A new winter storm is expected to form off the coast of the Carolinas on Saturday and could potentially intensify into a bomb cyclone, according to forecasts. The U.S. is still recovering from a brutal winter storm that swept across the country over the weekend, knocking out power for more than a million people and leaving dozens dead.
Bomb cyclones are quickly strengthening storms that rapidly drop in pressure. The sudden pressure drop in such storms can cause intense winter weather conditions, such as blizzards, strong winds, and freezing temperatures.
The coming storm is not anticipated to be nearly as widespread or intense as the last one. It is not yet clear where it will hit, and what kind of weather will ensue. The storm may bring snow to large areas of the East Coast.
In other news, Senate Democrats on Wednesday revealed a set of demands to overhaul U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), tying the changes to a must-pass spending bill as Congress raced toward a partial government shutdown that could begin early Saturday, according to Time. Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, said his party had coalesced around three legislative objectives that they say are necessary to rein in ICE, which they accuse of operating with little accountability under President Donald Trump.
Those demands include tightening ICE’s warrant requirements, introducing a uniformed code of conduct for its agents, and requiring all ICE agents be unmasked and with operating body cameras, he said. “We want to end roving patrols,” Schumer said, laying out Democrats' demands.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has publicly railed against several members of his own party who are up for re-election and endorsed their opponents in the upcoming primaries, as lawmakers prepare to defend their seats in the midterms, according to Time. From Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie to Maine Sen. Susan Collins, Trump has blasted a number of Republican lawmakers who will be on the ballot this year after they criticized his policies or broke with him in their votes on various pieces of legislation.
The November elections could be pivotal for the partisan balance of power in Washington. While Republicans currently control both chambers of Congress and the White House, the party of the sitting President tends to lose seats in the midterms, and the GOP doesn’t have many to spare. Republican control of the House appears vulnerable.
In other developments, the race to develop artificial intelligence (AI) is intensifying between the U.S. and China, according to Time. AI policy researcher Lennart Heim said there are many interpretations of what AI companies and their governments are racing towards: to deploy AI systems in the economy, to build robots, to create.
Finally, Time reported that digital clutter, such as old screenshots, junk emails, and texts, has an energy impact. Every sent message, recorded video, and voice note requires the transfer of data from devices to servers stored in data centers. Those servers require electricity and environmental resources including water. The forgotten digital clutter is stored in the cloud, which is realized in the form of servers in data centers that use air conditioning and water to keep cool.
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