Society
LGBTQ Advocates Seek to Label Conservative Opponents as Hate Groups reuters
The Eliminate Hate Campaign seeks to draw attention to groups it sees as extreme and hateful against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, accusing them of hiding behind ostensibly Christian or family values.
Israel
Israel has mass evacuation plan in works should war erupt nydailynews
Israel is drawing up contingency plans to evacuate up to a quarter-million civilians from border communities to protect them from attacks from Hamas, Hezbollah or other Islamic militant groups.
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.
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.
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.
Israel
Backing French peace push, EU ministers add carrots to sweeten deal timesofisrael
“The EU is determined, alongside other international and regional partners, to bring a concrete and substantial contribution to a global set of incentives for the parties to make peace with a view to an international conference planned to be held before the end of the year,” the foreign ministers said in a statement.
AI
Preparing for the Future of Artificial Intelligence whitehouse.gov
...the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy is excited to announce that we will be co-hosting four public workshops over the coming months on topics in AI to spur public dialogue on artificial intelligence and machine learning and identify challenges and opportunities related to this emerging technology.
Drones
UK Royal Navy uses pilotless aircraft to navigate through ice vesselfinder v
The UK Royal Navy’s ice patrol ship HMS Protector has launched tiny pilotless aircraft from her decks for the first time to assist with navigating through the Antarctic. A quadcopter and a 3D-printed aircraft have scouted the way for the survey ship so she can find her way through the thick ice of frozen seas.
Abortion
Study: When tests detect birth defects, babies can still be born healthy worldmag
Researchers at the University of Cambridge, who published their results in the journal Nature Communications, found even when half the cells of an early-stage mouse embryo were abnormal, the embryo was still able to fully repair itself because the abnormal cells self-destructed and healthy cells replaced them. In many cases, the process completely repaired a defective embryo, leaving it with all healthy cells even though some of the placental cells were still abnormal. Even in cases where 75 percent of an early-stage embryo’s cells were abnormal, the ratio of normal cells increased as the embryo developed.
Archeaology
Palestinian Christians bitter over destruction of church ruins in Gaza jpost
Palestine Christians on Wednesday expressed anger over the way the Palestinian Authority and Hamas have handled the ancient ruins of a Byzantine church that were uncovered in Gaza City last week.
See also Builders find remnants from Byzantine period in Gaza
Islamic State nets millions selling plundered antiquities online smh.au
According to Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, IS is making up to $265 million a year by smuggling and selling looted jewellery, coins and other precious archaeological items through auction sites and specialist online stores.
North Korea
Thirteen North Korean restaurant workers defect to South Korea theguardian
Jeong claimed it was unprecedented for so many people to have defected from the same North Korean restaurant abroad. It is also unusual for South Korea to make a formal announcement about defections, or to even comment on them. Jeong said the government decided to go public about the arrivals because of the unusual nature of the defections.
Cashless Society
Fingerprints to be tested as ‘currency’ the-japan-news
Starting this summer, the [Japanese] government will test a system in which foreign tourists will be able to verify their identities and buy things at stores using only their fingerprints.
False Religion
Pope to church: Be more accepting of divorced Catholics, gays and lesbians cnn
"By thinking that everything is black and white, we sometimes close off the way of grace and growth," he writes.
Self-Driving Cars
Toyota Joins the Race for Self-Driving Cars with an Invisible Copilot technologyreview
Toyota’s researchers are developing what they call a “guardian angel” system that will automatically take control of a vehicle, or subtly adjust a driver’s actions, in order to avert danger. In contrast to other companies working on self-driving vehicles, the Japanese carmaker sees combining machine and human driving as a key step toward full autonomy.
Robots
THE WORLD'S FIRST ROBOTIC KITCHEN moley
Moley has created the world's first robotic kitchen. Featuring an advanced, fully functional robot integrated into a beautifully designed, professional kitchen, it cooks with the skill and flair of a master chef. The prototype was premiered to widespread acclaim at Hanover Messe, the international robotics show.
Includes fascinating video.
Alphabet’s secretive Schaft Inc. shows off new bipedal robot in Tokyo techcrunch
There’s a new bot in town (Tokyo, specifically), and while it might not be as cute as Nao, as creepy as Spot and BigDog or as anthropomorphic as Atlas, it might be more practical than all of them. It walks on two legs, but not like a man, or even a bear. This one, designed by Alphabet-owned Schaft Inc., has its own uniquely robotic form of locomotion.
Includes a video. A step in the direction of more functional and less creepy robot :)
Genetics
Chinese Researchers Experiment with Making HIV-Proof Embryos technologyreview
Chinese fertility doctors have tried to make HIV-proof human embryos, but the experiments ended in a bust. The new report is the second time researchers in China revealed that they had a go at making genetically modified human embryos.
Space Tech
SpaceX just made history and landed a rocket on a ship techinsider.io
But the huge, history-making moment — causing everyone at SpaceX to lose their minds in a roar of applause during a live webcast — was when the company landed a rocket on a ship at sea.
Society
Excitement in China as Google, Instagram jump Great Firewall – for just two hours washingtonpost
It was a brief moment of excitement and freedom, swiftly crushed.
A good reminder of the freedom we haven't yet lost.
Looming Tie Leads to Rare Move from SCOTUS (Little Sisters) nbcnews
In a highly unusual move that could be designed to head off a 4-4 tie, the U.S. Supreme Court today asked new questions in one of the term's most contentious cases — the contraceptive requirements of Obamacare.
N.C. attorney general refuses to defend ‘bathroom bill’ in court washingtontimes
North Carolina’s attorney general said Tuesday he will not defend the state’s “bathroom bill” in court after several pro-LGBT groups filed a lawsuit challenging the legislation’s constitutionality.
Sigh. See "the list" of those leaning with disgust on NC: More than 80 Major CEOs, Business Leaders Demand North Carolina Repeal Discriminatory Law
ISLAMOPHOBIA testkitchen.huffingtonpost
It might be impossible to create a comprehensive list of discriminatory acts against American Muslims and those perceived to be Muslim, but The Huffington Post will document this deplorable wave of hate for all of 2016 using news reports and firsthand accounts. The breadth and severity of Islamophobia in America can no longer go unnoticed. Enough is enough.
Huffington Post (a site I rarely link) has taken on the task of being the defenders of Islam. Like a watchdog for anything anti-Islam ranging from true hate to conservative Christians talking about hope in Christ. The Poverty Law Center must be proud.
Genetics
If We Don’t Own Our Genes, What Protects Study Subjects In Genetic Research? iflscience
President Obama remarked “I would like to think that if somebody does a test on me or my genes, that that’s mine.”
Lots of people would make that same assumption – it seems sensible that we would each “own” our genetic information. But the legal reality is quite different. And that could turn out to be a problem, because research projects like the Precision Medicine Initiative rely on research participants trusting that their information is protected once they agree to share it.
Also see The Precision Medicine Initiative Cohort Program
Israel
Report: ISIS planning 'imminent' attacks on Jewish children in Turkey jpost
Islamic State terrorists had reportedly "advanced plans" to murder Jewish children in attacks aimed at educational and youth institutions in Turkey, according to Britain's Sky News on Monday.
Temple Institute Inaugurates Registry of Biblically Eligible Kohanim jewishpress
The Temple Institute has announced a bold new initiative to identify, select and register kohanim-priests who would be eligible to participate in the process of preparing the Red Heifer, which is used in the ritual of purifying Jews from the tuma-impurity of the dead.
Banking
Bank of England to Raise Bank Capital Buffer as Safeguard nytimes
Lenders in Britain would be required to set aside the equivalent of 0.5 percent of their assets as weighted by risk by March 29, 2017, the central bank’s Financial Policy Committee said on Tuesday.
Also Bank of England warns on Brexit, tightens buy-to-let mortgages with video
This is the apocalyptic scenario Britain's biggest banks have to face in the Bank of England's latest stress test businessinsider
The test will be the third run by the Bank of England, and is used as a measure of how well Britain's banks would be able to cope should the world suffer a major economic shock in the coming year.
AI
McCann Japan hires first artificially intelligent creative director thedrum
The AI has been built to respond to a product or message with the optimal commercial direction, based off historical data. The AI has also been built to then learn from the results of the campaigns its directed, in theory creating an increasingly more effective AI creative director.
Tech
Nano Dimension files patent for 3D printed shielded conductors in PCBs 3ders
Since its inception in 2012, Israeli 3D printing company Nano Dimension has risen to the top of its field; namely, the development of 3D inkjet, 3D software, and nanomaterials. Just last week, the company announced a partnership with FATHOM to bring the Nano Dimension Dragonfly 2020 3D printer to Silicon Valley and surrounding areas, and the company has now signalled its intention to develop further innovative solutions for its 3D printed PCBs, both locally and internationally.
Brain Tech
IBM delivers a piece of its brain-inspired supercomputer to Livermore national lab 3ders
The TrueNorth chip itself has more than 5.4 billion transistors, about as many as a state-of-the-art conventional silicon chip today. But this chip’s transistors are configured as a million neurons, or the equivalent of brain cells, and 256 million synapses, or connections. It consumes only about 70 milliwatts of power, or the equivalent of a hearing-aid battery. That’s an order of magnitude better than other solutions, said Dharmendra S. Modha, an IBM fellow and chief scientist of brain-inspired computing at the IBM Almaden Research Center in San Jose, Calif., in an interview with VentureBeat. The Livermore project is an important test of a new computer architecture that could be used in everything from single-chip computers to systems with thousands of chips.
Japan
Japan approves record-high budget, focusing on defense, economic recovery usatoday
The Japanese government approved a record defense budget Tuesday as new laws went into effect, easing restraints on Japan’s military and permitting Japanese troops to defend the United States for the first time since World War II.
Also Security legislation takes effect
Space
Mystery object crashes into Jupiter nypost
Something slammed into Jupiter last week, leaving amateurs and experts alike coming up with their own big bang theories.
Includes blurry, shaky videos :)
NASA’s new inflatable space home cnbc
It looks like a giant pillow, but is meant to be a home away from home for astronauts in space.
With animation of how it'll work...maybe
End of the World
5 Dates the World Was Supposed to End smosh
For as long as mankind's been around, humans have been predicting exactly when we’re all going to die. The “Millennium Apocalypse” panic had many convinced the Earth would end on January 1, 1000, perhaps due to Y1K stone tablet glitches. London astrologers (note, NOT astronomers) predicted a worldwide flood for February 1, 1524, causing many English to head off to higher pubs. And we all remember how the planet ceased to be on December 21, 2012, according to the Mayan Apocalypse at the end of the 13th b’ak’tun, either due to an asteroid, alien invasion, supernova, or failure to renew our planet license.
A reminder that only the Father knows the day and hour when the world will end:
“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. “For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. “For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be. (Matt 24:36-39 NASB, c.f. Mark 13:24-32)
Other...
Motorized Papasan Chair is the Most Comfortable Form of Transportation Around industrytap
