Secret Hidden Files

Maybe the Saudi Arabia refineries situation is worse than expected, a week after attacks. Saudi state oil firm Aramco has told Japanese refiner JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy about a possible change in shipment, raising concern about the kingdom’s ability to supply crude oil, the Nikkei Asian Review reported. Aramco did not specify a reason for the change in oil grade supplied to Japan’s biggest refiner from light to heavy and medium starting October, Nikkei said, citing JXTG officials. JXTG officials suspect that Aramco is taking more time than expected to fix its desulfurization facility, which is necessary to produce light-grade crude used in the production of gasoline and light gas oil, the newspaper said. At least three supertankers that loaded crude in Saudi Arabia this week for China and India had their crude grades switched from light to heavy oil while more buyers in Asia have been asked to delay shipments and switch grades in September and October, Re...

Let's celebrate the good news! The Environmental Protection Agency says it will aggressively reduce the use of animals in toxicity testing , with a goal of eliminating all routine safety tests on mammals by 2035. Chemicals such as pesticides typically get tested for safety on animals like mice and rats. Researchers have long been trying to instead increase the use of alternative safety tests that rely on lab-grown cells or computer modeling. The EPA's administer, Andrew Wheeler, has now set some specific deadlines to try to speed up that transition. In a signed memo made public Tuesday, he's directed the agency to reduce all requests for, and funding of, studies with live mammals by 30 percent by 2025. He says he wants the agency to essentially eliminate all mammal study requests and funding by 2035, with the use of live mammals only allowed after that with special permission. "I really do think that with the lead time that we have in this — 16 years before we ...

Bugatti is back on top in terms of speed. When the $3 million Bugatti Chiron launched a few years ago, we all marveled at how slow it was. With an electronically limited top speed of 261 mph, it didn’t seem capable of matching its predecessor the Veyron Super Sport, which hit a Guinness-certified 267.8 mph record in 2013. But now, Bugatti is back on top. The automaker confirmed today that a speed run on Volkswagen’s Ehra-Lessien test track in Germany led to an official 304.773 mph speed last month. The news was broken in an exclusive by Top Gear, which said the run happened on August 2 with driver Andy Wallace at the wheel. The speed was certified by the TÜV, Germany’s Technical Inspection Association, and that means it’s vastly outpaced runs from SSC, Koenigsegg and other go-fast companies. A standard Chiron is a speed monster , with its quad-turbocharged W16 putting out 1,479 horsepower. But this record car has had some work done, according to Top Gear. The folks at Dallara, who...

Since early June, an estimated 1 million people have taken to the streets of Hong Kong to protest a bill that would allow extraditions to China. To avoid identification, many of the Hong Kong protesters cover their faces. But according to a Washington Post story, some have also been shining high-powered lasers directly at surveillance cameras — a high-tech protest strategy intended to confuse facial recognition systems. Hong Kong protestors are on another level. Here they’re using lasers to avoid facial recognition cameras. A cyber war against Chinese artificial intelligence. Mainland Takeover The use of these lasers gives photos of the protests a surreal, science-fiction vibe — but what’s happening in Hong Kong right now is a chilling reality that could have a longterm impact. While the bill at the center of the protests is currently on hold, if it passed in the future, it would give Hong Kong the ability to transfer these lasers gives photos of the protests a surreal, science-f...

In an interview published in the Rheinische Post on Monday, Germany’s agriculture minister said increasing the number of wooden houses would help the country meet its emissions goals. Julia Klöckner, a member of Germany’s so-called climate cabinet, said recent developments in construction meant that fire codes that have prevented the building of such homes are no longer justified. “Increased wood — in building homes, for example — absorbs CO2,” Klöckner told the newspaper. Saying that quickly constructed wooden housing could come in handy as the number of homeless people in Germany continues to rise, Klöckner urged state governments to do away with restrictions. “Thanks to the high level of prefabrication, wooden houses can be built fast,” she said, adding: “Some federal states are still skeptical. They should put aside their doubts and adapt their building regulations.” Klöckner’s call for more wooden houses comes amid concerns about the precarious state of Germany’s forests. M...