GAO: Pentagon Has No Clue How Much Military Aid Is Diverted in Ukraine

China Accuses Congress of Banditry Over TikTok Bill

It’s safe to say that the Stanley Quencher Cup reached an astronomical level of popularity last year – to the point where people went full “fisticuffs at dawn” just to get a particular color. But then‚ earlier this year‚ a series of videos on social media started claiming that the cups contained lead – which‚ to be fair‚ they do. So where in the cup is it‚ and does it present any danger to sippers?Tech company Lumafield set to finding out‚ using an industrial X-ray CT scanner to take a closer look inside a cup. The scans revealed a dense material at the bottom of the cup‚ colored in red – a pellet of solder containing lead.     IFLScience is not responsible for content shared from external sites.That pellet has a purpose when it comes to keeping your iced latte at a nice cold temperature. As Stanley explains in a statement addressing people’s concerns‚ the pellet is used to “seal the vacuum insulation at the base of our products”.Though some companies are moving away from using lead solder in vacuum technology‚ there are plenty that still use it‚ as it’s somewhat of an industry standard. Its use is controversial‚ however‚ with people worried about potentially being exposed to lead. There is also the risk of workers being exposed during the manufacturing process.Lead exposure has a number of adverse effects‚ many of which particularly impact children‚ who are also keen users of Stanley cups. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)‚ some of these effects include damage to the brain and nervous system and slow growth and development‚ which can cause all sorts of further problems down the road.However‚ unless something happens to cause some serious damage to the base of a Stanley Quencher Cup‚ lead exposure shouldn’t be a problem. As Stanley stated: “Once sealed‚ [the area with the lead solder] is covered with a durable stainless steel layer‚ making it inaccessible to consumers.”This is also evidenced by the CT scans‚ as Jon Bruner‚ product lead at Lumafield‚ explained in a post to social media platform X.“In any case‚ our CT cross section shows that the lead is entirely shielded‚ and its user won’t be exposed to lead at all‚” Bruner wrote. “If the medallion covering the lead solder is pried off‚ it might become accessible—but in that case‚ a replacement cup is covered by Stanley’s warranty.”In other words‚ unless someone is attempting to make one of those (very addictive) hydraulic press videos using a Stanley cup and breaking the base in the process‚ it’s probably fine to carry on sipping.

Scientists have found the first unconventional superconductor whose chemical composition is also found in nature. The mineral in question is called miassite‚ a truly peculiar substance. There are only three other natural superconductors but they follow the rules of Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer theory‚ the first microscopic theory of superconductivity. Lab-grown miassite is different.Superconductivity means the ability to have no electrical resistance (so transmitting electricity with no waste of energy) while pushing magnetic fields outside the material. This happens below a certain critical temperature. In conventional superconductors‚ this is due to the formation of electron pairs bonding in a state. They are known as cooper pairs. Unconventional superconductors instead show the same macroscopic characteristics but something different is causing this state.There is another difference between conventional and unconventional superconductors. The former tends to have a critical temperature much closer to absolute zero‚ while the latter can sport high-temperature superconductivity. Now‚ when we talk about high temperature we mean above 77 Kelvin‚ still far from the holy grail of room-temperature superconductivity‚ but at least on the way.This is where miassite comes in. Despite its low critical temperature of -267.75°C (-449.95°F)‚ it shares the unconventional properties of superconductors with a higher critical temperature and researchers hope to use it to better understand the origin of unconventional superconductivity. The mineral has a complex chemical formula with 17 atoms of rhodium and 15 of sulfur (Rh17S15)."Intuitively‚ you think that this is something which is produced deliberately during a focused search‚ and it cannot possibly exist in nature‚" senior author Ruslan Prozorov‚ from Ames National Laboratory‚ said in a statement. "But it turns out it does."Miassite in nature was found near the Miass River in Chelyabinsk Oblast‚ Russia. The elements that make it tend to react with oxygen so it is pretty rare. It also doesn’t grow into well-formed crystals so it is only through lab growth that its properties could be assessed.Researchers were looking at rhodium-sulfur systems as a place where interesting superconductors might exist. Prozorov’s group kept the material just a little over absolute zero (-273.1°C/-460°F ) and once the superconductivity was established they tested how conventional it was.One test is called the "London penetration depth". In a conventional superconductor‚ a weak magnetic field can penetrate the bulk of the material at a constant length. In an unconventional one‚ this changes with the temperature. Another approach was to hit the material with high-energy electrons causing defects. Unconventional superconductors are highly sensitive to these defects. And miassite behaved like an unconventional superconductor."It's like finding a hidden fishing hole that is full of big fat fish. In the Rh-S system we discovered three new superconductors. And‚ through Ruslan's detailed measurements‚ we discovered that the miassite is an unconventional superconductor‚" added Professor Paul Canfield‚ from Iowa State University and Ames Lab. Canfield synthesized the miassite for this project.A paper describing the results is published in the journal Communications Materials.

We come across a lot of bizarre animals here at IFLScience and the one we present to you today is no different – but you’d definitely be forgiven for thinking it was a sign of an alien invasion if you came across one. What on Earth (literally) are we on about‚ we hear you ask? Bryozoans‚ of course.Surprisingly‚ for something the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation described as looking “like Walmart type bags of Orbeezs that have been soaked in rain a puddle‚” bryozoans are very much alive and are – though it might be hard to believe just looking at them – animals.           IFLScience is not responsible for content shared from external sites.Found across every continent except Antarctica‚ there’s thought to be over 4‚000 species within the phylum Bryozoa‚ of which the vast majority live in marine environments – out of those found in North America‚ only 24 are known to live in freshwater.It’s the freshwater ones that tend to look like those massive gelatinous blobs‚ often found attached to rocks and tree branches. However‚ what we see as an alien egg-esque lump isn’t actually a single bryozoan‚ but a colony of thousands of clones; these most often begin to form in the spring‚ peaking in late summer and fall‚ before dying off come the winter. Though a mass of clones sounds like something out of a sci-fi film‚ it’s just asexual reproduction. The individuals this cloning process produces are called zooids‚ which are usually only around 0.8 millimeters (1/32nd of an inch) long.          IFLScience is not responsible for content shared from external sites.Zooids have fairly simple bodies‚ with a single opening that acts as a mouth and anus (sounds gross‚ but not unusual in the animal kingdom)‚ and a mass of organs known as a polypide. They also look like they have a head‚ but this is actually a U-shaped‚ tentacled feeding structure known as a lophophore‚ which filters food out from the surrounding water‚ such as zooplankton and algae.That filter-feeding is one of the reasons why blobby bryozoans tend to be considered helpful rather than harmful. “These animals are an important part of the ecosystem because they help clean the water and serve as prey for mussels‚ snails‚ and even small fish‚” wrote the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation on X. They might also even help to improve water clarity‚ with their green color possibly attributed to the algae they ingest.Not a bad day’s work for a creature that eats out of its ass.

The farthest human-built object is in trouble. Voyager 1 is 24 billion kilometers (15 billion miles) from our planet‚ flying through interstellar space‚ and over the last several months NASA has not been able to properly communicate with it. But a first step towards a solution has been achieved. The engineering team has recognized a message within the stream of 0s and 1s coming from the spacecraft.“In September 2023‚ an issue arose with the data coming back from Voyager 1. Normally transmitted in binary code‚ or a series of 0s and 1s representing words‚ the probe was instead sending only alternating 1s and 0s. Effectively‚ the call between the spacecraft and the Earth was still connected‚ but Voyager’s 'voice' was replaced with a monotonous dial tone‚” the NASA Voyager engineering team explained to IFLScience in February.“Because of this issue‚ scientists are not receiving any science data or updates about the probe’s health and status‚ including information that might reveal the source of the problem. Through various indirect means‚ the team has concluded that the issue is most likely with the Flight Data System [FDS]‚ one of the probe’s onboard computers. The team is working hard to resolve the issue‚ but this process may take months.”Several approaches were attempted but something changed early this month. On March 1‚ the engineering team sent a poke – a command designed to force the FDS to try different sequences within its software package – just in case there is a corrupted section and it can be bypassed.Voyager 1 is 22 light-hours and 34 light-minutes away‚ so it took almost a day for the signal to get there and almost a day for something to get back to NASA. The poke did not solve the problem but it did something for sure.“On March 3‚ the Voyager mission team saw activity from one section of the FDS that differed from the rest of the computer’s unreadable data stream. The new signal was still not in the format used by Voyager 1 when the FDS is working properly‚ so the team wasn’t initially sure what to make of it‚” the Voyager team wrote in a blog post. “But an engineer with the agency’s Deep Space Network‚ which operates the radio antennas that communicate with both Voyagers and other spacecraft traveling to the Moon and beyond‚ was able to decode the new signal and found that it contains a readout of the entire FDS memory.”The FDS memory contains not just its code but also data about the status of the spacecraft. The team is now comparing this data with data received before September to work out what might have happened and how it could be fixed.“There is no backup FDS‚ so if the team cannot fix this issue‚ it would likely be the end of operations for Voyager 1. However‚ Voyager 2 is operating nominally; the Voyager mission will continue as long as one probe is still working‚” the Voyager team told IFLScience previously. NASA’s planned budget for the coming years shows commitment to keeping the Voyager mission going well past its 50th anniversary in 2027.

It’s a conundrum many of us have wrestled with. We all want to do our bit to help the planet and fight food waste – yet we know that the minute the leftover spaghetti touches the inside of that plastic food container‚ it will be consigned to a life of orange-stained abandonment at the back of the cupboard until we can justify throwing it out and buying a new one.For me‚ proud Brit that I am‚ it’s usually with leftover baked beans that I come a cropper. It has previously reached the point where I have reserved specific containers for the purpose‚ and woe betide anyone who goes near my pristine boxes with any food that’s had so much as a sniff of a tomato. A quick glance at Reddit proves I’m not alone.But does it have to be this way? Why do tomato-based foods stain plastic so‚ and is there a reliable way of getting the stains out? Well‚ here at IFLScience‚ we like to try and answer The Big Questions‚ and these were certainly questions that loomed large in my mind as I decided which container would be the next to be sacrificed to the baked bean gods.Why does tomato stain plastic containers?With several years of plastic container-owning adulthood under my belt‚ I was not unashamed to learn that the answer to this question could be found in some good old high-school chemistry.Tomatoes contain a bright red pigment called lycopene. Among its many redeeming qualities – it’s been linked to a number of health benefits‚ from sharper eyesight to better boners – lycopene is hydrophobic. The plastics that are typically used to make food storage containers are also hydrophobic and porous‚ which is the perfect combo to encourage lycopene to stick to them and never let go.Another reason why this is such a headache in the kitchen is that cooking tomatoes to make sauces‚ soups‚ and all the other lovely things you might want to store in a container actually increases their lycopene content.As Dr Emma Davies writes for BBC Science Focus‚ its hydrophobicity explains why removing the lycopene stains with soap and water is a non-starter – and the high temperatures inside dishwashers can actually be making the problem worse.Incidentally‚ hydrophobicity also explains another annoyance associated with plastic containers: how difficult they are to dry. Writing for Cosmos‚ Ellen Phiddian explains that water on a plastic surface sits in larger droplets‚ making evaporation slower.How do you clean stained plastic?We’ve pinpointed lycopene as the pesky culprit‚ and we know that hot soapy water is unlikely to stand up to the challenge‚ but are there any cleaning hacks that do work?To pre-empt some of the inevitable comments‚ there is‚ of course‚ a simple way of preventing this problem‚ which is not to use plastic in the first place. Microwave-safe glass containers‚ for example‚ are readily available and more resistant to staining. But if you do have a sad‚ orangey container on your hands‚ there may yet be a way to salvage it.Good Housekeeping suggests that if you tackle the stain immediately‚ applying some vegetable oil before washing can help lift the stain. If that doesn’t cut it‚ they recommend scrubbing well with bicarbonate of soda paste before washing as normal.With nearly all of the big issues plaguing humankind‚ a five-minute search on TikTok will yield a surfeit of people claiming to have The Answerâ„¢‚ and stained plastic containers are no exception. The good people over at The Spruce Eats checked out one TikTokker’s hack involving ordinary dish soap and paper towels‚ finding it to be surprisingly effective.You simply pour warm water and a little dish soap into your stained container before adding a ripped-up paper towel‚ securing the lid‚ and shaking vigorously. Apparently‚ it should only take about a minute for the stain to disappear. Microbiologist Jason Tetro explained to The Spruce Eats that it’s the combination of agitation and oil absorption via the paper towels that makes this hack effective.A more old-school option for stubborn stains‚ as recommended by the American Cleaning Institute‚ is soaking in a mild bleach solution.All of these methods sound like they’re worth a try‚ and they’re certainly preferable to just giving up and throwing out your container – our planet really doesn’t need any more plastic pollution.But reader‚ it’s confession time. I’m afraid we can’t directly confirm whether or not any of these hacks worked for us. After fulfilling its bean-storing duties‚ my sacrificial plastic container was washed in the sink with the rest of my dishes and‚ well‚ you can see the results:It's like it never happened.Image credit: ©IFLScienceNot a stain to be seen. Is it because the container is colored? Have I accidentally bought stain-proof plastic containers? Would it have withstood another tomato-based foodstuff so successfully? Perhaps those are questions for another day.All “explainer” articles are confirmed by fact checkers to be correct at time of publishing. Text‚ images‚ and links may be edited‚ removed‚ or added to at a later date to keep information current.  

As the world tries to wean itself off emission-belching agriculture‚ giant pythons could prove to be a more sustainable‚ slithering alternative to beef‚ pork‚ and chicken.In a new study‚ a team of scientists argues that pythons could provide a “flexible and efficient” alternative to other conventional farmed livestock‚ since they are surprisingly sustainable while offering meat that’s high in protein‚ but low in saturated fats.As for the taste‚ python meat is said to taste a lot like chicken – that’s what they always say‚ huh?The researchers found that pythons are surprisingly well-suited to the demands of commercial farming. These giant beasts grow rapidly‚ reaching maturity within three years‚ plus they are highly fertile‚ capable of producing 100 eggs every year for two decades. Python farming is a well-established practice in parts of Asia where species like reticulated pythons (Malayopython reticulatus) and Burmese pythons (Python bivittatus) are routinely harvested for their meat. To investigate the practicalities of this fascinating form of farming‚ researchers at Macquarie University and the University of Oxford studied just over 4‚600 pythons at two python farms in southeast Asia: one in central Thailand’s Uttaradit Province and another near Ho Chi Minh City‚ southern Vietnam. The pythons were held in giant warehouses with a “semi-open” design to allow ventilation and provide the animals with the temperatures in their natural environment. They are fed on a diet that generally involves wild-caught rodents and waste protein from agri-food supply chains. Some of the farms even made their own "sausages" from processed waste protein and fed them to their pythons. Sounds delicious!Despite being fed just once a week‚ the pythons grew up to 46 grams (1.6 ounces) per day. Among the Burmese pythons‚ 1 gram (0.04 ounces) of python meat could be harvested for every 4.1 grams (0.1 grams) of food consumed‚ which is much more efficient than other livestock.On top of that‚ python farms were found to produce fewer greenhouse gases than farms for warm-blooded animals‚ like cows‚ pigs‚ and poultry. “Cold-blooded reptiles... are hugely more efficient at turning the food they eat into more flesh and body tissue than any warm-blooded creature ever could‚” Dr Daniel Natusch‚ lead study author and Honorary Research Fellow at Macquarie University‚ said in a statement.It also wasn’t a big deal if the pythons skipped many meals‚ which is useful knowledge for parts of their world suffering from food insecurity. The team found that 61 percent of the Burmese pythons fasted for periods of between 20 and 127 days‚ yet lost very little body mass. The snakes also scarcely consume water‚ which is another big positive for sustainability. “Snakes require minimal water and can even live off the dew that settles on their scales in the morning. They need very little food and will eat rodents and other pests attacking food crops. And they were a delicacy‚ historically‚ in many places‚” added Dr Natusch.Given all these apparent benefits‚ the researchers believe that more countries should start looking at the possibility of commercial python farming. They imagine it could be a suitable venture for some low-income countries that are already facing food insecurity and suffering from protein deficiency.“Climate change‚ disease‚ and diminishing natural resources are all ramping up pressure on conventional livestock and plant crops‚ with dire effects on many people in low-income countries already suffering acute protein deficiency‚” added Dr Natusch.Realistically‚ however‚ they think it's unlikely that large-scale python farming will pick up in North America‚ Europe‚ or Australia.“I think it will be a long time before you see python burgers served up at your favourite local restaurant‚” remarked Professor Rick Shine‚ co-author from Macquarie University’s School of Natural Sciences.The study is published in the journal Scientific Reports.

MRC President Brent Bozell is doubling down on his support for a bipartisan bill aiming to put an end to TikTok’s communist Chinese government ties. In a Wednesday interview with WMAL-FM’s Larry O’Connor‚ Bozell reiterated the need to pass the legislation that authorizes the president of the United States to ban TikTok if it does not divest from its parent company‚ ByteDance. “The greatest threat to the United States controls the data of 150 million Americans‚ and is using it‚” Bozell said‚ raising the alarm about TikTok. The bill overwhelmingly passed the House and now heads to the Senate‚ where it is expected to face opposition due to potential weaponization concerns‚ meaning it could be applied to other companies.  But Bozell declared that the bill’s text is “black and white‚” retorting against claims that the bill may be used to target other American companies. “Frankly‚ there are some people that are obfuscating‚ and they’re doing the bidding of those who are funding the lobbying‚” Bozell said. Bozell continued: “This bill focuses only on social media apps that are controlled by a) China‚ b) Russia‚ c) Iran and d) North Korea—and they have to be shown to be national security threats to the United States. That’s it.” Despite the bipartisan support for the bill in the House‚ where it passed 352 to 65‚ some senators‚ including Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)‚ are dubiously speculating that the federal government may exploit such a law. Bozell sympathized with some of the concerns but warned: “I don’t like the government intruding in anything‚ but even less do I like foreign governments‚ most especially the greatest threats to the United States of America‚ also interfering?” The MRC president highlighted the unanimous support for the law in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce‚ where it passed 50 to 0. Bozell’s WMAL interview came after he released a video statement urging lawmakers to embrace the bill.  “It is absolutely correct and necessary for TikTok to divest itself of any control from the communist Chinese government in China if it wants to do business in the United States‚” Bozell said. “I support this bill. I support reining in TikTok. I support stopping the communist Chinese from influencing the United States subversively.” TikTok must divest itself from China if it wants to do business in the United States. We at the MRC have been consistent from the beginning. TikTok is a national security threat. @BrentBozell pic.twitter.com/FfSh1futU3 — Media Research Center (@theMRC) March 12‚ 2024 Conservatives are under attack. Contact your representatives and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency‚ clarity on hate speech and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored‚ contact us using CensorTrack’s contact form‚ and help us hold Big Tech accountable.

Members of the MRC-led Free Speech Alliance are urging the Senate to follow the House of Representatives' lead and vote on a bill forcing TikTok to divest itself from its communist Chinese government ties‚ or risk being banned from the U.S. In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senate RepublicanLeader Mitch McConnel (R-KY)‚ members of the Free Speech Alliance praised the House for passing The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act and encouraged the Senate to follow suit. “We are pleased that the House has taken action and passed H.R. 7521 to protect the national security interests of Americans‚” the letter reads‚ later adding‚ “We write to urge you to schedule a floor vote on the companion bill as soon as possible.” The alliance began by noting that the bill “would prohibit TikTok from operating in the United States unless the Chinese Communist Party is divested of control.” The letter also highlighted the significance of this ultimatum. “Not only does the bill prevent the Chinese from operating surreptitiously in America‚ it still gives Americans the opportunity to use TikTok in the future in a manner where our privacy is protected and our sensitive data is shielded‚” the alliance wrote. Twenty-seven free speech advocates signed the letter to the U.S. Senate leadership. Included among the signees are the Media Research Center President Brent Bozell‚ Young America’s Foundation President Governor Scott Walker‚ Conservative Partnership Institute Chairman Sen. Jim DeMint‚ and American Principles Project President Terry Schilling.  Bozell explained his support for the bill. “It is absolutely correct and necessary for TikTok to divest itself of any control from the communist Chinese government in China if it wants to do business in the United States‚” Bozell said. “I support this bill. I support reining in TikTok. I support stopping the communist Chinese from influencing the United States subversively.” The House passed H.R. 7521 in a bipartisan landslide Wednesday with 352 representatives voting in favor and 65 opposed. The bill will now go to the Senate‚ where it must pass before having a chance of becoming law. Biden pledged to sign the bill if both houses of Congress pass it‚ despite his avid use of TikTok for his re-election campaign. Despite banning over 4 million federal employees from using the app on federal devices‚ Biden has now posted 71 TikTok videos to date. You can read the letter below: