Tag Archives: measure

Health

Teen gets USB cable stuck in penis in backfired attempt to measure length

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He backed up his hard drive — and his penis.

A U.K. teen had to undergo emergency surgery after a bananas attempt to measure his manhood resulted in him getting a USB cable lodged in his urethra.

The phallic fiasco reportedly began after an unnamed 15-year-old boy was “triggered by sexual curiosity” and inserted a USB wire into his urethra, per a wince-worthy study published in the medical journal Urology Case Reports.

The sexperiment backfired when the cable became lodged in the curious teen’s scrotum like an electronic catheter. Despite attempts to extract it himself, the USB cord became tangled so terribly that both ends were left hanging out of his wired willy.

In a bizarre attempt to measure his penis, a UK teen was rushed to a hospital after trying to insert a USB wire into his urethra.
(AP Photo/Kyle Gree)

HORSE TRANQUILIZER CROPS UP IN OVERDOSE DEATHS AROUND US

The plugged-up boy’s family transported him to the hospital after he began urinating blood. After initial attempts to remove the wire failed, the teen was transferred to University College Hospital London to see if they could extricate the intra-penile measuring tape.

Per the report, the embarrassed boy asked to speak to doctors without his mother present, whereupon he “confessed” to his frightening escapade.

Subsequent X-rays revealed that there was a veritable Gordian Knot of USB wire inside the teenager, which required surgeons to make an incision in the region between his genitals and anus to yank it out. They pulled the spooled end through the hole first, cutting it free from the rest of the wire before removing the remaining bits — literally pulling the plug.

Thankfully, the boy recovered without incident and was discharged from the hospital the following day. However, he did have to undergo a follow-up scan two weeks later and will require monitoring in the future.

US OVERDOSE DEATHS HIT RECORD 93,000 AMID CORONAVIRUS LAST YEAR

He should thank his lucky stars. Inserting foreign objects in one’s private parts can lead to a host of complications, from urinary tract infections to urethral injuries, London andrologist Amr Raheem told the Daily Mail.

It’s unclear why someone would engage in this type of invasive member-measuring method, but experts say it often stems from “sexual curiosity, sexual practice after intoxication, and mental disorders such as borderline, schizoaffective and bipolar personality disorders,” per the study, which noted that “the patient was an otherwise fit and healthy adolescent with no history of mental health disorders.”

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Experts have also blamed “sounding,” a strange proclivity defined by inserting foreign bodies in one’s urethra. Last month, a randy Michigan man was left struggling to pee after he got six kidney beans lodged in his urethra during a bizarre attempt at sexual gratification.

Unfortunately, Raheem said phallus-filling maneuvers are “becoming more common as everything is thanks to social media and in general the easier ways that misinformation can be spread.”

This story first appeared in the New York Post

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Business

Key inflation measure hits new record high — yet again

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Producer price inflation, which measures the prices US producers receive for their goods and services, rose 7.8% over the 12 months ended in July. That was more than economists had expected and marked a new record high since the Bureau of Labor Statistics first began calculating the index in November 2010.

The two apparently contradictory data points are “a mix that will keep inflation concerns alive even as economists will continue to expect a slowing in monthly price gains into year-end,” economists from Action Economics wrote in a research note to clients.

The pandemic-era inflation spike has sparked concerns that an overheating economy could stop Americans from spending, which would be terrible for the recovery. Investors are also worried that higher-than-anticipated inflation could force the Federal Reserve to alter its policies sooner than hoped, though so far the central bank has stuck to the script that higher prices are only temporary.

“Producer price inflation will slow in the next 12 months as supply chain conditions improve and the economy puts to work its large margin of underutilized productive capacity,” said PNC Senior Economist Bill Adams in emailed comments.

In July alone, producer prices rose a seasonally adjusted 1%, nearly double what analysts had forecast. Most of the jump was because of higher prices for services, and within that higher margins received by wholesalers and retailers, particularly for cars and car parts.

Prices for travel services also increased, including airlines and accommodation, hospital outpatient care and machinery wholesaling, among others.

But stripping out more volatile components, such as food, energy and trade services, inflation still rose sharply in July. For the 12 months ended in July, prices rose 6.1%, the biggest increase since the BLS first started calculating this data in August 2014. For the month alone, prices rose 0.9%.

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US

Democrats say they have the votes to advance $3.5T budget measure

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Senate Democrats say they have the votes needed to pass a $3.5 trillion budget resolution, which would green light a massive spending measure packed with President BidenJoe BidenBriahna Joy Gray: White House thinks extending student loan pause is a ‘bad look’ Biden to meet with 11 Democratic lawmakers on DACA: report Former New York state Senate candidate charged in riot MORE’s top legislative priorities.

In addition to the $1.2 trillion bipartisan deal currently being debated by the Senate, Democrats are expected to try to pass a $3.5 trillion bill along party lines through a budget process that lets them bypass a GOP filibuster.

In order to do that, they first need to pass a budget resolution that will include the top-line figure and instructions for crafting the Democratic-only bill, which will require total unity from all 50 members of the Democratic caucus.

Senate Majority Leader Charles SchumerChuck SchumerBiden to meet with 11 Democratic lawmakers on DACA: report Schumer’s moment to transform transit and deepen democracy Pelosi, Schumer vow climate action: ‘It is an imperative’ MORE (D-N.Y.), speaking from the floor, said Democrats were “on track” to pass both before leaving for a weeks-long August break.

“In order to start work on a reconciliation bill, the Senate must pass a budget resolution first. And we are on track for that as well,” Schumer said.

Schumer’s update comes after the Senate, with the support of 17 GOP senators, agreed to take up a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure deal. Because the text of the agreement is still being finalized, the Senate is advancing a shell bill that they will swap the language into once it is finished.

Senators are warning that debate of the bipartisan deal could eat up a week or two of floor time, with Republicans pushing for a robust amendment process.

But after, or if, they pass the bipartisan bill, Democrats are expected to turn to the budget resolution. Schumer said they have the 50 votes needed to avoid a filibuster.

“I’m proud of my Democratic caucus, every one of them voting yesterday for this [bipartisan] bill and all pledging to go forward on the second track as well,” Schumer said referring to the budget resolution.

Schumer, Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie SandersBernie SandersBriahna Joy Gray: White House thinks extending student loan pause is a ‘bad look’ Lawmakers can’t reconcile weakening the SALT cap with progressive goals Human rights can’t be a sacrificial lamb for climate action MORE (I-Vt.) and Budget Committee Democrats announced earlier this month that they had agreed to a $3.5 trillion price tag for the budget resolution and subsequent spending package.

Sanders told reporters that he expects to have 50 votes from the Democratic caucus for the budget resolution, which he predicted to come to the floor next week.

“As I understand it, next week we’re going to have 50 votes in order to pass a 3 1/2 trillion dollar budget resolution,” he said.

A key group of moderate senators hasn’t committed to supporting the massive spending package itself, which will include top party priorities including immigration reform, expanding Medicare and combating climate change. The Senate isn’t expected to vote on that bill until at least September, and Democrats have warned it could slip beyond that.

But they are signaling they will vote to take up the budget resolution to get the process started.

Sen. Jon TesterJonathan (Jon) TesterSenate votes to take up infrastructure deal GOP, Democrats battle over masks in House, Senate Sinema says she opposes .5T price tag for spending bill MORE (D-Mont.) has said he will vote to start debate. Sen. Joe ManchinJoe ManchinSenate votes to take up infrastructure deal GOP, Democrats battle over masks in House, Senate Sinema says she opposes .5T price tag for spending bill MORE (D-W.Va.) told reporters on Wednesday that he supported moving forward with the budget resolution and described himself as open to the details.

“I’m looking. I’m not saying whether I can or I can’t,” he said.

And while Sen. Kyrsten SinemaKyrsten SinemaOcasio-Cortez, Bush criticize lack of diversity among negotiators on latest infrastructure deal Fetterman slams Sinema over infrastructure: ‘Democrats need to vote like Democrats’ Senate votes to take up infrastructure deal MORE (D-Ariz.) said Wednesday that she doesn’t support a $3.5 trillion price tag on the eventual bill, she added that she has “made clear that … I will support beginning this process.”



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US

New GDP figures to offer first measure of Biden economy

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The first official glimpse into the strength of the economy under President BidenJoe BidenRealClearPolitics reporter says Freedom Caucus shows how much GOP changed under Trump Iowa governor suggests immigrants partially to blame for rising COVID-19 cases Biden officials pledge to confront cybersecurity challenges head-on MORE comes Thursday morning with a government report measuring growth during the second quarter. 

The Commerce Department on Thursday will release its estimate of gross domestic product (GDP) between April and June, and economists are expecting to see robust gains following a tepid start to the year. 

The second quarter kicked off just days after Biden signed a $1.9 trillion economic relief bill authorizing another round of stimulus checks, extended enhanced jobless aid and hundreds of billions of dollars in relief across various sectors of the economy.

The financial boost, combined with rising vaccination rates and loosening pandemic restrictions, helped unleash more than a year of pent-up consumer demand that likely kicked the recovery up a notch, according to economists. 

Beth Ann Bovino, chief U.S. economist at S&P Global Ratings, said she expects Thursday’s figures will show the economy expanded at an 11 percent pace during the second quarter, well above the consensus estimate of 8 percent. 

“People felt confident and safe and started to go out and spend,” Bovino said. 

“Yes, the [stimulus checks] were certainly a help, but I think the ball was already in motion,” she said. “Even back in December, they couldn’t spend fast enough, they were sitting on so much cash.” 

Biden and congressional Democrats have been eager to highlight a strong economic rebound as they push their multitrillion-dollar infrastructure and social services agenda. A strong GDP report, following a gain of 1.7 million jobs in the second quarter, could give those efforts a valuable boost. 

Constance Hunter, chief economist at KPMG, said the Commerce Department report will also reveal how businesses are adapting to the second year of the pandemic, particularly as millions of Americans remain unable or feel unsafe to return to work. 

“We anticipate that investment in software and computer equipment and R&D is going to continue to be a strong driver of growth not just now but in the future,” she said, noting that “the level of uncertainty” around the pandemic “is really driving businesses to want to get more information and insights out of their data.” 

But that pandemic-driven uncertainty may have also taken a chunk out of growth as the rush of demand overwhelmed global supply chains still gearing up after nearly a year of shutdowns. Wide-ranging supply shortages have also driven inflation higher than many economists had expected, and the COVID-19 delta variant has threatened to upend global shipping lines once more. 

“That is really worrisome,” Hunter said. “What we’ve seen over and over again is that a single small supply chain bottleneck can have significant ripple effects throughout the economy.” 

While Thursday will shed light into how much those emerging factors hindered the economy during the spring, the report may offer little help for the White House and Federal Reserve as each attempts to navigate concerns about the resilience of the U.S. economy. 

The Fed is concluding a two-day policy meeting on Wednesday, with Chairman Jerome Powell slated to provide more insight that afternoon on the central bank’s approach to bolstering the economy. 

Powell is certain to face questions from reporters over how soon the Fed plans to reduce its monthly purchases of Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities, a process kicked off in March 2020 to prevent credit markets from seizing. 

The Fed chief has been able to keep the central bank united behind its pledge not to pull back on stimulus until the economy is close to full employment and on track to exceed its inflation target of 2 percent. But rising consumer and housing prices have stoked an internal debate within the Fed’s rate-setting committee over a quicker taper. 

The Fed is unlikely to announce its plans to pare back its bond purchases Wednesday, nor will it raise interest rates from the current baseline range of zero to 0.25 percent. Soaring cases of the COVID-19 delta variant could also prompt more caution from the Fed with economic activity likely to fall off slightly, if not nearly as much as March 2020. 

“It’s hard to forecast exactly when, where and how the delta variant rising in certain parts of the world can impact the global economy. But we’re very cognizant that the risks could be really significant,” Hunter said.



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World

Myanmar: 14 House Republicans vote against a measure condemning military coup

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Every House Democrat backed it, while 14 Republicans voted against it and GOP Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona voted present.

The measure was a suspension bill, which are typically passed via voice vote, but earlier in the week Republicans forced recorded votes on five bipartisan pieces of legislation.

The Republicans who opposed the Myanmar measure include some of the most conservative members of Congress — Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Matt Gaetz of Florida, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Ken Buck of Colorado, Mary Miller of Illinois, Chip Roy of Texas, Jody Hice of Georgia, Alex Mooney of West Virginia, Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, Andy Harris of Maryland, Ted Budd of North Carolina and Barry Moore of Alabama.

CNN has reached out to each of these Republicans about why they voted against the measure and has not heard back.

Daily protests have been ongoing for a month and a half in towns and cities across Myanmar after the military seized control of the Southeast Asian country in a coup on February 1.

The military justified its takeover by alleging widespread voter fraud during the November 2020 general election, which gave Suu Kyi’s party another overwhelming victory.

Protesters are demanding the military hand back power to civilian control and be held fully accountable, and are calling for the release of Suu Kyi and other civilian leaders. Myanmar’s many ethnic minority groups, which have long fought for greater autonomy for their lands, are also demanding the military-written 2008 constitution be abolished and a federal democracy be established.

Most lawmakers on Capitol Hill have been outspoken about the military coup and have condemned harsh tactics used to suppress demonstrations.

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Science

Researchers measure the gravity exerted by a 90 milligram object

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Enlarge / The experimental setup.

Tobias Westphal / University of Vienna

Gravity may feel like one of the most familiar forces, but it’s actually among those we understand least. We know our current model of gravity is inconsistent with quantum mechanics. It also fails to account for the phenomena we’ve termed dark matter and dark energy. Unfortunately, studying gravity is extremely challenging because it’s far and away the weakest of the forces. To get around this issue for the detection of gravitational waves, we’ve had to build two immense observatories, far enough apart so that the noise affecting one wouldn’t be picked up at the other.

The gravitational waves we’ve detected come from utterly massive objects like neutron stars and black holes. Now, researchers in Vienna have announced progress toward detecting the gravitational force generated by tiny objects—in this case, spheres of gold only two millimeters across and weighing less than a tenth of a gram. Their work provides the first measurement of gravity at these scales, and the researchers are pretty sure they can go smaller.

It’s so noisy

The work in question involves a fairly typical device for these sorts of experiments. It involves a solid bar with a gold ball attached to each end. The bar is suspended at its center point, which allows it to rotate freely around the horizontal plane. There’s also a mirror placed at its center point, which is used to reflect a laser.

If a mass is brought near one of the gold balls, it will exert a gravitational force that pulls the ball toward it. The ensuing rotation will cause the mirror to rotate with it, changing where the laser ends up reflected to. This creates an extremely sensitive measure of the gravitational attraction generated by the mass. Or it would if environmental noise didn’t swamp everything out.

The catalog of noise sources that the authors have to account for is mind-boggling. To begin with, the researchers estimate that the gravitational force they’re looking to measure could also be generated by a person walking within three meters of the experimental device or a Vienna tram traveling within 50 meters of it. In the end, they performed the experiment at night over the winter holidays in order to cut down on stray sources of gravitational interference, which had the added effect of cutting down on local seismic noise.

The whole experiment was performed inside a vacuum, and they found rubber feet that remain soft in a vacuum to cushion the structure that holds the suspended metal bar.

Before pulling a vacuum on the experiment, the researchers flooded the apparatus with ionized nitrogen to get rid of any stray charges. And, just in case, they put a Faraday shield between the two gold balls in order to block any electrostatic attraction.

While all of this kept the noise in the experiment extremely low, the signal of the attraction between two 90 milligram gold spheres is also going to be extremely low. So, rather than simply measuring the pull, the researchers moved the sphere in a regular pattern, setting up a steady back-and-forth resonant attraction. The frequency of this resonance was carefully chosen to be very different from the natural resonances of the pendulum that the bar forms.

Tiny forces

The behavior of the whole setup is monitored by a video camera that constantly monitors the position of the two golden spheres. During the experiment, their separation varied from 2.5 millimeters to 5.8 millimeters. Overall, the researches estimate their system is capable of picking up accelerations as small as 2 x 10-11 meters/second2, although it would take about a half-day of monitoring to do so.

Overall, the gravitational force here ended up being about 9 x 10-14 Newtons. The researchers also use their results to derive the gravitational constant. While this ends up being off by quite a bit (9 percent), it’s still within the uncertainties of their experimental measurement.

The result is an impressive technical achievement. But the researchers think that 90 mg is actually on the heavy side of the objects that might be measured this way. And, as things get lighter, there are some dramatically odd things that could potentially be tested.

For example, as mentioned above, our theory of gravity is incompatible with quantum mechanics. But we’ve managed to get ever-larger systems to behave as quantum objects. If we get these measurements sensitive enough, then it might be possible to measure the gravitational attraction of an object that is in a quantum superposition between two locations. In other words, there is no way to tell where exactly it is, while at the same time the gravitational force it exerts depends on where it is.

Other potential tests include some variants of string theory, modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND, a hypothetical and unpopular replacement for dark matter), and some explanations for dark energy. But all of these will be utterly dependent upon this experimental setup working on masses that are far, far smaller than the milligram scale. So as a first step, it’s going to be important for the researchers behind this work to show that they have at least some of the promised ability to scale down.

Nature, 2021. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03250-7  (About DOIs).

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Science

Physicists Measure Smallest Gravitational Field Ever Detected

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Gravity can be understood as originating from a warping of space-time, which is shown in this artist impression.
Image: Arkitek Scientific

Over the Christmas season of 2019, four physicists hovered over two minuscule gold orbs, each about the size of a ladybug, in a Vienna laboratory. It was silent, in all the ways you can imagine: audibly, seismically, even electromagnetically. It had to be, as the researchers were trying to detect the influence of one of the sphere’s gravity on the other.

Detect they did, in a first for gravitational probings at this scale. One of the golden balls (the “source mass”) was recorded wobbling the other sphere, ever so slightly. The team’s results were published today in Nature.

“If you take our little gold planet, an object on the surface of the planet would actually fall down with a velocity that is 30 billion times slower compared to how fast objects fall on Earth,” Markus Aspelmeyer, a quantum physicist at the University of Vienna and a co-author of the paper, said in a video call. “This is the magnitude we are talking about.”

Interrogations of gravity, one of nature’s fundamental forces and perhaps its most perceptible, tend to happen on the most massive and miniature of scales. Querying large gravities deals with masses far away—examinations of black holes and neutron stars flung far across the cosmos. But better understanding the slightest exertions of the force happens here on Earth, where researchers can control the environment of their experiments with infinitely more ease than in the intractable sprawl of space.

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For Aspelmeyer’s team, that control meant muffling variables that could mess with the team’s results, from a researcher drifting too close to the gold orbs while testing to the traffic outside. The physicists intentionally conducted the experiments over the holidays, when fewer trams would be running outside and the normal jostle of Viennese business would be slowed as people stayed home with their families.

“You need to play some tricks,” Aspelmeyer said, “to distinguish the acceleration from the source mass against the accelerations of all the other masses.”

Gold was chosen for the source mass because it is heavy, dense, can be pretty pure, and physicists can pretty easily understand all the properties of the mass. Much like you would with a new piece of jewelry, they bought the gold meant for fundamental physics research at a local goldsmith in Vienna, who crafted them specifically to scale.

In the experiment, the little golden beads were separated by a small Faraday shield, to prevent any electromagnetic interference. One bead was attached to a horizontal bar hanging from the ceiling with a mirror on it, and the other—the mass exerting a gravitational field—was moved intermittently. A laser was pointed at the mirror, and the incremental movements of the sphere on the receiving end of this minute force field were recorded in the movements of the laser, which were recorded with precision.

The field was measured by detecting the effect of one gold ball’s movement on another.
Image: Tobias Westphal, University of Vienna

“The detection of such a minuscule gravitational signal is itself an exciting result, but the authors went even further by determining a value for G from their experiment,” said Christian Rothleitner, an unaffiliated physicist at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt in Germany, in an accompanying perspective article. “The experiment is therefore the first to show that Newton’s law of gravity holds even for source masses as small as these.”

This isn’t the end of the line for itsy-bitsy gravitational inquiries. Eventually, physicists’ hope to measure gravitational fields in a quantum state, thus reconciling the fact that general relativity, the theory that best explains gravity, cannot be explained in terms of quantum mechanics. The more minute the measurements of the fields, the closer researchers get to answering the big questions, like why dark matter is invisible but still contributes to the universe’s mass.

Well before such small-scale experimentation takes place, the team will work with smaller, non-quantum masses.

“The main limiting factor at the moment is still environmental noise, which does not necessarily mean a different experimental setup,” said co-author Hans Hepach, a physicist at the University of Vienna, in the same video call. “The fundamentally limiting factor for the current experiment is the thermal noise of the suspension of the pendulum. Thus eliminating the suspension and levitating the test mass (for example, magnetically) would allow for smaller masses.”

The gravitational tinkering has revealed a newly small scale to the universe’s weakest force. To detect it required a very controlled lab environment, and diligent math. The next time you’re in Vienna, just remember to shush. Physicists are working.

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US

House passes sweeping elections reform bill and policing reform measure named for George Floyd

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Washington — The House on Wednesday passed H.R. 1, a sweeping government and elections reform bill and a key legislative priority for the Democratic majority. The House also passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, though the vote was initially scheduled for Thursday. It was moved up due to a security threat.

Two House sources confirmed to CBS News that there were discussions about moving up votes in the House because of the threat. The U.S. Capitol Police “received new and concerning information and intelligence indicating additional interest in the Capitol for the dates of March 4th – 6th by a militia group,” the House Sergeant at Arms said in a bulletin on Wednesday.

Capitol Police Acting Chief Yogananda Pittman told lawmakers during a hearing Wednesday that “we do have some concerning intelligence” and “we have enhanced our security posture.” The concerns for lawmakers’ safety come after the Capitol was stormed by a mob seeking to overturn the presidential election on January 6, with several rioters seeking to harm or even assassinate lawmakers.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer released an updated schedule showing the House would vote on the George Floyd measure Wednesday night instead of Thursday, enabling the House to wrap up its workweek a day early and to not be in session Thursday.   

H.R. 1 passed by a vote of 220-210. No Republicans voted to pass the bill, which is unsurprising, as most Republicans have been vocally opposed to it, saying they believe it amounts to federal overreach and a Democratic power grab.

“This is something that is enormously popular among the American people. The American people want to reduce the role of big, dark, special interest money in politics, which is preventing so many good things from happening. The people want to see an end to voter suppression,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi said about H.R. 1 on Tuesday.

By a vote of 220 to 212, the House also voted to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, named after the Minnesota man who died in police custody last year after an officer kneeled on his neck for several minutes, instigating a wave of protests against racial violence and police brutality over the summer. Democratic Representatives Jared Golden of Maine and Ron Kind of Wisconsin voted against the legislation. Republican Representative Lance Gooden of Texas voted for the bill, but later tweeted that he did so by mistake.

The legislation would ban chokeholds and overhaul qualified immunity protections for law enforcement. A policing reform bill was proposed by Republican Senator Tim Scott in the Senate last year, although it was blocked by Democrats who argued that it did not go far enough. Although the two bills have many similarities, they differ in addressing qualified immunity protections for law enforcement officers.

After the House vote, civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump tweeted, “On behalf of George Floyd’s family, we are deeply gratified and grateful for US House leadership. This represents a major step forward to reform the relationship between police officers and communities of color.”

The House had already passed H.R. 1 in 2019 after Democrats took back the majority, and passed the Justice in Policing Act last spring, but neither bill was considered in the Republican-controlled Senate. Democrats now have a narrow 50-seat majority in the Senate, but most legislation requires 60 votes to advance. The bills are unlikely to gain support from ten Republican senators, so their prospects of passing in the Senate are grim.

H.R. 1, known as the “For the People Act,” would overhaul government ethics and campaign finance laws, and seek to strengthen voting rights by creating automatic voter registration and expanding access to early and absentee voting. The vote on the bill comes as Republican-controlled state legislatures across the country seek to restrict voting rights, including measures to limit mail-in voting and impose stricter voter identification requirements.

“We believe that H.R. 1 needs to pass because the Republican state legislators, concerned about their losses, either in their own states or in the country, are again upping their efforts to make it more difficult for people to vote,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters on Tuesday.

The Supreme Court, which has a conservative 6 to 3 majority, is also considering two Arizona laws that restrict access to voting, which Democrats argue disproportionately affect minority voters. If the court upholds these laws, it could allow legislatures to impose even more restrictive voting laws, and a higher standard for litigants seeking to challenge them.

Progressives have argued that the Senate should eliminate the filibuster, which would allow legislation to advance with a simple majority, in order to pass their key priorities. Some Democrats argue that it is important to eliminate the filibuster particularly so that voting rights legislation can be passed, such as the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, which would restore provisions of the 1965 Voting Rights Act struck down by the Supreme Court. Former President Barack Obama called for eliminating the filibuster so that voting rights laws could pass the Senate during his eulogy at Lewis’ funeral last summer.

Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock suggested there could be a limited exception to filibuster rules for bills related to voting and civil rights. Warnock was elected to represent Georgia in a January special election, and the Republican-controlled state legislature has recently advanced bills to make early and mail-in voting more difficult.

“Voting rights is preservative of all other rights, and we have to do everything we can to preserve the voices of the people in our democracy,” Warnock told reporters on Tuesday. “I think that the issues are urgent enough to leave all options on the table.”

However, Democratic Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema have expressed opposition to eliminating the filibuster. Manchin on Monday said that he would “never” change his mind about ending the filibuster.

“Never! Jesus Christ! What don’t you understand about never?” Manchin said.

Nikole Killion and Brian Dakss contributed to this report.



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Business

Dow Jones Soars As Democrats Get Set To Trim This Stimulus Measure; Apple, Boeing Surge

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged amid a broad rally as the bond market cooled. Meanwhile Senate Democrats look set to drop a controversial measure from the $1.9 trillion stimulus bill. Boeing (BA) and Apple (AAPL) were among the leading blue chips.

Among EV stocks, Tesla (TSLA) and Nio (NIO) charged higher following last week’s losses. Nio is posting earnings after the close. General Motors (GM) also rose. Bitcoin was also rallying, which propelled the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) higher.




X



Bond Market Cools; This Stimulus Measure Looks Dead

Monday’s advance was aided by a cooling on the 10-year Treasury notes yield. It slipped as low as 1.417% from 1.459% Friday. Yields fall when bond prices rise. This is a key gauge, as the 10-year serves as the benchmark borrowing cost in global debt markets.

Last week, the 10-year yield rose above 1.6% and spent significant time above 1.5%.

Meanwhile Senate Democrats are expected to abandon a plan to help raise workers’ pay by issuing tax penalties against corporations.

Democrats are looking to push President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus bill through the Senate after it was finally passed in the House at the weekend.

Sen. Bernie Sanders had proposed using a tax levy on businesses that pay workers below a certain threshold after the Senate parliamentarian ruled a proposed $15 per hour minimum wage could not be included in the Covid-19 relief bill under the budget reconciliation process.

Nasdaq, S&P 500 Surge

The Nasdaq was the best performing major index, gaining around 2.5%. Coronavirus vaccine play Zoom Video Communications (ZM) was the leading player, gaining almost 8%.

U.S. Stock Market Today Overview
Index Symbol Price Gain/Loss % Change
Dow Jones (0DJIA) 31481.90 +549.53 +1.78
S&P 500 (0S&P5) 3890.20 +79.05 +2.07
Nasdaq (0NDQC ) 13498.66 +306.32 +2.32
Russell 2000 (IWM) 224.64 +6.33 +2.90
IBD 50 (FFTY) 47.49 +1.83 +4.01
Last Update: 1:22 PM ET 3/1/2021

The S&P 500 was not far behind, up more than 2%. Nuclear power stock NRG Energy (NRG) performed best, gaining around 14%.

Volume was lower compared to the same time Friday. It fell more around 12% on the Nasdaq and by more than 25% on the NYSE.

The S&P sectors were having a very good day, with all posting gains. Financials and utilities were leading.

Small caps also made strong gains amid the bull charge, with the Russell 2000 up almost 3%.

But it was growth stocks that were faring best. The Innovator IBD 50 ETF (FFTY) was up over 4%. Digital Turbine (APPS) was the top IBD 50 performer, rising almost 13%.

Apple Stock Lifts Dow Jones

The Dow Jones Industrial Average made the lightest gain of the major indexes, but still rose almost 2%. It pulled further clear of its 50-day moving average.

Apple stock was among the biggest winners, rising more than 4%. The move helped it gain further ground on its 50-day line.

The relative strength line has been dipping for Apple stock. Recent poor performance has seen its IBD Composite Rating fall to 73.

But it was Boeing stock that was the standout component Monday. It was up more than 5%, and is closing in on a consolidation pattern buy point of 244.18. However, its Composite Rating highlights the challenges ahead, as it has slumped to a dismal 5 out of 99.

Tesla Stock, Nio Charge Higher

IBD Leaderboard stock Tesla was rallying strongly, gaining more than 5%. Last week TSLA fell more than 13%. It remains marooned beneath its 10-week line.

Tesla stock still remains well extended from a 466 buy point of a cup with handle. The firm has reportedly halted production of its Model 3 sedan at its Fremont, Calif., factory amid a global chip shortage that’s hitting the auto industry.

Chinese rival Nio made an even stronger gain, rising almost 9%. Nio is getting set to post earnings after the close.

A previous breakout from a cup base with a 57.30 buy point failed, and the stock is now well below this entry point.

GM stock also moved, rising more than 2%. This helped move further away from its 50-day moving average. It broke out from a cup base Jan. 12 on positive EV news. However, it has given up ground after a surge.

General Motors is the IBD Stock Of The Day due to its bullish rebounds from its 10-week moving average. This is a buying opportunity. It has also retaken its 21-day line and a trend line. The one caveat is that you’d like to see higher volume as shares rebound.

Li Auto (LI) also rallied, gaining more than 3%.

Bitcoin Rises; GBTC Stock Bounces Back

Bitcoin was coming back strongly. It surged from as low as just over $43,000 to back above the $49,000 level. It currently sits just above $49,000, according to CoinDesk. The price of Bitcoin is still well short of the record high of $58,332, which it reached Feb. 21.

Grayscale Bitcoin Trust was up almost 7%, though it surrendered some gains. GBTC stock plunged 23.8% last week, but is still holding above its 10-week moving average.

These Growth Stocks Breaks Out

Cooking equipment stock Middleby (MIDD) surged out of buy zone after breaking out of a consolidation pattern. The ideal buy point is 149.49.

The RS line hit a fresh high, but the stock boasts a lackluster EPS Rating of 49.

Madison Square Garden Entertainment (MSGE) slipped back below its buy point after breaking out of a short consolidation pattern. The ideal entry point is 111.56. The RS line has just reached a new high.

IPO stock Tern Pharmaceuticals (TERN) broke out of an IPO base. The ideal buy point was 23.78.

Given it is a young stock, its Composite Rating of 56 is not a useful guide at the moment. The company has yet to post a profit, but this is not unusual for such a young firm.

Please follow Michael Larkin on Twitter at @IBD_MLarkin for more on growth stocks and analysis.

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Science

In a Weird Twist, Scientists Discover Venus Flytraps Generate Little Magnetic Fields

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The Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) is already a fascinating enough plant, but scientists have discovered something else amazing about it: It generates measurable magnetic fields as its leaves snap shut.

 

And going way beyond D. muscipula, the latest research could teach us a lot about how plant life uses magnetic field signalling to communicate and as an indicator of disease (something we also see in human beings and other animals).

It’s well known that plants use electrical signals as a sort of nervous system, but capturing biomagnetism has been tricky.

A 2011 study attempted to detect a magnetic field around a Titan arum (Amorphophallus titanium) – that large, very smelly plant – using atomic magnetometers that are able to detect the smallest of fluctuations.

That study revealed that the plant generated no magnetic field greater than a millionth of the strength of the magnetic field surrounding us on Earth, resulting in the experiment being considered a failure.

The researchers involved in the 2011 study said their next steps, if they were to take any, would be to focus on a smaller plant.

For the new study, a different group of researchers did indeed go smaller. 

“We have been able to demonstrate that action potentials in a multicellular plant system produce measurable magnetic fields, something that had never been confirmed before,” says physicist Anne Fabricant, from the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz (JGU) in Germany.

Putting Venus flytraps under observation. (Anne Fabricant)

These “action potentials” are quick bursts of electrical activity, and the Venus flytrap can have multiple triggers: If the plant is touched, injured, affected by heat or cold, or loaded with liquid, then action potentials can be set off.

Here the researchers used heat stimulation to activate the electrical activity, and a glass cell magnetometer to measure magnetic disturbances. This approach not only kept background noise down to a minimum but had advantages over other techniques in that it could be miniaturised and didn’t require cryogenic cooling.

 

The magnetic signals measured went up to an amplitude of 0.5 picotesla, comparable to nerve impulses firing in humans and millions of times weaker than the Earth’s magnetic field – a small ripple, but a detectable one.

“You could say the investigation is a little like performing an MRI scan in humans,” says Fabricant. “The problem is that the magnetic signals in plants are very weak, which explains why it was extremely difficult to measure them with the help of older technologies.”

Besides MRI scans, other techniques such as electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG) are used to measure magnetic fields in humans, potentially identifying problems without any invasive procedures.

With the help of this current research, the same sort of scanning might now be possible with plants too: crops could be scanned for temperature shifts, chemical changes or pests without having to damage the plants themselves, for example.

And we can add the findings to our growing knowledge about how plants send signals both internally and externally, communicating via a hidden network that scientists are only just beginning to properly explore.

“Beyond proof of principle, our findings pave the way to understanding the molecular basis of biomagnetism in living plants,” write the researchers in their published paper.

“In the future, magnetometry may be used to study long-distance electrical signaling in a variety of plant species, and to develop noninvasive diagnostics of plant stress and disease.”

The research has been published in Scientific Reports.

 

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