Friday, June 20
Headlines
Sergio Flores/AFP via Getty Images
SpaceX Starship exploded during a routine test. The rocket “experienced a major anomaly,” according to the company, leading to a catastrophic failure on the launchpad late Wednesday night in Starbase, TX. Though the Starship was completely destroyed, there were no reports of injuries. The explosion occurred during preparations for the rocket’s upcoming 10th launch and continues a string of pratfalls for Elon Musk’s space company. The seventh and eighth launches ended with fireballs, while the ninth test flight, in May, had a propellant leak that caused a chaotic splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico. The Starship is fundamental to SpaceX’s mission to eventually land humans on Mars. Watch the rocket explode here.
The latest on Israel-Iran. The conflict further intensified on its seventh day, with Israel hitting a nuclear facility in Iran, and Iran striking a major hospital in the south of Israel. Israel’s defense minister threatened Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, saying he “can no longer be allowed to exist.” Iran reportedly imposed a nationwide internet blackout to prevent Israeli cyberattacks, while several US-based airlines, including United and American, suspended flights to some parts of the Middle East as the conflict escalated. According to reports, President Trump has approved plans for an imminent US strike on Iran but has not yet given the final order.
X could soon offer stock trading on its app. “You’ll be able to come to X and transact your whole financial life on the platform,” CEO Linda Yaccarino told the Financial Times, promising that users will have the ability to make investments and trades on the social media site. Owner Elon Musk has long dreamed of turning X into an “everything app” where users can do a lot more than just make fun of Jim Cramer’s financial advice. X already announced last year that it would soon partner with Visa to launch a digital wallet. As the FT noted, though, a deeper push into financial services would likely invite regulatory scrutiny for a company that’s already on thin ice with many advertisers.—AE
Robert Reich
Friends,
Draw a circle around all the assets in America now devoted to Artificial Intelligence.
Draw a second circle around all the assets devoted to the U.S. military.
A third around all assets being devoted to helping the Trump regime collect and compile personal information on millions of Americans.
And a fourth circle around the parts of Silicon Valley dedicated to turning the United States away from a democracy into a libertarian dictatorship led by tech bros.
Where do the four circles intersect?
At a corporation called Palantir Technologies and a man named Peter Thiel.
In Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, a “palantir” is a seeing stone that can be used to distort truth and present selective visions of reality. During the War of the Ring, a palantir falls under the control of Sauron, who uses it to manipulate and deceive.
At A Glance
Leaping lemur, octopus offspring top a nature photo contest.
How to delete personal data on your old computer.
See newly discovered butterfly species.
Meet the Grand Canyon crew with a terrifying job.
Artist turns real-life spaces into scaled-down replicas.
Old design concepts for retro-futuristic cars.
How many people are in space right now?
Clickbait: Man pops the question to AI chatbot girlfriend.
In The NEWS
Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> Oklahoma City Thunder take on the Indiana Pacers tonight (8:30 pm ET, ABC) in Game 6 of the NBA Finals; the Thunder are up 3-2 in the best-of-seven series and will look to win the franchise's second NBA title (More) | Buss family to sell majority stake in Los Angeles Lakers at a $10B valuation, the largest ever sale of a US sports team (More)
> Film and TV mogul Tyler Perry accused of sexual assault in $260M lawsuit; actor Derek Dixon alleges Perry threatened career retaliation if Dixon didn't accept his advances (More) | Karen Read found not guilty in murder of boyfriend, police officer John O'Keefe (More)
> David Hekili Kenui Bell, actor best known for "Lilo & Stitch" live-action film adaptation, dies at age 46 (More)
Science & Technology
> US health officials approve twice-a-year preventive HIV shot after clinical trials showed a reduction of at least 96% in new infections; researchers say it may bring a long-sought end to the AIDS epidemic (More) | See previous write-up (More)
> Self-driving startup Waymo files permit to conduct self-driving testing in Manhattan with human oversight; company has fully autonomous cars in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Austin (More)
> China’s “Dragon Man” skull identified as belonging to a Denisovan; 146,000-year-old specimen allows facial reconstruction of the ancient human relative (More) | Fewer than a dozen remains of the species, mostly small fragments, have ever been recovered (More)
Business & Markets
> US stock markets close mixed (S&P 500 -0.0%, Dow -0.1%, Nasdaq +0.1%) (More) | Federal Reserve leaves benchmark interest rates unchanged, still forecasts two more rate cuts this year (More) | See overview of the Fed's projections (More)
> US Steel shares stop trading on NYSE as Japan's Nippon Steel finalizes its nearly $15B purchase of the iconic American firm; combined company will become world's fourth-largest steelmaker (More)
> Cryptocurrency firm Circle shares rise roughly 34% a day after the US Senate passed a bill to establish federal regulations for stablecoins—cryptocurrencies pegged to the US dollar; bill now heads to the House (More)
Politics & World Affairs
> Israel says it destroyed Iran’s internal security headquarters (More) | The US moves at least 30 military planes to Europe as President Donald Trump weighs direct US involvement in the Israel-Iran conflict (More) | See live updates (More)
> Federal judge blocks executive order limiting passport sex markers to male and female (More) | State Department resumes processing of foreign student visas, requires access to applicants' social media accounts (More)
> Medicare and Social Security trust funds projected to run short of funds by 2033 and 2034 respectively, limiting full benefit payouts, per new report (More)
SOURCE: 1440 NEWS
The Weak Cannot Grow Old
.jpg)
My mother and my father used to both tell me that growing old was not for weak people. I never fully understood what that meant until I grew old and then grew even older.
Aside from all the typical childhood illnesses and except for having HEPATITIS twice before graduating high school (which now shows up in my bloodwork as never having Hepatitis before - go figure?), I HAVE NEVER BEEN SICK until I reached the age of 60.
Now, I have always seen both my family doctor and dentist twice a year for as long as I have lived. But, since elementary school, I have never had a cold for instance, nor have I had the flu. I may have felt bad for twenty-four hours but nothing more.
At age SIXTY... that changed... I had a triple bypass level heart attack, a few months after being diagnosed with non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. I got the flu a couple of times. Five years later I was diagnosed with Melanoma that went away and came back twice and for which I am still being treated. Chemo treatments screwed up my Thyroid and three years ago, I had 5 lower back disks fused.
I would also like to add that up until the age of sixty, I was very active, running, walking, daily exercising, using strength machines and was never overweight. Due to the anti-nausea meds, I have been taking since age 60, my weight has increased to where I am now 20-30 pounds over my recommended weight limit.
At 77 years of age, almost 78, I can fully understand and appreciate what my parents said about the weak not growing old. Old age is not for sissies... it is serious business.
My advice is stay young as long as you can and if you cannot stay young, stay healthy and never allow yourself to get overweight. Your body will no longer like you if and when you do.
Inhibitory Neurons May Hold the Key to Spatial Learning and Memory
Summary: A new study explores how the brain quickly learns and remembers important locations by focusing not on excitatory neurons, but on inhibitory ones called parvalbumin interneurons (PVs). These PVs act like circuit breakers, briefly reducing their activity to allow learning-related neurons to strengthen connections.
Using optogenetics and virtual reality mazes in mice, researchers found that learning was blocked when PV inhibition didn’t decrease at the right time. The findings challenge the idea that more brain activity always equals more learning and could reshape approaches to Alzheimer’s and memory enhancement.
Key Facts:
- Dynamic Inhibition: Parvalbumin interneurons reduce activity just before learning moments, allowing memory-related circuits to strengthen.
- Predictive Signal: The decrease in inhibition predicted a reward before it occurred, revealing how the brain primes itself for learning.
- Clinical Implications: Improper timing of inhibition may explain memory impairments in Alzheimer’s and learning disorders. Source: Georgia Institute of Technology
Thursday, June 19
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)