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This wild, futuristic space plan could help save the world. But some say it’s too far-fetched

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:05:43 GMT

(CNN) — Ali Hajimiri has spent a decade researching how to put solar panels in space and beam the energy down to Earth. Yet when the Caltech electrical engineering professor talks about his work, people always have three questions, usually in this order: Why not just put solar panels on Earth? Are you going fry birds in the sky? Are you building a Death Star?Hajmiri jokes he plans to have the answers printed on a card. “I’m going to have it in my wallet to show people,” he said.Originally a space solar skeptic, Hajimiri’s interest was piqued when he started looking more closely at the idea. “On average, you get about eight times more power in space” compared with solar on Earth, he told CNN. The beam won’t kill animals either. And as for the Death Star? The beam won’t be powerful enough to be weaponized, he added.This year, Hajimiri and his team made a step towards making space-based solar a reality.In January, they launched Maple, a 30-centimeter-long space sola...

Ancient bricks baked when Nebuchadnezzar II was king absorbed a power surge in Earth’s magnetic field

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:05:43 GMT

(CNN) — Thousands of years ago, Earth’s magnetic field underwent a significant power surge over a part of the planet that included the ancient kingdom of Mesopotamia. People at the time probably never even noticed the fluctuation, but signs of the anomaly, including previously unknown details, were preserved in the mud bricks that they baked, new research has found.When scientists recently examined bricks dating from the third to the first millennia BC in Mesopotamia — which encompassed present-day Iraq and parts of what is now Syria, Iran and Turkey — they detected magnetic signatures in those from the first millennium, indicating that the bricks were fired at a time when Earth’s magnetic field was unusually strong. Stamps on the bricks naming Mesopotamian kings enabled researchers to confirm the time range for the magnetic spike.Their findings corresponded with a known magnetic surge called the “Levantine Iron Age geomagnetic Anomaly,” which took place bet...

Three US passengers stopped from bringing loaded guns onto festive flights

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:05:43 GMT

(CNN) — For most of us, traveling home for the holidays involves bringing clothes, presents and possibly some food to add to the feast awaiting us.But three US travelers attempted to bring something else cross-country for the season of peace: loaded guns.The three were caught during the busy holiday travel period by TSA officers in separate incidents across the East Coast.On December 22, a Florida man was stopped at Harrisburg International Airport in Pennsylvania, after TSA staff detected a .380 caliber handgun in his luggage, loaded with no fewer than seven bullets.“The traveler claimed that he forgot that he had his loaded gun with him,” TSA said in a statement.Then on Christmas Eve, a woman from Maryland was stopped at DC’s Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport after TSA staff noticed a 9mm gun loaded with six bullets in her carry-on.The gun – with pink paneling – was the 39th detected at the airport in 2023. That’s the highest number ever caught at Reagan – the previou...

Florida teen shoots younger brother who killed their sister after fight over Christmas gifts

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:05:43 GMT

A 15-year-old Florida boy is accused of shooting his 14-year-old brother after that teenager fatally shot their 23-year-old sister as she sat outside with her baby on Christmas Eve, authorities said Tuesday.Police said the brothers had earlier gotten into a fight during a family shopping trip over who was getting what for Christmas, according to CBS News. When the siblings’ mother took them all to their grandmother’s house in Largo afterwards, the fighting continued. The 14-year-old reportedly pointed a semiautomatic handgun at his older brother’s head and threatened to kill him.The boys were separated by an uncle who managed to get the younger sibling out of the home where his sister, Abrielle Baldwin, was sitting outside with her child. Baldwin is said to have asked her brother to end the dispute.The 14-year-old, apparently angered by his sister’s request, berated her with pejoratives, then threatened to shoot Baldwin and her baby before firing a bullet into the woman’s arm and ch...

Chicago Bears Q&A: Where does Matt Eberflus stand with 2 games left? Is Kyler Gordon a top-10 slot cornerback?

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:05:43 GMT

Could the Chicago Bears’ second-half improvement save Matt Eberflus’ job? Or would general manager Ryan Poles potentially prefer to pair a new quarterback with a new head coach?Brad Biggs takes the temperature of the Eberflus situation and many other topics in the latest Bears mailbag.Any temperature reading on where things could be for Matt Eberflus with two games remaining? — Ray L., WestchesterThat’s one of the pressing questions for the fan base and the organization. I can’t tell you with certainty either way what will shake down after the Jan. 7 season finale in Green Bay. The vibe around the league since the weekend, in talking with a few folks from different organizations, is that Eberflus could be safe to return in 2024. Let’s keep in mind two more games remain part of the evaluation process.The Bears are generally considered a relatively patient franchise. Marc Trestman was fired after two seasons in 2014. You have to go back to Paddy Dri...

Opposition candidate in Congo alleges police fired bullets as protesters seek re-do of election

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:05:43 GMT

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — A main opposition candidate in Congo accused police of using live bullets to break up a protest Wednesday in the capital, as demonstrators demanded a re-do of last week’s presidential election.Holding up a bullet, Martin Fayulu told The Associated Press that it landed near him while he was barricaded inside his headquarters during a standoff with police. His claim could not be verified. Police said no live bullets were used, only tear gas, and that they were restoring order.Fayulu is one of five opposition candidates who called the protest.Some rights groups and international observers also have questioned the vote and alleged it was extended illegally. Many polling stations were late in starting, and some didn’t open at all. Some lacked materials, and many voter cards were illegible as the ink had smudged.In some parts of Congo, people were still voting five days after the election.“I feel bad this is not a country anymore,” Fayulu said, adding th...

Polish president defies new government in battle over control of state media

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:05:43 GMT

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s political battle over state media continued Wednesday as the president filed a revised spending bill in defiance of the new pro-European Union government ‘s goal of freeing the media from political control.President Andrzej Duda, an ally of the previous right-wing government, had vetoed the new government’s bill that provided 3 billion zlotys ($762 million) for the public media. His proposed bill strips that funding out.Poland’s state-owned media have become the first battleground between the coalition government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk and the conservative Law and Justice party which formerly held power and whose allies retain a presence at state news agency headquarters.Tusk won power on promises to restore national unity and democratic norms, including through the reform of public media. His government holds 248 seats in the 460-member lower house, or Sejm. Its next session is Jan. 10-11.Duda remains in office for another yea...

Man shot, killed while parking car in Cicero

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:05:43 GMT

CICERO, Ill. — A man was shot and killed Wednesday while parking a car in Cicero.Officers responded to the 1800 block of South 49th Avenue in the evening on the report of a shooting.Authorities said Alejandro Moreno, 47, was found shot to death. They believe an altercation took place and Moreno was shot while parking his car.He was pronounced dead at around 5:10 p.m. ‘It’s a miracle that he’s alive’: Crews rescue driver trapped for days after crash along I-94 No other information is available at this time.

'It's a miracle': Man who spent days trapped under bridge after crash rescued

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:05:43 GMT

PORTAGE, Ind. (WGN) — A man is recovering after spending days trapped under a bridge along Interstate 94 in Northwest Indiana following a crash.Emergency crews were called to the scene at 3:45 p.m. Tuesday after two men found the vehicle while scouting for fishing locations near Salt Creek beneath the bridge.According to Indiana State Police, Nivardo Delatorre and his father-in-law Mario Garcia were walking near the creek when they spotted the crashed vehicle partially in the creek. Remains found in Virginia woods identified as 5-year-old who disappeared in 2003 The men said the crashed vehicle sparked their curiosity, so one of them went to look inside and found a man inside.The man has been identified as 27-year-old Matthew Reum of Indiana.(WGN)(WGN)(WGN)(WGN)One of the men said they reached out to touch Reum, who then turned around and told them he had crashed last Wednesday, Dec. 20, and was trapped inside the vehicle, unable to reach his cell phone to call for help.Emergency ...

'I wanted justice': AirTags used to track stolen luggage from Charlotte airport to suspect's home

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:05:43 GMT

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WJZY) — The Gavino family turned their vacation to the North Carolina mountains into a sleuth mission to find their stolen luggage.That hunt led to the discovery of multiple stolen suitcases in Gastonia.   “I wanted justice,” Catherine Gavino told Nexstar's WJZY in an exclusive interview Tuesday afternoon. Gavino and her family are originally from the Miami area but had their sights set on spending Christmas in the Carolinas. Remains found in Virginia woods identified as 5-year-old who disappeared in 2003 The family landed at Charlotte Douglas International Airport on Friday afternoon. But their vacation was delayed when they were unable to locate one of their bags in baggage claim.   Gavino pulled up her phone to check the location of her newly purchased AirTag, which she placed in her parents' luggage after getting the idea from a YouTube video that morning. In fact, she said she had seen several influencers touting the practice.“It was to he...