I’ve never been bashful about my love of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. I’ve used it to talk about the “alien-ness” of various Trek series‚ looked back at the DS9 young adult novels‚ and wrote forty-one entries on the DS9 relaunch stories that continued the crew’s adventures well past the series finale. In turn‚ this led to a discussion of the grand climax of the unified Trek “Litverse” with the Coda trilogy‚ which featured several key DS9 characters. While we’ve seen the publication of one DS9 standalone novel—Alex White’s Revenant (2021)—and it’s not impossible that more might surface eventually‚ the post-Litverse focus has understandably been on supporting recent live-action and animated series‚ with a number of new novels and audio dramas tying in to Discovery‚ Picard‚ Strange New Worlds‚ and Prodigy. Despite some thoroughly pleasurable outings in these television series‚ none of them have so far managed to displace DS9 as my personal favorite Trek of all time. 2023 saw the launch of Star Trek: Defiant‚ a new comic book series issued by IDW featuring DS9 characters‚ but I wasn’t really expecting new DS9 prose fiction any time soon. All of which makes The Autobiography of Benjamin Sisko not only somewhat of a surprise but a particular treat. Following the format established in works covering the lives of James T. Kirk‚ Jean-Luc Picard‚ Kathryn Janeway‚ and Mr. Spock‚ this volume offers Sisko’s reminiscences about pivotal moments in his life—some loud‚ some quiet—and his general reflections on topics like morality‚ responsibility‚ leadership‚ betrayal‚ grief‚ and love. The book’s conceit‚ as conveyed in the introduction‚ is that some time after Sisko’s departure from corporeal existence in “What You Leave Behind‚” an energy beam containing an encrypted message emanates from the wormhole. Nog realizes it includes Sisko’s old command codes‚ and after it’s been decoded Jake spends two years sorting through the fifty hours of video in the message and creating a chronologically-ordered transcript of what he considers the most relevant passages. In our reality—and who knows‚ all of DS9’s grand story‚ along with every one of us‚ might be contained within a Benny Russell dream—Derek Tyler Attico is the weaver of the tale. From its very start‚ going back to the pilot episode‚ DS9 set itself apart from other Trek shows by having its lead character contending with single parenthood and learning to deal with being revered as a major figure in an alien religion. As Sisko says in Chapter Twenty-Two of this book‚ “When she [Kai Opaka] told me I was to be the Emissary‚ I honestly thought it was a lot of what we used to call mumbo jumbo‚ but now I see how far ahead‚ and patient‚ Opaka was with me. She was not a nonlinear entity‚ but her faith gave her the ability to see far beyond all of us.” Which brings us to another key point: Sisko was not only perceived as critically important in the Bajoran faith‚ but was later revealed to have an actual touch of alien within him‚ since his biological mother had been inhabited by one of the nonlinear wormhole-dwelling aliens commonly called Prophets by the Bajorans when she conceived him. Buy it Now Sisko’s Autobiography honors this unique legacy in three ways. First‚ the narrative leaves Sisko in the otherworldly realm‚ his fate unresolved. Having him return safely to linear spacetime and reconnect with his family‚ of course‚ would have been a valid imaginative choice‚ and it was one ultimately taken by the relaunch novels. However‚ a core part of Sisko’s story is intriguing precisely because of his nonhuman provenance‚ and I think that attempting to “solve” that mystery‚ while also covering his entire life leading up to it‚ could potentially be unsatisfying and overwhelming in the scope of a single book. Attico does a fine job of making Sisko relatable by emphasizing that despite Sisko’s special place beyond linear existence‚ he sees himself as an ordinary mortal: Even later‚ when I became comfortable as the Emissary and the responsibility it carried‚ I still never wanted or sought the power or the influence. Regardless of my lineage‚ I am not a messiah‚ or some magical being. I am just what I have always been. A man. The second way the Autobiography gets Sisko right is by having his message fundamentally be about connecting with his son. Sisko here imparts the lessons he has learned through a difficult and eventful life‚ while encouraging Jake to continue forging his own path and being his own man. Thirdly‚ because Sisko’s signal originates in a nonlinear realm‚ Attico is able to introduce some arresting shifts in time—as for instance when‚ at the end of Chapter Eight‚ the scene transitions to B’hala as it was 20‚000 years in the past. I won’t spoil what Sisko observes there‚ but it does answer a sixth-season question left open-ended by the series. The sense we get is of Sisko not only poring over his life in order to share a measure of wisdom and grace with his son—and in a way‚ to give his son the permission he might need in order to live fully without him‚ nicely underscored by a reference to “The Visitor”—but of journeying through his own nature in order to better understand himself. “It is the unknown that defines our existence‚” maintained DS9’s pilot‚ and in this chronicle the unknown continues to inform our central character. Having established that we won’t be moving forward in the post-finale timeline‚ Attico wisely places the emphasis of Sisko’s recollections on the episodes of his life about which we know least. The early chapters are considerably longer and more descriptive than the ones where Sisko catches up with his posting to Deep Space Nine in 2369 and we revisit events we’ve seen unfold on-screen. These childhood and adolescent vignettes and escapades add a welcome richness of character and warmth to a tough‚ complex figure. Sisko’s early years are characterized by strong familial bonds‚ Creole cooking‚ jazz‚ and the ever-recurring presence of New Orleans itself. It’s an intoxicating combination. We learn of Grandpa James and Grandma Octavia (named after James Baldwin and Octavia Butler respectively). We follow along with an overeager Sisko who suffers an accident that leaves him immobilized for six months‚ during which time he develops a fascination with model starships. Later‚ he attends Booker T. Washington Public High School and experiences bullying; then eventually‚ first love. Sisko’s observations occur every couple of pages‚ as for instance when he reflects on the importance of teachers in Chapter Two: I’ve been in Starfleet for over twenty years. I’ve seen some very impressive technology and breakthroughs‚ but the truth is that the future isn’t built with technology or even by engineers. The future is built by teachers. Every mind that is educated‚ every consciousness that is opened to new ideas and different ways of thinking‚ is a brick paving the way toward tomorrow. I’ll share two more examples. In the same chapter‚ Sisko crafts a lovely analogy between two very different crews: I’d watch the kitchen crew cooking‚ cutting‚ cleaning‚ and arranging food on dishes like they were works of art. Everyone would work independently‚ but also in unison‚ not unlike the bridge of a starship. And in Chapter Three‚ Sisko muses on death itself as a great unknown‚ harkening back to the comments I made earlier: You know Jake‚ I think of all of the advancements of humanity‚ of all the things we’ve accomplished and overcome over the years. Climate change‚ racism‚ poverty‚ disease. But humans still have a hard time dealing with death. Perhaps it’s because‚ despite all we have achieved‚ it is still a great unknown. As I hope is illustrated by these excerpts‚ Attico convincingly channels Sisko’s voice‚ which is no small feat. It makes the entire journey convincing. His writing combines the plain and down-to-earth with more poetic beats‚ as when Sisko speaks of people “frozen in the amber of grief.” These stylistic choices reinforce Sisko’s compelling mixture of perseverance and sensitivity. For fans of Trek lore‚ there’s a wealth of it to enjoy here. Many characters from across the Trek continuum have cameos or are referenced: Doctor Pulaski‚ Zefram Cochrane‚ Solok‚ Admiral Owen Paris‚ Cal Hudson‚ Philippa Georgiou and Michael Burnham‚ Kosinski‚ Tryla Scott and Admiral Savar‚ Geordi La Forge‚ Leah Brahms‚ Elizabeth Shelby and others I don’t want to reveal. Too many? Possibly. I did get a kick out of Sisko mentioning Mardah‚ the Bajoran dabo girl Jake dated in Seasons 2 and 3. At one point Sisko receives a copy of Mr. Scott’s Guide to the Fundamentals of Starships and Engineering‚ samples “Vulcan’s Forge” ice cream‚ and so on. You get the idea. And of course this couldn’t be a bona fide DS9 book without a reference to self-sealing stem bolts; Attico obliges on page 112 of the hardcover edition. In terms of episodes‚ some of the references I found particularly delightful‚ often because I didn’t expect them‚ were‚ in no particular order‚ to TNG’s “Identity Crisis‚” DS9’s “Explorers‚” “Past Tense‚ Part I” and “Past Tense‚ Part II‚” “The Quickening‚” “Captive Pursuit‚” “Battle Lines‚” “Paradise‚” “Second Sight‚” “Tacking Into the Wind‚” and “The Siege of AR-558.” In case this sounds overwhelming‚ it’s not. While picking up on Attico’s plentiful references enhances Sisko’s account‚ it’s not necessary to enjoy it. Complementing the writing‚ the book features a neat insert with color photographs from various stages of Sisko’s life. (An aside: one of these shows a 1973 issue of Incredible Tales of Scientific Wonder with a DS9 story—but I thought‚ per “Far Beyond the Stars‚” that Benny Russell was writing these in the 1950s? Maybe it’s a reprint!). The chapters leading up to Sisko’s assuming command of the titular station see him meeting Curzon Dax‚ serving aboard several starships‚ and enduring trying war experiences‚ first with the Tzenkethi and more traumatically in Wolf 359. Sisko’s compassionate reconsideration of Picard as a victim of the Borg leads to a wonderful line: “When you let go of hate‚ the first person you free is yourself.” Of course‚ Avery Brooks is mentioned in the Acknowledgments at the end of the book. If this volume is adapted into an audiobook‚ I would love for Cirroc Lofton to narrate it—how immersive‚ and affecting‚ that would be. Though each of the previous Trek “autobiographies” have things to recommend them‚ for my latinum this is the best one yet. It truly capitalizes on the possibilities of the form‚ fleshing out‚ in a deeply hopeful and humanistic fashion‚ one of Trek’s most enduring and commanding characters. It doesn’t offer pat solutions to life’s difficulties‚ but inspires us to meet them as best we can. “I came to this station when I didn’t care about it‚” Sisko notes with bracing honesty while looking back on the Dominion conflict‚ “and I had to abandon it during a war when I didn’t want to be anywhere else.” Just as the Celestial Temple here serves as Sisko’s place of contemplation away from home‚ so for many of us Deep Space Nine came to represent a special fictional abode where we found ourselves exploring fascinating questions. The show became our own wormhole of possibilities‚ which we are now free to experience‚ as Sisko does time itself‚ in whatever order we choose. When I ranked all of the post-finale DS9 books‚ Andrew J. Robinson’s confessional epic about Garak‚ A Stitch in Time‚ was one of my top picks. Without a doubt‚ the very differently-spiced The Autobiography of Benjamin Sisko‚ a thoughtful valentine to the series‚ represents another high point in this expanded universe. If this turns out to be the final in-world Star Trek autobiography‚ I’d find it a fitting conclusion to the series. And if they keep going‚ here’s my suggestion for one that could be packed with bombshell revelations: The Autobiography of Liam Boothby‚ Starfleet’s Constant Groundskeeper. Have you picked up this latest installment‚ or are you currently reading any Star Trek novels or comic books? Please let me know whatever you’re enjoying! Alvaro Zinos-Amaro is a Hugo- and Locus-award finalist who has published over fifty stories and one hundred essays‚ reviews‚ and interviews in professional markets. These include Analog‚ Lightspeed‚ Beneath Ceaseless Skies‚ Galaxy’s Edge‚ Nature‚ The Los Angeles Review of Books‚ Locus‚ Tor.com‚ Strange Horizons‚ Clarkesworld‚ The Year’s Best Science Fiction &; Fantasy‚ Cyber World‚ Nox Pareidolia‚ Multiverses: An Anthology of Alternate Realities‚ and many others. Traveler of Worlds: Conversations with Robert Silverberg was published in 2016 to critical acclaim. Being Michael Swanwick‚ out in November 2023‚ is Alvaro’s second book of interviews. His debut novel‚ Equimedian‚ is forthcoming in 2024.

Through Dec. 12‚ the “Climate!” crowd is swarming COP28‚ Dubai’s carbophobia cavalcade. (COP28 refers to the 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change‚ under way in the United Arab Emirates.) The fact that these global-warming alarmists are surrounded by Earth’s deepest pools of fossil fuels makes their Hajj infinitely ironic. Also astonishing is the nearly immeasurable impact of these people’s gyrations. They blow trillions of dollars‚ bludgeon human freedom‚ and yet do shockingly little to fix their vaunted “climate crisis.” One practically needs an electron microscope to find their promised reductions in allegedly venomous carbon dioxide or supposedly lethal temperatures. According to #ActInTime’s Climate Clock high above Manhattan’s Union Square‚ humans have—at this writing—five years and 228 days until we boil to death in a cauldron of steaming carbon. Since The End is scheduled for Saturday‚ July 21‚ 2029 (mark your calendars!)‚ Big Government liberals offer jaw-droppingly paltry climate benefits‚ despite their spine-chilling predictions and unbridled interventionism. Barack Obama and Joe Biden’s proposed Clean Power Plan was a diamond-encrusted specimen of do-nothingism. According to a May 2015 analysis by their own Energy Information Agency‚ between 2015 and 2025‚ the Clean Power Plan would have slashed real gross domestic product by $993 billion‚ or an average of $39.7 billion per year. It would have sliced real disposable income by $382 billion‚ or $15.3 billion annually. It also would have chopped manufacturing shipments by $1.13 trillion‚ or $45.4 billion per year. The Energy Information Agency forecast a decrease of 0.035° Fahrenheit. This would have cranked a thermometer from 72°F way down to 71.965°. As Billy Joel once sang: “Is that all you get for your money?” Biden’s blessed Inflation Reduction Act budgeted $369 billion for green-energy projects. Goldman Sachs subsequently slapped a $1.2 trillion price tag on it. Danish environmental expert Bjorn Lomborg ran the Inflation Reduction Act through the United Nations’ climate models. “Impact of new climate legislation‚” Lomborg specified. “Unnoticeable: 0.0009°F to 0.028°F in [the year] 2100.” Impact of new climate legislationUnnoticeable: 0.0009°F to 0.028°F in 2100Why is no media describing just ??? ?????? your $369 billion will achieve?Instead‚ we're being told: "the most significant legislation in history to tackle the climate crisis" (Biden)? pic.twitter.com/FgpJBtrIE8— Bjorn Lomborg (@BjornLomborg) August 2‚ 2022 That would chill thermostats from 72° to 71.9991°. If we get lucky: 71.972°. Biden said on Jan. 31 that “if we don’t stay under 1.5° Celsius” or 2.7° Fahrenheit‚ “we’re going to have a real problem.” If a 0.0009°F reduction costs $369 billion‚ then Biden’s 2.7° F goal would devour—brace yourself—$1.107 quadrillion – with a Q. Source: EV Voice of the Customer Emperor Biden’s electric-vehicle decree would require that two-thirds of all new cars sold in 2032 be electric. This edict already is stalling the auto industry. Last week‚ 3‚902 U.S. car dealers from all 50 states wrote to Biden. Message: Stop tailgating! “Already‚ electric vehicles are stacking up on our lots‚” the dealers complained. “The majority of customers are simply not ready to make the change.” This chaos aside‚ Biden’s mandate would limit CO2 by 10 billion tons through 2055. Alas‚ China is expected to generate 320 billion tons of carbon in the next 32 years. So‚ Biden’s “savings” will asphyxiate in a giant Chinese carbon cloud. The Wall Street Journal’s Holman Jenkins calculates that Biden’s EV order would decrease planetary emissions by a whopping 0.18%. “The climate effect of the extravagantly expensive Biden plan will steadily approach zero‚” Jenkins anticipates. Rather than jail criminals or deport illegal aliens‚ Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul bans gas stoves and demands that gas heaters yield to electric heat pumps—never mind that her constituents freeze to death during post-blizzard blackouts. “The global effect of the costly program of compulsory electrification will be a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of less than 0.05%‚” the Empire Center for Public Policy calculates. Obama‚ Biden‚ Hochul and their comrades might respond that no single bauble will fix everything‚ and every shiny object helps. Maybe. But these four schemes alone carry an enormously high price in shredded freedom and incinerated taxpayer dollars‚ yet still leave at least 99.82% of emissions untouched. As Groundskeeper Willie of “The Simpsons” once said: “Now we’re wasting more energy than Ricky Martin’s girlfriend.” To quote another Briton‚ William Shakespeare‚ perhaps this “sound and fury‚ signifying nothing” is not about cutting emissions or curbing Earth’s temperatures. Maybe it’s designed to help liberals spend trillions of dollars to signal virtue‚ bark orders at the American people‚ and lavish taxpayers’ hard-earned cash on their politically connected pals—from the Potomac to the Persian Gulf. The Daily Signal publishes a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Heritage Foundation. Have an opinion about this article? To sound off‚ please email letters@DailySignal.com and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Remember to include the url or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state. The post Mind-Bogglingly Costly Green Boondoggles Leave Carbon‚ Temperatures Virtually Untouched appeared first on The Daily Signal.

After 9/11‚ leftist journalists passionately exposed the New York City Police Department doing surveillance of mosques to try to prevent violent Muslim extremism. By contrast‚ they largely yawned when it was leaked in February that the FBI‘s field office in Richmond‚ Virginia‚ discussed surveilling local Catholic churches to root out potential violent extremism from the “radical Catholics.” The Biden administration loves the narrative that white conservatives and “Christian nationalists” are the biggest domestic terrorism threat. The FBI’s Richmond office wrote an internal memo‚ titled “Interest of Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists in Radical-Traditionalist Catholic Ideology Almost Certainly Presents New Mitigation Opportunities.” They reported “high confidence” that they would find Catholic terrorism plotters. Now‚ House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan’s Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government reports the FBI relied on at least one undercover agent to develop its assessment‚ and the FBI even proposed developing sources among the Catholic clergy and church leaderships: “Not only did the FBI propose to develop sources‚ but it already interviewed a priest and choir director affiliated with a Catholic church in Richmond‚ Virginia‚ for the memorandum.” If there were an actual extremist threat—like someone wanting to bomb an abortion clinic—that would be understandable‚ but no such threat emerged. So‚ why would they be nosing around‚ interviewing priests and choir directors? Apparently‚ it was a Richmond church affiliated with the Society of St. Pius X‚ which is a breakaway traditionalist group of priests and bishops that presently has no official canonical status in the church. They can validly celebrate the Mass‚ but Catholics are discouraged from attending. The FBI claimed‚ “Richmond’s highest priority DT [domestic terrorism] subject” was a man who “self-identified” on social media as a “radical traditionalist Catholic Clerical Fascist.” No one to date has identified any violence committed by a “Catholic Clerical Fascist.” It looks like people are being monitored for their “far-right” religious and political opinions. The report said that the documents obtained by the committee’s subpoena show that “the FBI singled out Americans who are pro-life‚ pro-family‚ and support the biological basis for sex and gender distinction as potential domestic terrorists.” The two FBI employees who co-authored the memorandum later admitted to FBI internal investigators that they knew the sources cited in the memo had a political bias—leftist sources‚ including the Southern Poverty Law Center‚ The Atlantic and Salon.com. The FBI withdrew the Richmond memo from all field offices. But now‚ despite all the problems that the FBI found with the memorandum‚ Jordan’s subcommittee report notes FBI Richmond still “desires” to get this information out about “radical-traditionalist Catholics.” On Tuesday‚ Sen. Josh Hawley‚ R-Mo.‚ pressed FBI Director Christopher Wray‚ asking if Catholic choirs were now breeding grounds for terrorism. Wray claimed the FBI does not and will not investigate Americans for exercising their religious liberty. Hawley shot back that this is exactly what the Richmond memo was advocating‚ probing Catholic churches for swaggering “clerical fascists.” This is the same Justice Department who raided the home of pro-life activist Mark Houck in the fall of 2022 with a SWAT team of about 25 and pointed guns at the Houck family over an alleged violation of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act. All Houck had done was shove an abortion-clinic volunteer who was harassing his son a year earlier‚ in 2021. Does this sound like a government that’s a good judge of who’s a violent extremist‚ or in this raid‚ did they look like the violent extremists? COPYRIGHT 2023 CREATORS.COM The Daily Signal publishes a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Heritage Foundation. Have an opinion about this article? To sound off‚ please email letters@DailySignal.com‚ and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Remember to include the URL or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state. The post FBI’s Outrageous Probe of ‘Radical Catholics’ Included Priests‚ Choir Directors appeared first on The Daily Signal.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties‚ subscribe to Reclaim The Net. Taking a firm stand against what some have called one of the most severe infringements on the US constitution’s First Amendment guarantees for freedom of speech and press freedom in the country’s history‚ the New Civil Liberties Alliance has filed a lawsuit to the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas on behalf of media outlets‚ The Daily Wire and The Federalist. The lawsuit is in association with the State of Texas and its Attorney General Ken Paxton. The group accuses the US State Department of a clear violation of First Amendment rights through the funding and promoting of the development‚ testing‚ and marketing of censorship technology used to quash conservative viewpoints. We obtained a copy of the complaint for you here. Organizations such as NewsGuard and the Global Disinformation Index are part of the web spun by the State Department’s Global Engagement Center (GEC) to discredit and financially weaken select American media outlets. In an attempt to redirect audiences and advertisers toward favored perspectives‚ these government-sponsored tools are employed to suppress conservative news outlets including The Daily Wire and The Federalist. The NCLA continues to combat the government’s censorship drive through this case‚ and others such as Murthy v. Missouri‚ currently awaiting judgment at the Supreme Court‚ and Dressen v. Flaherty‚ which addresses the controversial joint venture between the federal government and Stanford Internet Observatory aiming to suppress online speech posted in non-public groups. These stand as integral milestones in NCLA’s fight against government censorship‚ asserting that such governmental strategies starkly disregard the Constitution‚ which firmly establishes Americans’ First Amendment rights. In a statement to Reclaim The Net‚ Peggy Little‚ Senior Litigation Counsel of NCLA said the following: “George Orwell‚ call your office: The Disinformation Governance Board is back! Worse‚ it was here all along quietly operating out of the State Department through three presidential administrations with the admitted intent of cutting off advertising dollars and viewership from conservative media outlets. Your State Department—which may only address foreign affairs—has been secretly scheming with and funding private companies to create blacklists of conservative media outlets to defund and silence speech with which it disagrees.” A spokesperson for The Daily Wire told Reclaim The Net in a statement; “We sued the Biden administration before over its unconstitutional vaccine mandate‚ and we won. This time‚ we’re suing for our rights‚ all news organizations’ rights‚ and the constitutional guarantee of a free press that all Americans deserve.” “We will not stop until this entire corrupt edifice has been torn down‚ brick by brick‚ and every single person involved has been held accountable‚” said Mollie Hemingway‚ Editor-in-Chief of The Federalist. “I am proud to lead the fight to save Americans’ precious constitutional rights from Joe Biden’s tyrannical federal government‚” said Texas Attorney General Paxton. “The State Department’s mission to obliterate the First Amendment is completely un-American. This agency will not get away with their illegal campaign to silence citizens and publications they disagree with.” The post The State of Texas‚ The Daily Wire and The Federalist Sue the State Department Over Censorship Regime appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties‚ subscribe to Reclaim The Net. In a chilling revelation that feels all too familiar‚ Apple has confirmed that governments are using push notifications for the surveillance of users — an imposition on personal freedoms and a glaring example of state overreach. This unsettling news was disclosed in response to Senator Ron Wyden’s urgent communication to the Department of Justice. Wyden highlighted that foreign officials have been pressuring technology companies for data to track smartphones via apps that send notifications. These apps‚ he noted‚ put tech companies in a pivotal role to assist in governmental monitoring of app usage. Senator Wyden urged the Department of Justice to alter or revoke any existing policies that restrict public discourse on the surveillance of push notifications. In a reaction to this‚ Apple stated to Reuters that Wyden’s letter presented them with an opportunity to divulge more information about government monitoring of push notifications. The tech giant clarified‚ “In this case‚ the federal government prohibited us from sharing any information. Now that this method has become public we are updating our transparency reporting to detail these kinds of requests.” The letter from Wyden reportedly stemmed from a “tip” about this surveillance activity. An informed source confirmed that both foreign and US agencies have been requesting metadata related to notifications from Apple and Google. This metadata has been allegedly used to link anonymous messaging app users to specific accounts on these platforms. While the source‚ speaking to Reuters‚ did not specify which governments were involved‚ they characterized them as “democracies allied to the United States” and were uncertain about the duration of these requests. “In this case‚ the federal government prohibited us from sharing any information‚” Apple said in a statement. “Now that this method has become public we are updating our transparency reporting to detail these kinds of requests.” Apple‚ meanwhile‚ has advised app developers to refrain from including sensitive data in notifications and to encrypt any data before it is incorporated into a notification payload. However‚ this relies on the developers’ initiative. Importantly‚ metadata such as the frequency and origin of notifications remains unencrypted‚ potentially offering insights into users’ app activities to those who can access this data. The news‚ which is hardly unexpected yet nonetheless deeply troubling‚ underscores the precarious path we seem to be treading‚ one that veers ominously towards policies that infringe on civil liberties. The key cog in a functioning democracy‚ our judicial system‚ and its informed oversight exists precisely to prevent such oversteps. It endows a suspected individual with the crucial right to mount a robust defense against unwarranted infiltration by the state government. Alarmingly‚ the situation at hand eerily mirrors scenarios where private entities and individuals are strong-armed into being active partners in such covert operations‚ all the while being legally bound to cryptic silence. The post Apple Reveals Governments Use App Notifications to Surveil Users appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

Kirby: We Need Another Pause to Get 8 American Hostages Out of Gaza

Hunter Biden 'Sugar Brother' Confirmed

Whether they give you the ick or not‚ snakes are amazing animals. Not only is their physiology something to marvel at‚ but their sheer diversity is incredible. There are nearly 4‚000 species of different snakes on the planet‚ which accounts for over 10 percent of terrestrial vertebrates. Their evolution has given rise to an enormous variety of feeding habits‚ which are often specialized and different from other creatures‚ such as lizards. However‚ the roots of this dietary diversity are not well understood‚ especially in relation to the earliest days of snake evolution. But two researchers once examined the deep past of these slithering reptiles and found that the mass extinction of the dinosaurs marked a dramatic turning point. The ecological niches left empty by their dead counterparts were quickly filled by snakes‚ which rapidly evolved to tackle all sorts of prey. Snakes are rarely preserved in the fossil record‚ which is one reason why their early evolution is less understood. To get around this Michael Grundler‚ a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California‚ and his colleague Daniel Rabosky‚ of the University of Michigan‚ examined living species of snake to explore their past. They collected over 34‚000 publicly available reports on snake diets from 882 species which were based on encounters with wild animals in the field or dissected and preserved museum specimens. They then used genetic information taken from modern snakes to develop a family tree for these limbless reptiles. “With those two pieces of information we can make inferences about what extinct species might have looked like long ago‚” Grundler told Popular Science. They then used an inference mathematical model to reconstruct the speed at which ancient snakes may have changed as their diets expanded. “We find that after an initial shift away from eating invertebrates‚ the diversity of snake feeding habits increased rapidly after the K-Pg boundary‚” the authors wrote in their study‚ published in PLOS Biology in 2021. The K-Pg boundary‚ otherwise known as the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary‚ marks the point where the Cretaceous Period ended‚ which is also the time when dinosaurs went extinct. After this extinction event‚ there was a rapid explosion in dietary diversity which led to the wide range of eating styles among snakes that we see today.The results showed how “evolutionary fortunes” can be shaped by the disappearance of competitors‚ along with the rise of prey species‚ such as rodents‚ birds‚ fish‚ amphibians‚ invertebrates‚ and other reptiles‚ in the case of snakes.  “Our results indicate that repeated transformational shifts in dietary ecology are important drivers of adaptive radiation in snakes and provide a framework for analyzing and visualizing the evolution of complex ecological phenotypes on phylogenetic trees”‚ the authors wrote. Despite the power of these findings‚ the team acknowledged that the 882 species they examined represent less than a quarter of living snake diversity. Moreover‚ half of the species in the dataset are represented by only 12 or fewer observations. As such‚ more work is needed in the future. “Our results call attention to this deficit and highlight a critical need to gather more natural history data to help advance our understanding of how complex ecological traits evolve.”

A bloodied booby on Wolf Island in the Galápagos tells a strange story. These birds aren’t falling victim to some sort of predatory mammal‚ but instead‚ a bird: the vampire finch.Found on Wolf and Darwin islands‚ these birds have adapted to a lack of resources by feeding on blood at certain times of the year. Charles Darwin famously observed the way that the beaks of Galápagos finches were different depending on their diet‚ be that predominantly fruit‚ insects‚ or seeds. But when the Moon is right – or‚ more accurately‚ water is scarce – the vampire finch thirsts for blood.Wolf Island is extremely dry for most of the year‚ explains the Galápagos Conservancy. While it does produce seeds during brief rainy spells‚ what emerges doesn’t last for long among the hungry birds so they must look for alternative sources of moisture and nourishment.The running theory is that they first began feasting on the parasites found in Nazca and red-footed boobies’ plumage‚ pecking at their bodies. Now‚ the finches go one step further in using their beaks to draw blood and then feeding on the scarlet fluid that flows freely. It stands out quite dramatically against the white feathers of the boobies‚ and when one finch makes a wound‚ other finches will line up to feed on the bleed.It sounds and looks brutal‚ but the finches feeding doesn’t seem to bother the boobies. However‚ they don’t stop there. Vampire finches are also partial to booby eggs and if they can’t break the shells will their beaks‚ they’ve learned to smash them by pushing them off of things.The departure from the typical diet of finches is so extreme that it seems to have even influenced the vampire finches’ gut microbiomes‚ making them significantly different from their seed-‚ fruit-‚ and insect-eating counterparts. “The vampire finch‚ Geospiza septentrionalis‚ [has] a microbial community significantly distinct from the other finches‚” wrote the authors of a 2018 study. “Because of the barrenness of Darwin and Wolf Islands‚ the vampire finches undergo extreme dietary limitations during the dry season‚ thus leading to blood feeding. Their unique and carnivore-like diet likely contributes to the distinct gut microbial composition.”Further research discovered that their microbiomes shared similarities with blood-sucking bats‚ in what could be an example of convergent evolution where two unrelated species evolve similar traits. There were some differences in the species’ microbiomes‚ but they both displayed high levels of the bacterium Peptostreptococcaceae compared to non-blood-feeding species. This type of bacteria tends to be quite useful if you need to process a lot of sodium and iron‚ as you would if your diet included a lot of blood.For vampire finches‚ a lot of blood is a must.

Pain might be the first thing you associate with a shock from an electric eel‚ but it turns out there could be more to it than that. A new study has found that electric eels can discharge enough electricity that nearby fish larvae can end up with genetic modifications.This is thought to be the first time this mechanism of gene transfer‚ electroporation‚ has been seen in nature. Used frequently in the lab‚ electroporation is often used to transform bacteria and yeast; the electric field opens up tiny pores in cell membranes‚ which allows DNA to move in.Researchers theorized that in a natural setting where electricity is present‚ like a river with electric eels‚ it could affect the cells and therefore DNA of nearby organisms. "I realized that electric eels in the Amazon River could well act as a power source‚ organisms living in the surrounding area could act as recipient cells‚ and environmental DNA fragments released into the water would become foreign genes‚ causing genetic recombination in the surrounding organisms because of electric discharge‚” explained Atsuo Iida‚ who co-led the research‚ in a statement.To test their hypothesis‚ the team placed young zebrafish in a tank of water with a DNA solution. To ensure they could detect if this DNA was taken up‚ it encoded green fluorescent protein (GFP)‚ a protein that is pretty much what it says on the tin when observed under a microscope. They then introduced an electric eel to the tank and‚ by giving it a bit of food‚ caused it to discharge electricity.Analyzing the zebrafish larvae under the microscope revealed that 5 percent of them showed green fluorescence‚ suggesting the DNA solution in the water had been taken up by the fish. The researchers attributed this to the electricity produced by the eels and believe this demonstrates they could affect the genetics of nearby organisms in their natural environment‚ too.The presence of GFP in some of the zebrafish larvae indicates electroporation may have occurred.Image credit: Shintaro Sakaki“This indicates that the discharge from the electric eel promoted gene transfer to the cells‚ even though eels have different shapes of pulse and unstable voltage compared to machines usually used in electroporation‚” said Iida. "Electric eels and other organisms that generate electricity could affect genetic modification in nature."Iida also expressed hope that this was only the beginning of electric field research in living organisms. “I believe that attempts to discover new biological phenomena based on such 'unexpected' and 'outside-the-box' ideas will enlighten the world about the complexities of living organisms and trigger breakthroughs in the future‚” the researcher concluded.The study is published in PeerJ.