Day's Headlines: 2016

Saturday, December 31, 2016

A Government Free New Year; It Was Likely Russia Maybe; Climate Changed; MaTonomy; Getting Rid of the Humans; and Chicken Face

Iceland

Iceland's 'crazy' year ends without a government businessinsider

Iceland is ending an eventful year in a political quagmire, left without a government for two months after the Panama Papers icij.org scandal and a snap election reflecting deep divisions in the island nation.

Friday, December 30, 2016

Marriage-less State; Minimum Bandwagon; Rupee Lost; Money Thumb; Lingering Israeli Support; and Underwater Archaeology

Society

A lawmaker's solution for marriage debate: Remove the state host.madison

His bill, filed ahead of the 2017 legislative session, would make Missouri the first state to recognize only domestic unions for both heterosexual and gay couples, treating legal partnerships equally and leaving marriages to be done by pastors and other religious leaders.

Other states including Alabama, Indiana and Michigan failed to pass similar bills to limit the government's role in marriage, and Oklahoma representatives passed a bill that didn't make it out of the Senate.

Thursday, December 29, 2016

Trump's False Gospel; Sporting Pronoun Pins; The White People Problem; Life Programmer Wanted; Under the Sea; Lasering Plankton from Space; China's EmDrive; Robot Shopper; Amazon's Force; Kim Jung Un's 300+ Political Fears; and Fragments in a Cave

False Religion

Televangelist Paula White Joins Trump Inauguration Day Plans hollywoodreporter

Prosperity gospel preachers Paula White, a friend of Trump's, and Bishop Wayne T. Jackson, whose Detroit church hosted the Republican in September, will be among six faith leaders selected to participate in the Jan. 20 inauguration. It will be the first time preachers who spread the prosperity gospel will be included in the ceremony.

While the faith movement is widely popular, many Christians consider it heretical. Ministers in the tradition often hold up their own wealth as evidence their teachings work. Trump had campaigned in part on his record as a wealthy real estate developer and businessman.

For more on the heretical teachings of people like Paula White, see: The Devilish Puppet Master of the Word-Faith Movement (Justin Peters) gty.org

Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Holocaust Denial Result; Tunnel Tales; Declaring War on New Zealand; NK Sees Nuclear Opportunity; Secret Deals No Longer; China's Moon-Mars Hop; Position by the Centimeter; Mech Wars; Murder on Echo's Watch; Gene Drive Made EZ; Diamond Wires; Push, Pull, Power; AI Job Loss...or Not; The 3-Day Wait Free Speech; and Andy Stanely Opens His Mouth Again

Google

Holocaust Denial Article No Longer in Google’s Top Search Results forward

Now, when users search “Did the Holocaust happen?” they must first scroll through articles about the search controversy, two articles by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum ushmm.org, and a wikipedia page on Holocaust denial before they arrive at the Stormfront article.

What's interesting about this is the potential ramifications if, say, people started complaining that the top results were "anti-homosexual" or promoted only one Way (John 14:16) or the like. I'm all for Holocaust denial (AKA anti-semetic) sites being treated as the "fake news" they are, but to intervene to control how specific results get sorted up (or down) seems to be a slipperly slope.

Tuesday, December 27, 2016

Israel Settles, Paris Summits; Holy Land Polygamy; Mount Synagogue; China Takes a Sail; India's Even Bigger Statue; and The Year Ends with a Ban

Israel

Israel plans more settlements; Abbas looks to Paris summit usatoday v

The developments came just days after the United States broke with past practice and allowed the U.N. Security Council to condemn Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem as a “flagrant violation” of international law.

Monday, December 26, 2016

UN, Israel, and US; Real Nuclear Threat; The Anti-Disagrees-With-Gov Law; Robot Spouse; and The Deep Year

Israel

What Does UN Vote on Israeli Settlements Mean and What’s Next? bloomberg

United Nations Security Council 2334, which passed Dec. 23 by a vote of 14-0 with the U.S. abstaining, describes Israel’s settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem as illegal and an obstacle to peace with the Palestinians. It was the first time U.S. President Barack Obama declined to block a Security Council resolution that Israel considered hostile, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused him of staging a “shameless ambush” against his country. Netanyahu warned countries that backed the measure they would pay a diplomatic and economic price.

Netanyahu has declared that Israel will not not abide by the terms of the resolution. For the Palestinians, Resolution 2334 is “a moral victory and a symbolic victory, but at the end of the day nothing is really going to change on the ground and Israel will continue with its settlement construction,” Abusada said. Nearly 600,000 Jews now live in the West Bank and parts of Jerusalem beyond the 1967 boundary.

Also see Israel summons US ambassador as Netanyahu lashes out at Obama cnn and A final insult to Israel washingtontimes

Thursday, December 15, 2016

Enshrined, Planned Funding; 3 Parent Approval; South Sea Range; Taiwan to Go; Duterte Shows 'em How; Sanctions Missile; Journalists (not) in Turkey; Driving, Touching Air; and AI Typewriter

Abortion

Obama Bars States From Denying Federal Money to Planned Parenthood nytimes

Mindful of the clock ticking down to a Trump presidency, the Obama administration issued a final rule on Wednesday to bar states from withholding federal family-planning funds from Planned Parenthood affiliates and other health clinics that provide abortions. The measure takes effect two days before the Jan. 20 inauguration of Donald J. Trump.

According to the department, repealing the rule would require a new rule-making process, or a joint resolution of disapproval by the House and Senate, with concurrence by the new president.

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

20 Too Many, Yet Better; Licensed Priest in Horns; Jews, Forever; Short-Term Government; 8 Secret Data Requests; Wet-Dry Military; Forget Your Troubles; Robotic Touch; The Uber Blow Off; Google Spin Out; and No...It's Amazon Air

Abortion

Ohio Gov. Kasich Signs 20-Week Abortion Limit, Rejects 'Heartbeat Bill' npr.org

The so-called heartbeat bill, which Kasich rejected, was considered more vulnerable to legal challenge. Provisions of the measure would have essentially limited the period during which women could get an abortion to about six weeks, when many women don't even realize they're pregnant, reports the Associated Press.

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Anti-Semitism Indoctrination; Judea Down Below; Mighty Israel; The Gorbachev Interview; Syria's Act II; Philippine's Made in China Weapons; EU's Cuban Cuddle; Town Gives up the Cross; and Predicting Burden Kids

Anti-Semitism

Activists Manipulate Third-Graders into Hating Israel truthrevolt.org v

"Far under the radar, the attempt to demonize Israel is moving down the educational chain even into elementary schools, pushed by activists who accept no boundaries even for young children," begins Professor William A. Jacobson, who runs LI. "Yet because such activities take place in schools to which access is limited, and the young students are not developmentally able to report on what happens, it’s rare to obtain hard visual proof. We have such proof."

Thursday, December 8, 2016

Oldest Alphabet; Metal Attack; The Law of Heatbeats; Unborn Test Extension; Robotic Galago; Light Energy; Predicting Materials; Robot Glove; Shortening Giraffe; Saturn Dive Images; Robo Cop; Hype Over Mind; Unstaffed Bank; Sappy AI Music; and Forcing the Peace Issue

Archeaology

Expert claims inscriptions from Egyptian exodus proves Hebrew is world’s oldest alphabet jpost

While critics argue that the original alphabet likely derived from a grouping of Afro-Asiatic languages – including Akkadian, Aramaic, Phoenician, Ethiopic and Hebrew – [professor] Petrovich claims that an inscription discovered on an ancient Egyptian stone slab in 2012 proves his case.

Petrovich said he subsequently translated 16 more Hebrew inscriptions from four other ancient slabs discovered in Egypt and Sinai, including one from 1446 BCE, which describes Moses as a figure heralded by the ancient Jews shortly before he led the exodus from Egypt.

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Pentagon's Wasted $125 B; Hate Speech Pull; Augmented Peep; Drop, Shop, and Roll; Try This and Call Me in the Morning; Growing Clusters; Jacob's Sheep Return; Burqa Merkel; and Syrian Truce Vetoed

Government

Pentagon buries evidence of $125 billion in bureaucratic waste washingtonpost

Pentagon leaders had requested the study to help make their enormous back-office bureaucracy more efficient and reinvest any savings in combat power. But after the project documented far more wasteful spending than expected, senior defense officials moved swiftly to kill it by discrediting and suppressing the results.

Monday, December 5, 2016

Baptist Unity; Shanty Embassy; Philippines Split; Anti-EU Italy; Austria's Right; Russian Crash; Uber Buys into AI; and Emotional Car

Apostasy

British Baptists Issue Call For Unity Over Same-Sex Marriage christiantoday

An introduction on The Courage to be Baptist website says: "This Baptist way of being church allows us to maintain unity even when we disagree about certain issues. We believe this is a gift of God, allowing us to witness to our true unity in Christ even when we disagree about serious matters."

Friday, December 2, 2016

Thought Monitor; Gilead Balm; Cleansing in South Sudan; Gambia's Defeat; Fly Me to Moon; and the Gig Economy

Brain

Fast fMRI tracks brain activity during human thought for first time medicalxpress t

By significantly increasing the speed of functional MRI (fMRI), researchers funded by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) nibib.nih.gov have been able to image rapidly fluctuating brain activity during human thought. fMRI measures changes in blood oxygenation, which were previously thought to be too slow to detect the subtle neuronal activity associated with higher order brain functions. The new discovery that fast fMRI can detect rapid brain oscillations is a significant step towards realizing a central goal of neuroscience research: mapping the brain networks responsible for human cognitive functions such as perception, attention, and awareness.

...standard fMRI can only detect the blood flow coming to replenish an area of the brain several seconds after it has performed a function. It was generally accepted that this was the limit of what could be detected by fMRI—identification of a region in the brain that had responded to a large stimulus, such as a continuous 30 second "blast" of bright light.

Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Monday, November 28, 2016

Aleppo Crush; Castro Canadian Friend; Holocaust on Ice; Cashless Modi; Uncomfortable Abortion Reality; Computer Programmer; ALVINN; BosTonomy; Photon Converter; and Trash Man...IN SPAAAAAACE

Syria

Syrian forces make sweeping gains in eastern Aleppo cnn v

Government forces and armed paramilitary groups loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad began a renewed push toward eastern Aleppo on November 15, backed by airstrikes following a three-week lull.

Taking the city would mark a turning point in a civil war that has raged in Syria for more than five years.

Also see Syrian rebel forces in Aleppo suffer 'biggest defeat since 2012' theguardian

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Trump TV; Peace Grail; Conservative Hate; Twitter Over Censors; China's Facebook; Catching Poachers with Their Thermals on; and Google's AI Language

Politics

Welcome to Washington’s new normal: One Trump drama after another washingtonpost

Trump summoned two dozen television executives and news anchors to his offices Monday to berate them as dishonest and disobedient. He sought to strong-arm the British government to appoint his Brexit ally, Nigel Farage ukip.org, as ambassador to the United States. He dropped his threat to prosecute Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton, disregarding his “lock her up” campaign chant and incurring the wrath of some reliable supporters.

Then there was Tuesday’s meeting with the New York Times, the newspaper Trump loves to mock as “failing.” It was scheduled, then canceled, then rescheduled. And once the president-elect settled in at the Grey Lady’s wikipedia.org boardroom, he softened his position on climate change, floated the idea that his son-in-law could broker peace in the Middle East, voiced new doubts about the effectiveness of torturing terrorism suspects, savaged Republicans who wavered on his candidacy and left unresolved concerns about how — or even whether — he would disassociate himself from his global business holdings to avoid conflicts of interest.

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

19,000; Japan Deploys; Chemical Abuse; Lies to Murder; Cutting Bio-fuels; Robot Tongue; Molecular Dance; AI Blends

Economy

Dow eclipses 19,000 for first time in its 120-year history usatoday

After Monday’s record-breaking day, when the Dow Jones industrial average, large-company Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index, tech-dominated Nasdaq composite and the small-cap Russell 2000 all closed at record levels at the same time for the first time since Dec. 31, 1999, the Dow is making fresh headlines and will likely get a big shout out on the evening news.

Monday, November 21, 2016

Born Criminal; Frozen and Lost; Leader Angela; The Philippine Bow; NATO-Russian Missile Dance; Light AI; Electa-Aid; and Weather Chasing Satellite

Society

Troubling Study Says Artificial Intelligence Can Predict Who Will Be Criminals Based on Facial Features theintercept

The bankrupt attempt to infer moral qualities from physiology was a popular pursuit for millennia, particularly among those who wanted to justify the supremacy of one racial group over another. But phrenology britannica, which involved studying the cranium to determine someone’s character and intelligence, was debunked around the time of the Industrial Revolution, and few outside of the pseudo-scientific fringe would still claim that the shape of your mouth or size of your eyelids might predict whether you’ll become a rapist or thief.

Not so in the modern age of Artificial Intelligence, apparently: In a paper titled “Automated Inference on Criminality using Face Images,” two Shanghai Jiao Tong University sjtu.edu.cn researchers say they fed “facial images of 1,856 real persons” into computers and found “some discriminating structural features for predicting criminality, such as lip curvature, eye inner corner distance, and the so-called nose-mouth angle.” They conclude that “all four classifiers perform consistently well and produce evidence for the validity of automated face-induced inference on criminality, despite the historical controversy surrounding the topic.”

Friday, November 18, 2016

Withholding the Kingdom from Jews; Attempted Not Murder; Indiana Abortion Ban; Dead Raising Denied; Google's Pictionary; Predicting Selfie Death; BALLU; Backdoor Law; Subjectively Fake; The Stories Trump and Ford Tell; Weak and Fading Army; Linked Out; Lazering Mice; Iceless Coat; Rodent Screen Test; and Hard-Software

Apostasy

German Protestants officially renounce converting Jews to Christianity religionnews

“All efforts to convert Jews contradict our commitment to the faithfulness of God and the election of Israel,” the resolution read. That Christians see Jesus as their savior and Jews don’t is “a fact we leave up to God,” it said.

Actually, Paul was quite clear in Romans that there is one salvation for both Jews and Gentiles (ex: Romans 10:12), that none are saved outside of Christ, and he specifically discussed this issue of "what about the Jews" in multiple locations (including looking forward to a time when, through Christ, the future Jewish nation will be saved - ex: Romans 11:11-32). Additionally, in letters like Galatians, he went to great pains to warn believers from being deceived by "Judaizers" who were trying to add obeying the law as part of salvation and that attempts at obeying the law was actually a false gospel and really no gospel at all (ex: Galatians 1:6). He even recounts a rebuke he had for Peter for seperating from the Gentiles as if there was a special status for Jews in Christ (Galatians 2:11-21). There's far too much to cover in a quick mention like this, but suffice it to say that Jesus (a Jew speaking to Jews) said that He is the Way and no one gets to the Father but through Him (John 14:6). To say that Jews aren't to be evangelized is to not understand the Gospel.

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Edited Human; Finger Eye; AI Plays with Toys; Cyborg Society; Brain History; eKrona; Skylivery; Turkey's Descent; Russia's Navy in Action; High Bar; and Post-Truth

CRISPR

Chinese scientists use gene-editing techniques in humans for first time cnn

On October 28, genetically modified cells were injected into a patient at the West China Hospital in Chengdu with aggressive lung cancer, according to the scientific journal Nature.

Liao Zhilin, who handles communications for the team, told CNN "everything is going as planned," but would not go into details.

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Evil Jefferson; Choosing Real News; Argentina's Beavers; Big Fears in Texas; ISIS Fake Out; Repeat Nuclear Offender; Automated Car in the Wild; Shot Finder; Pill Bot; Speedy Electron Delivery; and ALie Detector

Society

University of Virginia professors: Stop quoting Thomas Jefferson washingtonexaminer

"Thomas Jefferson wrote to a friend that University of Virginia students 'are not of ordinary significance only: They are exactly the persons who are to succeed to the government of our country, and to rule its future enmities, its friendships and fortunes,'" Sullivan wrote, the Cavalier Daily reported. "I encourage today's U.Va. students to embrace that responsibility."

But this quotation of the father of the University of Virginia virginia.edu was too much for 469 faculty and students, who drafted a letter in protest.

Monday, November 14, 2016

Text OUUUUT; ISIS Humans; 3D Bullets Hurt Too; Chicken Mine; Falling Sky; and Measuring in No Time

Syria

Aleppo residents get warning by text message: You have 24 hours to leave cnn

Rebels were also given an ultimatum to lay down their arms and renounce their leadership, or be killed. The message was likely sent by the Syrian government as the regime is likely the only party capable of sending a mass text to the entire population.

Also see Battle for Aleppo: Deaths reported as Assad begins 'final onslaught' to recapture city from rebels independent.co.uk

Friday, November 11, 2016

Ad Sensibilities; Single Stuff; Unclean Squirrels; Ticklish Rats; Wild AI; and Identity Border

Society

Facebook to stop ads that target, exclude races usatoday

Facebook will also require advertisers to affirm that they will not place discriminatory ads on Facebook and will offer educational materials to help advertisers understand their obligations, Egan said.

Thursday, November 10, 2016

Raising Temple Hopes; Mount Lobby; Jewish Tipping Point; Going Dutch with Russia; The No Good Rupee; Taiwan Falls Next; 100 Transgender Salute; Password, Hackedword; Monkeys Walk Again; Removing Old Cells; Swarms of Satellites; and Fast Flier

Israel

Sanhedrin Asks Putin and Trump to Build Third Temple in Jerusalem breakingisraelnews

Rabbi Hillel Weiss, spokesman for the Sanhedrin jewishvirtuallibrary.org, contacted Breaking Israel News to announce that the election of Trump, who has promised to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, coupled with Putin’s expressed desire for the Temple to be rebuilt, prompted the Jewish court to send a letter offering the two the opportunity to act as modern-day Cyrus figures: non-Jewish kings who recognize the importance of Israel and the Temple.

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Coloradoan Death; Green Election; US Immigrants; Taking Ownership of History; Heart Fix; Bike Wash; Semi-less Chip; and Mystery Car

After 9 long years (or was it just a few months?) the U.S. presidential election has come to an end. I've made a concerted, deliberate effort since starting this blog to not post "news" about either candidate (too many lies, conspiracy theories, and fear mongering from all quarters), but that moratorium, too, is nearing an end :) Now that Trump has been given the presidency, he becomes as much fair game for bits of old news listed here as Obama, Putin, Xi, Duterte, Kim Jong Un, Merkel, and the rest of them. Should make for some interesting days ahead...

Society

Colorado Approves a ‘Right to Die’ for Terminally Ill Patients time

The state’s legislation is modeled after a similar law in Oregon, which became the first state to enact Death With Dignity legislation in 1997. Since then Washington, California and Vermont have passed similar laws while Montana’s courts have allowed the practice.

Also see Assisted suicide is now legal in Colorado theverge

Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Vote Attack; Marriage Punishment; Korean Concession; Possible, Impossible Engine; Sinked Japan; and Juno's Pattern

Syria

Russia to launch 'large-scale' airstrikes on Syria as Americans vote theguardian

The strikes, predicted in the 24 hours from Tuesday morning, would be targeted at the outskirts of the city where rebel groups have been seeking to break the Assad regime’s siege of opposition-held eastern districts. They would involve cruise missiles, carrier-based and land-based warplanes, the reports said.

Over the past few days, the Russian navy has assembled a sizable fleet in the eastern Mediterranean, made up of its only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, its biggest battle cruiser, the Peter the Great – both from its Northern Fleet, and the Admiral Grigorovich, a nuclear-powered missile frigate. There are also reported to be up to three submarines from the Northern Fleet with the Kuznetsov battle group, which are all positioned between Cyprus and the Syrian coast.

Monday, November 7, 2016

Watery Volcano; Colored Electrons; Magnetic Circuits; Asteroid Drill; 1950's Bomb; 20,000 Poorer; Police Eaves; Cracked Media; Pollution Day!; Berlin Wall 2; and 300k Alerted

Creation

Giant Volcano Appears to Be Filled With Water gizmodo

Investigating a strange electrical anomaly, geologists have discovered an enormous water reservoir beneath the now-dormant Uturunco volcano in the Bolivian Andes. It’s a remarkable find that speaks to the vast amounts of water stored in Earth’s deep interior, possibly since our planet was formed.

“It’s probably somewhere between Lake Superior and Lake Huron,” Jon Blundy, a geologist at the University of Bristol and co-author on the new discovery published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters, told New Scientist. “It’s a staggeringly large amount.”

Thursday, November 3, 2016

Nuclear War Rattle; China's Heavy Rocket; Goofy Mars; Light Hack; and Jacket Tent Bag

Russia

Russia holds large-scale nuclear war games washingtontimes

The unannounced war games were called strategic operation of nuclear forces and took place between Oct. 10 and Oct. 12 throughout Russia. The exercises appear to be the latest round of nuclear saber-rattling against the United States by President Vladimir Putin.

One official said the exercises, involving numerous launches of nuclear missiles, were gauged to be at levels that reached or exceeded the kind of Soviet strategic force exercises held during the Cold War.

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Throwing Israel to the UN; Peace Hold; J-20 Fly; German Extremist, Check; Holo Tank; Robots in the Loch; Piccolissimo; and Farm Cogs

Israel

Obama: Don't Destroy the Peace Process by Turning it Over to the U.N. gatestoneinstitute.org

The Obama Administration is sending strong signals that once the election is over it may make a major push to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the United Nations. Despite repeated invitations by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Palestinian Authority President Abbas to meet without preconditions, the stalemate persists. Some blame it on Palestinian unwillingness to recognize Israel as the nation state of the Jewish People and to compromise to the so-called "right of return." Others — including the current U.S. Administration — lay the blame largely at the feet of the Netanyahu government for continuing to build in the West Bank, most recently approval of between 98 and 300 new homes in Shiloh. Whatever the reasons – and they are complex and multifaceted — President Obama should resist any temptation, during his final weeks in office, to change longstanding American policy — that only direct negotiations between the parties will achieve a lasting peace.

Monday, October 31, 2016

Transcending on SCOTUS; Unreformed Pope; Genetic Reveal; Chief Failure; Duterte's Shoal Thing; UN or Occupy; and Unmarked Driverless Cars

Society

5 things to know: Transgender case lands in Supreme Court sfgate

Grimm was allowed to use the boys' restroom at his high school for several weeks in 2014. But after some parents complained, the Gloucester County School Board adopted a policy requiring students to use either the restroom that corresponds with their biological gender or a private, single-stall restroom. Grimm says that policy violates Title IX, a federal law that bars sex discrimination in schools.

Also see US Supreme Court agrees to hear student privacy case adflegal v

Thursday, October 27, 2016

Embracing the Sting; Death by Insurance; Sermons on their Mind; Balfour Repentance; and Seeing Again (One Day)

Suicide

The right to die on one’s own terms: At 94, sick, tired and living alone, ‘Dad got the death he wanted’ news.nationalpost

Richard Brown wanted to die. An elderly widower who lived by himself in the same Vancouver house that he’d owned for decades, he wasn’t terminally ill. He wasn’t immobile. He had coronary heart disease and he’d endured painful episodes of gout. He’d been in hospital frequently.

Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Lies Begetting Lies; The Racist Noose; Invoking God and Immigration Control; Russia's Texas-Sized Talk; Shrinking When Hot; and 3D Manufacturing Gallary

Depravity

Slippery slope: Study finds little lies lead to bigger ones sfgate

Neuroscientists at the University College London's Affective Brain Lab affectivebrain put 80 people in scenarios where they could repeatedly lie and get paid more based on the magnitude of their lies. They said they were the first to demonstrate empirically that people's lies grow bolder the more they fib.

The researchers then used brain scans to show that our mind's emotional hot spot — the amygdala — becomes desensitized or used to the growing dishonesty, according to a study published online Monday in the journal Nature Neuroscience .

While we take the (early, unverified) conclusions of physical changes in the brain with a grain of salt, the fact that ones conscience becomes desensitized (or hardened/seared) the more we intentionally sin is well attested to in the Bible. We sin naturally but the longer we do it, the "better" we get at suppressing the conscience's warning of our guilt. Just a couple examples include Ephesians 4:17-19 and 1 Timothy 4:1-3. Also consider the source of, and desire to, sin comes from the very core of who we are: Jeremiah 17:9. Finally, take to heart the dire warning of Christ of those who are known for lying (indeed, all who remain unrepentant until the end, with one possible fruit of an unrepentant heart being lying): Revelation 21:7-8

Saturday, October 22, 2016

Third Wall, Second Temple; Auctioning Slab of Commandments; Restricting Conservative Videos; Google DoubleClicks with You; The IOT Revolt; Doing Carter Wheels Around Biology; Fat Flyer; Traffic Smarts; Air Powered Drone; Colombia Skips Venezuela; Policing Loyalty; Birthright Bonanza; and Russia's Nuclear Tip

Archeaology

Evidence unearthed of Jerusalem’s protective ‘Third Wall’ from Second Temple period jpost

Compelling evidence from the breaching of Jerusalem’s so-called “third wall” – which was said to surround the capital during the Roman destruction of the Temple in 70 CE – may finally help to conclusively prove its existence.

The historian Josephus, a witness to the war, recorded numerous details about the third wall. In his telling, the wall was designed to protect the new quarter of the capital, then known as Beit Zeita, which extended beyond its boundaries, north of the two existing city walls.

Thursday, October 20, 2016

What Will Obama Do?; Aleppo Crush; Triple Down on Military; Philippines Talks Divorce; Another NK Fail; Ghost War Games; Toxic Springs; Hot Not-Dog; Getting Around Privacy; White Blight; Speak Freely or Graduate; Father Shakes Son's Arm; Air Fuel; ExoMars Phone Home; and Cloudy Pluto

Israel

Netanyahu tells settlers of worries of possible U.S. action at U.N. in.reuters

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday expressed concern that U.S. President Barack Obama, during the final days of his term in office, might take diplomatic steps that could harm the fate of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Obama's strong opposition to settlement building on land Palestinians seek for a future state has also raised speculation in Israel that he might try to define parameters for a final peace agreement that has eluded Israel and the Palestinians since interim deals were signed in the early 1990s.

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Hamas Seas Rocket; Taliban Peace; Norway Build Up; China's Inmate Organ; Jerusalem Lost; Patent Drive; Flying Alone; and Pet Luggage

Hamas

Hamas test-fires long-range rocket into sea off Gaza timesofisrael

The jihadist group regularly fires rockets as it works to improve its rocket range and accuracy, a little over two years after it last fought Israel ict.org. In June, it test-fired dozens of short-range rockets inside Gaza, with Israeli sources estimating that at least 30 projectiles were launched.

Monday’s test comes some 10 days after two projectile strikes in two days from Gaza on nearby Israeli population centers. The first attack — in which a rocket hit a street in the city of Sderot — caused some damage to nearby homes and cars, but no injuries. Three people were hospitalized for anxiety following the strike.

Monday, October 17, 2016

60 Cities Pass Depravity Test; Paris' Quieting March; Banking Against RT; NK Shoots and Fails Again; Energy Magnets; Fiber Inserts; Wrist Control; China's Space; and Heart Caring AI

Society

New survey finds more U.S. cities protecting LGBTQ rights in.reuters

Sixty U.S. cities earned perfect scores on a nationwide ranking of protections for LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) people, despite an array of anti-gay efforts by state governments, the Human Rights Campaign said on Monday.

Also see Human Rights Campaign Releases 5th Annual Municipal Equality Index hrc w!

Thousands March in Paris to Repeal Same-Sex Marriage Law nbcnews

About 24,000 people took part in the demonstration, police said, far fewer than the several hundreds of thousands the group "Demo for All" mobilized in 2012 and 2013 in an unexpectedly strong show of opposition from conservatives, especially Roman Catholics.

Saturday, October 15, 2016

The War-Crazy Gambit; Monitoring Russian Warships; Executive Ordering of the Universe; Determining Baby Gender Illegally; Slow Race; Laundry Folder; Learning With Fellow Robots; and Insert Picture, Find Face

Russia

Putin, Syria, and Why Moscow Has Gone War-Crazy newyorker

A viewer of Russian television this week could be forgiven for thinking that the end of the world was imminent, and that it would arrive in the form of grand superpower war with the United States, culminating in a suicidal exchange of nuclear weapons. On one day alone, three separate test firings of intercontinental ballistic missiles were broadcast on state media: two by submarine, one from a launch pad in the Far East. Last weekend, NTV, a channel under effective state control, aired a segment on emergency preparedness that included a tour of a Cold War-era bomb shelter, fortified in case of atomic war, and a mention of the municipal loudspeakers that will sound upon the arrival of “Hour X.” On Sunday, Dmitry Kiselev, the most bombastic and colorful of Kremlin propagandists, warned on his weekly newsmagazine show that “impudent behavior” toward Russia may have “nuclear” consequences.

This is a good read...

Thursday, October 13, 2016

CoverBoy; Sudan Persecution; Pope Advising Lutherans; Seedful; CRISPR Sickle; Instant Vaccines; Graphene Silk; AI Underground; Kill Jobs, Save the World; AI Traffic Cop; China Tops AI; Kobi, My Landscaper; Returning Fire; and Russia's Inflated Military

Society

Meet CoverGirl’s first-ever CoverBoy, James Charles usatoday v

CoverGirl ambassador Katy Perry took to Instagram to break the news that the beauty behemoth had signed the 17-year-old New York-based makeup artist. "Just wrapped another great CoverGirl shoot. Honored to have the pleasure to announce the very first CoverBoy, James Charles!" the pop artist captioned a photo of herself posing alongside Charles in all his contoured glory.

Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Closed Liberty; Church Bathrooms; Russia's Regress Begins; Aussies Block (ish) SSM; Drugged Out; Bio-Hacking at the Top; Censoring the Censors; Nod to Pay; Nano Transistor; Spacey Brain; Houthi in the Machine; and Drone Death

Society

Christian-owned bakery in Oregon closes after religious freedom fight results in steep fines christiandaily

On Sept. 29, the Christian-owned bakery Sweet Cakes thanked the people who prayed for and supported the business, but at the same time announced that the bakery has already closed. No explanation was provided on the Facebook statement, Catholic News Agency details.

According to Q13 Fox News, Sweet Cakes' storefront in Oregon has been closed since 2013. However, owners Aaron and Melissa Klein continued to operate their business from their home. Their legal representative Hiram Sasser explained that the bakery was closed "months ago" but the couple still received inquiries for possible orders, thus the Facebook announcement.

Monday, October 10, 2016

Thursday, October 6, 2016

Sloth Attack; Dead End; Mapping an Ancient Battle; Amazon's Minute of Human Interaction; The Spy Base Theory; Threats to Shoot; Afghan's Going AWOL; and Jailed Disturbing Inner Peace

Society

[OPINION] America’s ‘quiet catastrophe’: Millions of idle men washingtonpost

After 88 consecutive months of the economic expansion that began in June 2009, a smaller percentage of American males in the prime working years (ages 25 to 54) are working than were working near the end of the Great Depression illinois.edu in 1940, when the unemployment rate was above 14 percent. If the labor-force participation rate were as high today as it was as recently as 2000, nearly 10 million more Americans would have jobs.

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Yahoo, Watchin' You; Stalled Gender; Killing Wins the Day; Russia is Awesome!; 40 Million Prep for the Bomb; Aleppo is Not the End; Iraq Wants Turkey (Out); U.S. Blasts Israel; Tractoring Around; and Bees Dance Ahola

Privacy

Yahoo 'secretly monitored emails on behalf of the US government' theguardian

The company complied with a classified US government directive, scanning hundreds of millions of Yahoo Mail accounts at the behest of the National Security Agency (NSA nsa.gov) or FBI fbi.gov, two former employees and a third person who knew about the program told Reuters.

Some surveillance experts said this represents the first known case of a US internet company agreeing to a spy agency’s demand by searching all arriving messages, as opposed to examining stored messages or scanning a small number of accounts in real time.

Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Modern's Normalcy; Abolitionist Long Shot; Protesting to Kill; Climate Threshold Met; Burrito Air; Brain Complex; and 12k Suspended Officers

Society

'Modern Family' to feature transgender child actor usatoday

Wednesday's episode will feature transgender actor Jackson Millarker. The 8-year-old Atlanta native will play Tom, a friend of Lily (Aubrey Anderson-Emmons) who comes over for a playdate.

Monday, October 3, 2016

Unsustainably Expensive; Hamilton's Advice; Absorbing and Boiling; Blue Collar Robot; Toyota Baby; Deep and Powerful Learning; Look Ma: No Mans; Duterte is Sorry; Colombian Pieces; and Russia and US Agree to Hate Each Other

Medical

Minnesota Commissioner Slams Obamacare As "Unfair & Unsustainable" As Rates Soar zerohedge

Minnesota Commerce Commissioner Mike Rothman posted a letter mn.gov to the state's website saying that the state succeeded in preserving the exchanges for one more year by agreeing to massive rate hikes but warned they are on the "verge of collapse." The letter goes on to describe Minnesota's healthcare rate environment as "unsustainable and unfair" and notes that "middle-class Minnesotans" are being "crushed by the heavy burden of these costs."

Also see ObamaCare rates in MN skyrocket 60% to stave off “collapse” hotair

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Wells Fargo the First; Sanctioning Businesses; Duterte Goes Off the Defensive; Turkey Extension; Babi Yar; Hyper-elastic Bone; Only as Well as Your Tool; Working Bored; and Team AI

Banking

Wells Fargo’s Scandal Is a Harbinger of Doom time v

In the financial sector, scandal is the gift that keeps on giving. Publicly shamed by Senator Elizabeth Warren senate.gov after his bank opened as many as 2 million unauthorized accounts to goose profits, Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf, who had been reluctant to part with any of his own compensation following revelations of the scandal, has finally agreed to give up unvested equity worth about $41 million, and forgo his $2.8 million salary while the bank is being investigated. Warren called the act “a small step in the right direction, but nowhere near real accountability,” and said he should return every dime he’s made during the period where fraud was happening.

Also see California's Sanctions Against Wells Fargo theatlantic and Wells Fargo may not be the end: Clawbacks expected to become a bigger issue usatoday

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Forced Murder; Christi Cross; Colombian Peace; (Toy) Air Show; On Being Judge, Jury, and God; Born High; Roman Coins in Japan; Shrinking Mercury; SpaceX's Lucid Dream; Augmented Lowe's; Googling Everyone; Risk of Driving; Uber Awaaaay; Printing the Future; and Dr. Computer

Abortion

Forced abortion and euthanasia? creation

A group of ‘bioethicists’ have recently released a 10-point “consensus statement” that outlines how they think doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and other healthcare providers who conscientiously object to ‘medical’ procedures like abortion and euthanasia should be forced to believe in and practice them

Saturday, September 24, 2016

LAPD Etector; NLP, huh?; Doing the Robot; Need Brains; Bouncing Mars Rover; Old Bones; Whales Go Pro; Quartet Sings Same Tune; Syria Across the Border; and Biggest Eye Going Live

Crime

Experts to create predictive tool to tackle hate crime in Los Angeles phys.org

Over the next three years, the team will be closely scrutinising data taken from Twitter and cross-referencing this with reported hate crimes in Los Angeles to develop markers, or signatures, which could indicate if, and where, a hate crime is likely to take place at a certain point in time, and then enable police officers to intervene.

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

North Carolina Backs Down; Obama's Stump Speech; The Next Long Range Satellite; Heady Dog Test; Radioing Emotions; Cancer Anti-Virus; and Self-Driving Government

Society

North Carolina Governor Drops 'Bathroom Bill' Lawsuit Against U.S. npr.org

In court documents Friday, Gov. Pat McCrory cited "substantial costs to the State" as one reason for dropping his lawsuit against the federal government, writing that it did not serve the "interests of judicial economy and efficiency."

Monday, September 19, 2016

Obama and Netanyahu's Final Meeting; Syria Ceases Cease Fire; Merkel Admits It's Someones Fault; French Quarter for Sharia Law; Deported into Citizens; Tree Fuel; Lyft's Beyond; Self-Driven Canal; and The Blind Who 'See' Algebra

Israel

Obama And Netanyahu To Meet In New York On Wednesday jewishbusinessnews

The meeting was agreed upon following talks between the Prime Minister’s Office and the White House and was confirmed after the signing of the new US-Israel military aid package. It will be the first meeting between the two leaders since November 2015 and likely be the last as Obama approaches the conclusion of his presidency.

“The meeting also will be an opportunity to discuss the need for genuine advancement of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the face of deeply troubling trends on the ground,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.

Saturday, September 17, 2016

Entering Eternity; Unprepared UK; Right-To-Kill Kids; Activated Dome; Uber Fords Ahead; Self-Pushing; Methodist Border Exhibit; Show Us, Iran; and Plastic of Paris

Death

What It Feels Like to Die theatlantic

“Roughly from the last two weeks until the last breath, somewhere in that interval, people become too sick, or too drowsy, or too unconscious, to tell us what they’re experiencing,” says Margaret Campbell, a professor of nursing at Wayne State University wayne.edu who has worked in palliative care for decades. The way death is talked about tends to be based on what family, friends, and medical professionals see, rather than accounts of what dying actually feels like.

Friday, September 16, 2016

Planned Parenthood's 3%; Louisiana's PP Battle; Biblical Zoo is so Anti-Darwin; 20 More Climate Ouis; Another Typhoon; Soaked, Secretive NK; Syria, I Knew Her Well; Waiting On Line; Robot Deputy; AI Car Designer; Stem Cell Lungs; Printing Lenses; Common Rare Diseases; Satellite Tom; and Resurrected Fraud

Abortion

The Numbers That Show Planned Parenthood About Abortion, Not Women’s Health dailysignal v

Planned Parenthood’s own numbers prove that it’s an abortion corporation, focused on abortion, not on women’s health care. The fact is, Planned Parenthood doesn’t perform a single mammogram and performs less than 2 percent of all women’s cancer screenings in the United States. Yet, as America’s largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood commits over 30 percent of America’s abortions—887 abortions a day, one abortion every 97 seconds, and over 320,000 abortions last year alone.

Thursday, September 15, 2016

Drugged Out; The Mushroom Tolls for Thee; Embassies in Turkey Brace; The Replaceable 6%; Photographing Robofish; and Lasered to Death

Drugs

The Number of Workers Flunking Drug Tests Is at a 10-Year High fortune

Pulling data from more than 9.5 million urine, 900,000 oral fluid, and 200,000 hair laboratory-based tests that were performed by Quest questdiagnostics for employers in 2015, the study found that usage rates of amphetamines, marijuana, and heroin have all increased in the past five years in the general workforce.

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Israel the Enemy's Ally; Syria, Israel, and the Golan Heights; Iranian Threats; Enough in Wukan; Philippines Boot; Fly By Reply; Dry and Stressed; 5 Pounds of Plastic; Keeping Out Bible Believers; Pixelated, Uncensored Photos; Japan and the Droids; Shakespeare Monkey; and Ripping Apart Superbugs

Israel

[OPIONION] A historic moment may be looming on the horizon for Israel. jpost

Now...we hear a different tone in the Arab world. Egyptian leader Abdel Fattah Sisi has revealed that he talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “a lot.” Israel is evidently cooperating with Egypt in the battle against Islamic fundamentalists in the Sinai. In July Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry visited Israel and declared that Israelis are not guilty of terrorism in the region. In August Sisi said that relations with Israel were “important” to Egypt and declared Egypt wanted close security ties with Israel.

Friday, September 9, 2016

Intolerant Religious Code Words; Unprotecting >24 Week Babies; The No Homework Experiment; Hiroshima-Sized Test; Russia Shows Off in Crimea; Volvo Miner; and Riding a 3 Wheelie

Society

‘Religious freedom,’ ‘liberty’ just ‘code words’ for intolerance, U.S. Civil Rights chairman says washingtontimes

The remarks, released Thursday in a report on “Peaceful Coexistence: Reconciling Nondiscrimination Principles with Civil Liberties,” is the latest example of an increasingly hostile reception in liberal circles to one of the six specified rights at the core of the First Amendment — the “free exercise” of religion.

Thursday, September 8, 2016

Enemy of the State; Plan D(ie); Welcoming Evangelicals; Bad Hair Scene; Light Sound; Abbas the KGB Spy?; Father Russia Welcomes Peace Talks; Humanless Driverless Cars; Chosen for Alien Hunting Abilities; and 3D Printing Milk

Society

How A Cakemaker Became An Enemy Of The State thefederalist

...those 30 seconds [when Phillips declined to participate in celebrating the wedding of David Mullins and Charlie Craig] were clarifying in many other ways. It showed us that most of the media are incapable (or unwilling) to lay out the debate over religious freedom in an honest or enlightening way. It’s shown us that many of those who praise the diversity of American life have, in reality, lost their compassion and the ability to tolerate anyone who disagrees with their worldview.

Monday, September 5, 2016

Nixon Warts; Turkey's Visaless Promise; ICC Heads to Isreal; Printing Better Hands; Instant Avatar; RoboGlove; A Seal's Drone; Speedbot; and Philae's Grave

History

Two Decades after His Death, Richard Nixon Is Still Setting Precedents politico

Forty-two years after the 37th president resigned in disgrace, and 22 years after he died, there really is a “new Nixon” at last—a new Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, that is, with radically reimagined interactive exhibits telling the story of his life and presidency in the first comprehensive overhaul since it opened in 1990.

...library officials say the new exhibits will move beyond the blatant hagiography that characterized the old Nixon library...to tell history whole. That means a forthright look at Watergate, the bombing of Cambodia and other negative aspects of the Nixon legacy, amounting to an important victory for professional historians who have long battled the band of Nixon loyalists who built the library as a private institution.

Saturday, September 3, 2016

Chinese War Plans; Useless UN?; Obama and Xi Save the World; The Gay Bishop; Rising the Dead to Sainthood; Jupiter's Complex; and Cortana in the Fridge

War

Are We Ready for War With China? newsweek

China’s improved military capabilities, particularly for anti-access and area denial (A2AD), mean that the United States cannot count on gaining operational control, destroying China’s defenses and achieving decisive victory if a war occurred.

With that in mind, this report rand.org examines alternative paths that a war between the United States and China might take, losses and other effects on both sides, preparations that the United States should make and ways to balance U.S. war aims against costs should war occur.

Friday, September 2, 2016

Google, Am I Good?; End-Run BDS with Bonds; Fleeing BDS in LA; California's Sort Of Anti-BDS Law; Out on Bad Behavior; CA Plays Planned Parenthood Protector; Slave Recruit; Sinning Against Nature; 3D and Electrified Graphene; Quantum Computer Coming Soon; Creepy-Smart; Sanbot Service; Pizza Factory; AI Hope; and Sub Quiet

Depravity of Man

Am I a good person? You asked Google – here’s the answer theguardian w!

But before we even get to the question of what would make a good person, there is a basic difficulty with our inquiry: if we ask ourselves, the answer we get will probably be tainted with lies. Even when we know we have done wrong, our minds set at work to scrub the knowledge out. A rather elegant study recently published in PNAS showed that we have difficulties even forming memories of the times we have behaved unethically, and if they ever are formed, they disintegrate faster than other ones. And this is a truth that was known long before lab science, by anyone who studies human nature, from St Augustine to Jane Austen.

While clearly not holding to a biblical view point (and effectivly calling Jesus just another man and totally misunderstanding the point of Job), this is a good reminder that the problem with defining "good" is good by whose standard? God declared it's by His standard that we must be good, and said no one is good (Psalm 53:3, c.f. Romans 3:12). Jesus pointed to the Pharasees and said our righteousness must exceed those who were so about obeying laws that they even made up more laws to obey (Matt 5:20). No one is good, and certainly no one is perfect as God is and demands (Matt 5:48), but that's why Jesus had to live and die. To not only pay our fine in a legal sense through His death for our sin, but to also live righteously so that HIS righteousness could be credited to our account (2 Cor 5:21). There's only been one good man (Jesus - fully God, fully man), which is why there's only one way to be saved from the wrath of God! (John 3:36)

Thursday, September 1, 2016

5 Years Prior; Iranian-US Secrets; EU Draft; Bomb Riddled Vacation; Great Barrier to Reef; and Holocaust Depravity

Israel

UN test ban head: Israel should ratify [nuclear test ban] treaty within 5 years washingtontimes

“I’m putting five years as the longest it should take now based on the positive sign that I’m seeing from Israel,” said Zerbo, who met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the first time during a visit there in June.

Iran-US

U.S., others agreed 'secret' exemptions for Iran after nuclear deal - think tank in.reuters

The report pdf, which was released by the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security, is based on information provided by several officials of governments involved in the negotiations. The group's president David Albright, a former U.N. weapons inspector and co-author of the report, declined to identify the officials, and Reuters could not independently verify the report's assertions.

EU

Some E.U. countries got rid of the draft years ago. Now, they’re thinking about bringing it back. washingtonpost

In Europe, public opinion long appeared to develop similarly, as conscription was abandoned in France in 1996, followed by Italy, Sweden and Germany.

But more recently, many Europeans — especially those who are now too old to be drafted — have changed their minds on the issue. Following terrorist attacks last year, 80 percent of all French and 70 percent of Swedes said they would support a return of conscription.

Syria

The Syrian Ministry of Tourism Invites You to Enjoy a Lovely Vacation in Its War Zones foreignpolicy v

Mysteriously missing from the one-minute, 43-second video released by the Syrian Ministry of Tourism promoting vacation spots in the coastal town of Tartus [is d]amage from Islamic State suicide bombings that killed dozens in that very town this summer.

Environmental

A Huge Reef Hiding Right Behind the Great Barrier Reef atlasobscura

The existence of this reef has been known about for decades, but, up until recently, its exact scope and scale has never been truly known. But with the use of new laser mapping technology, the natural formations have become much more clear, and appear to be much grander than previously imagined.

Depravity of Man

Gruesome discovery in Germany raises questions about Holocaust-era experiments jpost

According to the report, the mostly brain and brain parts found in the building were remains from those murdered in Nazi human experiments, which were inhumanely conducted on prisoners including children, the mentally ill and people with disabilities during the Holocaust.

Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Facebook Knows; Only Kinda Criminalizing Free Speech; Gezer Palace; Blast Off Again; Egypt's Turkey Refugees; No Rule Robots; DNA Data Dreams; 'Junk' DNA Makes People Sick; Applying Eye-Contacts; and Making Of a Plague

Big Data

Liberal, Moderate or Conservative? See How Facebook Labels You nytimes

You may think you are discreet about your political views. But Facebook, the world’s largest social media network, has come up with its own determination of your political leanings, based on your activity on the site.

Society

Compromise Reached in Bill to Criminalize Undercover Filming at Abortion Facilities christiannews.net

Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez (D-Echo Park) proposed the measure earlier this year in light of the undercover videos released by the Center for Medical Progress exposing Planned Parenthood’s provision of baby bodily organs to procurement companies.

Archeology

King Solomon-era Palace Found in Biblical Gezer haaretz

The monumental building dates to the 10th century BCE, the era associated with King Solomon, who is famed for bringing wealth and stability to the newly-united kingdom of Israel and Judah. The American archaeological team also found a layer featuring Philistine pottery, lending credence to the biblical account of them living in the city until being vanquished by King David.

Space

SpaceX Signs First Customer for Launch of Refurbished Rocket wsj

Scheduled to occur before the end of the year, the mission announced on Tuesday will be the first one to use the lower stage and nine main engines of a Falcon 9 rocket that experienced the rigors of a blastoff and acceleration through the atmosphere on a previous launch. No other commercial space company or military contractor has achieved such a landmark by recovering and reusing the entire lower stage intact, after an initial orbital flight.

Egypt

Egypt blames EU-Turkey deal for refugee spike euobserver

"You see what has happened as a result of the deal with Turkey. The closing of the Balkan route and the deal in north Africa, the pressure has increased on Egypt," [foreign minister ambassador Hisham Badr] told MEPs in the European parliament's foreign affairs committee.

Robots

Researchers discover machines can learn by simply observing, without being told what to look for sheffield.ac.uk

The discovery, published in the journal Swarm Intelligence springer, takes inspiration from the work of pioneering computer scientist Alan Turing, who proposed a test, which a machine could pass if it behaved indistinguishably from a human. In this test, an interrogator exchanges messages with two players in a different room: one human, the other a machine.

AI

Kawasaki Developing Artificial Intelligence For Motorcycles motorcycle

The AI wouldn’t just allow a motorcycle to talk to a rider; Kawasaki kawasaki says the AI will use a technology called an “Emotion Engine” to interpret a rider’s emotions and perhaps even develop its own personality. Cue the “Knight Rider” theme now.

DNA

How DNA could store all the world’s data nature

“We sat down in the bar with napkins and biros,” says Goldman, and started scribbling ideas: “What would you have to do to make that work?” The researchers' biggest worry was that DNA synthesis and sequencing made mistakes as often as 1 in every 100 nucleotides. This would render large-scale data storage hopelessly unreliable — unless they could find a workable error-correction scheme. Could they encode bits into base pairs in a way that would allow them to detect and undo the mistakes? “Within the course of an evening,” says Goldman, “we knew that you could.”

Variation in 'junk' DNA leads to trouble medicalxpress

Although variants are scattered throughout the genome, scientists have largely ignored the stretches of repetitive genetic code once dismissively known as "junk" DNA in their search for differences that influence human health and disease.

A new study shows that variation in these overlooked repetitive regions may also affect human health. These regions can affect the stability of the genome and the proper function of the chromosomes that package genetic material, leading to an increased risk of cancer, birth defects and infertility. The results appear online in the journal Genome Research. genome.cshlp.org

Medical

Contacts May One Day Be Used to Deliver Glaucoma Medication drugs

The new study showed that the drug-dispensing lenses were able to effectively lower the eye pressure in monkeys with glaucoma at least as much as the standard eye drops used to treat the disease.

Reconstructing the 6th century plague from a victim scienmag

Before the infamous Black Death, the first great plague epidemic was the Justinian plague, which, over the course of two centuries, wiped out up to an estimated 50 million (15 percent) of the world's population throughout the Byzantine Empire—-and may have helped speed the decline of the eastern Roman Empire.

No one knows why it disappeared.

Other...

View smart nanotechnology glass is in 250 commercial buildings nextbigfuture v

Interesting, though this is mostly a commercial for the product...