Purple Tomatoes.
Part two of Friday's News Items.
1. The MIT Technology Review has its annual “10 breakthrough technologies” for 2022. You’ll love the first one: “The end of passwords.” (Source: technologyreview.com)
2. A purple tomato genetically modified to make it rich in the beneficial pigments found in “superfoods” such as blueberries could soon go on sale in the US. A small company called Norfolk Plant Sciences applied for approval last year and is confident of getting the go-ahead. “We are optimistic that we will get the approvals that we need,” said Eric Ward, an adviser to Norfolk Plant Sciences, during an online presentation on 22 February. The company hopes to sell seeds to gardeners and supply fresh tomatoes and other tomato products to shops. The purple tomato was created by Cathie Martin at the John Innes Centre in the UK. In 2008, her team reported that mice whose diet was supplemented with purple tomato powder lived nearly 30 per cent longer than those on a standard diet or a diet supplemented with powder from normal tomatoes. (Source: newscientist.com)
3. In a breakthrough that could advance brain-machine interface technology and soft robotics, scientists at Linköping University in Norrköping, Sweden, have developed the first organic electrochemical neurons based on printed organic electrochemical transistors. In a dramatic demonstration, they showed they could interconnect the artificial neurons with biological cells of the Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) and trigger the plant’s chomping action with an electrical impulse. Remarkable if you are a neuroscientist, a botanist, or a robotics engineer—terrifying if you are a fly. (Sources: neo.life, nature.com)
4. The miracle of modern China was built on global connections, a belief that sending young people, companies and future leaders to soak up the outside world was the route from impoverishment to power. Now, emboldened by its transformation, the country is shunning the influences and ideas that nourished its rise. The country’s most dominant leader in decades, Xi Jinping, seems intent on redefining China’s relationship with the world, recasting the meeting of minds and cultures as a zero-sum clash. Education officials are imposing restrictions on English education and requiring that scholars ask permission to attend even virtual international conferences. Regulators have punished Chinese companies for raising money overseas. Mr. Xi has exhorted artists to embrace “cultural confidence” by promoting traditional Chinese literature and art, and has warned against imitating Hollywood. And the government, citing the coronavirus pandemic, is no longer freely issuing most passports, the physical symbol of an interconnected world. Borders are almost entirely shut. (Source: nytimes.com)
5. More than a year after Donald J. Trump left office, the QAnon conspiracy theory that thrived during his administration continues to attract more Americans, including many Republicans and far-right news consumers, according to results from a survey released on Thursday from the Public Religion Research Institute. The nonprofit and nonpartisan group found that 16 percent of Americans, or roughly 41 million people, believed last year in the three key tenets of the conspiracy theory. Those are that Satanist pedophiles who run a global child sex-trafficking operation control the government and other major institutions, that a coming storm will sweep elites from power and that violence might be necessary to save the country. (Source: nytimes.com)
6. President Biden yesterday informed his advisers that he had chosen a Supreme Court nominee, according to two people familiar with the selection process. The president’s decision ended a monthlong search to replace Justice Stephen G. Breyer, the senior member of the court’s three-member liberal wing, who announced in January that he would retire at the end of the court’s current term this summer once his successor was in place. Mr. Biden is under pressure to announce his selection, who he has promised will be a Black woman, somewhere between the response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and his first State of the Union address, scheduled for Tuesday. (Source: nytimes.com)
7. Senator James M. Inhofe, Republican of Oklahoma, has told officials in his state that he will step down at the end of this Congress, vacating a seat he has held since 1994 with four years remaining in his term. Mr. Inhofe, 87, was poised to announce his plans on Monday, according to two Oklahoma Republicans who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment in advance. His retirement is unlikely to affect the balance of power in the 50-50 Senate, given Oklahoma’s solidly Republican leanings. (Source: nytimes.com)
8. Former President George W. Bush: "Russia’s attack on Ukraine constitutes the gravest security crisis on the European continent since World War II. I join the international community in condemning Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine. The American government and people must stand in solidarity with Ukraine and the Ukrainian people as they seek freedom and the right to choose their own future. We cannot tolerate the authoritarian bullying and danger that Putin poses. Ukraine is our friend and democratic ally and deserves our full support during this most difficult time." (Source: bushcenter.org)
9. Former President Bill Clinton: "I stand with President Biden, our allies, and freedom-loving people around the world in condemning Russia's unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine. Putin's war of choice has unraveled 30 years of diplomacy and put millions of innocent lives in grave danger, with the potential for mass civilian casualties in and huge displacements both within Ukraine's borders and beyond. The world will hold Russia and Russia alone accountable, both economically and politically, for its brazen violation of international law. I stand with the people of Ukraine and am praying for their safety." (Source: newsweek.com)
10. New York City:
(Photo by Amy Siskand, via Twitter)
Quick Links: Cosmologist Celia Escamilla-Rivera: “I am strongly convinced that alternative theories of gravity are needed.” The most complete computer simulation ever of a living cell. Latest on the Evergrande crisis in China. Izabella Kaminska, until recently the editor of Alphaville at the Financial Times, has launched The Blind Spot. She describes the site as follows: “Where finance and media intersect with reality.” There’s a Blind Spot podcast too, coming soon. Further proof that dogs are better than cats.
Political Links: The primary election (in Texas) foreshadowing the future of the GOP. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis fuels US presidential run speculation with CPAC speech. Trump is privately pushing Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) to challenge Mitch McConnell for Senate majority leader. Andrew Cuomo begins comeback attempt with new TV ad. North Carolina court imposes new District map, eliminating G.O.P. edge. Valérie Pécresse, according to the latest Elabe poll, is now running fourth in the French presidential election. Xi keeps wanting to have it both ways.
Pandemic Links: China faces new wave of local Covid Outbreaks. Hong Kong’s refusal to live with covid-19 is causing chaos.