🇨🇳 Second day of China's military drills around Taiwan, Congress passes Taylor Swift-inspired law on private plane tracking, human head transplant could soon be a reality

Plus: ESA's Euclid telescope captures 1,500 billion orphan stars                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 May 24, 2024 | [Read Online]( INTERESTING ENGINEERING SHOP [[We Work Until It Hertz - Unisex Tee] We Work Until It Hertz - Unisex Tee $43.00 $25.99]( [[Engineering Inspiration Mug] F=MA Trucker Hat $25.99 $13.99]( The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China has entered its second day of rigorous military drills around Taiwan, escalating the tension in the region. The exercises, which began on Thursday, have expanded from initial blockade practices to more advanced operations focused on battlefield control and domain occupation. These drills, code-named “Joint Sword-2024A,” have raised alarms in Taipei, which is closely monitoring the situation for any signs of live fire, an element not yet observed. For more on this breaking news, check out today’s [Must-Read.]( 🔥Today’s job of the day as featured on [jobs.interestingengineering.com](: >[Â]([Senior Software Engineer]( > [Senior Development Engineer]( Reading Time: 4 mins Did a friend forward this e-mail to you? [Subscribe here.]( MUST READ 🇨🇳 ‘Seize power’: China continues Taiwan-choking military drills on day 2 The military exercises come in the wake of the inauguration speech by [Taiwan’s new president, William Lai Ching-te](, which has sparked significant outrage in Beijing. The PLA’s Eastern Theatre Command issued a statement on Friday, indicating the continuation of the Sword-2024A blockade drills with added focus on [occupying important domains](. The PLA Daily, the military’s official newspaper, defended the drills as “completely just and necessary” to [punish “Taiwan separatists”]( and serve as a warning to “external forces.” 🛫 Taylor Swift’s jet emissions row leads to US barring private plane tracking A new bill approved by US President Joe Biden has made it almost [impossible to track the movement of any private aircraft](. The recent amendment in the Federal Aviation Administration re-authorization bill empowers private aircraft owners to [anonymize their registration details](. So far, it was easy for random people on the internet to monitor the aircraft movement of celebrities and billionaires as the plane owners were bound to [register aircraft ownership]( information with the FAA civil registry. [Jack Sweeney](, a Florida college student who previously tracked Elon Musk’s jet, has been frequently tracking Taylor Swift’s plane. Recently, he revealed that the celebrity’s planes emitted [1,200 tons of CO2 in 2023](, which is [83x]( higher than that of an average American. 🤯 World’s 1st robot surgeon concept for head-swap surgery shocks internet Biomedical engineering and neuroscience startup [BrainBridge]( has unveiled its plans to perform the [first human head transplant]( within the next eight years. If everything goes according to plan, the entire procedure will be performed autonomously using a combination of [sophisticated medical robots]( and [artificial intelligence](. The company has even released a [somewhat disturbing]( computer-generated video of how the procedure might look. This procedure, the company explains, will be used to help patients with [untreatable medical conditions]( like paralysis, cancer, or neurodegenerative conditions. Love what you're reading, but too many emails? Sign up to IE+ to get Blueprint Weekly, our exclusive weekly premium newsletter that gives all the insights you love in a more digestible weekly format– plus, enjoy an Ad-Free experience on our website. Try IE+ today for just $1 in the first month. [Subscribe here]( HOT TOPICS OF THE DAY SCIENCE > A new study sheds light on how the prominent noses of male proboscis monkeys are the visual and auditory signals of a male’s fighting ability, acting as symbols of status in attracting potential mates. ([More]() > European Space Agency’s recently launched Euclid space telescope has showcased its optical prowess by generating stunning images of celestial objects spread across the universe, capturing 1,500 billion orphan stars. ([More]() > A new study reveals that ancient viral DNA sequences, once thought to be “junk DNA,” are active in the human brain and contribute to the risk of psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression. 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