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While images of wildfires capture their ferocity, data can provide insight into how bad a fire season is.Such is the case with two graphics, powered by satellite data, that showcase a Canadian wildfire season off to a wildand scarystart.Twice a day a NASA satellite sends images to the ground, giving a real-time view of where fires are burning. This is especially useful for remote areas where no sensors are stationed. As of Tuesday that satellite had picked up four times as many fire hot spots across Canada than is typical for early June. That’s more than any year since the satellite began transmitting in 2012, except 2023, according to data from Global Forest Watch.Though the satellite has recorded thousands of hot spots so far this year, that does not mean there are actually that many active fires. Each hot spot could be detected repeatedly over the course of days. And because each detection is about the size of 26 football fields, it can represent part of a much larger blaze, said James MacCarthy, wildfire research manager at Global Forest Watch.Based on data from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, about 200 fires are actively burning in Canada and have consumed about 7,700 square miles (19,900 square kilometers) of terrain, most of it in the last week. [Screenshot: CIFFC] Only 2023 saw such high numbers so early in Canada’s fire season, which runs from April through October. That year wildfires burned a record 67,000 square milesmore than twice the surface area of Lake Superior, the largest of the Great Lakes.Taken together, the hot spots and acres burned mean 2025 is the second-worst start to the season in years.“A warm and dry finish to May and early June has created a significant fire season,” said Liam Buchart, a fire weather specialist with the Canadian Forest Service.The weather conditions are made more likely by climate change and encourage wildfires to start. That means even though 90% of wildfires in Manitoba this year have been human-caused, according to the provincial government, climate change helps enable their spread.“Climate change is creating the conditions that make it more likely that human-caused fires are going to spread, or even start,” MacCarthy said. “It might be a human starting it, but it’s going to spread quickly because now there’s hot and dry conditions that are occurring more frequently and more intensely than they have in the past.”The hot and dry weather is likely to to continue for at least the next week across Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, according to Natural Resources Canada. The agency’s forecasts also call for “a warmer and drier than normal July and August for large portions of Canada,” Buchart said.“The remainder of the fire season looks to remain above normal, especially over the northern prairie provinces and southern British Columbia,” he said. The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org. M.K. Wildeman, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
A typical EV charger in the U.S. is a bulky, 6-foot-tall box in a parking lot. In Germany, a startup is rolling out a new type of charger that looks very different: Called the Curb Charger, it fits seamlessly inside a curb at the edge of a street. The Curb Charger upgrades existing urban infrastructure and adds hardly any additional street furniture to cities, says Felix Stracke, vice president of new mobility at Rheinmetall, the company that designed the charger. (Rheinmetalls primary business is defense manufacturingthe $80 billion company is the largest arms manufacturer in Germanybut it diversified into EV charging when it saw the opportunity for growth.) For an apartment dweller who parks their car on the street, having curbside charging suddenly makes it much easier to own an EV. Instead of driving to a store and waiting while the car charges, its possible to plug in overnight or when the car would otherwise be parked for hours. It also makes slow charging feasible, which helps EV batteries last longer and is less of a strain on the grid. [Photo: Rheinmetall] Larger chargers dont necessarily fit well on a curb. On a narrow sidewalk, they can take up too much space; they’re at more risk of vandalism; they can also block views and change the visual identity of a historic neighborhood. But the scaled-down design of the new chargers is nearly invisible. That invisibility is also a challenge, since drivers can’t quickly spot a charger. But an app can be deployed to direct someone to the nearest charging point. Other companies have taken different approaches to curbside charging, including making chargers that double as streetlights or packaging them in a sleek box that looks better than a conventional charger and is easier to install. [Photo: Rheinmetall] The Curb Charger sits inside a case that’s exactly the same size as a standard German curb. (The size can be adjusted for other locations.) It’s strong enough that a heavy truck can drive over it, and its waterproof, so the system can keep working in heavy rain. Drivers activate it through an app or by scanning a QR code. It does require that drivers have their own charging cord, though that’s standard in Europe. Rheinmetall says the equipment doesn’t cost more than a conventional charging station, and the small size means that installation can be simpler and cost less. If a charger needs repair, the charging module can be swapped out, making maintenance less expensive as well. When streets have major repairs, they could potentially be rebuilt with the hollow curb cases, ready to add the charging equipment as needed. In a yearlong pilot in the city of Cologne, the chargers were used nearly 3,000 times through all weather conditions, staying online 99% of the time. Users gave them high ratings. Now, Rheinmetall is scaling up production and beginning new installations in other cities.
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E-Commerce
Sports-bar chain Hooters has abruptly closed a number of locations across multiple states as its bankruptcy process continues. The restaurant closures come just over two months after Hooters of America, LLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March. At the time, the company did not announce any closures but said it was reviewing its “operational footprint.” Heres what you need to know about the latest Hooters restaurant closures. Which Hooters locations have closed? At least 23 Hooters restaurants appear to have recently closed, according to a Fast Company review of pre-recorded phone messages and Google listings. The locations have also been removed from the store locator tool on the Hooters website. The list was reported earlier by USA Today. The closures impact Hooters’ locations in at least 12 states. Florida Sanford Orlando (Kirkman Road) Kissimmee (Osceola Parkway) Melbourne (Babcock Street) Georgia Atlanta (Peachtree Road) Douglasville (Douglas Blvd) Duluth (Gwinnett Drive) Valdosta Indiana Indianapolis (US-31) Illinois Rockford Kentucky Newport Michigan Flint (Miller Road) Taylor Missouri St. Louis (7th Street) North Carolina Charlotte (South Blvd) South Carolina Columbia Rock Hill Tennessee Murfreesboro Memphis (Peabody Pl) Nashville (Largo Drive) Texas Grapevine Houston (Farm to Market 1960 Road) San Marcos USA Today has also noted that two additional storesFort Smith, Arkansas, and Madison, Wisconsinhave been delisted from the Hooters website, suggesting their closures. What has Hooters said about the restaurant closures? Fast Company has reached out to Hooters of America for comment on the reported closures and to ask for a full list and closure dates. We will update this post if we hear back. In a statement to USA Today, the company said that the closures were of company-owned stores and were a “difficult decision. ‘Here to stay’ When it announced its bankruptcy in March 2025, Hooters of America published an FAQ about the restructuring, with one point stating that Hooters was here to stay.” However, as Fast Company reported at the time, the companys press release on the matter left open the possibility that Hooters of America may indeed shutter locations as the bankruptcy process continued. As part of the Companys broader business transformation and planning, Hooters is evaluating the Companys operational footprint as part of its financial restructuring process to position itself to invest its resources in its strongest assets moving forward, the company stated in the release. It now appears that the company has indeed evaluated its operational footprint and has decided it is necessary for some stores to close. Why did Hooters file for bankruptcy? Its important to note that while in March there were 410 Hooters restaurants in 38 states and 24 countries, they arent all owned by the same company. In America, many are owned by Hooters of America, which also owns the Hooters brand. However, the remainder of the locations in America are operated by franchisees, including Hooters Inc., which is one of the largest franchisees of the Hooters brand. Hooters Inc. is owned by the brand’s original co-founders. It’s Hooters of America that sought bankruptcy protection and not Hooters Inc. or any other Hooters franchisee. As part of its bankruptcy process, Hooters of America plans to divest its ownership of physical Hooters stores and sell many of them to existing franchisees. Hooters of America, LLC will then continue to operate as essentially a licensing company. It will strictly license its restaurants to franchisees and will cease operating locations directly. Hooters transition from a partially directly owned restaurant chain to an entirely franchise-owned model comes after Hooters of America has faced struggles for years. Many restaurant chains, including Red Lobster, Tijuana Flats, Buca di Beppo, and Roti, have turned to bankruptcy as they have faced similar struggles. Those struggles include higher costs due to inflationary pressures as well as reduced foot traffic from cost-conscious consumers cutting back on discretionary spending, such as dining out. Hooters of America, LLC says it expects its bankruptcy proceeding to wrap up this summer. On June 10, the company will attend a conditional disclosure statement hearing and will face several additional hearings throughout the summer until August.
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E-Commerce
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