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Feb 29, 2020

The biggest, most detailed map yet made of brain cells

Posted by in category: neuroscience

It is part of a fly’s brain, but other brains will follow.

Science and technology Jan 23rd 2020 edition.

Feb 29, 2020

Hereditary Gigantism-the biblical giant Goliath and his brothers

Posted by in category: futurism

The biblical giant Goliath has an identifiable family tree suggestive of autosomal dominant inheritance. We suggest that he had a hereditary pituitary disorder possibly due to the AIP gene, causing early onset and familial acromegaly or gigantism. We comment on the evidence within the scriptures for his other relatives including a relative with six digits and speculate on possible causes of the six digits. Recognition of a hereditary pituitary disorder in the biblical Goliath and his family sheds additional information on his and other family members’ battles with David and his relatives.

Giants have been around since time began; they are first described in the Bible in the book of Genesis (6:1–4)1. Originally, giants appear to have been regarded positively, often considered as heroes, particularly by the non-Hebrew population. After the great Flood, giants remained present in the scriptural texts, but their good reputation had waned in the eyes of the Hebrews, and they often tended to be seen as the enemy, often fighting in armies. Giants lived together as a number of separate races, before and after the Flood. The exact relations between different families of giants are a little unclear. For example, the Nephilim (Numbers 13:32–33), appear to be present before and after the flood. The Emites, the Ammonites (or Anakites) and the Rephaim (Deuteronomy 2:10–11), existed after the Flood and appear to be separate entities although the chronicler often uses the phrase ‘like’ suggesting they had a similar phenotype. The Anakim seem to be derived from the Nephilim.

Feb 29, 2020

Citroën’s new EV is a tiny two-seater that only costs $22 a month

Posted by in category: transportation

https://youtube.com/watch?v=74VfCw1FE2s

The Citroën Ami is a tiny electric vehicle made for city driving.

Feb 29, 2020

Scientists Spot the Biggest Known Explosion in the Universe

Posted by in categories: energy, space

Astronomers have spotted a cosmic blast that dwarfs all others.

A gargantuan explosion tore through the heart of a distant galaxy cluster, releasing about five times more energy than the previous record holder, a new study reports.

“In some ways, this blast is similar to how the eruption of Mt. St. Helens in 1980 ripped off the top of the mountain,” study lead author Simona Giacintucci, of the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C., said in a statement. “A key difference is that you could fit 15 Milky Way galaxies in a row into the crater this eruption punched into the cluster’s hot gas.”

Feb 29, 2020

A dog in Hong Kong tests positive for the coronavirus, WHO officials confirm

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

A dog in Hong Kong has tested positive for the COVID-19 virus that’s killed at least 2,859 humans across the world over the last two months, World Health Organization officials said Friday.

Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, the technical lead of WHO’s emergencies program, said the canine tested “weakly positive,” meaning low levels of the virus were found.

Hong Kong scientists aren’t sure if the dog is actually infected or if it picked up the virus from a contaminated surface, she said.

Feb 29, 2020

SpaceX planning major increase in Florida launch activity

Posted by in category: transportation

WASHINGTON — SpaceX is proposing a significant increase in launch activity in Florida over the next few years, including missions to polar orbits and those that will require the use of a new vertical payload integration tower.

The Federal Aviation Administration’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation published a draft environmental assessment Feb. 27 regarding SpaceX launch activities from both Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center and Space Launch Complex 40 at neighboring Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The assessment, the FAA said, will be used in new or modified commercial launch licenses for Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy vehicles from those sites.

One reason for the assessment, the report states, is “SpaceX’s launch manifest includes more annual Falcon launches and Dragon reentries than were considered in previous [environmental] analyses.” SpaceX performed 11 launches from LC-39A and SLC-40 in 2019 and 15 in 2018, the most any one year to date.

Feb 29, 2020

Israeli firm unveils kit to diagnose coronavirus, as 2nd team works on a vaccine

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Announcement of BATM kit comes as officials struggle to balance need for rapid testing and worries over false positives; science minister hails institute’s progress toward vaccine.

Feb 29, 2020

IBM and Microsoft sign Vatican pledge for ethical AI

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

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Feb 29, 2020

Survivors From The MK Ultra Program Come Together To Sue The Federal Government

Posted by in categories: ethics, government, neuroscience

According to this CTV News article, survivors and families of an MK Ultra brainwashing program run by Dr. Ewen Cameron at McGill University in Montreal in the 1950s and 1960s have banded together to bring the horrors of this program more fully into the public eye.

They are planning a class action lawsuit against the provincial and federal government, an initiative which lawyer Alan Stein feels optimistic about:

“I believe we can claim moral damages as a result of the experiments when Dr. Cameron used these people as guinea pigs.”—lawyer Alan Stein

Feb 29, 2020

US and Taliban sign historic deal to end Afghan conflict

Posted by in category: futurism

Representatives of the United States and the Taliban have sealed a landmark agreement in Qatar to end the 18-year-long Afghan war. The deal will pave the way for an intra-Afghan dialogue. Shamil Shams reports from Doha.