Mexican Drug Cartel Attacks City with Consumer-Grade Drones Packed with C-4
August 22nd, 2020Via: Daily Mail:
Mexico’s fastest growing cartel has allegedly deployed drones packed with C4 explosives as it battles against armed residents for control over a city.
For over a year now, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel has attempted to exert its influence on the western city of Tepalcatepec.
However, a group of armed residents say they have withstood the attacks and are fighting back despite countless deaths and injuries on both sides.
Now the residents say the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, which also has a presence across several cities in the United States, have turned to equipping drones with explosives as part of their menacing strategy.
In interviews with Mexican outlets Noticieros Televisa and La Silla Rota, armed men who form part of Tepalcatepec’s auto-defense group showed off some of the homemade bombs they have discovered.
Virginia Health Commissioner Says He’ll Mandate a COVID-19 Vaccine
August 22nd, 2020Via: WIRC:
State Health Commissioner Dr. Norman Oliver told 8News on Friday that he plans to mandate coronavirus vaccinations for Virginians once one is made available to the public.
Virginia state law gives the Commissioner of Health the authority to mandate immediate immunizations during a public health crisis if a vaccine is available. Health officials say an immunization could be released as early as 2021.
Dr. Oliver says that, as long as he is still the Health Commissioner, he intends to mandate the coronavirus vaccine.
Does Parkinson’s Begin in the Gut?
August 21st, 2020Via: Scientific American:
The idea that the earliest stages of Parkinson’s disease may occur in the gastrointestinal tract has been gaining traction. A growing body of evidence supports this hypothesis, but the question of how changes in the intestines drive neurodegeneration in the brain remains an active area of investigation. Some studies propose that aggregates of alpha synuclein move from the intestines to the brain through the vagus nerve. Others suggest that molecules such as bacterial breakdown products stimulate activity along this channel, or that that the gut influences the brain through other mechanisms, such as inflammation. Together, however, these findings add to the growing consensus that “even if the pathology [of Parkinson’s] is very much driven by brain abnormalities, it doesn’t mean that the process starts in the brain,” says Michael Schlossmacher, a physician-scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute.
Exploding Stars May Have Caused Mass Extinction on Earth
August 21st, 2020Via: PhysOrg:
Imagine reading by the light of an exploded star, brighter than a full moon—it might be fun to think about, but this scene is the prelude to a disaster when the radiation devastates life as we know it. Killer cosmic rays from nearby supernovae could be the culprit behind at least one mass extinction event, researchers said, and finding certain radioactive isotopes in Earth’s rock record could confirm this scenario.
A new study led by University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign astronomy and physics professor Brian Fields explores the possibility that astronomical events were responsible for an extinction event 359 million years ago, at the boundary between the Devonian and Carboniferous periods.
Heron Systems AI Defeats Elite U.S. Air Force Pilot in Simulated Dogfight
August 20th, 2020Final round:
Via: Defense Daily:
Heron Systems Inc. took first place in the third and final competition in DARPA’s AlphaDogfight trials (ADT) on Aug 20 between artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled F-16 simulators and U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps pilots.
Founded in 1993, Heron is a small AI firm located near Patuxent Naval Air Station, Md.
To win the final round, Heron’s AI agent, “Falco,” took out in five separate dogfights an F-16 simulator helmed by “Banger,” an elite F-16 pilot, a graduate of the Weapons Instructor Course (WIC) at the U.S. Air Force Weapons School at Nellis AFB, Nev.
Heron also beat out Lockheed Martin [LMT], which took second place, and six other companies. Heron’s performance was dominant, as it frequently was able to gain first shot, high aspect basic fighter maneuver (HABFM) gun kills at 3,000 feet or less against rivals.
Bill Gates Caught Off Guard When Questioned About Vaccines
August 20th, 2020Uhhh, uhhh, uhhh.
Via: John Lovell:
Scotiabank to Pay $127M in Fines for Traders’ Price Fixing of Precious Metals
August 20th, 2020Via: CBC:
The Bank of Nova Scotia has agreed to pay more than $127 million US in fines to settle criminal investigations into a price manipulation scheme in the price of precious metals that some of its traders were engaged in.
The bank has agreed to a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) to settle separate probes by the Department of Justice and the U.S. commodities regulator, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
According to an agreed upon statement of facts, between January 2008 and July 2016, four precious metals traders employed by Scotia in New York, London and Hong Kong made bogus trades to try to manipulate the price of gold, silver, platinum and palladium futures contracts.
The traders “attempted to rig precious metals futures prices in their favour by placing thousands of orders they knew they would cancel before the trades were executed,” U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said, describing a financial practice known as “spoofing.”
“In this way, they sought to illegally manipulate the market to their own advantage and to the disadvantage of other traders.”
Alexei Navalny: Russian Opposition Leader Poisoned
August 20th, 2020The Kremlin said that it wished Mr Navalny a “speedy recovery”.
Via: BBC:
Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny is unconscious in hospital suffering from suspected poisoning, his spokeswoman has said.
The anti-corruption campaigner fell ill during a flight and the plane made an emergency landing in Omsk, Kira Yarmysh said, adding that they suspected something had been mixed into his tea.
The Kremlin said that it wished Mr Navalny a “speedy recovery”.
Mr Navalny, 44, has been a staunch critic of President Vladimir Putin.
In June he described a vote on constitutional reforms as a “coup” and a “violation of the constitution”. The reforms allow Mr Putin to serve another two terms in office.
Live French Air-to-Air Missile Sent to Florida Company
August 20th, 2020There are many stories about this incident that don’t mention anything at all about how this could have happened. The Popular Mechanics piece below offers:
The Matra Super 530 is an older, obsolete radar-guided missile. Draken flies the French-made Mirage F1M multi-role fighter, which was equipped with the Matra Super 530 during its military service. It’s possible a live 530 was accidentally slipped into a shipment of parts purchased by Draken.
Hmm.
Via: Popular Mechanics:
A Florida airport called in the U.S. Air Force last week after discovering a live air-to-air missile. Officials at Lakeland Linder International Airport found the Matra 530 missile in a shipment to a defense contractor that uses the airport to house its fleet of fighter jets. The weapon was transferred to MacDill Air Force Base for disposal.
Authorities found the live missile in a shipment to Draken International, which specializes in providing pilots and fighter jets to fly against U.S. military pilots and air defense systems in realistic, real-world training. Draken has a fleet of 150 older jets retired from military services around the world, including the U.S., Czech Republic, South Africa, and France.
Study: Everyone Develops Long-Term Coronavirus Immunity After Infection
August 20th, 2020Via: Business Insider:
A study published Friday in the journal Cell suggests that everyone who gets COVID-19 – even people with mild or asymptomatic cases – develops T cells that can hunt down the coronavirus if they get exposed again later.
“Memory T cells will likely prove critical for long-term immune protection against COVID-19,” the study authors wrote, adding that they “may prevent recurrent episodes of severe COVID-19.”
That’s because memory T cells can stick around for years, while antibody levels drop following an infection.
Study: Robust T cell immunity in convalescent individuals with asymptomatic or mild COVID-19
