Archaeology
Gate shrine from First Temple period unearthed at Tel Lachish National Park jpost
A rare gate shrine dating to the First Temple period (8th century BCE), unearthed in Tel Lachish National Park, near Mount Hebron, may prove King Hezekiah’s Biblically-recorded efforts to abolish worship in the region, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Wednesday.
Also see II Kings 18:1-8
Abortion
Poland moves a step closer to banning all abortions christiantoday
The lower house of the Polish Parliament overwhelmingly voted last Friday to move forward with the "Stop Abortion" bill, which if passed will impose a total ban on the killing of unborn children in Poland.
A total of 267 members of the Polish Parliament's lower house supported the bill on a nationwide abortion ban; 154 opposed it. The wide margin by which the proposed legislation was approved is seen as an indication that it has a good chance of being passed into law.
Society
World’s first baby born with new “3 parent” technique newscientist
The controversial technique, which allows parents with rare genetic mutations to have healthy babies, has only been legally approved in the UK. But the birth of the child, whose Jordanian parents were treated by a US-based team in Mexico, should fast-forward progress around the world, say embryologists.
A remaining concern is safety. Last time embryologists tried to create a baby using DNA from three people was in the 1990s, when they injected mitochondrial DNA from a donor into another woman’s egg, along with sperm from her partner. Two of the fetuses developed genetic disorders, and the technique was halted by the US Food and Drug Administration. The problem may have arisen from the fetuses having mitochondria from two sources.
Rewriting Earth's Creation Story theatlantic w!
“There is absolutely not a single scrap of observational evidence that requires [that our origin] scenario ever took place. We as a scientific community created an origin myth that has no more intellectual value than 1 Genesis,” Harrison says. “Although we’re very quick to criticize those that operate on faith, that’s exactly what we did.”
Swiss Parliament's Lower House Backs Ban on Face Veils voanews
Switzerland's lower house of parliament narrowly backed a ban on face veils Tuesday, echoing moves by neighboring France and other European nations to tighten controls in the wake of Islamist militant attacks.
The plan by right-wing politician Walter Wobmann, who led a successful campaign to outlaw new minarets in 2009, still has to pass through the upper house and the government before it becomes law.
Crime
Burbank police implement changes following survey indicating low morale in department latimes
A police-union administered survey that revealed low morale levels at the Burbank Police Department has prompted several changes at the agency, including the suspension of deployments based on "predictive policing” technology criticized by the rank-and-file but hailed by top cops as the future of crime-fighting.
Religious Liberty
Satanic Temple brings after-school club to Portland elementary school oregonlive
Finn Rezz, one of two heads of the chapter, said via email that the organization has been approved to begin their program, which focuses "on science and rational thinking," on Oct. 19 at Sacramento Elementary School.
This is an update on this story.
Censorship
Lawmakers Scramble to Stop Obama’s Internet Surrender lifezette
Congressional Republicans, led by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, are working to add a rider to a must-pass spending bill that will stave off the Obama administration’s scheduled transfer of government oversight over crucial internet functions to a multinational private organization.
Government
Congress overrides Obama’s veto of 9/11 bill washingtonpost
The votes in the House and Senate amounted to a sweeping, bipartisan rejection of the White House’s argument that the legislation poses a national security threat because it could expose U.S. officials to similar lawsuits abroad.
Traveling aboard Air Force One Wednesday, White House press secretary Josh Earnest called the vote “the single most embarrassing thing the United States Senate has done possibly since 1983,” when Congress overwhelmingly voted to override President Reagan’s veto of an Oregon land transfer bill.
North Korea
U.S. to deploy anti-missile system in South Korea 'as soon as possible' in.reuters
Daniel Russel, assistant secretary of state for East Asia, also told a congressional hearing the United States was in discussions with international partners, including the European Union, to deny North Korea access to international banking infrastructure after its recent nuclear and missile tests.
Also see US looks to accelerate deployment of SKorea missile defense sfgate
Space
Dream Chaser Space Plane to Fly United Nations Mission in 2021 space v
The 2021 mission is targeted primarily at developing nations, but any U.N. member states can apply to put a payload on board. Nations whose experiments are chosen will be asked to foot part of the mission's total bill, though poorer countries will likely receive a price break, Sierra Nevada representatives said. UNOOSA and Sierra Nevada are also looking for sponsors to help fund the mission.
AI
Google says its new AI-powered translation tool scores nearly identically to human translators quartz
The new method, called Google Machine Neural Translation, cuts down errors by 80% compared to its current algorithm, and is nearly indistinguishable from human translation on standardized tests, the company said.
In tests where human and machine translated text is compared side by side, Google Translate previously ranked at 3.6 of 6 at Spanish to English, with 6 being a perfect translation. Humans generally rank at 5.1, and Google’s new method hits 5.0.
Tech
Too lazy to queue? Nissan's robotic chairs are replacing lines in Japan telegraph.co.uk v
It uses the same technology in the Nissan Serena minivan, a semi-autonomous vehicle, that helps the car stay in the middle of a lane and maintain a safe distance from the vehicle in front. Nissan described these two functions as the "most tiring and repetitive aspects of driving in heavy highway traffic".
At the beginning of the year, before publically sharing links, I had distributed an earlier/office version of this chair which, IMHO, was a far better use than sitting in line: INTELLIGENT PARKING CHAIR v.
Paralyzed from neck down, former Indy racer drives again thanks to technology sacbee v
Former Indy Racing League driver Sam Schmidt has done a lot in the 16 years since an accident left him paralyzed from the neck down. He runs a racing team and a foundation. He’s raced a sailboat using his chin. But the man who raced in the Indianapolis 500 indianapolismotorspeedway hasn’t been able to drive around his neighborhood – until now.
Other...
No comments :
Post a Comment