On September 23rd, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism discussed the growing concerns related to the rapid expansion of Flock automatic license plate reader cameras. One cybersecurity engineer warned that he found “insufficiently protected sensitive information” stored on Flock cameras, while another woman said she spent 13 days in jail, including time in solitary confinement, after a Flock camera incorrectly identified her vehicle as involved with a hit and run accident.

The Trump administration has changed three rules governing endangered-species protections, and 21 attorneys general are challenging those changes in court. A large focus in the argument is what constitutes “harm” and how wildlife protections can be balanced with economic considerations.

A Tennessee woman has filed a lawsuit against the City of Fargo, North Dakota after allegedly being falsely identified through a facial recognition search and subsequently arrested. The woman was falsely accused of bank theft and spent six months in jail after police claimed she was identified by facial recognition software. The only problem ‑ she’d never been to North  Dakota and no witnesses placed her at the scene of the crime. The incident raises questions about the accuracy of facial recognition programs. @DBrozeLiveFree

🐘🌿Elephants may have their own pharmacopoeia. Observers described sick elephants selectively seeking certain plants and mother elephants apparently administering plants to their calves. And in some cases, humans may have learned about useful plants by watching them. Learn more at CiVL, across socials, or from the ramblings of @IsleyResistance

Apparently temporary uteruses are a thing now. Researchers reviewing a decade of uterus transplantation in the U.S. found that 70% of recipients achieved at least one live birth or had an ongoing pregnancy beyond 20 weeks when the study closed. The procedure gives some people born without a uterus, or without a functioning one, the possibility of carrying a pregnancy themselves. And unlike most transplanted organs, the uterus can later be removed after the recipient is finished having children. We are living in science fiction. @IsleyResistance

🍄 Researchers found that a single dose of psilocybin restored interest in unfamiliar mice in male mice with an OCD-associated genetic model. The effect persisted a full week after administration and was associated with activity in brain regions involved in cognition and memory. It didn't happen in females, and mice are obviously not tiny humans with OCD, but the findings add another intriguing piece to research on psychedelics and lasting changes in social cognition. Apparently, the mushrooms may keep working after the mushrooms stop mushrooming. @IsleyResistance

Amazon and Ring are facing a proposed class action lawsuit over Ring’s new Familiar Faces facial recognition feature. The lawsuit alleges that people who do not own Ring devices can have facial recognition information generated from their appearances without consenting. The companies are asking a federal judge to dismiss the claims because they say the plaintiffs have not had their biometric data collected by the Ring feature. @DBrozeLiveFree

Researchers tested psilocybin after repetitive mild head injuries in rats and found changes spanning brain swelling, vascular function, neural connectivity, phosphorylated tau and neuroplasticity-related proteins. The findings are preclinical, so no, we have not reached “mushrooms for concussions.”  But considering there is currently no approved treatment specifically for repetitive mild head injury, it's an intriguing new direction for psychedelic research. 🍄🧠 Study published in Communications Biology. @IsleyResistance

For the first time, a US federal appeals court has ruled that law enforcement’s use of technology for realtime tracking of a cellphone constitutes a search under the Fourth Amendment. The ruling relates to cell site simulators, sometimes known as Stingrays, which law enforcement use to determine the location of suspects by tricking their cellphones to connect to the device. ”We hold that the use of the cell-site simulator constituted a search within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment,” the appeals court wrote. @DBrozeLiveFree

Apparently our antidepressants may be working on the fish, too. Researchers found serotonin transporters in two fish species could respond to some antidepressants at concentrations more than 10× lower than the equivalent human transporter. More importantly, some of those concentrations overlap with antidepressant levels already measured in polluted waterways. The study only demonstrates effects on isolated molecular targets, but it raises an interesting problem for pharmaceutical pollution: Drugs designed for human biology don't necessarily stop being biologically active once they leave humans. @IsleyResistance

Humanity: fills the planet with plastic. Kimchi bacteria: Fine. I'll handle it. 🦠 Researchers isolated a bacterium from kimchi that proved remarkably good at binding polystyrene nanoplastics, even under simulated intestinal conditions. Then they gave it to mice. The treated mice excreted more than twice as much nanoplastic as controls. Maybe Kimchi Jjigae was exactly what the doctor ordered. @IsleyResistance

The EPA has repealed federal carbon limits for coal- and gas-fired power plants, rules projected to have prevented one billion metric tons of greenhouse-gas emissions by 2047. The administration says the rollback will save the power industry more than $300 billion, strengthen grid reliability and help meet surging electricity demand from AI and data centers. It has also proposed making it harder for future administrations to regulate power-plant greenhouse gases at all. Power plants generate roughly one-quarter of U.S. climate pollution, but if we compare ourselves to the entire planet, apparently everyone’s individual contribution becomes someone else’s problem. The repeal is expected to face immediate legal challenges. Do we need fewer environmental regulations or greater environmental accountability? @IsleyResistance

Let’s separate fact from fiction. You may have seen viral posts on social media claiming by 2027 all new cars in the United States will be required to implement a “kill switch” that would allow the vehicle to be remotely turned off if a driver is suspected of drunk or impaired driving. While there is some truth to these claims, there’s also false information spreading. @DBrozeLiveFree

Hemp has apparently found another job. Researchers turned the woody waste left over from industrial hemp production into cellulose that can reinforce biodegradable plastic. At 10% hemp-derived cellulose, the resulting film was 26.2% stronger, while also doing a better job of blocking moisture and oxygen. Even better: researchers think the technique could eventually work with other agricultural waste like rice straw and soybean stalks. Agricultural trash → tougher biodegradable materials is a recycling pipeline I can get behind. @IsleyResistance

As digital ID programs expand around the world, concerns about governments mandating the IDs for access to basic services are also on the rise. While these programs may start out as optional, over time it becomes clear they are needed to survive in our ever increasingly digital world. In this report, Derrick Broze looks at programs in Malaysia and the UK. He also discusses so-called digital drivers licenses rolling out in the United States. Are digital ID programs about convenience or simply another tool for controlling the citizenry? @DBrozeLiveFree

Lab mice may finally be able to update their résumés. 🐁 Researchers have developed a microfluidic device that keeps 3D cell models alive under flowing conditions designed to better resemble what cells experience inside the human body. The technology could provide more realistic ways to test drugs, materials and pollutants and potentially reduce the need for animal testing. Turns out the best model for human biology may increasingly be… human biology @IsleyResistance

What happens when you're conscious… but there's almost nothing left to be conscious of? Researchers studying experienced meditators found distinctive patterns of brain activity during reported states of “pure awareness”: when thoughts, sensory perceptions and even awareness of the body, time and space become greatly reduced. Turns out thinking about nothing is surprisingly complicated. The study could give neuroscientists a new way to investigate one of the strangest questions in consciousness research: What is the minimum required for there to still be an experience at all? 🧠 @IsleyResistance

A hacker group known as stegan0gram recently tore down a Flock camera, gained access to the hard drive, and stole the data to better understand how the cameras operate. The hackers found that over 21-day period the camera photographed roughly 50,200 vehicles and generated about 1.6 million images. They also discovered that the Flock camera not only captures license plates, but people, bicycles, and bumper stickers. The group shared the information with Wired and 404 Media leading to a joint investigation by the outlets. @DBrozeLiveFree

🍄 Magic mushrooms may have found another medical application. Researchers found that psilocybin given before chemotherapy prevented nerve damage, protecting sensory nerve endings and preserving sensation even through repeated chemotherapy cycles. The effect appears to involve serotonin 5-HT2A receptors—and even stranger? A non-hallucinogenic compound targeting the same receptor produced similar protection. The research is still preclinical, but a Phase 2 human trial is next. @IsleyResistance

Scientists took LSD apart piece by piece to figure out which parts of the molecule actually make it psychedelic. They created nine simplified LSD-derived compounds and found that one of them produced antipsychotic-like effects (in mice). Apparently LSD is less a drug and more a molecular Lego set, who knows what we’ll build next? @IsleyResistance