Southwest florida research and education center

I read the entire thing, and damn this part was bad. The rest of it was almost perfect… but this is decoupled from material reality. It ignores that the US people agree and ask for legalization. It also ignores that China itself didn’t ban cannabis until the 1985 when the UN and US asked them to. Ignoring the racist origin of the original US cannabis ban was wrong. They totally mischaracterize the drug problem in the US by focusing on “marijuana” and ignoring that not a single drug death is due to marijuana, nearly all are from fentanyl, or stimulants like methamphetamine and cocaine. There is absolutely no connection between states with legal weed and states with high drug overdoses. Legal weed does not cause drug overdoses to increase. Alcohol use has increased dramatically and goes ignored, despite its real health problems. I have a lot more to say about it but reading their whole report was enough phone time for me.
Here’s the section, thought y’all would agree it’s bad.
The U.S. government actively promotes the legalization of marijuana regardless of people's health. Marijuana is a controlled narcotic drug by the UN International Drug Control Conventions. In the 1970s, the United States promulgated the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), which classified marijuana as a federally controlled substance. The federal and state governments of the United States have failed to regulate drugs and substance abuse and even pushed for the legalization of marijuana under the influence of lobbyists groups, resulting in more and more young people becoming victims. In their book Can Legal Weed Win? The Blunt Realities of Cannabis Economics published in 2022, Robin Goldstein and Daniel Sumner, researchers with the University of California, Davis, underlined that one of the pipe dreams behind the legalization push is the intention to make legal cannabis a new cash cow for the government through tax. Marijuana sales in the United States have exceeded 30 billion dollars so far, and the U.S. marijuana market is expected to reach 65 billion dollars by 2030. According to the data released by Open Secrets, from 2018 to 2021, some marijuana and products-related enterprises and trade associations in the United States spent more than 16.6 million dollars on political lobbying, with an average annual expenditure of about 10 times that of 2016; In the first three quarters of 2022, more than 5.6 million dollars were spent on marijuana lobbying. Enterprises and organizations profiting from marijuana trade money for power, and form interest groups with politicians, thereby letting drugs and substance abuse going unchecked, a striking demonstration of Washington's failure in social governance.
Drugs and substance abuse endanger life and health. According to a survey released by U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 59.3 million Americans over 12 years of age abused drugs in 2020, of which 49.6 million smoked marijuana. According to public information on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly 40 percent of American high school students use marijuana for a long time. According to a report released by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in August 2022, 43 percent of young Americans have smoked marijuana in a year, 8 percent have used hallucinogens, and 11 percent have smoked marijuana every day, the highest level in record. According to a study released by the Manhattan Institute for Policy Studies on August 4, 2022, the number of Americans dying from drugs and drug abuse has increased dramatically in recent years, by more than 100,000 per year. More than 107,000 cases involving deaths from drug overdose occurred in the 12-month period ending in August 2022, according to data from the U.S. CDC. Marta Sokolowska, the Deputy Center Director for Substance Use and Behavioral Health in FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, pointed out that drug abuse has become one of the most devastating public health crises in the United States.
http://english.scio.gov.cn/scionews/2023-03/28/content_85196298.htm

I was watching YouTube videos about a few hours ago on my computer then all of a sudden it just froze. Like it completely stopped. I was able to use the mouse and everything but it froze. I was weirded out so I wanted to reboot it, but instead of holding the button down, I just flipped the switch that turned it on and off and turned it off.
Once I turn it on, it brings me to the BIOS. I haven’t seen the BIOS in like a year, so I get kind of confused on what to do. Turns out, there is no boot drive that can be read. So I do some research online and I try enabling CSM to see if it can find my boot drive. It does, and I try booting it. Then I get a pop up that says: “Reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media in selected boot device and press key.” Weird, but I try to do even MORE research and realize that I need to reinstall windows. I do that and try to reinstall it on my SSD again since that’s where I installed it before. Well, turns out I can’t, and in fact, I get a pop up that says “This partition disk is of the GPT style” so I was unable to install it on there… even though I did a year ago.
So at this point I’m confused and I try everything. I turn CSM off again, on again, then off again. I try switching the boot to legacy only, UEFI only, ignore — NOTHING. I even tried to format my drives (my HDD) and I’m pretty sure I accidentally deleted files from it by doing that, which I’m kinda pissed about if that’s the case. Then, I tried doing this thing where you do the command prompt and try diskpart and list disk and to no avail, that didn’t work either.
I’ve probably sat here for 3 and half hours trying to troubleshoot and so far nothing has worked. It feels like I’ve genuinely tried everything. My plan is to go to MicroCenter tomorrow or call them and ask them what to do, but for now I’m really pissed because I’ve tried everything and it’s not working and I don’t know if it’s an easy fix or I have to install windows or some shit. But that can’t be the case, because it feels like my PC can’t install windows bc it already has it fucking installed. Anyways.
Is there anything else I could try? Maybe I missed something? Please, by all means, go ahead.

I read the entire thing, and damn this part was bad. The rest of it was almost perfect… but this is decoupled from material reality. It ignores that the US people agree and ask for legalization. It also ignores that China itself didn’t ban cannabis until the 1985 when the UN and US asked them to. Ignoring the racist origin of the original US cannabis ban was wack. They totally mischaracterize the drug problem in the US. Alcohol use has increased and goes ignored, despite its real health problems. I have a lot more to say about it but reading their whole report was enough phone time for me.
Here’s the section, thought y’all would agree it’s bad.
The U.S. government actively promotes the legalization of marijuana regardless of people's health. Marijuana is a controlled narcotic drug by the UN International Drug Control Conventions. In the 1970s, the United States promulgated the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), which classified marijuana as a federally controlled substance. The federal and state governments of the United States have failed to regulate drugs and substance abuse and even pushed for the legalization of marijuana under the influence of lobbyists groups, resulting in more and more young people becoming victims. In their book Can Legal Weed Win? The Blunt Realities of Cannabis Economics published in 2022, Robin Goldstein and Daniel Sumner, researchers with the University of California, Davis, underlined that one of the pipe dreams behind the legalization push is the intention to make legal cannabis a new cash cow for the government through tax. Marijuana sales in the United States have exceeded 30 billion dollars so far, and the U.S. marijuana market is expected to reach 65 billion dollars by 2030. According to the data released by Open Secrets, from 2018 to 2021, some marijuana and products-related enterprises and trade associations in the United States spent more than 16.6 million dollars on political lobbying, with an average annual expenditure of about 10 times that of 2016; In the first three quarters of 2022, more than 5.6 million dollars were spent on marijuana lobbying. Enterprises and organizations profiting from marijuana trade money for power, and form interest groups with politicians, thereby letting drugs and substance abuse going unchecked, a striking demonstration of Washington's failure in social governance.
Drugs and substance abuse endanger life and health. According to a survey released by U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 59.3 million Americans over 12 years of age abused drugs in 2020, of which 49.6 million smoked marijuana. According to public information on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly 40 percent of American high school students use marijuana for a long time. According to a report released by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in August 2022, 43 percent of young Americans have smoked marijuana in a year, 8 percent have used hallucinogens, and 11 percent have smoked marijuana every day, the highest level in record. According to a study released by the Manhattan Institute for Policy Studies on August 4, 2022, the number of Americans dying from drugs and drug abuse has increased dramatically in recent years, by more than 100,000 per year. More than 107,000 cases involving deaths from drug overdose occurred in the 12-month period ending in August 2022, according to data from the U.S. CDC. Marta Sokolowska, the Deputy Center Director for Substance Use and Behavioral Health in FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, pointed out that drug abuse has become one of the most devastating public health crises in the United States.
http://english.scio.gov.cn/scionews/2023-03/28/content_85196298.htm

Fellow Academics of all sorts,
I had been an adjunct lecturer for over a decade when the enrollment drop from covid hit. I have been teaching at the middle school level for the past couple of years, but looking forward to get back into higher education.
The problem is, in my field writing papers and attending conferences is the only way to properly network. In the past, online resources through my institution's library (JSTOR and other such databases) were my main means of finding research material to write on.
As someone who currently does not have an institution attached, and I cannot afford the price of a JSTOR account of my own, I am looking for any suggestions on how to access these kinds of journal articles as a broke, freelance academic.
Thank you in advance.
Edit: In the US, if that matters.

Been playing with ChatGPT and thought about using it to generate the base of an adventure setting to help flesh things out and have been very happy with the results so far.
Here is an example for creating a ruin feeding it random rolls after getting it to generate a random realm for one of my Gods. It is a bit simple at parts, just kind of parroting the prompt, but its easy to expand upon whatever seems interesting, with with the tool or just your own imagination.
I also included the prompt it gave me when I asked it to build a realm after describing its creator to ChatGPT.
Example

Can you create a ruin located somewhere in the wilderness of Nocturnis?
It should be a cultural site that is a monument site to past glories.
There is a major inhabitant and the remnants of another group or pack they deposed. The major inhabitant originally came here to guard something precious and now stay as they are waiting for someone else to arrive. The major inhabitants should be Outsider prisoners that have gone native and the remnant group should be the altered human servitors of the former owner.

Ruin Name: The Echoing Halls
Description: The Echoing Halls is an ancient, crumbling ruin located deep within the wilderness of Nocturnis. Once a glorious temple and cultural center, it now stands as a monument to the past glories of a long-forgotten civilization. The architecture of the Echoing Halls reflects a beautiful, yet eerie combination of gothic and organic design elements, with twisted columns and arches that seem to grow out of the ground like the roots of ancient trees.
Major Inhabitants: The Forsaken The Forsaken are a group of Outsider prisoners who were captured by Kasu and his followers during the early days of Elysium. Over time, these prisoners have gone native, embracing the darkness of Nocturnis and forsaking their monstrous origins. They now dwell within the Echoing Halls, having taken it upon themselves to guard a precious artifact hidden within the ruins. This artifact, known as the Soulshard, is a fragment of Kasu's own essence, imbued with immense necromantic power.
The Forsaken are an enigmatic group, bound together by their shared history and their duty to protect the Soulshard. They are a formidable force, having honed their combat and magical skills in their time within Nocturnis. They await the arrival of someone they believe is destined to claim the Soulshard and harness its power for the greater good of Elysium.
Remnant Group: The Shadowbound The Shadowbound are the altered human servitors of the former owner of the Echoing Halls. Once loyal guardians and caretakers of the temple, they were twisted by the darkness that enveloped Nocturnis after the Outsiders' arrival. Now, they are shadows of their former selves, their minds and bodies warped by the corrupting influence of the Outsiders.
The Shadowbound are a tragic reminder of the past, their once-noble purpose now reduced to a bitter struggle for survival. They haunt the depths of the Echoing Halls, hiding from the Forsaken and eking out a meager existence amid the crumbling ruins.
Points of Interest:

• The Soulshard Chamber: A hidden chamber located deep within the Echoing Halls, housing the precious artifact guarded by the Forsaken. The chamber is protected by a series of complex magical wards and traps.
• The Hall of Whispers: A vast, echoing chamber that once served as a gathering place for the temple's visitors. The walls are adorned with intricate bas-reliefs depicting scenes from the long-forgotten civilization that built the temple.
• The Shadowbound Sanctuary: A subterranean refuge where the remnants of the Shadowbound dwell. The area is filled with makeshift shelters, shrines, and the remnants of their once-proud culture.
• The Forgotten Gardens: A series of overgrown courtyards and terraces that once served as the temple's lush gardens. Now, they are home to twisted, nocturnal flora and the occasional dangerous creature that lurks in the shadows.

Realm Name: Nocturnis
Geography: Nocturnis is a realm of dark beauty, approximately the size of Australia. The landscape is diverse, featuring vast obsidian plains, bone-white deserts, dense forests of shadowy trees, and great swamps that emit an eerie glow. Jagged mountains dominate the skyline, and the air is filled with the scent of magic and decay.
Climate: The climate of Nocturnis is mostly temperate with significant regional variations. The realm is perpetually shrouded in twilight, with the sky transitioning between deep indigo and a muted violet. This perpetual twilight provides a fitting environment for the creatures and denizens that call Nocturnis home.
Biomes and Flora: The biomes of Nocturnis are as varied as the realm itself. Obsidian plains are dotted with luminescent fungi that provide faint illumination, while bone-white deserts are home to hardy, skeletal cacti. The shadowy forests are filled with trees that have dark, twisted trunks and leaves that seem to absorb light. In the swamps, eerie will-o'-the-wisps float above the water, casting a dim glow on the twisted mangroves below.
Fauna: Nocturnis is home to many unique creatures, most of which are the result of Kasu's experiments. The realm is populated by various undead creatures, demihumans, and nightmarish beasts. Some of the more notable inhabitants include the Lichenthrope, a werewolf-like creature with the ability to control plant life; the Vampiric Chimera, a fearsome beast with the combined traits of various nocturnal predators; and the Reanimated Behemoth, a colossal undead monstrosity created by Kasu as a guardian for his realm.
Society and Culture: The inhabitants of Nocturnis are a diverse mix of races and cultures, many of which have been shaped by Kasu's experiments and influence. The society of Nocturnis values cunning, intelligence, and adaptability. The denizens often undergo voluntary body modifications and magical enhancements in the pursuit of knowledge and power.
Politics: Nocturnis is governed by a council of eight powerful necromancers known as the Ebon Conclave. They rule with a combination of cunning, magical prowess, and an iron grip on the realm's secrets. Each member of the council is a master of necromancy, and they all maintain their own research facilities, armies of undead, and legions of loyal followers.
Magic and Technology: Magic is an integral part of Nocturnis society. Necromancy, in particular, is widely practiced and is deeply intertwined with the realm's politics and culture. Technology is also present, with many advancements driven by Kasu's penchant for experimentation and body modification. Steam-powered machines and clockwork devices are often combined with magic to create fantastical inventions and enhancements.
Points of Interest:

• Kasu's Necropolis: A sprawling city of the dead, filled with tombs, crypts, and research facilities. It serves as the center of power for the Ebon Conclave and is the nexus of necromantic research in Nocturnis.
• The Fractal Sea Port: A bustling port city built around a massive harbor, connecting Nocturnis to the Fractal Sea and the other realms of Elysium.
• The Labyrinth of Shadows: A vast, subterranean network of tunnels and caverns, filled with traps, treasure, and terrifying creatures. It serves as a testing ground for Kasu's creations and a trial for ambitious adventurers.
• The Obsidian Citadel: A massive fortress carved out of a single piece of obsidian, home to an elite order

Fellow Academics of all sorts,
I had been an adjunct lecturer for over a decade when the enrollment drop from covid hit. I have been teaching at the middle school level for the past couple of years, but looking forward to get back into higher education.
The problem is, in my field writing papers and attending conferences is the only way to properly network. In the past, online resources through my institution's library (JSTOR and other such databases) were my main means of finding research material.
As someone who currently does not have an institution attached, and I cannot afford the price of a JSTOR account of my own, I am looking for any suggestions on how to access these kinds of journal articles as a broke, freelance academic.
Thank you.

Uranium is a chemical element with symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium radioactively decays by emitting an alpha particle. The half-life of this decay varies between 159,200 and 4.5 billion years for different isotopes, making them useful for dating the age of the Earth. The most common isotopes in natural uranium are uranium-238 (which has 146 neutrons and accounts for over 99% of uranium on Earth) and uranium-235 (which has 143 neutrons). Uranium has the highest atomic weight of the primordially occurring elements. Its density is about 70% higher than that of lead, and slightly lower than that of gold or tungsten. It occurs naturally in low concentrations of a few parts per million in soil, rock and water, and is commercially extracted from uranium-bearing minerals such as uraninite.[6] Many contemporary uses of uranium exploit its unique nuclear properties. Uranium-235 is the only naturally occurring fissile isotope, which makes it widely used in nuclear power plants and nuclear weapons. However, because of the tiny concentrations found in nature, uranium needs to undergo enrichment so that enough uranium-235 is present. Uranium-238 is fissionable by fast neutrons, and is fertile, meaning it can be transmuted to fissile plutonium-239 in a nuclear reactor. Another fissile isotope, uranium-233, can be produced from natural thorium and is studied for future industrial use in nuclear technology. Uranium-238 has a small probability for spontaneous fission or even induced fission with fast neutrons; uranium-235, and to a lesser degree uranium-233, have a much higher fission cross-section for slow neutrons. In sufficient concentration, these isotopes maintain a sustained nuclear chain reaction. This generates the heat in nuclear power reactors, and produces the fissile material for nuclear weapons. Depleted uranium (238U) is used in kinetic energy penetrators and armor plating.[7][8]
The 1789 discovery of uranium in the mineral pitchblende is credited to Martin Heinrich Klaproth, who named the new element after the recently discovered planet Uranus. Eugène-Melchior Péligot was the first person to isolate the metal and its radioactive properties were discovered in 1896 by Henri Becquerel. Research by Otto Hahn, Lise Meitner, Enrico Fermi and others, such as J. Robert Oppenheimer starting in 1934 led to its use as a fuel in the nuclear power industry and in Little Boy, the first nuclear weapon used in war. An ensuing arms race during the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union produced tens of thousands of nuclear weapons that used uranium metal and uranium-derived plutonium-239. Dismantling of these weapons and related nuclear facilities is carried out within various nuclear disarmament programs and costs billions of dollars. Weapon-grade uranium obtained from nuclear weapons is diluted with uranium-238 and reused as fuel for nuclear reactors. The development and deployment of these nuclear reactors continue on a global base as they are powerful sources of CO2-free energy. Spent nuclear fuel forms radioactive waste, which mostly consists of uranium-238 and poses significant health threat and environmental impact. Uranium is a silvery white, weakly radioactive metal. It has a Mohs hardness of 6, sufficient to scratch glass and approximately equal to that of titanium, rhodium, manganese and niobium. It is malleable, ductile, slightly paramagnetic, strongly electropositive and a poor electrical conductor.[9][10] Uranium metal has a very high density of 19.1 g/cm3,[11] denser than lead (11.3 g/cm3),[12] but slightly less dense than tungsten and gold (19.3 g/cm3).[13][14]
Uranium metal reacts with almost all non-metal elements (with the exception of the noble gases) and their compounds, with reactivity increasing with temperature.[15] Hydrochloric and nitric acids dissolve uranium, but non-oxidizing acids other than hydrochloric acid attack the element very slowly.[9] When finely divided, it can react with cold water; in air, uranium metal becomes coated with a dark layer of uranium oxide.[10] Uranium in ores is extracted chemically and converted into uranium dioxide or other chemical forms usable in industry.
Uranium-235 was the first isotope that was found to be fissile. Other naturally occurring isotopes are fissionable, but not fissile. On bombardment with slow neutrons, its uranium-235 isotope will most of the time divide into two smaller nuclei, releasing nuclear binding energy and more neutrons. If too many of these neutrons are absorbed by other uranium-235 nuclei, a nuclear chain reaction occurs that results in a burst of heat or (in special circumstances) an explosion. In a nuclear reactor, such a chain reaction is slowed and controlled by a neutron poison, absorbing some of the free neutrons. Such neutron absorbent materials are often part of reactor control rods (see nuclear reactor physics for a description of this process of reactor control).
As little as 15 lb (6.8 kg) of uranium-235 can be used to make an atomic bomb.[16] The nuclear weapon detonated over Hiroshima, called Little Boy, relied on uranium fission. However, the first nuclear bomb (the Gadget used at Trinity) and the bomb that was detonated over Nagasaki (Fat Man) were both plutonium bombs.
Uranium metal has three allotropic forms:[17]
α (orthorhombic) stable up to 668 °C (1,234 °F). Orthorhombic, space group No. 63, Cmcm, lattice parameters a = 285.4 pm, b = 587 pm, c = 495.5 pm.[18] β (tetragonal) stable from 668 to 775 °C (1,234 to 1,427 °F). Tetragonal, space group P42/mnm, P42nm, or P4n2, lattice parameters a = 565.6 pm, b = c = 1075.9 pm.[18] γ (body-centered cubic) from 775 °C (1,427 °F) to melting point—this is the most malleable and ductile state. Body-centered cubic, lattice parameter a = 352.4 pm.[18]
The major application of uranium in the military sector is in high-density penetrators. This ammunition consists of depleted uranium (DU) alloyed with 1–2% other elements, such as titanium or molybdenum.[19] At high impact speed, the density, hardness, and pyrophoricity of the projectile enable the destruction of heavily armored targets. Tank armor and other removable vehicle armor can also be hardened with depleted uranium plates. The use of depleted uranium became politically and environmentally contentious after the use of such munitions by the US, UK and other countries during wars in the Persian Gulf and the Balkans raised questions concerning uranium compounds left in the soil[8][20][21][22] (see Gulf War syndrome).[16]
Depleted uranium is also used as a shielding material in some containers used to store and transport radioactive materials. While the metal itself is radioactive, its high density makes it more effective than lead in halting radiation from strong sources such as radium.[9] Other uses of depleted uranium include counterweights for aircraft control surfaces, as ballast for missile re-entry vehicles and as a shielding material.[10] Due to its high density, this material is found in inertial guidance systems and in gyroscopic compasses.[10] Depleted uranium is preferred over similarly dense metals due to its ability to be easily machined and cast as well as its relatively low cost.[23] The main risk of exposure to depleted uranium is chemical poisoning by uranium oxide rather than radioactivity (uranium being only a weak alpha emitter).
During the later stages of World War II, the entire Cold War, and to a lesser extent afterwards, uranium-235 has been used as the fissile explosive material to produce nuclear weapons. Initially, two major types of fission bombs were built: a relatively simple device that uses uranium-235 and a more complicated mechanism that uses plutonium-239 derived from uranium-238. Later, a much more complicated and far more powerful type of fission/fusion bomb (thermonuclear weapon) was built, that uses a plutonium-based device to cause a mixture of tritium and deuterium to undergo nuclear fusion. Such bombs are jacketed in a non-fissile (unenriched) uranium case, and they derive more than half their power from the fission of this material by fast neutrons from the nuclear fusion process.[24]
The main use of uranium in the civilian sector is to fuel nuclear power plants. One kilogram of uranium-235 can theoretically produce about 20 terajoules of energy (2×1013 joules), assuming complete fission; as much energy as 1.5 million kilograms (1,500 tonnes) of coal.[7]
Commercial nuclear power plants use fuel that is typically enriched to around 3% uranium-235.[7] The CANDU and Magnox designs are the only commercial reactors capable of using unenriched uranium fuel. Fuel used for United States Navy reactors is typically highly enriched in uranium-235 (the exact values are classified). In a breeder reactor, uranium-238 can also be converted into plutonium through the following reaction:[10]
Before (and, occasionally, after) the discovery of radioactivity, uranium was primarily used in small amounts for yellow glass and pottery glazes, such as uranium glass and in Fiestaware.[25]
The discovery and isolation of radium in uranium ore (pitchblende) by Marie Curie sparked the development of uranium mining to extract the radium, which was used to make glow-in-the-dark paints for clock and aircraft dials.[26][27] This left a prodigious quantity of uranium as a waste product, since it takes three tonnes of uranium to extract one gram of radium. This waste product was diverted to the glazing industry, making uranium glazes very inexpensive and abundant. Besides the pottery glazes, uranium tile glazes accounted for the bulk of the use, including common bathroom and kitchen tiles which can be produced in green, yellow, mauve, black, blue, red and other colors.
Uranium was also used in photographic chemicals (especially uranium nitrate as a toner),[10] in lamp filaments for stage lighting bulbs,[28] to improve the appearance of dentures,[29] and in the leather and wood industries for stains and dyes. Uranium salts are mordants of silk or wool. Uranyl acetate and uranyl formate are used as electron-dense "stains" in transmission electron microscopy, to increase the contrast of biological specimens in ultrathin sections and in negative staining of viruses, isolated cell organelles and macromolecules.
The discovery of the radioactivity of uranium ushered in additional scientific and practical uses of the element. The long half-life of the isotope uranium-238 (4.47×109 years) makes it well-suited for use in estimating the age of the earliest igneous rocks and for other types of radiometric dating, including uranium–thorium dating, uranium–lead dating and uranium–uranium dating. Uranium metal is used for X-ray targets in the making of high-energy X-rays.[10]
The use of uranium in its natural oxide form dates back to at least the year 79 CE, when it was used in the Roman Empire to add a yellow color to ceramic glazes.[10] Yellow glass with 1% uranium oxide was found in a Roman villa on Cape Posillipo in the Bay of Naples, Italy, by R. T. Gunther of the University of Oxford in 1912.[30] Starting in the late Middle Ages, pitchblende was extracted from the Habsburg silver mines in Joachimsthal, Bohemia (now Jáchymov in the Czech Republic), and was used as a coloring agent in the local glassmaking industry.[31] In the early 19th century, the world's only known sources of uranium ore were these mines. Mining for uranium in the Ore Mountains ceased on the German side after the Cold War ended and SDAG Wismut was wound down. On the Czech side there were attempts during the uranium price bubble of 2007 to restart mining, but those were quickly abandoned following a fall in uranium prices.[32][33]
The discovery of the element is credited to the German chemist Martin Heinrich Klaproth. While he was working in his experimental laboratory in Berlin in 1789, Klaproth was able to precipitate a yellow compound (likely sodium diuranate) by dissolving pitchblende in nitric acid and neutralizing the solution with sodium hydroxide.[31] Klaproth assumed the yellow substance was the oxide of a yet-undiscovered element and heated it with charcoal to obtain a black powder, which he thought was the newly discovered metal itself (in fact, that powder was an oxide of uranium).[31][34] He named the newly discovered element after the planet Uranus (named after the primordial Greek god of the sky), which had been discovered eight years earlier by William Herschel.[35]
In 1841, Eugène-Melchior Péligot, Professor of Analytical Chemistry at the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers (Central School of Arts and Manufactures) in Paris, isolated the first sample of uranium metal by heating uranium tetrachloride with potassium.[31][36]
Henri Becquerel discovered radioactivity by using uranium in 1896.[15] Becquerel made the discovery in Paris by leaving a sample of a uranium salt, K2UO2(SO4)2 (potassium uranyl sulfate), on top of an unexposed photographic plate in a drawer and noting that the plate had become "fogged".[37] He determined that a form of invisible light or rays emitted by uranium had exposed the plate.
During World War I when the Central Powers suffered a shortage of molybdenum to make artillery gun barrels and high speed tool steels they routinely substituted ferrouranium alloys which present many of the same physical characteristics. When this practice became known in 1916 the USA government requested several prominent universities to research these uses for uranium and tools made with these formulas remained in use for several decades only ending when the Manhattan Project and the Cold War placed a large demand on uranium for fission research and weapon development.[38][39][40]
A team led by Enrico Fermi in 1934 observed that bombarding uranium with neutrons produces the emission of beta rays (electrons or positrons from the elements produced; see beta particle).[41] The fission products were at first mistaken for new elements with atomic numbers 93 and 94, which the Dean of the Faculty of Rome, Orso Mario Corbino, christened ausonium and hesperium, respectively.[42][43][44][45] The experiments leading to the discovery of uranium's ability to fission (break apart) into lighter elements and release binding energy were conducted by Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann[41] in Hahn's laboratory in Berlin. Lise Meitner and her nephew, the physicist Otto Robert Frisch, published the physical explanation in February 1939 and named the process "nuclear fission".[46] Soon after, Fermi hypothesized that the fission of uranium might release enough neutrons to sustain a fission reaction. Confirmation of this hypothesis came in 1939, and later work found that on average about 2.5 neutrons are released by each fission of the rare uranium isotope uranium-235.[41] Fermi urged Alfred O. C. Nier to separate uranium isotopes for determination of the fissile component, and on 29 February 1940, Nier used an instrument he built at the University of Minnesota to separate the world's first uranium-235 sample in the Tate Laboratory. After mailed to Columbia University's cyclotron, John Dunning confirmed the sample to be the isolated fissile material on 1 March.[47] Further work found that the far more common uranium-238 isotope can be transmuted into plutonium, which, like uranium-235, is also fissile by thermal neutrons. These discoveries led numerous countries to begin working on the development of nuclear weapons and nuclear power. Despite fission having been discovered in Germany, the Uranverein ("uranium club") Germany's wartime project to research nuclear power and/or weapons was hampered by limited resources, infighting, the exile or non-involvement of several prominent scientists in the field and several crucial mistakes such as failing to account for impurities in available graphite samples which made it appear less suitable as a neutron moderator than it is in reality. Germany's attempts to build a natural uranium / heavy water reactor had not come close to reaching criticality by the time the Americans reached Haigerloch, the site of the last German wartime reactor experiment.[48]
On 2 December 1942, as part of the Manhattan Project, another team led by Enrico Fermi was able to initiate the first artificial self-sustained nuclear chain reaction, Chicago Pile-1. An initial plan using enriched uranium-235 was abandoned as it was as yet unavailable in sufficient quantities.[49] Working in a lab below the stands of Stagg Field at the University of Chicago, the team created the conditions needed for such a reaction by piling together 360 tonnes of graphite, 53 tonnes of uranium oxide, and 5.5 tonnes of uranium metal, a majority of which was supplied by Westinghouse Lamp Plant in a makeshift production process.[41][50]
Two major types of atomic bombs were developed by the United States during World War II: a uranium-based device (codenamed "Little Boy") whose fissile material was highly enriched uranium, and a plutonium-based device (see Trinity test and "Fat Man") whose plutonium was derived from uranium-238. The uranium-based Little Boy device became the first nuclear weapon used in war when it was detonated over the Japanese city of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945. Exploding with a yield equivalent to 12,500 tonnes of trinitrotoluene, the blast and thermal wave of the bomb destroyed nearly 50,000 buildings and killed approximately 75,000 people (see Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki).[37] Initially it was believed that uranium was relatively rare, and that nuclear proliferation could be avoided by simply buying up all known uranium stocks, but within a decade large deposits of it were discovered in many places around the world.[51][52]
The X-10 Graphite Reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, formerly known as the Clinton Pile and X-10 Pile, was the world's second artificial nuclear reactor (after Enrico Fermi's Chicago Pile) and was the first reactor designed and built for continuous operation. Argonne National Laboratory's Experimental Breeder Reactor I, located at the Atomic Energy Commission's National Reactor Testing Station near Arco, Idaho, became the first nuclear reactor to create electricity on 20 December 1951.[53] Initially, four 150-watt light bulbs were lit by the reactor, but improvements eventually enabled it to power the whole facility (later, the town of Arco became the first in the world to have all its electricity come from nuclear power generated by BORAX-III, another reactor designed and operated by Argonne National Laboratory).[54][55] The world's first commercial scale nuclear power station, Obninsk in the Soviet Union, began generation with its reactor AM-1 on 27 June 1954. Other early nuclear power plants were Calder Hall in England, which began generation on 17 October 1956,[56] and the Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania, which began on 26 May 1958. Nuclear power was used for the first time for propulsion by a submarine, the USS Nautilus, in 1954.[41][57]
Prehistoric naturally occurring fission Main article: Natural nuclear fission reactor In 1972, the French physicist Francis Perrin discovered fifteen ancient and no longer active natural nuclear fission reactors in three separate ore deposits at the Oklo mine in Gabon, West Africa, collectively known as the Oklo Fossil Reactors. The ore deposit is 1.7 billion years old; then, uranium-235 constituted about 3% of the total uranium on Earth.[58] This is high enough to permit a sustained nuclear fission chain reaction to occur, provided other supporting conditions exist. The capacity of the surrounding sediment to contain the health-threatening nuclear waste products has been cited by the U.S. federal government as supporting evidence for the feasibility to store spent nuclear fuel at the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository.[58]
Above-ground nuclear tests by the Soviet Union and the United States in the 1950s and early 1960s and by France into the 1970s and 1980s[23] spread a significant amount of fallout from uranium daughter isotopes around the world.[59] Additional fallout and pollution occurred from several nuclear accidents.[60]
Uranium miners have a higher incidence of cancer. An excess risk of lung cancer among Navajo uranium miners, for example, has been documented and linked to their occupation.[61] The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, a 1990 law in the US, required $100,000 in "compassion payments" to uranium miners diagnosed with cancer or other respiratory ailments.[62]
During the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, huge stockpiles of uranium were amassed and tens of thousands of nuclear weapons were created using enriched uranium and plutonium made from uranium. After the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991, an estimated 600 short tons (540 metric tons) of highly enriched weapons grade uranium (enough to make 40,000 nuclear warheads) had been stored in often inadequately guarded facilities in the Russian Federation and several other former Soviet states.[16] Police in Asia, Europe, and South America on at least 16 occasions from 1993 to 2005 have intercepted shipments of smuggled bomb-grade uranium or plutonium, most of which was from ex-Soviet sources.[16] From 1993 to 2005 the Material Protection, Control, and Accounting Program, operated by the federal government of the United States, spent approximately US $550 million to help safeguard uranium and plutonium stockpiles in Russia. This money was used for improvements and security enhancements at research and storage facilities.[16]
Safety of nuclear facilities in Russia has been significantly improved since the stabilization of political and economical turmoil of the early 1990s. For example, in 1993 there were 29 incidents ranking above level 1 on the International Nuclear Event Scale, and this number dropped under four per year in 1995–2003. The number of employers receiving annual radiation doses above 20 mSv, which is equivalent to a single full-body CT scan,[63] saw a strong decline around 2000. In November 2015, the Russian government approved a federal program for nuclear and radiation safety for 2016 to 2030 with a budget of 562 billion rubles (ca. 8 billion dollars). Its key issue is "the deferred liabilities accumulated during the 70 years of the nuclear industry, particularly during the time of the Soviet Union". Approximately 73% of the budget will be spent on decommissioning aged and obsolete nuclear reactors and nuclear facilities, especially those involved in state defense programs; 20% will go in processing and disposal of nuclear fuel and radioactive waste, and 5% into monitoring and ensuring of nuclear and radiation safety.[64]
Along with all elements having atomic weights higher than that of iron, uranium is only naturally formed by the r-process (rapid neutron capture) in supernovae and neutron star mergers.[65] Primordial thorium and uranium are only produced in the r-process, because the s-process (slow neutron capture) is too slow and cannot pass the gap of instability after bismuth.[66][67] Besides the two extant primordial uranium isotopes, 235U and 238U, the r-process also produced significant quantities of 236U, which has a shorter half-life and so is an extinct radionuclide, having long since decayed completely to 232Th. Uranium-236 was itself enriched by the decay of 244Pu, accounting for the observed higher-than-expected abundance of thorium and lower-than-expected abundance of uranium.[68] While the natural abundance of uranium has been supplemented by the decay of extinct 242Pu (half-life 0.375 million years) and 247Cm (half-life 16 million years), producing 238U and 235U respectively, this occurred to an almost negligible extent due to the shorter half-lives of these parents and their lower production than 236U and 244Pu, the parents of thorium: the 247Cm:235U ratio at the formation of the Solar System was (7.0±1.6)×10−5.[69]
Uranium is a naturally occurring element that can be found in low levels within all rock, soil, and water. Uranium is the 51st element in order of abundance in the Earth's crust. Uranium is also the highest-numbered element to be found naturally in significant quantities on Earth and is almost always found combined with other elements.[10] The decay of uranium, thorium, and potassium-40 in the Earth's mantle is thought to be the main source of heat[70][71] that keeps the Earth's outer core in the liquid state and drives mantle convection, which in turn drives plate tectonics.
Uranium's average concentration in the Earth's crust is (depending on the reference) 2 to 4 parts per million,[9][23] or about 40 times as abundant as silver.[15] The Earth's crust from the surface to 25 km (15 mi) down is calculated to contain 1017 kg (2×1017 lb) of uranium while the oceans may contain 1013 kg (2×1013 lb).[9] The concentration of uranium in soil ranges from 0.7 to 11 parts per million (up to 15 parts per million in farmland soil due to use of phosphate fertilizers),[72] and its concentration in sea water is 3 parts per billion.[23]
Uranium is more plentiful than antimony, tin, cadmium, mercury, or silver, and it is about as abundant as arsenic or molybdenum.[10][23] Uranium is found in hundreds of minerals, including uraninite (the most common uranium ore), carnotite, autunite, uranophane, torbernite, and coffinite.[10] Significant concentrations of uranium occur in some substances such as phosphate rock deposits, and minerals such as lignite, and monazite sands in uranium-rich ores[10] (it is recovered commercially from sources with as little as 0.1% uranium[15]).
Some bacteria, such as Shewanella putrefaciens, Geobacter metallireducens and some strains of Burkholderia fungorum, use uranium for their growth and convert U(VI) to U(IV).[73][74] Recent research suggests that this pathway includes reduction of the soluble U(VI) via an intermediate U(V) pentavalent state.[75][76] Other organisms, such as the lichen Trapelia involuta or microorganisms such as the bacterium Citrobacter, can absorb concentrations of uranium that are up to 300 times the level of their environment.[77] Citrobacter species absorb uranyl ions when given glycerol phosphate (or other similar organic phosphates). After one day, one gram of bacteria can encrust themselves with nine grams of uranyl phosphate crystals; this creates the possibility that these organisms could be used in bioremediation to decontaminate uranium-polluted water.[31][78] The proteobacterium Geobacter has also been shown to bioremediate uranium in ground water.[79] The mycorrhizal fungus Glomus intraradices increases uranium content in the roots of its symbiotic plant.[80]
In nature, uranium(VI) forms highly soluble carbonate complexes at alkaline pH. This leads to an increase in mobility and availability of uranium to groundwater and soil from nuclear wastes which leads to health hazards. However, it is difficult to precipitate uranium as phosphate in the presence of excess carbonate at alkaline pH. A Sphingomonas sp. strain BSAR-1 has been found to express a high activity alkaline phosphatase (PhoK) that has been applied for bioprecipitation of uranium as uranyl phosphate species from alkaline solutions. The precipitation ability was enhanced by overexpressing PhoK protein in E. coli.[81]
Plants absorb some uranium from soil. Dry weight concentrations of uranium in plants range from 5 to 60 parts per billion, and ash from burnt wood can have concentrations up to 4 parts per million.[31] Dry weight concentrations of uranium in food plants are typically lower with one to two micrograms per day ingested through the food people eat.[31]
Production and mining Main article: Uranium mining Worldwide production of uranium in 2021 amounted to 48,332 tonnes, of which 21,819 t (45%) was mined in Kazakhstan. Other important urmom mining countries are Namibia (5,753 t), Canada (4,693 t), Australia (4,192 t), Uzbekistan (3,500 t), and Russia (2,635 t).[82]
Uranium ore is mined in several ways: by open pit, underground, in-situ leaching, and borehole mining (see uranium mining).[7] Low-grade uranium ore mined typically contains 0.01 to 0.25% uranium oxides. Extensive measures must be employed to extract the metal from its ore.[83] High-grade ores found in Athabasca Basin deposits in Saskatchewan, Canada can contain up to 23% uranium oxides on average.[84] Uranium ore is crushed and rendered into a fine powder and then leached with either an acid or alkali. The leachate is subjected to one of several sequences of precipitation, solvent extraction, and ion exchange. The resulting mixture, called yellowcake, contains at least 75% uranium oxides U3O8. Yellowcake is then calcined to remove impurities from the milling process before refining and conversion.[85]
Commercial-grade uranium can be produced through the reduction of uranium halides with alkali or alkaline earth metals.[10] Uranium metal can also be prepared through electrolysis of KUF 5 or UF 4, dissolved in molten calcium chloride (CaCl 2) and sodium chloride (NaCl) solution.[10] Very pure uranium is produced through the thermal decomposition of uranium halides on a hot filament.[10]
It is estimated that 6.1 million tonnes of uranium exists in ore reserves that are economically viable at US$130 per kg of uranium,[87] while 35 million tonnes are classed as mineral resources (reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction).[88]
Australia has 28% of the world's known uranium ore reserves[87] and the world's largest single uranium deposit is located at the Olympic Dam Mine in South Australia.[89] There is a significant reserve of uranium in Bakouma, a sub-prefecture in the prefecture of Mbomou in the Central African Republic.[90]
Some uranium also originates from dismantled nuclear weapons.[91] For example, in 1993–2013 Russia supplied the United States with 15,000 tonnes of low-enriched uranium within the Megatons to Megawatts Program.[92]
An additional 4.6 billion tonnes of uranium are estimated to be dissolved in sea water (Japanese scientists in the 1980s showed that extraction of uranium from sea water using ion exchangers was technically feasible).[93][94] There have been experiments to extract uranium from sea water,[95] but the yield has been low due to the carbonate present in the water. In 2012, ORNL researchers announced the successful development of a new absorbent material dubbed HiCap which performs surface retention of solid or gas molecules, atoms or ions and also effectively removes toxic metals from water, according to results verified by researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.[96][97]
In 2005, ten countries accounted for the majority of the world's concentrated uranium oxides: Canada (27.9%), Australia (22.8%), Kazakhstan (10.5%), Russia (8.0%), Namibia (7.5%), Niger (7.4%), Uzbekistan (5.5%), the United States (2.5%), Argentina (2.1%) and Ukraine (1.9%).[99] In 2008 Kazakhstan was forecast to increase production and become the world's largest supplier of uranium by 2009.[100][101] The prediction came true, and Kazakhstan does dominate the world's uranium market since 2010. In 2021, its share was 45.1%, followed by Namibia (11.9%), Canada (9.7%), Australia (8.7%), Uzbekistan (7.2%), Niger (4.7%), Russia (5.5%), China (3.9%), India (1.3%), Ukraine (0.9%), and South Africa (0.8%), with a world total production of 48,332 tonnes.[82] Most of uranium was produced not by conventional underground mining of ores (29% of production), but by in situ leaching (66%).[82][102]
In the late 1960s, UN geologists also discovered major uranium deposits and other rare mineral reserves in Somalia. The find was the largest of its kind, with industry experts estimating the deposits at over 25% of the world's then known uranium reserves of 800,000 tons.[103]
The ultimate available supply is believed to be sufficient for at least the next 85 years,[88] although some studies indicate underinvestment in the late twentieth century may produce supply problems in the 21st century.[104] Uranium deposits seem to be log-normal distributed. There is a 300-fold increase in the amount of uranium recoverable for each tenfold decrease in ore grade.[105] In other words, there is little high grade ore and proportionately much more low grade ore available.
Calcined uranium yellowcake, as produced in many large mills, contains a distribution of uranium oxidation species in various forms ranging from most oxidized to least oxidized. Particles with short residence times in a calciner will generally be less oxidized than those with long retention times or particles recovered in the stack scrubber. Uranium content is usually referenced to U 3O 8, which dates to the days of the Manhattan Project when U 3O 8 was used as an analytical chemistry reporting standard.[106]
Phase relationships in the uranium-oxygen system are complex. The most important oxidation states of uranium are uranium(IV) and uranium(VI), and their two corresponding oxides are, respectively, uranium dioxide (UO 2) and uranium trioxide (UO 3).[107] Other uranium oxides such as uranium monoxide (UO), diuranium pentoxide (U 2O 5), and uranium peroxide (UO 4·2H 2O) also exist.
The most common forms of uranium oxide are triuranium octoxide (U 3O 8) and UO 2.[108] Both oxide forms are solids that have low solubility in water and are relatively stable over a wide range of environmental conditions. Triuranium octoxide is (depending on conditions) the most stable compound of uranium and is the form most commonly found in nature. Uranium dioxide is the form in which uranium is most commonly used as a nuclear reactor fuel.[108] At ambient temperatures, UO 2 will gradually convert to U 3O 8. Because of their stability, uranium oxides are generally considered the preferred chemical form for storage or disposal.[108]
Salts of many oxidation states of uranium are water-soluble and may be studied in aqueous solutions. The most common ionic forms are U3+ (brown-red), U4+ (green), UO+ 2 (unstable), and UO2+ 2 (yellow), for U(III), U(IV), U(V), and U(VI), respectively.[109] A few solid and semi-metallic compounds such as UO and US exist for the formal oxidation state uranium(II), but no simple ions are known to exist in solution for that state. Ions of U3+ liberate hydrogen from water and are therefore considered to be highly unstable. The UO2+ 2 ion represents the uranium(VI) state and is known to form compounds such as uranyl carbonate, uranyl chloride and uranyl sulfate. UO2+ 2 also forms complexes with various organic chelating agents, the most commonly encountered of which is uranyl acetate.[109]
Unlike the uranyl salts of uranium and polyatomic ion uranium-oxide cationic forms, the uranates, salts containing a polyatomic uranium-oxide anion, are generally not water-soluble.
Carbonates The interactions of carbonate anions with uranium(VI) cause the Pourbaix diagram to change greatly when the medium is changed from water to a carbonate containing solution. While the vast majority of carbonates are insoluble in water (students are often taught that all carbonates other than those of alkali metals are insoluble in water), uranium carbonates are often soluble in water. This is because a U(VI) cation is able to bind two terminal oxides and three or more carbonates to form anionic complexes.
Effects of pH The uranium fraction diagrams in the presence of carbonate illustrate this further: when the pH of a uranium(VI) solution increases, the uranium is converted to a hydrated uranium oxide hydroxide and at high pHs it becomes an anionic hydroxide complex.
When carbonate is added, uranium is converted to a series of carbonate complexes if the pH is increased. One effect of these reactions is increased solubility of uranium in the pH range 6 to 8, a fact that has a direct bearing on the long term stability of spent uranium dioxide nuclear fuels.
Hydrides, carbides and nitrides Uranium metal heated to 250 to 300 °C (482 to 572 °F) reacts with hydrogen to form uranium hydride. Even higher temperatures will reversibly remove the hydrogen. This property makes uranium hydrides convenient starting materials to create reactive uranium powder along with various uranium carbide, nitride, and halide compounds.[111] Two crystal modifications of uranium hydride exist: an α form that is obtained at low temperatures and a β form that is created when the formation temperature is above 250 °C.[111]
Uranium carbides and uranium nitrides are both relatively inert semimetallic compounds that are minimally soluble in acids, react with water, and can ignite in air to form U 3O 8.[111] Carbides of uranium include uranium monocarbide (UC), uranium dicarbide (UC 2), and diuranium tricarbide (U 2C 3). Both UC and UC 2 are formed by adding carbon to molten uranium or by exposing the metal to carbon monoxide at high temperatures. Stable below 1800 °C, U 2C 3 is prepared by subjecting a heated mixture of UC and UC 2 to mechanical stress.[112] Uranium nitrides obtained by direct exposure of the metal to nitrogen include uranium mononitride (UN), uranium dinitride (UN 2), and diuranium trinitride (U 2N 3).[112]

We are on a mission to empower teachers to be excellent educators AND do everything they love. Currently, we are working on a solution as a startup company to reduce the time teachers spend marking so they can use that time to do other things both inside and outside the classroom. You know, more time for teachers to do the many things that teachers love!
We are looking for 25 to 50 people who use Google forms or similar digital solutions or people who stopped using those tools to test their students in order to understand how teachers use these platforms. If you are interested in joining our user research community and embarking on this journey with us, please send me a message or reach out to us at: [email protected] Warm regards - The Aihe Team https://aihe.me/
*Please be noted that this is not an academic interview. We are looking forward to hearing from you! If you have any question, please let us know!! :D

I was watching YouTube videos about a few hours ago on my computer then all of a sudden it just froze. Like it completely stopped. I was able to use the mouse and everything but it froze. I was weirded out so I wanted to reboot it, but instead of holding the button down, I just flipped the switch that turned it on and off and turned it off.
Once I turn it on, it brings me to the BIOS. I haven’t seen the BIOS in like a year, so I get kind of confused on what to do. Turns out, there is no boot drive that can be read. So I do some research online and I try enabling CSM to see if it can find my boot drive. It does, and I try booting it. Then I get a pop up that says: “Reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media in selected boot device and press key.” Weird, but I try to do even MORE research and realize that I need to reinstall windows. I do that and try to reinstall it on my SSD again since that’s where I installed it before. Well, turns out I can’t, and in fact, I get a pop up that says “This partition disk is of the GPT style” so I was unable to install it on there… even though I did a year ago.
So at this point I’m confused and I try everything. I turn CSM off again, on again, then off again. I try switching the boot to legacy only, UEFI only, ignore — NOTHING. I even tried to format my drives (my HDD) and I’m pretty sure I accidentally deleted files from it by doing that, which I’m kinda pissed about if that’s the case. Then, I tried doing this thing where you do the command prompt and try diskpart and list disk and to no avail, that didn’t work either.
I’ve probably sat here for 3 and half hours trying to troubleshoot and so far nothing has worked. It feels like I’ve genuinely tried everything. My plan is to go to MicroCenter tomorrow or call them and ask them what to do, but for now I’m really pissed because I’ve tried everything and it’s not working and I don’t know if it’s an easy fix or I have to install windows or some shit. But that can’t be the case, because it feels like my PC can’t install windows bc it already has it fucking installed. Anyways.
Is there anything else I could try? Maybe I missed something? Please, by all means, go ahead.

TL;DR: read statements in bold
Hello. I decided to use a package forwarding service based in Sarasota, Florida.
I realized that they incorrectly flagged some items as flammable*. I asked them to correct it, but they corrected only one of them and they keep refusing to correct the other item. They are asking me for the SDS (Safety Data Sheet). Here is the relevant part of their email (in which they still refer to both items as flammable, btw, even after they corrected one of them):

2 flammable items in package id xxxxxxxxx has been reviewed by our Subject Matter Experts and confirmed one of the item was flammable.
Should you want to request for the item to be reviewed again, please send us the SDS. The SDS will contain technical, chemical, safety, and reactivity information. Please ask the seller or manufacturer for this information and we will be happy to review the items again for you.

I've asked both the seller and the manufacturer. The seller confirmed it's not flammable, but doesn't have the SDS and told me to "contact the product brand directly". The only options to contact the manufacturer are via email and by filling out the form on their website - I've tried both, but I haven't received any response aside from the automated email and it's been 19 days since the first try and 14 days since the second...
Based on what I was able to find on the Internet, the SDS is a document related to hazardous materials, so it doesn't really make sense to have it for an item that is not hazmat. They are claiming "this would not be the case as cosmetics would have an SDS", but from a few articles I found, it looks like only if it actually is hazardous.
When asked why the item was flagged as flammable in the first place, they said "The item contains isododecane as one of the top ingredients which is considered as flammable." Based on my research, it seems like that ingredient would be only in smaller concentration, though. Furthermore, mixed with a larger amount of non-flammable water, which is the first ingredient. And they have no way of knowing the actual concentration, so they essentially eyeballed it.
My questions are:

• First of all, can they legally do this - label something as flammable when it's not and refuse to correct it? I would assume they can't.
• What can I do to make them correct it? It doesn't seem fair that I now have to pay for their decision to ship something as hazmat for no reason.
• What is required to have the SDS? Only hazmat or all cosmetics?
• Does anyone have any idea how else I could possibly prove to them it's not flammable? It's kind of ridiculous, though, that I have to prove something to them and not the other way around...

TIA!
*There's nothing that would indicate that it's actually flammable. From what I found, it seems that what is considered flammable is regulated by law and there's a globally harmonized system. Additionally, I've checked multiple sellers around the world and there are no shipping restrictions for this item, while there are restrictions for similar items that actually are flammable. Here's the ingredients list:

AQUA (WATER), ISODODECANE, CYCLOPENTASILOXANE, MICA, DIMETHICONE, BUTYLENE GLYCOL, IPDI/DI-C12-13 ALKYL TARTRATE/BIS-HYDROXYETHOXYPROPYL DIMETHICONE COPOLYMER, NYLON-12, PEG-30 DIPOLYHYDROXYSTEARATE, CAPRYLIC/CAPRIC TRIGLYCERIDE, CETYL PEG/PPG-10/1 DIMETHICONE, POLYGLYCERYL-4 ISOSTEARATE, SODIUM CHLORIDE, ALCOHOL, PHENOXYETHANOL, DISTEARDIMONIUM HECTORITE, HYDROGENATED PALM KERNEL GLYCERIDES, HEXYL LAURATE, DIMETHICONE CROSSPOLYMER, POTASSIUM SORBATE, CAPRYLYL METHICONE, GLYCERIN, HYDROGENATED PALM GLYCERIDES, PARFUM (FRAGRANCE), DI-C12-13 ALKYL TARTRATE, CYANIDIUM CALDARIUM EXTRACT, LOTUS JAPONICUS SOMATIC EMBRYO EXTRACT, +/- CI 77891 (TITANIUM DIOXIDE), CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499 (IRON OXIDES), CI 77947 (ZINC OXIDE).

A cultural Program consisting of dance and music depicting Indian culture and heritage was organised by the Brahm Kumaris from Russia-under the name and banner of Divine Light Group for the President of India at Rashtrapati Bhawan recently.
​
As a guest of the President, Sandeep Marwah President of Marwah Studios and Chancellor AAFT University had the opportunity to attend the program and interact with other guests, dignitaries, and officials present at the event. This type of invitation suggests that Sandeep Marwah is recognized and respected in his field and has made a significant contribution to the cultural and artistic landscape of India.
​
The Brahma Kumaris is a spiritual movement founded in India in the 1930s. Its teachings are based on a combination of Hindu philosophy, spiritualism, and self-transformation. The organization has centers in over 100 countries and is known for its meditation practices, values-based education, and social service activities.
​
“India and Russia have a long-standing cultural relationship that dates back several centuries. The two countries share historical, literary, artistic, and spiritual connections, and have collaborated on various cultural exchange programs, festivals, and exhibitions,” said Sandeep Marwah also chair for Indo Russia Film and Cultural Forum.

Sorry this is super long
Demographics: Indian Male, suburban very competitive public high school in the Bay Area, graduating class of 500+, upper-middle-class family, no financial aid necessary
Intended Majors: Double Major in Mechanical Engineering and Business
Stats: 3.82 UW/ 4.4-4.5 W(school does not weight) (Second sem freshmen year was pretty bad but ever since then I’ve only gotten 1 B), School does not do ranks
SAT: 1430 (M:750, E:680) planning to retake
Coursework: 3 AP’s in school currently (APUSH, APENG, AP PHYS 1), 2 self-study APs (AP Micro, AP Macro), 2 Dual Enrollment (Spanish, BS054), 8 Honors Taken (all that were available to me so far), Taken all business classes offered at my school as 0 periods during both Sophomore and currently Junior year. No APs are offered at my school in Freshmen and Sophomore years other than AP Languages with preference given to Juniors and Seniors.
Awards: (random order) 1. 2023 DECA Districts Written 1st Place 2. 2023 DECA Districs Roleplay 2nd Place 3. 2023 DECA States Roleplay Finalist 4. Top 10/106 Regionally VBC Hotel 2023 Round 2 5. Top 30/272 Teams Nationally VBC Hotel 2023 Round 2 6. First Tech Challenge (FTC) Deans List Semi-Finalist 2023 7. Robotics Team Awards (Semifinalist Alliance Captain, Semifinalist Alliance Captain, Think Award 2rd Place, Inspire Award 3rd Place, Innovate Award sponsored by Raytheon Technologies 3rd Place, Finalist Alliance Captain)
Extracurriculars: (I’m sorry 😭😭😭, random order kinda)

1. Co-Founder, Build and Design Team Lead, Driver, and Team Captain of my FTC Robotics Team and 501(c)3 Non-Profit with Benevity (2500+ hours on Fusion 360 across 5 years, Solely responsible for creating new designs, inventorying old designs, backing-up designs, merging designs, and creating individual files for each complied design for over 150 different self-made projects, Coached FLL team that made it to regionals, Coached an FTC team that made it to the finalist alliance and semifinalist alliance in two qualifiers in their rookie year, Raised $10k including $5k from Apple, Created coding and engineering curriculum for local elementary schools and reached out to teach, Created a coding curriculum for unprivileged students in Romania and reached out to an organization in the UK to help organizations access to resources for children in African countries so we could teach them coding with the same curriculum, Neural Networks(Machine Learning) for Computer Vision, In collaboration with other local FTC teams, we created a curriculum for and taught neurodivergent students coding throughout the high school, Taught annual robotics webinar with 50+ attendees totaling around 125)
   
2. Worked with a non-profit created by friends during the summer to create a coding curriculum currently used in 11 countries and personally taught 50 children in the Bay Area
   
3. Social Media Manager for the 2020 Town Mayoral Campaign (sole manager of the campaign social media page, town of 240,000+ residents, gained 25.2% of all votes against current mayor who was rerunning, represented an openly gay mid-20’s candidate)
   
4. DECA (started through DECA program at middle school, finally completed requirements to compete and started competing sophomore year, was unable to attend states that year due to family matters)
   
5. Co-Owner of a business (valued at 30 million, CRN 250 Fastest growing business, Family Business my dad started in 2016 with my uncles, did a full brand image change for them and redid the wireframe for our entire website which is currently being developed, traveled across the country to participate in conferences discussing deals with possible clients including federal, was given partial ownership for my contributions)
   
6. Entrepreneurship Competitions (Competed in the Diamond Challenge (2021) and the Conrad Challenge (2021) as a freshman, Competed in the Blue Ocean Competition (2022 and 2023))
   
7. Co-Founder and Vice-President of Marketing at Medical Club at school (Advertised the club from having only 4 members to having over 150 at our introductory meeting with a current membership of 60+, educate students on various medical career paths while providing experience opportunities, Members can participate in workshops, labs, discussions, research and shadowing opportunities, guest lectures, and internships, Strategically designed social media posts to increase participation by 300%, Communicate with professionals in the medical field to create opportunities for members to witness the medical field)
   
8. Consulting (worked with an internationally acclaimed business on video editing, content creation, blog writing, marketing, advertising, networking, and expanding their community by over 60%)
   
9. Car Club Photographer (Hobbies, Aiding in the planning and documenting of monthly car meets hosted at my school, used to network and meet new people as well as further my knowledge about cars, I want to go into the automotive industry)
   
10. 300+ volunteer hours (undocumented but can be documented if necessary
    
11. Pwnisher’s “Endless Engines” (Hobby, Competed in a 3D animation competition run by YouTuber Pwnisher, Faced 4,200+ other competitors many of whom do similar 3D animation as a career, Put in over 200 hours across 3 weeks)
    

**Certifications:” Entrepreneurship, Marketing II, Robotics II (all issued by YouScience)
Schools: UIUC (double major) University of Washington (double major), Carnegie Mellon, Northwestern University, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor (double major), Babson, MIT, Harvard, Stanford, Cal Tech, Georgia Tech, Duke, Colombia, Boston University, Every UC Except Merced and Riverside, CSU Long Beach, SDSU, SJSU
edit: forgot to put schools lmfao

Planning on looking into Lee County EMS in Southwest Florida. I was curious as to how the morale is, benefits, pay, and overall work environment within the agency.

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Paris: Billionaire tycoon Elon Musk and more than a few specialists referred to as on Wednesday for a pause in the development of effective artificial intelligence (AI) systems to allow time to ensure they're secure.
An open letter, signed by using extra than 1,000 people up to now consisting of Elon Musk and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, changed into caused by using the discharge of GPT-four from San Francisco firm OpenAI.
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The enterprise says its state-of-the-art model is a great deal more powerful than the previous model, which become used to electricity ChatGPT, a bot capable of producing tracts of textual content from the briefest of activates.
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"AI structures with human-aggressive intelligence can pose profound risks to society and humanity," said the open letter titled "Pause large AI Experiments".
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"powerful AI structures must be advanced best as soon as we are confident that their consequences can be superb and their dangers will be workable," it stated.
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Mr Musk changed into an preliminary investor in OpenAI, spent years on its board, and his vehicle firm Tesla develops AI structures to help energy its self-riding technology, amongst different applications.
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The letter, hosted by using the Musk-funded future of existence Institute, became signed by prominent critics as well as competition of OpenAI like balance AI leader Emad Mostaque.
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'straightforward and dependable'
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The letter quoted from a blog written by using OpenAI founder Sam Altman, who recommended that "sooner or later, it may be critical to get impartial review earlier than starting to train future structures".
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"We agree. That point is now," the authors of the open letter wrote.
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"consequently, we name on all AI labs to without delay pause for at the least 6 months the education of AI systems extra powerful than GPT-four."
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They known as for governments to step in and impose a moratorium if companies did not agree.
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The six months should be used to expand safety protocols, AI governance systems, and refocus research on making sure AI systems are greater accurate, secure, "trustworthy and loyal".
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The letter did now not element the dangers found out by way of GPT-4.
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however researchers together with Gary Marcus of new York college, who signed the letter, have lengthy argued that chatbots are fantastic liars and feature the ability to be superspreaders of disinformation.
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but, author Cory Doctorow has in comparison the AI industry to a "pump and dump" scheme, arguing that each the ability and the risk of AI systems have been hugely overhyped.

https://imgur.com/a/FYNhhN5
I worked hard to research and build the smallest interchangeable lens system that had size as a priority with price not being a consideration, (see comments for images on size!!) and also have the character that i want. While this suited me for the longest time, with my child now starting to go from almost stationary to running, autofocus is needed. So i am moving to the sony a7c with my vintage LTM lenses and techart adapter. Selling these to someone who also appreciate true pocket-ability. Pocket lint is not a concern if u can remove the lens and clean the sensor. All prices include paypal shipped. Available in NJ/ NY for a discount if pick up.
1) Ms optic 28mm f2 m mount aqualia iii usd 950 (small coating loss center of the outer element, not a scratch, not visible when i try to take a photo of it and not visible when using it 100% even stopped down) - sharp corner to corner on fuji with great “leica glow” at the corners. Comes with haoge close focus adapter. 2) Ms optic 24mm f2 m mount aporia usd 700 (optic mint, exterior see images for paint loss)great leica glow but corners fall apart fast even on fuji, do not recommend for landscapes but perfect for environmental portraits. Comes with k&f adapter. 3) fuji xe4 black reskinned. The old skin was removed and completely handcut and replaced with this brown color. It is MastaPlasta and i already replaced it once when i was bored of the old color, so it is 100% removable and replaceable. 850 but will only sell if my ms optic lenses sell. The combo is truly pocketable, even more than x100v especially if u put a filter on that. Also x100v is not sealed at the bottom plate so lint is gonna kill your x100v. I have yet to find a better true pocketable ILC camera. 4) xt30 650 5) 7artisan 35mm f1.2 version 1 sonnar lens. Hard to find now as it is replaced by the bigger version 2 which isnt a sonnar lens. Amazing smallest 35mm fast lens for the fuji that i could find to build my set up. The only thing smaller than this is the 35mm f2 light lens lab collapsible. 180 6) ttartisan 23mm f1.4 with TAAB lens tab 85
Combo deals available if u buy more. Message me for combo deals.
Would accept trade for canon 50mm f1.4 ltm with mint optics, summilux 35mm f1.4 pre-asph, potentially other sony lenses. Nothing large and heavy.

I am part of a long-term, large project to decrease the amount of time it takes for women to be diagnosed with a particular heart condition (I cannot reveal which one).
So far, our efforts have been on educating doctors, but... our results are not great so far. I would like to expand the focus of the project to include teaching women at risk of this particular condition how to talk to doctors so that they will listen. To do this, I need to prove it is at least possible.
I have gathered pamphlets and digital resources from various medical organizations on "How to talk to your doctor" which give advice such as "make a list of concerns before your appointment"; "bring a friend or family member with you to appointments"; "ask question if you are confused"; etc. None of these pamphlets ever cite any research on how these suggestions help patient outcomes, and I have been unable to find any evidence that these suggestions improve patient outcomes.
Is anyone aware of any peer-reviewed studies on how patients actually can effectively advocate for themselves? They don't have to be about women in particular -- perhaps there has been work done about other groups like the LGBTQ community or people of colour.
(Note: I have found studies showing that having a family member generally involved in care helps -- but not specifically bringing them to appointments, and I have found some research that having a female doctor improves female patient outcomes in most cases).

Please don’t judge. I’ve been giving my friend my testosterone gel. I gave him one full bottle and like a third of one I stopped using. (I went back on injections). He just finished them today. I also recently brought him testosterone cypionate vials from El Salvador. Brand: Testex Depot 250. It seems legit. The only issue is the vials are like single use and they're 250mg/2mL. (I’ll attach a photo of what they look like) That’s way too much and he only wants to start at like 30-50mg per week. There would be a lot left ovewasted and I only brought him 4 vials. (Pls don’t judge, a lot of people get their t from Mexico) He doesn’t have insurance and his dysphoria has gotten really bad. Anyway, I wanted to ask if anyone knew where I could order medical grade sterile vials (?) and we’re just gonna divide the rest into those. I bought some syringes/needles from C*S but idk if they would sell any empty vials. Everyone says not to order medical supplies from Amazon and Vitalitymedical doesn’t have any. Does anyone know any other legit medical grade websites? I saw some on the Walmart website but idk if it's trustworthy that they’d be sterile. I figure if we're gonna do this we might as well be as safe as possible about it. Please any advice/direction/ideas about how to store the rest would be so appreciated. We've tried the roundabout ways of getting t for so long: PP, contacting lgbt centers, researching companies like folx. But still, everything is so expensive and/or requires some kind of insurance. It's not fair that he has to choose between survival and essential gender affirming health care.

Thanks in advance for the advice and opinions!
Demographics
Age: 28 (by the time of Fall 2024) Gender: Male Ethnicity: Hispanic
Education and Stats
Undergrad GPA: 2.68
This is absolutely the glaring issue in my app. Long story short, really struggled with mental health issues the first two years and barely scraped by (think GPA ~1.5). Really found myself in the second half of undergrad and got it up as much as I could.
Undergrad School: State school in the south Undergrad Major: Communications
GMAT: 780 (50Q/50V)
Other Education
Master of Science: Market Research and Analytics GPA 3.3
Work Experience
5 yoe by the time of Fall 2024 Started as a Data Analyst and worked my way (5 promotions) up to a director role at a technology company serving nonprofits
Extracurricular
Board member at a nonprofit serving seniors (3 years) Senior citizen advisory committee for my city (2 years) Teach an intro to computers class to elderly/children at my local public library (3 years)
Essay/Rec Letters I have a really strong essay and recommendation letters. One former supervisor and a current supervisor (both graduated from top 3 b-schools).
Post MBA Goals
I really want to stay in tech but at a larger company in a more senior role.
What do y’all think about my shot at an M7 school is with that GPA? Thanks!!