Things are going to be a bit wonky for the next few weeks, folks. At the end of this week I'm being let go by the day job and there's a lot of things to get accomplished before then. I still have the hospital job, which is the major source of income and benefits. I'm still in a little bit of shock over it, but debating what I want to do with all the extra time I'll have.
"The international LHCb collaboration at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has observed three never-before-seen particles: a new kind of pentaquark and the first-ever pair of tetraquarks, which includes a new type of tetraquark. The findings, presented today at a CERN seminar, add three new exotic members to the growing list of new hadrons found at the LHC. They will help physicists better understand how quarks bind together into these composite particles."
"DALL-E mini is the AI bringing to life all of the goofy 'what if' questions you never asked: What if Voldemort was a member of Green Day? What if there was a McDonald's in Mordor? What if scientists sent a Roomba to the bottom of the Mariana Trench?… You don't have to wonder what a Roomba cleaning the bottom of the Mariana Trench would look like anymore. DALL-E mini can show you."
"A satellite the size of a microwave oven successfully broke free from its orbit around Earth on Monday and is headed toward the moon, the latest step in NASA's plan to land astronauts on the lunar surface again."
"About 50,000 people have been urged to evacuate their homes as floods hit Australia's largest city for the third time this year… Parts of Sydney have received about eight months of rain in four days… Roads have been cut off, some houses are under water and thousands have been left without power."
"'Water Memories' is a companion to the intricately-beaded clothing and other objects in the 'Art of Native America' galleries. But 'Water Memories' tells a story… The exhibit explores water's many uses - for fishing, for travel, for ritual, for play. But it also points out how political water is. American power companies have flooded tribal land by building dams; a photograph by Cara Romero shows two Native Americans immersed in water, "still and suspended in a drowned landscape," says the artist's website. And a documentary-style video from Cannupa Hanska Luger shows a line of "water protectors" holding their mirrored shields at the Standing Rock Reservation. They glide across the snow to create a spiral - it represents a giant water snake."
"A federal judge on Monday ruled in favor of three major U.S. drug distributors in a landmark lawsuit that accused them of causing a health crisis by distributing 81 million pills over eight years in one West Virginia county ravaged by opioid addiction."
"As Akron police released body-camera footage Sunday of the fatal shooting of Black motorist Jayland Walker showing multiple police officers discharging a hail of bullets, policing experts say the video produces more questions than answers early on." When I was a student at the University of Akron there was a joke about the Akron City Police. It goes like this, "Akron City Police! Bang! Bang! Bang! Halt or I'll fire."
"The outlook for the UK and global economy has 'deteriorated materially' due to inflationary pressures largely stoked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, putting extra strain on British household and business finances, the Bank of England (BoE) has warned."
"Ford Motor on Tuesday reported a slight increase in new vehicle sales for the second quarter that missed automotive analysts’ expectations… The company said sales rose 1.8% to 483,688 new vehicles in the second quarter compared to a year earlier, but noted that results improved in June and were up 31.5% for the month. Analysts expected the Detroit automaker’s sales to rise between 3.3% and 5.1%."
"The Biden administration may trim mortgage costs for new and low-income homebuyers in a move to make homebuying more accessible, The Wall Street Journal reports… Industry officials are asking the Federal Housing Administration to cut premiums it charges for loans they insure by $50 to $70 a month per buyer, though some analysts say the federal agency is unlikely to make such deep cuts, the newspaper reports."
"The 30 NATO allies signed off on the accession protocols for Sweden and Finland on Tuesday, sending the membership bids of the two nations to the alliance capitals for legislative approvals — and possible political trouble in Turkey."
"Two police officers were shot during a July Fourth celebration in Philadelphia, authorities said… 'We don't know if this was ricochet from celebratory gunfire, we don't know if this was intentional,' (Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle) Outlaw said. 'We're just extremely grateful this wasn't worse than it was.'"
"The shooting in Highland Park, about 25 miles north of Chicago, began shortly after 10 a.m. CT as parade-goers enjoyed a sunny Fourth of July parade along Central Avenue… Firearm evidence was found on the rooftop of a business near the shooting, police commander Chris O'Neill said earlier. The gunman used a ladder attached to the building on a wall in an alley to access the roof, said Christopher Covelli, spokesperson for the Lake County Major Crime Task Force."
"Robert 'Bobby' E. Crimo III, the person of interest identified by police after Monday’s shooting in a Chicago suburb that killed six people and wounded 38 others, left a long trail of tributes to mass shootings and public killings on social media platforms, according to numerous profiles that appear to belong to him."
"And for abortion providers and funders, the next round of this fight is about more than politics and law. It's become increasingly about money and logistics: providing women in states that restrict abortions the option — and the resources — to travel to states where abortion is legal and accessible."
"That’s because the buyer of the land was a Chinese company, the Fufeng Group, based in Shandong, China, and the property is just about 20 minutes down the road from Grand Forks Air Force Base — home to some of the nation’s most sensitive military drone technology… The base is also the home of a new space networking center, which a North Dakota senator said handles 'the backbone of all U.S. military communications across the globe.'"
"At a recent gathering of thousands of religious conservative activists held by the Faith and Freedom Coalition, one thing immediately stood out: the crowd isn't as white as it used to be… That's not an accident, according to founder Ralph Reed."
"Public universities in Florida will be required to survey both faculty and students on their political beliefs and viewpoints, with the institutions at risk of losing their funding if the responses are not satisfactory to the state's Republican-led legislature." Next up, a discussion why there are plenty of liberal arts degrees, but no program for conservative arts degrees. And then there's this, "… Barney Bishop, one of the top lobbyists pushing the bill in Florida's state legislature over the past year, shone a light on the justifications behind such measures — which he said were less about 'intellectual diversity' and more concerned with maintaining the country's conservative Christian identity in the face of younger, more diverse generations that share a dimmer view of religious right-wing orthodoxy." Well hello, thought police. (Grokked from Jim Wright)
"While the House select committee carefully lays out a timeline of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and the events that led to it, false claims of a stolen election are still spreading… Now, a new strategy has emerged. Instead of trickling down from former President Donald Trump's Twitter account, the movement has gone grassroots, with election denial influencers traveling the country to share their conspiracy theories with politicians and voters."
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