🛩️ Boeing criminally charged w/ fraud

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TOP STORY
🛩️ Boeing criminally charged with fraud

The U.S. Department of Justice is set to criminally charge Boeing with fraud over two fatal crashes.

But there’s a catch: Boeing will be getting a plea deal. 

Earlier this week, the families of those on board the fatal Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 that claimed 346 lives were informed of a proposed deal and were understandably unhappy.

• Under the proposed deal, Boeing would pay a fine, face a three-year probation term, and work under a corporate monitor.

• A virtual slap on the wrist for a $110 billion company that has been screwing up its aircraft and engendering its passenger's lives for years now.

• And the victims let both Boeing and officials know they felt this way, and then some.

Attorneys representing the relatives accused the federal government of making yet “another sweetheart plea deal” with Boeing.

One official was asked by a family member how he sleeps at night.

Boeing will have until the end of this week to decide whether to plead guilty to the charge and avoid trial, but the families will make the case to a judge and the wider public for this deal to be rejected.

GOVERNMENT
🐕️ Robo-Dogs join the army

Earlier this year, we saw the Chinese military unveil a Robo-Dog armed with an assault rifle.

In a video released by the state-run news agency CCTV, Chinese army personnel are shown operating on a testing range alongside a four-legged robot with a variant of the QBZ-95 assault rifle mounted on it.

During joint exercises with the Cambodian military, we saw the robo-dog as the "point man" leading the soldiers into a building.

And this isn’t the first time the Chinese military has shown off an armed robot dog.

In October 2022, Chinese defense company Kestrel Defense released a video showing a drone air-dropping a robot dog equipped with a QBB-97 light machine gun onto a roof during an urban warfare experiment. 

Previously, the same company had showcased robot dogs with combat systems like smoke grenades and drones.

Great, so the Chinese have developed their own robo-killing machines.

The U.S. has to be taking notes on this, right? Yes, don’t worry. 

In the past year, the Pentagon has experimented with outfitting its own ground robots with its standard-issue M4A1 carbine rifle, a new XM7 rifle, and even the M72 Light Anti-Tank Weapon.

And just weeks before CCTV published its footage of armed robot dogs in action, Marine Corps Special Operations Command (MARSOC) said it was also experimenting with adding mounted gun systems to robots.

Before you get all excited about seeing a robot killer on the loose in your neighborhood, though, American defense officials have been quick to emphasize that the development of weaponized robot dogs is purely experimental at the moment.

But these urban assault drills and China’s continued advancements suggest that armed canines entering the real battlefield may not be as far away as we think.

HEALTHCARE
 🏥 Texas hospital debuts hologram doctors

Crescent Regional Hospital in Lancaster, Texas, has recently installed "Holobox," a 3D system that projects life-sized holograms of doctors for real-time consultations.

• The display is 86 inches tall (~7 feet) and only requires electricity and internet to connect.

• This means that in the future, fellow hospitals will be able to use similar systems pretty easily.

• The hologram also has special glass that reduces glare, a clear screen to show realistic holograms, high-quality speakers, and a touchscreen system.

• It can also feature the image of people either in a pre-recorded video or in live real-time video.

You had to expect that the hologram video would be high-tech, right? The main goal of this project is to reduce doctors' travel time and provide patients with remote access to specialists.

A hologram a day can really keep the doctor away.

Crescent Regional plans to expand this technology to rural areas and other locations, hoping other hospitals will adopt similar systems.

The integration of AI into healthcare is already underway, but introducing actual hologram doctors to the industry would be a major win for both doctors and patients.