Man Spends 30 Years Regenerating Farmland Into Amazing Forest
October 2nd, 2019Via: Happen Films:
Amazon’s Dystopian Plan To Be Anywhere And Everywhere
September 30th, 2019Via: The Week:
When most tech companies host a launch event, it is to unveil one or two major products. Not Amazon. For the past couple of years at its launch events, the company has bombarded tech watchers with a torrent of new products. And so it wasn’t all that surprising when it announced a full 15 new products at a hardware event in Seattle last week. That’s more products than most big tech companies launch all year.
But if the glut of stuff was expected, what was perhaps less predictable was the variety of what was on show: smart night lights, a smart oven, and most surprisingly of all, smart wearable devices like eyeglasses and a ring.
The sheer number of hardware products has in the past made Amazon seem a bit like it was throwing absolutely anything at the wall to see what sticks. And to be sure, there was definitely that feeling this time around. But with an increasing push to get its Alexa voice platform absolutely everywhere, Amazon’s plans finally seem to be coming into focus: The company believes voice will supplant the smartphone as the next big platform.
Artificial Blood Developed for Patients of Any Blood Type
September 30th, 2019Via: Asahi Shimbun:
Japanese researchers said they have developed artificial blood that can be transfused into patients regardless of their blood type and can vastly improve the chances for survival of seriously injured people.
The artificial blood created by a team of scientists primarily from the National Defense Medical College has proved effective in experiments on rabbits.
For possible applications on humans, the artificial blood gets around problems with identifying blood types in emergency situations and overcomes limits on storing real blood from donors.
Twitter Executive for Middle East Is British Army ‘Psyops’ Soldier
September 30th, 2019Via: Middle East Eye:
The senior Twitter executive with editorial responsibility for the Middle East is also a part-time officer in the British Army’s psychological warfare unit, Middle East Eye has established.
Gordon MacMillan, who joined the social media company’s UK office six years ago, has for several years also served with the 77th Brigade, a unit formed in 2015 in order to develop “non-lethal” ways of waging war.
The 77th Brigade uses social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, as well as podcasts, data analysis and audience research to wage what the head of the UK military, General Nick Carter, describes as “information warfare”.
China Grew Two Cotton Leaves on the Moon
September 30th, 2019Via: IEEE:
The team behind a pioneering biological experiment sent to the lunar far side has released an image showing two green leaves grown on the moon.
The experiment began shortly after China’s Chang’e-4 spacecraft made the first ever landing on the far side of the moon, on 3 January this year.
Cotton, arabidopsis and potato seeds, and fruit-fly eggs and yeast were all aboard the 2.6-kilogram mini biosphere, but only the cotton produced positive results.
Image processing has now shown that two cotton leaves had grown—rather than just one as initially thought—in what was the first biological growth experiment on the moon.
China Quietly Doubles Troop Levels in Hong Kong
September 30th, 2019Via: Reuters:
Three of the envoys said the contingent of Chinese military personnel in Hong Kong had more than doubled in size since the protests began. They estimated the number of military personnel is now between 10,000 and 12,000, up from 3,000 to 5,000 in the months before the reinforcement.
As a result, the envoys believe, China has now assembled its largest-ever active force of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops and other anti-riot personnel and equipment in Hong Kong.
China: Fugitive On Run for 17 Years Found Living in Cave by Drone
September 30th, 2019Via: BBC:
Chinese police have arrested a fugitive who’d been on the run for 17 years, after they used drones to spot his cave hideout.
The 63-year old, named Song Jiang by the police, had been jailed for trafficking women and children but escaped from a prison camp in 2002.
He had been living in a tiny cave cut off from human interaction for years.
Yongshan police received clues about Song’s whereabouts in early September, they said on their WeChat account.
Those clues led them to the mountains behind his hometown in Yunnan province in south-west China.
After regular searches failed to find anything, authorities sent additional drones to help the officers.
The drones eventually spotted a blue-coloured steel tile on a steep cliff as well as traces of household rubbish nearby.
Police then moved in on foot and found Song in a small cave where he’d been hiding for years.
Consumers Increasingly Using Buy-Now-Pay-Later Services for Shoes, Sweaters, Makeup
September 30th, 2019Via: Wall Street Journal:
Gone are the days when special financing plans were mostly reserved for big-ticket purchases like TVs and refrigerators. Now, sweaters, makeup or other everyday items can be paid for in installments with loans or other payment plans offered at checkout with thousands of merchants in the U.S., including Walmart Inc., Urban Outfitters Inc. and, soon, H&M . Some Amazon.com Inc. credit-card users can also sign up for these plans.
Merchants and lenders are tapping into the financial challenges many U.S. families are facing. Despite signs of a strong economy, like low unemployment, consumers are increasingly relying on borrowing to fund their daily lives. U.S. consumer debt is higher than ever, as cars, college, housing and medical care grow more expensive but incomes stay largely stagnant.
Pod People
September 30th, 2019Via: Paul Watson:
Related: L.A. Coliving: PodShare
Whistle-Blower: Prince Andrew Was Regular Visitor to Jeffrey Epstein’s £7 Million Paris Apartment
September 30th, 2019Via: Daily Mail:
A whistle-blower has told police in France that Prince Andrew had been a regular visitor to billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s £7million apartment in Paris.
Detectives in the French city are now probing reports that the Queen’s son was often at the property.
It comes as the apartment was raided last week, with officers having discovered a custom-made massage parlour where Epstein and his friends are alleged to have raped their victims.
Now a key witness has claimed that he spotted Prince Andrew at the building on more than one occasion.
