Drones have revolutionized warfare. They’re about to do it again

Cheaper and easier to build than manned vehicles, and in some cases more effective, drones are a military planner’s dream – and greatly reduce the risk of a pilot or operator being killed in action.

Nice little history of drones — the first one was flown in 1935, and “We were flying hundreds of drones over North Vietnam during the war.”

Drones came to the forefront of warfare relatively recently, some analysts say, with the 2020 conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh a major turning point…
In announcing its drone deal with Kyiv in June, the UK Defense Ministry said drone technology is evolving, on average, every six weeks.

Shepherd told CNN he’s seen drones go from paper sketches to deployment on the Ukrainian battlefield in a month… While the African drone market is largely import-driven – Turkey and China being the main sources – nine African countries are now producing indigenous drones, Allen wrote.

Artificial intelligence now gives some the on-board ability to identify targets, look for their weak points and execute an attack, all with split-second timing.

How to deal with them?

“The (Chinese) market now features more than 3,000 manufacturers producing anti-drone equipment in some form…

Full article: https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/27/world/history-future-of-drones-intl-hnk-ml-dst, 4,800 words.

And good news from Fix the News:

Learning to live with a problem is not a solution.

Mary Hamel described working in Kenya in the 1990s, when malaria had been so widespread, and so virulent, that children would die in line waiting to be seen. Now there were empty beds. Two stark, unforgettable images, and proof that something had shifted. What Scott had told us didn’t appear in any of the formal reports; it was anecdotal, fragile, early. But it was also proof that this entire effort – the decades of research, the logistics, the money, the faith – was actually saving lives.

Plus an image from my collection:

Ten reasons to head to the ER

Emergency room doctors see the worst-case scenarios, the weird fluke accidents, the mysterious ailments and miraculous recoveries. They’re also no strangers to the symptoms that patients didn’t take seriously until it was almost too late.

Here, ER docs share 10 red flags that patients often ignore—but which should be addressed urgently:

Sudden confusion or personality change

Sudden confusion or a personality change could indicate a stroke, an infection like sepsis, or low blood sugar, she adds, which is why it’s essential to seek immediate care at the ER.

Unusual upper back pain

Always pay attention to severe pain in your upper back or between your shoulder blades, especially if it comes on suddenly or is accompanied by other symptoms like nausea or dizziness. “Call 911. It could be a sign of a heart attack.” For some people—including women—heart attack pain shows up in surprising places, like the back, neck, or jaw.

Sudden, unexplained severe itching

If you can’t stop scratching—especially if you itch all over instead of in just one spot—you could be experiencing the beginning of an anaphylactic reaction. Even more alarming: if your symptoms are accompanied by nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea.

Vomit that’s a certain color

Bile, which is usually green, “can indicate a really dangerous obstruction in their intestines…” If your throw-up looks like coffee grounds—it’s dark brown or even black—it might include blood that’s been partially digested by stomach acids. Red vomit triggers even louder alarm bells, indicating “there’s quite a lot of blood moving.”

A sense of doom

When extreme anxiety strikes out of nowhere, take it seriously—especially if it’s accompanied by trouble breathing, a racing heart, or dizziness. It could be the body’s reaction to a heart attack or blood clot, or a severe allergic reaction. “If it’s new, intense, or feels different than usual anxiety, don’t ignore it.”

Randomly passing out

Fainting or almost fainting without a clear cause can be a red flag for abnormal heart rhythms, internal bleeding, or neurological issues. That said, it could also be the result of dehydration or standing up too fast.

White poop

If you’re having white bowel movements, it’s possible your bile tract could be obstructed, meaning bile—which contributes to the normal color of stool—isn’t reaching the intestines. “The scary thing that does that is pancreatic cancer.”

Urinary retention

There is one clear sign that constipation needs to be addressed urgently: you’ve stopped being able to pee. A full, impacted bowel “can cause bladder obstruction because, anatomically, it can press a lot in that pelvic region,” he says. “If somebody’s not urinating, that’s a big problem.” Not resolving the matter in a timely manner can ultimately lead to kidney failure.

Shortness of breath while lying down

Gasping for air when you’re horizontal could signal heart failure, a blood clot in the lungs, or a silent heart attack.

Leg pain or swelling in one leg

If you’re experiencing leg pain or swelling in just one leg, and if it’s also red, warm, or painful, you could have deep vein thrombosis, which requires urgent treatment. That blood clot could break loose and travel to your lungs, causing a pulmonary embolism, which can be fatal.

Full article (1,350 words, more details): https://time.com/7307026/when-to-go-emergency-room-symptoms/. Also see my post Emergency room tips.

Good news from Fix the News:

For over a century, Africa’s ‘meningitis belt’ stretching from Senegal to Ethiopia, has suffered deadly outbreaks every few years. Now, a breakthrough 13 years in the making could stop those outbreaks for good. Developed by the Serum Institute of India, the Men5CV vaccine protects against five major bacterial strains for just $3 a dose. It’s already rolling out in Niger and Nigeria, while Mali, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Chad and Togo all have plans to introduce it in the coming months. Telegraph

And an image from my collection:

How to get the most out of AI

Some general advice for us non-experts on using ChatGPT and other AI assistants. (Note that the field is changing rapidly and will probably continue changing rapidly for at least several years…)

TIME spoke with five experts who use AI in their own work—from math to psychology to neuroscience—to distill advice on how to use these systems most effectively, without eroding critical thinking in the process. Brief summaries:

Experiment for fit
AI systems’ performance can be uneven and unpredictable. They can excel on complex tasks while struggling with simple ones. And the boundaries of what they are or aren’t good for are changing all the time…. To know which model is best for your needs, you need to spend at least a few hours playing with it.
Understand their strengths
AI systems perform better if you provide them with relevant information about yourself and whatever task you’re trying to complete. “I upload all my notes and documents, and it provides me with feedback that makes sense based on how I think, and on ideas I’ve had in the past,” says Anne-Laure Le Cunff, a neuroscientist at King’s College London….
Keep your brain in the loop
actively collaborate with the AI, rather than blindly relying on its outputs. She uses AI as a thinking and conversational partner to improve her work—asking it to point out any blind spots or biases in her thinking, or key points she might have missed—rather than having it create material from scratch….
Consider them imaginary friends
“All the evidence we have suggests [AI systems] work best when you treat them like people, even though they’re not people,” says Mollick. This looks like asking follow-up questions, pointing out when a system has made mistakes, and pushing back when you disagree with something. Every response gives the system more context, improving its response….
Set personal boundaries
“We’re going to have to figure out what we think is too intimate or too sacred for the AI,” says Mollick. “I think it’s an important human decision we get to make. I don’t know where that line’s gonna end up being.” His personal line: he does all his writing himself first, before consulting AI, and he never uses it to grade student papers….

1,350 words: https://time.com/7327299/using-ai-chat-gpt-tips/.

Good news from Fix the News:

Overfishing has been almost entirely stopped in the territorial waters of the United States. An unlikely alliance of fishermen and environmentalists has ended competitive fishing and aligned profits with conservation. NOAA reports 50 stocks rebuilt since 2000, with 94% of assessed stocks not subject to overfishing today. USA Today

And an image from my collection:

(This is from http://xkcd.com. New cartoon three times a week, and always mouse over it to see extra text. In this case: “And if you labeled your axes, I could tell you EXACTLY how much better.”)

They did “The Slash”

It’s not easy to make today’s politics funny, but (1m 30s):

@corybooker
Some Halloween Humor amidst the Terrible Trump Truth. Incredible work by @Elle Cordova
♬ original sound – Cory

I was working in the lab late one night
when my eyes beheld an eerie sight.
Preventable diseases were on the rise
and suddenly, to my surprise
They did the slash — the monster slash!
The budget slash — and our missions were scrapped.
The science slash — turned our research to ash.
They did the slash — they did the monster slash!

Plus good news from Fix the News:

Scientists have used artificial intelligence to create an enzyme that can eat one of the toughest plastics on Earth: the kind used in foam mattresses and sneakers. The enzyme breaks polyurethane down into reusable chemicals in just 12 hours at 50°C, turning it back into raw materials. Truly circular recycling. Wild. We know it’s already in the headline, but did we mention they used AI to design this thing? Ars Technica

Plus an image from my collection… sigh:

Five hopeful things about Alzheimer’s this year

The lifetime risk of developing dementia after age 55 is estimated at 42 percent, according to a 2025 study of over 15,000 participants. The number of Americans developing dementia each year is estimated to increase from 514,000 in 2020 to about 1 million by 2060.

But there have been exciting strides in the diagnosis and treatments for Alzheimer’s, which accounts for 60 to 80 percent of dementia cases… About half of dementia cases may be preventable by addressing known risk factors, according to a 2024 Lancet Commission report.

We’ve been studying this for decades, and we’re finally getting some results:

An Alzheimer’s blood test: In May, the Food and Drug Administration approved the first blood test to detect signals of amyloid beta plaques and tau tangles — the biological hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease — with over 90 percent accuracy.

Lifestyle interventions can lead to better cognition: Simultaneously targeting multiple areas — nutrition, exercise, cognitive training, health monitoring — improved cognitive measures of participants who were at risk of dementia.

Increasing focus on inflammation: Scientists are increasingly investigating the role played by inflammation in increasing dementia risk. “Alzheimer’s is a complex disease, and it’s likely not going to be a single approach.”

Vaccines may reduce dementia risk: One study published in Nature tracked more than 280,000 adults in Wales and found that the shingles vaccine cut the risk of developing dementia by 20 percent over a seven-year period.

A newly discovered link to lithium (in mice): Small amounts of lithium orotate could reverse the disease and restore brain function, which points to an exciting potential therapy.

1,300 words: https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2025/09/21/alzheimers-research-new-developments/. Contact me if you can’t access that page.

Plus good news from Fix the News:

Global air-pollution deaths fall as clean-air era begins. For the first time in centuries, global deaths from air pollution are falling; down by 21% between 2013 and 2023 thanks to a steep drop in household smoke as billions gained access to cleaner cooking. The last 18 months have seen the fastest tightening of air-quality laws in history, and several major economies – notably China, the US and the EU – are now decoupling pollution from growth. State of Global Air 2025

Plus an image from my collection: