Free Republic

Law enforcement agencies all over Southern California are looking to technology to help quell some of the controversy that inevitably erupts following an officer-involved shooting. From Los Angeles, to Rialto, to Hawthorne, agencies believe cameras can offer transparency in future officer-involved shootings by capturing events on video as they unfold. At Tuesday’s police commission, LAPD Inspector General Alexander Bustamante said an audit of the department’s 21 stations found cameras that were not working, placed in locations with little to no view of holding cells and that lacked “full coverage” of lobbies and other areas where the public has unrestricted access....

The 1-ton Curiosity rover had been heading for Mount Sharp - a 3.4-mile-high (5.5 kilometers) mountain in the center of Mars' Gale Crater - via 'Hidden Valley' - a low-lying sandy landscape about the length of a football field. However, Curiosity turned back shortly after entering the valley's northeastern end earlier this month after finding that the sand surprisingly slippery, NASA officials said. 'We need to gain a better understanding of the interaction between the wheels and Martian sand ripples, and Hidden Valley is not a good location for experimenting,' Curiosity project manager Jim Erickson, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory...

Engine technology being developed for a British space plane could also find its way into hypersonic aircraft built by the U.S. military. The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory is studying hypersonic vehicles that would use the Synergetic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine (SABRE), which the English company Reaction Engines Ltd. is working on to power the Skylon space plane, AFRL officials said. "AFRL is formulating plans to look at advanced vehicle concepts based on Reaction Engine's heat-exchanger technology and SABRE engine concept," officials with AFRL, which is based in Ohio, told Space.com via email last month. ... SABRE burns hydrogen and oxygen....

The weather is pounding the Mexican capital for second straight day, and some areas are already flooded. ... Also, Periférico avenue, an important road surrounding Mexico City, continues facing flooding in the northern area of the city.

African nations hit hard by the Ebola outbreak should start screening all passengers leaving international airports, seaports and major ground crossings, the World Health Organization recommended Monday. The United Nations' health agency reiterated that the risk of passengers transmitting the Ebola virus during air travel is low. Still, anyone with an illness or symptoms typical of the highly virulent disease shouldn't be allowed to travel unless it's for appropriate medical care, the agency said in a statement. Symptoms of Ebola include a sudden fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat. This is followed by vomiting, diarrhea, rash, poor...

Many people who downloaded last week’s Windows 8.1 patch have experienced blue screens of death, and looping system restarts. In fact, the problem has been so significant, that Microsoft has pulled the patches from Windows Update. They also recommend that you uninstall them. In all, the problems have been associated with four patches, which aimed to address a number of issues. Aside from the symptoms associated with system instability, these could cause problems with any of your computer’s fonts in the event that any of them aren’t installed in the typical fonts directory in Windows.

The FAA had previously warned American carriers to avoid flying over Syria. The new rule requires operators to contact the FAA before operating in the airspace. The agency said the move was taken after "updated assessment of risk" and a lack of airlines wishing to fly in the airspace. "The ongoing armed conflict and volatile security environment in Syria poses a serious potential threat to civil aviation," the FAA said in a statement. ... The ban applies to all U.S.-registered planes, commercial operators and FAA-licensed pilots. It makes an exception for flights operated with U.S. government permission and U.S.-registered aircraft...

Engineers in the United States have developed an innovative new system of camouflage based on the color-changing abilities of cephalopods, namely octopus, cuttlefish, and squid. The mechanism used by the animals was emulated to a high degree by the researchers, who even utilized a similar layering pattern in their work... In cephalopods, the colors surrounding it are sensed, and then the animal uses its muscles to change color, using cells containing pigment, known as chromatophores to change color. In their work, which is published in the journal PNAS, the engineers used photosensors to detect light levels, and then deliver this...

The Indian Foreign Ministry said it wouldn't take part in discussions set for next week after Pakistan's envoy in India met with separatist leaders from Jammu and Kashmir, an Indian state also claimed by Pakistan. India's foreign secretary told the Pakistani envoy "that Pakistan's continued efforts to interfere in India's internal affairs were unacceptable," said Syed Akbaruddin, the Foreign Ministry spokesman. "Under the present circumstances, it is felt that no useful purpose will be served" by a meeting between the two sides ... This month has seen a sharp increase in violations of a 2003 cease-fire agreement aimed at reducing...

Capt. James is one of the world's most celebrated lifesavers. His lifesaving began at age 15 when he joined the Massachusetts Humane Society. Over the years, until the age of 75, he was credited with saving more than 600 lives until his death at age 75. He was on duty with the U.S. Life-Saving Service, which later merged with the U.S. Coast Guard. Ingalls has delivered three NSCs, and three more, including James, are currently under construction. A seventh NSC, Kimball WMSL 756, is scheduled to begin construction in early 2015. James is scheduled to deliver next summer. "Teamed with...

Health officials continue to monitor a Bernalillo County woman showing symptoms similar to the Ebola virus. The woman was traveling in the West African nation of Sierra Leone at the beginning of the month. She then returned to Albuquerque and soon after began to develop symptoms on Friday. She was admitted to UNM Hospital on Saturday. The patient is currently undergoing a series of tests and remains in isolation at the hospital -- blood samples will go to the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. Health officials say this is not a highly probable case of the virus, but because...

Social media was buzzing on the night of August 11th when several people managed to snap photographs of what appeared to be an oval-shaped craft in the sky over Houston during stormy weather. Some of the images showed the object, which seemed to have a single point of light in its center, situated in the foreground with dark storm clouds looming menacingly behind it. The disc was pictured from several angles by different witnesses and seemed to change position in the air multiple times. "The more people who see it in different directions, the more likely we are to figure...

The future of commercial aviation may be upon us and it could resemble something out of a Marvel movie. A windowless jet concept by the name of the ‘Ixion’ was unveiled at the National Business Aviation Associate Show by a company named Technicon. The Ixion was instantly a hit with the crowd and it quickly created a buzz around the showroom floor. What was so amazing about this vehicle? It lacked windows. Two of the most common fears in the world are claustrophobia and the fear of flying. So should we really be surprised that people have reservations about flying...

USA Basketball officials announced they have canceled a trip to Senegal this month because of concerns about the Ebola virus. The World Health Organization has called the deadly disease a “public health emergency of international concern,” which USA Basketball Chairman Jerry Colangelo tells ESPN’s Marc Stein left him no choice but to cancel the August 27 trip to the West African nation. “Although the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] does not yet suspect any cases in Senegal, the country’s position as a neighboring country to Guinea and Dakar’s role as a gateway to West Africa heightened our concern,” Colangelo...

A man has died after 35 people - including children - were found in a shipping container at Tilbury Docks. The survivors - believed to be from the Indian subcontinent and suffering from severe dehydration and hypothermia - are being treated at nearby hospitals. They were discovered after a freighter arrived from Zeebrugge, Belgium at about 06:00 BST and was being unloaded. Essex Police has launched a homicide investigation and officers are being assisted by their Belgian counterparts. Police Supt Trevor Roe said staff at the docks were alerted to the container by "screaming and banging" from inside

Sprajc and his team found the massive remains as they further explored the area around Chactun, a large Maya city discovered by the Slovenian archaeologist in 2013. No other site has so far been located in this area, which extends over some 1800 square miles, between the so-called Rio Bec and Chenes regions, both known for their characteristic architectural styles fashioned during the Late and Terminal Classic periods, around 600 - 1000 A.D. One of the cities featured an extraordinary facade with an entrance representing the open jaws of an earth monster. The site was actually visited in the 1970s...

The black box recovered from the wreckage of the plane crash that killed Brazilian presidential candidate Eduardo Campos did not record his flight, Brazilian Air Force (FAB) says. It said the audio recording FAB experts had analysed was not related to the flight that crashed on Wednesday. A spokesman said they were trying to determine what the recording was. Mr Campos and six others died when his private jet crashed in bad weather in the port city of Santos near Sao Paulo. Experts from the Centre of Investigation and Prevention of Aeronautical Accidents in the Brazilian capital, Brasilia, have been...

If there really is a UFO conspiracy, it's surely the worst-kept secret in history. Roswell, Area 51, flashing lights, little green men, abductions – it's all been fed through the pop culture mill to the point of fatigue. Even the supposed enforcers of the secret, the "men in black", have their own movie franchise. But a new documentary, Mirage Men, unearths compelling evidence that UFO folklore was actually fabricated by the US government. Rather than covering up the existence of aliens, could it be that the real conspiracy has been persuading us to believe in them? Mirage Men's chief coup...

A Chinese national has been indicted by a federal grand jury on five felony offenses of computer hacking in a scheme involving the theft of trade secrets from American defense contractors, including Boeing. Su Bin, whose aliases include Stephen Su, Stephen Subin and Steven Subin, was named in the indictment returned Thursday and filed in United States District Court. According to the indictment, Su, a 49-year-old businessman, worked with two unindicted co-conspirators based in China to infiltrate computer systems and steal confidential information about military programs, including the C-17 transport aircraft, the F-22 fighter jet and the F-35 fighter jet....

Money moved from accounts of 3 passengers into 4th passenger's accounts Five months after the Malaysia Airlines flight went missing, mysterious withdrawals totaling 111,000 RM (£20,916) have been recorded, reports claim. A bank in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, reported the apparent discrepancies in their accounts on July 18, before lodging a police complaint, Assistant Commissioner to the crime investigation department Izany Abdul Ghany revealed. According to reports, the transactions were made on July 18 when money from the accounts of three passengers was transferred to the account of a fourth passenger before it was removed. 'We are investigating the case as...