Tuesday, January 7, 2020

A shocking video of a man urinating in an airport terminal has the Internet completely horrified

The wetting offense caught on camera was shared by the Instagram account @PassengerShaming. It’s not clear when or at what airport the incident occurred. In the video (which has been viewed more than 200,000 times), the unidentified man is seen sitting beside a number of passengers. With his pants unzipped and his unmentionables out, he begins to urinate on the floor. Some passengers can be seen watching the man in shock. (Fox News)

Scientists want to move the Sun and our Solar System to save Earth from killer asteroids

The “stellar engine” could be used to shift Earth trillions of miles if it were threatened by a deadly asteroid shower or space explosion. It was devised by physicist Dr Matthew Caplan and explained in a video from German YouTube channel Kurzgesagt. “Our solar neighborhood is constantly changing, with stars moving hundreds of kilometers every second,” the Munich team explained. “Only the vast distances between objects protect us from the dangers out there. But we might get unlucky in the future. At some point we could encounter a star going supernova. Or a massive object passing by and showering Earth with asteroids.” One option to avoid destruction would be to move our whole Solar System out of the way using a stellar engine. The megastructure could shift the position of the Sun, dragging Earth and other objects with it via the star’s gravitational pull. A doctor from Illinois State University, designed a new stellar engine concept dubbed the Caplan Thruster. It’s a giant space station that draws matter from the Sun to power a rocket-like thruster. Once matter has entered the engine, it’s quickly fired out the back via a nuclear fusion reactor. This creates enough thrust to push the space station – and the Solar System – to safety. A second thruster fires particles back at the Sun. This ensures the device works like a giant tugboat, pushing the Sun from its current location to a new one. The device draws millions of tons of fuel per second using huge electromagnetic fields. It produces a scorching 1billionC jet of particles capable of moving the Sun 50 light-years (around 300 trillion miles) within 1million years. It’s important to note that stellar engines are just a theory for now, and scientists are a long way from building one. The materials needed to withstand such temperatures and forces don’t even exist yet. If it’s ever built, a stellar engine may help humanity explore deep space. While the idea might sound far-fetched, it’s got a stamp of approval from some space scientists. (Acta Astronautica)

A majority of Oklahoma’s Congressional delegation signed a letter to the Supreme Court calling for Justices to overturn the United States’ landmark case legalizing abortion

In the brief, the 207 lawmakers say the confusion in the case should lead Justices to reconsider and overturn Roe. “[T]he Fifth Circuit’s struggle to define the appropriate “large fraction” or determine what “burden” on abortion access is “undue” illustrates the unworkability of the “right to abortion” found in Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973) and the need for the Court to again take up the issue of whether Roe and Casey should be reconsidered and, if appropriate, overruled,” the signers wrote in the brief. Thirty-nine Senators signed onto the brief, all of them Republicans. A total of 168 Representatives signed the brief; only two were Democrats. The case itself centers around a Louisiana abortion provider at odds with a Louisiana law requiring admitting privileges, which if implemented would close all abortion clinics in the gulf state. The law was initially blocked in federal court before the Fifth circuit court of appeals lifted the block. The Supreme Court later reinstated the injunction. (News On 6)

A Burger King employee in Tennessee has been fired and faces criminal charges after police say she pulled a gun on a customer

The victim told police she complained that her order was wrong while she was in the drive-thru at a Memphis Burger King on New Year’s Day. The victim said the 38-year-old female employee started to swear and yell at her before she allegedly came outside and pointed a gun at the customer. A police report says the victim pretended to grab something from her vehicle out of fear. A witness said he saw the victim reach under her front car seat, but didn’t see her grab anything. The witness also said the employee put the handgun in a brown paper bag and handed it to another woman who drove away from the scene. A Burger King spokesperson said in a statement, “We take the safety and security of everyone at Burger King restaurants very seriously. This behavior does not reflect our expectations,” the statement said. “The franchise is fully cooperating with the authorities and has terminated the employee.” Burger King does not allow employees to have weapons on the premises. The now former employee was charged with aggravated assault and is scheduled to appear in front of a judge. (WMC5)

Wisconsin bill makes harassing sports officials a crime

Harassing sports officials in Wisconsin would be a crime punishable by up to a $10,000 fine and nine months in jail under a bipartisan proposal introduced this week in the Legislature. The bill is designed to protect referees and other officials from violent fans and remove a barrier to younger people signing up to officiate games, particularly at the high school level. There have been an increasing number of incidents in Wisconsin and across the country, particularly at youth sporting events, where parents and fans have attacked referees. The proposal would apply to high school games and any sporting event that’s open to the public. A sports official is defined as a referee, umpire, linesman, timekeeper, inspector, judge, or person who performs similar functions. They could be paid or unpaid. Under current law, harassing or striking someone is a Class B misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $1,000. Under the bill, any actions that cause harm to a sports official, or put them in fear of being harmed, would be classified as the highest level misdemeanor punishable by up to nine months in jail, a $10,000 fine, or both. The measure would have to pass both the state Assembly and Senate, and be signed by the Governor before it would become law. There are 21 other states with similar officiating assault laws, according to the National Association of Sports Officials. (CBS 58)

Florida man wakes to find burglar sucking his toes, deputies say

A Florida man woke up on Christmas Eve to find a burglar sucking on his toes, according to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office. When the Bradenton, Florida resident asked the stranger what he was doing in his house, the stranger said he “was there to suck toes,” according to an incident report. A fight broke out and during the struggle the suspect tried to grab the victim’s genitals and claimed to have a gun, the report says. Deputies said no weapon was found at the scene. The victim eventually forced the other man out of the house, but deputies say the suspect smashed one of the home’s windows as well as the windshield of the resident’s car. The investigators swabbed the victim’s toes for DNA and tried to track the suspect with a police dog, but the alleged toe-sucking burglar escaped. Officers are continuing to investigate, the sheriff’s office said. (Bradenton Herald)

Why some people are always late

For the punctual among us, habitual latecomers can come across as rude, self-absorbed, selfish. Some psychotherapist believe that it’s not always as simple as that. Chronically tardy colleagues and friends may believe that their time, not yours, isn’t important enough to be punctual. They may be held up because someone else has demanded their time and they don’t know how to get away. Then there are those who are late out of self-sabotage. Ultimately, late people will only stop being late when they make a concerted effort to change. (The Guardian)

One step closer to dementia vaccine

Researchers from the Institute for Molecular Medicine and University of California, Irvine, have developed a vaccine that can prevent the formation of proteins associated with Alzheimer’s disease. The vaccine, which has so far been tested on mice, is a combination of two different therapies, which together can prevent and reduce the development of amyloid and tau proteins, which are believed to be primary drivers of dementia. The next step is the Human trials, perhaps as soon as the next two years. (New Atlas)

Plane crash deaths halved in 2019

Even with the Boeing 737 MAX crash in Ethiopia last March, 2019 was one of the safest years ever for commercial aviation, according to a study. Dutch aviation consultancy To70 said there were 86 accidents involving large commercial planes last year, with an average of one fatality every 5.58 million flights. In 2018, 160 incidents were recorded, including 13 fatal accidents. However, 2017 saw zero fatalities in air travel, making it the safest year on record. (BBC)

Sizing up Iran’s cyber war chest

Last Friday’s (1/3) assassination of Iran’s Major General Qassim Soleimani has escalated tensions between the U.S. and Iran, with Iran promising “forceful revenge” for the attack. Given the disparity between the size and abilities of the respective countries’ militaries, Iran may lean on its growing cadre of hackers in any retaliation it wages against the United States. Iran has dialed up its cyberwar capabilities since the 2008 Stuxnet attack on its nuclear energy infrastructure and may opt to launch so-called “wiper” malware attacks, destroying as many computers as possible within a target’s network. Even more damaging, but less likely, would be an attack on critical infrastructure in the West, such as power grids and water systems. (Wired)

Tuesday’s Not Gone With The Wind (and frankly, it doesn’t give a damn) Because It Has:

• Asarah B’Tevet
• Harlem Globetrotter’s Day
• I’m Not Going To Take It Anymore Day
• International Programmers’ Day (Also September 13th aka the 256th day of the year or September 12th if it’s Leap Year)
• Old Rock Day
• Orthodox Christmas
• National Bobblehead Day
• National Tempura Day