Peace
Jimmy Carter to Obama: Before you leave office, recognize Palestinian state cnn
"I am convinced that the United States can still shape the future of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict before a change in presidents, but time is very short, " Carter wrote. "The simple but vital step this administration must take before its term expires on Jan. 20 is to grant American diplomatic recognition to the state of Palestine."
Also see Carter's Op-Ed piece: Jimmy Carter: America Must Recognize Palestine nytimes
Anti-Semitism
Does said threefold rise in German antisemitism signal a 'new era'? jpost
The UK Times reported that antisemitism in Germany has risen threefold in one year, citing data published by the German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung. According to the report, the German Justice Ministry revealed that there had been 2,083 cases of attacks on Jews, Jewish property and hate speech against Jews last year, in contrast with 691 in 2014.
Society
EPA: Gender Is ‘Male, Female, a Blend of Both, or Neither’ freebeacon
The Sexual Orientation Gender Identity (SOGI) pilot program allows EPA employees to voluntarily disclose their gender identity and sexual orientation, information that the agency says is “crucial” to an “inclusive” workplace.
Marine Corps ‘blazing a trail,’ ‘breaking new ground’ on transgender warriors washingtontimes
Lt. Gen. Mark Brilakis, deputy commandant for Marine Corps Manpower and Reserve Affairs marines.mil, signed a six-page document on transgender issues on Nov. 22. The Corps was the last branch of service to fulfill the Pentagon’s policy request, which will allow transgender recruits to serve by July 2017.
I find the name of this department ironic.
Cyborg
Extending the Sense of Touch blog.adafruit v
Adrian and Matt over at RepRap reprap.org decided to give themselves a sixth sense. They rapidly prototyped a solution that provides a way to feel their surroundings. They were inspired by the FeelSpace Project which is a belt that gently vibrates in front, back or to the sides based on a smartphone navigational app.
Medical
You could soon have 'biofabricated' human tissue 3D printed in your hospital digitaltrends
At least, that appears to be the future the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) qut.edu.au in Brisbane, Australia has in mind. The institution is in the process of constructing a “biofabrication” room meant for 3D-printing bone, cartilage and other human tissue as it is needed. Known as the Herston Biofabrication Institute, the goal of the ambitious new project, currently slated for a 2017 launch, will be to “advance knowledge and technology in 3D scanning, modeling, and printing of bone.”
While 3D printing has already proven useful in the medical field, we are still ways away from being able to print say, a heart that could then be used in a surgery. But that might change with the Institute — QUT Biofabrication and Tissue Morphology Group Associate Professor Mia Woodruff calls a 3D-printed organ the “end game” of the institute.
Research
MIT researchers discover amazing new property of water that could lead to ice filled wires tech.firstpost
Inside really confined spaces, such as carbon nanotubes, water freezes at temperatures where it would normally boil. The inner dimensions of these carbon nanotubes are not more than a few water molecules in diameter. Ice has unique electrical and thermal properties that can potentially lead to ice filled wires.
While the team has observed a solid ice like stage within the nanotubes, the researchers are hesitant to call it ice because they have not yet conclusively proved that the solid material has crystalline structures seen in ice. The “ice wires” have a potential to be the best conductive material for protons, because water conducts protons ten times more readily than conventional conductive materials. The research is being reported in the journal called Nature Nanotechnology.
Stanford engineers create prototype chip just three atoms thick news.stanford.edu
...a team led by Stanford electrical engineering stanford.edu Associate Professor Eric Pop has demonstrated how it might be possible to mass-produce...atomically thin materials and electronics. Why would this be useful? Because such thin materials would be transparent and flexible as well, in ways that would enable electronic devices that wouldn’t be possible to make with silicon.
Researchers come up with new approach to stabilize vaccines at room temperature news-medical.net
The study addressed viral-vector vaccines, the most common type of vaccine, which normally only last for a few days at room temperature. At that point, the viral components of the vaccines lose their structural integrity. "These components fluctuate by their very nature," Stellacci, head of SUNMIL - Constellium Chair. "They are combined in a stable form, and the low temperature maintains that balance. But the thermally induced fluctuations eventually lead to a loss of integrity of the viral vector." The scientists' approach, which consists of stabilizing the vaccines against such fluctuations through simple biocompatible additives, has delivered excellent results.
Finally, adding sucrose, a common sugar, to the vaccine makes the environment more viscous and slows down fluctuations. "It's a little like adding honey, where all motion is slowed down," says Stellacci. With this third approach, 85% of the vaccine's properties were intact after 70 days.
NASA experiments with X-ray networking techeye.net
The science is based on the concept that other forms of light can carry data as well. Fibre-optics uses visible and near-infrared light. So NASA started to think about X-rays.
A new toy called the Modulated X-ray Source, or MXS, which generates rapid-fire X-ray pulses. MXS is slated to get installed on an experimental pallet that will be deployed outside the International Space Station in 2018.
AI
This AI personal assistant took 3 years and millions to build — it completely fooled me businessinsider
Amy and I exchanged eight emails fixing up a date and then another five when Blomfield had to rearrange. Only then did I spot something odd in Amy's email signature: "Artificial intelligence for scheduling meetings."
Hundreds of thousands of people have used the system to date, Mortensen says, and millions and millions of emails have gone through the system. Masters estimates that using Amy saves him at least 3 hours of email admin a week.
Mastercard uses artificial intelligence for transaction approval computerweekly
The company has introduced Decision Intelligence, a service that uses artificial intelligence to learn from every transaction it monitors. Decision Intelligence will replace the systems that focus on risk assessment based on pre-defined rules.
“We are solving a major consumer pain point of being falsely declined when trying to make a purchase,” said Ajay Bhalla, president of enterprise risk and security at Mastercard. “By using AI technology on our global network, we’re helping financial institutions and merchants improve approval rates – and the consumer experience.”
Privacy
Surveillance bill described as 'death sentence for investigative journalism' becomes UK law pressgazette.co.uk
The Investigatory Powers Bill was yesterday condemned by Reporters Without Borders as something which is likely to push the UK further down its World Press Freedom Index rsf.org from number 38 out of 180 countries.
Also see UK Bill Requiring Firms to Store Web Histories Becomes Law abcnews
North Korea
UN Security Council Likely to Impose New DPRK Sanctions This Week voanews
Most significantly, if adopted, the resolution will target North Korea’s coal export industry, which according to global trade figures is expected to generate more than $1 billion in revenue this year -- much of it believed to be used to finance its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
Also see China says hopes for 'clear' message with new North Korea sanctions reuters
War
US military prepares for the next frontier: Space war cnn
China and Russia are taking aim at America in space with a dizzying array of weapons seemingly borrowed from science fiction. Russia has deployed what could be multiple kamikaze satellites such as "Kosmos 2499" -- designed to sidle up to American satellites and then, if ordered, disable or destroy them. China has launched the "Shiyan" -- equipped with a grappling arm that could snatch US satellites right out of orbit.
These are not experimental weapons of the future, but weapons of today, already operating from Near Earth Orbit, just 100 miles up and home of the International Space Station, to Medium Earth Orbit at 12,500 miles, where the GPS satellites fly, all the way up to 22,000 miles in Geostationary Orbit, home of the nation's most sensitive military communications and nuclear early-warning satellites.
Space
Saturn: ‘Grazing’ the Rings centauri-dreams.org
What the Jet Propulsion Laboratory refers to as ‘the first phase of the mission’s dramatic endgame’ begins tomorrow for the Cassini Saturn orbiter. Having given us an ocean within Enceladus and numerous images of Titan’s lakes and seas (not to mention ring imagery of spectacular beauty), Cassini now enters a phase in which it encounters the rings in a new way, diving past their outer edge every seven days in a series of 20 passes. The spacecraft will be in an elliptical orbit inclined some 60 degrees from the planet’s ring plane.
Creatures
Coconut crabs pack the world’s strongest grip pbs.org v
Scientists collected 29 coconut crabs and then had them clamp down on a bite-force measuring device. The largest crab in the bunch weighed 4.67 pounds and squeezed with the force of 1,765 Newtons. By comparison, a 143-pound human with proportional strength of this coconut crab could grip with a force of 6 tons.
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