.

A tsunami of 50 centimeters (1.6 feet) was detected at the Ishinomaki port in northern Japan, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. That was the highest measurement so far among several locations around northern Japan.

The Russian areas nearest the quake’s epicenter on the Kamchatka Peninsula reported damage and evacuations, but no serious injuries.

Hawaii and Oregon warn residents of potential damage

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said a tsunami had been generated by the quake that could cause damage along the coastlines of all the Hawaiian islands.

“Urgent action should be taken to protect lives and property,” the warning stated. The first waves were expected around 7 p.m. Tuesday local time.

The Oregon Department of Emergency Management said on Facebook that small tsunami waves were expected along the coast starting around 11:40 p.m. local time, with wave heights between 1 to 2 feet (30 to 60 centimeters). It urged people to stay away from beaches, harbors and marinas and to remain in a safe location away from the coast until the advisory is lifted.

“This is not a major tsunami, but dangerous currents and strong waves may pose a risk to those near the water,” the department said.

Much of the West Coast spanning Canada’s British Columbia province, Washington state and California were also under a tsunami advisory.

Russian regions report quake damage

The quake at 8:25 a.m. Japan time had a preliminary magnitude of 8.0, Japan and U.S. seismologists said. The U.S. Geological Survey later updated its measurement to 8.8 magnitude and the USGS said the quake occurred at a depth of 20.7 kilometers (13 miles).

The quake was centered about 119 kilometers (74 miles) east-southeast from the Russian city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, which has a population of 180,000, on the Kamchatka Peninsula. Multiple aftershocks as strong as 6.9 magnitude were recorded.

The first tsunami wave hit the coastal area of Severo-Kurilsk, the main settlement on Russia’s Kuril Islands in the Pacific, according to the local governor Valery Limarenko. He said residents were safe and staying on high ground until the threat of a repeat wave was gone.

The quake caused damage to buildings and cars swayed in the streets in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, which also had power outages and mobile phone service failures. Russian news agencies quoting the regional Health Ministry saying several people sought medical help in Kamchatka after the earthquake, but no serious injuries were reported.

Among the world’s strongest recorded quakes

The earthquake appeared to be the strongest anywhere in the world since the March 2011 earthquake off northeast Japan that was 9.0 magnitude and caused a massive tsunami that set off meltdowns at a nuclear power plant. Only a few stronger earthquakes have ever been measured around the world.

The tsunami alert disrupted transportation in Japan. Ferries connecting Hokkaido and Aomori on the northern tip of Japan’s Honshu island were suspended, as well as those connecting Tokyo and nearby islands, and some local train operations were suspended or delayed, according to operators. Sendai airport temporarily closed its runway.

Japan’s Fire and Disaster Management Agency said so far no injuries or damages have been reported. The agency, in response to the tsunami alert, issued an evacuation advisory to more than 900,000 residents in 133 municipalities along Japan’s Pacific coast, from Hokkaido to Okinawa. The number of people who actually took shelter was not available.

Japanese nuclear power plants reported no abnormalities. Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, which operates the tsunami-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, said about 4,000 workers are taking shelter on higher ground at the plant complex while monitoring remotely to ensure plant safety.

Philippine authorities warned provinces and towns along the archipelago’s eastern coast facing the Pacific of possible tsunami waves of less than 1 meter (3 feet) and advised people to stay away from the beach and coastal areas. “It may not be the largest of waves, but these can continue for hours and expose people swimming in the waters to danger,” Teresito Bacolcol of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology told The Associated Press.

New Zealand authorities issued warnings of “strong and unusual currents and unpredictable surges” along coastlines throughout the country. The government emergency management agency said people should move out of the water, off beaches and shore areas, and away from harbors, marinas, rivers and estuaries.

New Zealand is in the South Pacific and about 6,000 miles (9,600 kilometers) from the epicenter.

The quake was the strongest to hit this area in the Kamchatka Peninsula since 1952, according to the local branch of the Geophysical Survey of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

They said that while the situation “was under control” there are risks of aftershocks, which could last for up to a month and warned against visiting certain coastal areas.

Earlier in July, five powerful quakes — the largest with a magnitude of 7.4 — struck in the sea near Kamchatka. The largest quake was at a depth of 20 kilometers and was 144 kilometers (89 miles) east of the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

On Nov. 4, 1952, a magnitude 9.0 quake in Kamchatka caused damage but no reported deaths despite setting off 9.1-meter (30-foot) waves in Hawaii.

___

This story has corrected the wave height forecast in Oregon to between 1 and 2 feet, not 1 and 3 feet.

TOKYO (AP) — Tsunami warning sirens were blaring Tuesday in Honolulu and people were told to move to higher ground after a n 8.7-magnitude earthquake off Russia’s Far Eastern coast.

Traffic was backed up in some neighborhoods in Honolulu, and officials were preparing to open a mountain pass as an evacuation route out of Waianae, a coastal community on the island of Oahu, said sate Rep. Darius Kila. Even though it’s summer break, some schools issued alerts canceling sports and other activities.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said waves of 1 to 3 meters (yards) above tide level were possible along some coastal areas of Hawaii, Chile, Japan and the Solomon Islands. Waves of more than 3 meters (yards) were possible along some coastal areas of Russia and Ecuador.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

TOKYO (AP) — A magnitude-8.7 earthquake in Russia’s Far East early Wednesday prompted tsunami warnings in parts of Japan, Alaska and Hawaii.

Damage and evacuations were reported in the Russian regions nearest the quake’s epicenter on the Kamchatka Peninsula.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said waves of 1 to 3 meters (yards) above tide level were possible along some coastal areas of Hawaii, Chile, Japan and the Solomon Islands. Waves of more than 3 meters (yards) were possible along some coastal areas of Russia and Ecuador.

Japan’s meteorological agency issued a tsunami alert for Japan’s Pacific coast, saying waves up to 3 meter (yards) could arrive along the northern Japanese coasts less than half an hour after the alert.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said a tsunami had been generated by the quake that could cause damage along the coastlines of all the Hawaiian islands.

“Urgent action should be taken to protect lives and property,” the warning stated. The first waves were expected around 7 p.m. Tuesday local time.

The quake at 8:25 a.m. Japan time had a preliminary magnitude of 8.0, Japan and U.S. seismologists said. Japan and the U.S. Geological Survey later updated their measurements to 8.7 magnitude and the USGS said the quake occurred at a depth of 19.3 kilometers (12 miles).

The quake was about 250 kilometers (160 miles) away from Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan’s four big islands, and was felt only slightly, according to Japan’s NHK television.

Russia’s Tass news agency reported from the biggest city near the epicenter, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, that many people ran out into the street without shoes or outerwear. Cabinets toppled inside homes, mirrors were broken, cars swayed in the street and balconies on buildings shook noticeably.

Tass also reported power outages and mobile phone service failures in the capital of the Kamchatka region.

Tass also quoted a local Russian official as saying residents on Sakhalin Island were being evacuated and emergency services were working at full capacity.

The National Tsunami Warning Center, based in Alaska, issued a tsunami warning for parts of the Alaska Aleutian Islands, and a watch for portions of the West Coast, including California, Oregon, and Washington, and Hawaii.

The advisory also includes a vast swath of Alaska’s coast line, including parts of the panhandle.

Earlier in July, five powerful quakes — the largest with a magnitude of 7.4 — struck in the sea near Kamchatka. The largest quake was at a depth of 20 kilometers and was 144 kilometers (89 miles) east of the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, which has a population of 180,000.

On Nov. 4, 1952, a magnitude 9.0 quake in Kamchatka caused damage but no reported deaths despite setting off 9.1-meter (30-foot) waves in Hawaii.

SHOHAM, Israel (AP) — Archaeologists believe they have found one of the oldest burial sites in the world at a cave in Israel, where the well-preserved remains of early humans dating back some 100,000 years were carefully arranged in pits.

The findings at Tinshemet Cave in central Israel, published in an academic journal earlier this year, build on previous discoveries in northern Israel and add to a growing understanding of the origins of human burial.

Of particular interest to archaeologists are objects found beside the remains that may have been used during ceremonies to honor the dead and could shed light on how our ancient ancestors thought about spirituality and the afterlife.

“This is an amazing revolutionary innovation for our species,” said Yossi Zaidner, one of the directors of the Tinshemet excavation and a professor of archaeology at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. “It’s actually the first time we are starting to use this behavior.”

Archaeologists working at Tinshemet since 2016 have discovered the remains of five early humans that date back to around 110,000 to 100,000 years ago, according to various technologies.

The skeletons were discovered in pits and carefully arranged in a fetal position, which is known as a burial position, said Zaidner. Many were found with objects, such as basalt pebbles, animal remains or fragments of ochre, a reddish pigment made from iron-rich rocks.

These objects, some sourced from hundreds of kilometers (miles) away, had no known practical use for daily life, so experts believe they were part of rituals meant to honor the dead.

A bridge between peoples

Tinshemet Cave is a dark slash in central Israel’s rolling hills filled with squeaking fruit bats. Inside and around the cave is an unassuming stone mound which Zaidner calls “one of the three or four most important sites for study of human evolution and behavior during the Paleolithic time.”

The Paleolithic era, also known as the Stone Age because of the onset of stone tools, lasted from as early as 3.3 million years ago until around 10,000 years ago. Tinshemet Cave is from the Middle Paleolithic era, roughly between 250,000 to 30,000 years ago.

Some of the Tinshemet researchers’ core findings were published in March in Nature Human Behavior. A key discovery were the remains of five early humans, including two full skeletons and three isolated skulls with other bones and teeth. Also of note were more than 500 differently sized fragments of red and orange ochre, a pigment created by heating iron-rich stones to a certain temperature — evidence that early humans had the means to create decorative objects.

“Here we see a really complex set of behaviors, not related to just food and surviving,” Zaidner said.

Using hand chisels and delicate, pen-sized pneumatic drills that resemble dental tools, archaeologists will need many more years to excavate the site. The field work, which started in 2016, is usually done over the summer months. This year, a dozen archaeology undergraduate and graduate students fanned out across the site, painstakingly documenting and removing each fragment of tool, object or bone.

At the entrance to the cave, the skull of one of the early humans is slowly emerging from the rock sediment; it will be years before it is fully excavated.

Tinshemet is exceptionally important to archaeologists because the local climate preserved the bones, tools, and ornaments in good condition, unlike many other parts of the world where these items were lost to time, said Christian Tryon, a professor at the University of Connecticut and a research associate at the Human Origins Program at the Smithsonian Institution, who was not involved in the study.

The skeletons and objects were so well preserved because of ash from frequent fires, likely for rituals. This large amount of ash mixed with rainfall and Israel’s acidic limestone, creating optimal conditions for perseveration. One skeleton was in such good condition archaeologists could see how the fingers were interwoven, hands clasped beneath the head.

A window into a little-known period

Tryon said the Tinshemet findings are bolstering earlier discoveries from two similar burial sites dating back to the same period in northern Israel — Skhul Cave and Qafzeh Cave. Skhul Cave was excavated almost 100 years ago, and Qafzeh Cave mostly around 50 years ago, when archaeological practices were more haphazard.

“There were so many uncertainties with those sites, but this is confirming it’s a pattern we know, and they’re really nailing down the dates,” Tryon said.

Tinshemet has helped archaeologists conclude that burial practices started to become more widespread during this time, representing a shift in how early humans treated their dead.

Some archaeologists believe intentional burials started earlier. In South Africa, the Homo naledi species – an ancient cousin of Homo sapiens – may have been intentionally placing their dead in caves as early as 200,000 years ago. But many archaeologists said the findings are controversial and there is not enough evidence to support the claim of intentional burials.

A bridge between peoples

In ancient times, Israel was a bridge between Neanderthals from Europe and Homo sapiens from Africa. Archaeologists have identified other subgroups of early humans in the area, and believe the groups interacted and may have interbred.

Experts have been studying the two full skeletons brought from Tinshemet for years, but it’s still unclear if they were Neanderthals, Homo sapiens, a hybrid population or another group altogether.

The mix of subgroups created opportunities for different groups of early humans to exchange knowledge or express identity, said Zaidner. It’s around this time that archaeologists first see examples of early jewelry or body painting, which could be ways early humans started outwardly belonging to a certain group, drawing boundaries between “us” and “them,” he said.

Israel Hershkovitz, a physical anthropologist at Tel Aviv University and the co-director of the Tinshemet site, said the concept of cemeteries in prehistoric life is important because it symbolizes “a kind of a territory.”

He said that same kind of claim over land where ancestors are buried still echoes in the region. “It’s a kind of claim you make to the neighbors, saying ’this is my territory, this part of the land belongs to my father and my forefather’ and so on and so on.”

NEW YORK (AP) — Fifty years ago, “Jaws” unlocked dread in millions about man-eating sharks. This summer, that fear may be somewhat reduced as they become contestants on a TV dance show.

Former “Dancing With the Stars” host Tom Bergeron steps up for a marketing masterstroke by Discovery Channel’s “Shark Week” — “Dancing with Sharks,” where humans and 20-foot-long hammerhead sharks do a little mambo.

“I had a decade and a half experience of hosting a dance show, but this one was different,” Bergeron tells The Associated Press. “I’d often thought on ‘Dancing With the Stars,’ wouldn’t it be great if we could incorporate another species? And here I’ve finally got my dream come true.”

In the show, five scuba-diving shark handlers use bait to twirl and guide various sharks into mini-waltzes, in what’s being billed as “the world’s most dangerous dance competition.”

One contestant wraps his arms around a nerf shark and spoons it. Another takes off her air tank and does a double backflip. A third — a hip-hop loving shark handler — does an old school head spin on the ocean floor as sharks swirl.

“These are some of the best shark handlers in the world. These are people who know the nuances of sharks, know how they move, know how to behave, know how to safely move with them, and they’re guiding these sharks along as you would a partner,” says Kinga Philipps, a TV correspondent and one of the three judges. “It is so fluid and beautiful, all they really had to do is put a little bit of music to it and they’re actually dancing.”

It’s a shark-a-thon

“Dancing with Sharks” kicks off the week of programing, which includes shows on how to survive a shark attack, why New Smyrna Beach in Florida has earned the title of “The Shark Attack Capital of the World” and whether a mysterious dark-skinned shark off the coast of California is a mako, mutant or possibly a mako-and-great white hybrid.

The seven nights of new shows — and a related podcast — ends off the Mozambique coast with a once-a-year feeding frenzy that turns into a showdown between the sharks and their massive prey, the giant trevally.

One highlight is Paul de Gelder’s “How to Survive a Shark Attack,” which he has intimate knowledge about. He lost his right hand and leg in 2009 during an attack by a bull shark in Sydney Harbor.

“If you’re in the jaws of a shark, you want to fight for all of your life. You want to go for the soft parts. You want go for the eyeball. You want to go for the gills,” he says. “But if you’re not being attacked by a shark and you’re just encountering a shark, then you just want to remain calm.”

De Gelder debunks one myth: Punching a charging shark will stop its attack. “If you really want to hurt your own hand, go ahead,” he says. A better approach is to not thrash about and gently redirect the animal. “The secret I got taught many years ago was don’t act like food and they won’t treat you like food.”

“Shark Week” has become a key part of the summer holiday TV schedule, a place where humans safe on land can see ancient apex predators unnervingly glide into view and snap open their jaws.

This year’s highlights also include the hunt for a 20-foot great white that can leap into the air — “Air Jaws: The Hunt for Colossus” — and a show about male and female great whites competing in a series of challenges to determine which sex is the superior predator, naturally called “Great White Sex Battle.”

Joseph Schneier, senior vice president of production and development at Discovery, says the shows are born from listening to what the diving and science community is seeing, like pro divers moving artistically with the sharks as they fed them, leading to “Dancing With Sharks.”

“We realized, well, there’s something here that we can go further with,” he says. “We’re lucky that sharks continue to surprise us. Which helps us get kind of new stories and new things to focus on. That’s been the mantra for us — the sharks are the stars, not the humans.”

As always, there is a deep respect for the creatures and strong science beneath the amusing titles, sharky puns, dramatic music and racy titles like “Frankenshark” and “Alien Sharks: Death Down Under.”

“It’s like putting your vegetables in a dessert,” says Bergeron. “You get all the allure of a ‘Dancing With Sharks’ or other specific shows, but in the midst of that you do learn a lot about sharks and ecology and the importance of sharks in the ecosystem. It’s all in your strawberry sundae.”

Discovery’s “Shark Week” has a rival — National Geographic’s “SharkFest,” which also has hours of sharky content. There’s also the unconnected shark horror comedy “Hot Spring Shark Attack” and a movie earlier this summer that added a serial killer to a shark movie — “Dangerous Animals.”

Born from ‘Jaws’

“Shark Week” was born as a counterpoint for those who developed a fear of sharks after seeing “Jaws.” It has emerged as a destination for scientists eager to protect an animal older than trees.

“’Jaws’ helped introduce this country and this world to a predator we’re all fascinated with,” says Schneier. “But we also feel ‘Jaws’ went too far. These are not creatures that are out to hurt humans by any means, but they have had 50-plus million years of evolution to get to this place where they are just excellent predators. It’s fun to celebrate just how good they are at their job.”

Kendyl Berna, who co-founded the ecology group Beyond the Reef, and is a veteran on “Shark Week,” says studying the ancient beasts can teach humans about changes to the planet.

“So much of the programming this year speaks to what’s happening with the rest of the world — climate change and how much that affects where sharks are and when they’re there and what they’re eating,” she says. “As a keystone apex predator, sharks do set the tone for what’s happening.”

Bergeron says being a part of “Shark Week” for the first time and meeting some of the divers who interact with sharks has actually made him braver.

“I don’t think I’m at a point where I could go down there with them and have the sharks swirling around me without a cage. But with a cage, I think I am ready to do that,” he says. “Just don’t tell my wife.”

ALTADENA, Calif. (AP) — Candace Frazee recently walked through the burnt remains of The Bunny Museum, searching for anything that could be salvaged before workers cleared the land.

The Eaton Fire in Southern California in January scorched more than 60,000 bunny objects and memorabilia, leaving behind mounds of ash, steel and concrete littered across the landscape. Giant bunny statues that once greeted guests were left just wiry, hollow skeletons. Her home in the back was also gone.

Yet amid the debris, there are valuable materials being redeemed: Metal, concrete and some trees are being recycled and given new life.

“It’s fantastic. It’s absolutely fantastic,” said Frazee of recycling the materials, who co-founded the museum with her husband. “That’s the right thing to do.”

After the Palisades and Eaton fires scorched entire neighborhoods, the Army Corps of Engineers set up operations to recycle concrete and metal from mostly fire-damaged homes. Metal is compacted and concrete is crushed, then trucked to recycling facilities before re-entering the supply chain for future uses. And some trees and shrubs are processed and sold.

“A lot of this material can be reused in future construction, and that’s just good for the environment,” said Col. Sonny Avichal, an Army Corps commander for the Eaton Fire. “And so there is definitely this notion of, you know, a lot of the stuff that we’re able to recover will actually come back and help rebuild Altadena.”

The agency said these operations have sped up recovery efforts, reduced waste going to landfills and helped lower the number of trucks on the road, but they’ve also sparked some worries. Residents have raised concerns that the work produces or kick up particles into the air. The Army Corps maintains they’re ensuring operations are safe by monitoring air quality and continually watering the sites to minimize dust.

Steel is an “infinitely recyclable” material

A large dump truck filled with wiry and garbled steel arrived at an Altadena golf course that had been partially burned. The metal pulled from fire-destroyed properties was compacted here before being trucked to a recycling facility where it can be melted, cast and resold. A steel beam can become a steel beam again, or be morphed into a car door or roof panel.

Across the globe, the steel industry represents an estimated 8% of planet-warming emissions, and just 1 to 2 % in the U.S. — the fourth largest steel producer. And according to the American Iron and Steel Institute, a trade association, recycled steel doesn’t lose its quality. Annually, some 60 to 80 million tons of steel scrap are recycled into new products in North America. Every refrigerator that’s recycled reduces 215 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions, according to the group’s estimates.

“Steel is infinitely recyclable,” said Adina Renee Adler, executive director of the Global Steel Climate Council, an industry group working to reduce carbon emissions. “It is, in fact, the most recycled material out of everything that we have.”

Adler hopes people who lost homes to the fires will feel a glimmer of hope knowing some of those materials will be given new life. That could be for somebody else, somewhere else, or to build their own homes anew.

Recycling concrete has environmental perks

The concrete that arrived to these sites is pulverized into large concrete chunks piled 10 feet (3.05 meters) high into inch-and-a-half and 3 inch pieces before being trucked to local construction materials companies.

In its new form, concrete can be used to elevate ground in construction sites, for example, or provide a base layer before pavement is applied, or be used to create concrete again.

Making concrete is responsible for roughly 8% of global carbon dioxide emissions and 2% in the U.S., most of which come from producing and processing its predecessor, cement. That’s because coal and other fossil fuels, which emit greenhouse gases when burned, are the main energy sources for making cement, and the actual chemical reaction that occurs when producing it also releases planet-warming emissions, said Ben Skinner, a manager on the cement and concrete team with RMI, a group working to accelerate the clean energy transition.

But recycling concrete doesn’t substantially lower its carbon footprint, he added. It does, however, have “great environmental impacts” because it reduces the extraction of new raw materials when it’s turned into aggregate — stuff like sand or gravel used to make concrete — while still producing high quality material. It also keeps waste from going to landfills.

Some trees could also be used in rebuilding

Large trees were knocked onto homes and parkways from the same powerful winds that sent fires out of control, and the infernos scorched canopies. Trees that fell into ash get sent to landfills. Others that are still standing and pose a safety risk are cut down.

Some logs are sent to local mills to be manufactured into lumber that can be used in the rebuilding process. Others are mulched to become soil amendment, the name for organic matter added to soil to improve its quality, then sold to companies and farmers, said Matthew Long, senior program manager for Environmental Chemical Corporation, the contractor running the operations.

Long has done fire recovery work for nearly a decade — including in Hawaii after the Lahaina fires and other California blazes in 2017 and 2018. “It’s really rewarding work,” he said. “You’re interacting with someone who lost everything daily and helping them move to the next step of recovery.”

___

The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment.

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Wednesday’s magnitude 7.3 earthquake off Alaska’s Aleutian Islands chain struck in a region that has experienced a handful of powerful quakes within the last five years — including one that shook communities almost exactly two years earlier.

Officials said Thursday they had received no reports of injuries or major damage from the latest event, which triggered a tsunami warning that lasted about an hour before being downgraded and prompted communities along a 700-mile (1,127-km) stretch of Alaska’s southern coast to urge people to move to higher ground. The official maximum wave height at Sand Point, a community 55 miles (88 kilometers) north of the epicenter, was about 3.9 inches (10 centimeters), said Kara Sterling, a lead duty scientist at the National Tsunami Warning Center. It occurred at low tide.

Earthquake sparked tsunami warnings

The earthquake struck at 12:37 p.m. local time, prompting the center’s tsunami warning.

There are a number of ways people in warning areas can receive notifications, including the sounding of sirens in communities that have them, listening to weather radio or public radio broadcasts, following official accounts on social media, or via push alerts on cellphones. In some places, local officials have relayed warnings door to door, said Jeremy Zidek, a spokesperson with the state’s emergency management division.

Public safety departments in King Cove and Unalaska sent alerts urging those in coastal areas or those that could see inundation to seek higher ground.

The warning issued by the center was downgraded to an advisory before being canceled around 2:45 p.m.

Alaska is one of world’s most seismically active regions

Alaska is the most earthquake-prone state in the U.S. and one of the most seismically active regions in the world, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The state experiences a magnitude 7 earthquake almost annually, and the second-largest earthquake ever recorded was centered about 75 miles (120 kilometers) east of Anchorage, the agency said. That 1964 magnitude 9.2 earthquake — and the tsunami it triggered — killed about 130 people.

The Aleutian arc is no stranger to earthquakes, but the activity in the region where Wednesday’s earthquake struck has gotten scientists’ attention. The area, within a few hundred miles of the earthquake, has “lit up” since 2020, with Wednesday’s earthquake marking the fifth exceeding magnitude 7.0 since 2020, said state seismologist Michael West.

“I would not call this an isolated earthquake. It appears to be part of a larger sequence spanning the last several years,” he said. But West added: “There’s no reason to be alarmist about this.”

People should continue to heed warnings, officials say

Some communities have buildings designated on higher ground as meetup points during tsunami warnings, such as a school, while others might simply urge residents to retreat up a hillside, Zidek said.

“That area of Alaska, most areas of Alaska, it gets steep real quick,” he said.

Sometimes, the only warning one might have is the shaking ground, Zidek said. “If it shakes violently for 20 seconds or more, that is your warning sign, and you should head to higher ground if you’re in a coastal area,” he said.

Zidek and West said people should continue to heed warnings. West said he worries about a “burnout effect” among residents in the region, some of whom have evacuated numerous times since 2018 in response to larger earthquakes that have not caused significant damage.

West said he is reminded of a magnitude 8.6 earthquake in 1946 — west of the location of Wednesday’s quake — that generated a deadly tsunami and led to the creation of a U.S. tsunami warning system. The death toll included more than 150 people in Hawaii, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“This area is capable of trans-Pacific tsunamis, and I feel like maybe the best way to stay vigilant … is maybe to look into our deeper history beyond just the last five years,” he said.

NEW YORK (AP) — Dr. David Altchek, who performed more than 2,000 Tommy John surgeries and was the New York Mets longtime medical director, died Thursday. He was 68.

His death was announced by the Hospital for Special Surgery, where he was co-chief emeritus. Altchek told associates last year he had been diagnosed with a brain tumor.

He was the Mets head team physician from 1991-2001 and medical director from 2005-24, physician of the U.S. Davis Cup team from 1999-2003 and North American medical director of the ATP Tour. Altchek was co-chief of HSS’s sports medicine and shoulder service from 2005-14.

“While Dr. Altchek’s intelligence and innovations certainly benefited his patients — and sports medicine in general — his biggest impact was his warm, friendly, caring personality,” said Glenn S. Fleisig, biomechanics research director of the American Sports Medicine Institute. “Colleagues, friends, and patients all loved David and are thankful for the time we had with him.”

A son of orthopedic surgeon Martin Altchek, David attended Middletown High School in New York, received his undergraduate degree at Columbia and his medical degree from Cornell University Medical College in 1982. He interned at The New York Hospital and became a resident at HSS, where he had a fellowship under Dr. Russell Warren, HSS’s surgeon in chief from 1993-03 and a longtime team physician of the New York Giants.

“He was great with people and gave a lot of confidence to patients. Patients just loved him,” Warren said. “Big smile, a lot of energy, great questions, thoughtful, excellent hands, a superb surgeon. Really, you could just tell from the beginning that he had real technique.”

Altchek developed a breakthrough that improved Tommy John surgery success rates.

“My first Tommy John surgery was in 1993, and I did the procedure that Dr. Jobe, Dr. Frank Jobe prescribed,” Altchek said during a 2024 interview with The Associated Press. “It took 2 1/2 hours and I was exhausted. And I realized then that we had to do something about Tommy John surgery. We had to make it a little bit easier.”

Working with residents and fellows, Altchek developed what was called a docking procedure and tested it on about 100 elbows.

“It worked and it worked amazingly well,” Altchek said. “We really did not change it at all for 20-something years.”

Altchek estimated last year he had performed more than 2,400 Tommy John surgeries. He was a preferred surgeon for the Tommy John procedure in recent years along with Texas Rangers physician Dr. Keith Meister and Los Angeles Dodgers head team physician Dr. Neal ElAttrache.

“Renowned worldwide for his surgical expertise, he was equally admired for the compassion and care he showed to our players,” Mets owner Steve Cohen and wife Alex said in a statement.

Part of Altchek’s job was to reassure a player his baseball career was not over.

“You tell them this is unfortunate, but this is your MRI. This is probably why it happened — meaning you threw outside the envelope of your tissue quality,” he explained. “But we have a procedure that can repair your ligament and reconstruct it in a kind of belt, suspenders way that once it heals the likelihood of you going back to pitching at the same level or above is 95%.”

Altchek received Columbia’s John Jay Award for Distinguished Professional Achievement in 2003.

He is survived by his wife, the former Anne Salmson, whom he married in 1981, sons Charles and Christopher, and daughters Chloe and Sophie. Charles is president of Major League Soccer’s third-tier MLS Next Pro minor league and was the Ivy League men’s soccer player of the year while at Harvard in 2005 and 2006.

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (AP) — When the running gets hard in this desert dubbed “hell on Earth,” Danny Westergaard tells himself: “Slow and steady” or “smooth as butter.”

For 18 years, Westergaard, 66, has braved the scorching summer heat of California’s Death Valley in an ultramarathon billed as the world’s toughest. Last week, 99 runners from across the globe embarked on a grueling 135 mile (217.26 kilometer) competition from the lowest point below sea level of North America to the trailhead of the highest peak in the contiguous U.S. They had 48 hours to do it. Few have completed the competition as many times as Westergaard, a retired aerospace project manager, though finishing is not a given.

“It’s just become like a summer ritual and a family reunion,” he said. “I feel at home when I’m here. It’s my tribe.”

For the 37th year, the Badwater 135 Ultramarathon challenged athletes to withstand stretches of this dry, searing desert. The race takes place in July, when temperatures have soared into the 130s F (54.44s C). Even as a place of extremes, Death Valley is not immune to global warming. Seven of its hottest summers have occurred in the past 10 years, according to the National Park Service. And if planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions continue at their current pace, more places could experience its broiling temperatures.

Over two days, Westergaard would trek up and down mountain ranges, past sand dunes and salt flats, through quaint towns and vast desertscapes amid temperatures as high as 117 F (47.22 C). He tried to smile throughout, even when he felt miserable.

“It just lifts you up,” he said of smiling so others smile back.

First night: The race begins

At 8 p.m., the first wave of runners take off. Westergaard jogs up a ramp into the pale light of dusk. It’s 113 F (45 C), and it feels like a blow dryer to the face.

Leap frogging in a van behind him is his cheer squad and support crew – Jennifer Drain, his smiley cousin back for the 17th year, and daughters Meagan, who has attended before, and Madison, a first timer. The crew, who playfully call Westergaard “wiener dog,” are hauling everything he needs: food, ice, water, electrolytes.

This heat can kill. Soaring body temperatures can lead to organ failure and strain the heart, especially for people with heart disease, and cause heat stroke. To prevent that they keep him cool. They spray mist on him and pour ice into his hat and a bandana wrapped around his neck. His drinking water is ice cold.

A few hours in, Meagan asks her dad if he’s peed. “Long stream,” he responded of his amount of urine. Staying hydrated is critical. As he sweats, he’s losing liquids that can critically stress kidneys if not replenished. Dehydration can cause organs to fail from lack of blood, oxygen and nutrients, leading to seizures and death.

No runners have died doing the competition, but heat-related issues are common, said Megan Dell, the race’s medical director. Stomach issues can lead to vomiting and dehydration. Hyponatremia — which happens when your blood’s sodium is too low — has sent runners to the hospital.

Westergaard has learned to embrace the rollercoaster. One moment he feels like Superman — the next he could be throwing up on the side of the road, questioning if he’ll make it. “You just suck it up, just like in life, and get through the lows, and it always gets better.”

The next day: Running through “the oven”

The runners dash toward mile 50.8 (81.75 kilometers), the critical cut off point they must get to by 10 a.m. or be eliminated. The sun is peaking over the mountains, casting a warm glow over dune fields. It’s 85 F (29.44 C).

“Living the dream, ey?” Westergaard said with a smile, his perky strut now a droopy shuffle.

He pours water on his face and arms and munches some watermelon. Madison paces behind him as they crack jokes. “Get er done! Junior wiener in training!” Meagan yelled.

Westergaard makes it to the cut off point before 9 a.m. It’s 90 F (32.2 C).

Mile 56 (90.12 kilometers): After moving for 14 hours straight, Westergaard rests and eats some avocado toast. “Great! Let’s motor!” he said after 10 minutes sitting on a chair.

Miles later, he begins his descent into “the oven” that is Panamint Valley, usually the hottest part of the race during the hottest part of the day. It’s 96 F (35.56 C) and the heat sizzles from above and below. Westergaard runs on the white line on the road because it’s cooler. In hotter years, the asphalt got so hot the bottoms of his shoes felt sticky on the ground.

Westergaard trains year round to acclimate to the heat. As he gets older, he doesn’t tolerate heat as well and has slowed down. His two-hour sauna sessions are now one, and he runs a few times a week instead of daily.

“I’m just out there longer,” he said, “but still getting it done.”

Tony Wolf, kinesiology professor at the University of Georgia, said aging adults generally have reduced heart function compared to younger adults. When combined with the cardiovascular demand of exercise and heat stress, it can cause difficulties.

There isn’t much research about how the bodies of fit older adults, including competitive athletes, regulate internal temperature. “There aren’t a ton of people in their 60s and older who are doing those kinds of events,” said Wolf.

Studies focused on adults before and after a training program found that exercise improved heart function and thermoregulation. That could suggest that the heart and thermoregulation impairments linked to aging are largely mitigated by lifelong fitness, Wolf said.

Second night: Sleepy hallucinations

The runners are spread out now, their flashing lights twinkling in the distance. This night is the toughest for Westergaard as sleep deprivation sets in. He zigzags on the road, barely awake. The runners ahead of him look like they’re running toward him.

In past years, his hallucinations have included people luring him to rest on couches that were actually bushes. Another time, he struck up a conversation with a kid skateboarding by him with a dog. And once, he watched for hours as a guy swung off the edge of the crescent moon, waving down at him.

“It was just clear as day,” Westergaard said of the hallucination.

At 3:10 a.m. at mile 98 (157.72 kilometers), he sleeps for 15 minutes under the moonlight.

“No one really quite understands” why he does this, said Madison.

Final day: The push toward the finish

At 11:50 a.m. and around mile 123 (197.95 kilometers), Westergaard shuffles through the town of Lone Pine. Mount Whitney, the tallest peak in the continental U.S., soars some 14,500 feet (4,420 meters) into the blue sky.

A crowd claps and cheers as he runs by.

“Go Danny, go!” yelled a man.

It’s 92 F (33.33 C) as he approaches the final 4,750 foot (1,447.8 meters) mountain ascent to the finish line. Westergaard is walking at a snail’s pace and says he’s falling asleep. But his smile hasn’t waned.

“We’ve come a long way,” Westergaard said, Madison pacing behind and spraying him.

“Long way for a burger!” she responded. They giggle while thinking about the veggie burger they’ll buy upon finishing.

Then he does, crossing the finish line with his crew at exactly 45 hours and 29 minutes.

It was his most special Badwater 135 race by far, he says misty eyed, having Meagan and Madison at his side.

___

The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment