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Fingerprint analysis is considered an invaluable tool in forensic and security settings due to the uniqueness and permanence of the patterns. No two people have been found to share a fingerprint pattern‚ not even identical twins. Fingerprints are so unique‚ in fact‚ that your own fingerprints don’t even match each other. But now‚ new research using artificial intelligence (AI) is making claims that could change the course of forensic fingerprint identification.While the uniqueness of fingerprints is what makes them so crucial in crime scene investigations‚ the inability to match the fingerprints of different fingers from the same person – referred to as intra-person fingerprints – can cause major issues in connecting forensic evidence.However‚ researchers from Columbia University are claiming to have created an AI model capable of matching intra-person fingerprints with 99.99 percent confidence‚ arguing that the fingerprints of the same person are not unique – we’ve just been comparing them the wrong way.Fingerprint patterns are made up of raised ridges and recessed furrows on the finger pads. Currently‚ fingerprints are analyzed by comparing friction ridge patterns which fall into three categories – loops‚ whorls‚ and arches. An analyst will use ridge characteristics‚ known as minutiae‚ to identify and compare the characteristics of the print.The new AI’s decision-making process‚ however‚ is based on analysis of binary patterns‚ ridge orientation‚ ridge density‚ and minutiae. By analyzing the swirls and loops near the center of the fingerprint‚ known as the singularity‚ they found that most of the intra-person fingerprint similarities were explained by ridge orientation‚ concluding that the minutiae maps were the least reliable of the analysis categories.They argue that while minutiae analysis may be the most accurate for same-finger matching‚ it focuses on single fingerprint peculiarities that are unlikely to occur across intra-person fingerprints‚ making it less accurate for cross-finger matching.        The model was trained using a public US government database of roughly 60‚000 fingerprints and 525‚000 images. They found that the AI’s performance was consistent across different genders and racial groups and that it performed best when trained with samples from all groups. “Just imagine how well this will perform once it’s trained on millions‚ instead of thousands of fingerprints‚” Columbia Engineering senior Aniv Ray‚ who helped analyze the data‚ said in a statement.The team highlighted their hope that this AI model could one day be used to prioritize leads‚ exonerate innocent suspects‚ and potentially help create new leads for cold cases.“This research is an example of how even a fairly simple AI‚ given a fairly plain dataset that the research community has had lying around for years‚ can provide insights that have eluded experts for decades‚” said Hod Lipson‚ fellow author and professor at Columbia Engineering.“Even more exciting is the fact that an undergraduate student‚ with no background in forensics whatsoever‚ can use AI to successfully challenge a widely held belief of an entire field. We are about to experience an explosion of AI-led scientific discovery by non-experts‚ and the expert community‚ including academia‚ needs to get ready.”The research‚ however‚ has not come without criticism. The paper was initially rejected by a well-established forensics journal with an anonymous expert reviewer and editor concluding that “it is well known that every fingerprint is unique‚” and it would not be possible to detect intra-person similarities.While the paper acknowledges the need for the model to be trained on a larger and more diverse dataset‚ it remains to be seen if AI is capable of producing results reliable enough to provide conclusive evidence in criminal convictions.The study is published in Science Advances.

Our solar system is not still in space; it moves around the galaxy at 370 kilometers per second (230 miles per second). This means that part of the universe looks like it is coming towards us‚ while the opposite side moves away from us. This effect is seen‚ for example‚ in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB)‚ the light echo of the Big Bang. Researchers expected to see a similar effect if they were to look in the gamma-ray sky – but they discovered something very different.The CMB is incredibly uniform‚ so the difference amounts to measuring about 0.12 percent hotter towards the constellation Leo (more microwaves than average) than on the other side of the Sky. The gamma-ray background comes from unresolved energetic events from across the universe‚ so it was expected that it would look roughly similar‚ though the difference enhanced given the fact that gamma rays are a billion times more energetic than regular light.But this dipole‚ as it is technically called‚ looks nothing like that of the CMB; it is in a different place and much more intense than expected. While not matching the CMB dipole signal‚ it does match what has been observed for the most energetic cosmic rays."It is a completely serendipitous discovery‚" said Alexander Kashlinsky‚ a cosmologist at the University of Maryland and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center‚ in a statement. "We found a much stronger signal‚ and in a different part of the sky‚ than the one we were looking for."This gif superimposes the Fermi map onto the cosmic ray map‚ illustrating the similarity of the dipole directions.Image credit: Kashlinsky et al.‚ 2024 and the Pierre Auger Collaboration"We found a gamma-ray dipole‚ but its peak is located in the southern sky‚ far from the CMB's‚ and its magnitude is 10 times greater than what we would expect from our motion‚" said co-author Chris Shrader‚ an astrophysicist at the Catholic University of America in Washington and Goddard. "While it is not what we were looking for‚ we suspect it may be related to a similar feature reported for the highest-energy cosmic rays."Ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays carry even more energy than gamma rays – a billion times more‚ in fact – and scientists do not know where they come from. However‚ there is an excess of these particles from the same region where there is an excess of gamma rays‚ and so researchers think that these two phenomena are related.The study is published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters and was recently presented at the 243rd meeting of the American Astronomical Society in New Orleans.

A new‚ noninvasive test to check the quality of embryos could make a huge difference to people undergoing fertility treatment. Right now‚ one of the big barriers to success in in-vitro fertilization (IVF) is that it’s difficult to know the best embryos to choose‚ but this new test could make that much easier.“Unfortunately‚ IVF success still involves a big element of chance‚ but that’s something we’re hoping our research can change‚” said co-senior author H. Irene Su of UC San Diego in a statement. This optimism will be welcomed by the thousands who seek IVF treatment each year‚ just a fraction of the estimated one in six people affected by infertility worldwide.Since the birth of the world’s first IVF baby Louise Brown‚ back in 1978 in the UK‚ reproductive medicine has made great strides. But undertaking a course of IVF can be a long and arduous process for families‚ especially when you consider that the overall live birth rate for females under the age of 40 in the US is only 20-40 percent.Doctors are under pressure to select the lab-grown embryos that have the best chance of resulting in a healthy pregnancy for each patient‚ but this is no easy task.“Right now‚ the best way we have to predict embryo outcome involves looking at embryos and measuring morphological characteristics or taking some cells from the embryo to look at genetic makeup‚ both of which have limitations‚” Su explained.The team wanted to look at things a different way. The new method doesn’t examine the embryos themselves‚ but uses the leftover liquid medium that was used to grow them. It doesn’t involve any extra steps and doesn’t interfere with the IVF process‚ something that was very important to the researchers.While cells are growing‚ they release small molecules of RNA‚ called exRNAs. These were only discovered within the last couple of decades‚ and scientists still aren’t sure of their exact function.“It’s really only in the last decade that we have started to uncover the uses for exRNAs‚ and there could be countless other applications we haven’t yet discovered‚” said co-senior author Sheng Zhong.The team took samples of growth medium from embryos at five different stages to gather information about the profile of exRNAs they release as they develop. Around 4‚000 of these molecules were identified at each stage. By inputting this data into a machine-learning model‚ it was possible to predict an embryo’s growth trajectory based on the exRNAs it produced.The model’s predictions were found to match up with the tests that are currently used to check for embryo quality‚ suggesting this noninvasive method could potentially be used to weed out the embryos with the most likely chances of success.The authors caution that it will be some time before any new method can be used in a clinical setting. “We have data connecting healthy morphology to positive IVF outcomes‚ and now we’ve seen that exRNAs can be used to predict good morphology‚ but we still need to draw that final line before our test will be ready for primetime‚” said Su.But it’s a promising start‚ and an innovative way of addressing an old problem.As Su put it‚ rather than targeting the embryos directly‚ “What we’ve done is more akin to looking at what’s left behind at an archeological site to help us learn more about who lived there and what they did.”The study is published in Cell Genomics.

Independent journalist Tucker Carlson laid into the media for ignoring massive protests against the net zero agenda.  Carlson slammed the legacy media for ignoring “big events‚ mass movements that will change the course of history” such as the massive anti-environmentalist protests going on in Germany during the Jan. 10 edition of his show‚ Tucker Carlson Uncensored. Carlson highlighted the implications of the massive protests in Germany‚ which he described as the "most powerful" European country. “Farmers there have blocked roads across the country‚” Carlson declared. “These are massive protests. If they were happening here‚ a lot of the United States would shut down‚ but because they’re happening there most people have no idea that it’s going on.” The biggest protests in modern German history. What’s happening? Eva Vlaardingerbroek is there. pic.twitter.com/uAtmkUme5Q — Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) January 10‚ 2024 To address this issue‚ Carlson spoke to political commentator and lawyer Eva Vlaardingerbroek‚ who hails from the Netherlands‚ a country that provoked massive protests against it’s net zero agenda. Vlaardingerbroek agreed that the media was ignoring the protest. “The reason the German farmers are protesting right now is actually because of a decision by the German government sparked a lot of anger. The German government has decided-to basically eliminate a tax break on agricultural diesel‚” she said.  However‚ Vlaardingerbroke also made clear that this decision was only the latest attack on German farmers’ way of life‚ adding that the German government had taken many recent steps to “harass” and “attack” German farmers.  She added‚ “The German farmers are subjected–just like the Dutch farmers and a lot of farmers around the Western world–to all sorts of new regulations and restrictions all of the time and quite frankly‚ they feel unheard; they feel unwanted; they feel like they are being harassed off of their land basically and they are sick and tired of feeling like they have no right to exist.”  In response to this persecution‚ Vlaardingerbroek remarked that “the German farmers have announced huge protests and they’ve also started on Monday with massive roadblocks‚ nationwide—protests that we haven’t seen in this type of magnitude in Germany ever before.” She tore into the German government‚ saying that the farmers “feel that they are being ruled by people who hate them and I think that they’re right. The establishment in Germany seems to hate everything that the farmers‚ the blue-collar workers‚ the ordinary German citizens stand for‚ and that’s why these protests are so massively important.”  Vlaardingerbroek’s own country‚ the Netherlands‚ was also the site of massive protests against government attacks on agriculture. Farmers protested after the government announced plans to massively cut nitrogen use in agriculture‚ possibly by reducing the number of farms and cattle.  This agenda was also enacted in Sri Lanka with devastating results. After banning chemical fertilizer‚ Sri Lanka saw a massive decline in agricultural production followed by a spike in prices. Sri Lanka’s embrace of the net zero agenda ultimately resulted in an angry mob sacking the president's residence as the president fled the country. Conservatives are under attack! Contact ABC News (818) 460-7477‚ CBS News (212) 975-3247 and NBC News (212) 664-6192 and demand they report on the impact of net zero policies on agriculture!

I recently came across an old propaganda poster from the Soviet Union. Vladimir Lenin stands in front of a giant red Soviet emblem. His right arm stretches forward with a caption that reads: “To the bright future of communist society‚ universal prosperity‚ and enduring peace.” The Politburo‚ party officials‚ and the KGB would use the phrase “to the bright future” as an excuse to lay a heavy hand on their people. You don’t like reporting on anything but propaganda and lies in the Soviet media? Don’t worry — it’s for your safety. To the bright future! You don’t want your family member to go to the re-education camp? Don’t worry — it’s for your safety. To the bright future! For all the people suffering under Communist control‚ the phrase became a sort of coping mechanism. Sure‚ this is all terrible‚ but ... to the bright future‚ I guess? In the name of securing “universal prosperity and enduring peace‚” the Soviets injected political commissars and KGB thugs into every aspect of society: industry‚ pseudo-businesses‚ the media. The state — which is always called “the people” for some reason — had its tentacles in everything. No decisions were made without state approval‚ order‚ or manipulation. The Twitter Files showed us how outside political actors have a far too friendly relationship with Big Tech‚ and these companies are all too willing to do their bidding. We see this in totalitarian leftist governments all over the world. Chinese companies are completely infiltrated by their politburo overlords. Under Xi Jinping‚ a national intelligence law signed in 2017 states: “Any organization or citizen shall support‚ assist‚ and cooperate with state intelligence work according to law.” Think about that the next time you use a phone made by Huawei‚ or you fire up TikTok to watch a string of cat videos with funny music‚ or you purchase a Chinese-made watch that looks suspiciously like a near-perfect clone of an Apple watch. The product you are using can be used to support Chinese national intelligence work. They’ve told us this up front‚ of course‚ but we use them all anyway. Knowing the way both the Soviets and the Chinese treat businesses and their own people‚ it’s worth asking how is our current system any different? Social media collusion The FBI‚ the political commissars themselves‚ admitted last year to holding regular meetings with all the big social media companies. The bureau and the companies maintained “relationships‚” to use their words‚ and “met weekly.” Mark Zuckerberg hinted on a Joe Rogan podcast at what some of the meetings involved. He said the FBI warned Facebook about some Russian propaganda that was about to be released. We now know that this referred to Hunter Biden’s laptop. But here’s the thing: The FBI already had a copy of the laptop’s contents. Authorities knew it wasn’t Russian propaganda. So why was the FBI feeding misinformation to social media companies to give a little “wink-wink‚ nudge-nudge” on what they should do when Hunter’s laptop came out? We already know the FBI didn’t want Donald Trump to become president. We saw that when an FBI lawyer was caught falsifying evidence in order to get a FISA warrant to spy on Trump campaign official Carter Page. Awaiting accountability Speaking of FBI lawyers‚ it was the FBI’s top lawyer‚ James Baker‚ who helped facilitate the meeting between Democratic operative Michael Sussman and FBI investigators to look into the bogus Trump/Alfabank smear. Baker would then leave the FBI‚ and guess who quickly hired him: Twitter‚ of course. We now know from Elon Musk’s Twitter Files disclosure that James Baker‚ as Twitter’s top lawyer‚ helped to suppress the Hunter Biden laptop story. But wait! There’s more!When Musk tried to release the files showing how Twitter suppressed the story‚ Baker intercepted the evidence to “vet” as it was about to get released. Did he do that to remove all the parts that showed FBI involvement? Musk wasn’t amused and fired James Baker. I wouldn’t be surprised if he just returned to his old job at the FBI. Last year‚ the Twitter Files showed us how outside political actors‚ usually from the left‚ have a far too friendly relationship with Big Tech‚ and these companies are all too willing to do their bidding. We knew all of this already. It was obvious. But it’s a heck of a sight to see it from their own emails. One year later‚ has anyone been held accountable? Let’s return to my original question: What’s the difference between us and the Soviet Union and China? The difference is that the people of the Soviet Union and China had this kind of behavior forced on them. Today‚ Silicon Valley and the media do it of their own accord. As the saying goes‚ “To the bright future!” Want more from Glenn Beck? Get Glenn’s FREE email newsletter with his latest insights‚ top stories‚ show prep and more delivered to your inbox.

An 11-year-old girl brought a box cutter to her southwest Florida elementary school Thursday and used it to poke a boy in the neck from behind while whispering a threat to him.What are the details?The Collier County Sheriff's Office said the girl faces criminal charges after the incident at Manatee Elementary School‚ which is in Naples.The victim reported the incident to school administrators‚ who then contacted the sheriff's office‚ authorities said.Detectives interviewed both students‚ the sheriff's office said‚ adding that the victim said the girl approached him from behind in the school cafeteria and poked him in the neck with the knife several times while whispering a threat.Detectives and the school Youth Relations Deputy reviewed school security footage‚ which confirmed the victim’s account‚ the sheriff's office said.The Youth Relations Deputy searched the girl and found the box cutter hidden in her waistband‚ the sheriff's office said‚ adding that she was taken into custody on charges of possession of a weapon on school property and aggravated battery.How are folks reacting?Commenters on a Miami Herald story about the incident published by Yahoo News expressed dismay‚ to say the least:"Society has about 50 years left. It'll get worse every day. Glad I won't be here‚" one commenter lamented."I would like to know more about their history‚" another commenter offered. "There is no excuse to bring a weapon to school and threaten another child. However‚ if that child had been bullied‚ and she felt nothing was done‚ I understand — but it still doesn't make it right.""11 years old. What a heartache to see children this young already heading down this path‚" another commenter observed. "Bad parenting .... horrible sites on the Internet‚ gangs? Dark future for so many. Very disturbing. Start praying America. We are in a terrible 'woke' place and desperately need help.""These weapons of war should not be available to the public‚" another commenter suggested‚ tongue fully in cheek. "When will Congress pass common-sense box cutter laws?""Charge her parents‚ too‚" another commenter stated."America‚ where have you gone?" another commenter wondered. "Take [the] Bible and God out of the schools‚ and hell comes marching in!"Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

The Maine State Housing Authority recently opened new apartments at a former naval air station base in Brunswick that will provide migrants with up to two years of rent-free living‚ funded by the state's taxpayers.According to WCSH-TV‚ the city is opening 60 new apartment units in five buildings. The units‚ 24 of which are already completed‚ will provide up to two years of free housing to migrants waiting for work permits. One migrant residing in the apartments told the news outlet that her new unit feels like a “palace.”“In [a] hotel‚ there are rules and regulations‚" she stated. "In a shelter too‚ we have so many people. We share the kitchen together. We share the restroom together."The rent for these units will be paid using state funds approved by the legislature. Once migrants living in the units are approved to work‚ they will be expected to allocate 30% of their income to rent‚ WGME reported.The Maine State Housing Authority‚ an independent state agency‚ is leading the project. After the two years expire‚ the program will either be extended‚ or the units will be converted into market-rate and affordable housing.Earlier this week‚ people gathered outside the apartments to celebrate the nearly completed project. MaineHousing executive director Dan Brennan stated‚ "This is a very unique solution to a very exciting opportunity in our state.""We have thousands of folks coming to Maine who want to make Maine home. We're doing everything we can to help that situation‚" Brennan added.Developers Collaborative‚ the builder of the apartments‚ said the remaining units should be open by the end of January or the beginning of February. In less than one hour of the waiting list opening‚ 250 applications were submitted‚ according to Fatuma Hussein‚ the executive director of the Immigration Resources Center of Maine‚ the organization responsible for selecting migrants to reside in the apartments."For every unit that's been built‚ there are hundreds if not thousands of people out there that need that unit‚" Hussein said. "It's life-saving. It signifies hope. It signifies the beginning of a new home."United Way of Mid Coast Maine‚ a nonprofit organization‚ plans to launch a volunteer bus ambassador program to provide transportation to migrants in the area.The organization's executive director‚ Nicole Evans‚ told WGME‚ "It could be running to the grocery store or doctors' appointments or getting an incredibly important job interview."According to WSCH‚ more than 1‚600 migrants arrived in Maine last year.The state previously built another 52-unit complex to house migrants in South Portland.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!