A Severe Setback.

Modi lost his mojo.

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1. Wow. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist party appeared to be set for a severe setback amid a strong fight from a revived opposition, early Indian election results showed. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party alliance should still get the largest share of seats in the 543-seat lower house of parliament and form the government, but Modi’s party appeared to be struggling to hold on to an outright majority after a campaign in which the prime minister pledged to win more seats than ever. His party won 303 seats in 2019. The early trends could yet change in several seats. Final results are due late Tuesday. The results were in sharp contrast to exit polls over the weekend that showed that Modi’s party could top the seats it won in the last general elections, and that a BJP-led bloc of allies could win a two-thirds majority. Indian exit polls have been known to be wildly wrong in the past. (Sources: wsj.com, nytimes.com)

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2. High-profile school shootings, and the fear they spread, are shaping how architects design the modern American school. The safety features, some required by state law, include measures meant to keep armed perpetrators out and to help first responders. “The typical challenge is to have the building seem very welcoming and yet at the same point not penetrable,” said Jerry Lammers, principal of Alamo Architects in San Antonio. But he and other architects also embrace open interior spaces to foster a sense of community. The idea is these areas can ease the isolation that might lead a troubled youth to lash out violently. (Source: wsj.com)

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3. Brain-computer interfaces can bypass neural impediments that prevent people who are severely disabled by accident or disease from moving their limbs — and enable those who cannot speak or operate a keyboard to communicate. Within a few years BCIs could develop into a market worth several billion dollars a year treating patients with severe motor impairment through injury or disease, according to Michael Mager, chief executive of Precision Neuroscience, a medical BCI company in the US. The long-term implications are far greater “This is a turning point for humanity,” says Rafael Yuste, director of Columbia University’s NeuroTechnology Center in New York. “For the first time we have technology that can change the essence of who we are by getting into the brain, the organ that generates all of our mental and cognitive abilities.” (Source: ft.com)