📌 Election Day, Big NATO Drill, ‘Vampire’

Tens of millions of Americans have already cast their ballots, with the rest of the country following today.

The early turnout in Georgia, which has flipped between the Republican and Democratic nominees in the previous two presidential elections, has been so robust — over 4 million voters — that a top official in the secretary of state’s office said the big day could look like a “ghost town” at the polls.

As of Monday, Associated Press tracking of advance voting nationwide showed roughly 82 million ballots already cast — slightly more than half the total number of votes in the presidential election four years earlier.

AP said, “That’s driven partly by Republican voters, who were casting early ballots at a higher rate than in recent previous elections after a campaign by former President Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee to counter the Democrats’ longstanding advantage in the early vote.”

Despite long lines in some places and a few hiccups common to all elections, early in-person and mail voting proceeded smoothly, including parts of western North Carolina hammered last month by Hurricane Helene. Nearly 57% of all registered voters in the state have cast their ballots.

Foreign actors have been active in using fake social media profiles and websites to drum up partisan vitriol and disinformation. Jen Easterly, the nation’s top election security official, urged Americans to rely on state and local election officials for election information.

NATO's largest artillery military exercise, Lightning Strike 24, began in Finland Nov. 4 in a series of Alliance member drills in Europe.

Over 5,000 service members from the US and 28 allied and partner countries will participate, using over 130 weapons systems. The exercises will take place in Estonia, Germany, Poland, and Romania. In Finland, they will run until November 28 in the Rovajärvi and Rovaniemi areas of Lapland.

The drills aim to demonstrate NATO's defense capabilities in Northern Europe and enhance operational command, control, and cooperation with NATO’s Joint Rapid Reaction Corps. Around 3,600 Finnish soldiers and approximately 1,250 international forces will participate.

Exercise leader Colonel Janne Mäkitalo highlighted that the scale of the exercises shows Finland can receive allied support "very rapidly indeed" if needed. “This is a good example of the fact that our own field artillery, combined with Allied capabilities, forms a strong defense in the northern part of Finland and NATO.”

Mark Zuckerberg’s plan to partner with a nuclear plant to help power Meta’s ongoing AI projects is on hold due to rare bees.

Surveyors discovered the unspecified pollinators while reviewing land meant for a new AI data center. The selected area offered easy access to tap into the nearby, unspecified nuclear plant.

A report says Zuckerberg confirmed the project’s cancellation during a Meta all-hands meeting. Before the termination, Meta was on track to become the first company to use nuclear power for AI through the largest plant available for data center use.

Meta and many other tech companies continue to face energy crunches thanks to their recent AI investments. Earlier, Microsoft confirmed its greenhouse gas emissions rose an estimated 29% since 2020 due to new data centers specifically “designed and optimized to support AI workloads.”

Google has calculated that its pollution generation has increased as much as 48% since 2019, largely because of data center energy needs.

Critics voice concerns about AI projects’ energy requirements. A single AI-integrated search query is estimated to require up to 10 times the energy of a standard Google search.

University of Pennsylvania researchers have scientifically quantified the properties of baseball's 'magic' mud for the first time.

Experiments measured the mud's spreadability, stickiness, and frictional effects using a rheometer, atomic force microscopy, and a custom-built setup mimicking human fingers.

The findings confirm the mud enhances ball performance, validating players' long-held beliefs. Attempts to replace the mud with synthetic alternatives failed to replicate its properties.

The mud, collected by the Bintliff family in South Jersey, is applied to every MLB game ball to improve performance. Beyond baseball, the researchers hope their work will spark more interest in natural materials as lubricants. “Geomaterials can give some exquisite properties,” a researcher said.

Babesiosis rose 9% annually in 2015–2022, with nearly half of the affected co-infected with another tick-borne illness, research finds.

Babesiosis, sometimes called “American malaria,” is caused by the Babesia parasite and transmitted from bites of black-legged ticks. It’s found primarily in Northeastern and Midwestern states. Like malaria, the parasite infects red blood cells, and the condition shares many similar clinical symptoms.

The disease can be deadly for older adults and those with certain health conditions, such as a weakened immune system or lack of spleen. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the disease has been increasing.

Researchers attribute the increase in tick diseases to shifts in temperature, humidity, rainfall, and seasonal length. The most common co-infection, affecting 41% of co-infected individuals, was with the bacterium responsible for Lyme disease.

Around 1,000 senior law enforcers are discussing ways to combat organized crime at the Interpol General Assembly in Glasgow.

The General Assembly is Interpol’s supreme governing body, comprising 196 member countries. During its four-day session, the assembly will consider motions guiding activities on terrorism, lawful access to digital evidence and child abuse.

A law enforcement academy within Interpol’s Global Complex for Innovation in Singapore was announced Monday. The academy will offer an executive leadership program for senior police leaders worldwide.

Outgoing Interpol Secretary General Jürgen Stock (pictured) said: “Some lessons can only be learned when fellow officers come together face to face. We must equip the next generation of police leaders with the right skills as they face a world that continues to evolve.”Valdecy Urquiza of Brazil has been nominated to succeed Stock.

The face of a suspected “vampire" who was buried with restraints to prevent her returning from the dead has been reconstructed.

Using DNA, 3D printing and modeling clay, scientists recreated what they think the 400-year-old woman's face looked like. Zosia, as locals named her, was found in 2022 by a team of archaeologists from Nicolaus Copernicus University in Poland.

She was entombed in an unmarked cemetery in Pien, northern Poland — secured in place with an iron sickle across her neck and padlocked by the foot. The sickle, padlock, and certain types of wood found at the grave site were believed to hold magical properties protecting against vampires.

Analysis of Zosia's remains suggests she was aged 18–20 when she died and suffered from a condition that would have caused fainting, severe headaches, and possible mental health issues. Little is known of Zosia's life, but she may have been from a wealthy, possibly noble, family.

Among the other bodies found at the site in Pien, outside the northern city of Bydgoszcz, was a so-called “vampire" child, buried face down and also padlocked at the foot.