lifted

Humans can take it back.

関宿滑空場でのM-02Jテストフライトの記録です。 ２０２５年１１月８日の２本目のフライトです。

Translated: "It is a record of the M-02J test flight at Sekijuku glide. It's the second flight on November 8, 2025."

The native bee was found near a rare wildflower, prompting scientists to call for the area to be protected.

Collins Dictionary has named "vibe coding" its 2025 word of the year -- a term coined by Andrej Karpathy for when a user makes an app or website by describing it to AI rather than writing programming code manually. The term, which is confusingly made up of two words, was "one of 10 words on a shortlist to reflect the mood, language and preoccupations of 2025," reports the BBC.

Researchers say well over 100,000 spiders from two different species coexist in this remarkable underground metropolis for arachnids

The receiving computer crashed as it couldn’t cope with the transmission speed of 5,000 characters per second.

Rick Bright is an immunologist who was fired for being a whistleblower during the pandemic under Trump's first administration.

The article gives an overview of his concerns for public health should Trump win the (then) upcoming 2024 election. Unfortunately, we can't take advantage of Bright's warning in hindsight:

For the well-being of our nation, the safety of our loved ones and the security of future generations, we must reject Donald Trump and any other candidate who threatens to undermine our public health institutions.

However, I'm posting this article that he wrote one year ago for an important reason. Yesterday, the CDC published a review article, which reported multiple cases of confirmed asymptomatic bird flu outside of the U.S., and likely person-to-person transmission.

This finding contradicts the common belief that most human infections will be symptomatic and severe.

Bright and a public health colleague published a commentary in the same journal, warning of the dangerous implications of asymptomatic cases spread by human to human transmission.

Asymptomatic Influenza A(H5N1) Infections and Sustained Surveillance—Sustaining Surveillance Beyond the Crisis

Through rigorous review of international literature and careful molecular and serologic confirmation in 16 cases outside of the US, the authors document that influenza A(H5N1) infections among humans do not always present with severe illness, that asymptomatic infections occur, and in some settings, there is probable person-to-person transmission. This finding challenges the traditional perception that influenza A(H5N1) infection among humans is almost invariably symptomatic and severe.

The urgency of this message is underscored by recent events in the US. Since March 2024, influenza A(H5N1) clade 2.3.4.4b has spread widely among dairy cattle, with confirmed infections in more than 800 herds across at least 16 states.2 High viral titers have been detected in raw milk and viable virus has been recovered from mammary tissue and milking equipment. Spillover into, and transmission among, other mammals has been documented, including cats, dogs, mice, wild carnivores, marine mammals, and swine.2-4 Human cases have been confirmed in multiple states, and as of mid-2025, approximately 70 cases have been officially reported, most with mild illness but including at least 1 death.5 The report from Dawood and colleagues1 thus challenges the notion that there has been no human-to-human transmission related to these events. It also highlights a critical gap in many national and global surveillance systems, which tend to focus on the detection of symptomatic illness rather than infection, and underscores the importance of carefully examining clusters where limited transmission may occur.

The implications are substantial. If asymptomatic infections are occurring, transmission chains can go undetected, giving the virus opportunities to adapt and spread widely before an emerging pandemic is recognized. These silent events will not be captured by systems that rely primarily on symptom-based case finding. Dawood et al1 provide a strong evidence base for expanding the scope of influenza surveillance to include molecular and serologic testing of individuals at higher risk of exposure, whether or not they are experiencing symptoms, as well as testing of contacts of infected persons. This is particularly important for pathogens with pandemic potential, where early detection is essential for containing spread before it becomes sustained.

Given the cuts to positions and funding in science, as well as anti-vaccination rhetoric that has spread throughout the U.S. under the current Trump administration, trusting this administration will responsibly handle another pandemic the second around seems like a dangerous assumption to make.

There is no reason to use fear or incite panic. However, this is very important information, that should be made widely available to the public as early as possible.

Given the lack of straightforward communication by the current administration, preventing a potentially dangerous situation, will require public awareness and sustained public pressure to follow the suggestions for changes to the current monitoring protocol, such as the ones provided in the commentary by Bright and Lurie.

Link without paywall: https://removepaywalls.com/4/https://thedailyrecord.com/2020/06/18/how-emergent-biosolutions-became-the-us-go-to-biodefense-contractor/

2020 article about a small Biodefense company with a very shady history and multiple government contracts.

Emergent has long been the government’s sole provider of BioThrax, a vaccine for anthrax poisoning. But over the past decade, the company has acquired biodefense competitors and treatments for smallpox, botulism and other threats for which there is no market outside of government.

Now, Emergent is the only maker of multiple drugs the government deems crucial for the Strategic National Stockpile, and the government is the company’s primary customer, accounting for most of its revenue, according to interviews with current and former government and company officials as well as government and corporate records.

A Washington Post examination found that Emergent’s strategy has been rewarded with a series of large contracts as the Trump administration focused on biodefense over preparations for a natural pandemic. But Emergent’s dominance has fueled new risks for national health preparedness, according to documents and former government officials.

The industry consolidation has created “vulnerabilities in the supply chain,” while also raising the prospect of inflated costs because of a lack of competition, according to a confidential report obtained by The Post. The report, commissioned by the HHS preparedness office to assess its relationship with private industry, cited Emergent as a primary example of increased concentration in the supply of “medical countermeasures,” or MCMs, such as vaccines.

Link without paywall: https://removepaywalls.com/4/https://www.americanbanker.com/opinion/the-next-epstein-is-probably-already-here-hidden-in-plain-sight

Officially, Epstein's death in a Manhattan detention center in 2019 closed the criminal proceedings against him. Yet the more important question for U.S. banks is whether the conditions that enabled his financial operations have truly been dismantled. On close inspection, the answer remains troubling. The uncomfortable truth is that the vulnerabilities exposed by his case were not unique. This was not a mere oversight or the failing of a rogue employee; it was a systemic breakdown in which the normal rules of compliance were suspended for a VIP client. They are rooted in a banking culture that too often gives ultra-wealthy individuals a pass on the very controls imposed on everyone else. That leaves a sobering conclusion: The financial system is probably still vulnerable. This is why the key vulnerabilities deserve closer attention.

The Epstein saga stands as the most glaring failure in handling high-risk clients since the collapse of Riggs Bank in 2005. But unlike Riggs, the banks at the center of Epstein's story, JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank, were not struggling institutions. They were global leaders, presenting private banking as a core commercial pillar alongside retail, corporate and investment banking. That strategic framing underscores the structural tension: the segment catering to ultra-high-net-worth and politically exposed clients is both the most lucrative and the most exposed to compliance risk.

In practice, this tension meant compliance rarely carried decisive weight. Deutsche Bank, for instance, approved Epstein's accounts in 2013, despite his 2007 conviction, reportedly projecting "revenue of $2–4 million annually." Years later, the New York Department of Financial Services would fine the bank $150 million, citing a "fundamental failure" to monitor accounts for activity "obviously implicated by Mr. Epstein's past." JPMorgan reached a $290 million settlement with victims, after plaintiffs alleged the bank "ignored obvious red flags" because of the relationship's profitability. The arithmetic was simple: projected millions outweighed compliance warnings, illustrating the recurring imbalance between business priorities and risk management.

The AML risk profile of ultra-wealthy clients differs sharply from that of retail customers. Money mules channel nearly 100% of their activity into high-risk flows, ensuring rapid detection and closure. By contrast, Epstein and his peers intersperse questionable transfers with vast volumes of legitimate activity, rendering the illicit share just a sliver of total turnover. Between 2003 and 2013, Epstein maintained roughly 50 JPMorgan accounts that processed more than $1 billion. Of this, regulators cited only a few million dollars as suspicious. That ratio made the problematic flows nearly invisible within aggregate volume. The concealment was not accidental. High-net-worth clients typically employ top-tier counsel to design contracts, payment rationales and corporate structures. On his Deutsche Bank accounts alone, Epstein paid more than $7 million to lawyers. Each individual payment, viewed in isolation, appeared lawful. Only when investigators reconstructed the full chain did the red flags emerge. Regulators later concluded that the failure was not in missing one anomalous transfer, but in ignoring the obvious implications of Epstein's history when assessing his broader activity.

Where vulnerabilities persist, bad actors will exploit them. The architecture that allowed Epstein's network to thrive was never dismantled so much as patched. It left sufficient room for similar abuses to emerge in new guises, hidden behind layers of wealth and influence. The lesson is clear: Unless compliance models move beyond transactional monitoring and address integrity risks at the level of leadership and governance, the sector risks repeating history. It is not implausible that the "next Epstein" is already being discreetly serviced by private banking somewhere in the U.S.

Just came across this interview of Epstein regarding his interest in Bitcoin circa 2017. What's most interesting is that it seems Epstein may have been heavily influenced by Peter Thiel around the time he gave the interview.

Since forming an eponymous foundation in 2000, Epstein has found a role as science philanthropist, sharing his resources to beneficial, unlikely ends. His money has funded research related to quantum computing, genetics, artificial intelligence, and beyond. As a result, the 64-year-old tycoon holds court with A-list names from the academic community, like theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, cosmologist and author Lawrence Krauss, or MIT’s quantum computing pioneer, Seth Lloyd.

In addition to Peter Thiel's obsession with genetic manipulation, the second Trump administration's focus on AI and cryptocurrency, has been steered by Thiel's former protégé and Trump's current Science Advisor, Michael Kratsios.

Although Elon Musk/DOGE has served as the scapegoat for much of this policy, Keratosis was originally brought into the White House by Thiel during Trump's first administration to serve as CTO. Musk seemed to step back from his role in Trump's second administration almost immediately after Kratsios received Senate confirmation. Much of the work DOGE accomplished under Musk, can actually be traced back to several interviews given by Kratsios as early as 2018.

Recently, Kratsios also announced that Trump OSTP will be rolling out a plan focused on quantum computing.

What does all this have to do with Epstein? On September 10th, U.S. Secretary treasurer Scott Bessent, was questioned by Senate Democrats asking why he refused to investigate JP Morgan's bank records of transactions between Peter Thiel and Epstein.

On the same day, democrats in both the House and Senate tried to subpoena those records but were blocked by Republicans.

Last week, Peter Thiel received preliminary approval for the first U.S. Cryptobank and yesterday JP Morgan announced they would begin to allow Bitcoin and Ether as collateral.

I can't help but wonder what exactly those JP Morgan records of transactions between Thiel and Epstein might contain.

Given JP Morgan "officially" stopped doing business with Epstein around 2013, I also can't help but wonder if an exchange of cash for cryptocurrency between Epstein and another wealthy client of JP Morgan, may have offered a way for the bank and Epstein to continue to conduct business without public scrutiny.

ok, not exactly a typical video as it's made out of distinct multiple one pixel recordings

Ig Nobel-winning research could one day be used to treat people with blocked airways or clogged lungs.

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/48329761

Nelson: I wrote Shadow Network out of a sense of civic duty. I observed some trends in our national life that were anti-democratic and detrimental to our public welfare. I’m deeply concerned by the epidemic of gun violence in our schools, the growing disdain for science and fact-based reporting, and, gravest of all, the campaigns against climate science and environmental protections.

Interviewer: Third, the Southern Baptist Convention was founded to defend slaveowners before the Civil War. I don’t see the issue of race playing out in the same way, but I do perceive many echoes of Civil War-era resentment of federal authority in its culture.

Nelson: Same here. Not least in the ways this movement has focused on “state’s rights.” Paul Weyrich, the key organizer of the Council for National Policy (CNP) in its beginnings, saw the importance of state governments to his goal of subverting representational democracy. What has this movement done in statehouses to ensure its agenda can move forward without popular support?

Not technically a long read, but the book being discussed is itself an excellent long read.

This is an older article from 2020, but definitely worth a read to understand the network that started to take shape with the Heritage Foundation in the 70's, Movement Conservatives, the Moral Majority and eventually grew into Project 2025 and the current Christian Nationalist movement.

More info about the Heritage Foundation and the racial strategy used by both modern conservatives and oligarchs of the Civil War

The first canal-top solar system in California has the potential to provide power and water to two million homes.

Astrophysicist suggests ‘radical mundanity’ is answer to the ‘great silence’ in the galaxy

Published August 1941:

It is an interesting and somewhat macabre parlor game to play at a large gathering of one’s acquaintances: to speculate who in a showdown would go Nazi. By now, I think I know. I have gone through the experience many times—in Germany, in Austria, and in France. I have come to know the types: the born Nazis, the Nazis whom democracy itself has created, the certain-to-be fellow-travelers. And I also know those who never, under any conceivable circumstances, would become Nazis.

I've read and reread this a few times over the years.

https://archive.org/details/HarpersMagazine1941080020122/mode/1up archive link

I stumbled across this 2007 PDF by accident, but thought some people might find it interesting.

JTTF is the task force Trump has named in his controversial memo, NSPM-7.

The Trump Administration is facing mounting criticism over a sweeping directive that expands the government’s definition of domestic terrorism indicators to include a wide range of political beliefs, with lawmakers and civil liberties groups warning it could be used to criminalize dissent.

The order, which directs the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) to investigate “networks, entities, and organizations that foment political violence,” identifies ideological markers such as anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism and anti-Christianity as potential red flags. Rights groups say that language is so broad it risks sweeping in protest movements, advocacy organizations, and critics of the administration.

The order comes amid a widespread crackdown on leftwing groups and organizations in the aftermath of the killing of Charlie Kirk and a shooting at a Dallas ICE facility.

The Joint Terrorism Task Force is a federal law enforcement organization that combats both domestic and international terrorism. The unit collaborates with various federal, state, tribal, and local partners, including the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations, to combat terrorism.

The force grew in scope following the 9/11 terrorist attack, though some cities, such as Portland, have withdrawn their police officers from the JTTF. The task force has a record of controversy given its history of targeting protestors, dissenters, and people of color, according to the ACLU

Interestingly, the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) are also listed as official federal partners of the Memphis Safe Task Force which the DOJ says arrested around 700 American Citizens in Memphis in just 2 weeks. As of Monday, 130 of those arrests were categorized as simply "other," and the DOJ would not provide further elaboration.

While no mention of JTTF has been officially made in connection with the Memphis task force, images such as the one below and video of masked agents taken by Memphis residents indicate that both HSI and the FBI are actively involved in task force operations, along with other federal, local and state agencies.

The city of Portland also appears to have an official memorandum with the JTTF as of 2015.

From Tom Scott's newsletter.

Newsletter description:

Thanks to Lou for sending over David Walker's paper clip collection. I have no further context for it, but it feels like a very old-school bit of internet.

Not so much an article, as just a list of things his estate auctioned off, including clothes, furniture, awards and more. To me, this is fascinating and quite the rathole to go down.

The Godfather of Soul passed in 2006.

US scientists testing the technique say it could help people overcome infertility and potentially allow same-sex couples to have a genetically related child.

Can y'all be normal about anything?

It’s a bit like a handheld 3D printer, with all the accuracy challenges that implies.

"The speed at which this doomed stellar system is lurching wildly, likely due to the extreme brightness, is a frantic sign of its imminent, violent end."