How Trump and COVID-19 Have Reshaped the Modern Militia Movement ; A Mysterious Radio Burst From Space Is Back; and More Picks 9/8
How Trump and COVID-19 Have Reshaped the Modern Militia Movement (Dan)
From FiveThirtyEight: “In the video, the host of a local independent news radio program surveys the late-night shadows of a Kenosha, Wisconsin, car lot. You can just make out four men, long rifles in their hands, as they pace on top of the building. ‘We got militia on the roof here, and it’s pretty neat,’ he says. On the ground, the videographer chats with other people he identifies as part of ‘the militia’ — including an eager and excited-looking kid who tells the videographer his name is Kyle.”
Scientists Can’t Explain Puzzling Lack of Coronavirus Outbreaks in Africa (Dana)
The author writes, “Scientists who are studying the pandemic have also identified another surprise of the pandemic. Some expected the African continent to be affected most heavily by the virus, but that wasn’t the case. South Africa stands out when it comes to the number of total cases, with nearly 631,000 infections. But fewer than 15,000 people have died of COVID-19. These figures are puzzling scientists looking to understand how the virus behaves and how it can be beaten.”
In Ruling, Judge Throws Lifeline to Diversity Visa Lottery (Reader Steve)
The author writes, “A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to resume issuing diversity visas for immigrants from underrepresented countries, partially reversing a pandemic-related freeze on a wide range of immigrant and temporary visas. … The State Department had issued about 12,000 diversity visas for the 2020 lottery when President Donald Trump announced the freeze in April, leaving about 43,000 winners still waiting, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta said.”
Venom From Honeybee Kills Breast Cancer Cells (Mili)
From Technology Networks: “Apitherapy is the use of honeybee products – such as their honey, pollen, propolis, royal jelly and venom – for therapeutic purposes. It is a branch of alternative medicine that dates back thousands of years, with the apparent benefits of honeybee products discussed in religious texts such as the Bible and the Quran. … Now, a new body of work by scientists … demonstrates that honeybee venom induces cancer cell death in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) and HER-2 enriched breast cancer cells.”
A Mysterious Radio Burst From Space Is Back, Right on Schedule (Dana)
The author writes, “In June this year, astronomers found a fast radio burst (FRB), FRB 121102, repeating in a regular pattern, from somewhere in deep space. It was only the second time a radio burst with a discernible, repeating pattern was discovered. The first was discovered back in February this year. FRBs are transient radio pulses that vary in length between a fraction of a millisecond and a few milliseconds. We’re still not sure why they exist or what they are. The source of this particular FRB is a dwarf galaxy more than 3 billion light years away. Back in June a study … theorized FRB 121102 repeated every 157 days based on data they’d accumulated over a five-year period. The team predicted they’d pick up another signal in July or August of this year. And they did: Right on cue, FRB 121102 kicked off.”
