June 3, 2019

The Most Interesting Science News Articles of the Week (Last week...)

The Most Interesting Science News Articles of the Week
By Live Science Staff | May 31, 2019 11:15pm ET

. . . .

. . . .

. . . .


Unreal AI Skills

- click for images -

https://img.purch.com/h/1400/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5saXZlc2NpZW5jZS5jb20vaW1hZ2VzL2kvMDAwLzEwNS84MTUvb3JpZ2luYWwvYWktYW5pbWF0aW9ucy1waG90b3MtZGVlcGZha2VzLTA1LmdpZj8xNTU4NzMzOTY3

A new type of artificial intelligence can generate a "living portrait" from just one image.
Credit: Egor Zakharov

A neural network helped Mona Lisa get in touch with her feelings. [Read more about the technology.]


Articles:
https://www.livescience.com/50718-weekend-reading.html

June 3, 2019

Canadian Inquiry Calls Killings of Indigenous Women Genocide

Canadian Inquiry Calls Killings of Indigenous Women Genocide



A memorial for Tina Fontaine sits by the Red River in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The teenager’s killing in 2014 angered many people, setting off protests and questions about the deaths of Indigenous women in Canada.CreditCreditAaron Vincent Elkaim for The New York Times
By Dan Bilefsky
June 2, 2019

MONTREAL — A national inquiry into the widespread killings and disappearances of Indigenous women and girls equates the violence with genocide and holds Canada itself responsible for much of it, in a report to be released on Monday.

That powerful rebuke of violence against one of the country’s most vulnerable minorities comes after a nearly three-year inquiry during which more than 1,500 families of victims and survivors testified in emotional hearings across the country.

The report, which will be officially released in a ceremony Monday, says the violence against women and girls amounts “to a race-based genocide of Indigenous peoples, including First Nations, Inuit, and Métis.”

“This genocide has been empowered by colonial structures,” the report adds.

The report cites, among other events, Canada’s onetime practice of sending thousands of Indigenous children to residential schools, where they were abused over decades.

More:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/02/world/canada/indigenous-women-girls-violence-inquiry.html

June 1, 2019

Argentina: 'Dirty War' Corporal Testifies '4,000 Thrown into Sea Alive'

Members of the organization Madres de Plaza Mayo hold photos of the victims disappeared during Argentina's bloody dictatorship. | Photo: EFE

Published 31 May 2019 (1 hours 56 minutes ago)

An Ex-corporal confirmed that the Campo de Mayo military base was used as a clandestine detention center for “counter-offensive” during the civil war.

Shocking testimony from a witness and former militant of Argentina’s Dirty War was revealed during a court session earlier this week.

Per a video conference call from Neuquen, Argentina Tuesday, Nelson Ramon Gonzalez retold the stories of dozens of kidnappings, incidents of torture, and forced disappearances between 1979 and 1980 conducted during the nation’s bloody dictatorship.

The Calvary corporal confirmed that the Campo de Mayo military base was used as a clandestine detention center for people involved in the "counter-offensive" resisting the dictatorship, and which during the conflict, he recounted, were boarded onto planes by the thousands only to plunge into the sea.

"About four thousand people passed through (Campo de Mayo) and then were thrown into the sea alive,” said Gonzalez. “It was known throughout Campo de Mayo. There were the Fiat planes and the flights left there. It was common knowledge," he said.

More:
https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Argentina-Dirty-War-Corporal-Testifies-4000-Thrown-into-Sea-Alive-20190531-0013.html

June 1, 2019

Argentine Court Begins Joint Process of 322 'Dirty War' Cases

The cases include the disappearance or murder of over 300 victims, the judicial court said.


A judicial marathon began in Argentina Tuesday, bringing together 322 crimes against humanity committed during the Dirty War dictatorship (1976-1983),including disappearances of pregnant women and ex-workers of the multinational Mercedes Benz.

RELATED:
Brazil Tried to Lead Operation Condor: CIA Documents

"This is a megacause, a big trial where many cases are integrated due to the very long delay in the trials, especially because there were difficulties to integrate the court," said Pablo Lachener, lawyer representing the Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo.

"We represent around 40 victims, including a good number of pregnant women illegally deprived of their freedom and who have been disappeared," Lachener said in reference to the case which was first opened in 2007.

The case includes complaints lodged by 322 victims of the Campo de Mayo military barracks, where clandestine centers of the Dirty War operated by 22 accused or convicted military and police.

Ex-Mercedes Benz employees have fought for recognition of the company’s alleged involvement in the disappearances or detentions of 14 workers.

More:
https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Argentine-Court-Begins-Joint-Process-of-322-Dirty-War-Cases-20190430-0025.html