An anonymous reader quotes a report from Gizmodo: At least several users of the far-right social network Parler appear to be among the horde of rioters that managed to penetrate deep inside the U.S. Capitol building and into areas normally restricted to the public, according to GPS metadata linked to videos posted to the platform the day of the insurrection in…
Tag: chambers
10 of the best sci-fi books that you should read in 2021
Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor, The Expert System’s Champion by Adrian Tchaikovsky and The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers are exciting sci-fi books we’re looking forward to in 2021 Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/0-10-of-the-best-sci-fi-books-that-you-should-read-in-2021/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Will Parler Spread Misinformation – or Just Segregate It Onto a Single App?
“The rising popularity of alternative social media app Parler is raising concerns over the spread of misinformation and potential for radicalizing users on a platform that’s taken a hands-off approach to regulating content,” reports The Hill’s reporter on technology policy: The app has been boosted by conservatives, surging since Election Day, as Republicans amp up allegations of anti-conservative bias from social…
Commerce Department Announces Stay of TikTok Shutdown Order
The Commerce Department said Thursday that it won’t enforce its order that would have effectively forced the Chinese-owned TikTok video-sharing app to shut down, citing a federal court ruling in Philadelphia. From a report: The department’s action delays implementation of a regulation, set to take effect Thursday, that would have barred U.S. companies such as Apple from offering TikTok as a…
AI Is Throwing Battery Development Into Overdrive
Improving batteries has always been hampered by slow experimentation and discovery processes. Machine learning is speeding it up by orders of magnitude. From a report: Inside a lab at Stanford University’s Precourt Institute for Energy, there are a half dozen refrigerator-sized cabinets designed to kill batteries as fast as they can. Each holds around 100 lithium-ion cells secured in trays that…
House Democrats Pass DC Statehood Bill
House Democrats approved a bill to admit Washington, DC, as a state on Friday, marking the first time either chamber of Congress has advanced a DC statehood measure. From a report: The bill, introduced by DC’s nonvoting House member, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, would shrink the federal capital to a small area encompassing the White House, Capitol building, Supreme Court, and…
Acura Invents Airbag That Works Like a Catcher’s Mitt
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Cars, trucks, and SUVs are safer today than they’ve ever been, but with 22,891 recorded U.S. passenger vehicle fatalities in 2018, it’s obvious we still have some way to go. That’s where today’s invention comes in — it’s a new kind of airbag developed by Acura, designed to reduce brain injuries in…
Hidden underground chambers unearthed near Israel’s Western Wall
It’s not clear why ancient people dug up these chambers, but evidence suggests they used them in everyday life. Source: https://www.livescience.com/subterreanean-chambers-discovered-israel-western-wall.html
How the Rapid FDA-Approved Coronavirus Testing System Works
Tekla Perry writes: In 2001, a rapid, easy-to-use, PCR-based testing system for biological testing was still in prototype form when letters containing anthrax spores started arriving in the mailboxes of journalists and senators. Its creators at startup Cepheid quickly adapted it to test for anthrax, and now it is used to run that test as part of U.S. mail sorting systems….
I saw an upside-down rainbow. What is it?
Circumzenithal arcs have been described as upside-down rainbows or “a grin in the sky.” They’re wonderful! See photos here. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/i-saw-an-upside-down-rainbow-circumzenithal-arc…