Posts - Americans

New Exchange Traded Fund Lets Twitter Users Pick Your Investments

Finance

There is a newly proposed exchange-traded fund that would be created out of stocks for companies that are trending heavily on social media.

The ETF would use stocks for the 25 companies that make up the recently created Social Media Sentiment Index. The index is comprised of the 25 most-tweeted-about stocks. While the index is reconstituted quarterly, it rebalances every day.

This means that while the index only changes the stocks that comprise the index once every quarter, the index takes a new position on a daily basis.

The index takes either a long or a short position every day based on the connotations of the posts that are made by posts on Twitter.

The ETF has been proposed by company Market Prophit, which also created the associated index.

The index functions by analyzing the daily tweets of the 25 companies using an algorithm that determines whether positive or negative things are being said about the stocks. The index is then determined to be a long or a short based on the connotations of the tweets.

Additionally, the position of the index does not have to be 100% long or 100% short. Instead, it gets a “sentiment score” that determines the weight of its position, as well as its market cap.

The index currently has some big names, such as Apple, Amazon and Microsoft. It also includes companies like GoPro, Tesla and even Twitter itself.

So far for the year, the index is up by 7%. Most of its increases in value have come from short positions.

Although the concept is unusual, it’s not unheard of. Other ETFs have been known to track stocks that have positive news coming out of the companies, as well as stocks that possess the most favorable ratings from analysts.

However, this would be the first ETF to essentially utilize a crowdsourcing element. Any user of Twitter who tweets about a stock in the index would become involved.

This is definitely an innovative new market concept. Time will tell if it achieves the success that investors are looking for.

Netflix Investing In More Original Content Will Probably Mean A Price Hike For Subscribers

Finance

Netflix’s trend towards creating more original content as part of its lineup is only going to grow. On Wednesday, the company’s executives confirmed this theory.

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said that the service’s original shows like “Orange is the New Black” and “House of Cards” creates loyalty and “desire” in the company’s customers – much more so than licensed content. He observed that original shows and movies get viewers hooked – likely to the point where a subscriber might be happy to pay a little more per month.

Hastings did not provide a specific price for future subscriptions but stated that, “The more we have incredible value, the more we have amazing originals, then we are going to be able to ask consumers for more to be able to invest more.” Essentially that means that more original shows and movies on Netflix equate to higher fees.

The independent research seems to back up Hastings’ theory. Subscribers love to binge watch their favorite original shows.

Netflix plans to spend around $5 billion on producing original content next year. The company only has $2 billion in the bank but it plans on raising new capital.

The company is betting that more original content will mean higher profits. CFO David Wells notes that, “We have gone into [original content] very conservative relative to licensing, and found it has been much more impactful.” Hastings simply describes it as “better.”

Hastings also points out that as shows go into their third or fourth seasons and have gained some buzz and recognition, the value of the content goes up as well.

Netflix is not forgetting about original programming for children, either. The service plans on streaming two different original LEGO series in 2016: LEGO: Bionicle and LEGO Friends: The Power of Friendship. Several more series are in the works.

Andy Yeatman, Netflix’s director of global kids content, said in a statement that, “Roughly half of our 65 million members around the world regularly watch kids content and with the addition of these [several, original] diverse series we are continuing our strong investment in kids programming. We know kids love Netflix and that’s in part because they never really outgrow us. We program and recommend new TV shows and movies from preschool through their teen years and into adulthood.”

Two Suspects Identified In 1988 Lockerbie Bombing That Killed 270 People

Entertainment News

Two Libyan suspects have been identified for allegedly taking part in the Lockerbie airplane bombing that took place in 1988. The bombing killed 270 people nearly 27 years ago.

Investigators from the United States and Scotland identified the suspects.

The bombing occurred on December 21, 1988, when Pam Am Flight 103 was blown up over the Scottish town of Lockerbie. The flight was traveling from London to New York.

Abdel Basset al-Megrahi of Libya was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2001. He is currently the only person to have been convicted for the attack.

Now, two unidentified Libyans are also suspected of being involved in the attack.

A spokesperson from the Scottish Crown Office said, “The Lord Advocate has today issued an International Letter of Request to the Libyan Attorney General in Tripoli which identifies the two Libyans as suspects in the bombing of flight Pan Am 103. The Lord Advocate and the U.S. Attorney General are seeking the assistance of the Libyan judicial authorities for Scottish police officers and the FBI to interview the two named suspects in Tripoli.”

Former leader of Libya Muammar Gaddafi accepted his country’s responsibility for the attack in 2003. He offered financial compensation to family members of the victims. However, Gaddafi did not admit to ordering the attack personally.

Megrahi protested his innocence until his death in 2012. After being diagnosed with terminal cancer, Megrahi was transferred from a Scottish prison to serve his sentence in Libya. Many people believe that he was not responsible for the attack.

No new evidence has been found that would cast doubt upon Megrahi’s conviction. Meanwhile, authorities have been attempting to find accomplices to the bombings. Their progress has been slow because of violence in Libya.

The majority of the victims in the attack were Americans who were traveling back to New York to get home in time for Christmas. Eleven more people died on the ground as the airplane crashed. The bomb went off about 40 minutes after leaving the Heathrow Airport in London.

Former House Speaker Hastert Expected To Take Plea Deal In Hush-Money Case

News

Former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Dennis Hastert is expected to plead guilty for his actions in a hush-money case after reaching a plea bargain deal with prosecutors.

It is unknown what charge or charges Hastert intends to plead guilty to. It is also unknown if Hastert will have to serve time in prison as part of the deal.

Hastert, who is a Republican, served as Speaker of the House from 1999 to 2007.

Hastert was charged in May for attempting to hide large cash transactions that were a part of a hush-money scheme. Hastert has also been charged for lying about the scheme to the FBI.

The plea deal is expected to be submitted to the United States District Court on Monday. Judge Thomas Durkin is overseeing the case.

Hastert, who is 73 years old, is currently free on bond. He pleaded not guilty to the two charges in June. He has not commented on the situation since his indictment.

The guilty plea from Hastert is expected to take place on October 28th.

Hastert was the Speaker of the House for eight years, making him the longest-serving Republican to hold the position. After he left Congress in 2007, Hastert became a powerful lobbyist.

Wheaton College, the alma mater of Hastert, previously removed his name from the college’s policy center.

Hastert has been accused of offering to pay $3.5 million to a person from his hometown of Yorkville, IL in exchange for concealing some of his prior misconduct. The person has not been identified in court hearings.

Some media outlets have reported that Hastert was attempting to hide acts of sexual abuse that occurred when he was a high school wrestling coach. Hastert was a teacher at Yorkville High School in the 1960s and 70s.

The indictment shows that Hastert took out large amounts of cash from his bank accounts from 2010 to 2014. He allegedly structured the withdrawals so that he wouldn’t have to report the transactions.

Hastert faces up to ten years in prison and a maximum fine of $500,000 for his two charges.

Prominent New York Restaurant Owner To Eliminate Tipping From His Restaurants

Finance

On Wednesday, one of New York’s most prominent and famous restaurateurs announced plans to eliminate tipping in his restaurants, a move that could inspire other companies to follow suit. All of the 13 restaurants in Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group will stop accepting tips as part of a sweeping overhaul in how his employees are paid. Meyer plans to implement the policy at four of his restaurants in November.

Meyer said the current tipping system is unfair as it only benefits a small percentage of restaurant workers. While wait staff in the United States generally receive most of their wages in the form of tips, cooks and other restaurant staff do not.

Meyer said in a statement that, “We believe hospitality is a team sport, and that it takes an entire team to provide you with the experiences you have come to expect from us.” He also pointed out that, “The gap between what the kitchen and dining-room workers make has grown by leaps and bounds.” He noted that, during his three decades in the business, “kitchen income has gone up no more than 25 percent. Meanwhile, dining-room pay has gone up 200 percent.”

Of course, the change in wage structure will affect patrons of the restaurants. Meyer announced that the menu prices for his restaurants will increase 25% to 35% in order to offset the changes.

Meyer’s decision comes as restaurants across the United States are re-evaluating how they compensate their wait staff and other employees. In cities like New York, San Francisco and Chicago, it is difficult for restaurants to retain kitchen staff as the cost of living in the areas steadily increases.

Tips, which are usually about 20% of each bill, mean that wait staff end up earning much more than extremely skilled chefs and cooks.

Restaurant workers across the country have been lobbying for better wages for several years. In response, New York City and some other cities and states have increased their minimum wage.

Interestingly, some high-end restaurants have already stopped accepting tips, but Meyer’s restaurant empire is the most prominent group to implement the practice.

President and CEO of the New York State Restaurant Association, Melissa Fleischut, believes Meyer’s decision will likely trickle down to the rest of the industry. She stated that, “I think that because it is Danny Meyer and he is considered a leader in the restaurant industry, that a lot of people are going to look at this move.”

Australian Citizens Collect Incredibly Deadly Spiders In Order To Produce Antidote

Entertainment News

Once a year, officials from the Australian Reptile Park turn to the public to help them catch the funnel-web spider. The spider, which lives in gardens and trees in Australia, is known for being extremely deadly.

Since 1981, citizens have managed to capture thousands of the spiders and take them to the Reptile Park. At the park, officials use the spiders to produce an antidote to prevent casualties from spider bites.

The program saved the lives of 65 people who were bitten by the funnel-web spider last year. The spider is mostly found in eastern Australia, and it is somewhat common in the city of Sydney.

However, the call to the public for help this year is more urgent than usual. Officials from the park say that they need 200 male spiders on an annual basis in order to produce enough antidote. However, they only received 100 spiders last year.

Spider expert Stacey Denovan said, “We do not have a shortage of the antidote yet. But if we continue to get these numbers every year, then we will have a problem and potentially a shortage.”

Making matters worse is the fact that the spider antidote only has a shelf life of 18 months. Plus, it can take up to two years to make the antidote.

The antidote is created by taking venom from the collected spiders and then injecting it into rabbits, which can tolerate the venom better than humans. Once the rabbits build up antibodies in their blood, their blood is extracted to produce a serum which serves as the antidote.

Before the program started, there have been 13 recorded deaths in Australia resulting from funnel-web spider bites. Since the inception of the program, there have been zero deaths.

Park officials say that they are asking the public to catch the spiders because they do not receive enough funding from the government to do it themselves. They also say that catching the spiders is more efficient than breeding them.

Denovan believes that it is safe to have members of the public collecting extremely deadly spiders.

“We tell the public that their efforts in catching spiders go towards saving lives. As long as they are cautious, it shouldn’t be dangerous. The spider can’t jump or climb, nor move that fast,” she said.

As long as their death count remains at zero, it’s likely that everyday citizens will play the biggest role in collecting the valuable, yet dangerous, spiders.

While Ecotourism Helps Wildlife Around The Globe It May Make Animals “Dumb”

Culture

Whether scuba diving with beautiful marine life or going on safari to see some of the bush’s most amazing animals, one thing is clear: people love to get up close and personal with animals, especially animals they would not normally come in contact with. This is called ecotourism and it has enormous benefits for wildlife protection. It raises billions of dollars annually that goes towards protection and research of wildlife. In fact, researcher Daniel Blumstein notes that eight billion tourists visit protected areas around the world each year. “That’s like each human on Earth visited a protected area once a year, and then some.”

Ecotourism may also have an unintended consequence. So much human interaction may cause these animals to let their guard down when confronted with natural predators or worse, poachers.

Blumstein, a conservation biologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, became concerned when he learned of the incredible number of ecotourists that actually visited protected sites. He therefore led a team in evaluating more than 100 studies of wild animals in areas frequently visited by ecotourists.

Maybe not surprisingly, the research showed that animals constantly faced with human visitors and interaction grew accustomed to such behavior. Blumstein’s team learned that many ecotourism companies and wildlife reserve managers help facilitate the animal-human interactions. For example, rangers in Uganda’s Kibale National Park visit the park’s chimpanzees on a daily basis to make sure the animals come out when tourists pass by. The researchers published their work in the journal, Trends in Ecology and Evolution.

In an interview, Blumstein noted that, “The question we’re asking is, “Does this mean [the animals] become more vulnerable to predators?’ The degree to which animals become dumb around humans is a really interesting question.”

Blumstein emphasizes that the study does not prove that ecotourism harms wildlife. However, the evidence suggests there are some concerns and that more research should be conducted. He notes that even though these ecotourists mean well, they unintentionally may be changing the natural order of the environment.

This Racist City Ordinance In Charlotte Would Essentially Segregate People From Public Areas

News

The city of Charlotte, NC is proposing a new city ordinance that many people are considering to be extremely racist and unconstitutional.

The proposed ordinance would establish “public safety zones”, in which anyone who is arrested in these areas would be permanently banned from ever re-entering that zone.

This is a problem because most people who have been arrested in the city are black. The ordinance would essentially ban black people from certain areas of the city.

Furthermore, the proposal is being bashed because it essentially removes an arrested person’s freedom to assemble. Once a person does their time and completes their sentence, they would still not be allowed in these areas. The proposal would take away certain basic rights provided by the United States Constitution from people found guilty of any sort of crime, even minor ones.

Additionally, the ordinance would also be able to ban people who have been arrested for an alleged crime but not yet convicted. Hence, people could be forbidden from certain areas for years while they await trial.

Enforcing these designated zones would result in police conducting more acts of profiling than ever before. Police would undoubtedly suspect colored people of being more likely to have been banned from these zones than white people.

People banned from a zone would be given five days to appeal the decision. They would be allowed to appeal on the grounds of employment and caring for children in a zone. That being said, it is unknown what would happen to the children or a person’s job over this five day period.

It is certain that this potential ordinance will face extremely heavy resistance, making it unlikely to pass. Still, it goes to show that certain parts of the country haven’t changed much over the years. The fact that they would even consider this proposal is a disgrace.

The city has been known for racist behavior in the past. One study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that young black men were three times more likely to be searched by police than white men of the same ages. Black people were also found to be arrested at greater numbers than white people.

While about half of the city’s citizens are minorities, 79% of the city’s police officers are white.

Russia Creates Useful New Computer Program That Can Automatically Identify ISIS Members

Entertainment News

Computer specialists in Russia have joined forces with Muslim Scholars to create a computer program that can automatically locate accounts used by the Islamic State to recruit new members into their terrorist organization.

The project is taking place at the Center for Research of Legitimacy and Political Protest. It is being led by Yevgeny Venediktov, and it will make use of a program called “Laplace’s Demon”, which was created last spring by information technology specialists of the center.

The program searches for accounts with possible connections to ISIS. The contacts are then transferred to the center’s specialists in Islam and Arabic studies. This is achieved by hunting for distorted quotes from the Koran, as well as comments in Arabic that are typical in nature of terrorists.

Specialists at the center are then able to send messages to the suspected ISIS members and analyze their replies in order to figure out if they are real members of terrorist organizations.

The center also maintains a specialized program that collects information about a terrorist recruiter’s hardware, potentially allowing them to hack their computer.

Russian officials have stated that they believe that the new tool will be extremely useful in their fight against terrorism and that ISIS is the main target of their search. The program received about 3,000 supporters over the internet last year.

Meanwhile, law enforcement officials in Russia are working on obtaining the profiles of potential recruiters for ISIS so that they can focus on preventing them from obtaining more members.

Russia reportedly has a list of more than 4,400 citizens that the country suspects of being involved in extremist activities or terrorism. In 2014, the list reportedly only had about 2,800 people.

Russia officially declared ISIS and the affiliated group Al-Nursa Front to be enemy terrorist organizations last year. Russian citizens have been banned from participating in these organizations, and the country has stated that those who support them will face criminal charges.

Russia began conducting airstrikes on ISIS forces in Syria earlier this month. However, many of the attacks have been against Syrian rebel groups, as Russia is trying to keep Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in power. Many of these rebel groups are allies of the United States.

China’s Middle Class Is Now The Largest In The World And It Is Continuing To Grow

Entertainment News

China is now in possession of the largest population of middle class citizens in the entire world, as more than 109 million Chinese citizens have a wealth of somewhere between $50,000 and $500,000.

The middle class in China is also growing considerably faster than the middle class of the United States. Since the turn of the millennium, more than twice as many Chinese citizens have joined the middle class than American citizens.

The research was conducted by Credit Suisse, which focused on total wealth instead of annual income in order to avoid the potential factor of earnings changes caused by temporary unemployment.

The people of China are earning more money at an extremely fast rate. Per capita, adult wealth in China is currently around $22,500. This value is four times greater than that of 2000.

Credit Suisse said in a statement, “The wealth of the country’s households could well continue to leapfrog the growth rates of developed economies.”

Meanwhile, China’s wealthy citizens are also doing well. The number of millionaire in the country is also expected to increase, as China is expected to be home to 2.3 million millionaires by 2020. This would be a 74% increase over current numbers. More than one million millionaires currently live in China.

Another report indicated that a new billionaire is produced by China on a weekly basis.

However, it isn’t all good news for China. While the country holds about 20% of the total population of the world, China only maintains about 10% of all global wealth.

Wang Jianlin is currently the richest person in China. He possesses a total net worth of more than $24 billion. Jianlian made his fortune through his massive real estate empire. He also owns 20% of the Atlético Madrid Spanish football club.

The top 30 richest people in China each have a net worth of more than $4 billion.

Homicides By Police Are Not Being Reported By Many Law Enforcement Agencies

News

Certain killings are missing from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s official records of “homicides by officers.” The reason for the missing information is because most police departments refuse to submit the requested data.

Out of the 18,000 law enforcement agencies across the United States, only 224 departments reported a fatal shooting by their officers.

A spokesman for the FBI, Stephen Fischer, said that certain exclusions were inevitable because the program is voluntary. “We have no way of knowing how many incidents may have been omitted.”

Amid increased pressure on public authorities, a thorough review of all data on claimed justifiable homicides by police collected by the FBI from police departments between 2004 and 2014 show the following:

•No police departments from Florida (the third most populous state) reported any homicides by officers. The New York police department submitted data for just one year during the past 10 years.

•The FBI records only basic personal details of each person killed and does not include whether they were armed with a weapon.

•An inconsistent and bungled approach was applied to recording other high-profile deaths over recent years. Some were logged, some were placed in different categories and some were simply omitted.

•A rise in homicides by police publicly reported by the FBI over the past five years coincided with a rise in the number of individual departments reporting any homicides, thereby questioning the supposed trends.

•Details regarding many controversial deaths were entered incorrectly in the FBI database, damaging efforts to monitor and observe demographic information about individuals killed by police.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced it was trying out a new system for counting police-involved homicides. The system’s procedure resembles the record keeping and reporting of certain media publications. The pilot program is being led by the DOJ’s bureau of justice statistics. The announcement of the program followed sharp comments from United States Attorney General Loretta Lynch and FBI director James Comey, who reiterated that better official records must be kept by police.

26 More Elephants Found Dead From Cyanide Poisoning In Zimbabwe For Ivory Trade

Entertainment News

In a sad story out of Africa, rangers from Zimbabwe’s Hwange national park discovered the carcasses of 26 elephants at two different locations, all killed by cyanide poisoning. This follows last week’s discovery of 14 dead elephants, also killed by the poison.

According to the Bhejane Trust and the National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, rangers patrolling the park discovered the bodies on Tuesday. The Bhejane Trust participates in joint animal welfare monitoring along with the park’s agency.

Caroline Washaya-Moyo, a spokeswoman for the park, said 14 tusks were recovered from the dead elephants but the other tusks had not been found. She said rangers had found 10 of the elephants in Chakabvi and 16 others in the Lupande area.

Washaya-Moyo said no arrests have yet been made and that investigations were ongoing. Rangers recovered about two pounds of cyanide and have increased their patrols in the park. Cyanide is used in the mining industry of Zimbabwe and is relatively easy to obtain.

Trevor Lane, a founder of the Bhejane Trust and a leading wildlife conservation stated that, “The poachers were probably disturbed by rangers on patrol, which is why some of the tusks were recovered. Cyanide poisoning is becoming a huge problem here and we are struggling to contain it.”

Parks and wildlife authorities also noted that cyanide was recently used to kill three animals in Matusadona, and 11 in Hwange, in some cases the tusks were cut off.

Last week, officials reported that 14 elephants were poisoned by cyanide in three separate incidents.

In 2013, approximately 300 elephants died in Hwange park after poachers placed cyanide in the park’s salt pans.

On Monday, Oppah Muchinguri, the environment, water and climate minister, blamed the rise in in poaching on a United States ban on the sport hunting of Zimbabwean elephants.

She claimed that, “All this poaching is because of American policies. They are banning sport hunting. An elephant would cost $120,000 in sport hunting but a tourist pays only $10 to view the same elephant.” She further added that money from sport hunting is critical in conservation efforts.

Pharma Companies Are Neglecting Developing World Because The Regions Are Not Profitable

Health & Wellness

Pharmaceutical companies are being criticized by some people for not producing medicine that cures diseases common to the developing world because there supposedly isn’t enough money to be made in such areas.

The criticism comes after pharmaceutical company Canofi Pasteur made the announcement last month that it would stop its production of Africa’s only anti-venom for snakebites.

It is widely speculated that the company put an end to this production because it was not making enough money in Africa. Some estimates show that up to 125,000 people will die every year because of the decision.

Diseases and injuries such as snake bites, dengue, chagas and African sleeping sickness are all considered neglected tropical diseases (NTD). Nearly one out of every six people will require treatment for at least one NTD at some point during their lives.

Estimates show that NTDs could be prevented for a yearly expense of somewhere between $300 million and $400 million by the pharmaceutical industry.

While the entire industry is worth about $300 billion, pharmaceutical companies don’t believe that the expense is worth it. Simply put, treating NTDs won’t earn pharmaceutical companies as much money as they can by focusing on other diseases.

Since 2010, pharmaceutical companies have only contributed 12% of all global funding toward fighting NTDs.

Many analysts say that the best way to get pharmaceutical companies to develop and produce treatments for NTDs would be through government intervention. The government could provide incentives and subsidies in order to get pharmaceutical companies to conduct research and development in less profitable areas of medicine.

Meanwhile, non-government organizations have started taking their own action against NTDs. The London Declaration on NTDs has the goal of completely erasing or better controlling 17 major NTDs by the end of 2020.

However, the group is having difficulties in meeting its proposed timeline.

Other development partnerships are trying to bring organizations together in order to collectively pool resources for the development of medicine to fight NTDs. Such partnerships have accounted for the development of more than 70% of medicine designed to fight NTDs since 2000.

One partnership called DNDi has already produced six new treatments for NTDs, and it has 15 additional drugs still in development. The partnership is working with limited resources and without an official laboratory. Luckily, they have the support of 20 pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and 50 universities worldwide.

Unfortunately, the partnerships are not enough, and many pharmaceutical companies have been known to join into partnerships in order to try and remove the responsibility that has seemingly been placed upon them to develop such treatment medications.

Unless the pharmaceutical companies start taking real action, NTDs will continue to be a severe problem for the developing world.

Navy Brings Back Old Fashioned Navigation Equipment As Concerns Over Cyber Attacks Grow

News

The United States Navy is once again making use of the navigational instrument known as sextants, because unlike modern radar and GPS equipment, the traditional tool cannot be hacked.

The Navy discontinued the use of sextants in 1998 since GPS made the equipment outdated. The old-fashioned equipment requires a clear sight of the stars or the sun, an accurate time-telling device and a large amount of math to obtain an accurate position.

Meanwhile, a GPS can give a user an accurate location in a mere instant.

Navy navigation expert Lt. Commander Ryan Rogers said, “We went away from celestial navigation because computers are great. The problem is there’s no backup. We know there are cyber vulnerabilities. In the event that we had to go into a national emergency, we would probably have to shut the GPS down because it can be used by potential enemies.”

Even if a ship shuts down its GPS, the enemy might be able to track its position anyway using positioning satellites. Still, the potential of a ship’s GPS system being hacked by enemy forces is a very serious matter.

Meanwhile, the United States Navy is actively recruiting cyber warfare engineers in an effort to protect its fleet from hackers. The Navy also has a major contract with defense contractor Raytheon to strengthen its cyber defenses.

The sextants will provide Navy ships with a reliable backup in the event of a failure due to a successful attack by the enemy.

Commercial aircraft have also been known to carry sextants in case their radar systems malfunction.

Luckily for people in the Navy, they won’t have to manually perform calculations when using a sextant, as such calculations will be performed by a computer.

However, the announcement of the return of sextants by the Navy shows that it is taking the potential of enemy hackers very seriously.

German Parents Urged By Police Not To Post Pictures Of Their Children On Facebook

Entertainment News

Police in Germany have warned Facebook users not to post pictures of their children on the website. The warning was issued by a German police department on the Facebook account of the department.

The police department is worried that predators may be looking at the images of the children and that posting the pictures might make the children vulnerable.

Facebook is a common tool used by parents to post pictures of the milestones of their children, such as their birth, their first birthday and their first day of school. Parents also post such pictures on other websites, such as Twitter and Instagram.

Other parents will go as far as to post pictures of their children on a daily basis, basically allowing anyone to gain insight into their lives. Most parents believe that the practice is safe and that it’s all in good harmless fun.

However, the Hagen Police Department is taking the matter more seriously. The Facebook message that they posted said that while parents might think that the images are cute, the son or daughter might find them “endlessly embarrassing”, and they could reveal unnecessary information to wrongdoers.

These wrongdoers could be anyone from a simple schoolhouse bully to a serious child predator.

Posting embarrassing photographs could result in the child being bullied further down the road. The Hagen Police Department says that it is critical to protect the privacy of children so that indents of bullying, harassment and possibly even kidnapping can be avoided.

The department knows that anybody can access social media, and putting images of a child on public display is not necessarily a wise choice by parents.

At the very least, parents have been advised to set their privacy settings so that strangers cannot view photographs of their children.

Since the appeal was posted on the Facebook page of the police department, it has been shared more than 100,000 times and seen by more than 7 million people.

Fantasy Sports Sites Under Scrutiny By FBI And Justice Department

Finance

Unless you live under a rock, chances are that you have seen (several) commercials for the fantasy sports operators FanDuel and DraftKings. The ads feature testimonials from “real” players who happily report that they have won money week after week playing fantasy sports after only paying minimal fees. Some say they have won hundreds of thousands of dollars. And, in tiny print at the bottom of the television screen is a statement that the average player wins about $20 a week. It is simply astonishing how much marketing both companies are promoting, especially this football season.

When something appears too good to be true, it usually is. That is what the U.S. Justice Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation and some states’ Attorneys General are trying to find out. Specifically, the agencies are trying to determine if the business models of the companies violate federal law. The probe is now in the preliminary stages.

Basically, the model is as follows: customers pay an entry fee and then draft virtual sports teams that compete against other customers for money based on the actual performances of athletes.

In 2006, Congress passed legislation that prohibited financial institutions like banks or credit card companies from transferring consumers’ money to online gambling sites. Several sites thereafter shut down. However – “games of skill” were exempted from the law. Fantasy sports site operate under that exemption.

The essential question the Justice Department is trying to answer is whether these games are in fact gambling and should therefore not enjoy the benefit of the exemption. No decision has yet been made.

Hundreds of millions of dollars have flowed into the booming industry with major players such as Google, Comcast, 21st Century Fox and News Corp investing huge amounts of money. It is estimated that FanDuel and DraftKings are presently valued at more than $1 billion each.

The latest investigation was prompted when a DraftKings employee admitted on a message board that he released sensitive data prematurely. Interestingly, that same week, he won $350,000 on FanDuel. DraftKings claims the incident was an accident and both companies claim that the employee did not benefit from “insider” information.

A DraftKings spokeswoman said in a statement that, “It is entirely predictable that the government would follow up on the misleading reports about our industry. We have no knowledge of the specifics of any federal investigation but strongly disagree with any notion that our company has engaged in any illegal activities.”

Both companies adamantly maintain that fantasy sports are games of skill and not luck and should therefore be exempted from the 2006 legislation.

In the meantime, the New York and Massachusetts Attorneys General are requesting droves of internal information from the companies on how they price their athletes, win/loss records of players and details on their policies for preventing fraud.

The companies have until Thursday to respond.

Iran Releases Photos Of Massive Missile Stockpile In Underground Facility

Entertainment News

Iran has released photographs from the Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), showing a major stockpile of the country’s missiles.

The photographs show a tunnel that was reportedly dug 1,640 feet underneath a mountain. The tunnel contains one of Iran’s missile facilities.

The pictures come just a few days after Iranian state media reported that the country had recently tested new long-range ballistic missiles.

Officials in the United States believe that the recent test was in violation of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1929, which states that Iran is not allowed to engage in activities regarding the usage or possession of ballistic missiles.

However, the test was not in violation of nuclear restrictions that have been placed on Iran.

Meanwhile, a newer Resolution from the United Nations Security Council that bans Iran from getting involved in activities concerning ballistic missiles that have been designed to carry nuclear warheads has not yet been placed into effect. This resolution is numbered as 2231.

A senior general of the Iranian military told Iranian state media outlets that the country is completely overhauling its missile technology. Its old stockpile will be replaced with newer weapons.

Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh said, “As of next year, a new and advanced generation of long-range liquid and solid fuel missiles will replace the current products. The missiles in various ranges are mounted on the launchers in all bases and (are) ready to be launched.”

The facility that was shown was only one of Iran’s many missile stockpile locations.

Officials in Iran have stated that all military bases of the United States in the Middle East are within the range of Iranian missiles.

Recently a major deal was reached between Iran and some major world powers, which will lift international sanctions on Iran, while also putting restrictions on the Iranian nuclear program. The deal is designed to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

These Confederate Flag Wavers Were Arrested For Disrupting A Birthday Party In Atlanta

News

A group of Confederate flag wavers has been indicted on charges of making terroristic threats.

The group of 15 people allegedly drove their pickup trucks past a birthday party in the suburbs of Atlanta while waving the flags and displaying weapons.

The group that did this is part of an organization called “Respect the Flag”, and prosecutors have said that they have violated the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act.

The members of the group could face up to 20 years in prison if they are convicted in court.

The birthday party that they drove past was hosted by Melissa Alford. Many guests at the birthday party were African Americans. Alford says that the group was making threats toward people at the party.

Alford said, “They used the N-word and said they were going to kill people on my property.”

The members of the Respect the Flag organization have a different story. They claim that people at the party were throwing rocks at them and that they did not initiate the confrontation.

The leader of the Respect the Flag organization, Levi Bush, declined to comment on the situation. It is unclear if members of the group have legal representation.

The indictment declares Respect the Flag to be a “criminal street gang”, and the charges state that they made threats of “committing a crime of violence”. They are also accused of “terrorizing individuals with reckless disregard”.

Prosecutor Brian Fortner refused to comment on the situation, only saying that it would be settled in court.

“It would be inappropriate for us to get into the facts and details of the case. I think that’s better reserved for the courtroom,” he said.

Meanwhile, members of the community are pleased that the court is pursuing this case, as many people are sick of the racist and violent behavior of the group.

Leader of the Southern Poverty Law Center Morris Dees said, “These cowards chose unarmed African-Americans enjoying a peaceful birthday party to vent their violent racist hatred. This is reminiscent of the Ku Klux Klan. (They’re) modern-day night-riders terrorizing African-Americans in the name of Southern heritage.”

Chinese Banks Are Doing Away With Bank Cards By Utilizing Facial Recognition Software

Entertainment News

Banks in China are developing face-recognition technology so that users can withdraw funds without having to use their bank cards. Instead, the facial recognition software will be able to identify users.

The technology is being applied at banks in the city of Shenzhen. The city already has nine ATMs with the technology, and it will soon be applied throughout the entire city.

China Merchants Bank says that it will have the face recognition feature at every single one of the bank’s 12,000 ATMs by the end of the year.

Customers using this feature will have a real-time photograph taken. The image will be compared to a verified photograph to make sure that there is a match.

The technology reportedly makes use of a core algorithm that analyzes facial features and can make matches at an extremely accurate rate.

The feature is considered by the bank to be a secondary measure for bank security.

The facial recognition software made its debut on Thursday at the China International Exhibition on Financial Banking Technology and Equipment that took place in Shanghai.

However, while the technology is said to be fast and convenient, it does have some drawbacks.

People who elect to use the feature will have a daily withdrawal limit of 3,000 Chinese Yuan, or about $473. They must present a bank card in order withdraw more funds.

An initial ATM with facial recognition was first displayed in May by researchers from Tsinghua University. The researchers worked in conjunction with security firm Tzekwan Technology.

Last July, MasterCard announced that it would start a test program that would allow users to pay for purchases online by taking a selfie.

Meanwhile, last March, Alibaba founder Jack Ma Yun showcased his company’s “Smile to Pay” feature at a conference in Germany. Yun purchased a stamp, and he paid for it by verifying his identity with a selfie. Alibaba has not announced a launch day for “Smile to Pay”.

Russian Backed Syrian Forces Launch Strategic Raids Against Homs Rebels

Entertainment News

Russian military intervention in Syria continued on Thursday as Russian jets backed Syrian troops and their allies and attacked rebel-held cities. The alliance targeted a strategic area filled with rebels that oppose Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The offensive that began in the early morning is aimed at reclaiming land in western Syria that is critical for Assad’s government to remain in power. Currently, the areas are held by rebel groups allegedly not associated with ISIS.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a group that has been closely monitoring the civil war, said that five civilians and six insurgents were killed in Teir Malla, located about 3 miles north of Homs city. The group also reported that there were heavy airstrikes around Talbiseh and other nearby villages.

Since Russian jets began their airstrikes against rebel fighters over two weeks ago, the Syrian army and its allies – including Iran – have launched several offensives to try and retake insurgent-held territory.

The army operations also include a campaign to recapture rebel-held land in the northwest region of Syria. Officials report that the Syrian army and its Iranian allies are preparing for ground offensives in an area close to the border with Turkey.

Recapturing areas in northern Syria would help reassert Assad’s dominance and control over the major population centers of the west and secure important areas of land linking Damascus to the coast where his minority Alawite sect resides.

The Observatory said there was still heavy fighting taking place. The leader of one rebel group stated that, “There are very heavy airstrikes in [the city of] Homs on the frontlines. There are civilian casualties. The aim is to apply military pressure, and the regime’s intention is to storm the area.” He further claimed that he was unsure of the number of people killed but gave the names of five individuals confirmed dead, including a girl and two women.

Abdul Rahim Duhaik, a teacher in Talbiseh said that, “They want to open up the road from Homs (north) to Hama. There’s no end to the aerial observation and the bombardment. People are busy digging shelters. No one has any intention of leaving. We will die in our land rather than be evicted.”

Responding to the reports of civilian deaths, a Syrian military official said that Russian jets and Syrian forces do not target locations where civilians are present. He accused al Qaeda of conducting a massacre on Thursday so that it could blame the deaths on the Syrian army.

China Just Unveiled Plans To Invest $315 Billion In Electric Charging Stations

Entertainment News

The Chinese Government has announced plans for a massive expansion of the country’s charging infrastructure for electric vehicles (EV) which experts say will bring about” period of explosive growth” in the development of electric vehicles and charging-related industries.

Although there are more than 100,000 gas stations across the country, China has an insufficient number of charging stations for EV’s. They say this has hindered incentive for the development of the electric vehicle sector and research into EV technology. Government figures show that last year there were only 780 power charging stations and 31,000 alternating current and direct current power charging piles in the whole of China.

Recently the government announced that all new residential complexes should provide parking lots or spaces that have EV charging facilities or space for these facilities, and that ten percent of parking lots in large public buildings or public parking areas should also have charging facilities.

Tong Guangyi, deputy director of the Energy Department under the National Energy Administration, says under the Government’s plan for the energy-efficient and new energy vehicle industry, by 2020 China will “have strengthened the construction and transformation of charging facilities to 12,000 charging stations and 4.8 million charging piles”. He says the Government estimates there will be 5 million EV’s operating on

Chinese roads by 2020, with the coverage of smart meters being promoted to 90% by that time.

To reach these goals, the government will invest at least $315 billion into the construction of its power distribution network, starting with $470 million this year.

Tong says the government is encouraging social insurance funds to invest in the EV expansion projects and that with the government’s announced plans he expects many private companies to accelerate their investment in charging networks investment.

Toyota Says That It Will Produce Almost No Gasoline Powered Vehicles By 2050

Finance

By 2050, Toyota says that it will produce almost zero vehicles powered by gasoline. Instead, Toyota will manufacture hybrid vehicles and fuel cell vehicles.

Interestingly, electric vehicles were not mentioned by the Japanese auto manufacturer.

Toya made the announcement at a press conference in Tokyo on Wednesday.

Senior managing officer for Toyota, Kiyotaka Ise said, “You may think 35 years is a long time. But for an automaker to envision all combustion engines as gone is pretty extraordinary.”

Toyota has been the largest maker of automobiles for three consecutive years. The company sold 10.2 million vehicles worldwide last year.

About 1.3 million of those vehicles were hybrid vehicles, such as the Toyota Prius. However, the growth rate of the company’s hybrid line has been mostly stagnant for the past year.

In the coming decades, the company will likely focus on cars that are powered by hydrogen fuel cells, such as the Toyota Mirai. Toyota says that it hopes to sell at least 30,000 fuel cell vehicles on an annual basis starting in 2020.

The company set aside $4.2 billion for fuel cell research earlier this year. Toyota expects that its total carbon dioxide emissions will be 90% lower in 2050 than they were in 2010. The company’s total emissions are predicted to drop by 22% by 2020.

Toyota is making these changes in order to win over environmentalists, who are increasingly concerned about climate change.

However, not everyone is convinced that the switch to fuel cells will be any better, as they require the conversion of natural gas to hydrogen, which produces methane. Some people say that the methane is just as bad for the environment as carbon dioxide, and therefore the new fuel cell cars are not any cleaner than current models.

Regardless of whether or not the fuel cell cars are cleaner, which most experts believe that they are, Toyota is still making a big leap by taking steps to eliminate its dependence on gasoline. The company is certainly doing what it can to reduce its environmental impact.

Chinese and Taiwanese Business Giants Partner For Global Domination

Entertainment News

The countries where they are headquartered may be politically and territorially at odds, but China’s Alibaba has formed a partnership with Taiwan’s Foxconn to encourage the next generation of world dominating businesses.

Alibaba is China’s, and in the opinion of many experts, the world’s biggest online commerce company, while Foxconn, which manufactures Apple products, is the world’s largest electronics contractor, and by revenue the third largest information technology company.

According to a joint statement, the two giants will create an investment “incubator” intended to nurture SME and “micro” businesses by giving them access to Foxconn’s expertise in design, patent development and supply chain management, while Alibaba will provide access to its cloud computing platform, AliCloud.

The statement says Intel, and investment companies Valley Capital and Zhubajie.com, will provide infrastructure to the program which has been trialed for the last six months with 280 businesses involved so far.

Although mainly Chinese and Taiwanese based companies were involved, U.S and European expansion is planned. In the statement, Alibaba says one notable start-up that benefited greatly in the trial was Silicon Valley’s fitness wearable brand Moov.

Alibaba’s Chief Technology Officer Jian Wang says, “Alibaba Group is helping enterprises and startups progress by making computing services more accessible.” Experts say this is the company’s main tactic for achieving global domination.

Until now, Alibaba has been content, at least publically, to partner with local partners to push its services to Chinese companies doing business overseas. With the incubator deal, it has made clear it has international aspirations. Alibaba’s opening of its second data centre in Silicon Valley last week was part of this global cloud expansion push to which it has reportedly committed $1billion.

Not only will the program’s non-Chinese participating start-ups have access to all of the expertise and resources of Alibaba and Foxconn, but they also now have an easy route into the huge Chinese consumer market.

Obama Sending 300 Armed Personnel To Cameroon For Reconnaissance On Boko Haram

Entertainment News

United States President Barack Obama has stated that the United States will send armed forces to the African nation of Cameroon in order to help in the effort against the Islamist militants Boko Haram.

Forces from the United States will mostly be in the region to monitor the situation and make sure that it does not get further out of control, as well as to send a message to violent extremist groups that their behavior will not be tolerated.

The United States will send 300 troops in order to conduct airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations.

Islamic militants from northern Nigeria have targeted the African countries of Cameroon and Chad.

President Obama stated that the plan is to keep troops in Cameroon until they complete their mission and are no longer needed. He informed Congress that 90 troops were sent to Cameroon on Monday.

All of the troops in the country will be equipped with weapons for their own protection and security.

Since Boko Haram joined the Islamic State, the United States has determined that America and its allies in the region are under threat. Boko Haram and ISIS have both shown to be resistant of military operations from the armies of Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria.

There is not much known about the counter-attack to Boko Haram and ISIS, which is called the Multinational Joint Task Force. The Task Force is supported by the African Union.

In 2014, the United States sent surveillance planes to northeast Nigeria following the kidnap of 200 schoolgirls. The school girls still remain missing. Additionally, thousands of other people have also been killed as a result of violence in the region.

Boko Haram means “Western education is forbidden” in the Hausa language. The organization was founded in 2002, and it began military operations in 2009.

After joining the Islamic State, Boko Haram now calls itself the “West African province”.

The group has declared a “caliphate” in the region, referring to their belief that the successor to the Muslim prophet Muhammad has arrived.

Georgia Tech Doctoral Student Teaches Robots Judo So They Fall More Gracefully

News

By now you have probably witnessed one of the many online videos documenting the humorous failed attempts at walking by the current crop of humanoid robots. Researchers at Georgia Tech are working to transform these awkward falls into more graceful missteps as they develop algorithms that will command a robot to choose the least damaging way to fall.

Doctoral grad student Sehoon Ha designed his algorithm to react to a wide variety of falls and measured the effectiveness of his algorithm for each situation. This was done by comparing the max force experienced by both the algorithm robot and a control robot, which made no attempt to break its fall.

Sehoon developed the project by building upon the previous work of Professor Karen Liu, who had researched the ways in which cats react during a fall.

The algorithm is still too slow to be practical on a real-world prototype, as it takes up to 10 seconds to compute a solution to the fall. Professor Liu commented on the latest iteration of the algorithm, “Our new planning algorithm takes into account the hardware constraints and the capabilities of the robot, and suggests a sequence of contacts so the robot gradually can slow itself down… Now the robots may fall more gracefully than people and possibly cats, too. Imagine that.”

In YouTube videos posted by Georgia Tech, the test robot can be seen using different strategies ranging from a simple foot placements up to a somersault, depending on the force with which it is pushed into a fall.

Because the current algorithm can only contend with forward or backward falls, further research will need to be done to contend with the more complex falls that a robot would experience in the real world, in addition to developing a way for the robot to get back on its feet.

China Seeks International Cooperation For Their Future Space Station

Entertainment News

China has begun seeking international involvement in its future space station, which would include the contribution of foreign modules connected to China’s core station, which is composed of three modules. The station’s chief designer, Zhou Jianping, declined to confirm whether China’s station would use a standard docking design that is under development by Europe and the U.S.

The China Manned Space Program’s first mission is projected to launch in 2018 and will be carrying the station’s core module. Two additional modules for science experiments will follow, according to Zhou. He went on to say, “Work is well under way. All the modules and associated vehicles are under development.”

The station’s typical crew would consist of three with a maximum for six. Operations for missions would last up to six months at a time. Under the current schedule, the station will be fully operational around 2022.

Like the International Space Station (ISS), China’s station would be operating at an altitude of around 250 miles, with a projected lifespan of more than 10 years. The ISS currently operates as a collaborative effort between the U.S., Russia, Europe, Japan and Canada and is expected to be in operation until at least 2024.

Russia and Europe have expressed the desire to continue their commitments to the ISS until that date, while Japan continues to deliberate on the issue.

Despite China’s hesitancy to adopt the current docking standard, the European Space Agency has entertained the prospect of future missions to the station by training its astronauts in Chinese. Zhou also stated that China has plans to launch its own space telescope, which will be able to dock with the Chinese space station for maintenance.

In order to foster an attitude of cooperation with China, the U.S. may have to first end its four year old ban on cooperation between NASA and the China Manned Space Program. Former Congressman Frank Wolf inserted the ban into the U.S. budget as a protest against China’s attitudes towards intellectual property and human rights.

Russia Considers New Alcohol Ban Despite Past Failures At Controlling Consumption

Entertainment News

In an effort to curtail the negative effects of alcohol consumption on its civilians’ health, Russia is considering a once-a-week ban on alcohol sales in St. Petersburg. Widespread alcoholism has contributed to the nation’s low life expectancy, which for males is only 61 years, according to a U.N. Development Program report.

The new program would not be the first attempt at reversing one of Russia’s favorite pastimes. Mikhail Gorbachev attempted to decrease consumption through price hikes and limits on production in the early 80s. As a result, drug use rose along with instances of poisoning by those who consumed brake fluid or rubbing alcohol. The Russian government also suffered large drops in revenue due to its heavy reliance on alcohol taxes.

Russia’s affinity for drinking dates back over 1,000 years. When Russia’s Prince Vladimir converted the nation to Orthodox Christianity in 988, one of his reasons was the religion’s tolerance of alcohol. By the mid-17th century, one third of Russian males had become indebted to the nation’s taverns. In order to prevent a drop in alcohol revenues around that period, Peter the Great ordered peasant wives to be beaten if they attempted to remove their husbands from taverns before they were ready to leave.

The trend has continued into the modern day, with Russia’s former Finance Minister Aleksei Kudrin publicly supporting the situation, stating in 2010 that the best way for citizens to help, “the country’s flaccid national economy was to smoke and drink more, thereby paying more in taxes.”
The ban would do little to decrease consumption. If past attempts have been met with increases in bootlegging and drug use, there is no reason to think citizens wouldn’t take the extra effort to get their booze from outside the city.

In recognition of this, Russian Public Chamber member Dmitry Chugunov stated, “Limiting alcohol sales won’t have a 100 percent effect without a comprehensive ban in other regions.”

Walmart Shares Plummet After Company Announces Low Earnings For Next Fiscal Year

Finance

Shares for Walmart experienced a huge decline in value on Wednesday, and the effect is being felt by the family owners of the massive American retailer.

Walmart is controlled by four members of the Walton family, who own more than half of the shares of the company. Their combined net worth fell by $9.3 billion on Wednesday, as Walmart shares dropped after the giant retailer announced a lower earnings outlook for the next fiscal year than had been originally anticipated by market analysts.

The company announced that its earnings for the fiscal year of 2017 would fall by as much as 12%. Market analysts were expecting Walmart’s prediction to be that of a slight gain.

Shares of Walmart declined by up to 10% following the announcement. They fell to their lowest value since 1999.

The four major Walton family members are Christy, Jim, Alice and Rob.

Together, they have a combined $122 billion to their names. The vast majority of their wealth comes from shares that they inherited from the founder of Walmart, Sam Walton. Earlier this year in January, the Waltons had a combined total of $169 billion to their names.

They aren’t the only people to perform poorly in the market this year. Telecommunications mogul of Mexico Carlos Slim has lost $12.7 billion, which makes him the largest loser of 2015, while Warren Buffett has lost $11.6 billion.

The Waltons have been some of the worst performing billionaires of 2015, as they have lost a total of $39 billion since the start of the year.

Walmart was founded in Bentonville, Arkansas as a mass merchandiser. It has been known for “rolling back prices”, but the company has also warned shoppers to “watch out for falling prices”.

However, it looks like these prices are not the prices of merchandise, but rather their stock prices.

Boeing Creates Lightest Metal Ever And Could Save Airline Companies Millions Of Dollars

Finance

Scientists at Boeing say that they have created the lightest known metal in the world. The metal, which consists of micro-lattice material, is reportedly 99.99% air.

Boeing hopes that it will be able to use the metal to develop innovative new types of airplanes, as reducing weight is critical to achieving flight.

Additionally, airplanes that weigh less require less fuel to fly, so the development of a lighter aircraft could eventually lead to financial savings for airline companies that are always looking for ways to save money.

The savings could even trickle down to consumers in the form of reduced airline fare prices.

Fuel for airplanes is currently the largest operating expense for airline companies.

The development of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner in recent years was a major breakthrough for the company because of its usage of lightweight composite carbon fiber material. The airplane has the best fuel efficiency in its class.

Traditionally, airplanes were constructed using aluminum.

The micro-lattice metal somewhat resembles a sponge or mesh-like material. The metal is also flexible and incredibly strong. It is unknown how much it weighs, but since it consists of 99.99% air, it certainly can’t weigh very much.

However, the metal will require further development before it is ready to be used in the construction of any aircraft.

If the newly created metal is eventually used in the construction of aircrafts, then airline companies will be set to reduce their operating expenses by a considerable margin.

The micro-lattice metal has been described by Boeing as an “open cellular polymer structure”.

If the metal is used in aircrafts, it would primarily be used in structural components of airplanes, such as the airplane’s side-walling or floor panels.

Due to the complicated nature of the material, it would most likely only make sense to use the material in the construction of major commercial jets.

Boeing has not stated when, if ever, the material would be ready for commercial use.

Doctors Can Now Scan An Entire Genome And Diagnose Genetic Diseases In Just 26 Hours

Health & Wellness

Pediatricians now have the ability to scan the entire genome of a newborn infant and make a diagnosis of an illness in a time period of just 26 hours.

Doctors are able to study the genome of infants so quickly thanks to new software technology. They believe that this technology will save the lives of infants who often need a quick diagnosis in the very early stages of their lives.

The technology consists of a processor from Edico Genome. The processor was created to quickly handle large genetic data. It was developed by genome expert Stephen Kingsmore.

Doctors typically use targeted genetic tests for specific diseases when they have a good idea about what disease the infant might be suffering from. These tests only focus on specific portions of the genome.

However, this isn’t very helpful in instances where doctors don’t know where to start. Often, it’s very hard for pediatricians to make an educated guess as to what genetic disorder a newborn might be suffering from.

Unfortunately, with 3.2 billion potential mutation locations in the human genome, the process of locating an error is tremendously challenging.

The good news is that the price of sequencing an entire genome is becoming much more affordable. The first genome sequencing cost $3 billion. Now, scientists can sequence an entire genome for just $1,000.

By being able to sequence the genome and make a diagnosis in just 26 hours, scientists have already been able to save the lives of infants. The process has been used on 35 sick babies so far. The process was able to diagnose a disease in 20 of the babies. In 13 of these cases, doctors changed their plans for treatment based on their findings.

Genetic disorders are the leading cause of death for newborn babies, but they may be more treatable now thanks to new technology.