Italian Mobster Arrested, Controlling Lightning, and 1910s Slang Terms

Mafia Boss Arrested

Italian authorities announced yesterday the capture of mafia leader Matteo Messina Denaro, one of the most wanted criminals in the country. He had been evading arrest since 1993 and was apprehended in the city of Palermo while allegedly receiving medical treatment for cancer.

Messina Denaro is believed to be the head of the notorious Sicilian Cosa Nostra mafia. The 60-year-old was previously tried and sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment in 2002 for his involvement in multiple terrorist attacks and murders in 1992 and 1993, including the killing of two anti-mafia prosecutors. He received another life sentence in 2012 for his role in the torture and murder of the 12-year-old son of a former mafia informant. Overall, he is believed to be responsible for the deaths of more than 50 people.

See background on Messina Denaro here and on a man leading the fight against the Italian mafia here.

Musk Faces (Another) Trial 

Jury selection begins today in a securities fraud trial against Elon Musk over misleading tweets he sent in 2018 floating the possibility of taking Tesla private at $420 per share. A class-action lawsuit argues Musk's tweets (see here) of securing funding were false and fueled swings in the company's share price, costing investors billions of dollars. 

The deal, which would have been valued at $72B, never materialized. Musk, the chief executive at Tesla, was forced to pay a $40M settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Musk has said he agreed to settle under duress. A US district judge has already decided Musk acted recklessly and his tweets weren't true. The San Francisco trial hinges on the jury's interpretation of the motives behind Musk's tweets and whether they were material to investors.

Musk is expected to take the stand as early as this week, about two months after appearing in court for a separate trial in Delaware over his pay package at Tesla. Tesla's stock landed at around $122 per share at market close yesterday.  

Scientists Steer Lightning

Researchers successfully diverted lightning using a high-powered laser in the first demonstration of the technique outside a laboratory. Scientists believe the technology could eventually help control lightning strikes around airports and launchpads while potentially reducing the thousands of fatalities and $3B in damages each year resulting from the phenomenon. 

Traditional metal lightning rods only cover an area as wide as the rod is tall, limiting their application on large sites. To test covering a wider area, the researchers created a virtual lightning rod using a laser pulsing 1,000 times per second near a 400-foot tower in Switzerland. During storms in the summer of 2021, the laser's rapid beams heated a path of charged air near the tower, ultimately steering four lightning strikes through the ionized channel over six hours (see images). Read how it works here. 

Observers believe the car-sized laser will require more research before it is commercially available. 

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> The Undead Author

NY Times | Ellen Barry. More than two years ago, romance author Susan Meachen died by suicide, only to reemerge last week. Former friends and fans, who contributed over a thousand dollars to crowdfunding for funeral expenses, are now calling for fraud charges. (Read)

> Live Animal Export

Vox | Sophie Kevany. Nearly 2 billion farm animals are exported to other countries each year while still alive, often suffering from starvation and drowning during transport. A look into the practice and why more countries are contemplating a ban. (Read)

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