A series of secret tests conducted by the U.S. Army in the 1950s and 1960s did not expose residents of the United States and Canada to chemical levels considered harmful, according to a new report from a committee of the National Research Council.

Recent strides in biotechnology offer the promise of new and innovative applications -- from edible vaccines to protein-based electronics components.

Scientific evidence links mold and other factors related to damp conditions in homes and buildings to asthma symptoms in some people with the chronic disorder, as well as to coughing, wheezing, and upper respiratory tract symptoms in otherwise healthy people, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies.

Policymakers’ efforts to reduce threats from improvised explosive devices (IEDs) should include greater oversight of precursor chemicals sold at the retail level – especially over the Internet – that terrorists, violent extremists, or criminals use to make homemade explosives, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

From April 28 to May 1 the National Academy of Sciences will hold its 155th annual meeting.

A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine examines evidence on whether providing permanent supportive housing (PSH) – a combination of stable housing and supportive services -- to individuals who are experiencing homelessness improves their health.

Biotechnology has the potential to be a part of the solution in protecting forest trees against destructive pest and disease outbreaks

Last week, the International Commission on the Clinical Use of Human Germline Genome Editing held its first public meeting at the National Academy of Sciences building in Washington, D.C.

Windows Defender allows you to perform a Custom scan that lets you specify the specific folder or drive you would like to scan for malware. As you only need to scan that one folder, the scan time will be much quicker than scanning an entire machine. [...]

Peter Epstein of Epstein Research discusses the macro picture for precious metals prices and one junior that he believes will benefit from higher prices.

Visit the aureport.com for more information and for a free newsletter

Agora Financial's Byron King and John-Mark Staude of Riverside Resources offer their viewpoints on markets during the COVID-19 pandemic in this conversation with Maurice Jackson of Proven and...

Visit the aureport.com for more information and for a free newsletter

Though sector expert Michael Ballanger's focus is on the precious metals, given current market conditions he sees potential in oil as well.

Visit the aureport.com for more information and for a free newsletter

The Critical Investor discusses recent developments at the company that is exploring the Goliath Gold Project in Ontario.

Visit the aureport.com for more information and for a free newsletter

Bob Moriarty of 321gold discusses gold, financial collapse and consequences of quarantining.

Visit the aureport.com for more information and for a free newsletter

Bob Moriarty of 321gold discusses economic collapse and gold.

Visit the aureport.com for more information and for a free newsletter

The junior gold explorer with a nascent exploration breakthrough could soar on the back of a gold bull market, writes Peter Krauth.

Visit the aureport.com for more information and for a free newsletter

Peter Epstein of Epstein Research looks into the Gross Overriding Royalty that just changed hands on the company's flagship Red Hill project, and discusses what it means for the firm.

Visit the aureport.com for more information and for a free newsletter

The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to block Congress from seeking the materials, saying, "The government will suffer irreparable harm absent a stay."; Credit: Andrew Harnik/AP

The Supreme Court has temporarily put on hold the release of redacted grand jury material from the Russia investigation to a House panel.

The Trump administration is trying to block the release.

Last October, a district court judge ruled the Justice Department had to turn over the materials, which were blacked out, from former special counsel Robert Mueller's report into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

An appeals court upheld the decision, but the Trump administration, hoping to keep the evidence secret, appealed to the Supreme Court.

Chief Justice John Roberts' order temporarily stops the process. Lawyers for the House Judiciary Committee have until May 18 to file their response to the Justice Department's attempts to keep the materials from the House panel.

The Justice Department had until Monday to turn over the material following the appeals court order. But on Thursday, the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to block Congress from seeking it, saying, "The government will suffer irreparable harm absent a stay."

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

I got the word this week from The Crest of Westwood that they'll be streaming coverage of the Golden Globes at The Crest on Sunday.

It's free and open to the public; doors open at 4:30 and the event starts at 5pm.

The Crest's Virginia Chavez writes, "We're encouraging formal attire, but it's not required for entrance."

But Off-Ramp says, "Phooey! Dress up. It's what classy people do." Like this stunning couple:

(Anne Knudsen/LA Public Library Herald-Examiner collection)

The caption of this 1985 photo reads, "David Hasselhoff in a burgundy-and-black striped tuxedo kept pace with wife Catherine Hickland's high fashion style: Ellene Warren's silk shoulder-beaded jacket, silk jacquard pants and matching evening bra. Hasselhoff and Hickland attended the Emmy Awards at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium.

There's such a thing as an "evening bra?" I don't think so.

The Crest - 1262 Westwood Blvd. LA, CA 90024 - (323) 553 - 3500

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Patt Morrison's outfit for March 26, 2013. ; Credit: Michelle Lanz/KPCC

For good or ill, I have six-months’ worth of winterish wardrobe in a part of the world with six weeks’ worth of winter. Indoors and AC are great equalizers, yet I am rushing to get in the wools and tweeds before we start sweating – probably in April. [President Richard Nixon loved to have a fire in the fireplace of the Lincoln Sitting Room in the White House, so much so that he cranked up the AC so he could enjoy a cozy fire even in August.]

So I had to give a season’s last hurrah to this Jacquard brocade coat with coppery embroidery and brown velvet piping, worn over your plain ol’ brand X brown jersey dress.

Rose-gold is such a flattering shade, hence the bracelets. [The lampshades at the Belle Epoque Paris restaurant Maxim’s were made of soft pink silk because it made ladies’ complexions look so much better.] 

Brown and orange doesn’t sound like a very tasty combination, but they do work, I think, in the subdued brown tartan shoes with rhinestone buckles the color of sunset. They put me in mind of the more prim Pilgrim buckles on Roger Vivier shoes like the ones Catherine Deneuve made famous in "Belle de Jour," a movie all about a young woman who was rather the opposite of prim behind closed doors.

The crosshairs tartan pattern in the center of the buckles make me think of a submarine periscope, which makes me think of the Lusitania — sunk 98 years ago this May 1 — which served to help nudge the United States into World War I. Now that I think of it, the brown felt and velvet hat is rather World War I-ish, too.

Hi, sailor!

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to block Congress from seeking the materials, saying, "The government will suffer irreparable harm absent a stay."; Credit: Andrew Harnik/AP

The Supreme Court has temporarily put on hold the release of redacted grand jury material from the Russia investigation to a House panel.

The Trump administration is trying to block the release.

Last October, a district court judge ruled the Justice Department had to turn over the materials, which were blacked out, from former special counsel Robert Mueller's report into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

An appeals court upheld the decision, but the Trump administration, hoping to keep the evidence secret, appealed to the Supreme Court.

Chief Justice John Roberts' order temporarily stops the process. Lawyers for the House Judiciary Committee have until May 18 to file their response to the Justice Department's attempts to keep the materials from the House panel.

The Justice Department had until Monday to turn over the material following the appeals court order. But on Thursday, the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to block Congress from seeking it, saying, "The government will suffer irreparable harm absent a stay."

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Agora Financial's Byron King and John-Mark Staude of Riverside Resources offer their viewpoints on markets during the COVID-19 pandemic in this conversation with Maurice Jackson of Proven and Probable.

Full Text:

On August 17, 2017, scientists made history with the first direct observation of a merger between two neutron stars. It was the first cosmic event detected in both gravitational waves and the entire spectrum of light, from gamma rays to radio emissions. The impact also created a kilonova -- a turbocharged explosion that instantly forged several hundred planets’ worth of gold and platinum. The observations provided the first compelling evidence that kilonovae produce large quantities of heavy metals, a finding long predicted by theory. Astronomers suspect that all of the gold and platinum on Earth formed as a result of ancient kilonovae created during neutron star collisions. Based on data from the 2017 event, first spotted by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO), astronomers began to adjust their assumptions of how a kilonova should appear to Earth-bound observers. A team of scientists reexamined data from a gamma-ray burst spotted in August 2016 and found new evidence for a kilonova that went unnoticed during the initial observations.

Image credit: NASA/ESA/E. Troja

American Express has

Though sector expert Michael Ballanger's focus is on the precious metals, given current market conditions he sees potential in oil as well.

Promoting the personal benefits of sustainable consumption, such as more free time and less stress, could play an important role in encouraging more sustainable living, according to a recent study. The researchers interviewed people who lived greener lifestyles and found that self-interest influenced their decision to consume less and buy sustainable products.

New research has assessed the environmental impact of gold production using life cycle assessment and estimated embodied energy and greenhouse gases, embodied water and solid waste burden that each tonne of gold produces, using various processes.

A Bosnian pine (Pinus heldreichii) growing in the highlands of northern Greece has been dendrocronologically dated to be more than 1075 years old. This makes it currently the oldest known living tree in Europe. The millenium old pine was discovered by scientists from Stockholm University (Sweden), the University of Mainz (Germany) and the University of Arizona (USA).

read more

Lucy, the most famous fossil of a human ancestor, probably died after falling from a tree, according to a study appearing in Nature led by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin.

read more

Comprehensive flood risk management should include household measures, such as improving a home’s stability and relocating heating systems to safe places within the house. According to new research, better communication with householders by authorities on the effectiveness of such measures, and how to implement them, could increase their uptake.

Extreme and catastrophic floods in Europe, such as those seen in 2013, currently occur approximately once every 16 years, but this may increase to once every 10 years by 2050, according to new research. The study also suggests that annual average economic losses caused by extreme floods could reach almost five times higher than 2013 values.

Householders who believe that climate change increases flood risk are up to 12% more likely to protect their homes against flooding than those who do not hold this belief, finds recent research from Germany. The national survey also found that previous experience of flood damage increased the likelihood of households introducing flood protection measures.

Does scientific evidence always help conflicting stakeholders to reach agreement on how to deal with environmental risks? Scientists have now developed a mathematical framework to help answer this question. They show that stakeholder perceptions of the costs and benefits of regulations, as well as their perceptions of the quality of new research, will determine whether they change their standpoint.

A new analysis of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from Swiss household consumption reveals a large difference between the best and worst households – which range between the equivalent of 5 to 17 tons of CO2 per capita per year. It suggests GHG reductions are possible if more households adopt similar consumption patterns to those with the lowest emissions.

Information policy measures aimed at reducing household energy consumption need to take a number of approaches, according to Swedish researchers. They should stress both economic and environmental motives and encourage public discussion.

New EU-funded research from Finland has indicated that poor communication between producers of energy-efficient housing technologies and potential house-buyers is a major barrier to sustainable housing. It suggests that government bodies can encourage energy-efficiency innovations not only through regulations but also by improving information flow.

A different picture of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions can be achieved if responsibility for emissions from different economic sectors is placed with the end energy users, according to a new report from the European Environment Agency (EEA). This approach makes sectors such as households responsible for many emissions that would otherwise be attributed to the energy industry.