Transparent Solar Technology ‘Wave of the Future’

See-through solar materials that can be applied to windows represent a massive source of untapped energy and could harvest as much power as bigger, bulkier rooftop solar units, scientists report today in Nature Energy. Led by engineering researchers at Michigan State University, the authors argue that widespread use of such highly transparent solar applications, together with the rooftop units, could nearly meet U.S. electricity demand and drastically reduce the use of fossil fuels.
Read more: https://research.msu.edu/transparent-solar-technology-wave-of-the-future/?source=Snapzu

Missouri Nurse Fired From Job For Refusing To Get Flu Shot

A Missouri nurse was terminated from her job after she refused to get flu shot, sparking a backlash. A group of protesters rallied outside of the Mercy Hospital South in St. Louis on Monday after one nurse at the facility was fired due to her refusal to be vaccinated due to religious reasons. Nelia Aubuchon, who organized the protest, said that the nurse was terminated after she violated the hospital's policy that requires employees to receive a flu shot.
Read more: https://www.techtimes.com/articles/235840/20181129/missouri-nurse-fired-for-refusal-to-get-flu-shot.htm?source=Snapzu

French MPs back ban on smacking children - France 24

The French National Assembly voted Friday in favour of a largely symbolic ban on parents smacking their children, a practice which though condemned by the UN still enjoys widespread support in the country.
Read more: https://www.france24.com/en/20181130-france-mps-national-assembly-back-ban-smacking-children?source=Snapzu

Terry Crews Is Fighting for the Young Man Within Him

On a late-summer day in Los Angeles, I plan to meet Terry Crews at the Getty Museum because, in addition to everything else Crews does—which, seriously, is everything—he’s a hugely talented visual artist. I figure we’ll go deep on the photography exhibit. I’ll ask: “Terry, what’s the inner monologue of the person in this picture?” Really get my Barbara Walters on. What happens instead is that we get nine steps into the Getty Center, turn to one another, and talk for five solid hours—about toxic masculinity...
Read more: https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/a24526058/terry-crews-interview-masculinity-2018/?source=Snapzu

Stone Tools at Arabian “Crossroads” Present Mysteries of Ancient Human Migration

Nearly 200,000 years ago, at the confluence of two long-vanished river systems in the heart of Arabia, people climbed a jagged, rocky dyke rising nearly 200 feet above the surrounding plains. There they crafted hand axes and other edged tools from plentiful volcanic stone—and left thousands of them behind. Today, many millennia after the more temperate Arabia the toolmakers knew vanished, those stone tools endure as tantalizing clues to the mysteries of human evolution and migration in the ancient world.
Read more: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/stone-tools-arabian-crossroads-present-mysteries-ancient-human-migration-180970916/?source=Snapzu

Nine people charged with selling Samsung's curved display tech

Prosecutors in South Korea have indicted nine people and two companies for allegedly selling Samsung's curved-edge OLED display tech (which it uses in its flagship Galaxy phones) to a company in China. The CEO of Samsung supplier Toptec Co Ltd was among three people arrested over the scheme. Prosecutors say he and eight employees received about $13.8 million for the intellectual property.
Read more: https://www.engadget.com/2018/11/29/samsung-china-intellectual-property-theft-south-korea/?source=Snapzu

German authorities descended on Deutsche Bank AG, including its downtown Frankfurt headquarters, in a coordinated raid related to a money-laundering investigation

German authorities descended on Deutsche Bank AG, including its downtown Frankfurt headquarters, in a coordinated raid related to a money-laundering investigation. More than six police vehicles, their blue lights flashing, pulled up to Deutsche Bank’s main offices shortly before 9 a.m., in an operation involving about 170 officers.
Read more: https://stockmarketnews.today/2018/11/29/german-authorities-descended-on-deutsche-bank-ag-including-its-downtown-frankfurt-headquarters-in-a-coordinated-raid-related-to-a-money-laundering-investigation/?source=Snapzu

Facebook Censors Art Historian for Posting Nude Art, Then Boots Him from Platform

Ruben Cordova used his social media profile as an archive of his research, but his photos of the Met Breuer's Like Life exhibition triggered Facebook's censors, who then permanently disabled his profile. By Zachary Small.
Read more: https://hyperallergic.com/472706/facebook-censors-art-historian-for-posting-nude-art-then-boots-him-from-platform/?source=Snapzu

Boy's letter to dad in heaven gets reply

A boy who sent a birthday card to his dad "in heaven" received a touching letter from the Royal Mail to say it had been delivered safely. Jase Hyndman, seven, from West Lothian, received the letter assuring him his message to his father James had made it through the "difficult" journey. His mother Teri Copland said: "I actually cannot state how emotional he is knowing his dad got his card. "Royal Mail you've just restored my faith in humanity."
Read more: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-46386387?source=Snapzu

Great apes and ravens plan without thinking

Planning and self control in animals do not require human-like mental capacities, according to a study from Stockholm University. Newly developed learning models, similar to models within artificial intelligence research, show how planning in ravens and great apes can develop through prior experiences without any need of thinking.
Read more: https://www.su.se/english/research/research-news/great-apes-and-ravens-plan-without-thinking-1.414970?source=Snapzu

Marriott hack hits 500 million guests

The hotel chain says details of up to 500 million guests may have been accessed in a database breach.
Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-46401890?source=Snapzu

Turkish and Italian experts restore Cappadocia's 1,000-year-old Tokalı Church

The Tokalı Church, one of the oldest rock-cut churches in Cappadocia featuring precious frescoes, is being restored by experts from Turkey's Ministry of...
Read more: https://www.dailysabah.com/history/2018/10/08/turkish-and-italian-experts-restore-cappadocias-1000-year-old-tokali-church?source=Snapzu

Infected ‘Zombie Spiders’ Forced to Build Incubation Chambers for Their Parasitic Overlords

Parasites that control the behavior of their hosts for their own benefit are a well-documented natural phenomenon, but the discovery of a previously unknown relationship between a parasitic wasp and a social spider is particularly upsetting.
Read more: https://gizmodo.com/infected-zombie-spiders-forced-to-build-incubation-ch-1830718189?source=Snapzu

Microsoft Is Worth as Much as Apple. How Did That Happen?

Just a few years ago, Microsoft was seen as a lumbering has-been. Now it’s a contender for the title of the world’s most valuable company.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/29/technology/microsoft-apple-worth-how.html?source=Snapzu

Trump’s nominee for USDA science post calls new U.S. climate report ‘genuine’

The entomologist nominated to be the chief scientist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in Washington, D.C., said today he accepts the conclusions of a new federal report on climate change that President Donald Trump has dismissed and that he hopes science can help farmers adapt to some of the harmful effects already being caused by global warming.
Read more: https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/11/usda-science-nominee-calls-new-us-climate-report-genuine?source=Snapzu

The list of demands by France’s yellow vest protesters would be the envy of many US workers

For the past two weeks, a massive protest movement known as the “yellow vests” has shaken France. While the movement began as a way for low-income people to voice their anger at the government’s efforts to target car pollution with a heavy carbon tax, it has now spiraled into an ongoing, at-times violent expression of general dissatisfaction with president Emmanuel Macron, as well as France’s political system and labor laws.
Read more: https://qz.com/1478880/us-workers-would-envy-frances-yellow-vest-protesters-demands/?source=Snapzu

UPS Driver Adopts Shelter Dog Who Jumped Into His Truck: 'I Wanted Him to Have a Good Home'

One UPS driver was delivering packages when he received a gift of his own. Jason Coronado, a New York UPS driver, was making the rounds on Oct. 5 when Ernie, a pitbull-terrier mix in the Buffalo City Animal Shelter, approached his truck, according to ABC affiliate WKBW. “[I] call him up to the truck, and he pretty much just hopped up in, and I was like, ‘Okay,’ ” Coronado told WKBW. “He hopped up and just sat there and did not want to leave.”
Read more: https://people.com/pets/ups-driver-adopts-shelter-dog-he-met-on-delivery-route/?source=Snapzu

Michael Cohen pleads guilty to lying during Russia probe

Michael Cohen pleaded guilty on Thursday to fresh charges that he lied to Congress about a real-estate deal with the Russians that he was trying to broker on behalf of President Trump
Read more: https://nypost.com/2018/11/29/michael-cohen-to-plead-guilty-to-lying-during-russia-probe/?source=Snapzu

Bus driver buys homeless rider dinner, lets him stay on warm bus all night

On a recent chilly night in Wisconsin, a Milwaukee bus driver extended an act of kindness to a homeless rider — and it was all caught on camera. Now, that gesture is being heralded as humanity at its best. Natalie Barnes was driving her usual route when a man named Richard, who boards her bus about once a month, got on and told her that he had just lost his home. "I've been out on the streets for a week," he said. "I am officially homeless."
Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bus-driver-buys-homeless-rider-dinner-let-him-stay-on-warm-bus-for-her-whole-shift/?source=Snapzu

All the Incoming Foldable Phones for 2019

With Google betting on a foldable future for Android, it seems all phone manufacturers are getting these type of devices ready. Even Apple is looking into this form factor that offers the convenience of extreme portability when folded and a larger screen whenever you need it.
Read more: https://www.tomsguide.com/us/foldable-phones-release-date,news-28705.html?source=Snapzu

AI shown to successfully predict changes in DNA

AI is now at the forefront of DNA structural analysis thanks to new genomics research from a team at Stanford University, California. The paper, published in Nature Genetics reveals that deep learning AI is now capable of understanding and predicting pattern changes in DNA structures. These findings suggest that AI analysis of DNA structures now surpass human capabilities due to its speed and accuracy. This also means that genomics is likely the next field of research to benefit from developments in artificial intelligence.
Read more: https://www.alphr.com/artificial-intelligence/1010248/ai-successfully-predict-changes-in-dna?source=Snapzu

Economy grew 3.5% in third quarter, pushing corporate profits to 6-year high, GDP shows

A torrid U.S. economy blazed a 3.5% pace of growth during the summer and boosted corporate profits to the highest rate in six years, fresh government figures show. The increase in gross domestic product — the official measuring stick of the economy — was unchanged from the original finding. Economists polled by MarketWatch had forecast third-quarter GDP to be revised up to 3.6% annual rate.
Read more: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/economy-grew-35-in-third-quarter-pushes-corporate-profits-to-6-year-high-gdp-shows-2018-11-28?source=Snapzu

Missionary didn’t die from tribesmen’s arrows. He was killed by his own arrogance

Chau was an invader who breached the homeland of a small tribe; they stood their ground.
Read more: https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2018/11/27/missionary-didn-die-from-tribesmen-arrows-was-killed-his-own-arrogance/QSblpdBocWWSs3HeS94TYP/story.html?source=Snapzu

A Space Force is worth the price

One of the most hotly debated proposals in the FY 2020 budget cycle is likely to be the creation of a military service for space. One of the main arguments being made against the creation of a Space Force is the cost. In September, an internal Air Force memo leaked to the media estimated that cost at $13 billion — an eye-popping figure, if true.
Read more: https://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/418055-a-space-force-is-worth-the-price?source=Snapzu

Trump thinks climate change had no role in California’s fires. But here are the facts.

When President Trump visited the piles of ash and charred rubble of what used to be Paradise, Calif., this month, he said that the Camp Fire was a “really, really bad one." “We’ve never seen anything like this in California,” he said. “It’s total devastation.” Reporters asked the president whether seeing what remained of the Northern California town and walking among the ashes made him rethink his opinion on climate change — that it is a hoax, fake news or simply nonexistent. “No,” Trump answered.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2018/11/27/trump-thinks-climate-change-had-no-role-californias-fires-here-are-facts/?utm_term=.a7e72a54f000?source=Snapzu

House Democrats Who Haven’t Supported Net Neutrality Yet Have All Taken Money from Telecoms

The Democratic members of Congress staying mum on net neutrality have all taken campaign contributions from major telecom companies, according to Federal Election Commission filings. In May, the Senate passed a joint resolution under the Congressional Review Act that would overturn the Federal Communication Commission’s decision to scrap free internet rules last year.
Read more: https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/wj3gx5/house-democrats-who-havent-supported-net-neutrality-yet-have-all-taken-money-from-telecoms?source=Snapzu

Tim Cook may get that US privacy legislation he's expecting in 2019

A subcommittee of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee discussed a potential bill on Tuesday, one which could allow the Federal Trade Commission the ability to enforce and produce regulations that telecommunications firms should abide by, as well as levying civil penalties, in order to help protect the personal data of consumers.
Read more: https://appleinsider.com/articles/18/11/28/tim-cook-may-get-that-us-privacy-legislation-hes-expecting-in-2019?source=Snapzu

A billionaire’s plan to search for life on Enceladus

Russian entrepreneur and physicist Yuri Milner wants to send a probe back to Saturn's ocean moon Enceladus, to search for evidence of life there. NASA wants to help him.
Read more: https://earthsky.org/space/billionaire-yuri-milner-nasa-plan-life-search-enceladus?source=Snapzu

From Chicago heat waves to Maine's struggling lobsters: 6 changes tied to global warming

Heat waves that make Chicago feel like Las Vegas. Warming ocean temperatures that displace Maine's lobsters. A year-round spike in disease-carrying mosquitoes in Florida. These are just some of the ways climate change could play out across the country over the coming decades, according to the federal government's National Climate Assessment, released over Thanksgiving weekend.
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/heat-waves-mosquito-outbreaks-landslides-6-ways-climate-change-hitting-n940736?source=Snapzu

​Google's Project Fi 4G is now available on most Android devices and iPhone

Google wants to be your phone company.
Read more: https://www.zdnet.com/article/googles-project-fi-4g-is-now-available-on-most-android-devices-and-iphone/?source=Snapzu

These charts show how Asia is dominating industrial-robot adoption

Europe and America have far fewer robot workers than we might expect them to have. The most common measure is one used by the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) each year: the number of industrial robots per 10,000 manufacturing workers in the country. According to information released by the IFR to the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), the global average in 2017 was 85 bots per 10,000 workers. This is a 15% increase from last year.
Read more: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/612475/these-charts-show-how-asia-is-dominating-industrial-robot-adoption/?source=Snapzu

Companies fed up with crappy Wi-Fi are deploying 5G instead

Automakers, oil companies, and shipping ports plan to build private 5G networks for faster, more reliable connectivity. The German automaker plans to build its own, private wireless network at its production sites using 5G, the next generation of cellular technology. Audi believes this private 5G network, which the company would be responsible for managing, will enable it to connect manufacturing robots and other devices faster and more securely than existing Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or 4G LTE options, says Henning Löser, the head of its production lab.
Read more: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/612477/companies-fed-up-with-crappy-wi-fi-are-deploying-5g-instead/?source=Snapzu

Lifestyle Medicine ... where did the meat go?

My talk on the Evolution of our Plant-based dietary guidelines created much discussion at the Low Carb Universe event in Mallorca last week.
Read more: https://isupportgary.com/articles/the-plant-based-diet-is-vegan?source=Snapzu

Farm bankruptcies are surging as Trump's trade war drags on

As President Donald Trump maintains protectionist policies with global trading partners, an increasing number of farms in the Midwest are struggling to stay afloat. At least 84 farm operations in Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and parts of northwestern Wisconsin filed for bankruptcy in the 12 months that ended in June, according to a new analysis from the Minneapolis Federal Reserve, more than twice the level seen over the same period in 2014.
Read more: https://markets.businessinsider.com/commodities/news/trump-trade-war-causing-farm-bankruptcies-to-surge-in-upper-midwest-2018-11-1027762385?source=Snapzu

A Defendant Shows Up in Immigration Court by Himself. He’s 6. — ProPublica

Wilder Hilario Maldonado Cabrera was the youngest defendant on the juvenile docket that day, and he was one of the last children left in government custody who had been affected by the zero-tolerance policy.
Read more: https://www.propublica.org/article/6-year-old-in-immigration-court-by-himself-zero-tolerance-family-separation?source=Snapzu

‘Facebook has a black people problem’: Black ex-employee spotlights race issues in public memo

Mark Luckie, a digital strategist and former journalist, says he accepted the job offer from Facebook reluctantly. At first, he didn’t want to move to Silicon Valley from Atlanta, where he had been living, but he said his fiance was able to persuade him, telling him that the job presented an opportunity to make a difference on the influential social network.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2018/11/28/facebook-has-black-people-problem-black-ex-employee-spotlights-race-issues-public-memo?source=Snapzu

Magnus Carlsen Beats Fabiano Caruana to Win World Chess Championship

After three weeks of draws failed to produce a winner, the players settled the title in rapid chess, with Carlsen retaining his title.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/28/sports/magnus-carlsen-fabiano-caruana-world-chess-championship.html?source=Snapzu

Confederate flag placed on Mississippi civil rights martyr's grave

The family of Vernon Dahmer learned Tuesday of a Confederate battle flag placed on the civil rights martyr's grave.
Read more: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/11/27/confederate-flag-placed-civil-rights-martyrs-grave/2127132002/?source=Snapzu

The detention and isolation from the world of Julian Assange

They are destroying him slowly. They are doing it through an indefinite detention which has been going on for the last eight years with no end in sight. Julian Assange has become one of the most widely known icons of freedom of the press and the struggle against state secrecy. Recently, his detention in the Ecuadorian embassy in London has been joined by isolation, strict rules and various forms of pressure which seem to have no other purpose than to break him down.
Read more: https://www.repubblica.it/esteri/2018/11/26/news/the_detention_and_isolation_from_the_world_of_julian_assange-212689883/?ref=RHRS-BH-I0-C6-P7-S1.6-T2?source=Snapzu

EU aims to be 'climate neutral' by 2050

The European Union says it wants to become the first major economy to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-46360212?source=Snapzu

Red Dead Online Microtransactions May Affect Gameplay

As details continue to emerge about Red Dead Redemption 2‘s online offering, Red Dead Online, its inextricable link to contemporary multiplayer gaming comes increasingly into focus. This can be seen in the now confirmed “Make It Count” game mode, which sets players loose in a familiar battle-royale-style format. Additionally, the Red Dead Online beta has provided official confirmation that microtransactions are indeed coming to the Wild West.
Read more: https://gamerant.com/red-dead-online-microstransactions-gold/?source=Snapzu

‘Don’t pay for these idiots’: Duterte wants Filipinos to ditch Catholic mass, pray at home instead

Turning up his war of words with the Catholic Church, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte now wants citizens to ditch mass, calling the church’s teachings out of touch and its bishops corrupt. “You build a chapel on your own house and pray there. You don’t have to go to church to pay for these idiots,” Duterte said in a speech reported by ABS-CBN, the largest media conglomerate in the Philippines.
Read more: https://www.rt.com/news/444931-duterte-stop-going-church/?source=Snapzu

Our climate reality will catch up to us, no matter how hard Trump tries to bury the evidence

IF YOU did not hear about the major new federal climate change report, the Trump administration will be pleased. The report was released the day after Thanksgiving — when many people were distracted — probably because it contradicts practically everything President Trump has said and done on global warming. The Fourth National Climate Assessment is yet another reminder that reality will catch up to the United States, no matter how much the president tries to ignore and deny it.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/our-climate-reality-will-catch-up-to-us-no-matter-how-hard-trump-tries-to-bury-the-evidence/2018/11/26/9250d57c-f1c1-11e8-80d0-f7e1948d55f4_story.html?source=Snapzu

Bitcoin Falls to All Year Low. Will it Hit $3000? - The Decentral: Bitcoin, Crypto & Blockchain News

[BREAKING NEWS] – BAKKT futures trading platform launch delayed until late January 2019. Read the full story here. The crypto markets fell hard again last night, with Bitcoin losing 15% of its price and now trading at an annual time low of $4,632. With the exception of XRP which almost alone among the major cryptos …
Read more: https://www.thedecentral.com/2018/11/20/bitcoin-falls-to-all-year-low-will-it-hit-3000/?source=Snapzu

McGill researchers use lobster shells to make biodegradeable plastic

Researchers at McGill say they've discovered a simple way to make biodegradable plastic from the hard shells of lobsters, shrimps, crabs and insects such as crickets and beetles. Audrey Moores, an associate professor of applied chemistry, came up with the process along with graduate student Thomas Di Nardo. "It remains biodegradeable, so if it goes in the environment it's not going to pollute," Moores told CBC Montreal. "But by processing it well we can make it into a durable plastic."
Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/mcgill-researchers-use-lobster-shells-to-make-biodegradeable-plastic-1.4920820?source=Snapzu

What’s Needed for the Widespread Adoption of Bitcoin Payments

It’s been nearly nine years since the invention of Bitcoin, and despite being known only to Internet geeks during the first few years, it is now a well-established asset that is being traded on exchanges, stored in banks, and taken into consideration by many governments. But many people forget about the initial purpose of Bitcoin: being a digital currency for payments. Now the focus has somehow shifted to it being a store of value instead, and lately this store of value doesn’t perform very well, losing ¾ of its initial value from January 2018.
Read more: https://howtotoken.com/explained/whats-needed-for-the-widespread-adoption-of-bitcoin-payments/?source=Snapzu

Google Workers Ask Bosses To Cancel The Company’s Secret, Censored Search Engine For China

In a letter published Tuesday morning, Google workers asked their bosses to cancel a project called Dragonfly, a controversial censored search app for the Chinese market. Additionally, employees asked that the company promise no backlash against whistleblowers making details of secret internal projects known if they were in the public's interest. "We are Google employees who are joining with Amnesty International in calling on Google to cancel Project Dragonfly and guarantee protections for whistleblowers," the employees said in a statement ahead of publishing their letter.
Read more: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/daveyalba/china-google-workers-letter-cancel-company-secret-dragonfly?source=Snapzu

America’s Epidemic of Empty Churches

Three blocks from my Brooklyn apartment, a large brick structure stretches toward heaven. Tourists recognize it as a church—the building’s bell tower and stained-glass windows give it away—but worshippers haven’t gathered here in years. The 19th-century building was once known as St. Vincent De Paul Church and housed a vibrant congregation for more than a century. But attendance dwindled and coffers ran dry by the early 2000s. Rain leaked through holes left by missing shingles, a tree sprouted in the bell tower, and the Brooklyn diocese decided to sell the building to developers.
Read more: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/11/what-should-america-do-its-empty-church-buildings/576592/?source=Snapzu

'We live in an Idiocracy': How lies become truth in online America

The only light in the house came from the glow of three computer monitors, and Christopher Blair, 46, sat down at a keyboard and started to type. His wife had left for work and his children were on their way to school, but waiting online was his other community, an unreality where nothing was exactly as it seemed. He logged onto his website and began to invent his first news story of the day.
Read more: https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/nothing-on-this-page-is-real-how-lies-become-truth-in-online-america-20181127-p50ijg.html?source=Snapzu

The Hitman Series is Putting Out Half Games at Full Price

My affinity for the Hitman series runs deep. From Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, which I poured many hours into on the GameCube as a kid, to one of my favorite video games of all time, Hitman: Blood Money, that I happily played and beat again on Steam last year. For a time, I wondered if the Hitman series would ever return after 2006’s Blood Money.
Read more: https://medium.com/j-king-s-labratory-project/square-enixs-hitman-series-is-putting-out-half-games-at-full-price-fc4b5ad94a45?source=Snapzu