Wednesday, April 23
In The NEWS
Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> Pro Football Hall of Famer and podcaster Shannon Sharpe accused in $50M civil lawsuit of sexual assault and battery (More)
> Duke star freshman Cooper Flagg confirms he will enter NBA Draft, is widely projected to be top pick (More) | ... and NBA playoffs are ongoing; see latest bracket (More) | ... as are the NHL's Stanley Cup playoffs; see complete schedule (More) | Hockey 101 (More)
> Ill-fated 2017 Fyre Festival to be turned into music streaming service that includes a subscription video-on-demand platform; Fyre Festival 2 was recently postponed indefinitely (More)
Science & Technology
> NASA's Lucy mission makes flyby of 150-million-year-old asteroid fragment; images expected to shed light on the collision processes during the early formation of the solar system (More) | The history of NASA (More)
> Engineers develop hyper-resilient lithium-ion battery that can be stretched and twisted and can continue to power devices after being cut in half (More)
> Lemur study reveals evolutionary changes to the way their brains respond to oxytocin determine whether females are highly aggressive or amiable; results shed light on how hormones influence behavior in humans (More)
Business & Markets
> US stock markets close lower (S&P 500 -2.4%, Dow -2.5%, Nasdaq -2.6%) as US dollar drops to three-year low after President Donald Trump pressures Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to lower interest rates immediately (More) | Learn more about markets, taxes, and much more with 1440 Business & Finance (More)
> FTC sues Uber for alleged deceptive billing and cancellation practices tied to its Uber One subscription service (More) | Justice Department asks federal judge to address Google's monopoly in internet search by forcing the $1.8T tech giant to sell Chrome, among other measures, as three-week hearing on remedy kicks off (More)
> Walgreens to pay up to $350M to settle federal claims over allegedly filling millions of invalid prescriptions for opioids and other controlled substances from August 2012 to March 2023 (More) What you need to know about the opioid crisis (More)
Politics & World Affairs
> White House expresses support for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who reportedly shared sensitive information about US strikes in Yemen in another Signal group chat, which included his wife, brother, and personal lawyer (More)
> Nadine Menendez, wife of former US Sen. Bob Menendez (D), convicted of joining her husband in yearslong bribery scheme tied to Egypt (More) | Man pleads guilty to killing 23 people and wounding 22 others in a mass shooting at an El Paso, Texas, Walmart in 2019, receives life sentence without parole (More)
> US Supreme Court hears challenge to the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that insurers provide certain preventive health services at no cost (More)
SOURCE: 1440 NEWS
Indoctrination
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- We wear the clothes they want us to wear
- We eat the food they want us to eat
- We go to the church they want us to attend or not
- We do what they want us to do
THEN,
- we forced to attend K-12 public education until we are old enough to free ourselves from our parent's control and the indoctrination of the government, the schools, and the teachers.
- we have little if any choice over what we want to learn while we are in K-12 public education.
THEN,
we are indoctrinated by our employers, the military if we decide to join, the highway patrol if we want to drive a vehicle and by federal, state, and local government by being forced to pay taxes.
No matter where one goes or where one wants to live, there is always someone or something that wants to indoctrinate us as to how we should live our lives. Most of us accept that indoctrination as part of LIFE while others refuse to accept it and try to get certain laws changed.
Some laws will be changed, and new laws will be written but no matter what we believe or want, our indoctrinations will always continue.
Higgs boson may be driving the Universe’s expansion
Scientists may have found a solution to one of the most profound questions in cosmology: What drove the Universe’s rapid expansion immediately after the Big Bang?
“According to what we call ‘standard’ cosmology, our universe is and has been expanding at different rates throughout its history,” explained Humberto Gilmer, a postdoctoral researcher at Brown University and one of the authors of the study, in an email to Advanced Science News.
“To understand this expansion, think of a muffin with some blueberries embedded in it; as the muffin bakes, these blueberries, which aren’t moving in the batter, still move relative to each other because the whole muffin is expanding. In a nutshell, that’s how our universe behaves. Inflation, then, is a period when that expansion happened extremely rapidly. But how do you get such a period? That’s an open question we sought to answer.”
Their new findings suggest that the Higgs boson, a particle discovered in 2012 at the Large Hadron Collider, might be the culprit and could have played a pivotal role in this process.
Tuesday, April 22
Robert Reich
The secession of the billionaire class
Friends,
Billionaire Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says the drop in the stock market is nothing to be concerned about because Americans aren’t looking at the “day-to-day fluctuations” in their retirement savings.
Billionaire Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick says we shouldn’t be concerned that mass layoffs in the Social Security Administration have caused delays because his mother-in-law wouldn’t be worried if she didn’t get her monthly Social Security check.
The richest person in the world, Elon Musk, whose minions are busily slashing the Social Security Administration, calls Social Security a “Ponzi scheme.”
At A Glance
The science of optical illusions.
Inside Home Depot’s $20B secret garden.
Your favorite music prompts the brain to release opioids.
How Stephen King became the master of horror. (via YouTube)
... and learn more about King's career here.
Play the classic game Snake—but on a map of the world.
Users find ChatGPT too "relentlessly positive."
Meet the sifaka, nature's pogo stick.
Clickbait: An age-old question—what happens to mummies' eyeballs?
In The NEWS
Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> Team USA tops Canada 4-3 in overtime to win women's hockey world championship (More) | Oklahoma wins its seventh NCAA women's gymnastics title (More)
> Judge allows Harvey Weinstein to remain in hospital during his retrial on rape and sexual assault charges with jury selection to continue today (More)
> "Sinners" tops Easter weekend at US domestic box office with $45.6M while "A Minecraft Movie" passes $700M globally (More)
Science & Technology
> Scientists "create" a new color by using a laser to stimulate the retina; five people have reported seeing the new color dubbed "olo," a highly saturated blue-green (More)
> Researchers discover genetic variations responsible for the development of cleft lip and cleft palate; condition is one of the most common birth defects in the US, affecting about 0.1% of children (More)
> Archaeological evidence from Germany of ancient horse hunts suggests the ability of humans to collaborate and plan complex tasks dates back to at least 300,000 years ago, roughly 250,000 years earlier than believed (More)
Business & Markets
> Stock markets reopen after Good Friday holiday, as companies gear up for first-quarter earnings reports this week; see schedule and estimates for companies including Tesla, Boeing, IBM, and many others (More)
> Logistics firm DHL suspends packages into the US valued above $800, citing increased administrative burden at US customs under new tariff orders (More) | Trump administration expected to further eliminate the $800 threshold for packages from China and Hong Kong May 2, citing concerns over fentanyl shipments (More)
> US class-action lawsuit accuses Tesla of using predictive algorithms that inflate odometer mileage, pushing owners past warranty limits quicker; company denies allegations (More)
Politics & World Affairs
> Russian President Vladimir Putin declares one-day ceasefire yesterday in observance of Easter; Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy criticizes unilateral move, says Russia still carrying out attacks (More) | Israel disciplines leader of military unit involved in attack that killed 15 emergency medical workers in Gaza (More)
> White House officials say April 11 letter to Harvard with set of reforms was unauthorized, came as talks between the administration and the university were advancing (More) | See original report (More)
> Iran nuclear talks to enter second phase this week; US officials say discussions will bring in technical experts from both sides (More) | See previous write-up (More)
SOURCE: 1440 NEWS
Eating Habits
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When I was 40 years old, I quit smoking, drinking alcohol, and eating red meat...
Bold statement - hard to believe I really did this.
- Yes, I quit smoking cold turkey.
- My alcoholic consumption went to 1-2 glasses of wine per month then down to per year, then down to zero.
- My red meat intake was no steak but once a year, a hamburger once a month, a pizza quarterly. Now it is no steak, no hamburgers, but pizza quarterly.
My total cholesterol (bad/good) has been 84 but recently it went up to 91.
I eat fish (salmon, tuna, cod), chicken, turkey, turkey burgers, turkey hot dogs, all sorts of beans and vegetables, nuts, and some fruits but not like I should.
My weakness is rice and what I use now is BASMATI - long grain. I use (Amish) French onion soup starter to flavor the rice.
In previous years, I used to count my daily intake of fat grams but now I have changed to calories... My goal is to not exceed 2,000 calories per day which is not as bad as it sounds once you get used to the routine.
When we eat out at a restaurant and the calories are higher than what I would normally have for that meal, then I eat half at the restaurant and the other half the next day.
In addition to the 2,000 calories, I try and focus on smaller meals five times a day. This is a lot easier said than done.
Obesity is a problem and if it is not controlled it gets out of control and becomes very difficult to reduce one's weight - when that happens, it might take 18 months to get back to your correct weight if my 2,000 calories/day is consistently followed.
Scientists achieve record-shattering results after testing limitless energy device: 'Experiments will continue with increased power'
In a groundbreaking leap toward cleaner, more affordable energy, scientists in France held a fusion reaction steady for over 22 minutes — shattering the previous world record. If that number sounds insignificant, here's why it's a big deal: That is 1,337 seconds of controlled, blazing-hot plasma, the critical ingredient needed to power nuclear fusion, a nearly limitless energy source that does not rely on polluting fuels like gas, coal, or oil.
This milestone brings us one step closer to a dream energy future: one where our homes, cities, and electric cars are powered by a technology that mimics the sun — minus the radioactive waste and environmental damage of traditional nuclear power.
Nuclear fusion has the capability to solve a major problem with polluting energy sources. Right now, our power mostly comes from dirty energy that pollutes the air and contributes to extreme weather. While solar and wind energy are gaining momentum, fusion offers something different: the possibility of continuous, around-the-clock clean energy using hydrogen — the most common element in the universe — as fuel.
Monday, April 21
At A Glance
Meet the northern snakehead, the invasive land-walking fish.
See how much your state receives in federal funding.
Visualizing what makes Americans cry.
... and what we remember most about high school.
Predicting wine quality by the animal on the label.
Olympic legend demolishes other parents at school field day.
A fireball lights up the night sky above Mexico City (w/video).
Humans and robots face off in a Chinese half-marathon (w/video).
Clickbait: San Francisco's new "great big naked statue."
In The NEWS
The Kola Superdeep Borehole was a project in the 1970s to uncover the composition of Earth by boring deep into its crust. Driven by Cold War competition, the Soviets chose the remote north to reduce the temperatures the tools would encounter. The mission managed to go 7.6 miles into Earth’s crust, the deepest human-made hole on Earth. Watch here.
How they figured out plate tectonics
The now well-established theory of plate tectonics—which claims Earth’s continental crust has drifted over time—was laughed at as recently as the mid-20th century. This video explores the origins and evolution of the idea that the continents didn’t always look like that, explaining how technologies were deployed to figure it out. Watch here.
The overview effect: how seeing Earth from space changes you
Astronauts regularly report paradigm shifts after seeing Earth from space. This phenomenon, known as the “overview effect,” can prompt big philosophical changes. For astronaut Ron Garan, this effect made him realize the interconnectedness and fragility of life and revealed that humanity is a planetary species. Read more in this article.
What are the odds of life beyond Earth?
In 1961, Frank Drake, Carl Sagan, and several other scientists gathered to form the Search for Extra-Terrerestrial Intelligence initiative. Part of that process was Drake’s equation, a formula used to calculate the number of exoplanets able to sustain life. This article breaks down the different conditions that impact the probability of life forms evolving elsewhere in the cosmos.
Worldwide names for Earth
The word “Earth” is rooted in German and evolved via Middle English, meaning the ground. In English, “Earth” means both the planet and the land—but in many languages, there are distinct words. This map—oriented in an atypical but in some ways more accurate projection—showcases different names for Earth across the world. Check it out here.
Visible moments of Earth through satellite images
A lot is happening on the planet at any given time. This fascinating collection of space-based photos of Earth compiles shots of well-known locations and natural events to give a high-level view. For example, you can see how certain wildfires appeared from space or see the spread of a specific city over time. Get lost gazing at Earth here.
What Matters?
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This is an interesting question that will be answered differently as one gain in age.
One might say what matters is
- Church
- Family
- Country
but, not necessarily in that order...
Others might say,
- Wealth
- Possessions
- Power
but not necessarily in that order either...
What matters to me is
- Freedom
- Integrity
- Honesty
- Loyalty
and I would say that freedom is the most important...
WHY would I say that?
Without FREEDOM, the one cannot have the other three...
I don't just mean freedom to vote or travel or make decisions, but freedom of communications, both written and verbal.
The next question is will we really ever have that kind of FREEDOM?
First there was our birth - no freedom there
Then,
- parents
- school
- military - for some
- employers
- laws
- spouses
Death is last and seldom do we have any freedom over that unless it is suicide.
So, if freedom does not matter, given my constraints, then what's left?
HOW WE LIVE...
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