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But as millions of animals continue to be used in biomedical research each year, and new legislation calls on federal agencies to reduce and justify their animal use, some have begun to argue that it’s time to replace the three Rs themselves. “It was an important advance in animal research ethics, but it’s no longer enough,” Tom Beauchamp told attendees last week at a lab animal conference.


Science talks with two experts in animal ethics who want to go beyond the three Rs.

Nobody can predict what will happen in the future, but there are a few who are trying to help make sense of what is coming. Known as futurists, these “future” experts study the future and make predictions based on current trends. Here are a few futurist podcasts to help you make sense of where we are headed.

Future Thinkers

Created by Mike Gilliland and Euvie Ivanova, this podcast is focused on the evolution of society, technology and consciousness. Episodes include interviews with company founders, psychologists and philosophers. Recent episodes include “James Ehrlich — Regenerative Villages,” “Donald Hoffman — Do We See Reality As It Is?” and “Jamie Wheal Q&A.”

Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk called Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos “a copy cat” on Twitter after the online retailer announced it is acquiring self-driving startup Zoox Inc.

.@JeffBezos is a copy 🐈 haha https://twitter.com/ft/status/1276401808068526080— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 26, 2020

It’s not the first time Musk, who also serves as CEO of SpaceX, has taken jabs at Bezos. Earlier this month, Musk made headlines when he said it was “time to break up Amazon” in a tweet. He also called Bezos, who runs rocket-launch startup Blue Origin LLC, a copy cat in April 2019 after hearing of plans for a satellite-based internet service to rival his own company’s.

The microchips can be used as a key fob, a time card, a credit account for the cafeteria or vending machines, or even as a way for employers to track employee productivity.


“With the way technology has increased over the years and as it continues to grow, it’s important Michigan job providers balance the interests of the company with their employees’ expectations of privacy,” said the bill’s sponsor Michigan State Rep. Bronna Kahle. “While these miniature devices are on the rise, so are the calls of workers to have their privacy protected.”

The bill will be introduced to the State Senate where, if it passes, Governor Gretchen Whitmer will be able to sign the legislation into Michigan law.

The microchips in discussion, are about the size of a large grain of rice inserted between an employees thumb and forefinger to give employees access to different amenities throughout the office. They not battery powered, and are instead activated and used as individual ID for the employee when introduced to a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) reader.

In wartime, Chinese submarines might slip through the Sunda Strait or Lombok Strait. These pass between the chain of Indonesian that separate the Pacific and Indian Oceans. One advantage over the Malacca Strait, which runs past Singapore, is that it would deliver the submarines to the deep water of the eastern Indian Ocean. From there they could take less obvious routes to their targets.

The Sunda Strait would be the shortest route, but it is very shallow at its eastern end so the deeper Lombok Strait might be preferred. There a submerged passage is likely considered feasible to the Chinese Navy.

Once through into the Indian Ocean, the submarines could get rearmed or resupplied without having to return to China. The Chinese Navy has already built a base in Djibouti on the Horn of Africa. Even if the submarines themselves did not call in to the port, which would be closely monitored, vessels could operate from there to carry out at-sea replenishment.

The launch of NASA’s next Mars rover has been delayed to no earlier than July 22 due to a contamination issue with ground support equipment, the space agency said today (June 24).

NASA’s Mars rover Perseverance was scheduled to launch toward the Red Planet on July 20 from a pad at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. But a problem cropped up as engineers worked to encapsulate the rover in the nosecone of its Atlas V rocket, which was built by United Launch Alliance.