51: PREVIEW. Return to Escalation: Monitoring China's Promise to Purchase American Soybeans. Jack Burnham discusses the muted respect/ceasefire between President Trump and General Secretary Xi Jinping following their meeting in Seoul. Burnham suggests a retur

Flood Data Shows Alarming Trends, Surpassing Previous Modeling Estimates. Professor Beth Tellman (University of Arizona Geography Department; Cloud to Street) highlights that her compiled flood data is useful for financial sectors, such as insurance and municipal bonds. The data shows Asia dominates observations, accounting for 398 of 913 events, including 85 in India and 52 in China. Furthermore, climate change projections for 2030 show Asia, among 57 countries globally, is expected to see significantly increased flood exposure. Tellman asserts her data is more alarming than previous modeling because it systematically captures impactful human events that models often exclude, such as dam breaks (13 events affecting over 13 million people). Although projections to 2100 are highly uncertain, the 2030 predictions are considered a "pretty good bet." This fresh, observed data, which runs contrary to good planning, is expected to be incorporated into the next IPCC report. 1894 PORTLAND

Satellite Tracking Reveals Increased Global Population Exposure to Floods (2000–2018). Professor Beth Tellman (Chief Science Officer and co-founder of Cloud to Street; Professor at the University of Arizona geography) discusses her peer-reviewed study, published in Nature magazine, using satellite imaging from NASA's Aqua and Terra satellites, equipped with the MODIS optical sensor, to track global flood events. This systematic mapping provides hard data of actual events, augmenting the global flood database, covering 913 observed flood events between 2000 and 2018. Her research identified an increase of up to 24% in the proportion of the population exposed to floods, indicating people are moving faster into flood plains than the general population growth rate. Limitations of the data include satellites being blocked by cloud cover and difficulty tracking sudden events like dam breaks or pluvial events. A significant concern is the underreporting bias of damaging floods in regions like sub-Saharan Africa. 1913 DAYTON

New NASA Missions DAVINCI and VERITAS Set to Decipher Venus's Atmosphere and History. Dr. David Grinspoon (Planetary Science Institute) and David Livingston (The Space Show) describe the upcoming NASA missions to Venus: DAVINCI (Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging) and VERITAS. DAVINCI will be the first entry probe with modern instruments since 1979, descending through the atmosphere to sample gases and measure temperature and pressure, also capturing descent photographs. A core scientific goal is obtaining a precise measurement of the deuterium-to-hydrogen ratio and noble gas abundances to better reconstruct the history of water loss and the atmosphere. VERITAS, an orbiter, will use radar and infrared mapping to look for signs of active volcanism and geological evidence of ancient shorelines on the surface. These missions aim to collect detailed data that will allow scientists to walk backward through time and understand how Venus transitioned into its current extremely hot state. Retry

The Habitability of Venus's Clouds: Following Chemical Clues to Possible Life. Dr. David Grinspoon (Planetary Science Institute) and Dr. David Livingston (The Space Show) discuss the growing mainstream focus on the potential for life in the clouds of Venus. Although the surface is too extreme, the cloud layer provides a relatively benign environment with low pressure and cool temperatures, prompting questions about potential habitability. Life might have migrated to the clouds if Venus lost its ancient, biologically promising oceans. The controversial detection of phosphine, a chemical largely produced by life on Earth, serves as an intriguing, strange chemical clue suggesting something "weird" is happening. Grinspoon also addresses panspermia, noting that hardy organisms like tardigrades could potentially survive natural transfers between planets or even interstellar journeys. The ideal altitude, or "sweet spot," for possible life is around 50 kilometers, where conditions resemble Earth's surface.

PREVIEW. The Risks of AI Feedback Loops: Why Feeding Grok Its Own Output Causes Insanity. Spencer Klavan details interactions with the Grok chatbot, explaining that it learns and improves by receiving human input. Chatbots often end answers with questions to encourage user responses, which serve as training data. Critically, Klavan notes that if Grok's own output is fed back into the system instead of new human output, the machine actually "goes insane." 11963

PREVIEW. Return to Escalation: Monitoring China's Promise to Purchase American Soybeans. Jack Burnham discusses the muted respect/ceasefire between President Trump and General Secretary Xi Jinping following their meeting in Seoul. Burnham suggests a return to escalation is likely, similar to past talks, if either side perceives a competitive step. A critical trigger point to monitor is China's fulfillment of promises to purchase American agricultural commodities, such as soybeans. 1908 HANKOU

PREVIEW. The Crisis of AI Literacy: Protecting Vulnerable Communities from Misusing Chatbots. Kevin Frazier discusses the dangers of young people misusing AI chatbots due to a significant lack of public awareness and basic AI literacy. Designers assume users know chatbots are merely objectification and optimization, not real opinions or people. Frazier stresses the need for educating consumers on the best and improper uses of these tools for responsible innovation. 1951

PREVIEW. Canada-China Trade Talks and EV Security Concerns. Charles Burton discusses Canada-China trade talks (Carney/Xi) post-APEC concerning resuming and enhancing trade. Concerns include China exporting thousands of EVs, potentially overwhelming domestic industries and acting as security threats. Canada hopes China will manufacture EVs locally to offset Canadian auto job losses, but Burton is skeptical of this strategy and considers the Canadian government ill-advised.

PREVIEW. US Operations Near Venezuela and Strategic Deception. General Blaine Holt discusses US operations near Venezuela concerning the unacceptable Maduro dictatorship. Holt suggests the highly visible fleet and air power might be a distraction for the regime, which expects a predictable Bay of Pigs-type assault force. President Trump is likely avoiding a "wash, rinse, repeat plan," indicating the "pointy edge of the spear" they are watching is probably not the thing that will get them.

PREVIEW. Weightlessness Effects on Human Vision and Mars Travel Implications. Bob Zimmerman discusses a NASA study regarding the profound effect of weightlessness on the human eye. The study, looking at 28 individuals from long ISS missions, found about half had vision problems because the eye flattens in weightlessness. Though previous studies noted bone and cardiovascular issues, this new discovery found that women had less of this specific problem than men. Mitigating these effects is required for Mars travel. Retry