Month: April 2018

Enlarge (credit: Fairfax Media via Getty Images)

Carl Ferrer, the co-founder of Backpage, the notorious and now-shuttered site that once hosted a vast quantity of prostitution-related ads, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy and money laundering charges.

The CEO, in a federal plea agreement unsealed in federal court in Arizona on Thursday, admitted that during the 14 years of the site’s existence, "the great majority" of Backpage's allegedly hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue came from placing illegal ads for prostitution.

The deal was made public just three days after Backpage was seized, and seven men allegedly involved in creating and operating Backpage were indicted on prostitution and money laundering charges. Ferrer’s name did not appear in that indictment.

Enlarge / Various configurations of the SLS rocket. (credit: NASA)

NASA will likely launch its first astronauts into deep space since the Apollo program on a less powerful version of its Space Launch System rocket than originally planned. Although it has not been officially announced, in recent weeks mission planners at the space agency have begun designing "Exploration Mission 2" to be launched on the Block 1 version of the SLS rocket, which has the capability to lift 70 tons to low Earth orbit.

On Thursday, during a Congressional hearing, the agency's acting administrator, Robert Lightfoot, confirmed that NASA is seriously considering launching humans to the Moon on the Block 1 SLS. "We'll change the mission profile if we fly humans and we use the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS), because we can't do what we could do if we have the Exploration Upper Stage," Lightfoot said.

The key difference between the original configuration of the SLS rocket—which NASA has spent more than $10 billion developing since 2011—and its successor is the upper stage that sits atop the booster. Under current plans, the weaker upper stage, known as the ICPS, was to fly only once—on the maiden flight of the SLS rocket in 2020. Then, NASA was to switch to a new, much more powerful second stage that would increase the SLS rocket's overall performance by about 50 percent.

Enlarge / The Goldman Sachs bank logo is seen reflected on the screen of a mobile phone in this photo illustration on November 15, 2017. (credit: Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

One-shot cures for diseases are not great for business—more specifically, they’re bad for longterm profits—Goldman Sachs analysts noted in an April 10 report for biotech clients, first reported by CNBC.

The investment banks’ report, titled “The Genome Revolution,” asks clients the touchy question: “Is curing patients a sustainable business model?” The answer is “no,” according to follow-up information provided.

Analyst Salveen Richter and colleagues laid it out:

Enlarge / FCC Chairman Ajit Pai speaks to the media after the vote to repeal net neutrality rules on December 14, 2017. (credit: Getty Images | Alex Wong )

Democratic lawmakers yesterday followed in President Trump's footsteps by asking the Federal Communications Commission to consider revoking licenses from a broadcaster.

While Trump called for the FCC to consider revoking NBC licenses because of "fake news" in October 2017, Senate Democrats asked Pai yesterday to consider revoking licenses from the right-wing Sinclair Broadcast Group.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai shot the request down, telling Democrats that he will stand up for First Amendment press freedoms and that the FCC doesn't have the authority to revoke licenses based on the content of newscasts. Pai said much the same after Trump made his statement regarding NBC—but there were some notable differences between Pai's response to the Trump incident and this week's dispute with Democrats.

Enlarge / FCC Chairman Ajit Pai speaks to the media after the vote to repeal net neutrality rules on December 14, 2017. (credit: Getty Images | Alex Wong )

Democratic lawmakers yesterday followed in President Trump's footsteps by asking the Federal Communications Commission to consider revoking licenses from a broadcaster.

While Trump called for the FCC to consider revoking NBC licenses because of "fake news" in October 2017, Senate Democrats asked Pai yesterday to consider revoking licenses from the right-wing Sinclair Broadcast Group.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai shot the request down, telling Democrats that he will stand up for First Amendment press freedoms and that the FCC doesn't have the authority to revoke licenses based on the content of newscasts. Pai said much the same after Trump made his statement regarding NBC—but there were some notable differences between Pai's response to the Trump incident and this week's dispute with Democrats.