The Bridge Headset Powers Up iPhone VR With Positional Tracking

BRIDGE

IF YOU’VE BEEN holding onto your trusty iPhone 6, 6S, or 7 and wondering when a cool VR headset will be available for it, this is your lucky day. The Occipital Bridge headset looks like it’s well worth the wait, as it’s more powerful than any other phone-driven headset on the market.

That’s because it’ll have positional-tracking capabilities other mobile-driven headsets lack. The Bridge comes from the same company that created the Occipital Structure Sensor, an iPad and iPhone add-on that uses infrared to scan objects and gauge distances automatically.

Yemen: US-Made Bombs Used in Unlawful Airstrikes

Dozens of Civilian Deaths Underscore Need for Saudi Arms Embargo

(Beirut) – The Saudi Arabia-led coalition killed several dozen civilians in three apparently unlawful airstrikes in September and October 2016, Human Rights Watch said today. The coalition’s use of United States-supplied weapons in two of the strikes, including a bomb delivered to Saudi Arabia well into the conflict, puts the US at risk of complicity in unlawful attacks.

The attacks underscore the urgent need for foreign governments to suspend all arms sales to Saudi Arabia and for the United Nations human rights office to send additional investigators to Yemen to carry out credible investigations of alleged abuses by the coalition, the Houthis and their allies, and all other parties to the conflict, Human Rights Watch said.

“Saudi-led forces are bombing civilians in Yemen with newly supplied US weapons,” said Priyanka Motaparthy, senior emergencies researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The Obama administration is running out of time to completely suspend US arms sales to Saudi Arabia or be forever linked to Yemen wartime atrocities.”

Inauguration protesters barred from National Mall, other sites

Washington (CNN) - Activists planning the "Women's March on Washington" and those protesting the inauguration of Donald Trump won't be able to do so near some of DC's most iconic monuments.

The National Park Service filed documents on behalf of the Presidential Inauguration Committee to secure large sections of Pennsylvania Avenue, as well as the Washington Monument, the National Mall and the Lincoln Memorial for the inauguration festivities.

That means activists who were hoping to hold demonstrations at the Lincoln Memorial like many iconic marches and the other sites won't be able to do so.

The National Park Service requests permits for the inauguration a year in advance of the event, said Mike Litterst, spokesman for the agency.

Democrats' revolt threatens government funding bill

(CNN) - Senate approval of a must-pass short-term government spending bill was threatened late Thursday as West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin and other Democrats worked to bolster miners' health insurance provisions in it.

They warned they might block the must-pass funding bill if their demands were not met, potentially leading to a government shutdown.

It was not clear if the Democrats could muster the 41 votes they need to block the Republican-authored bill. Adding more uncertainty to the situation, that procedural vote is currently scheduled for Saturday morning, hours after the Friday midnight deadline for when the government would run out of money.

Praying Mantis Looks Like a Flower—And Now We Know Why

The mantis orchid of Southeast Asia evolved in a way that's completely unique to insects.

An adult male Malaysian orchid mantis perches atop a female.

 
PHOTOGRAPH BY LIFE ON WHITE, ALAMY

When is an orchid not an orchid? When it's a female orchid praying mantis, a Southeast Asian insect that masquerades as a flower to attract prey.

With petal-like legs and a yellow or whitish pink color, females share little resemblance to males, which are about half the size and sport a dull, greenish brown color.