Posters in chemistry labs are in need of an update. The periodic table now has four new elements, completing its seventh row. The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) and the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) have recognised the discoveries of elements 113, 115, 117 and 118. They were created by teams of researchers in Japan, Russia and the US, who smashed lighter nuclei into each other. The resulting superheavy elements, like others of their kind, exist for only a fraction of a second before decaying into lighter atoms.
Barack Obama will move on Tuesday to close the loophole which allows weapons to be sold at gun shows and on the internet without any background checks.
Obama will set out his plans for greater resources for the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), including 200 new ATF agents and investigators, and a new center to track illegal online firearms trafficking.
Previewing the announcement, the White House made clear “it doesn’t matter where you conduct your business – from a store, at gun shows or over the internet: if you are in the business of selling firearms, you must get a license and conduct background checks.”
Speaking before a meeting with senior officials, Obama promised that sweeping new gun control measures would save lives and spare families from mass shootings.
“We have to be very clear that this is not going to solve every violent crime in this country or prevent every mass shooting and is not going to keep every gun out of the hand of a criminal,” Obama said after a meeting with attorney general Loretta Lynch to review her recommendations. “It will potentially save lives and spare families the pain and the extraordinary loss that they have suffered as a consequence of firearms getting into the hand of the wrong people,” he added.
From here. File under: About Damn Time.
On the second day of its armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, the Bundy militia shifted tactics. From a state of lockdown it moved to a charm offensive, inviting a small media contingent inside its redoubt, with warm smiles and waves.
The local sheriff was not convinced. ‘These men came to Harney County claiming to be part of militia groups supporting local ranchers,” Sheriff David Ward said in a statement, “when in reality these men had alternative motives, to attempt to overthrow the county and federal government in hopes to spark a movement across the United States.’