African giant pouched rats use their acute sense of smell to sniff out landmines and detect TB in sputum samples. Now, they are set to become search-and-rescue specialists too.
(Image credit: Tommy Trenchard)
Joshua Chen
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15 Jun 16:27
Dear rat, did you ever know that you're my hero?
by Tommy Trenchard
Joshua Chentrainers: a lot of people view a rat as just a rat
12 Jun 17:40
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says ‘dark money’ sways the Supreme Court
by Destinee Adams
Joshua ChenOcasio-Cortez: "to those who naively proclaim supreme court is the final say: no, it is money the final say"
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says dark money surrounds the Supreme Court. She and other members of Congress will meet to discuss an 'ethics crisis' in the Supreme Court.
(Image credit: Kevin Dietsch)
12 Jun 17:36
EU threatens China EVs with tariffs of up to 38%
Joshua ChenXi: "objection. Taiwan's TSMC is also government-subsidised by way of electricity"
EU: "we drop the case if you dare to change the 'government-subsidised' to 'people-donated'"
The decision comes as an investigation continues into what the EU calls China’s "unfair subsidisation".
12 Jun 17:19
UN 'shocked' at Israeli hostage rescue's impact on Gaza civilians
Joshua ChenIsrael: "israelis are human. Palestinians are not human"
The UN human rights office says Israeli forces' actions on Saturday could amount to war crimes.
08 Jun 05:07
Nasa 'Earthrise' astronaut dies at 90 in plane crash
Joshua ChenAnders: we came all this way to explore the Moon, and the most important thing that we discovered was the Earth
The photo taken by Bill Anders is one of the most famous images ever snapped in outer space.
06 Jun 22:15
The billionaires rallying behind Trump after his conviction
Joshua ChenMr Schwarzman: "don't blame me, blame the system: the voters of a loser are losing all their tax money on things they hate even the said voters don't like their nomination"
The Trump campaign has seen upticks in fundraising during pivotal moments of his legal battles.
06 Jun 21:56
Congressional stock trading law has unintended, but profitable consequence
by Deirdre Walsh
Joshua ChenLawmakers from both parties: "if these funds are not profitable, no one wants to build careers on Capitol Hill"
The law requiring lawmakers to disclose their stock trades spurred an unintended consequence: a cottage industry with funds modeled on lawmakers' investments. These funds are beating the market.
(Image credit: Mark Lennihan)
06 Jun 20:57
Israel used a U.S.-made bomb in a deadly U.N. school strike in Gaza
by Daniel Estrin
Joshua ChenNetanyahu: "u.n.? what u.n.?"
Israel dropped a bomb on a U.N.-run school it said was being used by Hamas. The blast killed dozens, including women and children, medics and witnesses say. The bomb was U.S.-made, NPR has discovered.
(Image credit: Anas Baba for NPR)
06 Jun 20:54
A fungus is turning cicadas into horny zombies — but don’t panic
by Rachel Treisman
Joshua Chenthe fungus: "we are here to help them happy without the side effect of population explosion"
The fungus takes over cicadas’ lower halves and sex drives, fueling them to keep mating and spreading the disease in the process. That's why some scientists call them “flying salt shakers of death.”
(Image credit: Elijah Nouvelage)
06 Jun 15:45
Hiker finds pipe feeding China's tallest waterfall
Joshua ChenPark officials: "girls also makeup, don't they?!"
A hiker posted a video showing the water flow of the fall was coming from a pipe built into the rock face.
05 Jun 06:11
‘All eyes on Rafah’ is the Internet's most viral AI image. Two artists are claiming credit
by Bobby Allyn
Joshua ChenAI: "it is my work, not theirs"
The image, with over 50 million shares, is considered the most viral ever AI-generated photo. Tracing the image’s history has revealed a rift over its true creator.
01 Jun 16:46
US to sue Ticketmaster owner Live Nation
Joshua ChenAttorney General: it is time to break monopoly up
ShinyHunters, who claims to be the hacker of the data from Ticketmaster: "agreed. monopoly can always be easily hacked, technically or politically"
Officials are expected to challenge the company's business practices, the BBC's US partner CBS News reported.
29 May 18:39
North Korea drops trash balloons on the South
Joshua Chensouth korean: "why! why! why! we want the banned viral hit album extolling Kim Jong Un!"
The balloons, which were found across South Korea, carried toilet paper, batteries and suspected poo.
29 May 06:14
Boos and jeers for Trump at Libertarian convention
Joshua Chenlibertarian: boo~~
Trump: maybe you don't want to win... keep getting your 3% every four years
Trump's speech divided the crowd, but the former US ploughed on regardless.
29 May 04:21
Georgia parliament overturns veto on foreign agents law
Joshua Chenlibertarian: "why you people need a parliament at the first place?"
The contentious law which sparked mass protests will come into effect in two months.
22 May 07:18
'Incognito Market' founder arrested in New York
Joshua Chenthe arrest is actually good news to him. otherwise he is sure to be killed due to his extortion in Mar 2024
A 23-year-old man from Taiwan has been arrested on charges of selling tens of millions of dollars worth of illegal drugs online through a site on the dark web known as the "Incognito Market."
22 May 06:08
【環保團體聯合聲明】滿口環境保護，卻將山林開膛破肚？
by 賴晁翔
Joshua Chen60 個吃葷的人要 51 個吃素的人也出錢買牛肉麵。自由市場是用自己的錢做自己認為對的事，政治是用別人的錢做自己認為對的事
訴求一：永續發展不應淪為口號，應先完成政策環評及實質評估與討論對環境的衝擊 訴求二：面對花東地震、脆弱地質與氣候變遷的衝擊及對生態破壞，應先有對策方案 訴求三：照顧花東居民應以氣候調適為優先，避免新建設成為錢坑法案無實質效益 「國道六號東延花蓮建設特別條例草案」、「環島高速鐵路建設特別條例草案」以及「花東快速公路建設特別條例草案」三項草案，雖然其目的是為提升花東地區居民的福祉，並兼顧永續發展與環境保護，然而這些草案並未遵循應有程序進行討論與審查，且將對環境造成極大影響。
20 May 17:28
Assange wins right to challenge US extradition
Joshua ChenMs Assange: he exposed literally war crimes
It means Mr Assange can remain in the UK for now and challenge US assurances over his prospective trial.
20 May 17:13
What next for Iran after President Raisi's death?
Joshua ChenTimothy C. May: "To Nika Shakarami and Time 2022 heroes of the year. If my assassination market, see wikipedia, is functional, he could die sooner than later as people pay 1000 to protect him and pay 1000000 to kill him"
Raisi's death will test a system where hardliners dominate all branches of power, Lyse Doucet writes.
20 May 17:04
ICC prosecutor seeks arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Hamas leaders
Joshua ChenPutin: "welcome to the club. But don't worry! ICC has no force as suggested by Greek statue of Justice Goddess"
Karim Khan says there are reasonable grounds to believe the leaders bear criminal responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
17 May 21:17
New browser extension empowers users to fight online misinformation
Joshua Chendefine "misinformation". I am pretty sure "taiwan is an independent country" is misinformation to some and is not to some other
Most people agree that the spread of online misinformation is a serious problem. But there is much less consensus on what to do about it.
17 May 18:05
從空氣抓二氧化碳！全球最大碳捕捉工廠在冰島 一年抓下8600輛車的排碳
by 陳文姿
Joshua ChenOP: 不過，這項技術十分耗能，降低成本仍有難度 "雖然不要使用石化能源來減少二氧化碳經濟上更簡單更便宜，但是有些人打心底不相信石化能源不好寧願花些公關費把其他人的質疑搓掉"
全球最大的直接空氣捕捉（Direct Air Capture, DAC）工廠「猛瑪」（Mammoth）8日在冰島啟用，每年可移除3萬6000噸的二氧化碳，約等於減少8600輛車的碳排。跟目前最大的同型工廠相比，足足多了八倍。 產能躍升 成本降低不易 2021年，瑞士新創公司Climeworks啟用直接空氣捕捉工廠「歐卡」（Orca）。歐卡廠位在冰島，每年可捕捉4000噸二氧化碳。捕捉到的二氧化碳交給冰島合作夥伴Carbfix進行碳封存，當年是全球最大的直接空氣捕捉與封存（
16 May 17:43
氣候變遷是薪水和退休金小偷！ 2050全球人均收入少19%
by 陳文姿
Joshua Chen看不見的手: "只要再消滅 19% 的人口，人均收入就可以持平了"
你知道嗎？氣候變遷是薪水和退休金小偷！ 國際權威期刊《自然》最新研究估計，2049年氣候變遷預計將造成每年38兆美元的經濟損失。2100年，損失還可能再翻一倍。 38兆美元的損失有多大？大概是整個歐盟全年GDP的2倍多，美國全年GDP的1.5倍，或是台灣2023年GDP的近30倍。 該論文研究過去40年來氣候對全球1600多個區域的經濟影響，如年均溫的變化如何影響經濟成長率的變化，再用電腦模擬預測未來走勢。結果發現，跟「無暖化」的情境相比，26年內，
15 May 02:59
Jailed Thai activist, 28, dies after hunger strike
Joshua ChenIt would be interesting that monalisa dies after hunger strike when people finally realize they need no monalisa
Netiporn "Bung" Sanesangkhom, 28, had been accused of insulting Thailand's monarchy.
09 May 22:58
Hong Kong bans protest anthem after court case win
Joshua ChenThe Second Amendment to the United States Constitution: "law is defined by people having force therefore law is always pale in the long run unless all people have right to bear arms"
The city's court has overturned a previous ruling to ban the song which was used by democracy protesters.
09 May 03:10
EU moves to give profits from Russian assets to Ukraine
Joshua ChenPutin: this is a move towards destruction of the legal foundations of European law and international law. ''There is no law per se, anyway"
EU ambassadors have agreed in principle to use the profits from frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine.
09 May 02:55
ChatGPT maker OpenAI exploring how to 'responsibly' make AI erotica
by Bobby Allyn
Joshua ChenOpenAI: "the actor model template will be from cartoon and never real little girls or humans. Our hope is that the child porn criminal producers can use our tool at cheaper cost and not afraid of being prosecuted anymore"
The San Francisco-based AI juggernaut says it is re-evaluating its policies around "NSFW" content.
(Image credit: Richard Drew)
07 May 20:36
The rise of Sweden's super rich
Joshua ChenSome data for Jul 2000 and Jul 2022
energy consumption: 2.30 EJ and 2.28 EJ
M1 money supply: 761 KM SEK and 4560 KM SEK
Why the Nordic nation, despite its reputation for social equality, has so many billionaires.
05 May 22:56
Is Zimbabwe zigzagging into further currency chaos?
Joshua ChenJoe: "how do I know this piece of paper is backed by 1 gram of gold?"
ruler: "I say so"
Joe: "I say otherwise"
Traders suffer a case of déjà-vu as any savings are wiped out with a new currency called the Zig.
05 May 22:32
在塞滿火藥的價值縫隙處，憲法法庭展開死刑存廢辯論
Joshua Chen國家不徵稅。每個死刑犯有個募款帳號歡迎民眾捐錢，每天會扣掉監獄維運花費，當戶頭透支死刑犯就葛斃了
我國憲法法庭首次接受37位死囚對死刑違憲的聲請，4月23日進行公開言詞辯論，多方意見陳述再現了倡議者與大眾民意間難以化解的矛盾，以及人權、應報、被害者處境、民意、國安、立法者與政府責任的各種思考⋯⋯
