Proposal to Use Tech Company Surveillance Platforms to Predict Mass Shooters
September 2nd, 2019
Via: Vanity Fair:
Donald Trump is finally considering taking action to prevent mass shootings—not by enacting gun-control measures, but with a creepy proposal to somehow identify the “neurobehavioral signs” of “someone headed toward a violent explosive act.” According to the Washington Post, which first reported on the secret project under White House consideration Thursday, the administration has been briefed multiple times on a plan to create a new government agency whose powers would include sussing out individuals it regards as potential threats—a dystopian aim that will likely inspire blowback from both privacy and mental-health advocates.
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HARPA would develop “breakthrough technologies with high specificity and sensitivity for early diagnosis of neuropsychiatric violence,” says a copy of the proposal. “A multi-modality solution, along with real-time data analytics, is needed to achieve such an accurate diagnosis.”
The document goes on to list a number of widely used technologies it suggests could be employed to help collect data, including Apple Watches, Fitbits, Amazon Echo and Google Home. The document also mentions “powerful tools” collected by health-care provides like fMRIs, tractography and image analysis.
Chinese Government to Hong Kong Protestors: “The End Is Coming”
September 2nd, 2019Via: CBS:
On Monday an editorial in Chinese state media warned “the end is coming for those attempting to disrupt Hong Kong.”
It didn’t give detail on any specific upcoming action, but it could be referring to a potential crackdown by Chinese troops, who have massed both inside Hong Kong territory, and just across the border in southern China.
America’s Wealth Hinges on Its Ability to Borrow Big – or Else
September 1st, 2019Ponzi schemes.
Via: Bloomberg:
The U.S. economy is consistently ranked among the world’s strongest. But cut off its addiction to debt and exhaust its gold and currency reserves, and a very different picture would emerge.
The nation’s health as measured by gross domestic product per capita would plunge into negative territory without its dependence on borrowed money, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
In fact, the U.S. would fall almost to the bottom of a ranking of 114 economies by GDP per capita. Only Italy, Greece and Japan would fare worse. That’s a seismic shift from America’s comfortable No. 5 spot on a list based on conventional measures.
To get this somewhat dystopian measure, Bloomberg took each economy’s 2020 GDP as projected by the International Monetary Fund as a starting point. We then adjusted the number by removing the ability to borrow, while adding reserves to create an alternative wealth measure.
U.S. per capita income of $66,900 would be slashed to a negative $4,857 using this measure. That’s a total loss of almost $72,000 for every man, woman and child.
The U.S. isn’t alone, though; it’s pretty grim across the board. Among the 114 economies included in the final list, 102 would experience reduced per capita wealth if they suddenly lost the ability to borrow.
Japan ranked dead last, with more than $93,000 of income erased per person. Its per-capita income of $43,701 in 2020 would flip to a negative $50,000 and its rank on the list would plunge 96 spots, from 18th to last.
Amtrak Passengers Agree to DEA Searches Without Warrants or Probable Cause
August 31st, 2019It’s hard for passengers to say no because they’re completely clueless about their rights.
Via: The Intercept:
When Perry approaches, it’s hard for passengers to say no.
“Because he told me he was an officer,” the young passenger in Albuquerque later said, explaining why he agreed to the search.
It’s legal for Perry to search people without probable cause, a warrant, or a dog because travelers supposedly realize that they have the right to decline to submit to his searches. Perry and others in his interdiction unit have testified that they receive manifests ahead of time listing the passengers who will be arriving in Albuquerque. The courts have ruled this is also legal — functioning like a helpful tip sheet on whom to question.
Hong Kong: Demonstrators Defy Ban on March
August 31st, 2019Via: BBC:
Hong Kong police have used tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannon to disperse crowds as tens of thousands marched in the city, defying a ban.
Demonstrators lit fires, threw petrol bombs at riot police and attacked the parliament building.
An event to mark five years since Beijing ruled out fully democratic elections was banned in Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China.
On Friday, several key pro-democracy activists and lawmakers were arrested.
The protest movement grew out of rallies against a controversial extradition bill – now suspended – which would have allowed criminal suspects to be sent to mainland China for trial.
It has since become a broader pro-democracy movement in which clashes have grown more violent.
Retrofit Robot Pilot Can Grab Flight Controls, Read Instruments, Take Off, Navigate, Land
August 31st, 2019Does it chat with ATC???
Via: New Scientist:
A robot pilot is learning to fly. It has passed its pilot’s test and flown its first plane, but it has also had its first mishap too.
Unlike a traditional autopilot, the ROBOpilot Unmanned Aircraft Conversion System literally takes the controls, pressing on foot pedals and handling the yoke using robotic arms. It reads the dials and meters with a computer vision system.
China’s Lunar Rover Has Found Something Weird on the Far Side of the Moon
August 31st, 2019Via: Space.com:
China’s Chang’e-4 lunar rover has discovered an unusually colored, ‘gel-like’ substance during its exploration activities on the far side of the moon.
The mission’s rover, Yutu-2, stumbled on that surprise during lunar day 8. The discovery prompted scientists on the mission to postpone other driving plans for the rover, and instead focus its instruments on trying to figure out what the strange material is.
Biohackers Are Pirating a Cheap Version of a Million-Dollar Gene Therapy
August 30th, 2019Via: MIT Technology Review:
Citing the tremendous cost of new drugs, an international group of biohackers say they are creating a knock-off of a million-dollar gene therapy.
The drug being copied is Glybera, a gene therapy that was the world’s most expensive drug when it came on the market in Europe in 2015 with a $1 million per treatment price tag. Glybera was the first gene therapy ever approved to treat an inherited disease.
Now a band of independent and amateur biologists say they have engineered a prototype of a simpler, low-cost version of Glybera, and they plan to call on university and corporate scientists to help them check, improve, and test it on animals.
The group says it will start sharing the materials and describe their activities this weekend at Biohack the Planet, a conference in Las Vegas that hosts citizen scientists, journalists, and researchers for two days of presentations on body implants, biosafety, and hallucinogens.
“This was developed in a shed in Mississippi, a warehouse in Florida, a bedroom in Indiana, and on a computer in Austria,” says Gabriel Licina, a biohacker based in South Bend, Indiana. He says the prototype gene therapy cost less than $7,000 to create.
Investigators Seize Enough Fentanyl to Kill 14 Million People in Massive Drug Bust
August 30th, 2019Via: CBS:
Law enforcement officers in Virginia have seized enough fentanyl to kill 14 million people, busting a massive three-state drug ring as part of what they called “Operation Cookout.” Thirty-five suspects were arrested, and four others are on the run.
How to Teach an Iris Scanner That the Eye It’s Looking at Is Dead
August 29th, 2019Via: IEEE:
Conventional wisdom has held that the iris begins decaying only minutes after death. Thanks to Maciejewicz’s work, we discovered that wisdom to be wrong: If cadavers are kept cool, the eyes can still be used for identification for up to three weeks postmortem. Researchers had also assumed that recognition systems could not accurately identify dead eyes, which means that such systems are now vulnerable to exploitation. So to be completely secure, future generations of iris-recognition systems will therefore need more-advanced detection mechanisms, capable of recognizing dead eyes—otherwise, we could find ourselves in a science-fiction future where people could use someone else’s dead eyes to access information or locations they’re not supposed to. Less fantastical, though, the systems will also need to be flexible enough to adapt in instances where there are changes to an iris due to disease, and precise enough to tell whether the iris in question is a fake.
