Leftovers

• Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong writer Sa’diyya Nesar on the intersection of disability and faith

  Hong Kong writer Sa’diyya Nesar was born with muscular myopathy, a condition that weakens her muscles and forces her to use a wheelchair for most daily activities. The condition can be life-threatening, particularly during childhood. Her muscular weakness would frequently escalate a common flu into pneumonia because she struggled to breathe or cough properly.

• Science

  • Science Alert ☛ Study Reveals Hidden Reasons Cats Scratch Furniture, And How to Stop Them

    It’s not just to troll you.

  • Science Alert ☛ Breakthrough New Glass Self-Heals From Gamma Radiation

    This could change space exploration.

  • Science Alert ☛ Alien Civilizations Might Be Too Advanced For Us to Detect

    Could they be hiding in plain sight?

  • New York Times ☛ Leonard Hayflick, Who Discovered Why No One Lives Forever, Dies at 96

    A biomedical researcher, he found that normal cells can divide only a certain number of times before they age — which, he said, explained aging on a cellular level.

  • Science Alert ☛ Elite Athletes Are Smarter Than Regular People, And This Could Be Why

  • Science Alert ☛ New Laser Network Could Make Space-to-Earth Contact 1,000X Faster

    A revolution in communication potential.

  • Science Alert ☛ This Tiny Fossil Links Wine With The Death of The Dinosaurs

    Cheers to that!

• Hardware

  • Hackaday ☛ Simple 3D-Printed Table Loom For Complex Weavings

    The loom has been a transformative invention throughout history, shaping the textile industry from simple hand looms to complex, fully automated machines. Now, thanks to advancements in 3D printing, this age-old craft is being revitalized by modern makers. One such creator, [Fraens], has recently designed a unique 3D-printed table loom with eight shafts, offering a simpler yet innovative approach to weaving. This project is a fresh take on traditional looms, blending centuries of design knowledge with contemporary technology.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Ola Electric announces India’s first Hey Hi (AI) chip — Bodhi 1, Ojas, and Sarv 1 slated for 2026 and Bodhi 2 for 2028

    Indian company Ola Electric, known for its electric scooters and motorcycles, is planning to enter the Hey Hi (AI) processor market by launching three chips designed for LLMs, Edge Hey Hi (AI) applications, and data centers.

  • Hackaday ☛ Olympic Sprint Decided By 40,000 FPS Photo Finish

    Advanced technology played a crucial role in determining the winner of the men’s 100-meter final at the Paris 2024 Olympics. In a historically close race, American sprinter Noah Lyles narrowly edged out Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson by just five-thousandths of a second. The final decision relied on an image captured by an Omega photo finish camera that shoots an astonishing 40,000 frames per second.

  • What Pat Gelsinger can learn from TSMC's last layoff during financial crisis?

    In his 42 months as CEO of Intel, Pat Gelsinger recently issued an internal memo announcing layoffs, sharply criticizing Intel's deep-seated issues. He stated that Intel's "costs are too high, profits too low, and the company is mired in bureaucracy" [...]

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • New York Times ☛ A Virtuoso Cellist’s Painstaking Path From Long Covid Back to the Stage

    For over three years, long Covid has presented Joshua Roman with health challenges — and has indelibly shaped the music he makes.

  • Science Alert ☛ This Disease Is Wreaking Havoc on Citrus Fruit – And It's Spreading Worldwide

    Your morning orange juice is at stake.

  • New York Times ☛ The Painkiller Used for Just About Anything

    In huge numbers, older people are taking gabapentin for a variety of conditions, including itching, alcohol dependence and sciatica. “It’s crazy,” one expert said.

  • France24 ☛ What do we know about the resurgence of mpox in Africa?

    Cases of mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, have been detected in Sweden and Pakistan, just days after the World Health Organization declared a global health emergency in response to the resurgence of cases in Africa. The current outbreak is centered on the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the disease has killed more than 500 people since the beginning of the year. Here is what we know about the new, more infectious mpox strain so far.

  • New York Times ☛ For Abortion Clinics, a Tough Business Becomes Even Tougher

    After the fall of Roe v. Wade, some clinics thought they could expand their businesses in states that still allowed them to operate. It hasn’t quite worked out that way.

  • RFA ☛ China boosts port surveillance as mpox virus spreads globally

    The country is also running emergency disease control and prevention drills for 'pneumonia of unknown cause.'

• Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ China’s growing ‘robotaxi’ fleet sparks concern, wonder on streets

    Turning heads as they cruise past office buildings and malls, driverless taxis are slowly spreading through Chinese cities, prompting both wariness and wonder. China’s tech companies and automakers have poured billions of dollars into self-driving technology in recent years in an effort to catch industry leaders in the United States.

  • Digital Music News ☛ Sonos Confirms 100-Employee Layoff Round, Underscores ‘Continued Commitment to the App Recovery’

    On the heels of a poorly received app redesign that prompted an apology from CEO Patrick Spence, Sonos has confirmed a new round of layoffs affecting about 100 employees. Spence himself acknowledged the personnel reduction in a statement, following various reports on the layoffs and related Microsoft's Surveillance Arm LinkedIn posts from impacted individuals.

• Security

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Hackaday ☛ Your Data In The Cloud

      I try not to go off on security rants in the newsletter, but this week I’m unable to hold back. An apparent breach of a data aggregator has resulted in a monster dataset of US, UK, and Canadian citizens names, addresses, and social security numbers. As a number of reports have pointed out, the three billion records in the breach likely contain duplicate individuals, because they include all the addresses where you’ve lived, and there have only been on the order of 450 million US social security numbers issued anyway.

    • RFA ☛ 3 ways China is ratcheting up surveillance of Tibetans

      Authorities are hiring food delivery workers as auxiliary police to monitor Tibetans.

• Defence/Aggression

  • New York Times ☛ Why Many South Koreans Want the Country to Have Nuclear Weapons

    Washington says it would defend the South against North Korea with nuclear arms, if need be. But more and more people in the South think it should rely on itself.

  • NYPost ☛ Dem lawmakers given security warning before 100,000 pro-Hamas demonstrators descend on Chicago for DNC

    Roughly 100,000 pro-Hamas demonstrators are expected to descend on the Windy City this week to protest the convention and President Biden's support for Israel.

  • NYPost ☛ U.S. Air Force security guards exchange gunfire with ‘passing’ suspect at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland

    U.S. Air Force security guards exchanged gunfire with someone who twice opened fire on an entrance to Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland early Saturday, according to a spokesperson for the base.

  • RFERL ☛ As Serbia Blames West For Lithium Protests, U.S. Says Just 'Part Of Democracy'

    The U.S. State Department has said that any assertion that the United States supports anti-government protests in Serbia "is false."

  • NYPost ☛ Top Hezbollah commander killed in Lebanon after IDF drone strike, terror group says

    A top commander in Hezbollah's al-Hajj Radwan Force was killed on Saturday in southern Lebanon, the terrorist organization has confirmed.

  • New York Times ☛ Israeli Strike on Lebanon Kills at Least 10

    The strike came as tensions between the two countries were running high over the Gaza war. Negotiators are pushing for a truce in Gaza, hoping to avert a wider regional conflagration.

  • New York Times ☛ ‘There Is No Childhood in Gaza’

    A 9-year-old Palestinian boy lost his mother, father and two siblings in an Israeli airstrike early in the Gaza war. Within months, he, too, was killed.

  • France24 ☛ Hamas official calls Biden's optimism about Gaza ceasefire ‘an illusion'

    A senior Hamas official on Saturday dismissed US President Joe Biden's optimism for an imminent ceasefire deal in Gaza, where rescue workers said an Israeli strike killed 18 members of a single Palestinian family. "To say that we are getting close to a deal is an illusion," Hamas political bureau member Sami Abu Zuhri said in a statement.

  • France24 ☛ Indian doctors launch nationwide strike over colleague's rape and murder

    Hospitals and clinics across India halted services for all but emergency cases on Saturday as medical professionals launched a 24-hour strike in protest against the brutal rape and murder of a doctor in Kolkata.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • NYPost ☛ Russia bombs Sumy after Ukrainian forces destroy crucial bridge in Kursk region

      Russia launched a cruise missile and an aerial bomb across the border into Ukraine Saturday that sparked a fire in the city of Sumy.

    • France24 ☛ Ukraine says 'strengthening' positions in Russia's Kursk region

      Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday his forces were "strengthening" their positions in Russia's Kursk region, where Kyiv has been mounting a major ground offensive. His comments come a day after Russian officials accused Ukraine of using Western rockets to destroy a strategically important bridge over the Seym river in the Kursk region, two weeks into a surprise cross-border offensive that has resulted in some 200,000 people fleeing to safety. Read our blog to see how the day's events unfolded.

    • JURIST ☛ Ukraine President Zelenskyy submits bill to ratify ICC Rome Statute

      Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy submitted a bill on Thursday that would ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The bill would establish Ukraine as a member state over which the ICC can exercise jurisdiction.

    • LRT ☛ From Šiauliai to Klaipėda in 3 minutes – interview with NATO F-16 pilot in Lithuania

      As Ukraine receives its first batch of F-16s, the American-made jets have been patrolling the Baltic airspace since 2004.

    • RFERL ☛ Kyiv Opens Investigation Into Alleged Beheading Of Dead Soldier

      Ukraine's Prosecutor-General's Office has opened an investigation into the alleged beheading of a Ukrainian soldier participating in the Russia incursion.

    • RFERL ☛ Ukraine 'Strengthening' Position In Russia's Kursk Region, Zelenskiy Says

      President Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukrainian forces are "strengthening" their positions in Russia's Kursk region after launching a major cross-border offensive more than a week ago that caught the Kremlin's military leadership off-guard and altered the dynamics of the 30-month war.

    • RFERL ☛ Ukraine's Air Defenses Intercept All 14 Russian Drones Fired Overnight, Kyiv Says

      Ukraine's air defenses shot down all 14 Russian drones launched in an overnight strike, the Ukrainian Air Force said in a statement early on August 17.

    • New York Times ☛ During Ukraine’s Incursion, Russian Conscripts Recount Surrendering in Droves

      More than 300 have been processed in a prison in Ukraine, providing the country with a much-needed “exchange fund” for future swaps of prisoners of war.

    • New York Times ☛ Ukraine Destroys Key Russian Bridge as It Presses On With Offensive

      The bridge’s destruction is a setback for Russian supply lines as Ukraine seeks to consolidate its territorial gains in the Kursk region of western Russia.

    • New York Times ☛ Ukraine’s Incursion Into Kursk Met Early Success. What’s Next?

      Ukraine’s forces could try advancing farther on Russian soil, or return to the front line, where Moscow is making gains. There are arguments for various options.

    • RFERL ☛ Magnitude-7 Earthquake Strikes Off Russia's Far East

      A 7.0-magnitude earthquake has struck off the northeastern coast of Russia, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).

• Environment

  • Energy/Transportation

    • Hackaday ☛ The First Air Force One And How It Was Nearly Lost Forever

      Although the designation ‘Air Force One’ is now commonly known to refer to the airplane used by the President of the United States, it wasn’t until Eisenhower that the US President would make significant use of a dedicated airplane. He would have a Lockheed VC-121A kitted out to act as his office as commander-in-chief. Called the Columbine II after the Colorado columbine flower, it served a crucial role during the Korean War and would result the coining of the ‘Air Force One’ designation following a near-disaster in 1954.

    • Hackaday ☛ Retrotechtacular: Powerline Sagging And Stringing In The 1950s

      While high-voltage transmission lines are probably the most visible components of the electrical grid, they’re certainly among the least appreciated. They go largely unnoticed by the general public — quick, name the power line closest to you right now — at least until a new one is proposed, causing the NIMBYs and BANANAs to come out in force. To add insult to injury, those who do notice the megastructures that make modern life possible rarely take a moment to appreciate the engineering that goes into stringing up hundreds of miles of cable and making sure it stays up.

• Finance

  • New York Times ☛ As California Clears Homeless Camps, Two Projects Point a Way Forward

    While L.A. County grapples with homelessness, elegant new housing projects in Long Beach and Venice signal the solutions — and challenges — ahead.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • France24 ☛ Venezuelan opposition holds nationwide rallies against Maduro reelection claim

    Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado came out of hiding to attend the protest in Caracas against the government of Nicolas Maduro. It was one of hundreds of rallies she had called for Saturday in Venezuela and abroad. "With intelligence, prudence, resilience, boldness... peaceful protest is our right," she said.

Monopolies/Monopsonies