The World’s Most Powerful Tidal Turbine Launches in Scotland
April 27th, 2021Via: Electrek:
Orbital Marine Power yesterday launched its 2MW tidal turbine, the Orbital O2, in Scotland. It will become the world’s most powerful operational tidal turbine once it has been commissioned and connected to the European Marine Energy Centre in the Orkney Islands.
“Creation of First Human-Monkey Embryos Sparks Concern”
April 27th, 2021Via: Wall Street Journal:
Imagine pigs with human hearts or mice whose brains have a spark of human intelligence. Scientists are cultivating a flock of such experimental creations, called chimeras, by injecting potent human cells into mice, rats, pigs and cows. They hope the new combinations might one day be used to grow human organs for transplants, study human illnesses or to test new drugs.
U.S. Army: “Teams of Air-and Ground-Based Autonomous Agents Operating Mission-to-Mission with No Soldier Intervention”
April 27th, 2021Search and rescue. *wink*
Via: U.S. Army DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory:
The future battlefield will rely on teams of air-and ground-based autonomous agents operating mission-to-mission with no Soldier intervention.
Army researchers have developed a unique approach that allows a rotary wing unmanned air vehicle to land on a moving unmanned ground vehicle without the aid of GPS and recharge before moving on to the next mission.
Teams of autonomous air and ground agents will enable operations in search and rescue environments that are too remote or dangerous for humans, but often require extensive positioning and communication infrastructure, said Army researcher Dr. Stephen Nogar of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, known as DEVCOM, Army Research Laboratory.
“UAVs will need the ability to operate with no Soldier intervention, and a critical function is landing autonomously on static and moving ground vehicles, recharging, then taking off to perform new missions,” Nogar said. “Additionally, UAVs will not be able to rely on GPS, as it is unreliable and easily disrupted, so these behaviors will need to be performed using other sources such as onboard vision.”
MIT Study on Indoor Social Distancing: ‘No Difference Between 6 Feet and 60 Feet’
April 27th, 2021Via: Fox:
A new study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology challenges the widespread social distancing guidelines, asserting that the “six-foot rule” is “inadequate” in mitigating indoor transmission of COVID-19.
MIT professors Martin Bazant and John Bush found that people who maintain six feet of distance indoors are no more protected than if they were 60 feet apart – even when wearing a mask.
The peer-reviewed study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the United States of America, focused on factors such as time spent indoors, air filtration and circulation, immunization and variant strains.
“What our analysis continues to show is that many spaces that have been shut down in fact don’t need to be,” Bazant explained to CNBC. “Often times the space is large enough, the ventilation is good enough, the amount of time people spend together is such that those spaces can be safely operated even at full capacity and the scientific support for reduced capacity in those spaces is really not very good.”
“I think if you run the numbers, even right now for many types of spaces you’d find that there is not a need for occupancy restrictions,” he added.
We Live in an Insane Asylum
April 27th, 2021Via: milli_vanillii:
We live in an insane asylum pic.twitter.com/1YTb9jxxC8
— Milly ? (@milli_vanillii) April 27, 2021
Some Women Are Having Heavier and More Painful Periods Since Getting COVID-19 Vaccines
April 27th, 2021Via: Daily Mail:
Several women say they have experienced heavier and more painful periods since getting the COVID-19 vaccine, with some also revealing that they have had breakthrough bleeding in the middle of a cycle after getting the shot.
Dr. Kate Clancy, an associate professor at the University of Illinois, tweeted in February that she’d been hearing about people who had experienced changes in their menstruation since getting one or two vaccine shots.
Her Twitter thread has prompted more women to share their own menstrual concerns, revealing their heavy flow, worsened cramps, and irregular timing since getting the jab — with one woman saying she spent 16 days bleeding after getting the Johnson & Johnson shot.
Laser-Equipped Robots Zap Weeds on Farmland
April 26th, 2021Via: Seattle Times:
Seattle-based Carbon Robotics this week revealed the latest iteration of its nine-foot-long robot designed to weed fields of row crops, replacing human labor or herbicides. With 12 cameras and eight lasers, the machine zaps the unwanted plants at up to 5 miles per hour.
Pentagon Gave Control of Millions of IP Addresses to Florida Shell Company
April 24th, 2021Via: Kentik:
Last month, astute contributors to the NANOG listserv highlighted the oddity of massive amounts of DoD address space being announced by what appeared to be a shell company. While a BGP hijack was ruled out, the exact purpose was still unclear. Until yesterday when the Department of Defense provided an explanation to reporters from the Washington Post about this unusual internet development. Their statement said:
Defense Digital Service (DDS) authorized a pilot effort advertising DoD Internet Protocol (IP) space using Border Gateway Protocol (BGP). This pilot will assess, evaluate and prevent unauthorized use of DoD IP address space. Additionally, this pilot may identify potential vulnerabilities. This is one of DoD’s many efforts focused on continually improving our cyber posture and defense in response to advanced persistent threats. We are partnering throughout DoD to ensure potential vulnerabilities are mitigated.
I interpret this to mean that the objectives of this effort are twofold. First, to announce this address space to scare off any would-be squatters, and secondly, to collect a massive amount of background internet traffic for threat intelligence.
Confirmation of Top Biden Scientist Delayed Over Ties to Jeffrey Epstein
April 23rd, 2021Via: NY Post:
President Biden’s choice for his top science adviser is facing an uphill confirmation battle in Washington as ties to Jeffrey Epstein emerge as an issue in his consideration, according to a report.
Questions over Eric Lander’s association with Epstein have delayed his nomination to be director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, Politico reported.
Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) wants to know more about how Lander, current director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and a prominent geneticist, came to be associated with the pedophile financier before his death in 2019.
All New Cadillac Vehicle Models Will Be All-Electric
April 22nd, 2021Via: Electrek:
GM’s Cadillac brand is going electric, as the automaker confirmed that every new vehicle will be all-electric starting now.
Today, Cadillac unveiled the production version of the Lyriq, its first all-electric vehicle.
Yesterday, the company held a virtual unveiling of the electric vehicle, during which it also announced plans to move the brand into only releasing electric vehicles.
Rory Harvey, head of Cadillac, said that from now on, the brand will only unveil all-electric vehicles.
The executive did note that the brand’s lineup of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles is fairly fresh, and therefore, they plan to keep selling more gas-powered cars for the foreseeable future.
