Recommendable!
Wednesday, September 30, 2026
How Jack Maple Revolutionized Policing in New York
Very recommendable!
NYC Transit PD (1970–1992)
That the PBS biography video does not mention then mayor of NYC Rudy Giuliani is strange at best! Was this politically motivated?
I also bet that then NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton was more involved then this video shows.
For some odd reason this video also does not mention the famous and successful Broken windows policing strategy in the 1990s introduced by mayor Rudi Giuliani and Police Commissioner William Bratton.
PM Modi's Diplomatic Playbook: India's Diplomatic Strategy In A New & Emerging World Order
Recommendable! PM Modi is perhaps one of the most consequential PMs since Mahatma Gandhi!
Netanyahu meets survivor/hero of FlyDubai flight diverted to Saudi Arabia following attack
The hero did not even have time to change his bloody t-shirt before the interview!
Iran allegedly sets up to $40,000 bounty on captured, killed US soldiers for Iranian citizens and others
What is the definition of a rogue state?
What are theocracies capable of in the name of God?
This measure actually speaks of distrust in their own people!
"Iran has reportedly offered a reward of up to $40,000 to any citizen who captures or kills an American soldier, according to Iran's Army Spokesperson Mohammad Akraminia in a video circulating on social media on Tuesday. ...
He said the reward would double to $40,000 if the citizen is a woman. ...
“Furthermore, I believe that if people from countries in the region were to do the same, that is, succeed in taking down or capturing an American soldier, we could award this prize to them as well,” Akraminia said. ..."
Chinese commercial reactor achieves nuclear fusion with clean hydrogen-boron fuel
Good news! This appears to be still kind of breaking news!
"In a first, a Chinese company has achieved high-parameter hydrogen-boron plasma control, marking a “significant and valuable” advance in research into neutron-free magnetic confinement fusion. ...
Unlike deuterium-tritium (D-T) fuel, the primary fuel used in mainstream fusion research, hydrogen-boron fusion does not produce high-energy neutrons as its primary product. Instead a hydrogen proton fuses with a boron-11 nucleus. The reaction releases energy and produces alpha particles, or helium nuclei. ..."
Chinese tokamak achieves hydrogen-boron fusion with 100 million reactions a second "A clean energy firm in China has just achieved hydrogen-boron fusion reactions in the EXL-50U spherical tokamak, the nation’s first medium-scale spherical torus experimental device, at a rate exceeding 100 million per second."
China's first medium-scale spherical torus experimental device, the EXL-50U.
A 1988 U.S. spy satellite nicknamed after Farrah Fawcett blew apart in orbit
This is a strong reminder that dealing with accumulating space junk is becoming a more urgent issue.
Was this perhaps a space weapons test of some sort?
"The debris is circling 480 miles up, in a lane shared by at least 200 other satellites."
"... The spacecraft, known as USA 32 or Farrah III, was launched by the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) in 1988. Its mission, which was only fully declassified earlier this year, was to intercept Soviet radar and radio signals from space, according to Futura.
The cylindrical spacecraft, whose shape has been described as a giant "tuna can," likely stopped functioning decades ago and has been silently circling Earth ever since. (It was nicknamed after actor Farrah Fawcett, in line with the NRO's former custom of naming its satellites after famous figures from the 1970s and '80s.)
On Sept. 17, Space-Track — the satellite observation arm of the U.S. Space Force — announced that USA 32 suffered a sudden "fragmentation" event four days earlier, on Sept. 13. This essentially means the spacecraft exploded, potentially breaking apart into dozens, hundreds or even thousands of pieces. ..."
Farrah Fawcett (Source)
America.gov, the latest website of the US government launched
Whatever you need? Government should be the last resort in a free society, right?
"President Trump launched America.gov, an AI-powered federal website built on Google’s Gemini and xAI’s Grok, and signed an executive order directing agencies to integrate with the new platform." (The Flyover)
US Defense Secretary Hegseth to Cut 20% of Generals, Admirals
Good news! Trim the fat! Less stars!
"War Secretary Pete Hegseth will announce today a 20% cut to the positions reserved for generals and admirals, doubling the reduction he ordered last year.
The cuts apply to slots, not the officers filling them now. Some jobs will be downgraded so that colonels and Navy captains can hold them, and the services have until this Jan. 1 to complete the work.
Last year’s order trimmed 10% of all generals and admirals and 20% of four-stars, which Hegseth summed up as “Less Generals, more GIs.” ..."
How stoned are older Americans?
Serious stuff! Cause for concern! About 1% of older Americans are addicted to Cannabis.
"One in Nine Older Adults Who Use Cannabis Meet Criteria for Cannabis Use Disorder"
"Key Takeaways
- An estimated 8.9% of U.S. adults aged 65 and older used cannabis in the past year.
- Among older adults who used cannabis in the past year, 11.4% met criteria for cannabis use disorder, most with mild severity.
- More frequent cannabis use was associated with a greater likelihood of cannabis use disorder.
..."
From the abstract:
"Background and aims
Cannabis use is increasing among older adults in the United States (US); however, little is known regarding details of use or cannabis use disorder (CUD) in this population. This study aimed to describe cannabis use and CUD among older adults in the US.
Design
Secondary analysis of the 2021–2024 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, an annual cross-sectional nationally representative sample of noninstitutionalized people aged ≥12 living in the US.
Setting
United States.
Participants
Noninstitutionalized individuals age ≥65 years (unweighted N = 21 189).
Measurements
We estimated the prevalence of cannabis use by recency (any past 12-month use and past 30-day use), meeting two or more Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-5 CUD criteria, as well as CUD severity and individual CUD criteria among adults age ≥65 years who used cannabis in the past 12 months. Cannabis use and CUD were compared across sociodemographic and health-related characteristics, modality of use (2022–2024 only), and individual CUD criteria. Bivariable generalized linear regression models estimated the relative risk (RR) of CUD for older adults with each characteristic and modality of cannabis use.
Results
An estimated 8.9% of older adults used cannabis in the past 12 months, and among them, 11.4% met criteria for CUD (76.0% mild, 20.1% moderate, and 3.9% severe CUD).
Smoking was the most common modality of past 12-month use (65.8%), followed by eating or drinking (40.5%), and vaping (15.4%); 19.9% had a doctor recommend any cannabis use.
Among older adults with CUD, the most common CUD criteria met were spending time obtaining, using, and recovering from the drug's effects (74.4%) and craving (67.5%).
Male older adults were at higher risk for CUD than their female counterparts [RR = 1.69, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.12–2.55], as were those ever arrested and booked (RR = 1.59, 95% CI = 1.07–2.37), with past-year mental illness (RR = 2.93, 95% CI: 1.85–4.65), past-year tobacco use (RR = 1.52, 95% CI: 1.04–2.20) or drug use other than cannabis (RR = 3.22, 95% CI: 2.15–4.84), smoking as a mode of cannabis use (RR = 4.94, 95% CI: 2.39–10.23), and frequent cannabis use (e.g., ≥300 days vs. <300 days per year, RR = 3.70, 95% CI: 2.30–5.96).
Summary
One in nine older adults in the United States who have used cannabis in the past 12 months meet criteria for cannabis use disorder. Cannabis use screening, cannabis use disorder treatment, and additional intervention to prevent worsening severity are needed to minimize cannabis-related harms among older US adults."
Lack of Menopause Care Behind Bars
Bad news!
"As more incarcerated women enter menopause, advocates say prisons are failing to provide adequate care.
Women ages 50+ now make up 18% of U.S. prison populations, up from 8% in 2008.
Yet only five states explicitly mention menopause in prison policies ..."
1 in 8 cancer cases worldwide are caused by viral and bacterial infections
Serious stuff! Cancer is history (soon)!
"... These viruses, bacteria and other microbes are the focus of a new paper published Monday in The Lancet Oncology that linked an estimated 2.3 million new cancer cases in 2024 — 12 per cent of all new cases — to these infectious agents.
A team of researchers at The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), an arm of the World Health Organization, conducted the study. They found the largest number of cancer cases attributed to infections globally were caused by the bacterium Helicobacter pylori, which can increase the risk of stomach cancer and accounted for 760,000 cases, predominantly in eastern Asia. ...
For the first time, researchers linked even more cancers to infections, expanding their list to include 16 additional ones. ..."
From the abstract:
"Background
Infectious agents are an important preventable cause of cancer globally. To inform prevention efforts, we provide a comprehensive picture of cancer burden attributable to infections, including newly established, carcinogenic infectious agents and latest global cancer incidence estimates.
Methods
In this worldwide incidence analysis, we used data from the Global Cancer Observatory's Cancer Today (GLOBOCAN) database of cancer incidence in 2024 to estimate population-attributable fractions (PAFs), absolute numbers, and age-standardised incidence rates (ASIRs) of new cancer cases attributable to 12 infectious agents classified as Group 1 carcinogens by the IARC Monographs Programme:
Helicobacter pylori, human papillomavirus (HPV), hepatitis B (HBV) and hepatitis C viruses (HCV), Epstein–Barr virus (EBV), Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus, Schistosoma haematobium, human T-cell lymphotropic virus, Opisthorchis viverrini, Clonorchis sinensis, Merkel cell polyomavirus, and HIV. Estimates stratified by sex, country, and age group were aggregated by UN geographical subregion and World Bank income group.
Findings
An estimated 2·3 million new cancer cases were attributable to infections globally in 2024, which is equivalent to 12% of all cancer cases.
The largest number of cases was attributable to
H pylori (n=760 000, PAF 4%), followed by
HPV (n=750 000, 4%), HBV (n=360 000, 2%),
EBV (n=260 000, 1%), and
HCV (n=160 000, <1%).
The largest burden of infection-attributable cancer was in eastern Asia, with 990 000 cases (42% of the global total, ASIR 31·9 per 100 000 cases). ASIRs were also higher than the global average (22·7) in sub-Saharan Africa (28·5), central and eastern Europe (24·3), and southeastern Asia (23·1).
Focused analysis of EBV-attributable cancers revealed regional variation in the distribution of cancer types."
1 in 8 cancer cases worldwide is caused by infections, study suggests "Researchers estimate infections caused 2.3 million new cancer cases worldwide in 2024"
Figure 1 ASIR of infection-attributable cancers per 100 000 person-years in 2024 for the six infectious agents with the most attributable cases
Netanyahu says pilot tried to crash Israel-bound commercial jet, lauds hero passengers
Another coward terrorist attack on a civilian airplane? This is a developing story!
"Israeli Prime Minister Benjami Netanyahu on Wednesday praised passengers who overpowered a pilot who had stabbed another pilot in an apparent attempt to crash a commercial flight traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv.
The Boeing 737 Max made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia after the incident, which Netanyahu described as a "serious security incident."
Netanyahu said that almost all passengers onboard the flight were Israeli.
"I spoke with one of the Israeli passengers. He told me that the plane went into a spin and began to descend. He told me that, somehow, he managed to break into the cockpit with one of the crew members and, together, they overpowered the pilot who had carried out the stabbing while he was attempting to sabotage the aircraft's systems. ...
The Boeing 737 Max switched its transponder code to 7700, a code to signal illegal interference with an aircraft. Publicly available data shows the aircraft plunged from 33,000 feet to 17,000 feet in about a minute, approximately two minutes into the flight. ..."
Osteoporosis R&D and treatment revival
Good news!
This is another nice example how government intervention did more harm than good!
"Pharma, biotechnology companies and investors are renewing their interest in osteoporosis treatments, incentivized by a regulatory change that makes bone health trials easier to run, at least in the United States.
Drug developers can now seek regulatory approval for a drug that increases bone density, rather than needing to prove the drug reduces bone breakages. Companies are aiming for drugs devoid of the fracture risk that historically plagued the field, with biotechs such as Skeletalis, EnteraBio and Angitia entering the osteoporosis field. ..."
Drugmakers, biotech VCs show ‘reinvigorated’ interest in osteoporosis treatments "Shift by the FDA and frustration with existing therapies have created new opportunities"
Scientists Identify Connection Between Nervous System and Aggressive Prostate Cancer
Good news! Cancer is history (soon)!
You wonder whether other cancers also manipulate the nervous system!
"A new study ... has found a link between the nervous system and the rapid development of neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC), an aggressive form of the disease. ... the study found high levels of neuromedin U (NMU), a kind of neurotransmitter, present in prostate cells at the very early phase of NEPC formation, which support tumor progression by blocking the immune response. These findings could present a target for therapy for what is now a virtually untreatable disease. ..."
From the abstract:
"Neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC) is an increasingly recognized, highly aggressive disease variant with no actionable therapeutic targets and a life expectancy of 7 months or less.
Using a transgenic mouse model, we now show that early stages of NEPC are associated with increased intraprostatic recruitment of Ly6G+ polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) and reduced infiltration of CD8+ T cells. This coincided with expansive transcriptional changes of increased cell viability and cell migration, as well as upregulation of multiple neuronal mediators with the neuropeptide, Neuromedin U (NMU) as the top hit (Z score = 4.34; FDR < 5%; p = 3.62 × 10−9). Analysis of a large cohort of human patient samples revealed that NMU was highly expressed in early and late stage prostate cancer, preferentially segregating with AR-/NE+ metastases. Exposure of PMN to recombinant NMU was sufficient to stimulate cell migration, inflammatory gene expression with increased levels of the cytokine-like alarmin, S100A9 and suppression of T cell proliferation.
Genetic or pharmacological targeting of NMU/S100A9 signaling inhibited NEPC growth, reinvigorated an intratumoral immune microenvironment via recruitment of tumor antigen-specific CD8+ T cells with ‘stem-like’ (TCF1+/PD1+) and cytotoxic (GrzB+/KLRG1+) properties and enhanced the activity of therapeutic immune checkpoint inhibition, in vivo.
Therefore, NMU ‘innervation’ drives myeloid immunosuppression in NEPC and provides a therapeutic target to restore sensitivity to immunotherapy in this highly refractory malignancy."
Investigation Found More Than 270 Catholic Clerics Abused Nearly 1,000 Children in Massachusetts
What!
Maybe the American Pope Leo XIV needs to travel to Massachusetts ASAP!
"... The investigation found evidence that more than 270 Catholic clerics abused nearly 1,000 children across the three dioceses. Since the investigation began in 2019, the AGO reviewed more than 300,000 pages of records and interviewed more than 100 individuals, including survivors, advocates, attorneys, clergy, diocesan officials and employees.
The report documents decades of failures by diocesan leaders to adequately respond to allegations of child sexual abuse and protect children from further harm. The investigation found instances in which diocesan leaders failed to act on allegations and warning signs; transferred accused and offending priests to other parishes without disclosing the reasons for their transfers; returned priests to ministry following treatment without adequate supervision; failed to meaningfully enforce restrictions; concealed the reasons priests were removed from ministry; and failed to consistently report allegations to law enforcement. ..."
"Attorney General Andrea Campbell has released a new report detailing nearly 1,000 cases of child sex abuse allegedly committed by 270 clergy across the Fall River, Worcester and Springfield dioceses, first publicly exposed in 2002, and the institutional failures that allowed the abuse to occur and continue. ..."
60 million children the Treasury Department will automatically enroll in the government’s new Trump Accounts
Wow!
"The number of children that the Treasury Department will automatically enroll in the government’s new Trump Accounts as soon as this week, the agency said in rules published Tuesday. The auto-enrollment replaces the previous structure, which required parents or guardians to sign up."
"... The shift to automatic enrollment will ensure much broader access to the child investment accounts, creating them for more than 60 million additional children under age 18, according to the Treasury Department. The shift to auto enrollment means that big contributions from wealthy donors to the program—like the $6.25 billion pledge from Michael Dell—would reach more households. ..."
"... Newborn Pilot Program: Children born between January 1, 2025, and December 31, 2028, are eligible for a one-time $1,000 federal seed contribution from the government. ..."
Treasury Will Auto-Enroll 60 Million Children in Trump Accounts "New rules also ease path for wealthy donors to contribute stock while avoiding capital-gains taxes"
Tuesday, September 29, 2026
Morocco Appoints First Female Prime Minister Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri
Good news!
Only the second female leader of an Arab nation ever!
UAE To Invest $25 Billion In India: Why Abu Dhabi Is Betting On India's Energy Security
Good news! This is huge! And more such investments are forthcoming!
Maybe even a pipeline between both countries!
Trump says AI leaders signed a 'constitution' to police themselves
Good news! Self regulation is a good idea at this point! No need for the US Congress to pass laws!
How Geopolitics Finally Buried Kurdistan
Recommendable! Why can the Kurdish people not be given some autonomy like in federalism?
Man released on bail after 41 years on death row in Utah
Good news!
This is a reminder that capital punishment should not be executed right after the verdict, but perhaps 3-5 years later.
"A man who spent 41 years on death row in the US after being convicted of killing a woman has been released on bail after prosecutors said newly analysed DNA evidence did not link him to the crime.
Douglas Stewart Carter, who is now 71, was jailed for the killing of Eva Olesen in Utah in 1985.
He was sentenced to death but always maintained his innocence, stating that a signed confession was coerced. ..."
Douglas Stewart Carter, who is now 71, was jailed for the killing of Eva Olesen in Utah in 1985
New formulation helps RNA vaccines withstand high temperatures like room temperature for up to a year
Good news!
"RNA vaccines, which have been proven effective against Covid-19, are now being developed for many other diseases, including cancer. One of the drawbacks to these vaccines is that they require ultracold storage, but researchers from MIT have found a promising way to overcome that limitation.
With help from an AI algorithm, the researchers tweaked the formulation surrounding the lipid nanoparticles that are typically used to deliver mRNA vaccines, making the vaccines more heat-resistant. Using this approach, they formulated vaccines that could remain stable even when stored at room temperature for up to a year, or at nearly 100 degrees Fahrenheit for two months. ..."
From the abstract:
"The instability of mRNA−lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) necessitates ultra-cold storage, limiting global distribution and their broader application in advanced delivery systems.
Solid-state, water-free formulations enhance thermostability and enable integration into emerging delivery modalities such as microneedle patches.
Previous efforts to stabilize mRNA−LNPs have been constrained by narrow formulation scope and low-throughput screening methods.
Here we introduce Algorithm-Guided Experimental design for lipid Nanoparticle Thermostabilization (AGENT), an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven framework that couples high-throughput experimentation with Bayesian optimization to identify thermostable mRNA−LNP formulations.
AGENT extracts maximal information from sparse experimental datasets, enabling efficient formulation optimization in six iterations completed within 1 month.
We stabilized mRNA vaccines with two clinically relevant LNPs representative of the Moderna (SM-102-based) and Pfizer-BioNTech (ALC-0315-based) compositions into solid-state formulations that retained 100% bioactivity after storage at 37 °C for more than 2 months.
In rodents and non-human primates, thermostable, solid-state vaccine formulations induced antigen-specific immune responses non-inferior to those elicited by intramuscular delivery of freshly prepared soluble vaccines."
Accelerated discovery of thermostable mRNA–lipid nanoparticle vaccines using data-efficient AI (no public access)
Accelerated discovery of thermostable vaccines using data-efficient AI (preprint, open access)
Fig. 1 Exploration of the design space for solid-state mRNA-LNPs formulated via vacuum drying.
Apparently Hezbollah with the help of Iran came close to discover that their pagers were booby trapped
Amazing stuff!
"Former defense minister Yoav Gallant discussed additional details of Mossad's September 2024 pager operation against Hezbollah terrorists in 2024 that killed or wounded some three thousand five hundred Hezbollah operatives during a previously censored interview with Channel 12, which was permitted for publication on Monday. ...
“In the first week of August [2024], we discovered that there was someone who suspected the pagers,” Gallant told Channel 12.
"In the middle of the operation, it turned out that somewhere, the pagers were being inspected. ...
According to the film, Iran sent a special X-ray machine to check whether there were explosives in the pagers.
“In the third week of September, we learned that Hezbollah had sent three pagers to Iran for scanning,” Netanyahu revealed in a speech at a conference that was censored until Monday. “Before that, we bombed such a scanner that they were about to bring; we got rid of it and also of the person operating it.” ..."
Ukraine Reveals Russia Helped Iran Target US Forces With Satellite Intelligence
What else to expect from Putin the Terrible!
"... Zelensky offered a striking example. In a 48-hour window between July 19 and 20 alone, four air bases fell squarely within the lens of active Russian satellite surveillance – two in Bahrain, one in Jordan and one in Kuwait.
The intelligence described by Kyiv points to a potentially sophisticated reconnaissance cycle: pre-attack satellite collection, tactical tracking imagery that could assist operational planning, and post-strike battle damage assessment. ..."
Moscow also reportedly offered to halt its intelligence-sharing and targeting-data pipeline to Iran in exchange for the US severing its vital intelligence support to Ukraine."
Russia Expands North Korean Troop deployment by an additional 10,000
Hopefully, this will be the end of the North Korean dictatorship!
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!
How many more young Russian men will be killed or maimed? For what?
"In brief: President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday, Sept. 28 that Russia has already begun additional mobilization and is expanding its use of North Korean troops, with over 8,000 already in Russia and up to 50,000 more planned. “They plan to increase and attract foreigners,” Zelensky said. ...
Citing new intelligence data from Ukraine’s Military Intelligence (HUR), Zelensky said more than 8,000 North Korean military personnel are currently in Russia, with preparations underway to deploy an additional 10,000. ...
one in 10 Russian prisoners of war (POWs) held in Ukraine is a foreign citizen. At least 55 nationalities have been recorded. ...
In July, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry estimated that Russia lost around 43,000 troops ..."
Rethinking Suicide Prevention Strategies using more gun control. Really!
More intrusive Big Government and gun control in the name of suicide prevention! Again and again suicide prevention is used as a pretext by demagogues!
Trying to restrict the means to commit suicide does not really prevent suicide!
What about providing better social and health services?
What about more education about suicide prevention?
"As researchers look for better ways to prevent suicide, more are looking beyond pinpointing those most at risk—and looking closer, instead, at how to make lethal methods harder to access.
This has led to erecting bridge barriers [???] and prescription guidelines. But limiting access to guns is one of the most promising approaches [???]. Firearm suicide accounted for more than half—28,000—of all suicide deaths in the U.S. last year.
“That’s the one that will save the most lives,” said Paul Nestadt, the Johns Hopkins Center for Suicide Prevention’s medical director.
Red flag laws [???] are a start, allowing authorities to temporarily remove firearms from people deemed at risk.
More needs: Permitting requirements, waiting periods, and safe-storage laws have also been linked to lower firearm suicide rates."
New Male Contraceptives by 2029
Good news!
"... But several promising new male contraceptive candidates are in advanced clinical trials and could reach pharmacies by 2029, WHO officials say—signaling growing demand for male-centric options beyond condoms and vasectomy ...
New approaches include a daily sperm-suppressing hormonal gel called NES/T, injectable sperm-blocking hydrogels, and YCT-529, a non-hormonal daily pill. ..."
"... At the moment, the most advanced new product is called NES/T. It is a daily hormonal gel that is applied to the shoulders and upper arms, and suppresses sperm production without affecting testosterone levels. ..."
Male contraceptives could hit pharmacies in ‘three to five years’, says WHO "The UN agency unveiled guidelines for new products, as trials ramp up and stigma shifts"
Unearthed Musical Masterpieces from the Southern Kingdoms of Ancient China (an exhibition)
This should be an interesting exhibition coming to Phoenix, Arizona soon!
"Opening November 6, MIM’s new special exhibition Unearthed Musical Masterpieces from the Southern Kingdoms of Ancient China invites you to experience the resounding splendor of long-buried musical treasures. Organized by MIM and the Hubei Provincial Museum under the guidance of the National Cultural Heritage Administration of China, this landmark exhibition explores one of the most sophisticated traditions of the ancient world and presents an unprecedented collection of more than 70 ancient musical instruments and associated objects, including 40 objects never before seen in the United States and 10 Grade One Cultural Relics—China’s highest designation for national treasures.
“These objects were among the finest treasures buried with rulers and nobility,” says Eddie Chia-Hao Hsu, curator for Asia and Oceania. “They are extraordinary expressions of the technical mastery and artistic imagination of the artisans who created them, reflecting the remarkable musical achievements of the southern kingdoms of ancient China.”"
An 11-year-old British girl is now the youngest woman grandmaster in chess history. Really!
Makes me wonder how many adults are still playing chess?
"... She earned the title at the Olympiad in Uzbekistan last week, beating a record held by two 12-year-olds"
Bodhana Sivanandan started playing chess when she came across a board during the COVID pandemic
3D-Printed porous Cubes Can Cool Your Home and outdoors Without Any Air Conditioning
Amazing stuff!
"Austrian researchers 3D-printed porous ceramic cubes that soak up water and cool a room as it evaporates with no electricity required. In a hot attic test, they dropped the temperature nearly 13 degrees."
"... an energy-efficient solution to urban heat islands: 3D-printed cubes made from highly porous ceramics, combining centuries-old knowledge of passive cooling with state-of-the-art additive manufacturing. The ceramic cubes are suitable for cooling both indoor spaces and ambient air outside.
The cubes make use of a physical principle that is particularly well known in hot and dry regions of the world: evaporative cooling. When water evaporates, it absorbs heat from its surroundings and the air cools down. ..."
New 3D-Printed Cubes Can Cool Your Home Without Any Air Conditioning
TU Graz Develops a Cooling Ceramic Wall to Combat Urban Heat (original news release) "Porous ceramic cubes produced by a 3D printer utilise energy-efficient evaporative cooling and significantly lower the temperature. A prototype of the cooling wall made from ceramic cubes is already on display on the TU Graz campus."
The lady is holding one of these cooling cubes. In the background, the wall with seating is a demonstration of this new technology in a public space.
Apple ordered to pay $5.7 billion for infringing tech patents
Was there a rotten apple?
Apple plans to appeal the verdict.
"A federal jury ordered Apple to pay $5.7 billion to Taction Technology for infringing haptic vibration tech patents used in iPhones and Apple Watches, the largest patent verdict in U.S. history."
Monday, September 28, 2026
Trinidad and Tobago Set to Adopt India’s UPI Payment System
Good news! It is the first Caribbean nation to adopt it.
AMD will acquire Fei-Fei Li's World Labs for $8.2 billion
Good news! Good for her! Fei-Fei Li is a top, leading ML & AI researcher at Stanford University!
"AMD is acquiring World Labs, one of the leading developers of deep learning models intended to understand physical reality, in a $8.2 billion deal, the two companies said today.
World Labs justified the deal in a statement saying that AI development required “close collaboration across model research, systems and compute.” AMD, in turn, says that understanding frontier workloads, like those created at World Labs, will shape its chip-making roadmap. ..."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky divulged the location of two captured North Korean soldiers
Indeed, quite a mistake by President Zelensky!
So North Korean soldiers are indeed fighting for Putin the Terrible in this war.
"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky divulged the location of captured North Korean soldiers.
Zelensky, during an address last week to the United Nations General Assembly, mentioned the pair of North Korean prisoners of war who had been held in Kyiv after being captured on the Russian front lines last year.
But he also detailed their relocation to South Korea, drawing an immediate rebuke by Seoul officials, who claimed it violated a nondisclosure pact, endangered the young North Koreans’ lives and demanded an apology from Kyiv."
British counterterrorism police release the five suspects in terror plot against US forces. Really!
What! Who in their right mind releases so quickly possibly fanatic, suicidal terrorists unless these were the wrong individuals!
"British counterterrorism police said they were releasing five men on bail who where arrested over the foiled attack on a U.K. air base. Investigators say they are probing whether Iran or an Islamist group had orchestrated the plot, according to officials familiar with the matter. WSJ spoke to locals who live near the base, who question whether it really was a terror plot or something more mundane."
Scientist accuses Anthropic of plagiarizing team’s biology work
Bad news, if confirmed!
E.g. it appears the University of Copenhagen did not release any news regarding this accusation.
"Scientist accuses Anthropic of plagiarizing team’s biology work
Anthropic said its AI agents used Claude to independently discover new enzymes it calls ARTs (array-associated reverse transcriptases) by searching gene databases.
But Copenhagen computational biologist Mario Rodríguez Mestre says he and colleagues had studied the same enzymes, which they nicknamed ‘jumbotrons,’ for four years. The team shared unpublished findings with Claude while using it for research tasks. Mestre says a key finding Anthropic credited to its AI, involving RNA molecules tied to the enzymes, matches work he says his team completed over a year earlier and had already discussed with Claude.
Anthropic responded that it found no prior published work on the ART system and that Claude was not trained on user transcripts.
The dispute echoes a similar case this month in which OpenAI claimed to have solved a math problem that mathematician Tristan Buckmaster said he had been working on using OpenAI’s models. Mestre says he is now winding down his use of Claude and moving to other AI models over concerns his research may have been used without attribution." (Data Points)
Did Anthropic’s A.I. Really Make a Scientific Discovery on Its Own? (behind paywall)
Nvidia releases tools to rein in rogue AI agents
AI nannies for AI agents?
"Nvidia released the Open Agent Safety Platform, software meant to help developers test and monitor AI agents and stop them from acting outside their intended boundaries.
Nvidia says the platform includes
(i) a watchdog that can quarantine misbehaving agents within milliseconds and
(ii) tools to control what agents can see, access, and interact with.
The release follows several incidents in which AI agents from OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, and Google went rogue, including an OpenAI agent that Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said infiltrated a government-services website, and Anthropic’s disclosure that its test software hacked outside companies without its knowledge in three cases since April.
Nvidia said each incident followed the same pattern: agents escaped sandbox safety controls to complete their assigned tasks. For developers building AI agents, the platform offers a vendor-backed option for enforcing boundaries and monitoring behavior in production; however, there is currently no independent verification of how well it prevents the sandbox-escape pattern Nvidia describes." (Data Points)
NVIDIA Open Agent Safety Platform: A Reference for Continuous In-Silicon Agent Monitoring "Secure AI agents with a safety enforcement layer spanning software and hardware"
Gaza student suspended by Dutch university after claiming role in October 7
Will this student be arrested and extradited to Israel? Don't hold your breath!
"A 22-year-old Palestinian student from the Gaza Strip was provisionally suspended from Maastricht University in the Netherlands after claiming in an Instagram video that he participated in the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, Dutch media reported over the weekend. ..."
Students display banners as they occupy the socio-cultural sciences faculty building of Maastricht University (UM) in support of Palestinian people, in Maastricht on May 22, 2024.
10 places to get naked in Arizona in 2026
Who said Americans are prudish? 😊
How about Lake Pleasant — Northwest of Phoenix?
"Do people really run naked through the Arizona desert? Believe it or not, they do. Hundreds of brave souls will run wild when the Bare Buns Desert Run returns Oct. 17 at Shangri La Ranch in New River. Billed as Arizona’s only nude run, the 5K race winds through desert trails, a dry wash and the ranch property. Clothing is optional, but tennis shoes are highly encouraged — along with avoiding any cactus along the race route. But if running is not your thing ... there are other options to feel the freedom of going naked in Arizona in 2026 … without getting yourself in trouble ...
Arizona doesn’t have official nude beaches, but it has a long tradition of clothing-optional spots — mostly private resorts and remote BLM and National Forest land where nude use is tolerated."
Elemental sulfur found in mammalian cells for first time
Amazing stuff!
"Mammalian cells actively produce elemental sulfur, using it as an antioxidant to limit cell damage. While bacteria, plants and fungi are known to produce the material, this is the first time it has been detected in mammals. ...
Now, an international team has detected S8 in cells from both mice and humans. The team, ... used a polyaromatic capsule to trap and stabilise S8 through hydrophobic interactions. This allowed them to use Raman microscopy and mass spectrometry to locate and quantify the abundance of elemental sulfur. ..."
"... Antioxidants are not obtained exclusively through the diet, as the body can also synthesize them with the help of various enzymes. An international research team ... has now demonstrated a new mechanism that contributes to the body’s own production of antioxidants. The researchers showed that mammalian cells produce and store elemental sulfur in a controlled manner in the form of cyclooctasulfur (S₈), a molecule consisting of eight sulfur atoms.
At the heart of this protective system is the enzyme eNOS, which is found in many cells. It produces nitric oxide (NO), a molecule that relaxes blood vessels and thereby regulates blood pressure. The researchers have now shown for the first time that eNOS has another function: the enzyme produces cyclooctasulfur (S₈), which serves as a storage form of elemental sulfur in cells. ...
The researchers found particularly high concentrations of these “sulfur rings” in the oxygen-dependent mitochondria, the powerhouses of the cell, as well as in lipid droplets, which serve as the cell’s fat stores. Through chemical reactions, the body can use its supply of S₈ molecules to produce specialized sulfur compounds known as hydropersulfides, which act as antioxidants. ..."
From the editor's summary and abstract:
"Editor’s summary
Elemental sulfur is an inert, water-insoluble form of sulfur that is converted into biologically assimilated forms used in energy metabolism, especially in bacteria in plants. Barayeu et al. report that cyclo-octasulfur is present in millimolar amounts in mitochondrial membranes and lipid droplets in human and mouse cells ...
Octasulfur was generated by endothelial nitric oxide synthase. This process may provide a storage source for reactive hydropolysulfides that allow antioxidant defense mechanisms in mammalian cells. Supporting such a protective role, depletion of octasulfur in cultured mouse cells increased lipid peroxidation and cell death. ...
Structured Abstract
INTRODUCTION
Elemental sulfur is a central intermediate in the global sulfur cycle and is widely produced by prokaryotes, with additional evidence for its use in plants and fungi. Whether mammals synthesize, store, or use elemental sulfur, however, has remained unknown. Because mammalian cells enzymatically generate diverse reactive sulfur species, including hydropersulfides and polysulfides, we asked whether they also produce cyclo-octasulfur (S8), the most stable allotrope of elemental sulfur, for biological function.
RATIONALE
We reasoned that if mammals use elemental sulfur as a biologically meaningful metabolite, S8 should be maintained not as an incidental chemical product but as a regulated intracellular reservoir coupled to reactive sulfur metabolism.
To test this possibility, we established complementary approaches:
mass spectrometry using a polyaromatic capsule that captures and stabilizes S8, enabling its quantitative analysis, and
Raman microscopy for the direct visualization of S8 in mammalian cells and tissues.
RESULTS
In line with established knowledge, we detected S8 in bacteria and yeast and further found it in mammalian mitochondria and lipid droplets from mouse and human cells and tissues. S8 was especially enriched in lipid droplets, corresponding by extrapolation to tens of grams or more of S8 across the human body, with particularly high levels in adipocyte-rich breast cancer tissues.
We identified lipid droplet–associated endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) as a major source of S8. Recombinant eNOS converted glutathione polysulfides [e.g., glutathione trisulfide (GSSSG)] into longer sulfur chains and ultimately S8 through an NADPH-dependent sulfur-catenation reaction, where NADPH is the reduced form of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate; in the presence of glutathione polysulfides and the canonical eNOS substrate L-arginine, this reaction also generated the nitric oxide (NO) carrier S-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO). Functionally, depletion of endogenous S8 increased lipid peroxidation and ferroptotic cell death,
whereas S8 delivery protected adipocytes and endothelial cells from ferroptosis. Mechanistically, S8 reacted with abundant cellular thiols, such as glutathione (GSH), to generate antioxidant hydropersulfides and polysulfides that suppress lipid peroxidation.
Local delivery of solubilized S8 into joints of mice with experimental osteoarthritis also reduced lipid peroxidation in joint tissue, suggesting a potentially protective effect.
CONCLUSION
Our findings establish that mammalian cells not only synthesize elemental sulfur as S8 but also sequester it within lipid-rich compartments at concentrations that surpass those of canonical lipophilic antioxidants such as vitamin E.
This hydrophobic sulfur reservoir may provide a dynamic replenishment of redox-active persulfides, thereby linking sulfur-chain chemistry to eNOS-dependent signaling, the restraint of lipid peroxidation, and resistance to ferroptotic cell death. These results position elemental sulfur biosynthesis as an evolutionarily conserved yet metabolically adaptable antioxidant strategy, broadening the conceptual landscape of mammalian redox biology."
Fighting cell death with sulfur (original news release)
A polyaromatic capsule was used to trap sulfur molecules produced in mammalian cells
Mammalian biosynthesis of elemental sulfur.
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