placeholder

placeholder

placeholder

placeholder

Silicon Valley Is Turning Into Its Own Worst Fear

We asked a group of writers to consider the forces that have shaped our lives in 2017. Here, science fiction writer Ted Chiang looks at capitalism, Silicon Valley, and its fear of superintelligent AI.

Click to view the original at buzzfeed.com

placeholder

Older Adults' Forgetfulness Tied To Faulty Brain Rhythms In Sleep

As people get older, brain waves that occur during deep sleep become less synchronized. This appears to disrupt a system that saves new memories.

Click to view the original at npr.org

placeholder

Kaffer: 8 years into tests of abandoned rape kits, Worthy works for justice

Freep columnist Nancy Kaffer talks to Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy about the progress of testing 11,000 rape kits abandoned in Detroit.

Click to view the original at freep.com

Hasnain says:

"In 2009, 11,341 untested sexual assault kits — the results of an hours-long process that collects evidence from the body of a rape victim — were found during a routine tour of a Detroit police storage warehouse, some dating back to 1984. "

"Ten thousand rape kits tested. One hundred twenty-seven convictions won, 1,947 cases investigated, 817 serial rapists identified. "

...

"One of the reasons we have these untested rape kits ... and I can use Detroit as an example, 86% of our victims in these untested kits are people of color."

:(

Posted on 2017-12-19T01:49:11+0000

placeholder

Seattle train crash: at least six dead in Amtrak derailment

Train was heading south on new high-speed rail route that opened on Monday when it derailed near Tacoma in Washington state

Click to view the original at theguardian.com

placeholder

‘We feel like our system was hijacked’: DEA agents say a huge opioid case ended in a whimper

Investigators wanted a $1 billion fine and criminal charges brought against McKesson. Instead, they got a $150 million fine and no charges.

Click to view the original at washingtonpost.com

Hasnain says:

It does not surprise me that the DEA would lightly enforce on things that could actually stop the epidemic.

"Schiller said DEA lawyers would repeatedly ask: “Why would you go after a Fortune 50 company that’s going to cause all these problems with Ivy League attorneys, when we can go after other [DEA registration holders] that are much lower, that are going to put up no fight?

“And I said, ‘That’s exactly why you want to go after McKesson. They’re the prize. They’re the ones that are going to send a message to the thousands of mom-and-pops, to other big distributors, to the manufacturers, that this is no longer acceptable.’ ”"

Posted on 2017-12-18T05:48:40+0000

placeholder

2 Navy Airmen and an Object That ‘Accelerated Like Nothing I’ve Ever Seen’

What began as a training mission took a bizarre turn in 2004, an encounter that caught the attention of a Pentagon program investigating U.F.O.s.

Click to view the original at nytimes.com

placeholder

Glowing Auras and ‘Black Money’: The Pentagon’s Mysterious U.F.O. Program

The shadowy program began in 2007 and was largely funded at the request of Harry Reid, the former Senate majority leader, who has had a longtime interest in space phenomena.

Click to view the original at nytimes.com