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."
Research
Motherless babies possible as scientists create live offspring without need for female egg telegraph.co.uk
The landmark experiment by the University of Bath bath.ac.uk rewrites 200 years of biology teaching and could pave the way for a baby to be born from the DNA of two men.
A little sensationalized as it's more "maybe" than "possible", but a step in a scary direction.
Syria
REBELS, CIVILIANS LEAVE TOWN AFTER FOUR-YEAR SIEGE hosted.ap.org
Following the deal struck late Thursday, Daraya's rebels began evacuating in government buses on Friday, a process expected to take several days. Around 700 gunmen are to be allowed safe passage to the opposition-held northern province of Idlib, while some 4,000 civilians will be taken to temporary shelter in government-controlled Kisweh, south of Daraya.
Also see Daraya Evacuation Deal Hands Syria's Assad a Strategic Win nbcnews
Minimum Wage
Minimum wage goes up in City of LA, unincorporated areas of LA County asianjournal
The minimum wage in the City of Los Angeles and unincorporated areas of LA County is now $10.50 an hour. The city and county join the District of Columbia and 12 other cities, states and counties that boosted the hourly pay rates on Friday, July 1.
If they keep this up, soon I'll be making minimum wage :)
AI
IBM’s AI system Watson just edited an entire magazine all on its own digitaltrends
According to a press release published via The Drum, the magazine edited by Watson consists of a variety of features that cover Watson’s different analytical functions, as well as how it can assist modern-day marketers. Moreover, The Drum reports that Watson has also been programmed to have the ability to answer a series of questions pertaining to “advertising legend” David Olgivy. and has even predicted a list of winners for this year’s Cannes Lions awards.
North Korea
Kim Jong Un says North Korea won’t use nukes first usatoday
Kim warned the U.S. to stay out of Korean affairs but offered to enter talks with South Korea aimed at easing tensions on the peninsula. "As a responsible nuclear weapons state, our republic will not use a nuclear weapon unless its sovereignty is encroached upon by any aggressive hostile forces with nukes," Kim told the Workers' Party of Korea congress in Pyongyang. Kim added that the North "will faithfully fulfill its obligation for non-proliferation and strive for the global denuclearization."
Death
Dead could be brought 'back to life' in groundbreaking project telegraph.co.uk
A biotech company in the US has been granted ethical permission to recruit 20 patients who have been declared clinically dead from a traumatic brain injury, to test whether parts of their central nervous system can be brought back to life.
Life
Bright flash of light marks incredible moment life begins when sperm meets egg telegraph.co.uk v
An explosion of tiny sparks erupts from the egg at the exact moment of conception.
Drones
The Hover Camera will follow you around and record your entire life mashable v
The Hover Camera is also unlike drones in that it truly hovers after powering it on. You simply let go of it and it'll hover in the air at the altitude (up to 164 feet high) which you let it go at
Personal, small flying drones that can pick indivduals out of a crowd, follow them, and record what they are doing. What could go wrong? For a fuller story on the company, itself, see Zero Zero's Camera Drone Could Be a Robot Command Center in the Future v
Bacteria
HOW BACTERIA CREATE THEIR OWN ICE popsci
Analyses...revealed that [it] uses proteins in its cell membrane to slightly change the position of nearby water molecules so that they would fit more neatly into a lattice, as they are in ice. The bacterium can then use vibrational energy to remove heat from the area around it, coalescing the water molecules into solid ice.
Future Tech
Mind-controlled drones race to the future businessinsider
"Three, two, one ... GO!" the announcer hollers, and as the racers fix their thoughts on pushing the cubes, the drones suddenly whir, rise and buzz through the air. Some struggle to move even a few feet, while others zip confidently across the finish line.
Military
Arms Control Groups Urge Human Control of Robot Weaponry nytimes
The report, which came from Human Rights Watch and the Harvard Law School International Human Rights Clinic at the opening of a weeklong United Nations meeting on autonomous weapons in Geneva, potentially challenges an emerging United States military strategy that will count on technology advantages and increasingly depend on weapons systems that blend humans and machines.
The report from Human Rights Watch. Yes, that Human Rights Group. While I'm not keen on the idea of autonomous weapons roming the streets/skies, the argument in this report is a humanistic one with a loose appeal to the 'h'oly See for some moral guidance.
Society
Six Reasons North Carolina Got It Right townhall
On Monday Lt. Governor Dan Forest, who helped call the special session to pass HB2, called the executive in charge at one large protesting company and simply asked if him if he or anyone there had a actually read the bill.
He admitted they had not. They just labeled it “discriminatory” without even reading it.
An article linked to by today's Tim Challies update. Been tricky to find anyone not bashing North Carolina over this law.
3 Reasons Why Religious Liberty Laws Don’t Discriminate thegospelcoalition.org
One of the most ubiquitous phrases is that such bills are a “license to discriminate.” According to this line of thinking, it is invidiously discriminatory if a baker, florist, or photographer declines to use his or her creative talents in service of a same-sex wedding ceremony.
Two from Tim Challies in one day!
The New Morality of Pope Francis newyorker
I was ordained in early 1969, a few months after the promulgation of “Humanae Vitae,” the Vatican’s resounding condemnation of “artificial birth control,” which would define my future. I was a chaplain at a university where, true to the era, the norms of sexual morality had been upended. I certainly saw the need, in those wild days, for a humane and ethical analysis of the state of sexual intimacy, personal commitment, erotic longing, and gender rights. But, believe me, the triumphalist salvo from Rome made the moral condition worse, not better.
An opinion piece on how relative moralism was enshrined in Catholism long before Pope Francis. This article's author sees that as a good thing, and is praising the latest pope for pulling back further from absolutes. I found it worth reading, seeing the insights of one who is lost and deep within an idolatrous system where the issue at stake is not whether or not any decisions conform to God's word, but the words of the popes. Interesting read: sad because of the utter blindness of this man and enraging because of the utter joy taken in promoting a system wickedly at odds with God and calling it good. (Rom 1:32)
Depravity
The Troubled Minds of the Rich and Famous news.nationalgeographic
Talking from her home in Alexandria, Virginia, Kalb takes us inside the brain of Fyodor Dostoyevsky, explains how Howard Hughes had a grilled cheese sandwich problem, and why Charles Darwin is her hero.
Sin has affected how we think and relate and understand (known as the Noetic Effect of sin). This means that people really do end up a mess even by man's noeticly-effected-standard, but when we look for an answer in psychology, as the author of this book is doing, we are missing that we, ourselves, are corrupted and looking for the out for our own responsibility! This look at those in history shows us that being well-known doesn't change our nature. Not even one bit.
Singularitry
The funny things happening on the way to singularity techcrunch
About 10 years ago, inventor, futurist and now Director of Engineering at Google Ray Kurzweil famously embraced the concept of “the singularity” — that moment in time when machine intelligence surpasses our own. Kurzweil predicted the singularity would occur by 2045, and man and machine would become inseparable.
Given the relationship most people have with their smartphones, you could argue it’s already happening.
Though deeply entrenched in a humanistic worldview, an engaging read.
Turkey
One day after Israel issues travel warning to Turkey, US follows suit jpost
"The US Mission in Turkey would like to inform US citizens that there are credible threats to tourist areas, in particular to public squares and docks in Istanbul and Antalya," the statements reads.
Military
Louisiana woman makes U.S. Army history ksla
A Robeline native is making armed forces history as the first woman to enlist in the infantry in the United States Army.
Banking
4 top banks used blockchain tech to trade credit swaps qz
Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citi, Credit Suisse, J.P. Morgan, and the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) successfully traded credit default swaps on the blockchain, according to an announcement today.
Terrorism
Incendiary devices found hanging on Tyngsborough power lines bostonglobe
Federal, state, and local authorities Thursday said they could find nothing to suggest the devices were installed as part of a terror plot. But they said the incident, which involved objects resembling pipe bombs, had targeted a key electrical link between Canada and the Northeastern United States.
Society
Google Ventures Bans Investments in North Carolina recode.net
Google Ventures, now known as GV, has joined a growing list of tech and corporate heavyweights speaking out against North Carolina’s HB 2, a law that the companies say discriminates against transgender people in the state.
They continue to line up. See also Bank of America Joins Backlash Against North Carolina LGBT Law
U.S. military suicides remain high for 7th year usatoday
The Pentagon reported Friday that 265 active-duty service members killed themselves last year, continuing a trend of unusually high suicide rates that have plagued the U.S. military for at least seven years.
Heartbreaking.
North Korea
North Korea to pursue nuclear and missile programmes uk.reuters
North Korea will pursue its nuclear and ballistic missile programme in defiance of the United States and its allies, a top Pyongyang envoy said on Friday, adding that a state of "semi-war" now existed on the divided Korean peninsula.
Obama and Xi agree to fully crack down on North Korea businessinsider
"Both leaders committed... to strengthen coordination in addressing the shared threat presented by North Korea's pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic missile systems," the White House said.
Paganism
Spanish Archaeologists Try to Reconstruct Fragments of the Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead ancient-origins
For the last 14 years, twenty archaeologists, Egyptologists, and Spanish specialists have been working on the southern foot of the hill of Dra Abu el-Naga with a team of over a hundred Egyptian workers. During this time, they have united their efforts and been studying every part of the area, and scrutinizing every centimeter of a vast necropolis which is overflowing with burials from different eras.
There seems to be a certain obsession with translating this book lately...
Apostasy
Christianity is no longer compulsory for Oxford Theology students christiantoday
The reduction in compulsory modules for second and third year students will enable other papers to be taken, including "feminist approaches to religion and theology" and "Buddhism in space and time".
Biology
A programming language for living cells mit.edu
MIT biological engineers have created a programming language that allows them to rapidly design complex, DNA-encoded circuits that give new functions to living cells.
Smoking During Pregnancy Seems to Alter Fetal DNA webmd
For the study, researchers collected blood samples from newborns, mainly from the umbilical cord. Compared to babies of nonsmokers, those born to regular smokers had over 6,000 spots where DNA was chemically modified.
AI
China To Face Off Against AlphaGo With Own AI Team androidheadlines
An A.I. development team out of China, called China Computer Go Team, has announced that they have their own Go-playing A.I. in development. While an A.I. capable of playing Go at all is an accomplishment, this team has decided that’s not quite enough. Instead, they intend to develop their A.I. with the goal of challenging AlphaGO at its own native game.
Appeal Parking Tickets Via Bot in New York City fortune
A parking-lawyer web robot that has saved British drivers nearly $4 million in fines over the past several months is now ready to help Americans, starting with New Yorkers, by appealing their tickets for free.
Complete with creepy eye icon for the bot
Space
ASAP concerned NASA is taking risks to meet Orion schedule nasaspaceflight
NASA’s key advisory body has warned the agency that schedule pressure, in combination with cost pressure, is causing compromises that carry additional risk. Focusing on the Orion spacecraft, NASA’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) claimed NASA is “taking risk after risk” to meet the schedule for Orion’s opening missions.
Automation
Amazon, Microsoft look for big data role in self-driving cars reuters
Amazon, Microsoft look for big data role in self-driving cars
Banking
Blockchain--What You Need to Know prnewswire
Spearheaded by Bitcoin, blockchains achieve consensus among distributed nodes, allowing the transfer of digital goods without the need for centralized authorisation of transactions.
Other...
Scientists may have just uncovered an ancient Viking site in North America businessinsider
HOW DID THE APOLLO COMMAND AND SERVICE MODULES SEPARATE? popsci
Interesting videos about something you never even once wondered about
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
Society
New Kansas law lets campus religious groups restrict members ctpost
Kansas' conservative Republican governor signed legislation Tuesday allowing faith-based groups at college campuses to restrict membership to like-minded people, likely putting the state on a collision course with civil liberties groups.
North Carolina to Limit Bathroom Use by Birth Gender nytimes
North Carolina legislators, in a whirlwind special session on Wednesday, passed a wide-ranging bill banning transgender people from bathrooms and locker rooms that do not match the gender on their birth certificates.
Disney Will Stop Filming in Georgia if Gov. Signs Religious Liberty Bill fortune
Walt Disney..., along with subsidiary Marvel Studios, announced plans on Wednesday to boycott filming future movie projects in the state of Georgia should Governor Nathan Deal sign the bill.
Historyish
English Heritage turning Tintagel into 'fairytale theme park' theguardian
A group of 200 Cornish historians has criticised plans by English Heritage to turn Tintagel Castle into what it has called a “fairytale theme park” based on the legend of King Arthur rather than highlighting its true past.
Space
Astronomers report most 'outrageously' luminous galaxies ever observed sciencedaily
Astronomers report that they have observed the most luminous galaxies ever seen in the Universe, objects so bright that established descriptors such as 'ultra-' and 'hyper-luminous' used to describe previously brightest known galaxies don't even come close. The lead author says, 'We've taken to calling them 'outrageously luminous' among ourselves, because there is no scientific term to apply.'
End of the World
Hunker in their bunker foxnews
Dave and Sue Prentiss, of the bucolic town of Limestone, are looking to sell their near-20 acre property, which comes complete with an underground missile silo -- the kind that are favored by the prepping community to be retrofitted into livable bunkers in case the end of the world is upon us.
Israel
Silver Trumpets Pierce the Heavens in Prayer Rally Opposite Temple Mount jewishpress
Thousands of people filled the Western Wall Plaza on Tuesday afternoon, facing the Temple Mount, to beseech God for compassion and deliverance from the evil machinations of those who are seeking to destroy Israel. The mass prayer gathering was a lead-up to Ta’anit Ester (Fast of Esther), which was first decreed by Ester 2500 years ago when the Jews living in the Persian Empire were in danger of extinction at the hands of the evil Haman.
Obama to Push for Israel-Palestine 2-State Solution After Leaving Office sputniknews
US President Barack Obama said on Wednesday he plans to continue to push for establishing a peaceful two-state solution in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict after leaving the White House.
Tech
Engineers develop networked self-analyzing electric motors phys.org
A team of engineers from Saarland University are developing intelligent motor systems that function without the need for additional sensors. By essentially transforming the motor itself into a sensor, the team led by Professor Matthias Nienhaus are creating smart motors that can tell whether they are still running smoothly, can communicate and interact with other motors and can be efficiently controlled.
This one’s a little geeky, but still interesting :)
New method can deposit nanomaterials onto flexible surfaces and 3-D objects phys.org
Now, researchers have developed a new method that uses plasma to print nanomaterials onto a 3-D object or flexible surface, such as paper or cloth. The technique could make it easier and cheaper to build devices like wearable chemical and biological sensors, flexible memory devices and batteries, and integrated circuits.
Automation
Fastbrick Robotics Animation of Brick House Construction industrytap
(Video - 1:10)
Apostasy
Crown of syringes replaces traditional crown of thorns in CofE Easter Passion film christiantoday
A "crown of syringes" has replaced the traditional crown of thorns in a film released by the Church of England to mark Easter. The film is a modern-day Passion Play and stars people who have fought drug addiction, crime and homelessness with the help of faith.
This one was an odd one from the Church of England.
Other...
In Theory: Why are theoreticians filled with wanderlust? cern
