The 17st President
It seems that US President Donald Trump, well-known for his love of fast food, now has a body mass index of 30.4, which makes him officially obese since anybody with a score of 30 or more is classed as being too heavy.
At 6ft 3in tall The President now weighs 17st 5lb, or more than 110kg. The President’s Doctor, Sean Conley said that President Trump, aged 72, is still in good health, with his resting heart rate at 70 beats a minute and his blood pressure reading is 118 over 80, well within the normal range.
Meanwhile, the President is to press ahead with the wall at the border with Mexico after declaring a ‘national emergency’ to help pay for it.
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Killer Robots ban
Full-blown android robots that can replace soldiers may still be the stuff of science fiction but advances in robotic technology has brought them close enough for the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science to call for them to be banned.
Mary Wareham, from the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, said: ‘Bold leadership is needed for a treaty. The security if the world and the future of humanity hinges on achieving a ban on killer robots.’
Backers include UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who has called autonomous weapons ‘politically unacceptable and morally repugnant’.
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Saved by Social Media
The ongoing assault on social media received a setback this week when the Daily Mail reported that a mother and daughter were saved by Snapchat after their car veered off the road and landed in a ditch.
Gemma Fairweather and seven-year-old Martha were trapped in the car, unable to open the doors for 40 minutes after the accident and afraid that any movement on their part would tip the car into deep water. They were saved by tech-savvy teenager Sam Potts, the 15-year-old son of Gemma’s boyfriend Graham.
As Miss Fairweather spoke to emergency services on the phone, with rescuers unable to find the car as it was concealed from view 20 feet below the road in the ditch, Sam sent a message telling her to open the social media app Snapchat. The app is primarily used to send photos and videos but also includes a GPS tool called Snap Map, which pinpoints user’s location using their phone signal. This allowed Sam to tell the emergency services exactly where the car was.
The incident may yet prove to be something of a boost to the embattled social media industry, demonstrating that it can, and does, serve a useful purpose but it is also a boost to the cause of the teenager, showing that despite the hoody-wearing impression sometimes given, teens are also more aware and capable than they are often portrayed.
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