Dave Levitan
@davelevitan
Science journalist, bylines all over the place. Book: NOT A SCIENTIST: How politicians mistake, misrepresent, and utterly mangle science (WW Norton). www.davelevitan.com Sign up: www.gravityisgone.com
You will never, ever, ever guess what companies say is the biggest challenge to the fusion industry right now
The industry has cashed in more than $4 billion in funding this year alone. The average amount companies are saying they need to deliver a commercially viable plant is, uh, rising -- the median was $694 million last year and is $1.2 billion this year.
Some companies in the industry appear to think that someone will deliver electricty from fusion by 2035. Fewer think that electricity will be "commercially viable." Hm.
One of my favorite reports of the year is here, the Fusion Industry Association's industry report. A decent headline is that 4 companies say they anticipate a pilot plant by 2030, and 28 by 2035. Last year (when they called it a "commercially viable" pilot plant) of 45 responses that was 5 and 35.
I think the phrase may have lost its oomph www.nytimes.com/2026/07/11/u...
The very first thing I wrote for Splinter when I started there in early 2024 was about this chart of global sea surface temperatures. Back then I said it looked "off, malign, nefarious," "an abomination made mundane through math." It's hotter now. www.jezebel.com/the-climate-...
I am not sure I ever clocked that the deputy who finds Chrissy at the beginning of Jaws and then argues with Brody etc later was the motorist in Clue. Hell. Yeah.
If you're wondering which one of Joey Chestnut's non-hot dog eating records is grossest, it's the eggs in a landslide
Movie magic baby, that the hairdresser in Married to the Mob was also Lt. Boyle, getting his shit wrecked by Hannibal Lecter. Some good guy-remembering.
lol half a day later, analysis done www.worldweatherattribution.org/fossil-fuels...
This is an extremely good way to put this whole thing [🎁] defector.com/dead-country...
Also, two things about this -- first, literally every heat wave is now "tied" to climate change, they all start from a substantially higher baseline. Second, scientists published their analysis linking the European heat waves to climate change *while they were happening*.
I dunno but maybe relegating any mention of climate change off your big homepage package, away from the heading and subhead, and after the eight-paragraph main story into a second bullet point — NOT the "why it's hot" one — is part of why it's hot.
Part two: Once the chicks had fledged and left we took the wreath off the door, but it was still just sitting on the floor of the porch, and robins apparently will reuse a nest in the same season so this one (??) came back, dismantled it on the ground and reestablished up on the porch column.