We Need More Science

Should California Spend 4 Billion Gallons of Water on Fish?

New Melones Lake, California. Getty Images

In the the heart of California’s drought-parched Central Valley, fruit and vegetable supplier to the nation, a water district is defying a federal order to give some endangered trout a 3.9 billion gallon water ride out to sea. And it could be the first skirmish in a much wider conflict.

The Endangered Species Act protects steelhead trout, a small population of which are attempting a recovery in the Stanislaus River, which flows out of the Sierra Nevada Mountains into Modesto, in the San Joaquin Valley. So earlier this week a federal fisheries agency—it’s unclear which one, and there are several—told the California branch of the Bureau of Reclamation (another water agency) that the fish needed more water to get out to the Pacific. The bureau in turn passed the order to the South San Joaquin Irrigation District, telling them to let a pulse of water through the dam on the Stanislaus.

But upon receipt, Jeff Shields, the manager of SSJID went rogue: “Whose water will be released down the Stanislaus River to satisfy the second pulse flow?” Not his, in other words.

It was the second such order in the past three weeks. The SSJID complied with the first. According to the Manteca Bulletin, a local paper that has been covering the standoff, this flushed out 15,000 acre feet of water and 23 steelhead trout. But this latest order, which would reportedly use another 12,000 acre feet to save only six fish, was too much for Shields. (Fisheries agencies haven’t yet confirmed that count.)

So Lewis said no to the Bureau, and then secured legal counsel. “We tried to work with the Bureau for the last several years. We’ve sent dozens of letters and ideas about how to manage the river more prudently and other issues that we felt needed to be addressed because they were affecting our water,” Shields told the Manteca Bulletin. “I understand that they’re busy and they have a river that they have to manage and water that they have to take care of, but we’re busy as well—we have water that we have to manage and people that we have to look out for as well.” According to Shields, this water is better used on human interests, like agriculture and homes.

As of Friday evening, the SSJID and the Bureau of Reclamation—along with several other agencies, including the National Marine Fisheries Service, which estimates how many fish are expected to swim to sea each year—were still on the phone, trying to figure out what happens next. This is likely to open the proverbial flood gates (ahem) in a long-simmering debate over whether fish are an interest group worthy of California’s precious water allocations.

The environmental argument is that steelhead trout are important to mountain ecosystems, which have downstream benefits. And the flows themselves keep the briny water from the San Francisco Bay from creeping into the Sacramento Delta. But of course California is facing a record-breaking drought, and the crops that feed the country need fresh water, too. According to Lewis Moore, a spokesperson for the Bureau of Reclamation, if the various interest groups don’t resolve the issue tonight, the negotiations will continue into next week. “We are hopeful there will be a favorable response, and then everything will go back to the way it was,” Moore says.

Regardless, it looks like the SSJID is geared up for a fight. In the past, courts have sided with local water districts. But for someone inclined toward apocalyptic cli-fi, this kind of standoff isn’t good news.

Split Screen: The Return of Mad Men

WIRED editor Peter Rubin and his wife Kelli love pop culture—but don’t always see eye to eye. For Kelli, who worked in advertising, the return of Mad Men is personal. For Peter, it might be the season of Don’s descent. But regardless, there’s plenty to talk about.

Gadget Lab Podcast: Somebody Fix the Roku’s Antenna

We love our streaming boxes—our Apple TVs, our Rokus, and our Fire TVs. But they’re not perfect. We’re still waiting for some of the big kinks to be worked out in streaming tech, especially for live broadcasts and sports. This was quite apparent last week, when Sling TV’s feed of the NCAA basketball games stuttered and sputtered for some viewers. On this episode, the hosts talk about some of the latest developments in streaming television—new hardware, new channel options, and new software features—as well as some of the pitfalls that continue to frustrate and annoy. Oh, and David talks about his experience buying an Apple Watch. Because it’s the Gadget Lab podcast, so of course we talk about the Apple Watch. (We keep it short this time.)

Listen to this week’s episode and subscribe via RSS. Also, here’s a link to our iTunes page.

Send the hosts feedback on their personal Twitter feeds (David Pierce is @piercedavid and Michael Calore is @snackfight) or to the main hotline at @GadgetLab.

Tech Time Warp of the Week: The 1940s RC Copter That Paved the Way for Amazon’s Drones

This week the Federal Aviation Administration gave Amazon a green light to test its drone delivery program. It could be years before you can actually have a quadcopter drop off your Amazon orders, assuming that it ever happens at all. But it’s impressive that it’s even a possibility considering that only a few decades ago, the idea of stable helicopter flight was a novel idea.

The helicopter wasn’t invented by any single person. Simple propeller-based toys were used in China as far back as 400 BC, and many inventors built motorized versions over the years. But it was philosopher and mathematician Arthur M. Young who invented the first helicopter that was actually useful.

In the video above, an excerpt from the BBC documentary The Century of Flight, you can see him demonstrating one of the world’s first remote-controlled model helicopters. Yes, it was connected to a wire, which would have made it less fun than flying one of today’s iPhone-controlled drones, but this was 1941, decades before the radio-controlled model aircraft became widely available. And this was no toy.

Young was using this model to test his ideas for a stabilizing bar that, when applied to a larger craft, would finally make them stable enough to pilot. As you can see from the video, it wasn’t easy to translate the smaller model to a full-sized craft. But later tests went well enough that the Bell Aircraft Company acquired Young’s patents and hired him to further develop the concept.

In 1946, Young’s Model 7 became the first helicopter awarded a commercial license by the the Federal Aviation Administration’s predecessor, the Civil Aeronautics Administration.

The difference between today’s aerial drones and the remote controlled aircraft of yesteryear is debatable. But there’s some consensus that in order to be considered a drone, an aircraft must include some form of autopilot, a feature generally lacking in older remote control aircraft. In other words, you could argue that today’s aerial drones are remote control helicopters, but that not all remote control helicopters are drones. By those lights, the first drone may actually have been the RAE Larynx, a British pilotless aircraft. But while Young’s remote controlled helicopter might not have been a drone, it’s hard to imagine the development of helicopters, and ultimately the quadcopter drones of today, without him.

In 1947, Young left the aircraft industry and dedicated his life to philosophy. He died in 1995, but an organization dedicated to preserving his work has collected several lectures and a short documentary about his work on YouTube.

Game|Life Podcast: Can Lego Dethrone Skylanders?

1 / 1

Warner Bros.

Lego’s about to land on the toys-to-life market like a ton of bricks. A ton of tiny, expensive bricks.

Besides Lego Dimensions‘ impending assault on your wallet, we at the Game|Life podcast discuss the new Deus Ex, the latest round of Amiibogeddon (including my tale of waiting in line for two hours at a GameStop to reserve a Ness), and my impressions of Nintendo 64 and Nintendo DS games on Virtual Console.

This Week’s Best TV: It’s All Game of Thrones, All the Time

By Jove! The guest-star game this week on late night TV was on fire! Louis CK, Edward Snowden, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Peter Dinklage, The Rock, Michelle Obama—what happened? Were we especially good viewers and so the variety show producers decided to reward us? Whatever the reason, this deck is stacked. We’ve got everything from the latest crazes in mom dancing, as brought to you by Michelle Obama, to a fantastic discussion of government encroachment on privacy with Edward Snowden. All this goodness has got us shaking it like the Rock’s close personal friend, Tay-Tay (you’ll see what we mean).

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver—Government Surveillance (Above)

John Oliver frames the debate over government surveillance around dick pics, then has Edward Snowden explain it to him. This may be his best work yet.

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon—Evolution of Mom Dancing Part 2 (w/ Jimmy Fallon & Michelle Obama)

And if you want to see Mz. Michelle be best girlfriends with Jimmy, you can also watch her dish about what music the kids are listening to here.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart—Peter Dinklage

The Peter Dinklage Rakish Sex Appeal meter is maxing out in this interview. Does he care deeply? Does he not care at all? We don’t know, but those devil-may-care brown locks in his eyes will keep you guessing. So close to Game of Thrones!

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon—The Whisper Challenge with Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Confusing “Hoda Kotb” with “Oh, God help me” will forever live as one of the best mistakes of all time for so many reasons. So, so many reasons. For more of Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Tonight Show appearance, because there’s no way you have anything better to do, click here.

Saturday Night Live—Neurotology Music Video

The sick part is that this sketch isn’t even as funny as the real thing! But don’t worry. It’s still, very, very funny on its own.

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon—Game of Thrones Cast Sings ‘I’m So Excited’

Normally we don’t associate the Pointer Sisters’ brand of “excited” with so much bloodshed and backstabbing and stuff, but yet this mash-up nails exactly how we’re feeling going into the weekend.

Lip Sync Battle—Dwayne Johnson’s ‘Shake It Off’ vs. Jimmy Fallon’s ‘Jump in the Line’

It’s the giggle! When The Rock nails the giggle it’s all over for us.

Sesame Street—Game of Chairs

Hahahahaha Melisandre hahahaha!

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart—The Daily Show‘s Once and Future Host

Even if you don’t want to do it for Trevor Noah, do it for Jon.

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon—Louis CK Ruined Jimmy’s Chance to Star On The Dana Carvey Show

It’s likely title of this video is the only time we’ll ever read “Louis CK ruined” and want to keep clicking, because Louis CK makes everything better. There’s another segment from his Tonight Show appearance called “Louis CK Performed a Bit with NYC’s Mayor with Poop in His Pants,” and we can’t imagine you’d want to miss that.

Late Night with Seth Meyers—Seth Brings Jon Snow to a Dinner Party

Not that we don’t love him on Game of Thrones (we love you on Game of Thrones, Kit Harington!), but this is the best Jon Snow has ever been.

Bonus Track: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver—Edward Snowden on Passwords

John Oliver’s Snowden conversation has bonus material! Watch the two discuss passwords if you didn’t get enough of this duo during the “dick pick program” convo.

Amazon Can Now Test Its Delivery Drones in the U.S.

Amazon just got one step closer to delivering packages to customers’ doorsteps by drone.

This week, the Federal Aviation Administration said the e-commerce giant would be free to test its delivery drones in the United States, as long as Amazon flies the drones under 400 feet and at a maximum speed of 100 miles per hour. The move is not altogether unexpected. According to Reuters, just last month, the FAA issued a similar approval, but for an old prototype, one that Amazon argued was outdated by the time the approval came down.

Now, Amazon is free to test its Prime Air service, while also creating a regulatory pathway for other businesses interested in launching similar services.

Though this is a major milestone for Amazon, it’s important to remember that the ultimate vision for Prime Air—in which drones will fly autonomously for up miles to reach customers—will still be hamstrung by the FAA’s recently proposed rules regarding commercial drone operations, including the requirement that drones stay within the operator’s line of sight at all times. During the testing phase, that shouldn’t be a problem for Amazon. But over time, if that rule doesn’t change, it would be. What’s more, Amazon is still prohibited from flying its drones over “densely populated areas,” in accordance with the proposed rules. That means these tests will still be a highly limited version of what Amazon ultimately intends to accomplish with Prime Air.

When the rules were initially proposed in February, Paul Misener, Amazon’s vice president for global public policy said in a statement that “The FAA needs to begin and expeditiously complete the formal process to address the needs of our business, and ultimately our customers. We are committed to realizing our vision for Prime Air and are prepared to deploy where we have the regulatory support we need.”

Still, this move should be construed as progress, if not for Amazon, then for the FAA itself. It took the agency years to come up with proposed rules for commercial drones, but it took them only a matter of weeks to issue this new exemption to Amazon, showing that the FAA is serious about its commitment to expediting the exemption process. Now, according to its website, rather than analyzing each petition for exemption from scratch, the FAA can issue an exemption “when it finds it has already granted a previous exemption similar to the new request.”

Many questions need to be answered before Amazon can deploy Prime Air as CEO Jeff Bezos originally envisioned it, but for Amazon, this news provides at least a glimmer of hope.