The Daily Populous

Saudi Arabia women abandon abaya cloak in public

Defiant Saudi Arabian woman Mashael al-Jaloud has stunned onlookers on the streets of Riyadh by walking around without wearing the customary abaya.

Defiant Saudi Arabian women have stunned onlookers on the streets of Riyadh by walking around without wearing the customary body-shrouding garments.

Despite the risk of provoking arch-conservatives, many women are now leaving their cloaks open in the front or wear them in bright colours.

Mashael al-Jaloud has taken the cultural rebellion a step further — she stopped wearing the robe altogether.

Some women subsequently mounted a rare social media protest against the restriction, posting pictures of themselves wearing the figure-concealing garment inside out.

But the trend underscores a bold push for social liberties by young Saudis that may outstrip the monarchy’s capacity for change.

“If it was, Saudi women wouldn’t take them off when they go outside the kingdom,” she said. »

Facebook removed doctors' fact-check of false anti-abortion video because Ted Cruz complained

Authored by salon.com

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Using fungi to fix bridges

Authored by binghamton.edu

This research is the first application of fungi for self-healing concrete, a low-cost, pollution-free and sustainable approach.

Jin’s studies have looked specifically at concrete and found that the problem stems from the smallest of cracks in the concrete.

With enough water and oxygen, the dormant fungal spores will germinate, grow and precipitate calcium carbonate to heal the cracks,” explained Jin. »

NY finds $1B in hidden transfers by family behind OxyContin

Authored by ctvnews.ca

NEW YORK -- The family that owns OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma used Swiss and other hidden accounts to transfer $1 billion to themselves, New York's attorney general contends in court papers filed Friday.

New York -- asking a judge to enforce subpoenas of companies, banks and advisers to Purdue and its owners, the Sackler family -- said it has uncovered the previously unknown wire transfers among family members, entities they control and several financial institutions.

Another $64 million in transfers to Sackler came from a previously unknown family trust, using a Swiss account, prosecutors said in their filing. »

Scientists detect tones in the ringing of a newborn black hole for the first time

Authored by news.mit.edu

Now, physicists from MIT and elsewhere have studied the ringing of an infant black hole, and found that the pattern of this ringing does, in fact, predict the black hole’s mass and spin — more evidence that Einstein was right all along.

The researchers were able to identify the pattern of a black hole’s ringing, and, using Einstein’s equations, calculated the mass and spin that the black hole should have, given its ringing pattern.

These calculations matched measurements of the black hole’s mass and spin made previously by others. »