Interesting Shares

Relacorilant, typically used to treat Cushing’s syndrome, could improve outcomes in platinum-resistant cases

A patient with three different autoimmune diseases has entered complete remission after undergoing an experimental treatment that effectively reset her immune system.

cross-posted from: https://piefed.ca/c/space/p/647030/artemis-ii-live-tracker-real-time-orion-spacecraft-position-trajectory

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Track NASA's Artemis II Orion spacecraft live as it travels to the Moon and back. Real-time 2D map with position, speed, distance from Earth and Moon, crew info, mission elapsed time, and trajectory replay for all Artemis missions. Free-return trajectory explained.

Under Anne Hidalgo – mayor for 12 years until last week – the French capital added bike lanes, cut traffic and reclaimed public space, but not without resistance

A new gene therapy is giving people born deaf the chance to hear, often within just weeks. In a small but groundbreaking study, researchers delivered a working copy of a key hearing gene directly into the inner ear using a single injection. All ten patients, ranging from young children to adults, experienced improved hearing, with some showing rapid gains in just one month.

Credit: https://teybannerman.com/strategy/2026/03/31/how-many-microsoft-copilot-are-there.html

Ice Age hunter-gatherer "were intentionally relying on random outcomes in repeatable, rule-based ways."

The human eye is like an immunological fortress, with its ability to exclude unwanted intruders a boon when preventing infection but a burden when trying to deliver vital medicines. Researchers in China have now turned to an unusual source—pig semen—to develop eye drops that can deliver cancer drugs to the back of the eye.

Study: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adw7275

The snap was taken aboard the Orion capsule by its commander, Reid Wiseman, as the crew head towards the Moon.

Divers in race against time to unearth wreck of the Dannebroge before seabed becomes construction site

There may be a river delta hidden under the obvious delta in a Martian crater.

It is proposed that happiness be classified as a psychiatric disorder and be included in future editions of the major diagnostic manuals under the new name: major affective disorder, pleasant type. In a review of the relevant literature it is shown that happiness is statistically abnormal, consists of a discrete cluster of symptoms, is associated with a range of cognitive abnormalities, and probably reflects the abnormal functioning of the central nervous system. One possible objection to this proposal remains--that happiness is not negatively valued. However, this objection is dismissed as scientifically irrelevant.

Financial privacy is a fundamental right. Privacy coins (Monero, Zcash), Bitcoin tools (CoinJoin, Lightning), OPSEC basics. Privacy != illegal activity. Resources at btc66.me.

But Khomeini and his close aides secretly engaged with Washington before and after he came to power following the Islamic Revolution in 1979, according to U.S. documents that have been declassified in recent years.

A declassified U.S. Embassy cable recently obtained by RFE/RL's Radio Farda provides further evidence of the covert contacts between Iranian clerics and U.S. representatives.

Dated February 26, 1964, the confidential document reveals that Khomeini's longtime friend and associate, Ayatollah Seyed Mohammad Sadegh Lavasani, met with two U.S. Embassy officials at his residence in Tehran.

The embassy cable said Lavasani's "position as Tehran representative of Ayatollah Khomeini contributes to his importance and influence in the Iranian clerical community, particularly in its political role."

Lavasani was a comptroller, according to the U.S. document, suggesting that he oversaw the expenditure of funds and donations that Khomeini received "from all over the Shi'a world."

The document said Lavasani was one of only 18 people who had access to Khomeini, who by 1964 had become a key critic of the U.S.-backed shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, whom he accused of being a Western "puppet."

Lavasani is among several of Khomeini's aides who had secret contacts with U.S. officials before 1979.

Declassified CIA documents have revealed contacts between Khomeini and the administration of then-U.S. President Jimmy Carter just weeks before the revolution. The documents suggest that Khomeini was open to dialogue with Washington and would not undermine U.S. interests if he came to power.

U.S. documents declassified in recent years have also revealed that U.S. representatives met with key Iranian officials after the revolution, including Ayatollah Mohammad Beheshti, who was considered Khomeini's second in command; former Foreign Minister Ebrahim Yazdi; and Mehdi Bazargan, the first prime minister after the revolution.

It was previously known that Ruhollah Khomeini, the charismatic leader of the Iranian revolution, had exchanged some messages with the US through an intermediary while living in exile in Paris. But new documents seen by the BBC’s Persian service show he went to a great lengths to ensure the Americans would not jeopardise his plans to return to Iran – and even personally wrote to US officials.

The BBC’s reporting suggests that the Carter administration took heed of Khomeini’s pledges, and in effect paved the way for his return by holding the Iranian army back from launching a military coup.

The BBC Persian service obtained a draft message Washington had prepared as a response to Khomeini, which welcomed the ayatollah’s direct communications, but was never sent.

The corporation also published a previously released but unnoticed declassified 1980 CIA analysis titled Islam in Iran, which shows Khomeini’s initial attempts to reach out to the US dated back to 1963, 16 years before the revolution.

The BBC’s reports have created a huge row in Iran: if true they would undermine the myth that Khomenei staunchly resisted any direct links with the US, which remained taboo for three decades until the recent nuclear negotiations.

Earlier this month, Khomeini’s successor, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, denied the report, saying it was based on “fabricated” documents.

Two former White House advisers to Jimmy Carter, speaking to the Guardian, did not question the authenticity of the documents but denied that the US had abandoned the shah.

In contrast to his later tirades against the “Great Satan”, Khomeini’s messages to US officials just weeks before his return to Tehran appear to have been strikingly conciliatory.

“It is advisable that you recommend to the army not to follow [Shah’s prime minister Shapour] Bakhtiar,” Khomeini said in one message, according to the BBC. “You will see we are not in any particular animosity with the Americans.”

In another message sent via a US emissary written in the same month, he attempted to assuage American fears that their economic interests would be affected by a change of power in Iran: “There should be no fear about oil. It is not true that we wouldn’t sell to the US.”

Khomeini returned to Tehran on 1 February 1979, two weeks after the shah had fled Iran. The Iranian military, which was under US influence, soon surrendered, and within months Khomenei was declared the supreme leader of a new Islamic republic.

Relations with the US were wary from the start, because America was closely identified with the shah’s regime, and links with Washington broke down completely in November 1979 when a group of students stormed the US embassy and took 52 diplomats hostage for 444 days.

But despite confrontational rhetoric on both sides, the revolution did not mark an end to direct talks between Iran and the US. The current president, Hassan Rouhani, is believed to have been involved in covert negotiations in which the US agreed to covertly ship arms to Tehran to secure the release of American hostages.

The 1980 CIA study says “in November 1963 Ayatollah Khomeini sent a message to the United States Government through [Tehran University professor] Haj Mirza Khalil Kamarei”, in which he explained “that he was not opposed to American interests in Iran” and that “on the contrary, he thought the American presence was necessary as a counterbalance to Soviet and possibly British influence”. Iranian leaders have vehemently denied that Khomeini ever sent such a message.

Neat web app that shows all of human history from the Holocene Era to now

Indian studio Sanjay Puri Architects dreamed up plans for a university that are quite unlike the usual imposing structures that immediately come to mind. It's a marvel from every angle, and especially so when you look at the roof.

Discover China's eco-friendly Volcano-In Visitor Center by PLAT ASIA, nestled in Inner Mongolia's steppe, blending tourism with conservation.

TL;DW:
A video by Veritasium about how a single dependency (.xz) was momentarily compromised leading to the compromise of OpenSSH (which uses .xz as a dependency), which ultimately would have spelled out a master key access to Linux systems across the world.

Really cool how they explain and visualize LZ, Deflate, LZMA and RSA.

Shout-out to all the Open Source contributors out there! And a reminder to others to show your appreciation to those who dedicate time and resources to projects that often go unappreciated or for granted.