Big Brother Camera Surveillance Changes Visual Perception
December 18th, 2024Via: Study Finds:
The results were remarkable: “Our surveilled participants became hyper-aware of face stimuli almost a second faster than the control group. This perceptual enhancement also occurred without participants realizing it,” says Seymour. This held true whether the faces were looking directly at them or away, though both groups detected direct-gazing faces more quickly overall.
This heightened awareness appears to tap into ancient survival mechanisms. “It’s a mechanism that evolved for us to detect other agents and potential threats in our environment, such as predators and other humans, and it seems to be enhanced when we’re being watched on CCTV,” Seymour explains.
Importantly, this wasn’t simply due to participants trying harder or being more alert under surveillance. When the researchers ran the same experiment using simple geometric patterns instead of faces, there was no difference between the watched and unwatched groups. The enhancement was specific to social stimuli – faces – suggesting that surveillance taps into fundamental neural circuits evolved for processing social information.
Russia Claims Cancer Vaccine Ready for Use in 2025
December 17th, 2024Via: Daily Mail:
Russia’s health ministry claims it has developed a vaccine against cancer that will be rolled out to patients for free.
Andrey Kaprin, who heads the Radiology Medical Research Center of the Ministry of Health, said the shot will launch in early 2025, according to state-run media.
The vaccine will apparently be used to treat cancer patients, rather than being given to the general public to prevent tumors from forming in the first place.
Previous comments by Russian government scientists suggest each shot is personalized for the individual patient, which is similar to cancer vaccines being developed in the West.
It is currently not clear which cancers the vaccine is designed to treat, how effective it is or how Russia plans to roll it out.
The name of the vaccine has not been revealed.
Ukraine Assassinates Russian General in Moscow
December 17th, 2024Via: Daily Mail:
One of Vladimir Putin’s top army generals in charge of nuclear and biological forces has been killed in an explosion after a bomb hidden in an electric scooter was detonated outside his apartment in Moscow.
Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov died in the blast moments after he emerged from his apartment block with his assistant, who was also killed.
He is believed to be the most senior military officer to be assassinated since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Trump on Drones: “The Government Knows What Is Happening”
December 16th, 2024When asked if he has been briefed, he won’t comment.
Via: The Hill:
President-elect Trump on Monday said the Biden administration knows what is happening with the flurry of drone sightings in the northeast, suggesting it was not a hostile adversary and questioning why officials were not more forthcoming.
“The government knows what is happening. Look, our military knows where they took off from, if it’s a garage they can go right into that garage. They know where it came from and where it went,” Trump told reporters at Mar-a-Lago.
“And for some reason, they don’t want to comment. I think they’d be better off saying what it is,” he continued. “Our military knows, and our president knows, and for some reason they want to keep people in suspense.”
Trump declined to say whether he’d received an intelligence briefing on the drone sightings. But he downplayed the prospect it was a foreign adversary based on the U.S. response.
“If it was the enemy the’d blast it out. Even if they were late, they’d blast it. Something strange is going on. For some reason they don’t want to tell the people,” he said.
New Palantir Commercial: The Future of Warfare
December 16th, 2024Yes, really.
Via: Palantir:
“Heavy Unknown UAS Activity”: Drone Incursions Closed Wright Patterson Air Force Base’s Airspace Friday Night
December 15th, 2024Via: The War Zone:
The sprawling Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio is the latest military installation to report mysterious drones flying over its airspace, The War Zone has learned.
…
After the drones were seen over Wright Patterson, a Notice To Airman (NOTAM) was issued closing the airspace between Friday night and Saturday morning. The airspace has since been reopened, Purtiman said.
“Q) ZID/QFALC/IV/NBO/A/000/999/3949N08402W005 A) KFFO B) 2412140400 C) 2412140800 E) WRIGHT PATTERSON CLASS D AIRSPACE CLOSED DUE TO SECURITY THREAT M1133/24 NOTAMN
Q) ZID/QXXXX/IV/NBO/A/000/999/3949N08402W005 A) KFFO B) 2412140403 C) 2412140800 E) CAUTION: USE EXTREME CAUTION; HEAVY UAS ACTIVITY IN KFFO SURFACE AREA”
The following radio call between Wright Patterson AFB tower and a medical transport aircraft that occurred during the drone incident was provided by a radio enthusiast reader:
And Now… “Feds to Deploy High-Tech System to NY as Drone Swarms Have Experts Baffled”
December 15th, 2024Mmm hmm.
Via: New York Post:
Federal officials are set to deploy a high-tech drone detection system to New York State as swarms of unidentified flying objects popping up in the tri-state area continue to leave experts perplexed.
The new system will help state and local law enforcement in their investigation into the mysterious drones that have been spotted flickering across the night sky over the past month, Gov. Kathy Hochul said Sunday.
“In response to my calls for additional resources, our federal partners are deploying a state-of-the-art drone detection system to New York State,” Hochul said.
‘Unprecedented Risk’ to Life on Earth: Scientists Call for Halt on ‘Mirror Life’ Microbe Research
December 15th, 2024Via: Guardian:
World-leading scientists have called for a halt on research to create “mirror life” microbes amid concerns that the synthetic organisms would present an “unprecedented risk” to life on Earth.
The international group of Nobel laureates and other experts warn that mirror bacteria, constructed from mirror images of molecules found in nature, could become established in the environment and slip past the immune defences of natural organisms, putting humans, animals and plants at risk of lethal infections.
Although a viable mirror microbe would probably take at least a decade to build, a new risk assessment raised such serious concerns about the organisms that the 38-strong group urged scientists to stop work towards the goal and asked funders to make clear they will no longer support the research.
“The threat we’re talking about is unprecedented,” said Prof Vaughn Cooper, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Pittsburgh. “Mirror bacteria would likely evade many human, animal and plant immune system responses and in each case would cause lethal infections that would spread without check.”
…
Beyond causing lethal infections, the researchers doubt the microbes could be safely contained or kept in check by natural competitors and predators. Existing antibiotics are unlikely to be effective, either.
“Unless compelling evidence emerges that mirror life would not pose extraordinary dangers, we believe that mirror bacteria and other mirror organisms, even those with engineered biocontainment measures, should not be created,” the authors write in Science.
More: Confronting Risks of Mirror Life
Council of the Canceled: Dr. Bowden, Dr. Wakefield, and Dr. Kruse
December 15th, 2024Via: Nicole Shanahan:
Council of the Canceled: LIVE with Dr. Bowden, Dr. Wakefield, and Dr. Kruse https://t.co/YLBprhXrkt
— Nicole Shanahan (@NicoleShanahan) September 15, 2024
UnitedHealthcare CEO Killing Suspect Luigi Mangione and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ Lawyers Are Married
December 15th, 2024Via: New York Post:
It looks like Luigi Mangione and Sean “Diddy” Combs have more in common than orange jumpsuits and ankle shackles.
Karen Friedman-Agnifilo, the high-powered lawyer hired by UnitedHealthcare murder suspect Luigi Mangione, is married to none other than Marc Agnifilio, who has been representing the rapper as he battles sex trafficking charges.
Friedman-Agnifilo is a former prosecutor who ditched her longtime position as the head of the sex crimes unit in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in 2021 to join her husband’s private firm, Agnifilo Intrater LLP .
