Why fire scientists want you to skip the fireworks this year

+ child-free adults; Southern Baptists' infighting US Edition - Today's top story: Skip the fireworks this record-dry 4th of July, over 150 wildfire scientists urge the US West [View in browser]( US Edition | 3 July 2021 [The Conversation]( Academic rigor, journalistic flair Here’s how easily a wildfire can start when it’s as hot and dry out as the West is right now: A tractor mowing grass in the heat of the day set off a spark in my neighborhood last week. Within minutes, a wildfire was racing toward homes up the hill. About a dozen homes had to be evacuated while fire crews fought to contain the blaze. By the time they got it out, the fire had burned nearly 40 acres. Most of the U.S. West is that tinder-dry right now, and we’re headed into a holiday known for people playing with fire. That’s why over 150 wildfire scientists are urging Westerners to forgo the fireworks this July Fourth weekend. They explain in an article this week [why the record-hot, dry west is so susceptible to burning right now and how human activities, the cause of most fires in populated areas, spike every year on July 4](. As the authors write, there are better ways to celebrate. My local fire crew recommends a glow-stick dance party. This week we also liked articles about the close ties between [government infrastructure spending and social engineering]( throughout American history, why [more robots are not being used]( in the search and discovery mission in Miami, and the role of university boards of trustees and [the Nikole Hannah-Jones tenure vote](. Stacy Morford Environment and Climate Editor In heat and drought like the western U.S. and Canada are experiencing in 2021, all it takes is a spark to start a wildfire. Jim Watson/Getty Images [Skip the fireworks this record-dry 4th of July, over 150 wildfire scientists urge the US West]( Philip Higuera, The University of Montana; Alexander L. Metcalf, The University of Montana; Dave McWethy, Montana State University; Jennifer Balch, University of Colorado Boulder Every year, the number of wildfires caused by humans spikes on Independence Day. There are safer ways to celebrate amid the heat and drought. Demonstrators gather June 25, 2021, on University of North Carolina campus in Chapel Hill, N.C., to demand that the university offer tenure to award-winning investigative journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones. AP Photo/Jonathan Drew [Trustees’ handling of Nikole Hannah-Jones’ tenure application shows how university boards often fail the accountability test]( Felecia Commodore, Old Dominion University; Demetri L. Morgan, Loyola University Chicago University trustees are among the least-studied groups in higher education. Increasingly, they're making news – as the focus of a crisis. That raises the question: To whom are they accountable? In 1872, John Gast painted ‘American Progress,’ showing trains and roads spreading across the American West. John Gast, Library of Congress via Wikimedia Commons [Infrastructure spending has always involved social engineering]( Erika M Bsumek, The University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts; James Sidbury, Rice University Government investment in roads, railroads and other public services has always involved social programming, both for good and for ill. - [An expert on search and rescue robots explains the technologies used in disasters like the Florida condo collapse]( Robin R. Murphy, Texas A&M University At building collapse sites, aerial drones and ground robots can extend the eyes and ears of search and rescue personnel to places people can't go – above and inside the rubble pile. - [Trump Organization indictment hints at downsides of having no independent oversight – unlike companies traded on Wall Street]( Bert Spector, Northeastern University Publicly traded companies must have independent oversight and make regular financial and other disclosures. The Trump Organization has none of these safeguards. - [New York City or Los Angeles? Where you live says a lot about what and when you tweet]( Mayank Kejriwal, University of Southern California An AI analysis shows that differences in how New Yorkers and Angelenos tweet go beyond the words they use. - [Far more adults don’t want children than previously thought]( - [Religion at the Supreme Court: 3 essential reads]( - [Infighting in the Southern Baptist Convention shouldn’t be a surprise – the denomination has been defined by such squabbles for 400 years]( - [Racism lurks behind decisions to deny Black high school students from being recognized as the top in their class]( - [‘Megadrought’ along border strains US-Mexico water relations]( - [A pediatric nurse explains the science of sneezing]( - [Benjamin Franklin’s fight against a deadly virus: Colonial America was divided over smallpox inoculation, but he championed science to skeptics]( You’re receiving this newsletter from [The Conversation](. Not interested anymore? [Unsubscribe](. 303 Wyman Street, Suite 300 Waltham, MA 02451