Leftovers

• Hackaday ☛ Candle Powered Lantern Isn’t As Silly As You Think

  [Gilles Messier] at the Our Own Devices YouTube channel recently took a look at an interesting device — an electric lantern powered by a candle. At first glance, this sounds completely absurd. Why use a candle to power LEDs when you can use the light from the candle itself? This gadget has a trick up its sleeve, though. It lets candle light out and uses the heat from the candle flame to generate power for the LEDs.

• Hackaday ☛ Halfway Between Inspiration And Engineering

  We see a lot of hacks where the path to success is pretty obvious, if maybe strewn with all sorts of complications, land-mines, and time-sinks. Then we get other hacks that are just totally out-of-the-box. Maybe the work itself isn’t so impressive, or even “correct” by engineering standards, but the inner idea that’s so crazy it just might work shines through.

• Hackaday ☛ 2024 Business Card Challenge: A Battery Tester With Blinkenlights

  Readers of a certain vintage will no doubt remember that for a brief time, some alkaline batteries came with a built-in battery tester. Basically, you just pushed really hard with your fingernails on the two ends of the strip, and it either lit up the little strip (or didn’t if it was dead), or made the word ‘good’ appear if energized.

• Science

  • Science Alert ☛ Chemistry Discovery on Mars Hints at The Origins of Life on Earth

    Like a fossil of a whole planet.

  • Science Alert ☛ Butterflies Can Make Epic Atlantic Ocean Voyages, Shocking Scientists

    We underestimated them.

  • Science Alert ☛ Attractiveness May Influence Teens' Tendency For Risky Behaviors

  • Science Alert ☛ The Heartwarming Reason Why Your Cat Meows at You Like That

    A story that goes back thousands of years.

  • Science Alert ☛ Penis Cancer Is Increasing Around The World, Experts Warn. Here's Why.

    If in doubt, always see a doctor.

• Hardware

  • Hackaday ☛ British Trains To (Maybe) Make Way For Steam Once More

    There’s nothing more guaranteed to excite a grizzled old railway enthusiast than the sight of a steam locomotive. The original main-line rail propulsion technology still clings on in a few places, but for practical purposes, it disappeared a lifetime ago. It’s interesting then to hear of a brand new steam locomotive prototype being considered for revenue freight use on British metals. Is it yet another rebuild of a heritage design to be used for enthusiasts only? No, it’s an entirely new design with nothing in common with the locomotives of the past, as [Terrier55Stepney] tells us in the video below the break.

  • Hackaday ☛ Repeatable “One-Click” Fusion, From Your Cellphone

    Sometimes you spend so much time building and operating your nuclear fusor that you neglect the creature comforts, like a simple fusion control profile or a cellphone app to remote control the whole setup. No worries, [Nate Sales] has your back with his openreactor project, your one-click fusion solution!

  • Hackaday ☛ Full-Scale Flying DeLorean Gets Closer To Liftoff

    These days, even hobbyist multi-rotor aircraft are capable of carrying considerable payloads. For example, the test rig that [Brian Brocken] recently put together should be able to loft more than 80 pounds (36 kilograms) without breaking a sweat. That would be a whole lot of camera gear or other equipment, but in this case, he’s planning on carrying something a bit more interesting: a full-scale foam DeLorean.

  • Mind The Pregap

    Pondering the compatibility issues and complications of a clever element of the audio CD hidden track boom: The before-album pregap.

• Defence/Aggression

  • New York Times ☛ Students Target Teachers in Group Fentanylware (TikTok) Attack, Shaking Their School

    Seventh and eighth graders in Malvern, Pa., impersonating their teachers posted disparaging, lewd, racist and homophobic videos in the first known mass attack of its kind in the U.S.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Top Myanmar general in China for official visit

    Clashes with ethnic minority fighters are raging in the north of the country despite a Beijing-brokered ceasefire.

  • JURIST ☛ South Korea court sentences man to prison for attempted murder of opposition leader Lee Jae-myung

    South Korea’s Busan District Court sentenced a man to 15 years in prison on Friday for attempting to murder Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung and for violating the Public Official Election Act, according to reports from local media.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Man turns himself in over offensive comment about car crash victims in South Korea

    The suspect had likened the victims to “tomato juice” in a memo that sparked nationwide furore.

  • NYPost ☛ Dalai Lama ‘doing very well’ as he celebrates 89th birthday following surgery in NYC

    The exiled leader of Tibetan Buddhism batted down rumors in a video to his followers that he was suffering severe health complications.

  • RFA ☛ Dalai Lama marks 89th birthday, allays concerns about his health

    In first public statement after knee surgery, the Tibetan spiritual leader says he feels ‘physically fit.’

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • RFERL ☛ Russian Wrestlers Refuse Olympic Invite After Teammates Left Off IOC Eligible List

      All 10 Russian wrestlers who received permission from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to participate in the Paris Olympics have refused to attend the Games, the Russian Wrestling Federation (RWF) said on July 6.

    • New York Times ☛ In Ukraine, Killings of Unarmed Russians Divide a U.S.-Led Unit

      A German medic said he was so troubled that he confronted his commander. Others boasted about killings in a group chat.

    • RFERL ☛ Stoltenberg Confirms $43 Billion NATO Aid Package For Ukraine

      NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed that the alliance will provide 40 billion euros ($43 billion) in military aid to Ukraine in 2025.

    • RFERL ☛ 5 Killed In Russian Strike In Donetsk Region As Ukraine Repels Drone Attack

      Ukraine's Air Force said it repelled another wave of drone attacks targeting 12 of its regions early on July 6 after a regional official said Moscow had launched guided bombs on the Donetsk region, killing at least five people and wounding several others.

    • RFERL ☛ Moldova, Romania, Ukraine Sign Agreement To Combat Russian Disinformation

      Moldova, Romania, and Ukraine have signed a joint cooperation agreement to combat Russian disinformation.

    • RFERL ☛ 14 Die In Crash Of Minibus, Oil Truck In Ukraine

      A oil tanker truck collided with a minibus in Ukraine’s western Rivne region, killing 14 of the 15 people involved, the Interior Ministry said on July 6.

• Environment

  • Energy/Transportation

    • Science Alert ☛ Dark Personality Traits of People Who Invest in Crypto Revealed

      It’s no conspiracy.

• Finance

  • TwinCities Pioneer Press ☛ Your Money: Practicing Financial Wellness, a holistic approach

    There are many definitions of financial wellness, but in our view, it refers to the degree to which you have achieved financial security and freedom of choice for the present and future in four dimensions: budgeting, saving, investing, and planning.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong fines DBS Bank HK$10m for money-laundering breaches

    The Hong Kong Monetary Authority fined the local arm of Singapore’s DBS Bank HK$10 million (US$1.3 million) for breaches of its anti-money laundering law, the banking regulator said on Friday. The HKMA said the bank failed to “continuously monitor business relationships and conduct enhanced due diligence in high risk situations” over a seven-year period.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • JURIST ☛ Hong Kong court affirms national security committee decisions not amenable to judicial review

    The Hong Kong Court of Appeal (CA) refused on Friday to grant Jimmy Lai Chee Ying leave to appeal the lower court’s decision that the Committee for Safeguarding National Security of the Hong Kong SAR (NSC) is not amenable to judicial review.

  • France24 ☛ Victory of reformist former heart surgeon Masoud Pezeshkian shifts Iran's political landscape

    Masoud Pezeshkian, a former health minister and long-time parliamentarian, was elected as the ninth president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, securing 53.6% of the vote in a runoff election. His unexpected victory against ultraconservative Saeed Jalili signals a potential shift in Iran's political landscape, raising hopes for reformists after years of conservative dominance.

  • France24 ☛ Biden dismisses debate as 'bad episode' as he rejects calls to quit race

    In an attempt to allay worries after a dismal debate performance that sparked demands for him to withdraw his reelection campaign, Joe Biden defended his electability and mental health in a TV interview on Friday. The 81-year-old president dismissed fears about his prospects, blaming his debate performance on illness and reiterating his eligibility to continue running.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • JURIST ☛ CPJ urges Algeria authorities to release detained journalists and cease crackdown on press freedom

    The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Friday urged Algerian authorities to release two detained journalists, stating that the country must stop cracking down on press freedom. The two journalists, Omar Ferhat and Sofiane Ghirous, worked for the news website Algeria Scoop and were arrested last month.

  • RFERL ☛ Russia Adds 2 More Journalists To Its 'Foreign Agent' List

    Russia's Justice Ministry has added two more independent journalists -- Olesya Gerasimenko and Sergei Yezhov -- to its "foreign agent" list.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • JURIST ☛ New Brunswick judge rules school district lacks standing in gender identity policy lawsuit

    A New Brunswick judge ruled on Friday that the Anglophone East District Education Council does not have the legal standing to challenge changes to Policy 713, a gender identity policy made by the provincial government.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ As Chinese adoptees reach adulthood, many are returning to birth country to understand where they came from

    By Celia Cazale and Matthew Walsh At an empty concrete lot in southwest China, Loulee Wilson scoops a handful of stones into a bag – a memento from the site where she believes she was abandoned as a baby.

  • The Straits Times ☛ 4% of teenagers in South Korea asked to send sexual images: Survey

    The survey was conducted with 4,757 middle and high school students nationwide.

Monopolies/Monopsonies