Ian Kenway @iankenway@social.cleverlibre.org
Director of the Centre for Information Ethics and Public Policy
Personal website:
My interests include:
#cyberethics #privacy #censorship #encryption #steganography #decentralised_internet #AI #philosophy #ethics #politics #psychedelic_research #music #film #symi #mycology
Joined Oct 2018
Ian Kenway
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Geneticists close in on how mosquitoes sniff out human sweat
A protein in the antennae of Aedes aegypti detects lactic acid wafting off skin
Geneticists have found a scent-sniffer protein molecule in mosquito antennae that — if somehow jammed — might leave a bloodsucker confused about whether we’re human enough to bite.
Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which can spread Zika and dengue, prefer human blood to the blood of other animals. A string of experiments now shows that a protein called IR8a, found in the insects’ antennae, is one of the molecules necessary for detecting lactic acid, a component of human sweat, wafting by.
Human skin and its microbiome give off a lot of lactic acid compared with other vertebrates’, says geneticist Matthew DeGennaro of Florida International University in Miami. Researchers since the 1960s have mused that lactic acid might be one of the big clues Ae. aegypti mosquitoes use to pick out humans.
IR8a’s role in detecting traces of acids in the air was revealed in part by evidence from how mutant mosquitoes behave. Mutants with nonworking IR8a, but with their other abilities intact, were only about half as likely to settle on a human arm or sweat-stained sock as normal mosquitoes, DeGennaro and colleagues report March 28 in Current Biology.
Insects evolved odor detection separately from vertebrates, and the six-legged version is “very complex,” DeGennaro says. Mosquitoes rely on three families of odor-sniffing proteins that have overlapping abilities to identify groups of airborne chemical compounds. Proteins called ionotropic receptors, which include IR8a, target acids among other compounds. As a mosquito hunts, the floating chemical cues get combined with other information such as atmospheric heat, moisture and the sight of something biteable. DeGennaro calls carbon dioxide “mosquito coffee,” revving the insects up to get to work seeking a meal. READ MORE >>>>>>> https://www.sciencenews.org/article/genetics-how-mosquitoes-sniff-out-human-sweat
Ian Kenway
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I've had problems recently with emails reaching Gmail accounts!
In my opinion Google is actually a greater threat to democracy than Facebook!
I've had problems recently with emails reaching Gmail accounts!
In my opinion Google is actually a greater threat to democracy than Facebook!
#politics #brexit #eu #uk #democracy
Another appalling statement by Theresa May. She just doesn't get it. The 2016 EU Referendum was flawed and fraudulent. Brexit must not be delivered in any circumstance whatsoever unless substantially mandated by a People's Vote.
If Jeremy Corbyn has any sense, he should give May's invitation a very wide berth indeed.
Ian Kenway
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Ian Kenway
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Retail has become so volatile all around our town. So many closures, fewer openings, many businesses passed from hand to hand. I blame #austerity and economic policy, which #brexit helps distract the public from. #manchester #uk
Ian Kenway
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Ian Kenway
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RT @nickreeves9876@twitter.com
It was criminal folly to trigger Article 50 without it being clear that there was a Commons and public majority for a realistic #Brexit plan. MPs allowed themselves to be intimidated by the Brexit billionaire press into perhaps the most foolish action in Parliamentary history.
🐦🔗: https://twitter.com/nickreeves9876/status/1112829332404293632
It was criminal folly to trigger Article 50 without it being clear that there was a Commons and public majority for a realistic #Brexit plan. MPs allowed themselves to be intimidated by the Brexit billionaire press into perhaps the most foolish action in Parliamentary history.
🐦🔗: https://twitter.com/nickreeves9876/status/1112829332404293632
Ian Kenway
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RT @nickreeves9876@twitter.com
Lord Sugar said Boris Johnson and Michael Gove should be in prison over Brexit 'lies'. Please RT if you agree with him!
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-lord-sugar-boris-johnson-michael-gove-vote-leave-prison-jail-lies-350-million-a7877601.html
#PeoplesVote #RevokeArticle50 #Brexit
🐦🔗: https://twitter.com/nickreeves9876/status/1112812371590959115
Lord Sugar said Boris Johnson and Michael Gove should be in prison over Brexit 'lies'. Please RT if you agree with him!
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-lord-sugar-boris-johnson-michael-gove-vote-leave-prison-jail-lies-350-million-a7877601.html
#PeoplesVote #RevokeArticle50 #Brexit
🐦🔗: https://twitter.com/nickreeves9876/status/1112812371590959115
#poltics #brexit #eu #uk #democracy
BREXIT - It's now either crash out of the EU, revoke Article 50 immediately or introduce emergency legislation enabling a Second Referendum with the same binary choice as in 2016! Bob Dylan got there first on 'Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again':
An’ here I sit so patiently
Waiting to find out what price
You have to pay to get out of
Going through all these things twice
Oh, Mama, can this really be the end
To be stuck inside of Mobile
With the Memphis blues again.
#politics #brexit #eu #uk #democracy #environment #ecology #climate_change #climatechange
Brexit vote: Nude environmental protesters storm public gallery in Commons
At one level, a bit silly and childish, but on another level profound and brave. There are things more important than Brexit and climate change is one of them. An offence to public decency? Methinks not, that was taking place not in the gallery but on the floor of the House - an offence that indeed has been taking place for at least forty years. My only regret is that the protesters didn't have the nerve to cast aside modesty altogether in this instance!
Ian Kenway
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Why we moved our servers to Iceland
In the last few months, we moved our servers gradually to Iceland. In this blog post, I’d like to explain how we’ve achieved that, and most importantly, why. It wasn’t an easy process and I would like to share our learnings. There are some technical parts in this article which I’ve tried to write in an understandable way, but forgive me if it’s too technical.
https://blog.simpleanalytics.io/why-we-moved-our-servers-to-iceland
#politics #brexit #eu #uk #democracy
Fascism is alive and well in the UK
What yer gonna do?
Dominic Grieve loses confidence vote held by Beaconsfield Tories
#politics #brexit #eu #uk #democracy
Labour frontbencher resigns to vote against second referendum
In all my life I have never witnessed such chaos and reckless stupidity. Can it really be true that I only have fifteen days to enjoy my EU citizenship (despite the majority of people in the UK wanting to remain in the Union)?
The UK Government has failed miserably. The UK Parliament has failed miserably. If people aren’t allowed (are we children?) a second vote, then I think we shall see civil disobedience in the UK on a massive and wholly unprecedented scale. The only real question is the degree of unruliness and violence (which I believe is almost inevitable). Martial law is certainly on my radar!
#politics #brexit #eu #uk #democracy
More Cherry Picking!
(Same Old. Same Old. Same Old.)
Labour considers backing 'common market 2.0' soft Brexit
BUT!
Brexit: a Norwegian view on the Norway-plus model and why it wouldn’t be easy for the UK
Director of the Centre for Information Ethics and Public Policy
Personal website:
My interests include:
#cyberethics #privacy #censorship #encryption #steganography #decentralised_internet #AI #philosophy #ethics #politics #psychedelic_research #music #film #symi #mycology
Joined Oct 2018
