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` tags. ANCHORAGE, Alaska — It is feared that three skiers have died after an avalanche in the Alaskan wilderness carried them away and buried them under approximately 10 stories of snow. The National Avalanche Center reports that, on average, about 25 people die in avalanches each winter in the U.S., mostly in backcountry areas. Avalanches are uncommon at ski resorts because they manage their slopes and intentionally trigger smaller slides when no one is present. Here’s a breakdown of avalanches, their causes, and some safety recommendations: What were some recent avalanches? The heli-skiers are presumed dead after being swept away and buried on Tuesday afternoon close to Girdwood, a skiing town roughly 40 miles (64 kilometers) south of Anchorage. Heli-skiing involves using a helicopter to reach isolated areas and slopes with untouched snow for backcountry skiing. If these three deaths are confirmed, it would be the deadliest avalanche event in the U.S. since 2023, when three climbers died in Washington’s Cascade Mountains. Experts have stated that it is very unlikely the helicopter triggered the avalanche because its vibration or noise doesn’t generate sufficient force. Before this week, avalanches had claimed the lives of 15 individuals in the U.S. this winter: 10 backcountry skiers and snowboarders, four snow machine users, and one ski patroller, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center. The most recent incident occurred on Feb. 28 in the Harts Pass area of Washington, where an avalanche caught three snowmobilers. One person died, and another was injured. On Feb. 22, a skier-triggered avalanche in a steep area above Berthoud Pass in central Colorado resulted in one death. According to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, it was the state's third avalanche death this winter and the second in less than a week, following the death of a Crested Butte snowboarder west of Silverton on Feb. 20. Elsewhere, on Feb. 17, avalanches caused three fatalities: one near Lake Tahoe, on the California-Nevada border, and two backcountry skiers in Oregon’s Cascade Mountains. On Feb. 8, a well-known outdoor guide died in a Utah avalanche. How do avalanches occur? Generally, only two elements are needed to create dangerous conditions: a slope of at least 30 degrees and multiple layers of snow. Additional pressure on the snowpack from weight, wind, rain, heavy snowfall, or movement can cause some layers to break off and slide downhill. Sometimes a slide occurs as loose snow, known as a sluff. According to the Sierra Avalanche Center, sluffs account for a small percentage of avalanche-related deaths and property damage. Other avalanches are slab avalanches, which occur when a large snow layer breaks away. These account for the majority of fatalities. Another type of avalanche occurs when wind forms a snow cornice that hangs over a ridge or the edge of a steep slope. The Colorado Avalanche Information Center notes that the overhang can suddenly collapse, surprising anyone underneath or on top of it. What triggers an avalanche? Movement, rapidly changing weather, and wind can all trigger an avalanche. However, experts say that victims or their companions trigger 90% of slides that result in injury or death. This means that people who ski, snowmobile, snowshoe, or participate in other winter backcountry activities should check the avalanche forecast before heading out and ensure they have the appropriate safety equipment. Most ski resorts have avalanche protocols or mitigation systems, which often involve checking snowpack stability. Remote detonations are also used to intentionally trigger slides and eliminate dangerous buildup before skiers are allowed on the slopes, according to Chris Lundy, an avalanche specialist. Lundy stated that the helicopter that dropped off the skiers in Alaska’s backcountry was very unlikely to have triggered the avalanche. “The common belief that sounds or vibrations trigger avalanches is incorrect. Physical force on the snowpack is required for an avalanche to occur,” he said. How can one avoid an avalanche? Don't think you can outrun one. The Sierra Avalanche Center reports that dry slab avalanches commonly reach speeds of up to 80 mph (129 kph) within seconds. Wet avalanches typically travel at around 20 mph (32 kph). In comparison, Usain Bolt, an eight-time Olympic gold medalist, set a record of just under 28 mph (45 kph) in the 100-meter dash in 2009 – on a flat track, not a snow-covered slope. Most people caught in avalanches are on the slope when they happen. The best strategy is to avoid areas where avalanches are likely to occur. Outdoor enthusiasts can consult forecasts at regional avalanche centers or . If you do venture out, using the buddy system and knowing wilderness first aid is advisable. Experts recommend three essential pieces of equipment: an avalanche beacon or transceiver, which transmits location signals; a shovel for snowpack testing and rescue; and a thin, folding pole for probing the snow to locate buried individuals. An avalanche airbag backpack that inflates when triggered can help the wearer stay on or near the surface during an avalanche. What if you get caught in an avalanche? Try to cover your mouth and nose with your hands as quickly as possible. If your arms are outstretched when buried, you will be unable to move them. Cupped hands provide a small air pocket. Your breath is warm when you exhale, which can help melt the snow. If you're lucky, you may be able to wiggle a finger or two to slowly create space in the otherwise cement-like snow for more air and eventually escape.

The secret to a lasting marriage might be found in the lives of married spies, like the protagonists in the stylish spy thriller Black Bag. George Woodhouse, a seasoned operative at Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre, discovers a list of five colleagues suspected of being moles capable of unleashing a devastating cyberworm. The problem? His wife, Kathryn St. Jean, also a high-ranking spy and the object of his affection, is among them. Confident in their bond, George isn't overly concerned. He invites the four other suspects to their home for dinner, hoping to expose the traitor. He casually warns his composed wife, adorned in a flowing charmeuse gown, to steer clear of the chana masala, which he has laced with truth serum to loosen tongues. The potential double agents—played by Tom Burke, Naomie Harris, Regé-Jean Page, and Marisa Abela—are arranged in two couples. One of them points out the limited dating pool for spies. The chic gathering in their stylish London home yields some intriguing cyberspy chatter, including opinions on Edward Snowden. However, it reveals little to George about his wife's potential involvement. Their work is a topic at home, but only to a certain extent. When a question becomes too sensitive, they use the code phrase "Black Bag" to signal a polite retreat. This is the response George receives when he questions Kathryn about concerning evidence he finds after the party while cleaning up. (This spy-spouse handles both the cooking and the cleaning.) Later, Kathryn invites him to the bedroom, but despite his feelings, George's trust is wavering. excels at directing with speed and flair. As a result, his films never feel heavy-handed. Black Bag perfectly captures this essence. Written by David Koepp (of Mission: Impossible fame), the script is full of twists, turns and techno-spy jargon. The film exudes a sleek, understated vibe, reminiscent of a Sade song, though this is arguably a weakness. Black Bag concludes before the viewer can fully immerse themselves. Perhaps it is best described as a delightful amuse-bouche rather than a complete meal. Would you prefer a perfectly crafted delicacy or a massive plate of nonsense? Black Bag thrives on its subtle humor and the appealing performances of its leads. Blanchett commands the screen with regal grace, while Fassbender imbues George’s cold logic with surprising allure. Like any couple, George and Kathryn have their quirks, daily irritations, and occasional doubts. But when push comes to shove, they stand together. What God has joined, let no one separate, not even pesky cyberworms. ```

Donald Trump has nominated Dr. Marty Makary to head the FDA, the federal entity responsible for assuring the safety and effectiveness of medications, medical equipment, food products, and beauty products. Makary, a surgical oncologist from Johns Hopkins University, is scheduled to appear before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions on Thursday, March 6, for his confirmation hearing. If the Senate confirms him, he will be in charge of one of the country's most important health organizations, overseeing the regulation of items ranging from vaccines to medications related to abortion. Here's a summary of what you should know about Makary. He works at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Makary is the chief of islet transplant surgery at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. His research is largely focused on the root causes of disease and healthcare costs. He is also a member of the National Academy of Medicine. He has made controversial statements about COVID-19 vaccine mandates Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, Makary initially supported lockdown measures and mask-wearing. However, he later frequently appeared on Fox News, where he criticized COVID-19 vaccine mandates. Dr. Paul Offit, the director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and a member of the FDA's vaccine advisory committee, stated that while COVID-19 vaccine mandates ideally wouldn't have been necessary, they were sensible during a global pandemic. "Ideally, in a world that isn't ours, anyone who analyzed the data for those vaccines would have been vaccinated," Offit explains. "Hospitals were overwhelmed. Nurses were using bandanas as masks and garbage bags as gowns," he continued. "Vaccine mandates shouldn't have been needed, but they seemed like a completely reasonable step at the time to increase vaccination rates." Some estimates suggest that COVID-19 vaccines prevented nearly 140,000 deaths in the U.S. during the first five months of their availability. While Makary hasn't openly endorsed the anti-COVID-19 vaccine sentiments expressed by his potential superior, the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, he has criticized public health officials in former President Joe Biden's Administration for "implementing a vaccine mandate that disregarded natural immunity." In an opinion piece published in February 2021, Makary asserted that the U.S. was approaching herd immunity, predicting that "COVID will largely disappear by April, allowing Americans to return to normal life." However, several months after the article's publication, COVID-19 cases increased as the Delta variant spread across the country. Soon after, the Omicron variant caused a surge in cases during the winter. Thousands of individuals died during these surges. If confirmed as FDA commissioner, Makary would be responsible for overseeing the nation's vaccine supply. In late February, members of the FDA's vaccine advisory committee learned that a March 13 meeting to determine the influenza strains for the next flu shot had been canceled. This meeting had been held annually since the late 1960s. Offit expresses hope that Makary will affirm the importance of external expert advisors, such as those on the vaccine advisory committee, during Thursday's confirmation hearing. He suggested the country’s food supply could be to blame for chronic health problems Makary's views on food align with those of Kennedy and his movement. He has indicated that chronic illnesses and diseases may be linked to food additives and other chemicals to which Americans are exposed. He has described the nation's food supply as "poisoned." Nutrition experts have criticized Makary's statements, arguing that attributing chronic diseases solely to food is overly simplistic. He has been accused of spreading misleading information on abortion Following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022, Makary stated on Fox News that fetuses between 15 and 20 weeks of gestation "will actually resist the instruments of abortion." Reproductive rights advocates condemned Makary's comments, accusing him of spreading misinformation. If confirmed as the FDA commissioner, Makary would have considerable influence over mifepristone, a medication approved by the FDA for abortions more than 20 years ago. The Biden Administration supports access to the medication, but reproductive rights advocates fear that Makary could reverse these efforts and limit access to the drug if confirmed. He’s been a vocal critic of federal health agencies Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Makary has called the FDA "broken," claiming it is "mired in politics and red tape." He argued that the agency needed "fresh leadership" to "promote scientific advancement, not hinder it." He has also accused the nation's leading health agencies of neglecting chronic diseases, alleging without evidence that "the greatest perpetrator of misinformation has been the United States government with the food pyramid."

The unveiling in January of China's most sophisticated AI model marks a turning point. As President Trump cautioned in his recent speech on technological security, this development is a "" for American leadership. The stakes are not just about economic competition, but potentially the most geopolitically sensitive technology since the atomic bomb. Following Oppenheimer's creation of the atomic bomb, the U.S. held a technological advantage for roughly four years before the Soviet Union caught up. This balance of terror, coupled with the unprecedented destructive power of these weapons, led to the concept of mutual assured destruction (MAD). This deterrence strategy, while imperfect, prevented major conflict for decades. The threat of nuclear retaliation discourages a first strike, leading to a tense but stable equilibrium. Today's AI competition could be even more intricate than the nuclear era because AI is a versatile technology impacting various sectors, from medicine to finance to defense. Advanced AI could even automate AI research, giving the leading nation a growing advantage in both defense and offense. A nation nearing superintelligent AI, which surpasses human intelligence in almost every aspect, would pose a national security threat to rivals, potentially leading them to consider sabotage rather than concede power. If we are moving toward a world with superintelligence, we must acknowledge the potential for geopolitical instability. A newly released details the geopolitical implications of powerful AI and suggests a comprehensive "Superintelligence Strategy." Consider how the U.S. might respond if rival nations sought an insurmountable AI advantage. If Beijing were to surpass American AI labs and approach recursively improving superintelligence first, U.S. national security would be severely and fundamentally threatened, regardless of whether Beijing could control its creation. The U.S. might rationally resort to threatening cyberattacks on AI datacenters to prevent China from achieving its goal. Similarly, Xi Jinping—or Vladimir Putin, who is unlikely to develop the technology first—might react the same way if the U.S. neared recursively improving superintelligence. They would not passively accept an impending U.S. monopoly on power. Just as the destabilizing pursuit of nuclear dominance eventually yielded to the stability of MAD in the nuclear age, we might soon face a similar deterrence dynamic with AI. If any nation attempting to achieve AI supremacy faces the threat of preemptive sabotage, nations might be discouraged from pursuing unilateral power. This outcome is what we term Mutual Assured AI Malfunction (MAIM). As nations recognize this possibility, we anticipate it becoming the standard approach, and we must prepare for this new strategic landscape now. MAIM is a framework designed to maintain strategic advantage, prevent escalation, and curb the ambitions of rivals and malicious actors. To ensure its effectiveness, the U.S. must clearly communicate that any destabilizing AI project, especially those aimed at achieving superintelligence, will be met with retaliation. In this context, offense—or at least the credible threat of it—is likely the best defense. This involves expanding our cyberattack capabilities and increasing surveillance of adversary AI programs. While constructing this deterrence framework, America must simultaneously progress on two additional fronts: AI nonproliferation and domestic competitiveness. For nonproliferation, we should implement stricter AI chip export controls and monitoring to prevent compute power from falling into the wrong hands. We should manage AI chips similarly to uranium, maintaining precise records of product movement, incorporating restrictions on the capabilities of high-end AI chips, and empowering federal agencies to monitor and shut down illegal distribution channels. Finally, to sustain a competitive advantage, the U.S. should prioritize building resilient supply chains for military technology and computing power. Specifically, our reliance on Taiwan for AI chips represents a significant vulnerability and a critical bottleneck. While the West currently holds a strong position in AI chips, Chinese competition could disrupt this. Therefore, the U.S. should enhance its domestic design and manufacturing capabilities. Superintelligent AI presents a challenge as complex as any policymakers have encountered. It is what theorists Horst Rittel and Melvin Webber termed a "wicked problem," constantly evolving with no definitive resolution. MAIM, supported by strong nonproliferation efforts and renewed investment in American industry, offers a strategy based on lessons from past arms races. While there is no purely technical solution to fully control these forces, the correct balance of deterrence, nonproliferation, and competitiveness measures can help the United States navigate the emerging geopolitical reality of superintelligence. ```

` tags. `` The typical response to shootings connected to online hate or the spread of violent networks on social media is that platforms need to do more. My research indicates that while content moderation takedowns have increased on major sites, extremists still find online spaces to recruit, organize, and incite violence. Perhaps the question should be whether the problem is too big for any single platform to handle. The focus is too often on individual platforms like Facebook, X, YouTube, or TikTok, and not enough on the fragmented nature of content moderation across the internet. When governments scrutinize "Big Tech" and platforms increase moderation, extremist movements move to smaller, alternative platforms. Fewer rules and smaller safety teams mean more opportunities to radicalize and to test ways of getting back on larger platforms. Recently, some major platforms have loosened content moderation rules under the banner of free speech. For example, under Elon Musk, X significantly reduced its trust-and-safety teams. Meta ended its third-party fact-checking program and redefined hate speech policies. Because these platforms have the widest reach, extremists regain access to mainstream audiences and re-enter the cycle of radicalization that smaller platforms struggle to maintain. My research, using multi-platform data and case studies, shows how extremists build resilience in this uneven landscape. Their strategy involves using fringe sites or encrypted messaging apps to post the most inflammatory material. Then, they create "toned-down" messages for mainstream platforms that are hateful but not enough to trigger takedowns. They exploit the resentment of users who feel censored, using that as part of their rallying cry. This thrives in the "inconsistent enforcement system," allowing extremists to evade bans and rebuild across platforms. This piecemeal approach means extremist movements are never truly dismantled, only displaced. Instead of weakening them, it teaches them to evolve, making future enforcement harder. If platforms coordinate their standards in specific enforcement protocols, it removes the "arbitrage" extremists rely on. Analyses of 60 platforms show that policy convergence reduces safe havens for violent groups because they can't exploit enforcement gaps. When platforms coordinate, extremists have fewer places to regroup and shift when bans occur. Coordination isn't simple; content moderation raises concerns about free speech and potential abuse. However, for content like terrorist propaganda and hate speech advocating violence, aligning standards would close loopholes. Building trust-and-safety capabilities isn't cheap, especially for smaller platforms. ROOST, supported by philanthropic foundations and tech companies like Google, OpenAI, and Roblox, provides open-source software and shared databases to help platforms identify and remove extremist material. This promises greater convergence without companies reinventing moderation. Political barriers remain. There's no consensus on the line between extremist speech and legitimate political expression, and views are polarized. Extremist violence isn't partisan; attacks linked to online radicalization show that hate and terror thrive between platforms. We can agree that calls for violence, hate-based harassment, and terror propaganda warrant intervention. Multi-platform initiatives like ROOST or the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism can make headway there. Until the incentives enabling the migration of extremist content across platforms are addressed, we'll keep asking why these attacks happen. The answer is a fragmented system where each platform fights its own battle, while extremists exploit the seams. It’s time to demand not just that “Big Tech do more,” but that all online spaces commit to a more unified stance against extremism. Only then can we begin to dry up the countless leaks that keep nourishing digital hate.