Contaminated Drinking Water Found at 90 More Army, Guard Bases…
September 13, 2019
The drinking water at 90 Army, Army Reserve and Army National Guard posts is contaminated with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS chemicals, linked to birth defects and certain cancers, according to a new report from the service.
The additions bring the number of Army installations contaminated with chemicals contained in firefighting foam, stain-resistant fabrics, nonstick cookware and other products from 18 to 108, according to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a nonprofit advocacy group based in Washington, D.C.
The Truly Baffling Case of the 15th century Voynich Manuscript…
September 13, 2019
It contains over 113 unidentified plant species, astrological drawings of Zodiac symbols, images of what appear to be pregnant women wading in fluids, and sketches of over 100 species of medicinal herbs and roots, complete with watercolors and continuous pages of text that might be recipes, with flowers marking the margins. The delightfully bizarre book, known as the "Voynich manuscript," dates back to the 15th century. And no one knows what the hell any of it means... researchers have tried—to varying results—using artificial intelligence to decipher the weird collection, though many of those efforts end up discredited. So what's going on: Is the Voynich manuscript a bunch of gibberish, and that's why AI can't solve it, or is this a sign that AI isn't as adept as we thought when it comes to understanding languages?
California bill would ban private prisons, ICE detention centers…
September 13, 2019
The Chronicle reported that AB32, which bars California from holding people convicted of a crime in private facilities starting in 2028, was approved by the Legislature and is awaiting Gov. Gavin Newsom's approval. Newsom made a campaign pledge to ban private prisons in the state when he ran for the governorship in 2018. The governor's office said he "will evaluate the bill on its own merits." According to the Guardian, Assemblyman Rob Bonta, who originally wrote the bill to only include the state prison authority's contract with private, for-profit prison companies, rewrote the bill in June to include the California ICE facilities.
Huge decline in songbirds linked to common insecticide…
September 13, 2019
A first ever study of birds in the wild found that a migrating songbird that ate the equivalent of one or two seeds treated with a neonicotinoid insecticide suffered immediate weight loss, forcing it to delay its journey. Although the birds recovered, the delay could severely harm their chances of surviving and reproducing... Spring bird migration occurs when farmers are planting, and most crops in the United States and Canada are grown with neonicotinoid-treated seeds. Birds may suffer repeated exposure at successive stopover sites where they rest and feed.
SpaceX says it will deploy satellite broadband across US faster than expected…
September 13, 2019
In a filing on August 30, SpaceX asked the Federal Communications Commission for permission to "adjust the orbital spacing of its satellites." With this change, each SpaceX launch would deploy satellites in "three different orbital planes" instead of just one, "accelerating the process of deploying satellites covering a wider service area."
"This adjustment will accelerate coverage to southern states and US territories, potentially expediting coverage to the southern continental United States by the end of the next hurricane season and reaching other US territories by the following hurricane season," SpaceX told the FCC. The Atlantic and Pacific hurricane seasons each begin in the spring and run to November 30 each year.
President Trump Delivers Remarks at the 2019 House Republican Conference Member Retreat Dinner
September 13, 2019
Google is changing its search algorithm to prioritize ‘original news’ reporting. As usual, humans will train it…
September 13, 2019
Google is changing its news search algorithms again, in a move that’s sure to annoy everybody. Today’s announcement is that the company is going to try to emphasize “original reporting,” which it will “elevate” in its search results. To do so, it has distributed new instructions to its cadre of 10,000+ human reviewers, whose feedback helps train the Google algorithm that actually delivers search rankings.
It will annoy everybody because fundamentally nobody outside Google really knows exactly what the repercussions of this change will be (and maybe people inside Google don’t know either). Sometimes these search changes are minor, other times these announcements fundamentally change the business models of hundreds of websites. Plus, anytime a big tech company gets anywhere near the idea of ranking news these days, all hell breaks loose...
Turkey Is Moving Forward With Plans to Flood a 10,000-Year-Old City…
September 13, 2019
The ancient city of Hasankeyf, which sits on the banks of the Tigris River in southeastern Turkey, is believed to be one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited settlements, with a human history stretching back some 10,000 years. Neolithic peoples carved caves into cliff sides, and Hasankeyf’s modern inhabitants continue to live in those dwellings today. Romans, Byzantines, Mongols and Arabs have all left their mark on the city. But within the next few weeks, this precious historic site could disappear forever, submerged under water as part of a controversial dam project.
Plans for the Ilusi dam have been in the works for decades—as have bitter efforts to put a stop to it. According to Pinar Sevinclidir of CBS News, the project was first devised in the 1950s, but due to legal battles, only broke ground in 2006. The dam is slated to irrigate the surrounding area and fuel a power plant, which will in turn generate 4,200 gigawatts of electricity for Turkey each year—“similar in capacity to a small nuclear plant,” Sevinclidir notes.
US loses ‘hundreds of millions of dollars’ to antiquated international postal union, White House says…
September 13, 2019
The Trump administration is once again threatening to leave the international postal union, claiming its “antiquated rules” have resulted in the U.S. subsidizing packages from China at the expense of American workers and manufacturers... the White House says the agency’s current rate structure has resulted in the U.S. and the U.S. Postal Service losing money on international letters and packages – especially from countries like China...
Pfizer launches pilot with home robot Mabu to study patient response to AI…
September 13, 2019
Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer today announced plans to launch a one-year pilot program with robotics company Catalia Health, maker of Mabu, a home robot that coaches patients on health and prescription drugs. Mabu uses voice interactions powered by conversational AI to assess a user’s mood, record data, manage symptoms, and provide helpful information. The robot then supplies information back to medical professionals — like caregivers or clinicians — such as the frequency of medication usage or questions the robot was unable to answer. Mabu is also able to supply personalized responses and deploy affective computing to predict a user’s emotional state.
Interior Department says it will temporarily block Democratic aides from official oversight trips…
September 13, 2019
"The Department of the Interior will not be funding any travel for House Appropriation staff until the ethics issue with their staff is resolved by Chairwoman (Betty) McCollum and the Committee and the assurance is made that all our employees will be treated equally, fairly and respectfully," an Interior Department spokeswoman told CNN. The spokeswoman did not comment on what directly led to the fallout between the two bodies. NBC News, which first reported the spat, reported late Wednesday it involved a "complaint over staff behavior" involving an Interior Department employee who attended an oversight trip.
WaPo hit piece on 8Chans Jim Watkins…
September 13, 2019