A new scientific paper supports the idea that life might exist on Titan, but that it would be nothing like life as we know it. After studying spectroscopic data. ICE Says It Doesnt Track Down Undocumented Immigrants Using Stingray Devices. Acting head of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Thomas Homan told Sen. Ron Wyden the agency does not use cell site simulatorsa type of surveillance gear often referred to as a Stingray that can track down a specific mobile device by emulating cell phone towersto locate undocumented immigrants. Acting head of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Thomas Homan told Sen. Ron Wyden the agency does not use cellsite simulatorsa type of surveillance gear often. BibMe Free Bibliography Citation Maker MLA, APA, Chicago, Harvard. Per Ars Technica, the August 1. ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations does not use cell site simulators for the purpose of civil immigration law enforcement. But he added that ICEs Homeland Security Investigations division, which targets national security threats and organized crime, uses the devices, though only after receiving a warrant. Homan also noted that ICE agents sometimes work in joint task forces with other federal, state and local law enforcement partners, in furtherance of our shared public safety missionand that in those cases, Stingrays may sometimes be used. That caveat is important In March, ICE used a Stingray variant known as a Hailstorm to locate 2. El Salvadorean man Rudy Carcamo Carranza, who had entered the US illegally twice and was wanted in connection to alleged drunk driving and hit and run incidents. The ICE officer involved in the investigation, Jeremy Mc. Cullough, was a member of the ERO department but was also assigned to the FBIs Violent Gang Task Force. So for ICE agents to use a cell site simulator to track people suspected of immigration law violations, they just need to be assigned to such a unit. Wyden had asked ICE a number of questions about its use of the devices in May, though Homans letter does not appear to have totally addressed all of them. Cell site simulators are controversial law enforcement tools because they spoof a regular base transceiver station, tricking all cellular devices in the area into connecting to it. While they allow police to track down a specific person or at least their mobile device almost instantly, they can only do so by casting a large dragnet. In the process of spoofing the signal, Stingray devices can interfere with network access, including in some cases disrupting emergency calls. Homans letter, however, insisted that the devices refer non targeted mobile hardware back to regular networks in an amount of time that is not noticeable to the user, saying interference only occurs if someone is dialing a number at the exact time the device is switched on. In all circumstances, devices are always able to dial 9. In the era of President Donald Trump, ICE has ramped up its efforts to go after the undocumented population. From January to June 2. Potential Building Block of Alien Life Spotted in Titans Atmosphere. Saturns moon Titan is a world of contrast both eerily familiar and strikingly alien. Its calm seas and enormous sand dunes might remind you of Earth, until you learn that whats flowing across Titans surface is not water, but liquid hydrocarbons. Titans nitrogen rich atmosphere seems to have some of the ingredients for biology, but any life forms evolved to thrive at temperatures of 2. Fahrenheit would be practically unrecognizable. A new scientific paper supports the idea that life might exist on Titan, but that it would be nothing like life as we know it. After studying spectroscopic data collected by the Atacama Large Millimetersub millimeter Array ALMA in northern Chile, researchers are now reporting that Titans atmosphere is rife with vinyl cyanide, a molecule that could, in theory, form cell like membranes under the moons unique environmental conditions. In fact, based on the levels of vinyl cyanide present in Titans atmosphere, its seas couldin theory, were not saying there are aliensbe bubbling with tiny cell membranes, with concentrations similar to those of bacteria in Earths oceans. The membranes that enclose the cells of all living things here on Earth are made of phospholipids, molecules with long, non polar water repelling tails and polar water loving heads. If you remember high school biology, youll know that phospholipids form a bi layer, with the water loving parts on the outside, and the water repelling bits on the inside. This structure allows membranes to bubble off tiny pockets of water from their surroundings, creating cells that house genetic material and support biochemical reactions. It would be a totally different form of biochemistry, if there was life on Titan. I find that possibility fascinating. Thats all well and good for organisms evolved to thrive in the temperate, liquid water seas here on Earth, but the membranes our biology uses simply wouldnt work in the cryogenic methane seas of Titan. Theyd be far too rigid, and water lovingwater repelling bits would have to be reversed. So, what could cells on Titan look like Two years back, researchers at Cornell University used chemical models to attempt to answer that very question. Through those models, they produced a functional cell membrane that remained stable and flexible at incredibly low temperatures, using none other than C2. H3. CN, or vinyl cyanide. They called their hypothetical alien cell an azotosome. What makes vinyl cyanide potentially useful molecule for this is that its amphiphilicit has a polar and a non polar end, just like our membranes phospholipids, Maureen Palmer, a recent graduate of St. Olaf College and lead author on the new study, explained. It would be sort of the same but sort of the opposite of how cell membrane lipids work on Earth, with the polar bits on the inside, and the non polar bits on the outside. It was a fascinating hypothesis, but there was one problemnobody had ever confirmed that vinyl cyanide is actually present on Titan. NASAs Cassini spacecraft found tentative evidence for the molecule several years back. Palmer and her colleagues decided to fill in this gap, by examining calibration data ALMA collects at Titan before turning its telescopes to stare at other targets. Sure enough, they found compelling evidence that large amounts of vinyl cyanide are present in Titans atmospheremainly, at altitudes greater than 2. The research was published today in Scientific Reports. When I sent the paper to Jonathan Lunine, Cornell astronomer and co author on the 2. Titans atmosphere. Of course, life as we know it would be more likely to emerge in the vast seas on Titans surface than high up in the sky. But as Palmer and her colleagues point out, rainfall is constantly transporting organic compounds to Titans surfaceand those could include vinyl cyanide. It should be reaching the surface, she said. Titan has lots of rain. In fact, in Ligeia Mare, a methane sea larger than Michigans Lake Superior located near Titans north pole, Palmer and her colleagues estimate there could be as many as 3. For comparison, costal ocean waters on Earth have about a million bacteria per cubic centimeter, according to one papers estimate. This is a crucial point and lab experiments ought to be done, Lunine added. Palmer agreed. Im hoping someone will do a study of trying to form the membranes in the lab, seeing if theyre actually able to form, she said. Her co authors are currently trying to better constrain the abundance and distribution of vinyl cyanide in Titans atmospherethis first paper was just a rough look. Theyre also searching for evidence of other biologically relevant molecules on Titan. Also this week, another team of scientists reported the detection of carbon chain anionspotential building blocks of complex biomoleculesin Titans upper atmosphere, using data from Cassini. Ultimately, resolving the question of whether or not Titan is home to some seriously weird life forms will require a future mission that can land on its surfacemaybe a cryogenic methane proof submarine. Palmer is definitely rooting for a lander. I love Titan, Palmer said. Its super interesting as an astrobiology target, because all forms of life we know of on Earth have water as the solvent, but it has liquid methane. It would be a totally different form of biochemistry, if there was life on Titan. I find that possibility fascinating.
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