August, 2019

During his year in space, Scott Kelly was zapped relentlessly by radiation — the equivalent of 10 chest X-rays a day for more than 11 months starting in March of 2015. The onslaught damaged the astronaut's DNA and affected his immune system while raising his risk for cancer. And Kelly was aboard the International Space Station, whose tight orbit around Earth lies within the magnetic field that surrounds our planet and blocks the most damaging forms of radiation.

Astronauts who travel to Mars or other destinations in deep space will leave Earth’s protective cocoon for months or years at a time. And a new NASA-funded study suggests that chronic exposure to radiation could harm astronauts’ minds as well as their bodies — potentially affecting space flyers’ moods and even their ability to think.

That could be a big deal... The agency is now testing a radiation-shielding vest designed to limit astronauts' radiation exposure...

In the last three years, bars worth at least $50 million stamped with Swiss refinery logos, but not actually produced by those facilities, have been identified by all four of Switzerland’s leading gold refiners and found in the vaults of JPMorgan Chase & Co... It is not clear who is making the bars found so far, but executives and bankers told Reuters they think most originate in China, the world’s largest gold producer and importer, and have entered the market via dealers and trading houses in Hong Kong, Japan and Thailand... The Shanghai Gold Exchange, which regulates China’s gold market, said in a statement it was not aware of counterfeit bars being made in or transported through China.

Today, the forgeries are more precisely made using what appears to be sophisticated machinery. Although some of the forged ones have high level of purity, many have been found to not be 99.99% pure. The refineries are responding to the problem with technology. ⠀⠀

Carbon isn't just the stuff life is made of—it's also the stuff our future is being built on. Carbon—a versatile element that frequently trades off its electrons to create various forms of itself—has been gaining an exciting reputation in tech thanks to the successful exfoliation of graphene, a sheet of carbon that's just one atom thick and has remarkable chemical properties.
[...]
So When Does the Carbon Nanotubes Future Begin? Shulaker's team is working with DARPA and companies like Analog Devices (who, contrary to their name, builds cutting edge semiconductors for digital computing), on scaling up the microprocessor, and making use of the SkyWater Technology Foundry to build a fuller-scale processor outside the lab...

At next month’s Frankfurt Motor Show, BMW will display a one-off version of the forthcoming third-generation X6 SUV that’s been fully coated in Vantablack paint, in which carbon nanotubes are used to create one of the darkest substances on Earth...

The paint is, by all accounts, a transfixing thing to look at:

The military research agency has put out a request for giant, company- or university-managed underground tunnels that could host "research and experimentation." The requirements are oddly specific, too, with the ideal area covering "several city blocks" while including a complex design, multiple levels and variety like atriums and stairwells.

The kicker is that DARPA needs an answer quickly...

The challenge aims to develop innovative technologies that would augment operations underground. The SubT Challenge will explore new approaches to rapidly map, navigate, search, and exploit complex underground environments, including human-made tunnel systems, urban underground, and natural cave networks.

The ideal space would be a human-made underground environment spanning several city blocks w/ complex layout & multiple stories, including atriums, tunnels & stairwells. Spaces
that are currently closed off from pedestrians or can be temporarily used for testing are of
interest. pic.twitter.com/GkWKm2w2p9

— DARPA (@DARPA) August 28, 2019

Regarding QANON, a far-right conspiracy theory detailing a supposed secret plot by an alleged "deep state" against U.S. President Donald Trump and his supporters, 5% of voters believe in QANON, while 22% do not. 73% were unsure or had not heard of QANON. 6% of both Democrats and Republicans say that they are believers in QANON as compared to 2% of Independents.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) announced Wednesday his panel will broaden its investigation into President Trump to include his proposal to hold the 2020 Group of Seven (G-7) summit at one of his family-owned properties in Florida. Nadler said the president's pitch to host next year's meeting of world leaders at Trump National Doral Miami is "only the latest in a troubling pattern of corruption and self-dealing by the President" and may violate both the foreign and domestic Emoluments Clauses.

Allergic reactions to tattoos are amongst the most common side effects... Usually tattoo needles contain nickel (6–8%) and chromium (15–20%) both of which prompt a high rate of sensitization in the general population. As verified in pig skin, wear significantly increased upon tattooing with the suspected abrasive titanium dioxide white when compared to carbon black pigment... The evidence from our study clearly points to an additional entry of nickel to both skin and lymph nodes originating from tattoo needle wear...

A secret cyberattack against Iran in June wiped out a critical database used by Iran’s paramilitary arm to plot attacks against oil tankers and degraded Tehran’s ability to covertly target shipping traffic in the Persian Gulf, at least temporarily, according to senior American officials. Iran is still trying to recover information destroyed in the June 20 attack and restart some of the computer systems — including military communications networks — taken offline, the officials said.

FBI and IRS agents raided the home of UAW President Gary Jones in Canton at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday. Agents also raided the union’s northern Michigan conference center and other UAW locations across the country. The raids were a major step as federal officials ramped up their corruption investigation of the autoworkers union, which is in the midst of contract negotiations with Detroit automakers. As many as a dozen agents collected evidence from Jones' home on Wildrose Drive in Canton, and they'll remain there "as long as it takes," Special Agent Mara Schneider said from the site late in the morning. The search lasted six hours.

It was switched silently between 6 and 7 August, and Facebook is yet to state why. Speaking to Business Insider, an expert in digital law said the change is a way of Facebook acknowledging that the site isn't really free, as users are paying with their data...

The attack occurred on June 20, the same day that President Trump called off a retaliatory airstrike after Iran shot down a US drone. Iran is still trying to recover information destroyed in the attack and to restart Iranian computer systems and military communications networks that were taken offline, Wednesday’s report said.

The attack was part of a sustained and undeclared cyberconflict between the US and Iran...

“We are in regular contact with the FTC on many issues and products, including Messenger Kids,” Facebook Vice President Kevin Martin wrote in a letter to two Democrats... “Based on our review, we have determined that the technical error you have inquired above arose in October 2018. The fix we implemented is designed to prevent the issue from happening again,” Facebook said in the letter.

The senators had written to Facebook on Aug. 6 questioning whether there was a “worrying pattern” of poor privacy protection for children using the Messenger Kids app and sought transparency.The senators were “disturbed” to learn that the application allowed thousands of children to join group chats in which not all members of the group were approved by their parents, they said in the letter to Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg. In July, Facebook agreed to pay a record $5 billion fine to resolve an FTC probe into its privacy practices...

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has barred Democratic staffers from the House Oversight Committee from visiting Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facilities at the U.S.-Mexico border as part of a planned trip this week after committee staff allegedly were “disruptive” and refused to follow instructions during their last trip, Fox News has learned... But sources told Fox News that DHS has revoked access to CBP facilities for the upcoming visit, citing staff behavior that “interfered” with law enforcement operations -- including refusing to leave one site after their scheduled window, skipping some tours and being "rude" to officers. A DHS official said that ICE visits will still be allowed this week, but with a two-hour time limit.

A source close to Deutsche Bank says Trump’s tax returns show he pays very little income tax and, more importantly, that his loans have Russian co-signers.

If true, that explains every kind word Trump has ever said about Russia and Putin. @TheLastWord 10pm

— Lawrence O'Donnell (@Lawrence) August 28, 2019

Last night I made an error in judgment by reporting an item about the president’s finances that didn’t go through our rigorous verification and standards process. I shouldn’t have reported it and I was wrong to discuss it on the air. I will address the issue on my show tonight.

— Lawrence O'Donnell (@Lawrence) August 28, 2019

Mike Krieger summed the farce up best:

The mass media is desperate to propagate a fake narrative, so they keep making “mistakes.” Over and over. For 3 freakin years. It really is that simple.

— Michael Krieger (@LibertyBlitz) August 28, 2019

Dorian strengthened into a hurricane near U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and the Bahamas. By the weekend, it may threaten off Florida's coast as a Category 3 Hurricane

Four people have emerged from a home tied to a Secret Service investigation... Around 11:30 a.m., a man reportedly came out of the house, followed by a woman. The SWAT team continued to call for man to come out with hands up. Police fired two rounds of tear gas into the home, resulting in a second man coming out of the home. Additional suspects are believed to be inside the home... The Fairfield Police Department said Secret Service agents came to Fairfield for an operation and that someone barricaded themselves inside. At that point, the Secret Service got help from Fairfield police. The Fairfield department’s SWAT Team and Crisis Negotiations Team are at the scene, with negotiators working to convince the person inside the home to surrender

Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says any peace agreement will be based on security conditions on the ground. He says Afghan forces aren’t yet able to secure the country without help from allied forces and it’s not yet clear when they’ll be. Defense Secretary Mark Esper says the U.S. will keep all options on the table.

The Epoch Times interviewed whistleblower parents, children, and a mental health professional in the county who spoke of how they say children are being sexually abused in the system that is meant to protect them...