News You Can Use

… Not sure how.

But feel free to use it. You can.

The dye in Doritos can make mice transparent
Popular Science | Sep 5, 2024 | Lauren Leffer

… sometimes science is just stranger than fiction. A food dye that helps give certain sodas and snacks their hallmark orange hue renders mouse skin almost completely see-through in a reversible, potentially non-toxic research method that could transform medical and scientific imaging. Because of a counterintuitive fundamental physics principle, Tartrazine, also known as Yellow 5, can temporarily turn biological tissue transparent to the naked eye, as described in a study published September 5 in the journal Science.

There! A transparent mouse!

For Those, Like Me, Who Love Jargon

Disclaimer: This is not me speaking. I know nothing about guitars.

I’ve got about a dozen guitars, four nice acoustics and the rest electric, including Gibsons, Ibanez, even a Ric 12-string. But the Strat is my go-to axe for anything from soft ballads to country pickin’ to blues to rock-n-roll. The Ibanez is for slamming, the Les Paul is for Southern rock/blues, etc. but when I carry one guitar to a gig, it’s the Strat.

Now that said, I got annoyed by the single-coil hum/noise, so I retrofitted a full set of DiMarzio humbuckin’ Strat replacements, only lost a tiny bit of the very top end single-coil shimmer, and they’re totally silent even in a room where everybody else is getting 60 Hz buzz.

I love my Dobro, I play slide with alternate tunings, Usually G or E, it’s awesome. I have a hound-dog resonator it’s acoustic/electric.

I’ve had probably 20+ amps over my 60 years of playing electric guitar, and IMO nothing beats a Fender Twin Reverb for overall great sound and versatility. If you need to knock people over, get a Marshall, they’re loud and fun. But a Twin is the gold standard as far as I’m concerned.

However, classic tube Twins are heavy as hell. I have two of them and I can’t get them upstairs any more. So I got the newer Fender “ToneMaster” series Twin, weighs half as much and I did A/B sound tests against my tube Twins and you really cannot tell the difference. Fender engineers get major props for that product.

You Think You Take Forecasts Seriously?

Here’s a dude who takes forecasts seriously.

Kim Jong Un executes 30 officials over floods in North Korea that killed 4,000: report
NY Post | 9/03/24 | Ronny Reyes

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered up to 30 officials to be executed over their alleged failure to prevent massive flooding and landslides in the summer that resulted in the deaths of some 4,000 people, according to South Korean media.

An official under Kim’s regime said between 20 and 30 leaders in North Korea had been charged with corruption and dereliction of duty, with the state sentencing them to capital punishment, TV Chosun reported.

“It has been determined that 20 to 30 cadres in the flood-stricken area were executed at the same time late last month,” the official told the outlet.

Reports of the executions were not immediately verified by independent outlets.

The North Korean Central News Agency previously reported that Kim ordered authorities to “strictly punish” the officials after catastrophic flooding hit Chagang province in July, claiming about 4,000 lives and displacing more than 15,000 people.

The officials who were executed were not identified, but the report noted that Kang Bong-hoon, the Chagang province provincial party committee secretary since 2019, was among the leaders dismissed by Kim in an emergency meeting during the flooding disaster.

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