Archive for August, 2019
Amtrak Passengers Agree to DEA Searches Without Warrants or Probable Cause
August 31st, 2019It’s hard for passengers to say no because they’re completely clueless about their rights. Via: The Intercept: When Perry approaches, it’s hard for passengers to say no. “Because he told me he was an officer,” the young passenger in Albuquerque later said, explaining why he agreed to the search. It’s legal for Perry to search […]
Hong Kong: Demonstrators Defy Ban on March
August 31st, 2019Via: BBC: Hong Kong police have used tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannon to disperse crowds as tens of thousands marched in the city, defying a ban. Demonstrators lit fires, threw petrol bombs at riot police and attacked the parliament building. An event to mark five years since Beijing ruled out fully democratic elections […]
Retrofit Robot Pilot Can Grab Flight Controls, Read Instruments, Take Off, Navigate, Land
August 31st, 2019Does it chat with ATC??? Via: New Scientist: A robot pilot is learning to fly. It has passed its pilot’s test and flown its first plane, but it has also had its first mishap too. Unlike a traditional autopilot, the ROBOpilot Unmanned Aircraft Conversion System literally takes the controls, pressing on foot pedals and handling […]
China’s Lunar Rover Has Found Something Weird on the Far Side of the Moon
August 31st, 2019Via: Space.com: China’s Chang’e-4 lunar rover has discovered an unusually colored, ‘gel-like’ substance during its exploration activities on the far side of the moon. The mission’s rover, Yutu-2, stumbled on that surprise during lunar day 8. The discovery prompted scientists on the mission to postpone other driving plans for the rover, and instead focus its […]
Biohackers Are Pirating a Cheap Version of a Million-Dollar Gene Therapy
August 30th, 2019Via: MIT Technology Review: Citing the tremendous cost of new drugs, an international group of biohackers say they are creating a knock-off of a million-dollar gene therapy. The drug being copied is Glybera, a gene therapy that was the world’s most expensive drug when it came on the market in Europe in 2015 with a […]
Investigators Seize Enough Fentanyl to Kill 14 Million People in Massive Drug Bust
August 30th, 2019Via: CBS: Law enforcement officers in Virginia have seized enough fentanyl to kill 14 million people, busting a massive three-state drug ring as part of what they called “Operation Cookout.” Thirty-five suspects were arrested, and four others are on the run.
How to Teach an Iris Scanner That the Eye It’s Looking at Is Dead
August 29th, 2019Via: IEEE: Conventional wisdom has held that the iris begins decaying only minutes after death. Thanks to Maciejewicz’s work, we discovered that wisdom to be wrong: If cadavers are kept cool, the eyes can still be used for identification for up to three weeks postmortem. Researchers had also assumed that recognition systems could not accurately […]
FBI Studies Two Broken Cameras Outside Cell Where Epstein Died
August 29th, 2019Mmm hmm. Via: Reuters: Two cameras that malfunctioned outside the jail cell where financier Jeffrey Epstein died as he awaited trial on sex-trafficking charges have been sent to an FBI crime lab for examination, a law enforcement source told Reuters. Epstein’s lawyers Reid Weingarten and Martin Weinberg told U.S. District Judge Richard Berman in Manhattan […]
Cost of U.S. War in Afghanistan: About $1 Trillion
August 29th, 2019Via: BBC: So, according to the US Department of Defense, the total military expenditure in Afghanistan (from October 2001 until March 2019) was $760bn. That’s significantly more than the figure given by the Afghan president. But an independent study carried out by Brown University’s Cost of War Project argues that the official US figures for […]
Sacramento Zombie Apocalypse
August 29th, 2019Via: DailyMail: ‘All we do is lie around, eat ice-cream, have sex, and take drugs,’ said Cali. ‘Man, I love ice-cream. Carlisle says she needs heroin just to exist. ‘I need it for everything — just to walk and to breathe. ‘I did go to rehab once, she added. ‘In Orangeville I think… or maybe […]
