Colorado River negotiations have stalled among 7 states, and water is scarce. What happens next? | Live Science

~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

The seven U.S. states that make up the Colorado River basin are struggling to agree on how best to manage the river’s water as its supply dwindles due to climate change and a period of prolonged drought. Their negotiations, which are not open to the public, missed a Feb. 14, 2026, deadline the federal government had established, after which federal officials said they would impose their own plan.

The federal government has not yet done so, but the prospect of such an action is not good news for the nearly 40 million people who depend on the Colorado River for water, energy, agriculture, and recreation, nor for the estimated US$1.4 trillion in economic activity the river supports.

Read More

Chemistry student develops clear polish that turns your fingernail into a touch-screen stylus | Live Science

~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

A college student has created a prototype polish to turn a fingernail into a touch-screen stylus, after noticing that people with long nails and calloused fingertips struggled to work their smartphones.

Manasi Desai, a student at Centenary College of Louisiana with an interest in cosmetic chemistry, launched the project with her research supervisor, Joshua Lawrence, an associate professor of chemistry at Centenary. Their goal was to create a clear, nontoxic polish that would allow a nail to access a touch screen the way a human fingertip does.

Read More

What an Employer Needs to Know About Payroll Taxes | businessnewsdaily.com

~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

If you’re a small business owner in the United States, you’ll need to understand payroll taxes from the moment you hire your first employee. Dating back to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, payroll taxes are the taxes withheld from an employee’s earnings (including any wages, salaries, bonuses, or cash gifts from the employer) to fund federal programs like Medicare and Social Security.

Instead of directly taxing employees, who may or may not pay their taxes on time, the government requires employers to withhold a percentage of employee paychecks. As a result, it’s up to small business owners to understand the ins and outs of taxes. Employers can handle this process on their own, enlist the help of a tax professional, or employ a payroll service to handle all of their payroll and payroll tax responsibilities.

Read More

The Biggest Business Insurance Risks | Business News Daily

~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Running a small business means exposing yourself to a certain amount of risk. You need safeguards in place to handle the fallout should problems occur. Although some pitfalls and challenges can’t be avoided, they can be mitigated with the proper precautions, planning, and insurance coverage. Below, insurance and legal experts detail today’s biggest insurance risks for business owners and what you can do to protect yourself against them.

What is insurance risk?

Insurance risk refers to the possibility of something going wrong that would expose your business – or the insurer – to financial damages. Business risk and insurance risk often overlap. By fully understanding the different types of business risk, you can better understand insurance risk and thus how insurance can protect your business from serious problems.

Read More

How to Balance Work and Family Life: 12 Proven Strategies for Working Parents | LifeHack

~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Last Tuesday, I found myself typing an email during my son’s soccer game. Again. The moment I hit send, he scored his first goal of the season—and I missed it. That gut punch? It’s the same one millions of parents feel daily as we juggle demanding careers with family life. The mythical “work-life balance” feels more like a circus act where we’re constantly dropping balls.

Here’s the thing nobody tells you: perfect balance doesn’t exist. Research shows that 66% of working parents experience significant stress trying to manage both domains. But what if we’re approaching this all wrong? What if instead of seeking balance—that elusive state where everything gets equal attention—we aimed for something more realistic?

Source: How to Balance Work and Family Life: 12 Proven Strategies for Working Parents – LifeHack

Why Life Feels Like Constant Problem-Solving (And How to Actually Chill) | LifeHack

~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Living means having needs. And having needs means there’s always a gap between “how things are” and “how we want them to be.” Closing those gaps? That’s literally problem-solving. You’re hungry, so you need food. You’re tired but have work tomorrow, so you need to balance rest and responsibility. Your phone battery is dying, your inbox is full, your friend needs help moving, and you haven’t figured out dinner yet.

Every single one of these is a problem, which means your brain is constantly in problem-solving mode. This isn’t a bug—it’s a feature of being alive. But here’s the good news: while you can’t eliminate all problems, you absolutely can learn to chill more reliably. I will explain why life feels this way and give you practical strategies to reduce needless stress without becoming irresponsible or checking out.

Read More

Trump’s anti-EV rules aren’t stopping California’s electric truck boom—yet | Fast Company

~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Wes Lowe uses so much Claritin that he started an Amazon subscription to avoid running out. His kids take two asthma medications. This reflects the normalcy of pollution in California’s San Joaquin Valley, where residents breathe some of the dirtiest air in the nation.

Lowe lives about 20 miles outside of Fresno, in the valley’s heart. More than a dozen highways, including Interstate 5, run through the region, carrying almost half of the state’s truck traffic. The sky is usually hazy, the air is often deemed hazardous, and 1 in 6 children live with asthma. “You don’t realize how bad it is until you leave,” Lowe said.

Read More

What carbon capture is and why it’s not an ideal climate solution | Fast Company

~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Power plants and industrial facilities that emit carbon dioxide, the primary driver of global warming, are hopeful that Congress will keep tax credits for capturing the gas and storing it deep underground.

The process, called carbon capture and sequestration, is seen by many as an important way to reduce pollution during a transition to renewable energy.

But it faces criticism from some conservatives, who say it is expensive and unnecessary, and from environmentalists, who say it has consistently failed to capture as much pollution as promised and is simply a way for producers of fossil fuels like oil, gas, and coal to continue their use.

Read More

YouTube Expands Global Reach with New Non-Skippable Ad Formats| Small Biz Trends

~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

YouTube’s introduction of VRC Non-Skip Ads presents an exciting opportunity for small business owners to harness the platform’s robust advertising capabilities. As the leading video streaming service in the U.S., YouTube attracts millions of viewers, making it an essential medium for brands looking to connect with their audiences in innovative ways.

Starting now, VRC Non-Skip Ads are available globally through Google Ads and Display & Video 360. This move is part of YouTube’s strategy to enhance viewer engagement and streamline advertising processes for businesses of all sizes.

Read More

Feds Unite to Tackle Rising Fraud Threats Targeting California Programs| Small Biz Trends

~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

A significant shift in the enforcement of federal program integrity is underway in California, as the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announce a concerted effort to combat fraud in federal programs. SBA Inspector General William W. Kirk and USDA Inspector General John Walk met with United States Attorney for the Southern District of California, Adam Gordon, highlighting a proactive stance against the growing complexities of fraud schemes targeting government initiatives.

California has been flagged as a high-risk zone for fraud due to the intricate nature and scale of operations that exploit federal funding. With this partnership, both agencies plan to coordinate more aggressively on identifying and punishing fraudulent activities, safeguarding taxpayer interests, and the integrity of programs designed to support small businesses.

Read More