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NASA laser message beams video of a cat named Taters back to Earth, and it’s a big deal

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:51:46 GMT

(CNN) — A laser communications experiment flying aboard NASA’s Psyche mission has beamed back a video to Earth from nearly 19 million miles (31 million kilometers) away — and the short clip stars a cat named Taters. It’s the first time NASA has streamed a video from deep space using a laser.In the ultra-high definition video, the playful orange tabby cat chases, of all things, the elusive red dot from a laser pointer as it moves across a couch.The cat video was transmitted to Earth from a flight laser transceiver as part of the Deep Space Optical Communications experiment, or DSOC. The technology could one day be used to quickly transmit data, imagery and videos as humans push the limits of space exploration by venturing to places like Mars.The 15-second video was encoded in a near-infrared laser and beamed from the Psyche spacecraft to the Hale Telescope at the California Institute of Technology’s Palomar Observatory. The video was downloaded at the observatory ...

Bruins tie game late, but lose to Wild in OT, 4-3

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:51:46 GMT

A tremendous night of entertainment at the Garden ended in disappointment again for the Bruins and renewed concern about frittering away leads.The B’s lost a third period lead for third time in four games and, though they tied it late to get a point., Kirill Kaprizov scored with 2:06 left in overtime to lift the Minnesota Wild to a 4-3 win.The B’s coughed up two third period goals but after Alex Goligoski high-sticked Charlie Coyle with 2:31, Brad Marchand tied it up with 1:06 left in the third. In a wild pile-up in front of Marc-Andre Fleury, Marchand pulled it out of the mass of humanity and roofed it over the gallant Fleury.Coyle then hit the post on a backhand attempt in the final minuteOn the winner, Jake DeBrusk missed the net, sending the Wild off on a 3-on-1. Joel Eriksson-Ek set up Kaprizov for his second goal of the game and the win.In their last Garden game before Christmas, the B’s gave their fans a good show in the first period to take a 2-1 lead on a ...

Colorado Supreme Court bans Trump from ballot

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:51:46 GMT

DENVER — A divided Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday declared former President Donald Trump ineligible for the White House under the U.S.Constitution’s insurrection clause and removed him from the state’s presidential primary ballot, setting up a likely showdown in the nation’s highest court to decide whether the front-runner for the GOP nomination can remain in the race.The decision from a court whose justices were all appointed by Democratic governors marks the first time in history that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment has been used to disqualify a presidential candidate.“A majority of the court holds that Trump is disqualified from holding the office of president under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment,” the court wrote in its 4-3 decision.Colorado’s highest court overturned a ruling from a district court judge who found that Trump incited an insurrection for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, but said he could not be barred fro...

Homicide victim found dead in 1979 near Las Vegas Strip ID’d as missing 19-year-old from Cincinnati

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:51:46 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A body discovered in an open field in 1979 near what is today a busy intersection of the Las Vegas Strip has been identified as a teenager from Ohio who had left home that year in search of her biological father, authorities announced Tuesday.She was 19-year-old Gwenn Marie Story, according to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. For 44 years, she was known only as “Sahara Sue Doe,” nicknamed for the intersection where she was found.Police said Tuesday that advancements in DNA testing led to the identification last month.According to police, a man discovered the body on the night of Aug. 14, 1979, while walking through a vacant lot near the northern edge of the Las Vegas Strip. She had wavy hair, and her fingernails and toenails were painted red.Today, the nearby Strat Hotel looms large over that intersection, which features the Sahara hotel-casino.Authorities believe the victim had died within 24 hours prior to the discovery, according to an entry de...

California’s top prosecutor won’t seek charges in 2020 fatal police shooting of Bay Area man

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:51:46 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — California’s attorney general will not seek criminal charges against a police officer who in 2020 fatally shot a man outside a pharmacy in the San Francisco Bay Area amid national protests over the police killing of George Floyd, his office announced Tuesday.A Vallejo police officer fatally shot 22-year-old Sean Monterrosa on Jun 2, 2020, after responding to reports of suspects stealing from a pharmacy as peaceful protests and civil unrest swept across the country following Floyd’s killing a week earlier in Minneapolis. California Attorney General Rob Bonta found there was not enough evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Jarrett Tonn, who was a detective with the Vallejo Police Department at the time of the shooting, did not act in self-defense or in defense of his partner officers. “Sean Monterrosa’s life mattered and there is nothing that can make up for his death. His loss is and will continue to be felt by his family and the Bay Area communi...

Trump defends controversial comments about immigrants poisoning the nation’s blood at Iowa rally

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:51:46 GMT

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday defended his comments about migrants crossing the southern border “poisoning the blood” of America, and he reinforced the message while denying any similarities to fascist writings others had noted. “I never read ‘Mein Kampf,’” Trump said at a campaign rally in Waterloo, Iowa, referencing Adolf Hitler’s fascist manifesto.Immigrants in the U.S. illegally, Trump said Tuesday, are “destroying the blood of our country, they’re destroying the fabric of our country.” In the speech to more than 1,000 supporters from a podium flanked by Christmas trees in red MAGA hats, Trump responded to mounting criticism about his anti-immigrant “blood” purity rhetoric over the weekend. Several politicians and extremism experts have noted his language echoed writings from Hitler about the “purity” of Aryan blood, which underpinned Nazi Germany’s systematic murder of millions of Jews and other “undesirables” before and during World...

California heroin dealers who used code words like ‘taco’ in phone orders get 24 years in prison

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:51:46 GMT

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — Two Southern California brothers who ran a heroin-delivery operation — taking telephone orders from customers using code words like “taco” — have been sentenced to 24 years each in federal prison, prosecutors announced.Julio Cesar Martinez, 45, of Riverside, and Victor Martinez, 46, of Hemet, parts of California’s sprawling Inland Empire, were sentenced Monday. Both pleaded guilty in August to conspiracy to distribute heroin and acknowledged distributing at least 29 kilograms (64 pounds) of the drug in Orange County, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney’s office.The ring operated from at least September 2003 to July 2021 and sold heroin that was smuggled into the U.S. from Mexico by couriers who sometimes hid the drug in their body cavities, the U.S. attorney’s office said.Call centers run out of workers’ homes handled orders from buyers who used the names of Mexican foods to buy drugs. A gram of heroin was a “taco” and an ...

Opinion: Bears need to at least call on Justin Herbert

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:51:46 GMT

All season long, Chicago Bears fans and sports media around the city have debated a two-part question – should the Bears stick with Justin Fields or blow it up and draft a rookie quarterback in April? But what if they choose plan C, and general manager Ryan Poles calls the Los Angeles Chargers to inquire about Justin Herbert? It’s a long shot for a multitude of reasons, I know, but hear me out. Last week: Will next week decide the fate of Justin Fields and Luke Getsy? If Poles could talk the Chargers into a deal, it’s a more clear-cut choice to make than leaning on either of the latter – sticking with Fields or drafting one of Caleb Williams or Drake Maye.Chicago’s defense has rounded into form with a number of high-quality, young pieces to carry the defense for the next three to four years.The Montez Sweat trade has played out beautifully. Since coming over from the Washington Commanders for a second-round choice, he's become the first player in NFL history to lead two teams in ...

Residents want 'temporary' migrant shelter at Gage Park Fieldhouse returned for community use

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:51:46 GMT

CHICAGO -- It's been six months since the Gage Park Fieldhouse was converted into a migrant shelter. Now, residents are calling on the city to shut it down.During the six month review meeting on Tuesday, residents expressed concerns over some of the illegal behavior they say they’ve seen at the Gage Park shelter since it opened over the summer.As of Tuesday, around 400 people are living at the Gage Park Fieldhouse, which 15th Ward Alderman Raymond Lopez said is double what was promised back in June. Lopez said that the 400 people are evenly split between men and women. ORIGINAL: Gage Park Fieldhouse expected to house over 300 migrants Health in general has been another concern at shelters, more recently referring to the death of 5-year-old Jean Carlos Martinez Rivero.  Meanwhile, representatives from the mayor’s office assure the public that this location still remains temporary. But residents repeated on Tuesday that it's time for the Gage Park Field House to be returned to ...

Michigan mom graduates college with 10-day-old baby girl tucked in gown

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:51:46 GMT

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — When a Michigan woman walked across the graduation stage at Ferris State University, her 10-day-old baby girl was right there with her. Grace Szymchack, a Traverse City native, has spent the past six years raising a family and working toward her bachelor's degree in early childhood education. She had planned to give birth to her second daughter three days after her commencement ceremony in Big Rapids on Dec. 15, but the little one arrived earlier than expected. A week and a half before the ceremony, Szymchack had a C-section and welcomed her newborn, Annabelle, into the world. The mom remained adamant about attending her graduation after giving birth. Couple graduates together after welcoming their ‘miracle baby’ "I’m like, ‘No, I’m feeling great, I want to go,'" she said. "I was very determined."But like most new mothers, it was hard thinking about being away from her infant even for just a few hours. That's when her own mother got an idea. "My mom, ...