By Brian Slodysko and Byron Tau

Washington (AP) – greater than 20 public service employees resigned from billionaire Trump consultant Elon Musk on Tuesday Efficiency of the federal government's MinistryThey refused to make use of their technical expertise to “reduce critical public services”.

“We swore to serve the American people and maintain our oath in the constitution between the presidential administrations,” the 21 employees wrote in a joint letter of withdrawal whose copy was received by the Associated Press. “However, it has become clear that we can no longer honor these obligations.”

The employees also warned that most of the people registered by Musk help him reduce the dimensions of the federal government under President Donald Trumps The administration was political ideologues who didn’t have the mandatory skills or experience for the current task.

The mass tear of engineers, data scientists and product managers is a brief setback for Musk and the Republican President Tech -oriented cleansing of the federal employees. It comes in the midst of a flood of judicial healing which have tried to stop their efforts to fireside or to penetrate, stop or calm down Thousands of presidency staff From jobs.

In a press release press spokeswoman for the White House Karoline Leavitt the mass tear was repellent.

“Anyone who thinks that protests, lawsuits and legal guidance are deterred by President Trump must have slept under a rock in recent years,” said Leavitt. “President Trump is not prevented from fulfilling the promises he made in order to make our federal government more efficient and more effective towards the hardworking American taxpayers.”

The employees who’ve resigned Digital service of the United StatesAn office that was established in the course of the administration of President Barack Obama after the botched introduction of healthcare.

All of them had previously held senior roles at Tech company like Google and Amazon and wrote of their letter of resignation that that they had joined the federal government from a sense of public service.

Trump's authorization from Mousk excited this. The day after Trump's inaugurationThe employees wrote that they were called in quite a few interviews that predicted the key and disruptive work of Musk's 'Department of Government Efficiency or Doge'.

According to the staff, the number of holiday makers of the White House, a few of which might not give their names, creep the non -partisan employees about their qualifications and politics. Some made statements that show that that they had a limited technical understanding. Many were young and rails to be guided by ideology And Fandom from Muschus – no improvement in government technology.

“Some of these interviewers refused to identify themselves, asked questions about political loyalty, tried to put colleagues against each other, and showed only limited technical skills,” the staff wrote of their letter. “This process has created considerable security risks.”

Around 40 employees were released within the office initially of this month. The shots gave the federal government's ability to administer and protect its own technological footprint, she wrote a devastating blow from the federal government.

“These highly qualified officials worked on the modernity of social security, veteran services, tax registration, health care, disaster relief, student aid and other critical services,” the letter of withdrawal said. “Your distance endangers millions of Americans who rely on these services every day. The sudden loss of your technology expert makes critical systems and the data of Americans less secure. “

Those who remained around 65 employees were integrated into DOGE's state effort. About a third of them terminated on Tuesday.

“We will not use our skills as technologists to endanger the core government systems, to endanger the sensitive data of the Americans or to reduce critical public services,” they wrote. “We will not give our specialist knowledge to carry out or legitimize DOGES.”

The slash-based and burning musk leads from what Trump originally outlined during the 2024 presidential campaign. Doge, an allusion to Musk's favorite cryptocurrency meme coin, was initially presented as a Blue Ribbon Commission that would exist outside the government.

After the election, Musk indicated that more would come and on his social media website X, “Threat for democracy? No, threat to bureaucracy !!! “He has aggressively leaned into the role since then.

Last week he was on stage outside of Washington at the conservative political action conference, where he boasted his heroic and raised an outcast out. Chinia chainsaw About his head, which was gifted by the Argentine President Javier Milei.

“This is the chainsaw for bureaucracy,” roared musk from the stage.

Nevertheless, Musk tried to keep technical talents, with the majority of the layoffs in the digital service office focus on people such as designers, product managers, personnel resources and contract staff, according to interviews with current and former employees.

Of the 40 people who let go of the beginning of this month Kamala HarrisA democrat, in his personal blog and critically against musk in chats with colleagues.

“I think Elon Musk has nothing good for. And I believe that all the data he receives access is used for purposes that are inappropriate and harmful to the Americans, ”said Kamens.

Us digital service veterans, who spoke out of fear of reprisals in regards to the condition of anonymity, recalled that Musk and his team had experienced an analogous shock about how government processes were processed. Over time, many developed an appreciation for why certain things in the federal government needed to be treated with more care than within the private sector.

“” Move Fast and Break Things' might be acceptable for somebody who has an organization and has the danger. And if things are usually not going well, the damage is split. But after they break things in the federal government, they break things that belong to individuals who haven’t registered for it, ”said Cordell Schachter, who was the Chief Information Officer of the US Transport Ministry until the last month.

USD was founded over a decade ago to do things like the development of the services for veterans, and helped create a free state -run portal, in order that tax filer didn’t need to undergo third parties reminiscent of Turbotax. It also developed systems to enhance the best way the federal government bought technology.

In its appropriate proportion of bureaucracy and lawn wars of the agency, the agency was involved with Chief Information Officers all around the government, which annoyed the interlopers who joined the systems of their agency. USDS power in the federal government got here from the impressor of acting within the name of the White House and its founding mission to enhance the service for the American people.

Leavitt, the press spokesman for the White House, is considered one of three administrative officials who’re exposed to a lawsuit by the Associated Press at reasons of the primary and fifth and fifth attempts. The AP says that the three punish the news agency for editorial decisions that contradict them. The White House says that the AP doesn’t follow an executive regulation to explain the Gulf of Mexico because the Golf of America.

Originally published: February 25, 2025 at 8:08 a.m. PST

Patriots

For the second time this month, Mac Jones improved his former team's possibilities of landing one among the highest picks within the 2025 NFL Draft.

Even though New England lost to the Bills on Sunday, their 24-21 loss in Buffalo kept the Patriots within the running for a top-three spot within the upcoming draft.

But Jones – currently the Jaguars' starting quarterback after Trevor Lawrence's shoulder injury – helped New England clinch one other spot within the draft order on Sunday.

Jones and the Jaguars fell 19-14 to the Raiders on Sunday, giving Las Vegas its first win since Sept. 29 against the Browns.

As a result, the Patriots have overtaken the Raiders within the rankings and at the moment are ranked No. 2 overall within the draft order, behind only the 2-13 New York Giants.

Here's a take a look at the present top 10 order, per tankathon:

• New York Giants (2-13, .554)
• New England Patriots (3-12, .463)
• Jacksonville Jaguars (3-12, .480)
• Tennessee Titans (3-12, .512)
• Cleveland Browns (3-12, .530)
• Las Vegas Raiders (3-12, .545)
• Carolina Panthers (4-11, .500)
• New York Jets (4-11, .502)
• Chicago Bears (4-11, .557)
• New Orleans Saints (5-9, .506)

All in all, Jones didn't have a foul performance for the Jaguars; He accomplished 25 of 39 passes for 247 yards and a touchdown. But Jacksonville still wasn't capable of beat Vegas' lackluster squad, with each Tank Bigsby and Brenton Strange ejected for fumbles.

Jones and the Jags tried to prepare a late-game rally with lower than two minutes left, but Jones couldn't reap the benefits of a 4th-and-11 play to maneuver the chains – completing an 8-yard pass to D 'Ernest Johnson to force a turnover on downs.

New England passing on the Raiders should put them in a chief position to either select a blue-chip prospect like Travis Hunter or potentially trade for a ton of picks, especially for a team in desperate need of a QB just like the Raiders or Titans.

In 1817, a British physician named James Parkinson published An essay on shaking palsyduring which cases of a neurodegenerative disease were first described, which is now generally known as Parkinson's disease. Today, Parkinson's disease is the second commonest neurodegenerative disease About 1 million Americans are affected within the United States and greater than 10 million people worldwide.

The typical tremor in patients with this disease is the results of dying brain cells that control movementTo date, there aren’t any treatments that may stop or decelerate the death of those cells.

We are Researchers who study Parkinson's diseaseFor over a decade Our laboratory has investigated the role that mitochondria – the facility plants that offer cells with energy – play in Parkinson’s disease.

Our research has identified a key protein which may lead to recent treatments for Parkinson's disease and other brain diseases.

Mitochondrial dynamics and neurodegeneration

Unlike real power plants, whose size and site are fixed, mitochondria are more dynamic. Their size, number and site are always changing they usually migrate between many alternative parts of the cell to satisfy different demands. These Mitochondrial dynamics are crucial not just for mitochondrial function but additionally for overall cell health.

A cell is sort of a factory. For smooth operation, multiple departments must work together seamlessly. Since many vital processes are interconnected, impaired mitochondrial dynamics can trigger a domino effect between departments and vice versa. Collective dysfunction in numerous parts of the cell ultimately results in cell death.

Recent studies have linked imbalances in mitochondrial processes to varied neurodegenerative diseasesincluding Parkinson's diseaseIn many neurodegenerative diseases, certain disease-related aspects corresponding to toxic proteins and environmental neurotoxins disrupt the harmony of mitochondrial fusion and fission.

Disturbed mitochondrial dynamics also affects the Cleaning and waste recycling processeswhich results in an accumulation of toxic proteins that form harmful aggregates inside the cell. In Parkinson’s, the presence of those toxic protein aggregates is a Characteristics of the disease.

Parkinson's disease through targeted treatment of mitochondria

Our team hypothesized that restoring mitochondrial function by manipulating their very own dynamics could protect against neuronal dysfunction and cell death.

To restore mitochondrial function in Parkinson’s, we focused on a key protein that controls mitochondrial dynamics: Dynamin-related protein 1 or Drp1. This protein is of course abundant in cells and travels to mitochondria as they divide into smaller sizes for greater mobility and quality control. However, an excessive amount of Drp1 activity results in excessive division, leading to fragmented mitochondria with impaired function.

Using various laboratory models of Parkinson’s disease, including neuronal Cell cultures and rat and mice Models we found that the presence of environmental toxins and toxic proteins linked to Parkinson's caused mitochondria to change into fragmented and dysfunctional. Their presence was also related to the buildup of those same toxic proteins, which worsened the health of neuronal cells until they eventually began to die.

We also observed behavioral changes in rats that affected their movements. However, by reducing the activity of Drp1, we were in a position to Restore mitochondria to their normal activity and performance. Their neurons were protected against disease and will proceed to operate.

In our study for 2024, we found a Additional advantages the targeted targeting of Drp1.

We used neuronal cells Manganese, a heavy metal related to neurodegeneration and an increased risk of Parkinsonism. Surprisingly, we found that manganese harmful to the cell's waste recycling system than to its mitochondria, resulting in the buildup of toxic proteins before the mitochondria lost their functionality. However, by inhibiting Drp1, the waste recycling system was restarted and toxic proteins were eliminated despite the presence of manganese.

Our results show that inhibiting Drp1 in a couple of pathway could protect cells from degeneration. Now now we have identified several FDA-approved compounds that focus on Drp1 and are testing them as potential treatments for Parkinson's.

Preparing for the Atlantic hurricane season is all the time a top priority within the Caribbean, especially when forecasts predict a high variety of storms, as is the case for 2024. The most devastating storm within the region in recent times, Hurricane Mariastruck in September 2017, causing unprecedented destruction in Puerto Rico, Dominica, St. Croix and other islands.

Maria killed over 3,000 people and caused damage of about 96 billion US dollarsIt destroyed Puerto Rico’s power grid and left 1.5 million customers without power as much as 328 days – the longest power outage in U.S. history. These outages had cascading effects on other infrastructure, corresponding to water and communications systems.

Today, the Caribbean is facing latest climate-related challenges. Due to the accelerated warming of the oceans, prolonged extreme heat and humid days have gotten more frequent.

In response to those increasingly frequent and extreme weather events, I joined forces with a dozen other researchers in 2023 to review the Caribbean Climate Adaptation NetworkOur goal is to attach scientists with communities and government agencies within the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico and supply scientific information that might help them prepare for and reply to emerging climate extremes.

I’m a Coastal Urban Climatologist and a native of Puerto Rican. The creation of this network has been extremely necessary to me personally. I hope it is going to solidify our existing partnerships for longer-term collaboration between leading academic researchers, vulnerable communities, government agencies and utilities on the islands and function a platform to succeed in out to the whole Caribbean.

Our mission is to develop latest ways to view the coastal and concrete environment as a unified system – one which puts people at the middle and integrates human-made systems like buildings and infrastructure with natural systems just like the atmosphere, ecosystems, and oceans. All of those elements face the challenge of climate change. We wish to support vulnerable communities by conducting research that could make them more resilient to climate change and convey them to the table so we will create higher solutions together.

Lessons from Puerto Rico’s recovery

Puerto Rico has made its power grid more resilient within the years since Hurricane Maria, but challenges remain. Over 1 million customers on the island have experienced intermittent outages for the reason that hurricane. In September 2022 Hurricane Fiona – a much weaker Category 1 storm – hit Puerto Rico, causing an influence outage across the island.

Puerto Rico's power grid is fragile, largely due to aging infrastructure and the island's regular exposure to extreme weather events attributable to global warming. Nevertheless, local utilities have made significant progress in stabilizing a really complex power grid in any respect points. From production to distributionThe generation of solar energy – especially from small rooftop systems that may supply individual households and businesses with electricity during power outages – is play a very important role to make the system more resilient.

In 2023, I led a bunch of researchers in reconstructing the impacts of Hurricane Maria on Puerto Rico. We used a mix of geophysical models, engineering models of the facility and water grids, reviews of injury reports, and socioeconomic information to indicate how proposed hurricane preparedness strategies would affect low-income communities.

We have learned that essentially the most effective technique to protect all community members is to strengthen the transmission grid in order that it may possibly withstand future impacts from events like Hurricane Maria. This will likely require latest transmission towers that may withstand extremely high winds and soil saturation. It could also include limiting exposure through measures corresponding to burying power lines. We haven’t studied the prices of those solutions, but presumably they’d be very high.

Since then, we now have partnered again to reconstruct other major weather events in Puerto Rico and collect latest data, specializing in resilient electricity infrastructure and climate change adaptation. For this work, we install unique sensors on power poles and contours while observing the natural conditions around these transmission assets. These devices repeatedly measure the mechanical stress on the poles and the power of the transmission lines to handle the facility load under various weather and demand conditions, including extreme weather events.

By reconstructing past storms, collecting latest data on the state of Puerto Rico's infrastructure, and using machine learning algorithms, we plan to develop latest frameworks for predictive models to anticipate the chance of power transmission system disruptions during extreme weather events.

Inform regional measures

In recent years, our research group has used satellite observations to find out that Caribbean sea surface temperatures are increasing by nearly 0.9 degrees Fahrenheit (0.5 degrees Celsius) per decade – a few of the fastest ocean warming on earthThis trend has a direct impact on the chance of more frequent and intense hurricanes.

It also affects ambient temperatures on land, resulting in extreme heat conditions. In the summer of 2023, town of San Juan experienced a sustained heat wave with heat indices above 38 °C. This level is taken into account unhealthy for most individuals.

Heat warnings and record temperatures forced the federal government to do all the pieces it could to guard students. Public schools took the unprecedented step of Classes cancelled across the islandThis event highlighted the importance of monitoring the state of the Caribbean Ocean and anticipating its impacts on people, infrastructure and ecosystems.

My colleagues on the Caribbean Climate Adaptation Network and I imagine our findings are transferable to other Caribbean communities. Our work may profit coastal areas within the Americas, where critical infrastructure is extremely exposed and storms often hit essentially the most vulnerable people hardest.

We hope our work with communities will result in broader education and latest actionable science that may guide climate change adaptation decisions and risk mitigation investments. Specifically, we aim to develop strategies to make island infrastructure significantly more resilient and adaptive, in addition to safeguards to guard communities and maintain a way of normalcy in a warmer climate.

Call to Asian countries

It's a well-recognized refrain in tech boardrooms and government corridors: China is aggressively difficult America to a synthetic intelligence arms race. Whoever wins will control the geopolitical landscape – and the worldwide economy – for generations.

for years, Pentagon officials and tech luminaries like Eric Schmidt, Peter ThielAnd Alex Karp have parroted this doomsday scenario.

But the narrative doesn't hold water.

It's convincing Proof The China's AI capabilities were overestimated. Although Chinese technologies have evolved rapidly, they don’t pose a direct threat to national security. Remember alternative perspective from retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan: ““Sometimes it feels like with AI we are dangerously close to making the same flawed assessment of the ‘bomber-missile gap’ that we did with the Soviet Union in the early 1960s.”

The Cold War era bomber–Missile gap was illusory, however it triggered a nuclear arms race with devastating political, environmental and psychological consequences. It was also extraordinarily expensive, reportedly costing American taxpayers $5.8 trillion an estimate. That’s greater than $11 trillion today.

A rational geopolitical evaluation should consider China's challenges. Of the country The economy has slowed For 20 years, there is no such thing as a end in sight. A demographic decline will halve China's population by the tip of the century. A Brain drain attracts talented Chinese researchers to Australia, Canada and the European Union. As the outgoing President of Taiwan said Tsai Ing-wen last fallChina is simply too burdened with domestic problems to invade Taiwan.

Then why does the concept have one Catastrophic battle between “AI superpowers” seized? The answer is deceptively easy: for some, war is profitable. Even more essential is preparation for algorithmic warfare.

The Chinese AI threat narrative increases and serves to justify and speed up the Pentagon's demand for high-tech weapons, surveillance and logistics systems US spending on defense technology, while government AI research is being targeted towards military slightly than civilian purposes. Tech corporations are lining up to assert their share of the Defense Department's $886 billion annual budget — and not only giants like that Amazon, Microsoft, GoogleAnd Palantirbut additionally lots of of Silicon Valley Venture capital-backed defense technology startups.

These corporations also do business with foreign militaries, including Google $1.2 billion contract Cooperation with the Israeli Ministry of Defense has sparked protests amongst employees appalled by the corporate's support for the war in Gaza. Google fired 28 employees over protests earlier this week.

These changes alter the character of the military-industrial complex. In 1961, President Eisenhower warned Americans that unrestricted defense spending threatened democracy by giving defense contractors “unwarranted influence” over Congress.

That still applies today. Dozens of former Pentagon officials now work for enterprise capital firms. The “Revolving doorThe conflict between the Pentagon and personal industry continues to be teetering, but military officials are as prone to lean toward Silicon Valley investment firms as they’re toward Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, or other “traditional” defense contractors.

While such practices could also be acceptable for consumer products, there may be way more at stake when Silicon Valley's startup model is applied to military products particularly AI enabled weapon and monitoring systems that make unpredictable decisionsor fail when the operating environment changes. The use of inadequately tested technologies will end in the deaths of innocent people and the deaths of American troops.

If the pace of development and deployment of military AI weapons and surveillance systems continues to speed up, the tip result shall be an expensive arsenal of flawed, unreliable and dangerous technologies that don’t work as advertised.