"A devastating series of storms late Wednesday spawned multiple tornadoes that caused extensive damage to several buildings and led to three deaths in Missouri." The rivers are rising and there are more storms on the way.
There's a fungus among us. "When did the first complex multicellular life arise? Most people, being a bit self-centered, would point to the Ediacaran and Cambrian, when the first animal life appeared and then diversified. Yet studies of DNA suggest that fungi may have originated far earlier than animals." Or technically, we're among the fungi.
"Over the years, scientists have pieced together a coherent story about how the process unfolds. And now the nonprofit Allen Institute in Seattle has taken advantage of that knowledge to produce a visualization of human cell division suitable for professional scientists and curious amateurs alike."
"Scientific Reports is publishing the results of the study led by scientists at Emory University. The results show that extracts from the plants have antimicrobial activity against one or more of a trio of dangerous species of multi-drug-resistant bacteria associated with wound infections: Acinetobacter baumannii, Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumoniae." Herbal medicine was actually quite good. (Grokked from Matt Staggs)
"Using advanced technology at UChicago-affiliated Argonne National Laboratory, the team studied a class of materials in which they observed superconductivity at temperatures of about minus 23 degrees Celsius (minus 9 degrees Fahrenheit, 250 K)—a jump of about 50 degrees compared to the previous confirmed record… The only catch was that the material needed to be placed under extremely high pressure—between 150 and 170 gigapascals, more than one and a half million times the pressure at sea level" That's a big catch. Also, it was a really small piece.
"Amazon.com Inc said shareholders rejected proposals to curb and audit its facial recognition service on Wednesday, just as members of Congress indicated there was bipartisan support to one day regulate the technology." Skynet (okay, a panopticon) is good for the bottom line.
"A Tennessee judge offered dozens of inmates about a month off their sentence if they’d undergo surgical sterilization, and many agreed to it, in what critics argued amounted to a eugenics program and a blatant violation of constitutional rights." Da fuq? (Grokked from Xopher Halftongue)
"Merck made a 'hit list' of doctors who criticized Vioxx, according to testimony in a Vioxx class action case in Australia. The list, emailed between Merck employees, contained doctors' names with the labels 'neutralise,' 'neutralised' or 'discredit' next to them." They seem trustworthy. (Grokked from Matt Staggs)
"A six-year-old girl was told to return a tray of food at her school cafeteria because there was not enough money in her account." I'll tell ya who should really have to do the walk of shame, and that's the cafeteria cashier, the person who wrote that policy, and the principal. (Grokked from Matt Staggs)
How goes Brexit? "Allies of Theresa May expect her to announce her resignation as prime minister by the end of the week after losing the support of senior members of her Cabinet."
"A south Mississippi lawmaker punched his wife in the face after she didn't undress quickly enough when the lawmaker wanted to have sex, according to a police report in the case." (Grokked from Matt Staggs)
"Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has secured another five-year term after winning a landslide general election victory."
Warning, this link is to The Sun. "Nigel Farage reportedly refused to get off his Brexit Party bus today because people gathered around it were carrying milkshakes." Damnit, now I'm going to start having to drink milkshakes. (Grokked from Brooke Bolander)
"More than 1,000 victims of the Holocaust were buried Wednesday in Belarus, some 70 years after they were killed in the genocide… Their bones were unearthed this winter by construction workers as they began to build luxury apartments in the southwestern city of Brest, near Poland." OF course construction continues.
"The promotion of religious freedom in America, a cause that not long ago had near unanimous support on Capitol Hill, has fallen victim to the culture wars." That's because personal religious practices, in the context of the individual, should have broad protections. When those religious beliefs hit the wider world, then they need to keep it to themselves. It wasn't that long ago this was common sense. Your rights end where my rights begin. But then we also held that there was a difference between personal and corporate identities (which have been erased by the conservative courts). There was a difference between individual and commercial speech. Corporations needed to respect the rights of the individual. Reversing that equation brings slavery.
"Central American migrants who were detained in a Border Patrol holding facility in McAllen, Texas, described atrocious living conditions and widespread sickness." It won't stop them from coming.
"A lawsuit brought by the House of Representatives against President Donald Trump's national emergency declaration will have another day in court Thursday in Washington, DC." As to the argument that Congress should need to pass a law first, they did. It was the appropriations act which the president is trying to circumvent.
"Remember the planned redesign of the $20 bill that was going to include the first African American woman to appear on U.S. currency?… Well, don't expect to see Harriett Tubman on your $20 any time soon." I'm sure it's totally not a racist or misogynistic thing.
"Trump got millions in 2018 from small Florida bank whose CEO got a Federal Reserve post months later." (Grokked from Xeni Jardin)
"A federal judge in New York City on Wednesday said Deutsche Bank and Capital One can turn over financial documents related to President Donald Trump and his businesses in response to subpoenas from two Democrat-led House committees." Welcome to the presidency, Trumps.
"The President is doing what he always does when he's in a dark political corner: fight harder than any man alive, adopting a relentless strategy of total political warfare and lashing out in a way that may ultimately be self-defeating." I love the continuing spin of the president being in a snit and venting to the press… they had a preprinted sign on the podium and they had handouts prepared. But on the other hand, it's Infrastructure Week again. It's our national Groundhog Day event. It has always been Infrastructure Week, it always will be Infrastructure Week.
"Although it's useless to speculate about what motivates this particular chief executive, it seems likely that his outburst was influenced by several recent political setbacks. The first was House Speaker Nancy Pelosi saying Trump engaged in a 'cover-up.' The second was an important legal decision that has clear implications for numerous legal showdowns expected between the executive branch and the legislative branch."
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