Miscellaneous

Microsoft goggles left soldiers with headaches and nausea during tests

EXCERPT:

Bloomberg News

U.S. soldiers using Microsoft Corp.’s new goggles in their latest field test suffered “mission-affecting physical impairments” including headaches, eyestrain and nausea, according to a summary of the exercise compiled by the Pentagon’s testing office. More than 80% of those who experienced discomfort had symptoms after less than three hours using the customized version of Microsoft’s HoloLens goggles, Nickolas Guertin, director of Operation Test and Evaluation, said in a summary for Army and Defense Department officials. He said the system also is still experiencing too many failures of essential functions. The problems found in the testing in May and June were outlined in a 79-page report this month. The Army marked it “Controlled Unclassified Information” to prevent public distribution, but Bloomberg News obtained a summary.

Despite the device’s flaws, Guertin doesn’t deem it a lost cause. He recommended that the Army “prioritize improvements” before widespread deployment to reduce the “physical discomfort of users.” He said improvements are also needed to the goggle’s low-light sensors, display clarity, field of vision and poor reliability of some essential functions. On the positive side: The latest model’s reliability has improved for a key metric — the mean time between failures that render the whole system inoperable, according to the report. Leaders and soldiers also reported that the latest version “enhanced navigation and coordination of unit movements,” Guertin wrote. Microsoft’s Integrated Visual Augmentation System, or IVAS, is expected to provide a “heads-up display” for U.S. ground forces, similar to those for fighter pilots. It would let commanders project information onto a visor in front of a soldier’s face and would include features such as night vision. The Army projects spending as much as $21.9 billion over a decade on the goggles, spare parts and support services if all options are exercised. The test results will be closely assessed by lawmakers as they decide whether to approve $424.2 million the Army proposed to spend on the program this fiscal year. The House and Senate appropriations panels separately proposed deep cuts to the Army’s request pending the outcome of the testing….SNIP

Is the outbreak and increasing cases of Coronavirus (COVID-19) onboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan linked to the ship’s air conditioning system?

Building air-conditioning systems have previously been found to be responsible for the spreading pathogens, such as Legionnaires’ disease. According to the U.S. CDC , Legionella bacteria can be spread in buildings by occupants inhaling water vapor from air conditioning units, where the legionella bacteria are infesting cooling towers. Then why not coronavirus as well?

Microwave News on the death of Joe Bowman

From Microwave News:

Hail and Farewell
NIOSH’s Joe Bowman Dies at 73
An Expert on Exposure Assessment, He Never Gave Up

Members of the EMF/RF research community are not known as risk takers. Some have sold their souls, but most simply follow the prescribed dogma: Keep a low profile and eke out a grant or contract here and there.

Joe Bowman, who died on July 14, was different. As one colleague told me on hearing the news last week, “Joe was honest and he had guts.” These are two qualities in very short supply in the world I cover. Importantly, Joe knew what he was doing. His expertise was exposure assessment, a critical part of epidemiology….SNIP

More Americans flee US consulate in China as mysterious sonic sickness linked to Cuba illness spreads

Excerpt:
More US citizens have been evacuated from a US consulate in Guangzhou, China, after suffering what appears to be the same strange, sound-related illness that befell Cuba consulate workers in 2016, it emerged on Wednesday.

Consulate worker Mark Lenzi and his wife heard strange noises over the course of several months before falling ill with what they described as neurological symptoms, The New York Times reported.

On Wednesday night they were flown to the US with their children, including a three-year-old boy who was also affected.

Speaking to The Washington Post that same day, Lenzi described the sound as being like “marbles bouncing and hitting a floor then rolling on an incline with a static sound”. They asked their neighbour if he was responsible, but he denied it. Months later, the couple began to develop excruciating headaches and suffer sleep deprivation – as did their son. Consulate doctors prescribed painkillers and sleeping tablets, they said.

Then, last month, he found out that their neighbour had been evacuated from the consulate, having suffered similar symptoms. Those included “subtle and vague, but abnormal, sensations of sound and pressure”, the State Department said at the time.
He was checked and diagnosed with a “mild traumatic brain injury”, the State Department said…SNIP