Tag: australia

Australian Police Confirm Use of LRAD Sonic Weapon at Protest Against COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates

Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Policing have confirmed the use of a Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD)—often regarded as a sonic weapon—at the massive protest against vaccine mandates in Canberra on Feb. 12, despite the Australian Federal Police (AFP) commissioner describing the crowd as “well behaved.”

“ACT Policing has deployed several types of loudspeakers and amplification devices to quickly and effectively convey voice messages to large, and often loud, crowds of people during the recent protest activity in Canberra,” an ACT Policing spokesperson said in a statement to The Epoch Times on Feb. 16.

“The [LRADs] were only used to convey spoken-word messages. The ‘alert’ function was not used.”

LRADs, also known as acoustic weapons or sound cannons, are used to project very loud sounds over long distances. While the voice function can be helpful to communicate in loud settings, the device’s most dangerous setting, the alert function, can cause brain damage, permanent hearing loss, tinnitus (ringing in the ears), dizziness, and disorientation.

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Quantum leap: Has next-gen computing moved from hype to hope?

Australian scientists believe they have taken a key step towards building a silicon quantum computer – a device that could take quantum computing from hype to mainstream.

Silicon quantum computers marry quantum technology with the same element – silicon – used in existing computer chips, so can hopefully be easily mass-produced. Australia leads the world in the technology, which competes with at least eight other types of quantum computer.

But despite a decade of hype and billions of dollars in investment, quantum computing in general remains a long way off fulfilling its full promise, experts admit. At this stage, there are few uses for such a computer and scientists remain a long way from building a device that could calculate serious equations.

The Australian-led study, published on the front cover of leading journal Nature in January, shows silicon quantum computers can now be operated with better than 99 per cent accuracy.

“This has long been understood as the next big step you needed to take,” says Professor Andrea Morello of the University of NSW, who led the work.

Being 99 per cent-plus accurate seems a small achievement for a computer, but it’s a big deal in quantum because it is considered the threshold at which you could scale quantum processors into an actual computer, he says.

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Paralyzed man with brain chip posts ‘first direct-thought’ tweet

A 62-year-old man in Australia diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) – a disease that causes paralysis – is now able to communicate thoughts with others with no muscle activity involved. On Thursday, he published a post on social media “using only direct thought,” the company that enabled him to do so, Synchron, announced.

“I created this tweet just by thinking it” – the tweet read, said to be posted by Philip O’Keefe to the account of Synchron CEO Thomas Oxley.

The ‘first direct-thought tweet’ was created wirelessly from O’Keefe’s brain, according to the company. Following progressive paralysis caused by ALS, the man had a brain computer interface called ‘Stentrode’ installed last year. The implant, “designed to enable patients to wirelessly control digital devices through thought,” was inserted via the jugular vein to avoid drilling into the skull.

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Queensland will let essential businesses like grocery stores and pharmacies introduce vaccine passports

When the state-wide lockdown is lifted, Queensland will allow supermarkets and other businesses providing essential services to implement vaccine passports. The provision could deny those without a vaccine passport easy access to food and other basics.

Queensland will reopen its borders this week. The Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said that once the borders reopen, new health directives will be released, which could be less strict on businesses that have implemented health mandates.

“In the coming days, the Government will issue the guidelines required for business and industry as our border reopens,” she said in a statement.

“This will include information on managing close contacts in the workplace.

“Our objective is to provide an environment where business, particularly essential business, remains open.”

Starting December 17, Queenslanders will be required to show a vaccine passport to enter restaurants, cafes, pubs, bars, clubs, cinemas, theaters, museums, libraries, and stadiums.

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A Peek Inside Anom, the Phone Company Secretly Used in an FBI Honeypot

A video shows a row of jet black phones laying side by side on a wooden table. A white cable extrudes from each phone, loops on itself up to the table, and connects with a mess of other cables before linking with a nearby desktop computer. The camera pans to the right, revealing a cheap looking keyboard and more phones. There are maybe around 15 in all.

The person filming the video stretches out their hand and touches one of the devices, as if to show off their handiwork. They turn around and show a second table with another 15 phones plugged into another computer. A small bonsai tree sits at the top edge of the desk.

Finally, the video shows stacks and stacks of boxes, positioned one on top of the other, ready to send the products out.

This is a peek inside Anom, an encrypted phone company that, unbeknownst to its staff, secretly sent a copy of every message on the phones to the FBI and Australian police. Anom’s clients were members of hundreds of different organized crime groups globally, according to court records. This particular video was filmed by an Anom seller who loaded phones with the company’s custom software to then mail out to customers.

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Australian Police Arrest 3 Teens for Allegedly Fleeing CCP Virus Quarantine Facility

Australian police have arrested three teenagers on Wednesday who allegedly broke out of a CCP virus quarantine facility earlier that morning, authorities said.

The teens, aged 15, 16, and 17, all tested negative for COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus. The trio was asked to quarantine at the Center of National Resilience at Howards Springs after being in close contact with one or more people who recently had tested positive, Sky News reported.

“The health risk to the community was very low, so that does give cause for comfort,” Northern Territory Chief Minister Michael Gunner said, referring to the trio testing negative.

Northern Territory Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker said the teenagers, at about 4:40 a.m. local time on Wednesday, allegedly climbed over a fence at the quarantine facility near Darwin in the Northern Territory.

The center is an open-air facility and one of Australia’s main quarantine centers for people returning to the country. The facility was recently also used to house people who tested positive for the CCP virus in Katherine, a town in Australia where officials said an outbreak of COVID-19 erupted last month.

Chalker said police took the trio into custody after officers chased them on foot. They are currently being questioned but it appears they have not been in close contact with the broader public.

The commissioner said that CCTV coverage at the facility will likely be increased for future incidents, ABC News reported. People who attempt to breach a quarantine order in Australia can be fined up to A$5,024 ($3,586).

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Australia declares war on ‘trolls’

The Australian government will introduce new legislation forcing social media companies to “unmask” anonymous users who post offensive comments, or make them pay defamation fines if they are unable or refuse to do so.

The new initiative seeks to define social media giants as publishers, making them responsible for the user-generated content on their platforms, as well as to introduce special mechanisms through which anyone can file a complaint and demand a post takedown if they think they are being defamed, bullied or harassed, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced during a televised press briefing on Sunday.

The online world should not be a wild west where bots and bigots and trolls and others are anonymously going around and can harm people. 

If a platform refuses to delete offensive content, a court may order it to reveal the identity of the anonymous commenter. In case the company again refuses or is unable to identify the troll – then it will be held ultimately liable and will have to pay any resulting fines.

“Free speech is not being allowed to cowardly hide in your basement and sledge and slur and harass people anonymously and seek to destroy their lives,” Morrison stated. “In a free society such as Australia where we value our free speech, it is only free when that is balanced with the responsibility for what you say.”

Morrison offered little insight into details of the proposed legislation, or if it will be up for public debate, but said he expects strong support from parliament. He previously hinted at an imminent crackdown on online anonymity during a G20 summit last month, where he said “the rules that apply in the real world should apply in the digital world.” However, it remains unclear how exactly the Australian government expects social media companies to verify the identities of their users.

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