Author: quannd
GRAND JUNCTION — Former Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Tina Peters was sentenced Thursday to nine years behind bars by a judge who labeled her a “charlatan” for her role in a 2021 breach of her own county’s election system. Peters will serve 60 days to six months in the Mesa County jail before she is transferred to the state Department of Corrections. Peters was handcuffed and taken to jail immediately after she was sentenced. As deputies removed her from the courtroom, Peters at the last instant raised her shackled hands, fluttered a wave and a blew a kiss to…
Renault hasn’t been offered in the United States for more than 30 years, but the introduction of the new hydrogen-powered Emblème will make you wish the quirky French brand stayed. In all fairness, the striking creation is a concept, but the elegant design will inform future models. The Emblème will make its official debut at the Paris Motor Show from 14-20 October. While the world gravitates towards crossovers and SUVs, the Emblème is an interesting cross between a coupe and a wagon, providing it with a shooting brake-style appearance. Measuring 188.9 inches long, the concept is about the same size…
A red dwarf star known as Barnard’s star, which lies a mere six light-years from our solar system, has at least one — and possibly a handful — of small rocky planets orbiting it, a new study suggests. Barnard’s star, which is about one-sixth the mass of our sun, is the closest individual star to our solar system. Only the three stars in the Alpha Centauri system are closer. Due to its proximity to Earth, Barnard’s star has long been a target of astronomers looking for exoplanets (SN: 12/1/73, SN: 12/7/23). Tell us about your Science News experience Help us…
In the brain of a singular fruit fly, nerve cells weave themselves together, enabling flight, mating, eating, sleeping and every other activity of her fly life. Now, in nine papers published October 2 in Nature, scientists report the first complete map of her nerve cells — all 139,255 of them, to be exact — and their 54.5 million connections. This whole-brain map, traced over years with painstaking precision, is tiny but exquisite: It holds 149.2 meters of neural wiring, all tidily packed into a brain about the size of a poppy seed. As such, this map shows how neural information…
The word “bionic” conjures sci-fi visions of humans enhanced to superhuman levels. It’s true that engineering advances such as better motors and batteries, together with modern computing, mean that the required mechanical and electronic systems are no longer a barrier to advanced prostheses. But the field has struggled to integrate these powerful machines with the human body. That’s starting to change. A recent trial tested one new integration technique, which involves surgically reconstructing muscle pairs that give recipients a sense of the position and movement of a bionic limb. Signals from those muscles control robotic joints, so the prosthesis is…
Some tadpoles don’t poop for the first weeks of their lives. At least, that’s the case for Eiffinger’s tree frogs (Kurixalus eiffingeri), scientists report September 22 in Ecology. Eiffinger’s tree frogs are tiny frogs that live in Taiwan and on two Japanese islands: Ishigaki and Iriomote. The tree-dwelling amphibians lay their eggs in puny puddles, which are often nestled in plant stems, tree hollows and bamboo stumps. Once the tadpoles hatch, they spend their early lives in these puddles. However, in pools as small as these, there’s not a lot of water to dilute ammonia — a toxic chemical animals…
A new Latino-focused ad for Vice President Harris is courting Hispanic battleground voters by highlighting her record as attorney general of California. The bilingual ad, dubbed either “Why Do We Fight” or “Luchamos,” is part of a larger push to reach Hispanic voters amid Democratic concerns over Republicans making advances with the demographic. “She fought for car wash workers cheated out of their pay,” says the ad’s voiceover, referencing a 2012 case where the California Department of Justice, under Harris, won more than $1 million in restitution of unpaid wages from eight car washes. “She fought corrupt banks that kicked families out…
CPR covered each day of the Peters’ trial. You can read our explainer of the case here, and catch up on individual days here.Updated on Oct. 3, 2024, at 2:30 p.m.Tina Peters is headed to prison. The former Mesa County Clerk was sentenced to nine years of incarceration, most of which will be served in the Colorado Department of Corrections. Peters’ attorneys indicated they plan to appeal.21st Judicial District Judge Matthew Barrett preceded his sentence with a blistering critique of her actions and attitude, calling Peters an attention-seeking former official who only thinks about herself. “You are no hero,” Barrett told Peters. “You’re a charlatan…
Eminem killed off his alter ego Slim Shady with his latest album, but he’s making way for a new nickname: Grandpa. The rapper announced his daughter Hailie Jade is pregnant through a touching music video that is a tribute to their relationship. Home videos dating back to 1999 and photos of the father-daughter duo, along with videos from her May wedding, are underscored by the emotional song “Temporary” in the video released Thursday. In one clip of a recent home video, his daughter hands Eminem a jersey with the name “Grandpa” emblazoned on the back with the number 1. She…
UPDATE 4/4: The problems with the PlayStation Network did not last long at all. According to Sony, PSN services have all been fully restored, with the PSN Status page updated accordingly. Original story follows. PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 gamers may be experiencing some difficulty playing games online right now, as PSN is currently down. All online services go down occasionally, but luckily for PlayStation fans, PSN downtimes are typically not all that long. Last month, PSN went down for a couple of hours, with users unable to play online games or access any of the platform’s other online features.…