Radnor Reports: Information for decision-makers

Kīlauea, on Hawaii’s Big Island.

The name Kīlauea means much spreading or spewing in Hawaiian – a reference to its frequent outpouring of lava that flows into the ocean.

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 Katie Hunt of CNN –

The massive crater appeared violently and explosively in the Siberian tundra last year — a powerful blowout of methane gas throwing ice and rock hundreds of feet away and leaving a gaping circular scar in the empty and eerie landscape.

It was the 17th hole to appear in the remote Yamal and Gyda peninsulas in the Russian Arctic since the first was spotted in 2013, mystifying scientists. The craters are thought to be linked to climate change. Drone photography, 3D modeling and artificial intelligence are helping to reveal their secrets.

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Jonathan Rauch of the Atlantic –

When I step back to look at the legacy of President Donald Trump, a surprising conclusion emerges: He has substantially altered the Constitution.

His changes aren’t formal, of course. But his informal amendments are important. If left to stand, they threaten to make Congress an advisory body and give carte blanche to rogue presidents.

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Richard Galant, CNN –

On March 2, 1797, President George Washington wrote a letter comparing himself to a “wearied traveler who sees a resting place, and is bending his body to lean thereon.” The idea of retiring after his controversy-filled second term was “most grateful to my soul,” Washington confided to his former secretary of war, Henry Knox.

“Tomorrow, at dinner, I shall as a servant of the public, take my leave of the President Elect,” John Adams, “…And the day following, with pleasure, I shall witness the inauguration of my Successor.”

The first president was also the first person to hand over the power of his office peacefully, setting the template for more than two centuries of such transfers. That tradition was put at risk for the first time on January 6, when a mob invaded the US Capitol seeking to stop the final certification of Joe Biden’s election victory.

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Ed Browne of Newsweek –

An asteroid that could be up to two times as wide as the height of the Empire State Building is going to fly past Earth next week—but our planet will be spared a collision.

The asteroid, known as 1999 RM45, is going to pass within just 1.8 million miles of Earth at around 7:52pm UTC on Tuesday March 2, according to NASA’s Center for Near Earth Studies (CNEOS).

On an astronomical scale, this distance is tiny.

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