“Kevin, do you have a category for people who accidentally set themselves on fire?” a reader asked this week. “Because you should.” The answer is “not specifically,” because that’s only funny if the person who did it was trying to commit arson—which, to be fair, is what happened in the story he forwarded me. And then it can be very funny. That story in particular receives major bonus points because (1) what the arsonist set on fire was his pants, and (2) it includes security-cam footage of that man “fleeing the chaotic scene with his pants on fire.” Recommended.
Having said that, searching this site for the word “fire” does return highly relevant results, in that six of the entries on the very first page involve people who accidentally set themselves on fire. Three of those were about the Florida lawyer whose pants caught fire (it was probably arson) as he was beginning his closing argument in an arson case, something that still boggles the mind. Also recommended.
On May 20, a Vermont court dismissed a lawsuit against the Burlington Free Press by a man who claimed it had not adequately covered his son’s performance in high-school basketball games. Lafayette v. Abrami (Vt. Super. Ct. May 20, 2025). According to the court, the plaintiff claimed “[t]his lack of coverage has hurt plaintiff’s son’s college prospects and caused plaintiff anxiety and stress, leading to uncontrollable vomiting, severe gastrointestinal distress, and panic attacks….” He sought compensatory and punitive damages for this outrage, but will get nothing.
A former U.S. Army sergeant pleaded guilty last month to violating the Espionage Act by trying to sell information to the Chinese government. A plea was probably a good idea, given that evidence showed he had googled the phrase “can you be extradited for treason” (answer: it depends where you flee to) and had created a memo containing classified defense information that he titled “Important Information to Share with Chinese Government.”
I and apparently hundreds of other lawyers have received emails purporting to be from a woman who wants a lot of money from Amazon, but hasn’t explained why. The first email, sent last month, said only “I want 1 trillion from Amazon over ‘Chicken.'” Of course I was intrigued but didn’t have time to look into it then. Yesterday we got a second email from the same address, this one saying that “[t]here was a ‘transaction for 1 trillion that was supposed to be sent to Regions Bank at the corner of Sandy Plains and Shallowford.” There is a Regions Bank at that address in Marietta, Georgia, but if they are missing a trillion dollars, they don’t seem to have reported it yet. Anyway, if you know anything about the missing $1 trillion, or you are willing to represent Kimberly about “Chicken,” could you contact her directly? Thanks.
The following are recent additions to the National Library of Scotland's digital mapping platform at https://maps.nls.uk:
Finding placenames research guide Ten searchable lists of placenames (or gazetteers) dating from the 1580s through to the present day, including national surveys and mapping initiatives by Timothy Pont, William Roy, John Thomson, and the Ordnance Survey. The guide is available in the Research Guides section at https://maps.nls.uk/guides/placenames/.
Signet Library maps of Great Britain and the World, 1640s-1930s This set of 137 maps relating to Great Britain and the World, comes from the library of the Society of Writers to HM Signet (www.wssociety.co.uk) in Parliament Square, Edinburgh. Additions include 402 Signet Library maps of Scotland, as well as maps of England, Wales, Ireland, and overseas. There are also 20 Ordnance Survey One-Inch to the mile Old Series maps of England and Wales included. The collection is available at https://maps.nls.uk/collections/signet/.
Order Researching Ancestral Crisis in Ireland in the UK at https://bit.ly/4jJWSEh. Also available - Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors, Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page.
Research & Developments is a blog for brief updates that provide context for the flurry of news regarding law and policy changes that impact science and scientists today.
In the latest move in a months-long attack on climate science funding, the Trump administration released a budget document on 30 June that calls for zero funding for climate research and the elimination of a slew of NOAA services, including the agency’s climate laboratories, regional climate data efforts, tornado and severe storm research, and partnerships with other institutions.
The budget, proposed for fiscal year 2026, also calls for a reduction in NOAA’s full-time staff by more than 2,000 people.
The Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) would be eliminated under the proposed budget. OAR coordinates and performs NOAA’s climate and weather research.
“With this termination, NOAA will no longer support climate research grants,” the proposal states.
The proposed NOAA budget for 2026 contains the literal line:Total, Climate Research: $0www.commerce.gov/sites/defaul…
“The idea [that] these labs would be completely wiped out is surreal and dangerous,” Dan Powers, executive director of CO-LABS, a science advocacy group, told Colorado Public Radio.
The proposal would also eliminate funding for all of OAR’s climate and weather cooperative institutes—partnerships between the agency and other research institutions, including universities. One such partnership is the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaiʻi, an atmospheric research station best known for its measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide.
Another is the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at the University of Colorado Boulder, which houses the National Snow and Ice Data Center. The center tracks critical snow and ice observations used to monitor the impacts of climate change. The center had already halted maintenance for some of its data products after losing support from NOAA in May.
It is difficult to describe just how disastrous it would be if just-released NOAA budget proposal (or even large portions) were to be enacted: It would involve a wholesale dismantling (decimation, really) of entities relevant to weather, climate, & ocean research & prediction.
Additional programs slated to lose funding include the National Sea Grant College Program, the National Oceanographic Partnership Program, Species Recovery Grants, Climate Competitive Research, and Regional Climate Data and Information.
The proposal also calls for the elimination of some environmental restoration and research programs, including the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund, which had been used to restore 3,624 acres (1,467 hectares) of salmon habitat and enable salmon to travel hundreds of miles to their spawning streams in 2023, according to Oregon Public Radio.
Whether the proposed budget becomes a reality will be decided by Congress.
The future of much of NOAA’s climate and weather research and monitoring has been uncertain for months as the agency has decommissioned datasets, put some of its weather alert services on hold temporarily, and faced layoffs.
In June, the agency announced that data from three satellites used in monitoring hurricanes would not be available to researchers after 30 June. Then, on the day of the deadline, they reversed course, extending the data availability through 31 July. Scientists expressed concern that extending the data availability still would not mean the data would be available during the peak hurricane months of August, September, and October.
These updates are made possible through information from the scientific community. Do you have a story about how changes in law or policy are affecting scientists or research? Send us a tip at eos@agu.org.
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