Peace
If occupation ends, so will terror worldwide, Abbas tells EU timesofisrael
“We are against terrorism, in whatever form it may take, and whoever carries it out,” Abbas told members of the European Parliament to a resounding applause. “Once the occupation ends, terrorism will disappear, there will be no more terrorism in the Middle East, or anywhere else in the world,” he said.
See also EU to Back Mideast Peace With 'Unprecedented' Support
Russia
Russia seen putting new nuclear-capable missiles along NATO border by 2019 reuters
That would fuel what is already the worst standoff between Russia and the West since the Cold War and put a swathe of territory in NATO members Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia in the cross-hairs.
Russia would probably have deployed the missile -- called the Iskander, the Persian name for Alexander the Great -- in Kaliningrad regardless, and the targets it will cover can be struck by longer-range Russian missiles anyway. But Russian and Western experts say the U.S.-backed shield, which Moscow says is aimed at blunting its own nuclear capabilities, gives the Kremlin the political cover it needs to justify something it was planning all along.
Nato can't protect Baltics from Russia, says US general telegraph.co.uk
Lt-Gen Frederick “Ben” Hodges, commander of the US army in Europe, said Russia could capture the capitals of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia in as little as 36 hours. “Russia could conquer the Baltic states quicker than we could get there to defend them,” Gen Hodges said.
Russia to declassify US military satellites pravdareport v
The initiative was backed by China, and opposed by the US. As Mr Shilin said, 'the Americans don't have to worry about declassification of orbital data of their military spacecraft - it will happen in any case'.
Economy
Puerto Rico Governor Says Shutdown Won’t Prevent July 1 Default bloomberg
Puerto Rico owes $805 million on its general-obligations, which the island’s constitution stipulates must be paid before other expenses, on July 1. Including its agencies, the island faces a $2 billion principal and interest payment. Even limiting government operations won’t free up cash to pay creditors, the governor said.
Does capitalism need some Marxism to survive the Fourth Industrial Revolution? medium w!
This is a recurring theme for the World Economic Forum, whose founder Professor Klaus Schwab made the term the title of his new book about the future capitalism. Schwab believes that, unmanaged, the Fourth Industrial Revolution has the potential to decimate global employment levels through productivity advances inspired by breakthroughs in robotics. Unlike the previous three industrial revolutions — which the professor lists as the transport and mechanical production revolution of the late 18th century; the mass production revolution of the late 19th century; and the computer revolution of the 1960s — Schwab endows the fourth wave of creative disruption with the potential of seeing off mass employment altogether.
Society
HHS Rejects Catholic Universities' "Right of Conscience" Complaints thenewamerican
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced on Wednesday that Catholic schools must provide health insurance to its employees that cover abortions. HHS’ decision to reject a challenge from a group of Catholic schools is based on California state law, which indicates that insurance coverage must cover all “medically necessary” procedures, a category to which the state contends abortion belongs.
BTW, here's what appears to be the wording of relevant section (found on multiple documents - Member Handbook - Health Net, is quoted):
A “covered benefit” means that you can get this service through Medi-Cal and our plan. “Medically Necessary” refers to all Covered Services that are reasonable and necessary to protect life, prevent significant illness or significant Disability, or to alleviate severe pain through the Diagnosis or treatment of disease, illness or injury.
Medical Research
First human CRISPR trial given go-ahead: your questions answered newscientist
The CRISPR gene editing revolution is happening even faster than we expected. Many thought human trials of therapies using the technique were still years away. But yesterday, a US federal committee gave its nod of approval – meaning the first trial could start later this year. The therapy is designed to treat cancer but the main purpose of this first trial is safety. If it succeeds, it will encourage many other groups to start testing treatments that involve CRISPR.
Contagious Cancers Are Spreading Among Several Species of Shellfish, Study Finds newswise v
In each species, the researchers discovered that the cancers were caused by independent clones of cancer cells that were genetically distinct from their hosts. They also found that in one species, the carpet shell clam, the infectious cancer cells came from a related but distinct species. The researchers concluded that this cancer was due to a case of cross-species transmission.
THIS NASA-BACKED STARTUP IS BUILDING A 3D BIOPRINTER THAT MAKES HUMAN ORGANS IN SPACE digitaltrends
“3D printers aren’t good at printing gaps,” Boland continues. “They’re good at solid things, not hollow things. That makes it very difficult to print a heart in an environment like Earth where you have gravity, because the organ collapses in on itself. But if you go to space and take gravity out of the equation, you don’t have those same problems. It makes the possibility of this kind of bioprinting more feasible.
AI
The Navy Is Teaching Robots Human Ethics vocativ
The United States Navy thinks the best way to prevent robots from killing all of us might be to teach them some manners with the help of video games. That’s the plan behind the Quixote project, a collaboration between the Office of Naval Research and a research team at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Quixote is artificial intelligence software that teaches robots how to act in accordance with human ethics and norms.
What's interesting about this approach to teach machines "morals" is the focus on the "self" of the machine (basically the human equivilent of "What's in it for me if I behave?"). There's an obvious irony in this as we were created in the (morally) good image of God, then rebelled against Him and have since tried to decide what's moral based on our own selfish desires, and now are trying to make machines in OUR (morally) corrupt image. Also see Google's AI Safety Rules Are Way More Boring Than Asimov's
Robotics
Boston Dynamics' new robot goes full Buster Keaton cnet v
The new "dog" is shown navigating a household, ducking under tables, helping with the dishes and kind-of hilariously coming off second best against a banana peel.
Bible
Ken Ham talks size, meaning of Ark Encounter cincinnati
Other...
No comments :
Post a Comment