Blog Heap of Links for the day 3 March 2018

…CNN recently called carwashes “a nightmare” for self-driving cars, and here’s why: it seems the traditional car wash – with its massive automated brushes – are too harsh when applied to a vehicle whose exterior is covered in sensors.…

A Parkinson’s patient lived an incredible moment when doctors were able to stop the severe tremors she had endured for the last seven years.

Surgeons in India were able to cut into the woman’s brain while she was awake and destroy a key pathway, instantly stopping the involuntary movements.…

"These tremors do not respond very well to medicines, so to get the precise 'spot' during surgery is 'critical' to get near-perfect results…”

…Professor Kevin Fu and members of the Security and Privacy Research Group at the University of Michigan say they have an explanation for what could have happened in Havana: two sources of ultrasound — such as listening devices — placed too close together could generate interference and provoke the intense sounds described by the victims.

And this may not have been done intentionally to harm diplomats…

Numerous companies have announced in recent days they were pulling benefits and other services for National Rifle Association members in the aftermath of the Parkland, Fla., school shooting.

Here’s a list of the companies who have said they have cut ties with the powerful gun-rights lobbying group. This list will be updated to note other announcements.…

…In 1933, in this very country, a teenager with enough money could literally mail-order a fully-automatic Thompson submachine gun to their very door. This is the very firearm that was used by United States troops during World War II, gangsters and police during the Prohibition, and, yes, average American citizens who wanted them.

Again, delivered to his door.

No paperwork.

No records (aside from whatever logs the retailer kept).

No background check.…

…On this day in 1931 the United States adopted The Star-Spangled Banner as its national anthem.

Let’s look at what Trump said, in context… It seems to me that Trump is actually talking about something like the red flag legislation he has advocated in the past, statutes that allow for preventive and temporary removal of firearms from persons deemed dangerous who have not yet committed any crimes, with a court hearing coming later.…