Author: Friends of Sleeper Cells 2

US: California Bill to Protect Youth Miranda Rights

The California state assembly is considering a bill that would require a consultation with a lawyer for anyone under the age of 18 before they can waive their Miranda rights and be questioned, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch released a video about a police interrogation of a child in a murder case and the need to provide children with extra legal protection to reduce the chance of coerced confessions.

LIGO-Detected Black Holes May Be the Origin of Dark Matter

Two papers in the Physical Review Letters hold that the black holes detected by LIGO may be primordial black holes, and they may explain the nature of dark matter.

Unexpected Explanations

The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) has been one nifty new astronomical tool. In its brief existence, it has been able to detect several of the elusive gravitational waves. Previously, these had just been the stuff of speculations.

Empathy for the Enemy and the Oppressed: Political Pop Songs from the Eighties

Themes of love, loss and the other trials of our personal lives have been the mainstay of popular music for centuries. But in every generation there are pop artists who have taken on that other great theme called politics, responding to current events and instances of injustice both domestic and global, and bringing often controversial issues to the attention of the young people who make up their audience.

Growing up in Macedonia in the 1980s, my awareness of global politics was very much influenced by pop music, as a number of A-list artists during that era released huge hits addressing political issues, some of which were considered quite controversial at the time.

Heresy: A Reporter Investigates Evidence That Jesus Had a Wife

Walter Fritz had been an East German museum director, a real estate agent, an auto-parts business executive, an Egyptology student, and an amateur pornographer.

But his most recent achievement might well be his most lasting and ignominious – his involvement in an audacious antiquity transaction, wherein a piece of papyrus made its way into the hands of Harvard scholar Karen King, who then declared before the Vatican that it showed Jesus may have been married.

Video: Black lives matter: shutdown

“1,562 deaths in police custody in my lifetime. 0 convictions”. As Black Lives Matter protesters set up blockades in London, Birmingham and Nottingham, here’s their video explaining why it’s time for a shutdown.

This man turned an opium field into a sustainable coffee farm in Thailand

Somsak Sriphumthong is on a caffeine-fueled mission.

After years living and working abroad, the organic farmer and community leader returned to his native Thailand several years ago — during a time when the forests were being cleared for opium fields and rice plantations.

Seeking a sustainable alternative, he started growing and selling organic coffee beans on reclaimed land. Why coffee? Sriphumthong says he “didn’t want to take advantage of society … or harm people” while earning a living.

Scientists Say They Found A Woman Who Can See 99 Million Colors More Than The Rest Of Us

Researchers say they have finally found a true “strong tetrachromat,” someone who has four cone cells in the eyes and is able to interpret these signals in their brain, opening their eyes to an additional 99 million colors the rest of the human population can’t see. But before we get too jealous, the study is still ongoing and must be published and peer-reviewed.

So you’re a tetrachromat? But are you the “strong” type?

Tetrachromacy is the possession of four cone cells. This allows organisms to have a four-dimensional color experience—something that fish, reptiles, and diural birds all have. Humans normally detect color through three cone cells in the eyes, making us trichromats. Ultimately, this difference means that humans see far less colors than these other organisms.