WEIRD STUFF Pepper spray drones to fight US school shootings

Pepper spray drones to fight US school shootings

War-style drones armed with pepper spray are being introduced into American schools in a dramatic new attempt to stop mass shooters before police arrive.

The plastic aircraft are designed to spring into action when a teacher raises the alarm, racing through corridors, smashing through windows if necessary, and reaching a suspected gunman in as little as 15 seconds.

Texas-based company Campus Guardian Angel says the drones are equipped with pepper launchers, flashing strobe lights and deafening sirens intended to confuse and distract attackers.

The drones can also ram into targets at speeds of up to 50mph while being controlled remotely from thousands of miles away.

Built-in speakers allow operators to communicate directly with a suspected shooter or issue instructions to teachers and school staff during an emergency.

According to the company’s website, the goal is to deploy “three to four waves of drones, keeping the shooter occupied until he/she can be apprehended by authorised responders”.

Each drone can remain airborne for about eight minutes on a single battery charge.

The technology is already being adopted by schools across the United States, with at least four schools in Georgia, three in Florida and one in Colorado preparing to install the systems.

Two-headed gecko survives against the odds

A remarkable two-headed gecko has defied expectations by surviving its first four weeks, leaving experienced reptile breeders astonished.

The tiny crested gecko, named Simon and Garfunkel, hatched unexpectedly in Pennsylvania in late June with two fully formed heads — a condition so rare that only a handful of similar cases have ever been documented.

Professional breeders initially feared the hatchling would not survive, but the unusual reptile has continued to grow, with both heads eating normally.

Its owners, the husband-and-wife team behind Rockstar Geckos, said: “They’re doing great.”

The pair revealed the gecko now weighs just 1.8 grams and is gradually becoming more coordinated.

Sharing an update online, they wrote:

“They’re doing great.”

“Here they are at four weeks old!

“I chose these photos specifically to show just how tiny they still are, only 1.8 grams.

“It’s hard to grasp until you see them next to a fingernail.”

The breeders said neither head has become dominant and, because of the way they are positioned, they cannot reach or bite each other — improving the reptile’s chances of survival.

They have considered carrying out X-rays to better understand the gecko’s anatomy, but are weighing whether the possible benefits justify the stress of handling such a tiny animal.

Simon and Garfunkel were born with dicephaly, an extremely rare developmental condition in which an animal develops two heads.

Less sugar in early life linked to lower dementia risk

Limiting sugar during pregnancy and the first two years of life could reduce the risk of dementia by almost a quarter, according to new research.

Scientists who studied more than 65,000 Britons born in the 1940s and 1950s during the Second World War sugar rationing found that people exposed to less sugar as babies were significantly less likely to develop the memory-robbing disease later in life.

The study also found that those who did develop dementia experienced symptoms an average of 2.6 years later than people who had higher sugar intake during early life.

Researchers analysed people born before and after Britain’s sugar rationing ended in September 1953.

The rationing programme, which began in 1940, limited sugar consumption to around 8oz (227g) per person each week.

The team tracked 64,737 people using medical records to identify dementia diagnoses between the ages of 55 and 70.

People exposed to sugar rationing before birth and during their first year of life had a 21 per cent lower risk of dementia compared with those born after rationing ended.

The protective effect increased to 23 per cent among those whose sugar intake remained restricted until age two.

Brain scans also revealed that people with lower early-life sugar intake had greater grey matter volume and fewer signs of brain tissue damage linked to dementia.

Dr Jiazhen Zheng of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology said: “Our findings suggest that limiting sugar during the earliest stages of life may have lasting benefits for brain health.

“These results highlight the potential importance of early-life nutrition in reducing the risk of dementia decades later.”

He added: “Limiting added sugars during pregnancy and infancy may be one beneficial step that families and communities can take, but further research is needed to better understand how these early exposures influence dementia risk and to guide public health strategies.”

The findings, published in the journal Neurology, build on earlier studies showing the same group had lower rates of heart attacks, strokes and heart failure after growing up with less sugar.

However, experts urged caution.

Dr Sara Rodrigues, senior research manager at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “However, it’s important to remember that this was an observational study.”