Many science students might dread the more complex aspects of
physics, but far removed from the mathematical equations that define how
our physical world behaves, we each have an inner intuitive sense for
how things will bounce, wobble, or fall.
Now, researchers say they've identified the brain region responsible
for making these instinctive, immediate calculations for the movement of
physical objects, dubbing it the brain's "physics engine".
"We run physics simulations all the time to prepare us for when we need to act in the world," says cognitive scientist Jason Fischer
from Johns Hopkins University. "It is among the most important aspects
of cognition for survival. But there has been almost no work done to
identify and study the brain regions involved in this capability."
Interestingly, while we might think of these kinds of physical
calculations as largely visual in nature – for example, trying to
predict where a basketball might bounce after it hits the rim or
backboard – the cerebral region that handles the actual work isn't in
the brain's vision centre, but in our action planning areas: the premotor cortex and supplementary motor area.
"Our findings suggest that physical intuition and action planning are intimately linked in the brain," says Fischer.
"We believe this might be because infants learn physics models of the
world as they hone their motor skills, handling objects to learn how
they behave. Also, to reach out and grab something in the right place
with the right amount of force, we need real-time physical
understanding."
To identify the region in our brain that makes physics-based
calculations, Fischer and a team of researchers from MIT had 12
participants look at video of Jenga-style blocks assembled in a tower.
While scanning their brain activity via functional magnetic resonance imaging
(fMRI), the researchers asked the participants to predict where they
thought the blocks might land if the tower were to collapse.
The fMRI results showed that the premotor cortex and the
supplementary motor area were the most responsive areas – whereas a
simple visual test, in which the participants only had to identify
whether the static tower contained more blue or yellow blocks, didn't
stimulate activity in their physics engine.
You can actually try the Jenga test for yourself by watching the video below.
Regardless of whether you guess the correct responses based on each
tower (there are three separate collapses in the video), the parts of
the brain you're using when you try to figure it out are the premotor
cortex and the supplementary motor area, according to the researchers.
The team found evidence of the same brain activity in two separate
physics-based experiments. In one, the participants watched a video of
two dots bouncing, and had to try to predict where the dots would bounce
next.
In a final test, the participants simply watched short movie clips
featuring lots of physics content while having their brain activity
monitored.
Even without being asked to respond to the clips in any way – they
only had to watch the video – the results showed that the brain's
physics engine was stimulated, with the more physical content shown, the
more the premotor cortex and supplementary motor area were activated.
"The brain activity reflected the amount of physical content in a
movie, even if people weren't consciously paying attention to it," says Fischer. "This suggests that we are making physical inferences all the time, even when we're not even thinking about it."
It's worth pointing out that this was a very small study with only a
small group taking part, so the findings will need to be replicated in
larger research involving more people being tested.
But if the findings check out, the researchers say it could help lead
to better designs for robots, built with physics engines that resemble
our own. The research could also help us understand more about motor
disorders like apraxia – where people have difficulty planning and carrying out physical movements.
It's not the first time researchers have found evidence of
physics-based thinking in the brain. Earlier in the year, a team of
Japanese scientists discovered even cats have a very basic grasp of
physics, based on experiments involving containers that either rattled
or were silent when shaken – which gave the animals a clue that
something was contained inside them (or not).
We're finding out more and more out about the human brain all the time – with scientists identifying almost 100 brand-new brain regions just last month.
It's an exciting time for neuroscience, and we can't wait to find out just what else our heads have in store for us.
The findings are reported in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Wednesday, August 31, 2016
FOX NEWS
ORLANDO, Fla. – A mother called 911 for help as she texted with her son, who was trapped inside the Pulse nightclub. A sister told a dispatcher that her 20-year-old brother also was trapped, in a bathroom at the gay club, and that "he said there were a lot of dead people."
People were texting, calling and video-chatting for help during the mass shooting of 49 people in June, and their loved ones frantically called police dispatchers in turn, according to numerous audio recordings of 911 calls released Tuesday by the Orange County Sheriff's Office.
The sheriff's office took overflow 911 calls when Orlando Police Department dispatchers were inundated during the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. The recordings show sheriff's dispatchers mostly got busy signals when they tried to transfer calls back to police.
The Orlando Police Department has yet to release its 911 calls. A dozen news media companies including The Associated Press are suing for access to these public records as well as the communications between gunman Omar Mateen and the Orlando Police Department, during which authorities say Mateen pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.
The media groups argue that the recordings will help the public evaluate the police response, but the city of Orlando claims the recordings are exempt under Florida public records law, and that the FBI insists releasing them may disrupt the ongoing investigation.
Mateen was killed by a police SWAT team after firing at the officers, ending a standoff that had lasted for more three hours. In addition to the fatalities, 53 club goers were hospitalized.
The sheriff's dispatchers sound calm and sympathetic on the 911 calls. They took down names and identifying traits or clothes, and told callers to tell their relatives or friends to stay in place until officers and deputies at the scene could rescue them.
"What I need him to do is just stay where he is and don't have him do anything or go anywhere until deputies or officers clear the area," a dispatcher told the mother who was texting her son in the bathroom, about 20 minutes after the shooting started. "Tell him to stay tight and just follow the officers and deputies' directions."
More than an hour and a half after the shooting started, one man called dispatchers a second time, clearly frustrated that his ex-girlfriend hadn't been rescued from a bathroom where she was trapped with almost 20 others, including two dead people.
"People are shot and dead ... Are you guys sending anybody there?" the man said. "They are all scared to death, and they all think they are going to die."
Another dispatcher urged a caller not to call or return a text from his friend, who had been shot three times and was hiding in a bathroom.
"Because if he has the phone ringing, making noise or something, we don't know anything about anything, so at this point, we don't want any noise around," the dispatcher said.
A neighbor also called, saying panicked patrons were banging on his door, pleading for shelter and hiding behind his car. It was one of the first 911 calls that night, and without knowing the extent of the attack, a dispatcher told him to keep his door locked.
"Gunshots were going crazy," said a patron who left the club right before the shooting started.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/08/30/911-calls-gunshots-going-like-crazy-at-pulse-nightclub-in-orlando.html
Orlando Massacre
911 calls: 'Gunshots going like crazy' at Pulse nightclub in Orlando
ORLANDO, Fla. – A mother called 911 for help as she texted with her son, who was trapped inside the Pulse nightclub. A sister told a dispatcher that her 20-year-old brother also was trapped, in a bathroom at the gay club, and that "he said there were a lot of dead people."
People were texting, calling and video-chatting for help during the mass shooting of 49 people in June, and their loved ones frantically called police dispatchers in turn, according to numerous audio recordings of 911 calls released Tuesday by the Orange County Sheriff's Office.
The sheriff's office took overflow 911 calls when Orlando Police Department dispatchers were inundated during the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. The recordings show sheriff's dispatchers mostly got busy signals when they tried to transfer calls back to police.
The Orlando Police Department has yet to release its 911 calls. A dozen news media companies including The Associated Press are suing for access to these public records as well as the communications between gunman Omar Mateen and the Orlando Police Department, during which authorities say Mateen pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.
The media groups argue that the recordings will help the public evaluate the police response, but the city of Orlando claims the recordings are exempt under Florida public records law, and that the FBI insists releasing them may disrupt the ongoing investigation.
Mateen was killed by a police SWAT team after firing at the officers, ending a standoff that had lasted for more three hours. In addition to the fatalities, 53 club goers were hospitalized.
The sheriff's dispatchers sound calm and sympathetic on the 911 calls. They took down names and identifying traits or clothes, and told callers to tell their relatives or friends to stay in place until officers and deputies at the scene could rescue them.
"What I need him to do is just stay where he is and don't have him do anything or go anywhere until deputies or officers clear the area," a dispatcher told the mother who was texting her son in the bathroom, about 20 minutes after the shooting started. "Tell him to stay tight and just follow the officers and deputies' directions."
More than an hour and a half after the shooting started, one man called dispatchers a second time, clearly frustrated that his ex-girlfriend hadn't been rescued from a bathroom where she was trapped with almost 20 others, including two dead people.
"People are shot and dead ... Are you guys sending anybody there?" the man said. "They are all scared to death, and they all think they are going to die."
Another dispatcher urged a caller not to call or return a text from his friend, who had been shot three times and was hiding in a bathroom.
"Because if he has the phone ringing, making noise or something, we don't know anything about anything, so at this point, we don't want any noise around," the dispatcher said.
A neighbor also called, saying panicked patrons were banging on his door, pleading for shelter and hiding behind his car. It was one of the first 911 calls that night, and without knowing the extent of the attack, a dispatcher told him to keep his door locked.
"Gunshots were going crazy," said a patron who left the club right before the shooting started.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/08/30/911-calls-gunshots-going-like-crazy-at-pulse-nightclub-in-orlando.html
Tuesday, August 30, 2016
Monday, August 29, 2016
Sunday, August 28, 2016
Saturday, August 27, 2016
Friday, August 26, 2016
Thursday, August 25, 2016
Somali bombings leave 23 dead; Al-Shabaab claims responsibility
CNN
Two
car bombs killed at least 23 people Sunday in the Somali town of
Galkayo. Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the blasts, which killed
students and local merchants.
Story highlights
- Second bomb strikes people trying to help victims of the first blast
- Many of the dead are students and local traders, police say
Mogadishu, Somalia (CNN)A
pair of suicide car bombings struck a government building in Somalia on
Sunday, killing 23 people, including two attackers, authorities said.
Many
of the fatalities are students and local traders who were at a nearby
school and market in the town of Galkayo, police said.
One
bomber rammed his explosives-laden vehicle into the main gate of the
building, killing several people, local police Capt. Abdi Hassan said.
Minutes
later, as people gathered to help the wounded, a second car bomb
exploded. At least one police officer was killed, authorities said.
Al-Shabaab, which claimed responsibility for the bombings, wants to turn Somalia into an Islamist state.
The
terror group Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack, which
targeted a government compound housing administrative offices, police
said. The group's spokesman, Sheikh Abdiaziz Abu Musab, spoke to Andalus
Radio, a pro-militant station.
Northern Galkayo is under the control of Puntland, a semi-autonomous state in northeast Somalia.
Somali
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Prime Minister Omar A Abdirashid
Ali Sharmarke strongly condemned the attack, describing it "barbaric and
heinous."
A representative of UN
Secretary-General in Somalia Michael Keating issued this statement:
"This act of terror highlights the vulnerability of Somali civilians
including children to actors who continue to use violence to achieve
their objectives."
Troubling trend
The
attack follows a similar pattern of bombings in the country also
claimed by Al-Shabaab, which wants to turn Somalia into an Islamist
state.
In late July, six people died after double suicide car bombs exploded in Mogadishu.
Gunmen storm hotel in Mogadishu 01:55
Just
days prior, suicide bombers detonated two vehicles laden with
explosives near the capital's Aden Adde International Airport, killing
at least 12.
In June, the group
also claimed separate attacks on two hotels popular with Somali
politicians, which left more than two dozen people dead.
Monday, August 22, 2016
Friday, August 19, 2016
Thursday, August 18, 2016
Wednesday, August 17, 2016
TUKO
1 week ago
40564
READ ALSO: He fancies dogs’ milk and gets it from the stray bitches
This extraordinary mother says that she started offering her nakedness to her son, Abel, since 2002 in accordance to the prescription of the witch doctor.
The result? His transportation business has grown tremendously and he now owns a fleet of trucks, buses, and other small cars.
READ ALSO: Why this fathers build love huts for their daughters is a shock
But once she stops sleeping with him, all their hard earned wealth will disappear and the son will die a very painful death.
All these things Mrs. Yvonne Banda revealed in church and the pastor of Great Kingdom church prayed for her.
What a bizarre world we live in!
Read more: https://tuko.co.ke/168480-shocking-woman-sleeps-son-every-wednesday-make-richer-photo.html
TUKO
2 weeks ago
21837
The wildlife in India can be dangerous and even lethal. Tigers and other animals and reptiles kill people. However, these youngsters are not afraid to go into the wild. Never nature has done any harm to them.
Locals call the boy Gorilla because he acts like animals and is their best friend. He can establish some kind of strange connection with the animals, and they never hurt him.
READ ALSO: Can lips be that big? This girl beats them all
READ ALSO: Old baby is just 4 years of age! What made him look like this is sad
Their father was murdered, and their mother is the only income source for the family. Doctors were unable to give them any help. One doctor says that they suffer from some mental disorder, and it prevented their brains from further development.
Even though the brother and sister cannot work, they dwell in the woods and can provide food and other things they need. Animals take them as their own and never hurt them! The modern day Mowgli kids indeed!
Terror group al-Shabaab unveil special police force
TUKO
1 week ago
22045
– Al-Shabaab, through its official radio station, released photos of the Islamic police force patrolling the town Jilib
– The duties of the police according to al-Shabaab is to prevent wrongdoing and check people’s clothing, including cutting off penises of adulterous men
Terror group al-Shabaab has released photos of its special police force in areas it controls.
Al-Shabaab through its official mouthpiece, Radio Andalus, released photos of uniformed men with ID tags and branded vehicles patrolling the town of Jilib which is the capital of al-Shabaab controlled Southern Somalia.
An al-Shabaab police vehicle patrolling the town of Jilib which is controlled by the terror group. Photo/Long war journal
The al-Shabaab Islamic police force (Hisba) according to the terror group will not be armed and their duty will be to encourage citizens to do good deeds as well as prevent wrongdoing.
“The role of the hisba is to protect the quality of food and medicine and clothing in the market and all products in the markets,” Radio Andalus is quoted.
Al-Shabaab
Islamic police force is known as the hisba patrolling the streets Jilib
which is the capital of al-Shabaab. Photo/Long war journal
The
hisba inspecting shops and markets in the town of Jilib, according to
al-Shabaab the police force will not be armed as most of their duties
will entail moral guidance for its citizens. Photo/Long war journal
The
duties of the police according to al-Shabaab is to prevent wrongdoing
and check people’s clothing, inspect markets and encourage the youth to
do good.
The
al-Shabaab Islamic police force members all wear ID tags to identify
them as they patrol areas controlled by the militant group. photo/Long
War Journal
The
al-Shabaab police force will mostly deal in patrolling markets and
controlling moral decadence among its citizens like adultery and
fornication. Photo/Long War Journal
Al-Shabaab emerged in 2006 from the now-defunct Islamic Courts Union, which once controlled Somalia’s capital of Mogadishu.
The militant group launched its own insurgency on major Somali cities in 2009, taking control of Mogadishu and southern Somalia.
Click here for stress-free travel in Kenya
Cover photo: Hiraan
US forces kill al-Shabaab commanders in Southern Somalia
TUKO
2 days ago
26214
– US special forces have killed 30 al-Shabaab militants in Southern Somalia near the Kenyan border
– The 30 militants included senior commanders of the terror group and were killed in two separate operations
– Among those killed is said to be Abu Ubeida the al-Shabaab leader in Southern Somalia
Somali commandos backed up US special forces have killed 30 al-Shabaab militants near the Kenyan border in the Southern Somalia region of Middle Juba.
Among those killed are senior al-Shabaab commanders including Abu Ubeida the al-Shabaab leader in Southern Somalia.
According to Xinhua, the militants were killed in two separate military operations in the last four days.
Somali
commandos backed up US special forces have killed 30 al-Shabaab
militants near the Kenyan border in the Southern Somalia region of
Middle Juba.
The Somali government confirmed that the operations took place on August 10 and 13 and mainly targeted the terror militants in Sakow town in Middle Jubba region.
“The U.S. backed by Somali commandos hit Al-Shabaab targets in Sakow town, killing 30 militants in separate security operations that took place on Aug. 10 and Aug 13. Senior members of the terror group were killed,” a Somali government official is quoted by Xinhua.
The
spokesperson for Somalia’s Al-Shabaab militant group, Robow Abu Mansur
(C), is escorted on December 14, 2008, by bodyguards to a press
conference just outside Mogadishu.
Terror group al-Shabaab was removed from its major strongholds of Mogadishu and Kismayu by African Union forces and the Kenyan military.
The terror group which now mostly operates and trains in lower Jubba has resorted to attacking civilian and military facilities in Kenya and Somalia.
The group has carried out several attacks in Kenya including the Garissa University College attack.
The Garrisa University attack which occurred in 2015 was one of Kenya’s most bloodiest terror attacks.
The militant group raided the university at dawn killing 148 people dead of which 142 were students.
READ ALSO: Al-Shabaab explosions cut off communication between KDF camp and Kenya
Cover photo: Hiraan
Tuesday, August 16, 2016
FSB busts internet ring recruiting terrorists for ISIS
RT
Russia’s Federal Security Service has uncovered and closed an
internet community recruiting fighters for Islamic State and propagating
terrorism on the web. It also seized weapons and explosives from the
suspects during searches in three Russian regions.
The FSB’s center for
public communications reported on Thursday that the agency and Russia’s
Interior Ministry jointly liquidated the cells of an internet community
called “The Guide for Joining the Islamic State” in the Tyumen,
Chelyabinsk and Sverdlovsk regions. The community members are suspected
of spreading terrorist propaganda and collecting funds for the banned
Islamic State terrorist group (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL), as well as
recruiting new fighters and helping them reach terrorist bases abroad.
READ MORE: FSB busts ISIS-linked cell with explosives planning terror attack in southern Russia
Security services seized three pistols, four hand grenades, plastic explosives and TNT, as well as detonators for them, during searches conducted in 27 locations. They also confiscated a large cache of extremist literature and videos.
Criminal cases have been launched to investigate the head of the terrorist cell and three of its members who are suspected of organizing a terrorist group and participating in one – crimes punishable by five to ten years imprisonment, as well as large fines.
READ MORE: Terror attack in Siberia thwarted, suspects with int’l links detained - FSB
According to the FSB, the total number of members in the “The Guide for Joining the Islamic State” community based in the Russian Federation, Central Asian Nations, the Middle East, and North Africa could be as high as 100,000. The community has dozens of moderators who use encryption software and internet anonymizers to conceal their identities, the agency’s press service said.
Read more: https://www.rt.com/politics/355503-fsb-busts-internet-based-terrorist/
READ MORE: FSB busts ISIS-linked cell with explosives planning terror attack in southern Russia
Security services seized three pistols, four hand grenades, plastic explosives and TNT, as well as detonators for them, during searches conducted in 27 locations. They also confiscated a large cache of extremist literature and videos.
Criminal cases have been launched to investigate the head of the terrorist cell and three of its members who are suspected of organizing a terrorist group and participating in one – crimes punishable by five to ten years imprisonment, as well as large fines.
READ MORE: Terror attack in Siberia thwarted, suspects with int’l links detained - FSB
According to the FSB, the total number of members in the “The Guide for Joining the Islamic State” community based in the Russian Federation, Central Asian Nations, the Middle East, and North Africa could be as high as 100,000. The community has dozens of moderators who use encryption software and internet anonymizers to conceal their identities, the agency’s press service said.
Read more: https://www.rt.com/politics/355503-fsb-busts-internet-based-terrorist/
ISIS-linked Saudi Arabian twins kill own mother over her opposition to terror group
RT
Twin brothers in Riyadh have stabbed their entire family,
killing their mother and seriously injuring their father and elder
brother. The 20-year-olds are reportedly loyal to Islamic State (IS,
formerly ISIS/ISIL).
The
twins, Khalid and Saleh Al Areeni, allegedly carried out the attack in
their family home in the Saudi capital on Friday. According to
investigators, the young men first stabbed their mother with a cleaver
and sharp knives brought from the outside, before going after their
father. They then chased their elder brother and stabbed him multiple
times as well. Having thought the entire family was finished, the twins
fled the scene in a stolen car.READ MORE: ‘Surprise the unbelievers’: 15yo German girl knifed policewoman ‘under orders from ISIS’
The two stabbed men were critically injured and taken to hospital, while the woman died on the spot. Hundreds turned up at the slain mother’s funeral this weekend, Gulf News reported, adding that people prayed for her as they would for a terror victim.
READ MORE: 'ISIS recruit' 19yo Russian female student detained in Turkey
After a large-scale manhunt, police caught the brothers some 100km (62 miles) from the capital. According to a statement issued by the Saudi interior ministry, the crime was premeditated and the twins were found to be loyal to IS
According to local reports, the attackers decided to kill their mother after she found out about their plans to join IS. Apparently, the woman told her sons that she would report them to authorities if they kept planning to leave the country to join IS in combat zones.
Earlier in June, citing intelligence data, the US State Department announced that more than 40,000 foreign militants from 100 countries had been fighting in Syria as IS mercenaries. Russia has previously released similar warnings, saying that up to 30,000 foreigners have joined the ranks of the terrorist group. Both nations have been fighting Islamic extremists in the Middle East, with Saudi Arabia also being part of the US-led coalition aimed at eradicating IS.
Koran for Dummies’: Most ISIS recruits ignorant about Islam, AP survey shows
RT
Most ISIS recruits know little about Islam or hardly care about
religion at all, an AP investigation has shown. Meanwhile another study
found that the few with the most religious knowledge among the ranks of
the terror group do not rush to become martyrs.
As many as 70 percent of the recruits were said to have had only “basic”
knowledge of Islam – one of the three possible choices on an ISIS
recruitment form, according to a study conducted by Associated Press.
The agency looked at thousands of leaked Islamic State (IS, formerly
ISIS/ISIL) documents collected by a Syrian site, Zaman al-Wasl, and
conducted numerous interviews with former IS fighters.
The probe found that some 24 percent of IS recruits could boast “intermediate” knowledge of Islam and only about 5 percent considered themselves to be “advanced” learners. Only five recruits claimed to have memorized the Quran.
Among the documents studied by AP were entry forms filled out by around 4,030 foreign recruits who crossed into Syria in 2013 and 2014. Upon joining IS, recruits had to fill out a special employment form which asked them to rank their knowledge of Islam on a scale from one to three. The findings indicated that most jihadist newcomers had trouble answering questions which tested their knowledge of Islam.
“I realized that I was in the wrong place when they began to ask me questions on these forms like 'when you die, who should we call?'”a 32-year-old European recruit told AP on condition of anonymity.
Among those interviewed by AP were a European convert who identifies as gay, a group of Frenchmen and two Britons. The latter two were said to have bought “The Koran for Dummies” and “Islam for Dummies” from Amazon in order to prepare for jihad.
Those interviewed said that after filling out the recruitment form they were then lectured by a group of imams on Islam who repeatedly praised martyrdom.
READ MORE: ‘Let British jihadists go to Syria so they can die fighting’ - Labour MP
On the whole, the findings suggest religion has nothing to do with people joining IS. They also indicated that the extremist group feeds on people who have little knowledge of Islam and the more ignorant a person is about the faith the easier it is to recruit them.
“Religion is an afterthought,” Patrick Skinner, a former CIA case officer and director of special projects at security consultancy the Soufan Group told AP. According to Skinner, very few people join IS out of religion. Most of the recruits are people in need of “a sense of belonging, a sense of notoriety, a sense of excitement.”
New recruits who do not know much about the religion are easily brainwashed by the extremist group which imposes their own faith on newcomers in such a manner that it would match their goals of expansion and carnage.
According to a Frenchman Karim Mohammad-Aggad who traveled to Syria to join IS in 2013, extremists used “smooth talk” for recruitment. “Islam was used to trap me like a wolf,” he said. Mohammad-Aggad's brother was one of the three assailants who stormed the Bataclan in Paris November attacks in 2015.
The gay European recruit said he converted to Islam as it required no prior knowledge: “People like me were tricked into something that they didn't understand. I never meant to end up with IS.”
Another study carried out by the US military’s Combating Terrorism Center showed that IS recruits who had advanced knowledge of Islam were less likely to become suicide bombers, AP reported.
“If martyrdom is seen as the highest religious calling, then a reasonable expectation would be that the people with the most knowledge about Islamic law (Shariah) would desire to carry out these operations with greater frequency,” the report stated.
However, it appears that “those with the most religious knowledge within the organization itself are the least likely to volunteer to be suicide bombers,” the study found.
According to Muslim scholars, IS members concoct their own notions about what is allowed and forbidden in Islam which are fully contrary to the faith. Scholar Tariq Ramadan said that it is important to make it known to the world that what IS teaches has nothing to do with Islam.
“The people who are doing this are not experiencing martyrdom, they are criminals,” he said. “They are killing innocent people. Nothing in Islam, nothing ever can justify the killing of innocent people, never, ever.”
Read more: https://www.rt.com/news/356091-isis-recruits-islam-ignorance/
The probe found that some 24 percent of IS recruits could boast “intermediate” knowledge of Islam and only about 5 percent considered themselves to be “advanced” learners. Only five recruits claimed to have memorized the Quran.
Read more
Among the documents studied by AP were entry forms filled out by around 4,030 foreign recruits who crossed into Syria in 2013 and 2014. Upon joining IS, recruits had to fill out a special employment form which asked them to rank their knowledge of Islam on a scale from one to three. The findings indicated that most jihadist newcomers had trouble answering questions which tested their knowledge of Islam.
“I realized that I was in the wrong place when they began to ask me questions on these forms like 'when you die, who should we call?'”a 32-year-old European recruit told AP on condition of anonymity.
Among those interviewed by AP were a European convert who identifies as gay, a group of Frenchmen and two Britons. The latter two were said to have bought “The Koran for Dummies” and “Islam for Dummies” from Amazon in order to prepare for jihad.
Those interviewed said that after filling out the recruitment form they were then lectured by a group of imams on Islam who repeatedly praised martyrdom.
READ MORE: ‘Let British jihadists go to Syria so they can die fighting’ - Labour MP
On the whole, the findings suggest religion has nothing to do with people joining IS. They also indicated that the extremist group feeds on people who have little knowledge of Islam and the more ignorant a person is about the faith the easier it is to recruit them.
“Religion is an afterthought,” Patrick Skinner, a former CIA case officer and director of special projects at security consultancy the Soufan Group told AP. According to Skinner, very few people join IS out of religion. Most of the recruits are people in need of “a sense of belonging, a sense of notoriety, a sense of excitement.”
Read more
New recruits who do not know much about the religion are easily brainwashed by the extremist group which imposes their own faith on newcomers in such a manner that it would match their goals of expansion and carnage.
According to a Frenchman Karim Mohammad-Aggad who traveled to Syria to join IS in 2013, extremists used “smooth talk” for recruitment. “Islam was used to trap me like a wolf,” he said. Mohammad-Aggad's brother was one of the three assailants who stormed the Bataclan in Paris November attacks in 2015.
The gay European recruit said he converted to Islam as it required no prior knowledge: “People like me were tricked into something that they didn't understand. I never meant to end up with IS.”
Another study carried out by the US military’s Combating Terrorism Center showed that IS recruits who had advanced knowledge of Islam were less likely to become suicide bombers, AP reported.
“If martyrdom is seen as the highest religious calling, then a reasonable expectation would be that the people with the most knowledge about Islamic law (Shariah) would desire to carry out these operations with greater frequency,” the report stated.
However, it appears that “those with the most religious knowledge within the organization itself are the least likely to volunteer to be suicide bombers,” the study found.
According to Muslim scholars, IS members concoct their own notions about what is allowed and forbidden in Islam which are fully contrary to the faith. Scholar Tariq Ramadan said that it is important to make it known to the world that what IS teaches has nothing to do with Islam.
“The people who are doing this are not experiencing martyrdom, they are criminals,” he said. “They are killing innocent people. Nothing in Islam, nothing ever can justify the killing of innocent people, never, ever.”
Read more: https://www.rt.com/news/356091-isis-recruits-islam-ignorance/
Monday, August 15, 2016
Sunday, August 14, 2016
Scientists just found the part of our brain that actually gets physics
Jason Fischer/JHU
Not all of your brain is confused by physics.
Violent protests erupt in Milwaukee after police kill armed suspect
REUTERS
A statement by the Milwaukee Police Department did not say whether the suspect who was killed had fired any shots or pointed the weapon at officers during the incident. Authorities did not disclose the race or the name of the suspect or the uniformed officer.
Later, a crowd of more than 100 people in the predominately African-American section of the city where the shooting occurred hurled rocks as police officers in riot gear attempted to disperse the protesters.
Authorities said gunshots were fired during the disturbance. The windows of at least two squad cars were smashed, and one officer sitting inside one of the vehicles was hit in the head with a brick.
Protesters set a
police car ablaze and fires broke out at gas station, an auto parts
store and at least three other businesses, officials and local media
reported.
"Our city is in turmoil tonight," said Alderman Ashanti Hamilton, president of the Milwaukee Common Council.
Mayor Tom Barrett appealed for calm.
"This is a neighborhood that has been unfortunately affected by violence in the recent past," Barrett said, referring to a smaller disturbance a month earlier. "There are a lot of really, really good people who live in this area ... and can't stand this violence."
The unrest follows peaceful protests and some violence in U.S. cities over the past two years following high-profile killings by law enforcement officers in Baltimore, New York and Ferguson, Missouri.
Outrage over police violence toward minority groups has given rise to the Black Lives Matter movement and touched off a national debate over the race issue and policing in the United States.
"This is a warning cry," Milwaukee Alderman Khalif Rainey said. "Black people of Milwaukee are tired. They are tired of living under this oppression."
As of 1 a.m. Central time, police said three arrests had been made in connection with the unrest.
Shortly after 2 a.m. police said they were restoring order to the area and reducing deployments, but local news footage also showed a liquor store in flames just minutes before the release of the statement.
The officer involved in the shooting is 24 years old and a six-year veteran of the force, police said. He was placed on administrative duty until an investigation and subsequent review by the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office is complete, a standard practice after shootings by law enforcement officers.
(Additonal reporting by Chris Michaud in New York; Writing by Frank McGurty; Editing by Andrew Roche and Richard Balmforth)
| MILWAUKEE
Protesters fired gunshots, hurled bricks and set a gas station on fire
in the U.S. mid-western city of Milwaukee on Saturday night, hours after
a patrol officer shot and killed an armed suspect who took flight after
a traffic stop, authorities said.The
23-year-old suspect, who had a lengthy arrest record, was carrying a
stolen handgun loaded with 23 rounds of ammunition when police pulled
over the vehicle for unspecified "suspicious activity," authorities
said. A second suspect who fled from the vehicle was quickly taken into
custody. A statement by the Milwaukee Police Department did not say whether the suspect who was killed had fired any shots or pointed the weapon at officers during the incident. Authorities did not disclose the race or the name of the suspect or the uniformed officer.
Later, a crowd of more than 100 people in the predominately African-American section of the city where the shooting occurred hurled rocks as police officers in riot gear attempted to disperse the protesters.
Authorities said gunshots were fired during the disturbance. The windows of at least two squad cars were smashed, and one officer sitting inside one of the vehicles was hit in the head with a brick.
"Our city is in turmoil tonight," said Alderman Ashanti Hamilton, president of the Milwaukee Common Council.
Mayor Tom Barrett appealed for calm.
"This is a neighborhood that has been unfortunately affected by violence in the recent past," Barrett said, referring to a smaller disturbance a month earlier. "There are a lot of really, really good people who live in this area ... and can't stand this violence."
The unrest follows peaceful protests and some violence in U.S. cities over the past two years following high-profile killings by law enforcement officers in Baltimore, New York and Ferguson, Missouri.
Outrage over police violence toward minority groups has given rise to the Black Lives Matter movement and touched off a national debate over the race issue and policing in the United States.
"This is a warning cry," Milwaukee Alderman Khalif Rainey said. "Black people of Milwaukee are tired. They are tired of living under this oppression."
As of 1 a.m. Central time, police said three arrests had been made in connection with the unrest.
Shortly after 2 a.m. police said they were restoring order to the area and reducing deployments, but local news footage also showed a liquor store in flames just minutes before the release of the statement.
The officer involved in the shooting is 24 years old and a six-year veteran of the force, police said. He was placed on administrative duty until an investigation and subsequent review by the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office is complete, a standard practice after shootings by law enforcement officers.
(Additonal reporting by Chris Michaud in New York; Writing by Frank McGurty; Editing by Andrew Roche and Richard Balmforth)
Boko Haram video claims to show missing Nigerian school girls
REUTERS
Nigerian militant group Boko Haram has published a video apparently showing recent footage of dozens of school girls kidnapped two years ago, and saying some of them have been killed in air strikes.Dozens of the girls who were abducted in the town of Chibok in 2014 managed to flee to safety in the initial melee, but more than 200 are still missing.
Nigerian authorities said in May that one of the missing girls had been found and President Muhammadu Buhari vowed to rescue the others.
In the video published on social media, which was seen by Reuters on Sunday, a masked man stands behind dozens of girls, one of them identified as Maina Yakubu, who tells him she is from Chibok. She is veiled in the video.
"What I want to tell my parents and the federal government is that the federal government should please release Boko Haram members in custody of security agents so we too can be released," she said.
"Military jets have killed some of the girls," she said.
The fighter also said some girls had been killed by air strikes. At the end of the video unidentified bodies could be seen on the ground.
The was no immediate comment from the Nigerian army.
Boko Haram, which last year pledged loyalty to the militant group Islamic State, has kidnapped hundreds of men, women and children in their campaign to carve out an Islamist caliphate.
Under Buhari's command and aided by Nigeria's neighbors, the army has recaptured most territory once lost to Boko Haram, but the group still regularly stages suicide bombings.
Boko Haram has apparently split with Islamic State naming Abu Musab al-Barnawi two weeks ago as the group's leader for West Africa in a two-page interview in its weekly magazine.
But the previous figurehead Abubakar Shekau appears to have rejected the new role in another video published after Barnawi's appointment.
(Reporting by Sharon Ogunleye, Ardo Abdullah and Ulf Laessing; Editing by Helen Popper)
A still image from a video posted by
Nigerian Islamist militant group Boko Haram on social media, seen by
Reuters on August 14, 2016, shows a masked man talking to dozens of
girls the group said are school girls kidnapped in the town of Chibok in
2014. Social Media
Nigerian militant group Boko Haram has published a video apparently showing recent footage of dozens of school girls kidnapped two years ago, and saying some of them have been killed in air strikes.Dozens of the girls who were abducted in the town of Chibok in 2014 managed to flee to safety in the initial melee, but more than 200 are still missing.
Nigerian authorities said in May that one of the missing girls had been found and President Muhammadu Buhari vowed to rescue the others.
In the video published on social media, which was seen by Reuters on Sunday, a masked man stands behind dozens of girls, one of them identified as Maina Yakubu, who tells him she is from Chibok. She is veiled in the video.
"What I want to tell my parents and the federal government is that the federal government should please release Boko Haram members in custody of security agents so we too can be released," she said.
"Military jets have killed some of the girls," she said.
The fighter also said some girls had been killed by air strikes. At the end of the video unidentified bodies could be seen on the ground.
The was no immediate comment from the Nigerian army.
Boko Haram, which last year pledged loyalty to the militant group Islamic State, has kidnapped hundreds of men, women and children in their campaign to carve out an Islamist caliphate.
Under Buhari's command and aided by Nigeria's neighbors, the army has recaptured most territory once lost to Boko Haram, but the group still regularly stages suicide bombings.
Boko Haram has apparently split with Islamic State naming Abu Musab al-Barnawi two weeks ago as the group's leader for West Africa in a two-page interview in its weekly magazine.
But the previous figurehead Abubakar Shekau appears to have rejected the new role in another video published after Barnawi's appointment.
(Reporting by Sharon Ogunleye, Ardo Abdullah and Ulf Laessing; Editing by Helen Popper)
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