Spanish pop singer Shakira acquitted of tax fraud, court orders Spain to hand back $70 million

Good news! Soak the rich by the socialist Spanish government failed?

"Summary

• Spanish High Court acquits Shakira in 2011 case on appeal
• Court orders Treasury to reimburse her with $70 million, including interest
• Tax agency will appeal ruling, no repayment until appeal ends

Spain's High Court has acquitted ‌Colombian pop star Shakira of tax fraud and overturned the 55 million euro ($64 million) fine imposed in 2021 by the Spanish tax agency, according to a court document seen by Reuters on Monday.

Acting on an appeal ​by the "Hips Don't Lie" singer, the court ordered the Treasury to reimburse her with ​over 60 million euros ($70 million), including interest, Shakira's defence said.

The judge ruled ⁠that authorities had failed to prove that Shakira spent more than 183 days in Spain ​in 2011, as required by Spanish law to be considered a tax resident in the country. ​It does not affect tax years after 2011. ..."

Shakira acquitted of tax fraud, court orders Spain to hand back $70 million | Reuters

Credits: Der Tag beginnt mit NIUS

Shakira (Source)

Elon Musk: We’ll launch self-driving technology in Israel soon

Good news! Let's get rid of steering wheels!

"... Musk said, "I’m a big fan of the entrepreneurship that comes from Israel. Israel is achieving amazing results relative to the size of its population and is definitely number 1 in the world. I take my hat off to Israel for its innovation." ..."

Elon Musk: We’ll launch self-driving technology in Israel soon - Globes "Musk did not visit Israel as planned but did address the International Smart Mobility Summit 2026 in Tel Aviv in a live video."

Russia Faces Latent Banking Crisis as Bad Assets Breach Critical 10% Threshold

Good news, if confirmed!

When will the lethargic, apathetic Russian Slav(e)s/Serfs finally get rid of their last tsar, the megalomaniac, warmonger and war criminal Putin the Terrible! He is an ugly remnant of the Cold War and a former KGB agent. He is a wannabe Stalin. Please Russian people make the world a better, more peaceful place again! How many more young Russian men will be killed or maimed before you act!

"... The analytical group, which regularly briefs the Russian government, confirmed that toxic assets have held above the danger line for a third consecutive month. ...

By aggressively masking defaults and forcing the artificial restructuring of non-performing corporate loans, state entities have successfully prevented retail panics and bank runs. However, economists warn that this practice merely pushes the liability directly onto the state budget, which is already under immense strain.  ...

The CMACP noted that corporate liquidity is drying up rapidly. Nearly 50% of all registered Russian enterprises cited severe payment delays from corporate partners as their single greatest existential threat heading into mid-2026. This chain reaction of unpaid invoices between contractors has created a massive backlog of default risks that local banks are struggling to absorb. ..."

Russia Faces Latent Banking Crisis as Bad Assets Breach Critical 10% Threshold "The Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine has highlighted a critical report from Moscow’s pro-Kremlin Center for Macroeconomic Analysis and Short-Term Forecasting (CMACP) revealing that toxic and non-performing assets in the Russian banking sector have exceeded 10%.

Under International Monetary Fund (IMF) methodology, breaching this 10% threshold for three consecutive months marks the definitive boundary of a systemic banking crisis. Analysts note that the crisis remains latent because state-dominated banks are masking defaults through artificial loan restructuring."

Trump Administration Ends Controversial Russian Oil Sanctions Waivers

Good news! Bravo! Tighten the screws on the megalomaniac and warmonger Putin the Terrible!

Most Western media seem to totally ignore the almost daily attacks on Russian crude oil production and refining by the Ukraine, which also undoubtedly contribute to the high global crude oil prices!

"The Trump administration has officially terminated its short-lived, highly controversial sanctions-waiver program for Russian oil, reverting to a policy of maximum economic pressure as global energy vectors shift ...

The expiration of the waivers will likely defuse an increasingly bitter diplomatic rift between Washington and its primary European allies. Across the EU, capitals had vocally condemned the US policy shift, arguing that providing any regulatory leeway allowed Moscow to profit from the instability generated by its direct alliance with Tehran. ..."

Trump Administration Ends Controversial Russian Oil Sanctions Waivers "The Trump administration has decided not to extend the temporary sanctions waivers for Russian crude oil, marking the end of a brief, highly controversial period of economic relief. Initially issued in March and extended through General License 134B in April, the exemptions allowed part of Russia’s shadow fleet to sell oil already at sea to help stabilize a global market roiled by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz."

US Lets Russia Oil Sales Waiver Expire as Global Supply Concerns Grow (behind paywall)

How the Ukraine is driving the advances in drone/robot warfare with a very young defense minister

Food for thought!

What are ABC weapons? Actually, the acronym should be now AABC weapons. Atomic, autonomous, biological and chemical weapons!

The defense minister of the Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov is only 35 years old! He promotes the "war of the machines"! The President of the Ukraine Volodymyr Selensky is a comedian, his wife Olena Zelenska is a screenwriter. What a historical meeting of the minds!

"Ukraine’s 35-year-old defense minister Mykhailo Fedorov is pushing the military to adopt AI-powered autonomous weapons as leverage to force Russia toward settlement. The tech entrepreneur, four months into the role after leading government digitization, believes warfare should be progressively offloaded to machines: “autonomous weapons are the new nuclear weapons.”

AI currently assists with drone target recognition; Fedorov envisions unmanned systems fighting entirely without soldiers in the kill zone.

His strategy—Air, Land, Economy—aims to intercept 95 percent of incoming Russian strikes, attrit Russian forces faster than they can be replaced, and cripple the Russian economy.

Traditional commanders have pushed back, questioning whether the vision disconnects from battlefield reality, though frontline brigades have largely embraced the technology.

Fedorov is also monetizing Ukraine’s war data, including over five million annotated drone videos, through Avenger Labs, licensing it to allied companies to train AI models on the condition that Ukraine receives the resulting systems. ..."

Data Points: Anthropic passes OpenAI in business adoption

Enter the Killer Robots: The Ukrainian Forging the Future of Warfare (behind paywall)

Ukrainian defense minister Mykhailo Fedorov (Source)

ArXiv cracks down on AI-assisted papers if incontrovertible evidence is found

Good news! ArXiv is besides OpenReview one of the major, open preprint repositories for research papers in machine learning and AI.

arXiv became an independent nonprofit in April 2026 after 35 years of collaboration with collaboration with Cornell University.

Caveat: I could not find an official announcement for this except the mentioned X post by Thomas Dietterich.

"ArXiv will ban authors for a year if their submissions contain “incontrovertible evidence” of unvetted AI-generated work. Computer science section chair Thomas Dietterich clarified that authors are responsible for checking AI output for hallucinated references, plagiarism, errors, and misleading content. Incontrovertible evidence means obvious markers of unchecked LLM generation, including meta-comments telling the author to fill in real data, or summary instructions left in the text.

After the ban, authors must have a submission accepted at a peer-reviewed venue before ArXiv will host their work again. ..."

Data Points: Anthropic passes OpenAI in business adoption

Research repository ArXiv will ban authors for a year if they let AI do all the work

The legal liabilities of some of America’s biggest home builders have surged in recent years as buyers increasingly sue for damages from alleged construction defects.

Bad news!

A company that uses subcontractors is responsible for the work/services/products of these subcontractors! 

"Homeowners say builders are using cheaper materials, cutting corners and hiring unqualified and undersupervised subcontractors, so their homes are shoddier.

Builders say that the claims reflect a tiny fraction of homes and that errors are typically subcontractors’ fault, not theirs. They also say plaintiffs’ lawyers are encouraging homeowners to pursue dubious claims in hopes of landing a lucrative settlement."

Wall Street Journal What's news

President Trump said holds off on a planned U.S. attack on Iran at the request of Gulf leaders

Good news! Good to know that the Arab Gulf States are involved in the negotiations!

"President Trump said he would hold off on a planned U.S. attack on Iran at the request of Gulf leaders to make room for talks with Tehran over a prospective deal to end the war.

 

He said the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E. asked him to pause the attack set for tomorrow because “serious negotiations are now taking place.” A day earlier, he’d warned that the “clock is ticking” and that if Iran didn’t move on peace negotiations “there won’t be anything left of them.” Tehran has refused to meet U.S. demands that it dismantle key parts of its nuclear program and fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz."

Wall Street Journal What's news

The China question is tearing US biotech apart

Very clever or how China lures biotech companies from heavily overregulated Western countries!

Communists know how to play capitalists! 😊 There is e.g. this famous quote: "The Capitalists will sell us the rope with which we will hang them"

Again, was the SARS-CoV-2/Covid 19 virus developed at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (an institute known for dual use research), which was funded by the federal government of the US under Anthony Fauci!

"The problem is China. [US] Fledgling startups and pharmaceutical giants alike are addicted to Chinese drugs, filling their pipelines with would-be blockbusters developed at enviable speed and bought on the cheap. They’ve spent some $60 billion on Chinese molecules in the first three months of 2026 alone, according to state figures. That’s on pace to double last year’s total, which was already 10 times larger than the one from 2021.

No one disagrees that it’s good business. And more drugs moving swiftly through development means hope for patients around the world desperately awaiting new medicines. ..."

 

America's Chinese biotech question: A road to riches or ruin? (behind paywall) "Its ascent is forcing U.S. firms and investors to pick a side: Is the country an ally or an existential threat?"

Die Klima-Katastrophe ist abgesagt – aber wir machen weiter von Roland Tichy

Wird die Bananenrepublik D endlich aus dem Klimawahn und der absurden Energiewende herauskommen? Mal schauen!

Das Land der Dichter und Denker hat völlig versagt wenn es um globale Erwärmung bzw Klimawandel geht! 

Die Mauer fiel und der Sozialismus breitete sich in ganz Deutschland aus!

Am deutschen (Un)Wesen wird die Welt nicht genesen!

Das deutsche Unwort Klimaschutz kann es mit den schlimmsten Unworten der Nazizeit aufnehmen! Was für eine Absurdität und Vermessenheit!

"Der Weltklimarat sagt den Weltuntergang ab. Die 44 verantwortlichen „Wissenschaftler“ des „Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change“, also die Hohepriester des Klimawandels, verantwortlich für die Klimaszenarien, behaupten das Gegenteil dessen, was uns jahrelang in Angst und Schrecken versetzt hat. Es ist eine bahnbrechende Veröffentlichung. Unter der Federführung von Prof. Detlef van Vuuren wird das Szenario RCP8.5, wonach die Temperaturerhöhungen bis zu fünf Grad Celsius im Jahre 2100 führen sollten, als „unplausibel“ verworfen und aus zukünftigen Berichten entfernt. Das ist eine Sensation. Zumindest sollte es Anlass zum Nachdenken sein – eine Überprüfung einleiten: Ist die darauf basierende Angstmacherei und sind die eingeleiteten Maßnahmen wirklich angemessen? ...

Irren ist menschlich. Aber nicht zur Kenntnis zu nehmen, dass die Grundlage der Entscheidung weggefallen ist, ist mehr als sich irren. Es ist Realitätsverleugnung, die schlimmste Folgen in Kauf nimmt. Ist es noch Dummheit, schon Verbrechen oder schiere Bösartigkeit einer Elite, die nur noch um sich selbst kreist? Das werden Historiker zu entscheiden haben. ...

Skandal Nummer zwei in der nach oben offenen Skala: Denn mit diesem schon lange unglaubwürdigen Szenario der Fünf-Grad-Erwärmung wurde im politischen Raum gearbeitet. Aus den überhitzten Phantasien oder den leichtfertigen Fehlern der Wissenschaftler wurden Gesetze. Es wurden Gesetze verabschiedet wie

• Einführung der ständig steigenden CO2-Steuer, die jeden von uns belastet, der heizt, fährt, wohnt.
• Das Verbrennerverbot, das unsere Automobilindustrie vernichtet, weil angeblich E-Autos klimafreundlicher sein sollen.
• Kohlekraftwerke werden abgeschaltet, was die Energieversorgung wahnsinnig verteuert und zum wirtschaftlichen Absturz Deutschlands führt.

Klima, Klima, Klima wurde zum Anlass genommen, jeden Lebens- und Wirtschaftsbereich umzukrempeln. Kein Lebensbereich blieb unangetastet. Jeder grüne Prediger konnte neue Forderungen stellen, die auch, wenn sie unsinnig waren, umgehend umgesetzt wurden. Und fast alle haben sich grün angestrichen und mitgemacht. ...

Auch Natur wird dem Klimaschutz geopfert. Wiesen und Wälder verschwinden, werden zu Industrieflächen mit heulenden Maschinen und Solarpaneelen, die das Land austrocknen und künstliche Hitze erzeugen, statt natürliche Abkühlung zuzulassen. Ergebnis: Wegen angeblich drohender Klimaerwärmung erhitzen wir ganz konkret die Welt. Jedes größere Unternehmen muss Klimaschutzpläne vorlegen. Kapital fließt nur noch in klimagerechtes Wirtschaften. Über allem droht eine riesige Klimabürokratie, in jeder Gemeinde, in jedem Amt, EU-weit und alle anderen Alternativen und konkurrierenden Bedürfnisse werden erdrosselt. ..."

Die Klima-Katastrophe ist abgesagt – aber wir machen weiter "Ausgerechnet die Klima-Götter vom IPCC haben die große Katastrophe für den Planeten abgesagt. Es wäre Zeit für Besinnung und Handlungsalternativen. Aber Deutschland irrt weiter."

Why There Is No Climate Crisis | Natural Climate Cycles Explained

Very recommendable!

This article presents some of reasons why climate change (warming and cooling periods) is natural and mostly beyond human influence! My blog has covered most of these reasons before.

Climate on Earth is a very complex natural phenomenon that we still do not understand very well. The hypothesis of greenhouse gases influence on climate change is too primitive  and more comparable to superstition!

We still do not even understand what goes on in our oceans that affects the climate on Earth! E.g. the multi-decadal ocean oscillations were only discovered in the 1980s/1990s.

Most climate models on which so much of this alarmism and hysteria depends, are more like junk or garbage in, garbage out!

Remember, the last ice age, i.e. the Little Ice Age, only ended between 1800-1850 CE. What follows an ice age? A warming period?

My summary of some of the causes of climate change as presented in the below article:

• The solar system travels within the Milky Way galaxy
• The Milky Way galaxy travels within the universe
• Variations in Earth’s orbit, axial tilt, and precession. E.g. the Earth's precession follows an about 26,000 year cycle. This precession is not a perfect circle, it is wobbly!
• Do temperature rises actually precede increases in atmospheric CO2?
• Solar activity is not constant, it varies and comes in various cycles of different lengths

"... Beyond terrestrial proxies, Kurz introduces cosmic influences on climate, particularly the role of galactic cosmic rays. These rays, produced by supernovae, vary depending on the solar system’s position within the Milky Way. Kurz claims that every 140 million years, Earth passes through spiral arms of the galaxy, increasing cosmic ray flux. He highlights research suggesting that this correlates with temperature fluctuations, arguing that cosmic rays influence cloud formation by generating ions that act as condensation nuclei. Increased cloud cover, in turn, reflects solar radiation and cools the planet. This mechanism, he suggests, provides an alternative explanation for large-scale climate cycles. ...

Milankovitch cycles, which involve variations in Earth’s orbit, axial tilt, and precession. These cycles, occurring over tens to hundreds of thousands of years, are widely accepted in climate science as drivers of ice ages. Kurz emphasizes that these natural cycles explain historical temperature fluctuations and argues that carbon dioxide plays a secondary role. ...

studies showing that temperature increases precede rises in atmospheric CO2 by several hundred years. He argues that this lag indicates causation flows from temperature to CO2, not vice versa. ...

Another major theme in the discussion is solar variability. Kurz outlines several types of solar cycles, including the 11-year Schwabe cycle and longer millennial-scale cycles identified through isotopic analysis (such as carbon-14 and beryllium-10). These cycles, he argues, align closely with known historical climate periods such as the Roman Warm Period, the Medieval Warm Period, and the Little Ice Age. He suggests that fluctuations in solar activity significantly influence Earth’s climate, though he acknowledges that short-term satellite measurements show only modest temperature changes. ..."

Thomas Kurz: Why There Is No Climate Crisis | Natural Climate Cycles Explained

Why solar energy is more expensive than coal in Germany

Recommendable!

"... Electricity is not a product

Electricity is often treated as a commodity or a product. A unit of energy sold at a price per kWh.

In reality this is not correct as electricity is a service provided on demand 24/7/365.

Therefore, it must be delivered reliably, at the right voltage, frequency, phase, and current every millisecond of every day. That requires a highly complex system made up of generation, reserve capacity, storage, transmission networks, and stability mechanisms.

Once you look at electricity this way, the question to be asked, changes quite a bit.

We are no longer just asking “what does this technology cost?” but rather “what does it cost to make the entire system work?” Because what would you do with electricity if it is not delivered to your location, ready for use? ...

Even institutions like the OECD and UNECE now acknowledge that increasing the share of wind and solar can raise total system costs  ... Not because the technologies themselves are inherently flawed, but because they require additional infrastructure and support to function within a stable grid. ...

The paradox of adding more wind and solar

At first glance, expanding wind and solar seems like a straightforward path to cheaper and “cleaner” energy…but systems rarely behave that simply.

As their share increases, the cracks start to show….

• additional balancing and backup capacity is required
• grid infrastructure must expand and become more complex
• storage becomes a necessity and eats away at the generated energy
• market value declines through falling capture rates and the list goes on

…"

Why solar energy is more expensive than coal in Germany "The more solar and wind energy is deployed, the more it reshapes the system around it and the more costs shift into areas that are often not immediately visible but should be considered, says energy expert Lars Schernikau."

Peking statt Beijing

Wann wird die (Bananenrepublik) Deutschland endlich offiziell Peking in Beijing (oder ähnliches) umbenennen?

Das Wort Peking stammt aus der Kolonialzeit und ist seit etwa 1970 obsolet! 

Wie lange sollen die Chinesen noch beleidigt werden!

Diese Wortwahl Ente ist keine Peking Ente! Das ist schwer verdaulich!

So z.B. die deutsche Botschaft in der Hauptstadt von China!

English for trippers: A gloom, a boom, and a doom in one room

Zoom in!

Disclaimer

Since end of February, I  am blogging from behind the Great Firewall of China.

My Internet service in China is very spotty. Thus, I am not able to blog as usual.

Zwei Drittel aller gewalttätigen Angriffe auf Politiker in 2025 gegen AfD-Repräsentanten. Politiker aller anderen Parteien wurden 62 Mal Opfer von gewalttätigen Attacken.

Neues aus der Bananenrepublik D! Wenn das den Tatsachen entspricht ist das ziemlich schlimm!

Kein Politiker einer gesetzlich zugelassenen, das Grundgesetz achtenden politischen Partei sollte Gewalttätern zum Opfer fallen! Völlig unakzeptabel!

"... Zwei von drei Gewalttaten gegen Politiker haben 2025 einen AfD-Repräsentanten getroffen. Das geht aus einer Antwort der Bundesregierung auf eine Kleine Anfrage des AfD-Bundestagsabgeordneten Martin Hess hervor. Demnach gab es 2025 insgesamt 121 gewalttätige Angriffe auf Mitglieder der AfD. Politiker aller anderen Parteien wurden 62 Mal Opfer von gewalttätigen Attacken. ..."

Jeder Bürger spürt es: Diesem Kanzler wird nichts mehr gelingen

Zwei Drittel aller gewalttätigen Angriffe auf Politiker treffen AfD-Repräsentanten

Jeder Bürger spürt es: Diesem Kanzler wird nichts mehr gelingen

Schlagzeile des Tages aus der Bananenrepublik D!

So ist das manchmal mit lebenslangen Berufspolitikern! Wer nichts wird, wird Politiker! Vielleicht täte eine grundgesetzliche Amtszeitbegrenzung für Politiker nicht schaden.

Werden vielleicht Keir Starmer und Friedrich Merz gemeinsam zurücktreten? Zu wünschen wäre das!

Wann wird der stetige Niedergang der EU aufgehalten! Wie lange sind  Kasper wie Ursula von der Leiden/Leyen oder Christine Lagarde immer noch im Amt!

"Jeder Bürger sieht und spürt es: Bundeskanzler Friedrich Merz ist ans Ende aller politischen Kraft gelangt. Seine Zustimmungswerte (Ablehnungswerte wäre das treffendere Wort) sind geradezu apokalyptisch.

Gewaltige Mehrheiten im Land halten Merz‘ Arbeit nicht nur für katastrophal schlecht, sie verlieren durch seine unberechenbare, irrlichternde und rundum unzuverlässige Amtsführung genau jene Zuversicht, die Merz nach eigener Aussage eigentlich ausstrahlen will. ...  kommentiert NIUS-Chef Julian Reichelt."

"... Merz gelingt es kaum, mal unfallfrei auf einer Bühne vor Teenagern zu sitzen, ohne massiven Schaden anzurichten. Entweder beleidigt er Millionen Brasilianer, Amerikaner oder, vor wenigen Tagen beim Katholischen Kirchentag, Millionen Deutsche im Ehrenamt, denen er abspricht, so gesellschaftlich wichtig zu sein wie die Parteien, die das Land an den wirtschaftlichen Abgrund geführt haben. Man muss diese Szene gesehen haben, wie verächtlich Merz seine Worte über ehrenamtliche Sporttrainer oder Umweltschützer geradezu ausspuckt, „nur mit punktuellem Engagement, so ehrenwert das alles ist, Musik, Sport, alles gut“, um das ganze Ausmaß seines debakelhaften Scheiterns zu erahnen. Kein Mensch in irgendeinem Amt käme auf die Idee, derart herablassend mit den Bürgern zu sprechen. Kein Mensch, außer Friedrich Merz. ..."

Jeder Bürger spürt es: Diesem Kanzler wird nichts mehr gelingen "Außerdem: Zwei Drittel aller gewalttätigen Angriffe auf Politiker treffen AfD-Repräsentanten"

Jeder Bürger spürt es: Diesem Kanzler wird nichts mehr gelingen. (Kommentar)

Molecular quantum nanosensors can precisely measure the temperature inside of individual living cells

Amazing stuff! This could be breakthrough!

"A ‘thermometer’ made of quantum nanosensors can detect the temperature in individual cells. With it, researchers have found that temperature varies by as much as 1 ºC in different parts of a cancer cell.

The sensors could also detect signs of oxidative stress and the production of free radicals, reactive molecules that can damage DNA.

The crystal fragments that made up the tool didn’t seem to damage cancer cells when injected or absorbed, but the researchers want to make them even smaller so they can “spy on cellular activities” ... “It’s a fantastic milestone,” s... “It will be so useful for disease detection.”"

"... The MoQN is a technique utilizing a special kind of quantum crystal which is injected into a tissue to be monitored. The crystal reads the surrounding temperature, and this signal is read by an optical magnetic process called optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR). Conceptually, it has some things in common with the way MRI machines work ... 

The MoQN is nontoxic and can read temperatures within living cells. Also, by applying a quantum property known as molecular spin, MoQNs are fabricated with incredible precision, yielding great homogeneity leading to very high accuracy. ..."

From the abstract:

"Quantitatively mapping temperature within living cells is essential for understanding subcellular biophysical processes; however, existing intracellular quantum sensors such as nanodiamonds with nitrogen-vacancy centers, quantum dots, and fluorescent proteins face limitations in material heterogeneity, cytotoxicity, and thermometric specificity.

Here, we present molecular quantum nanosensors (MoQNs) as a next-generation platform for intracellular quantum sensing. MoQNs embed pentacene molecular spin qubits within para-terphenyl nanocrystals coated with Pluronic F-127, yielding a coherent spin system with molecular-level uniformity and long spin coherence times under physiological conditions.

By chemically suppressing hyperfine interactions, we enhance spectral resolution and demonstrate spatially resolved absolute temperature sensing inside the cytoplasm and nuclei of cancer cells.

MoQNs thus offer a chemically tunable, biologically compatible platform for quantum-level detection of thermal and biochemical states of intracellular environments."

Nature Briefing: Cancer

Quantum ‘thermometer’ takes temperatures inside living cancer cells "Nanosensors showed that different parts of the cell varied by as much as 1 ºC." (no public access)

Tiny molecular quantum thermometer can measure the insides of cells (original news release) "A new way to record temperatures at microscopic scales with incredibly high precision"

Molecular quantum nanosensors functioning in living cells (open access)

Intracellular quantum sensing. A diagram showing how MoQN can report the temperature from within cells. In this example, a cancer cell containing MoQN can be measured by an external ODMR when a small microwave signal is applied to activate the MoQN.

Fig. 1. Schematics of in-cell ODMR using MoQNs and CW-ODMR and pulsed-ODMR characterization.

Fig. 4. Absolute temperature measurement inside the nuclei of cancer cells.

China: Are the Chinese people abandoning the Chinese characters?

It will probably take several decades if not longer! Slowly, but surely? Caution: speculation!

When Chinese people type messages on their smartphone using e.g. the WeChat app they use a QWERTY keyboard to find Chinese characters. Just an observation!

If true, then this would be one of the greatest achievements in human history. Let's get rid of the Tower of Babel!

Chinese characters are beautiful calligraphy and brush artwork, but hard to learn e.g. for Westerners.

P.S. I just blogged here about one of the major mistakes of Israel since 1948. They missed the opportunity to give up the traditional Hebrew written language right from the start.

100 Basic Chinese Characters (Source)

The FCC has loosened rules that constrained the number of low-Earth-orbit internet satellites

Good news! However, how many are too many satellites in orbit? This discussion has been going on for several decades.

Will other countries follow? I bet Russia, India, and China will not hesitate.

"The FCC has loosened rules that constrained low-Earth-orbit internet satellites by limiting the strength of the signals they could send to customers on the ground. Under the new rules, satellite networks such as Starlink could use up to eight satellites to serve a given area and frequency band simultaneously, up from one under the old limits, allowing the networks to serve more users at once and potentially improve internet speeds."

"“The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted on Thursday [4/30/26] to modernize its satellite spectrum-sharing rules, which could increase capacity for space-based broadband services by up to sevenfold…

The recent announcement comes as a revamp of the Equivalent Power Flux Density (EPFD) framework, developed in the late 1990s. ..."

Doomslayer: Progress Roundup - by Malcolm Cochran

New FCC Rules Could Drastically Improve Starlink Capacity

India to build a comprehensive catalogue of genetic variations and diversity of the entire population, so far uncovering 44 million new genetic variants from less then 10,000 healthy individuals

Good news! What a gigantic undertaking to the benefit of humanity!

Note the Nature journal could not resist to use the ideological term "Eurocentric"!

"GenomeIndia is a pioneering scientific project funded by the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India. The project marks a landmark collaboration of 20 academic and research institutions to drive a genomics-based health revolution for India.

The primary objective of GenomeIndia is to build a comprehensive catalogue of genetic variations that reflect the unique diversity of the Indian population. ..."

"“A genetic atlas emerging from India’s most extensive genomic sequencing exercise has revealed vast diversity in the population, with nearly 130 million genetic variants, almost a third of which have not been reported previously.

The GenomeIndia project analysed the whole genomes of 9,768 healthy people from 83 populations, uncovering 44 million variants absent from global scientific databases, including gnomAD, 1000 Genomes Project and GenomeAsia. ..."

"... The atlas captures many rare variants from the DNA of specific communities, reflecting a long history of migration, isolation, and marriage within a group (endogamy) ..."

"... Some tribal groups show genetic homozygosity more than five times higher than Ashkenazi Jewish and Finnish populations, considered global benchmarks of genetic isolation. This elevates the risk of recessive genetic diseases — conditions requiring two defective copies of the same gene — which become far more likely when both parents trace back to the same small ancestral pool.

27 of 29 tribal populations carried at least one disease-causing variant at clinically meaningful frequencies.

In one tribal group from southern India, a harmful change in the HGD gene linked to alkaptonuria — a rare metabolic disease that can cause serious damage to joints and organs — was found in 12.5% of people. It was absent from widely used reference datasets, and standard genetic tests built on existing databases likely miss it. ...

The dataset flags other such loss-of-function (LoF) variants linked to metabolic disorders — genetic alterations that inactivate or reduce a gene's functional capacity — such as in LPA and CD36, both central to lipid metabolism and cardiovascular risk. In all, it reports 15,849 high-confidence LoF variants across more than 7,000 genes, some of which heighten disease risk, while others may be neutral or even protective. ...

Among the known variants, the BCHE rs104893684 — linked to anaesthesia-related complications — stands out as far more widespread than previously thought. Detected in 29 of the 83 populations studied, it appears at frequencies above 1% in three of those groups, a level not previously recognised. Earlier evidence tied this variant to just one Indian population, prompting targeted screening advice. ..."

From the abstract:

"India, the most populous country, remains significantly underrepresented in the global genomics landscape. Previous efforts to catalog Indian genetic diversity were limited in scale, scope, and representation.

Here, we present the GenomeIndia dataset, comprising whole genome sequences of 9,768 healthy individuals from 83 populations spanning the ethnolinguistic and biogeographic spectrum of India.

We identify 129.93 million high-confidence biallelic variants, 44.03 million of which are previously unreported in global databases.

In contrast to large populations that show steady population growth and internal homogeneity, we observe low effective population sizes, significant genetic drift, and profound homozygosity in small tribal groups, likely shaped by antiquity, isolation, and endogamy.

We report multiple population-specific pharmacogenomic and deleterious variants, necessitating the integration of local genetic architecture and the inclusion of underrepresented South Asian genomes in global reference resources. Finally, we highlight the limited transferability of Eurocentric polygenic scores to Indian populations, and present an imputation panel that outperforms existing resources for both rare and common variants.

Together, our work fills a significant gap in the equity of global human genomics, and paves way for precision medicine strategies that will benefit a quarter of the world population."

India’s DNA Map Uncovers Millions of Genetic Variants - Human Progress

GenomeIndia (project website)

India’s DNA map uncovers millions of missing genetic variants "A vast study reveals deep diversity, hidden disease risks and exposes the limits of Eurocentric medicine."

An Atlas of Indian Genetic Diversity (open access)

America Is Experiencing a Productivity Miracle in the 2020s, estimate of long-run GDP growth rate raised

Good news! The economic effects of AI are probably not yet included.

"America’s productivity growth is recovering after years of post-financial-crisis stagnation. The Economist reports that US productivity has grown by about 2 percent a year over the past five years, up from 1 percent in the 2010s.

Reflecting that welcome news, the Federal Reserve recently raised its median estimate of America’s long-run GDP growth rate from 1.8 percent to 2 percent."

America Is Experiencing a Productivity Miracle - Human Progress

America is experiencing a productivity miracle (behind paywall) "AI hasn’t—yet—got much to do with it"

Surprising Capitalist Makeover Is Under Way in Sweden

Recommendable! To quote Ronald Reagan: "Government is not the solution to our problem government is the problem"

"Sweden, long treated as a model of democratic socialism, has spent the past three decades moving toward freer markets. Following a period of economic stagnation and a financial crisis in the early 1990s, the country cut taxes, restrained public spending, opened parts of education and healthcare to private providers, and generally liberalized the economy. ..."

"“For decades, Sweden was shorthand for the brand of high-tax, high-spend government that managed people’s lives from cradle to grave through state-run hospitals, schools and care homes.

No longer. With little fanfare, this Nordic country of 11 million has embraced capitalism. 

Today, nearly half of primary healthcare clinics are privately owned, many by private-equity firms. One in three public high schools is privately run, up from 20% in 2011. School operators are listed on the stock exchange.

Sweden’s experience has lessons—good and bad—for other rich countries ...

The capitalist makeover has allowed Sweden to do what few industrialized countries have managed in recent years: shrink the size of the state. That has enabled the government to sharply lower taxes and, economists say, sparked a surge in entrepreneurship and economic growth.

Its total public social spending bill—which includes healthcare, education and all welfare payments—has fallen to 24% of gross domestic product, similar to the U.S. and well below the over 30% for nations like France and Italy.

Sweden’s economy is expected to grow by around 2% a year through 2030, roughly the same pace as the U.S. and double the growth rates of France and Germany, according to an April forecast by the International Monetary Fund.”"

Doomslayer: Progress Roundup

Surprising Capitalist Makeover Is Under Way in Sweden - Human Progress

The World’s Most Surprising Capitalist Makeover Is Under Way in Sweden "The shake-up of cradle-to-grave care is lowering government spending, spurring innovation and stirring fears about those left behind"

Iran or its proxies launched three drones targeting a Nuclear Power Plant in Abu Dhabi

Bad news! Attacking nuclear power plants is another very bad idea by the theocratic dictatorship of Iran!

"Likely Iranian or Iranian-backed forces launched three drones targeting the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), on May 17. Radiation levels at the plant remain normal. The drones approached the target from the west. Iran has previously used drones to approach a target from an unexpected direction to obscure its responsibility and create challenges for air defenses. IRGC-affiliated media used the attack to attempt to drive a wedge between the UAE and other Gulf States by blaming Saudi Arabia for the attack. ...

The Emirati Defense Ministry announced that its air defenses intercepted two drones while the other struck an electrical generator at the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant in Abu Dhabi, causing a fire. ..."

Iran Update Evening Special Report, May 17, 2026 | Critical Threats

Deutsches Lasersystem schützt Ukraine vor russischen Drohnen

Gute Nachrichten! Eine neue deutsche Waffenschmiede?

Deutsches Lasersystem schützt Ukraine vor russischen Drohnen (behind paywall) "Drohnen sind oft so schnell, dass Soldaten kaum Zeit zur Abwehr bleibt. Ein Lasersystem des Start-ups Inleap Photonics aus Hannover soll bis zu 300 Angreifer pro Minute vom Himmel holen."

Source

English for trippers: Having a cramp in a cram camp

Mentally or physically or both? Ramp it up or down!

The world is awash in American whiskey

Bad news! For whom?

"The world is awash in bourbon. That’s a problem for Big Booze.

 

Consumption of American whiskey—including bourbon, Tennessee whiskey, rye and single malts—has slowed. Distillers who added capacity during the pandemic are suffering a hangover as more Americans pinch pennies and join the ranks of the sober-curious. Kentucky, the birthplace of bourbon, is sitting on enough of the stuff to last as long as 10 years, according to industry estimates."

Wall Street Journal What's news

Too little and too much sleep associated with faster aging

Amazing stuff! The optimal sleep duration is reported between 6.4 and 7.8 hours. But what about sleep quality?

"An analysis of biological clocks throughout the human body suggests that too few hours of sleep—and too many—may speed aging in the brain, heart, lung, and immune system and is associated with a wide range of diseases. ..."

From the abstract:

"Optimal sleep has a vital role in promoting healthy ageing and enhancing longevity. Here we propose Sleep Chart to assess the relationship between self-reported sleep duration and 23 biological ageing clocks derived from in vivo imaging, plasma proteomics and metabolomics.

First, a systemic, U-shaped pattern emerges between sleep duration and biological age gaps across nine brain and body systems and three omics technologies.

The sample-specific lowest biological age gaps are achieved between 6.4 and 7.8 h of sleep duration, varying by organ and sex in the UK Biobank (aged 37–84 years).

Furthermore, short (<6 h) and long (>8 h) sleep duration, compared with a normal sleep duration (6–8 h), are associated with increased risk of systemic diseases beyond the brain and all-cause mortality, with evidence from genetic correlations and time-to-incident survival predictions, such as depression and diabetes.

Finally, the pathways by which long and short sleep duration are associated with late-life depression differ: ageing clocks may partially mediate the pathway for long sleep duration, while short sleep duration shows a more direct link. Although Mendelian randomization does not provide strong evidence that disease causally affects sleep, it cannot completely exclude such reverse causality. Our findings suggest a cross-organ, multi-omics U-shaped relationship between sleep duration and biological ageing clocks, highlighting the potential of sleep optimization to promote healthy ageing, lower disease risk and extend longevity."

Too little sleep—and too much—associated with faster aging

Too Little Sleep—and Too Much—Associated with Faster Aging (original news release)

Sleep chart of biological ageing clocks in middle and late life (open access)

For many organs, sleep duration betwen 6.4 and 7.8 hours was associated with less aging as measured by organ-specific biological clocks. The clocks in this image are created from protein data specific to each organ. Blue lines represent males; red lines represent females.

Fig. 2: Genetic evidence for a systemic landscape of abnormal sleep duration patterns compared to normal sleep duration.

Several new smart rings promise to break sign language barriers by turning hand movements into instant text

Good news!

"Researchers in South Korea have developed a new sign language translation system based on users wearing seven rings equipped with sensors. According to a new study  ... the technology can reliably recognize and translate both American and International sign language words with roughly 88% accuracy. ..."

From the abstract:

"Sign language translation systems have long aimed to bridge the communication between signers and nonsigners. However, preliminary systems rely on glove-type wearables or wired sensor arrays, which constrain hand movement, reduce comfort, and require nonpersonalized sensor positions that limit adaptability across users.

Here, we introduce a wirelessly connected, ring-type sign language translator (WRSLT) designed to overcome these limitations by enabling full finger mobility through independent sensor rings and multilink communication. The system supports static and dynamic gesture detection using selected fingers via quantitative relevance analysis and achieves robust user-independent performance without per-user calibration.

WRSLT demonstrated high recognition accuracy on large-scale datasets comprising 100 American Sign Language and 100 International Sign Language words, achieving 88.3 and 88.5% accuracy, respectively, under unseen-user conditions (i.e., test users not included in model training).

Furthermore, a custom sequential word detection framework enables sentence-level translation from continuous signing input without requiring separate training on entire sentence structures."

Seven smart rings promise to break sign language barriers by turning hand movements into instant text

An AI-driven, wearable, conformal ring system for real-time and user-independent sign language interpretation (open access)

Fig. 1. Overall concept and design of WRSLT.

Rape Dogs Claim Lands NYT in Defamation Lawsuit by Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Good news! Bravo! Defeat junk journalism! This journalist is supposedly a "self-described progressive" and a member of the Dimocratic Party!

"Israel announced it will pursue a defamation lawsuit against The New York Times following the publication of an opinion piece by columnist Nicholas Kristof that alleged Israeli forces trained dogs to rape Palestinian women.

“Today I instructed my legal advisers to consider the harshest legal action against The New York Times and Nicholas Kristof,” Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote on X. “They defamed the soldiers of Israel and perpetuated a blood libel about rape, trying to create a false symmetry between the genocidal terrorists of Hamas and Israel’s valiant soldiers. Under my leadership, Israel will not be silent.” ..."

Rape Dogs Claim Lands NYT in Defamation Lawsuit - The Daily Signal

Nicholas Kristof (Source)

US Regulators are seeking information from prediction-market platforms over wagers tied to political events and military operations.

What do we bet on next? That the insider-trading laws will be amended soon!

I blogged here recently on the winners of these betting platforms.

"Suspicious wagers in Washington are on the rise, and authorities are playing catch-up.

 

Regulators are seeking information from prediction-market platforms Kalshi and Polymarket over wagers tied to political events and military operations. Such bets pose a challenge for authorities because insider-trading laws weren’t designed for people who wager on the outcome of legislation, political races and even U.S. military operations."

Wall Street Journal What's news

The US Senate voted unanimously to advance a resolution suspending senators’ pay during government shutdowns

Good news!

"The Senate voted unanimously to advance a resolution suspending senators’ pay during government shutdowns, in an effort to make shutdowns more expensive for lawmakers."

"... The Senate voted 99-0 on the motion to end debate on proceeding to the resolution, signaling that it will easily have enough support to pass the upper chamber. ..."

Friday, May 15, 2026 - Join The Flyover

Senate unanimously advances resolution suspending senators’ pay during shutdown

New, potent peptides discovered in carpenter ant venom with antimicrobial and antifungal activity

Good news!

"At first, it was thought the sting of all hymenopterans—from bees to ants—came predominantly from formic acid, which was first identified in the venom of wood ants back in 1670. Since then, toxinologists have come to appreciate the diversity of toxins in this insect order, especially when it comes to peptides, including honeybees’ inflammatory melittin to bullet ants’ excruciating poneratoxin. But until now, the idea has persisted that ants in the subfamily Formicinae, which includes carpenter ants, rely almost solely on formic acid.

When researchers compared the genomes of eight carpenter ant species, they spotted almost three dozen venom peptides—a veritable “arsenal” thus far unique to this subfamily of ants. Broadening their genetic search still wider, the team found these peptides—dubbed formicitoxins— in at least 20 other formicine genera.

These small proteins do all sorts of helpful things. “Some of the peptides demonstrate remarkable antifungal properties ,” ... which may explain why the ants spray their venom on their young. “While concentrated formic acid has strong immediate antimicrobial effects, the formicitoxins may serve as a persistent antifungal protective cloak after formic acid has lost its potency due to evaporation, dilution, or neutralization,” the team explained in the paper. Some formicitoxins were potent antimicrobials, which is especially intriguing given that carpenter ants are known to consume their own venom to modulate their gut microbiome ..."

"In addition to serving as biochemical weapons for offense and defense, the venoms produced by ants in the subfamily Formicinae also fulfill additional roles. For example, the ants use it to protect their nests from pathogens. It has long been assumed that the primary constituent of these venoms, formic acid, was responsible for these functions. ... a team of researchers ... has now shown that these venoms also contain a complex mixture of peptidic compounds and other bioactive substances. The discovery of these substances opens up new possibilities in the field of medical research. It also has the potential to shed new light on immune defenses and how social insect communities deal with microbes.  ..."

From the abstract:

"Venom peptides are key to the evolutionary success of most venomous animals, including stinging ants. The stingless ant subfamily Formicinae is thought to rely solely on formic acid in their venoms, despite early, unsubstantiated hints of proteinaceous venom constituents.

Here, we show that carpenter ants, the largest formicine genus, produce a diverse venom peptide arsenal. Mass spectrometry and transcriptomics across eight geographically distant species uncovered 35 peptides, formicitoxins, belonging to two gene families.

Several formicitoxins display antifungal activity. Application to pupae delays fungal outgrowth, suggesting a role of the peptides in colony hygiene. Genome analyses revealed that formicitoxins are widespread but variable across the Formicinae. Our findings overturn the paradigm of formicine venoms as simple acid sprays and establish them as a source of bioactive peptides."

ScienceAdviser

Ant Venom Serves Many Functions (original news release) "Groundbreaking discovery of antimicrobial peptides in ant venom has far-reaching implications"

Beyond formic acid: Peptides in carpenter ant venoms aid in disease protection (open access)

Fig. 1 Fig. 1. Analysis of C. nicobarensis venom.

(A) C. nicobarensis major worker during acidopore grooming.

(B) Total ion current chromatogram of C. nicobarensis venom. Major peaks corresponding to venom peptides are labeled as formicitoxins FRTX1-Cnic1a (LDIKEIINKIISDIKEKIAKAL), FRTX2-Cnic1a (DIVSFLLELPKIIEEFFLKLINLFKLIF), and FRTX2-Cnic2a (NILSNIIDSIIHLLFEDFSRIFL). Signals corresponding to N-acylethanolamines (NAEs) are labeled as linoleoyl ethanolamide (LEA), oleoyl ethanolamide (OEA), linoleamidoethyl formate (LEA-f), and oleamidoethyl formate (OEA-f).

(C) Dissected venom apparatus of a C. nicobarensis major worker as used for extraction of venom and RNA.

(D) MALDI mass spectrum of C. nicobarensis venom showing molecular ions of FRTX2-Cnic1a and FRTX2-Cnic2a along with potassium adducts (+39 Da) and formyl esters (+28 Da). Inset: Magnified mass/charge ratio (m/z) range 3350 to 3550.

(E) Structures of LEA, OEA, LEA-f, and OEA-f.

Hungary Confronts Russia Over Ukraine Strikes, Signaling Break From Orbán’s Kremlin Line

Good news! Bravo! Make the megalomaniac and warmonger Putin the Terrible a pariah!

"Hungary has summoned Russia’s ambassador over strikes on Ukraine, marking a sharp shift from its long-standing pro-Kremlin stance under Viktor Orbán. The move comes as new Prime Minister Peter Magyar seeks to realign Budapest with the EU while balancing continued reliance on Russian energy. The decision signals a potential foreign policy reset, though major economic and political constraints remain. ...

According to a Bloomberg report, Hungarian Foreign Minister Anita Orbán met Russian Ambassador Evgeny Stanislavov in Budapest on Thursday, following condemnation from Prime Minister Peter Magyar over what he described as one of the most intense waves of drone strikes targeting western Ukraine – a region home to an ethnic Hungarian minority. ...

"

Hungary Confronts Russia Over Ukraine Strikes, Signaling Break From Orbán’s Kremlin Line

Was stört Friedrich Merz, den großen Kommunikator, genau an den USA?

Ist der Mann überhaupt noch tragbar als Bundeskanzler?

"Merz raunt beim Katholikentag, er würde seinen Kindern abraten, momentan in die USA zu gehen. Wegen „gesellschaftlichem Klima“ und auch so, wegen überhaupt. In Würzburg wurde sein anbiederndes Geraune teilweise dankbar aufgenommen.  ...

Friedrich Merz, mit einem bunten Schal um den Hals, der ihn wohl als Fan des 1. FC Katholikentag ausweisen sollte, sagte auf dem Katholikentag in Würzburg, er versuche Menschen ihre Zukunftsängste, die weit verbreitet seien, zu nehmen. „Ich weiß“, fügte er dann sofort hinzu, „dass ich in meiner Kommunikation etwas verbessern muss, damit diese Botschaft besser verstanden wird“. Und diese Aussage, dass er seine Kommunikation verbessern müsse, bestätigte er sofort. ..."

Was stört Friedrich Merz, den großen Kommunikator, genau an den USA?

Friedrich Merz