Tag: Recently Read

The carrier was in major trouble even before the disasters of Flight 370 and Flight 17.

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Some GameStop stores in Philadelphia are now requiring that people who trade in games provide a fingerprint scan for "certain transactions," CBS Philadelphia reports today based on conversations with the retailer, local government, police, and shoppers.

According to GameStop, it is following a local law that says the retailer is allowed to collect thumbprints. These scans eventually make their way into a database that helps law enforcement nab thieves who seek to use GameStop as a pawn shop of sorts to unload their goods.

Philadelphia city solicitor Shelley Smith says that GameStop is not required to collect the thumbprints to abide by the city’s pawnbroker order. "What GameStop does doesn’t meet any of the elements of the definition in the code, so the pawnbreaker ordinance doesn’t apply to GameStop," she said.

The Philadelphia Police Department, on the other hand, tells CBS Philadelphia that GameStop is being proactive by obtaining customer fingerprints and uploading them to a database known as LeadsOnline.

Still, GameStop shoppers outside of a store in Philadelphia’s Center City district are not too pleased about the new policy. "I really don’t appreciate it," one person said. "You fingerprinted me like I’m in a police district. No, I’m at a game store." Another shopper said, "I think it’s an overreach. It’s going too far."

GameStop’s fingerprinting initiative is currently only underway in Philadelphia itself, but not the suburbs. We have reached out to GameStop for further clarification about this new policy for Philadelphia and will update this story with anything we hear back.

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For months, U.S. officials have said secret data from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden was affecting the way terrorists communicate. A Massachusetts company says it has found proof.

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A smaller crazy ant (left) fights a fire ant.

Lawrence Gilbert / Science

There are not many creatures that can stand up to fire ants, nor their famously painful sting. Besides causing discomfort in mammals like humans (I’ve been stung, and it doesn’t feel great), this venom has potent insect-killing powers, with the ability to knock out many of its ant rivals and other six-legged prey. But the venom is not effective against tawny crazy ants, a new invader spreading in areas of the U.S. Gulf Coast that can outcompete fire ants (Solenopsis invicta).

But how? Recent research has shown that the crazies can neutralize fire ant venom by mixing it with the formic acid that they excrete. 

And that’s not all. The fire ants’ venom contains toxic alkaloids, which are chemically basic (as opposed to acidic). When the crazy ants (Nylanderia fulva) neutralize these chemicals with their own acid, it forms a viscous, greasy-looking substance. Upon closer inspection, this byproduct of ant-on-ant warfare is actually a very special substance called an ionic liquid, which has never before been observed in nature. 

An ionic liquid is basically a liquid salt; in fact, they used to be called "molten salts." If you heat up table salt to 1,474 degrees Fahrenheit, for example, you’d get a type of ionic liquid. But they can also exist at much lower temperatures, and sometimes the term "ionic liquid" is restricted (somewhat arbitrarily) to chemicals that are liquid near room temperature. In any case, humans have created many, many different kinds of ionic liquids, which are used for all sorts of industrial processes, for example in batteries, electrolytes, sealants, and solvents.

But they hadn’t been found in nature before, an absence described by the authors of the current study as "puzzling." Their research, published in the journal Angewandte Chemie (German for "applied chemistry") suggests that there may be more ionic liquids in nature and that they can have important biological functions.

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Small debit card purchases are leading to big fees for customers who overdraw their bank accounts, a new report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finds.

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Director admits CIA officers improperly accessed Senate Intel Committee files.

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