The hearts of young city dwellers contain billions of toxic air pollution particles, research has revealed. The Guardian: Even in the study's youngest subject, who was three, damage could be seen in the cells of the organ's critical pumping muscles that contained the tiny particles. The study suggests these iron-rich particles, produced by vehicles and industry, could be the underlying cause of the long-established statistical link between dirty air and heart disease. The scientists said the abundance of the nanoparticles might represent a serious public health concern and that particle air pollution must be reduced urgently. More than 90% of the world's population lives with toxic air, according to the World Health Organization, which has declared the issue a global "public health emergency." The scientists acknowledged some uncertainties in their research, but Prof Barbara Maher, of Lancaster University, said: "This is a preliminary study in a way, but the findings and implications were too important not to get the information out there." Maher and colleagues found in 2016 that the same nanoparticles were present in human brains and were associated with Alzheimers-like damage, another disease linked to air pollution. While all ages were affected, Maher said she was particularly concerned about children.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Through hotlines and clinics, activists and health experts are trying to change the stigma associated with abortion.

New submitter popcornfan679 shares a report: Through a public record request, Motherboard has obtained a user manual that gives unprecedented insight into Palantir Gotham (Palantir's other services, Palantir Foundry, is an enterprise data platform), which is used by law enforcement agencies like the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center. (Palantir is one of the most significant and secretive companies in big data analysis.) The NCRIC serves around 300 communities in northern California and is what is known as a "fusion center," a Department of Homeland Security intelligence center that aggregates and investigates information from state, local, and federal agencies, as well as some private entities, into large databases that can be searched using software like Palantir. Fusion centers have become a target of civil liberties groups in part because they collect and aggregate data from so many different public and private entities. The guide doesn't just show how Gotham works. It also shows how police are instructed to use the software. This guide seems to be specifically made by Palantir for the California law enforcement because it includes examples specific to California. We don't know exactly what information is excluded, or what changes have been made since the document was first created. The first eight pages that we received in response to our request is undated, but the remaining twenty-one pages were copyrighted in 2016. (Palantir did not respond to multiple requests for comment.) The Palantir user guide shows that police can start with almost no information about a person of interest and instantly know extremely intimate details about their lives.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Scientists say storm, which is expected to bring heavy rain to Louisiana, is fueled by warm waters in Gulf of Mexico.

The Federal Trade Commission voted this week to approve a roughly $5 billion settlement with Facebook over a long-running probe into the tech giant's privacy missteps, WSJ reported Friday, citing people familiar with the matter [Editor's note: the link may be paywalled; alternative source]. From the report: The 3-2 vote by FTC commissioners broke along party lines, with the Republican majority lining up to support the pact while Democratic commissioners objected, the people said. The matter has been moved to the Justice Department's civil division and it is unclear how long it will take to finalize, the person said. Justice Department reviews are part of the FTC's procedure but typically don't change the outcome of an FTC decision. A settlement is expected to include other government restrictions on how Facebook treats user privacy. The additional terms of the settlement couldn't immediately be learned. An FTC spokeswoman declined to comment, as did a Facebook spokesman. Facebook said April 24 that it was expecting to pay up to $5 billion to settle the probe. A resolution was bogged down by a split between Republicans and Democrats on the FTC, with the Democrats pushing for tougher oversight of the social-media giant.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Delay expected, but not confirmed as politicians make conflicting statements on Mueller's scheduled hearing.

Eight-time champion will face world top-ranked Djokovic after three-hour semi-final against Nadal.

The disturbing death of a woman in Britain renewed a debate that has followed bans on plastic straws around the world. From a report: A British woman was impaled by a metal straw after falling at her home, a coroner said in an inquest this week that highlighted the potential dangers of metal straws. Such straws have surged in popularity as cities, states and even countries have banned single-use plastic straws. A British straw ban will go into effect in April, but the worldwide environmental push against single-use straws has encountered opposition from some caregivers and advocates for people with disabilities. They have voiced worries about the safety of rigid straws and the overall availability of straws for people who are unable to drink without them. [...] Many people with disabilities rely on straws to drink, Ms. Sauder said, but could have difficulties finding them in states and cities, such as California and Seattle, that have banned or restricted single-use straws. Starbucks plans to eliminate its ubiquitous green plastic straws at 28,000 of its locations around the world in 2020. It's not easy being green for Starbucks, however. In 2016, the coffee chain recalled stainless steel straws sold at its shops because they posed an injury risk. At the time, Starbucks said it had received reports of three children in the United States and one in Canada who had been lacerated by the straws, which were sold with reusable beverage containers. Dentists say that improper use of metal or glass straws can also be bad for teeth. "Clearly, chewing on a metal or glass straw can be hazardous to your teeth and your health," said Dr. Timothy Chase of SmilesNY Cosmetic and Implant Dentistry in New York. "Just like we tell people not to chew on pens." Dr. Chase added that it's important to keep reusable straws clean to avoid infection-causing bacteria.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

House passes defence bill with amendments addressing Iran, Saudi arm sales and Yemen. Trump has threatened a veto.

Judge Arshad Malik removed from office following allegations he convicted Sharif for corruption 'under pressure'.

The United States, UK and Iran all say they don't want war, but the tension in the region is rising by the day.

The transmission and viewing of online videos generates 300 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, or nearly 1 per cent of global emissions. On-demand video services such as Netflix account for a third of this, with online pornographic videos generating another third. From a report: This means the watching of pornographic videos generates as much CO2 per year as is emitted by countries such as Belgium, Bangladesh and Nigeria. That's the conclusion of a French think tank called The Shift Project. Earlier this year, it estimated that digital technologies produce 4 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions and that this figure could soar to 8 per cent by 2025. Now it has estimated the CO2 emissions due to online videos alone. The report's authors used 2018 reports by companies Cisco and Sandvine to work out global video internet traffic. They then estimated how much electricity was used to carry this video data and view it on different devices, from phones to TVs. Finally, they estimated the overall emissions using global average figures for carbon emissions from electricity generation. Online video accounted for 60 per cent of global data flows in 2018, the report states, or 1 zettabyte of data (one thousand billion billion bytes).

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The arrival of the Russian missile defence system in Ankara could mark a major rupture between Turkey and the US.

Bird has its eyes on another capital raise, according to a report. Business Insider: The scooter company, one of the largest in a swarm of similar micromobility startups, has already raised $718 million in its short lifetime, according to Pitchbook data, and now it reportedly needs up to $300 more by the end of the summer. A fresh infusion could raise the Santa Monica, California-based company's valuation beyond its current $2.3 billion, potentially helping Bird pass its competitor Lime as the most highly valued startup in the space. The Information also reported that Bird lost $100 million in the first quarter of 2019, with its revenue shrinking to $15 million during the same time period.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

With all the progress being made in machine learning it's a wonder that the quality of phone calls is so bad. My brain can do the filtering to compensate for weak signals and even interpolate short outages. But it's a strain. Isn't this something software can help us with??