American scientist Frances Arnold, who won the Nobel Prize for chemistry, has retracted her latest paper. Ms Arnold shared the prestigious award in 2018 with George P Smith and Gregory Winter for their research on enzymes. A subsequent paper on enzymatic synthesis of beta-lactams was published in the journal Science in May 2019. It has been retracted because the results were not reproducible, and the authors found data missing from a lab notebook. Reproduction is an essential part of validating scientific experiments. If an experiment is a success, one would expect to get the same results every time it was…
Author: mediahitman
As devastating bushfires rage on in Australia, covering an area twice the size of Wales and incinerating some 500 million animals, forecasters are predicting the worst is yet to come, forcing record evacuations in the east. The deadly fires show no signs of slowing, with temperatures expected to reach well over 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) and “extreme” fire danger predicted for South Australia. The blaze is expected to consume the entirety of a national park in that province’s Kangaroo Island, and an evacuation order has been issued for over 100,000 people. Meanwhile, the government of New South Wales declared…
A Turkish private jet firm says a rogue employee acted alone to help former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn escape from Japan using its aircraft. Mystery surrounded how Ghosn, who faces criminal charges in Japan, travelled to Lebanon via Turkey at the weekend. But the MNG jet firm now says one of its employees falsified records and arranged two flights for Mr Ghosn under different names. The firm said it had filed a criminal complaint over the matter. Mr Ghosn, who holds Brazilian, French and Lebanese nationalities, was living under strict bail conditions when he left Japan. When he turned up…
At last! The Federal Aviation Administration has made two statements after a week of reports of unidentified giant drones flying in formation through parts of northeastern Colorado and across the border into Nebraska, with several eyewitness accounts from law enforcement agencies. Next, a proposed rule change was released by the government requiring most drones to be remotely easily identifiable. Second, in a concerted effort to identify the owner and their intent, the FAA announced that it is collaborating with law enforcement in the five counties reporting the giant drones. Great news or not too late? “It was too low to…
Using the SPHERE receiver of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) Very Southern Telescope (VLT), astronomers noticed that the asteroid Hygea, the fourth largest body in the main asteroid belt, had a spherical shape and could potentially take away from Ceres the “title” of the smallest dwarf planet in the Solar System. Reports of scientific observations and conclusions are published in Nature Astronomy Journal. “Thanks to the SPHERE receiver’s unique capabilities, one of the world’s most powerful imaging instruments, We were able to determine directly the form of the Hygea, which turned out to be roughly spherical, so that it could…
Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation Thursday setting aside $9.5 million for family planning services. The governor says the bill will counteract a Trump administration rule barring clinics from referring women for abortions. He signed the bill alongside lawmakers, first lady Tammy Murphy and Planned Parenthood officials. Murphy said the bill was necessary due to a recent federal regulation. Planned Parenthood in August announced it would not participate in a federal family planning program known as Title X. That came after a new regulation from President Donald Trump’s administration prohibiting clinics that get federal funds from referring women for abortions. Source
Private cars are to be banned from York’s medieval city center by 2023, under plans approved by councilors. The City of York Council wants an end to “non-essential” car journeys within the city walls. The authority, which is run by the Liberal Democrats and the Greens, wants to make the city carbon neutral by 2030 – 20 years ahead of the UK government’s net zero target. It said those who rely on cars, such as disabled residents, would be exempt. The idea was proposed by Labour councillor Johnny Crawshaw but received support from a majority of councilors, according to the…
If you had any doubt about what gun control really means to the democrat party, then Presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg has just helped clarify the fact that gun control is about controlling the American populace. On Sunday, Jack Wilson saved over 200 people when he fatally shot a gunman in a Texas church, proving that the only way to stop mass shooting is to allow good guys with guns to carry them everywhere. Wilson, who headed up the West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement’s security team was able to respond and take out the shooter within seconds of…
Apple is pushing ahead with a lawsuit against Corellium, in what is being labelled as a move to end jailbreaking. The tech giant began its legal battle in August, claiming the firm profits from “perfect replicas” of iOS. Apple has now amended its lawsuit, alleging copyright infringement. Corellium’s chief executive Amanda Gorton responded in an open letter, in which she said developers and jailbreakers should be “concerned” by the move. Jailbreaking is a process by which Apple’s operating systems are modified to remove restrictions and give greater control to the user. It also allows users to install apps that haven’t…
US radio host and prominent conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has been ordered to pay $100,000 in legal fees and court costs in a defamation case against him. The case has been brought by the father of a child killed in the Sandy Hook mass school shooting in 2012. Mr Jones has long claimed on his show and Infowars site that the attack was “completely fake” and a “giant hoax”. Twenty children – all under the age of 10 – and six adults were killed. In a 20 December ruling, Judge Scott Jenkins of Travis County District Court in Texas said…
The US Army has banned the use of the increasingly popular TikTok app on work mobile phones for security reasons. The app, owned by the Chinese company, ByteDance, has come under close scrutiny recently in the US and other countries. US Army spokeswoman, Lt Col Robin Ochoa, told US media it was considered “a cyber threat”. The app allows its more than half a billion users worldwide to post short, often quirky, self-edited videos. TikTok is a draw for its mainly young users attracted by the ability to make and share 15-second videos, such as lip-synching to songs and comedy…
He was once a titan of the car industry who held hero status in Japan. He then became one of the country’s most well-known criminal suspects. Now he’s an international fugitive. Carlos Ghosn, the multi-millionaire former boss of Nissan, spent months preparing to stand trial on financial misconduct charges. At least, that was what the Japanese authorities were led to believe. He posted 1bn yen (£6.8m; $8.9m) in bail in April. He was monitored by a 24-hour camera installed outside his house. His use of technology was heavily restricted and he was banned from traveling abroad. Then, in a move…
Astronomers are warning that their view of the Universe could be under threat. From next week, a campaign to launch thousands of new satellites will begin in earnest, offering high-speed internet access from space. But the first fleets of these spacecraft, which have already been sent into orbit by US company SpaceX, are affecting images of the night sky. They are appearing as bright white streaks, so dazzling that they are competing with the stars. Scientists are worried that future “mega-constellations” of satellites could obscure images from optical telescopes and interfere with radio astronomy observations. Dr Dave Clements, an astrophysicist…
Sonos is facing a backlash for encouraging customers to get rid of their old speakers when there may be nothing wrong with them. The US speaker giant offers customers a 30% discount on new products if they follow steps to recycle their old ones. Following these puts the device in Recycle Mode, which means it will then be permanently deactivated. Sonos said it wanted to encourage responsible disposal of electrical equipment. But many took to Twitter saying it would be far better to allow people to resell them. “Sonos’s ‘recycle mode’ intentionally bricks good devices so they can’t be reused,”…
The Pacific nation of Palau has become the first country to ban sun cream that is harmful to corals and sea life. From Wednesday, sun cream that includes common ingredients, including oxybenzone, is not allowed to be worn or sold in the country. Palau’s President Tommy Remengesau said: “We have to live and respect the environment because the environment is the nest of life.” The island nation markets itself as a “pristine paradise” for divers. A lagoon in Palau’s Rock Islands is a Unesco World Heritage site. The country has a population of around 20,000 dotted across hundreds of islands.…
Facebook has removed adverts about HIV prevention medicines, following intense lobbying from lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer advocacy groups. They argued in an open letter sent to Facebook in December, that the ads went beyond misinformation to “put people’s lives in imminent danger”. Medical studies suggest drugs such as Truvada are safe. But the ads, from law firms attempting to convince gay and bisexual men to join lawsuits, suggested otherwise. They focused on harmful side effects, such as kidney issues. Facebook agreed that this was misleading: “After a review, our independent fact-checking partners have determined some of these ads…
Democrats in Virginia may override local zoning to bring high-density housing, including public housing, to every neighborhood statewide — whether residents want it or not. The measure could quickly transform the suburban lifestyle enjoyed by millions, permitting duplexes to be built on suburban lots in neighborhoods previously consisting of quiet streets and open green spaces. Proponents of “upzoning” say the changes are necessary because suburbs are bastions of segregation and elitism, as well as bad for the environment. The move, which aims to provide “affordable housing,” might be fiercely opposed by local officials throughout the state, who have deliberately created…
At least 30 US prison cadets have been fired after a photo emerged showing them giving what appears to be a Nazi salute. The image shows the cadets at the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation making the gesture below a sign that reads “Hail Byrd!”, referring to a class instructor. The state governor announced on Monday that the cadets would be fired. The picture was taken on their graduation day on 27 November. “As I said from the beginning, I condemn the photo of Basic Training Class 18 in the strongest possible terms,” Governor Jim Justice said in…