Article URL: http://tylerneylon.com/a/lsh1/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27614381

Points: 68

# Comments: 18

Article URL: https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-world-relies-on-one-chip-maker-in-taiwan-leaving-everyone-vulnerable-11624075400

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27614124

Points: 15

# Comments: 4

Kattails just sent me this, and wondered whether the release of this video might have been timed to correspond with Biden’s speech today.  Interesting thought!  It was certainly timed to coincide with the graduation ceremonies that more than 3,000 class of 2021 graduates will not be able to attend because they died from gun violence.

Well done, Parkland dad.  I am sorry for your loss, but you are not letting them forget.

The Former NRA President Was Tricked Into Speaking At A Fake High School Graduation

⁦@ChangeTheRef⁩ kicking ass https://t.co/Dd7cpKEsZt

— David Hogg (@davidhogg111) June 23, 2021

Former NRA President duped by Parkland parents into giving fake graduation speech to empty chairs. He thought this was the rehearsal, but a simple Google search would have told him the high school doesn’t even exist. pic.twitter.com/RLZns6YCIB

— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) June 23, 2021

A Former NRA President Was Tricked Into Speaking At A Fake High School Graduation

Change the Ref, an organization founded by Manuel and Patricia Oliver, whose son Joaquin “Guac” was killed in 2018 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, held a fake high school graduation for what they call “The Lost Class” of students.

They invited Keene and John Lott, an author and gun rights activist, to give remarks to a high school graduating class and filmed what they were told was a rehearsal in a stadium of empty chairs.

“Ironically, had the men conducted a proper background check on the school, they would have seen that the school is fake,” a Change the Ref spokesperson said in a press release.

…

After filming, Keene and Lott were told the graduation was canceled and were not informed before the videos were released on Wednesday that the event was fake.

“You’re telling me the whole thing was a setup?” said Lott, when he responded to BuzzFeed News’ request for comment. “No, I didn’t know that.”

The stunt was designed to highlight how powerful gun advocates speak. “These two guys are part of the problem,” Manuel Oliver told BuzzFeed News. “We need to call them out, we need to show everyone — this is how they process the logic behind the gun industry.”

“We need to show we’re brave and we’re not afraid of these guys,” Oliver said. “We’ve already felt the worst possible situation. There’s no threat that can make me feel different.”

In videos released on Wednesday, Lott and Keene’s graduation speeches — in which they call for gun rights protections and talk about James Madison, the Founding Father who proposed the Second Amendment — are interspersed with audio from 911 calls about school shootings and the sound of gunfire.

Read the whole thing.  And watch the video.

One of David Hogg’s tweets from yesterday said this:

One of the best ways to make sure young people don’t vote is to make it practically impossible for the elected officials (we helped elected) to do their job and pass legislation that the majority of Americans support.

We need to abolish the filibuster.

You know that is all part of the Republican plan.  Bastards.

The post Late Night: Former NRA President Tricked Into Speaking At Fake High School Graduation appeared first on Balloon Juice.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Scientific American: Few harbingers of old age are clearer than the sight of gray hair. As we grow older, black, brown, blonde or red strands lose their youthful hue. Although this may seem like a permanent change, new research reveals that the graying process can be undone -- at least temporarily. In a study published today in eLife, a group of researchers provide the most robust evidence of this phenomenon to date in hair from around a dozen people of various ages, ethnicities and sexes. It also aligns patterns of graying and reversal to periods of stress, which implies that this aging-related process is closely associated with our psychological well-being. The researchers [...] developed a technique to digitize and quantify the subtle changes in color, which they dubbed hair pigmentation patterns, along each strand. These patterns revealed something surprising: In 10 of [the 14 participants], who were between age nine and 39, some graying hairs regained color. The team also found that this occurred not just on the head but in other bodily regions as well. "When we saw this in pubic hair, we thought, 'Okay, this is real,'" [Martin Picard, a mitochondrial psychobiologist at Columbia University] says. "This happens not just in one person or on the head but across the whole body." He adds that because the reversibility only appeared in some hair follicles, however, it is likely limited to specific periods when changes are still able to occur. Most people start noticing their first gray hairs in their 30s -- although some may find them in their late 20s. This period, when graying has just begun, is probably when the process is most reversible, according to [study co-author Ralf Paus, a dermatologist at the University of Miami]. In those with a full head of gray hair, most of the strands have presumably reached a "point of no return," but the possibility remains that some hair follicles may still be malleable to change, he says. In a small subset of participants, the researchers pinpointed segments in single hairs where color changes occurred in the pigmentation patterns. Then they calculated the times when the change happened using the known average growth rate of human hair: approximately one centimeter per month. These participants also provided a history of the most stressful events they had experienced over the course of a year. This analysis revealed that the times when graying or reversal occurred corresponded to periods of significant stress or relaxation. In one individual, a 35-year-old man with auburn hair, five strands of hair underwent graying reversal during the same time span, which coincided with a two-week vacation. Another subject, a 30-year-old woman with black hair, had one strand that contained a white segment that corresponded to two months during which she underwent marital separation and relocation -- her highest-stress period in the year.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Article URL: https://psyche.co/ideas/why-it-took-us-thousands-of-years-to-see-the-colour-violet

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27613536

Points: 10

# Comments: 2

This is a film taken in about the late 1890's from The Netherlands and France but enhanced with the most modern AI technology. From the blurb:

The film begins at a train station with holidaymakers arriving.
Before the Riviera became popular, Parisians headed to the sea fronts of Normandy. Observe the mobile beach huts for the more adventurous women to change into swimming costumes.
The huts were then rolled down to the waters edge for a secluded dip in the water.
Another interesting feature are the diving boards attached to moored boats.
We don't have an exact date for this footage but judging by the various fashions and accessories this is some time between 1896 and 1906.

Open thread below...

Article URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01681-w

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27613255

Points: 46

# Comments: 34

Article URL: https://newsblur.com/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27613217

Points: 212

# Comments: 139

In the news today: A new poll suggests that American voters are far more concerned about the future of American democracy than their senators are. The Biden administration isn't just ending the Trump Team's white nationalism-premised "Remain in Mexico" immigration rules, they're taking steps to help remedy the wrongs done. Tucker Carlson continues to be a major propagandist for fascist insurrectionists, but we quickly learned that pro-Trump militants were planning for violence on Jan. 6 long before they arrived in Washington, D.C. The more evidence comes in, the stronger that case gets.

Here's some of what you may have missed:

Earlier this month I detailed my experience with Apple’s new Object Capture API, which was introduced with macOS Monterey to let users create 3D models using the iPhone camera. Now developer Ethan Saadia has created PhotoCatch, a new app based on this new API that makes the whole process simpler.

more…

The post ‘PhotoCatch’ lets you easily create 3D models using Apple’s new Object Capture API appeared first on 9to5Mac.

For some time, a collaboration of biologists, chemists and physicists centered at the Universities of Oldenburg (Germany) and Oxford (UK) have been gathering evidence suggesting that the magnetic sense of migratory birds such as European robins is based on a specific light-sensitive protein in the eye. In the current edition of the journal Nature, this team demonstrate that the protein cryptochrome 4, found in birds' retinas, is sensitive to magnetic fields and could well be the long-sought magnetic sensor. Phys.Org reports: First author Jingjing Xu, a doctoral student in Henrik Mouritsen's research group in Oldenburg, took a decisive step toward this success. After extracting the genetic code for the potentially magnetically sensitive cryptochrome 4 in night-migratory European robins, she was able, for the first time, to produce this photoactive molecule in large quantities using bacterial cell cultures. Christiane Timmel's and Stuart Mackenzie's groups in Oxford then used a wide range of magnetic resonance and novel optical spectroscopy techniques to study the protein and demonstrate its pronounced sensitivity to magnetic fields. The team also deciphered the mechanism by which this sensitivity arises -- another important advance. "Electrons that can move within the molecule after blue-light activation play a crucial role," explains Mouritsen. Proteins like cryptochrome consist of chains of amino acids: robin cryptochrome 4 has 527 of them. Oxford's Peter Hore and Oldenburg physicist Ilia Solov'yov performed quantum mechanical calculations supporting the idea that four of the 527 -- known as tryptophans -- are essential for the magnetic properties of the molecule. According to their calculations, electrons hop from one tryptophan to the next generating so-called radical pairs which are magnetically sensitive. To prove this experimentally, the team from Oldenburg produced slightly modified versions of the robin cryptochrome, in which each of the tryptophans in turn was replaced by a different amino acid to block the movement of electrons. Using these modified proteins, the Oxford chemistry groups were able to demonstrate experimentally that electrons move within the cryptochrome as predicted in the calculations -- and that the generated radical pairs are essential to explain the observed magnetic field effects. Hore says "if we can prove that cryptochrome 4 is the magnetic sensor we will have demonstrated a fundamentally quantum mechanism that makes animals sensitive to environmental stimuli a million times weaker than previously thought possible."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Let’s talk music.  I have had this site open in a tab for over a month: The Number Ones

It’s been so long that I don’t even recall who first posted the link, but I do recall some good-natured cursing at the person who did, by people who had gone down the rabbit hole.

Once this post goes up, I’ll add it to the Featuring menu in the sidebar so the conversation can continue any time you want to talk music overnight.

edit:  h/t Nicole!

The post Let’s Talk Music: The Number Ones appeared first on Balloon Juice.

randy khan

While a lot of the really touristy things in Paris are entirely skippable, here are some that you really should do.  One of them is taking a boat ride on the Seine.  It’s a great way to get off your feet for a while, and it also gives you a different perspective on the city.  There are boats that just do a circuit from roughly the Eiffel Tower to Notre Dame and back, and there also are boats where you sit down for lunch or dinner; we’ve done both.  These photos are from a dinner cruise, arranged by our Parisian friend, as we never would have thought of it ourselves.

The post On The Road – randy khan – Springtime in Paris – Floating along the Seine appeared first on Balloon Juice.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, in an effort to maintain his leadership in the people's struggle against oppressive Critical Race Theory indoctrination, has signed a bill that sets up an annual survey of the "college community":

Under HB 233, signed by DeSantis on June 22, the Florida Board of Education will now require Florida colleges to survey students every year and assess “the intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity” at each institution....In this case, college community refers to students, faculty and staff. The survey will check how free they feel to express their own beliefs and viewpoints while on campus and in the classroom.

This is great. If Florida progressives have any sense, they will organize a campaign of mass lying on this survey. The results, when tallied, will show that higher education in Florida is chock full of conservatives who feel completely free to express their admiration for Comrade DeSantis and the tenets of kulturkampf Trumpism. The whole thing should be turned into a ridiculous embarrassment that exposes the shallowness of DeSantis's claims to managerial competence.

So let's get on this, OK?

Article URL: https://dronedj.com/2021/06/23/update-tucson-copter-cop-says-mysterious-sophisticated-super-drone-like-no-other/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27612835

Points: 108

# Comments: 65

Artificial intelligence is to be used to tackle the most deadly parasitic diseases in the developing world, tech company DeepMind has announced. The BBC reports: The London-based Alphabet-owned lab will work with the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDI) to treat Chagas disease and Leishmaniasis. Scientists spend years in laboratories mapping protein structures. But last year, DeepMind's AlphaFold program was able to achieve the same accuracy in a matter of days. Many diseases are linked to the roles of proteins in: catalysing chemical reactions (enzymes); fighting disease (antibodies); and acting as chemical messengers (hormones such as insulin). And knowing the 3D structure of a protein is important in developing treatments for, among others, cancer, dementia and infectious diseases. Prof Dame Janet Thornton, of the European Bioinformatics Institute, told BBC News: "Most new drugs in recent years have been developed using protein-structural data as one part of the process. "There are, however, many other aspects which need to be taken into account, which, due to lack of data, may not be amenable to AI approaches." But the predictions would be "particularly valuable" for pathogens with unknown protein structures, including some neglected diseases. "Developing new AI approaches for designing such drugs is a new challenge but one to which the new AI techniques can be applied and this holds out great hope for the future," Dame Janet added.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Article URL: https://p4.org/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27612728

Points: 29

# Comments: 7

Article URL: https://jobs.lever.co/rainforest?lever-origin=applied&lever-source%5B%5D=hn

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27612624

Points: 1

# Comments: 0

Warren Buffett, the chairman and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway, announced his resignation as a trustee of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on Wednesday, according to a press release. Interesting Engineering reports: Bill and Melinda Gates announced that they were getting divorced in May of 2021. For many, it was an earth-shattering announcement, one that raises a host of questions about the future of their foundation and its quest to end disease worldwide. This latest announcement adds to the growing number of questions about what's in store for the many enterprises currently being managed by the Gates Foundation. The foundation supplies grants to researchers studying polio, nutrition, agriculture, global education, sanitation, HIV, malaria, tobacco control, vaccines, gender inequality...and we're just getting started. At the age of 90, Buffet has donated $41 billion worth of Berkshire stock to the five foundations. In today's announcement, he added that he has donated an extra $4.1 billion, but he didn't give a reason for his decision. "Today is a milestone for me," Buffett wrote in a statement. "In 2006, I pledged to distribute all of my Berkshire Hathaway shares -- more than 99% of my net worth -- to philanthropy. With today's $4.1 billion distribution, I'm halfway there." "For years I have been a trustee -- an inactive trustee at that -- of only one recipient of my funds, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMG). I am now resigning from that post, just as I have done at all corporate boards other than Berkshire's," Buffett said. "The CEO of BMG is Mark Suzman, an outstanding recent selection who has my full support. My goals are 100% in sync with those of the foundation, and my physical participation is in no way needed to achieve these goals."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Earlier today, we had two new rumors coming from different sources about upcoming versions of the iPhone. While leaker Sonny Dickson revealed dummy models of this year’s lineup of iPhones, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo detailed what to expect for the 2022 iPhones. Despite things like design and new features, there’s one specific issue worth thinking about, and that’s the iPhone mini.

more…

The post Comment: iPhone mini will stay for another year, but that doesn’t mean it will last much longer appeared first on 9to5Mac.