Good time for us drivers to decide to quit using electronic devices while driving
The Washington State Patrol has extra emphasis patrols looking for drivers using electronic devices from April 2 through 14.
Pacific Ocean has vastly large floating plastic dump
The huge floating dump is trapped in the large system of circulating ocean currents between California and Hawaii.
It is an immense accumulation of bags, bottles, containers, fishing nets and microparticles known as the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” (GPGP) and has now been measured to spread over 618,000 square miles. That is equal to the states of Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Montana and Nevada combined. It has grown 16 times larger since it was last measured.
A research team from the Ocean Cleanup Foundation, a Dutch start-up aiming to scoop up half the debris in the GPGP within five years, were surprised in particular in the build-up of larger plastic items, which accounted for more than 90 percent of the GPGP’s mass. This might offer a glimmer of hope, as larger plastics are far easier to find and fish out than microplastics.
Ink dot size computer has over 100,000 transistors
IBM has introduced its new CPU or central processing unit, the heart of all computers, which is only 1mm x 1mm, about 1/32” x 1/32”. The CPU contains 100,000 transistor plus other components.
That is a small fraction of the transistors in the CPUs powering today’s laptops, but is similar to the number of transistors in the CPU that in 1981 powered the first IBM PC Personal Computer.
One use for the tiny device will be high-tech drug containers to prevent the current widespread fraudulent manufacture of fake look-alike drugs.
Many good jobs in Iowa
As is true throughout the midwest, Iowa manufacturers are begging for trained workers for their factories.
The many schools offering even free training for these jobs can’t get enough workers to fill their classrooms.
National surveys show that the number of unemployed persons per job opening has fallen from about eight in 2010 to only one now, and this problem is worst in the Midwest.
An example is Mason City, Iowa. With about 28,000 residents, Mason City is the largest town in about a 100-mile radius. It supports industries like manufacturing, construction and agriculture.
Firms in rural areas are more likely to report their applicant pool is limited, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta said. Controlling for other factors, such as the size of a business or education level required for a job, 68% of rural firms reported too few applicants for open jobs, versus 57% of employers in urban areas.
The Mason City IowaWorks employment office’s phone: 641-422-1524.