It sure looks like Baltimore Police Officer Richard Pinheiro planted drugs at a crime scene and if he did, I'm sure it was the first time it's ever happened and he's very sorry if anyone was offended by the mistake that was made. — Read the rest

The Orlando Sentinel reports that a Florida cop is going to jail for 12 years and 6 months for planting drugs at 3 traffic stops. Zachary Wester, 28, was convicted in May of the crimes while working for the Jackson County Sheriff's Office. — Read the rest

In Las Cruces, New Mexico, police say they collected DNA from the spot where a suspect face-planted into a door while trying to escape.

Time for some paid administrative leave and a stern talking to for these LA cops who didn't realize their bodycams were recording them as they appeared to plant cocaine in a suspect's wallet.

From CBS2:

[Officer Samuel] Lee is seen searching the suspect.

Baltimore's public defenders say they've got more video of local cops planting evidence, and it's already led to more criminal charges being dropped.

The new footage, as yet unreleased to the public, is unrelated to the bodycam video released last month that exposed other Baltimore cops placing drugs at a crime scene. — Read the rest

81-year-old Peg Holcomb of Amherst, Mass wasn't home when a low-flying Massachusetts National Guard helicopter and seven ground-based law-enforcement vehicles raided her home, and demanded that her son allow them to seize a single marijuana plant she'd been cultivating in her back yard.

"I'm going to kill this motherfucker." That's what St. Louis police officer Jason Stockley was recorded saying to his partner Brian Bianchi while they were chasing drug suspect Anthony Lamar Smith in his car. Stockley kept his word. Once they stopped Smith, Officer Stockley shot him five times, killing him. — Read the rest

The draft of its official practices, third edition contains a requirement of human authorship:

The U.S. Copyright Office will register an original work of authorship, provided that the work was created by a human being. The copyright law only protects "the fruits of intellectual labor" that "are founded in the creative powers of the mind."

I liked Radley Balko's headline for this story (about three Atlanta police officers who are going to prison) so much that I copied it above.

From the Atlanta Journal Constitution:

The trio of officers was involved in a Nov. 21, 2006, drug raid at the Neal Street home of 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston.

A man in Orem, Utah had the Homeland Security flying squad at his house because he'd planted a castor bean plant on his front lawn, prompting a neighbor or passing snitch to decide he was making ricin:

A startled homeowner got a visit from Orem Police Tuesday afternoon.

Last Friday's Science Friday on NPR featured a really exciting segment on a "microscope on a chip," an ingenious, $10 method for building a microscope using a digital camera controller. The 17-minute segment runs through a number of potential applications for this, from cellphone microscopes that could autonomously identify hazardous bacteria in water samples (for cameraphones, the cost of implementing microscope functionality is about $1), to implanting cancer-detecting scopes in high-risk patients, to putting hundreds of microscopes on a single chip for massively parallel sampling and testing. — Read the rest

When implanted in the eye, mini-telescopes like this one could help aging individuals with macular degeneration, a disorder of the retina affecting more than 1.75 million people in the United States alone. The implant was a huge help for two thirds of more than 200 patients who participated in a recent clinical trial. — Read the rest

TL;DR: Work on your green thumb with the Pico Planter for only $37.97 (Reg. $49) until 11:59 PM PST on 3/17.

Green thumbs and plant novices alike will love the coolest smart planter to ever hit Kickstarter. Pico is the tiny indoor plant pod that's about to take your plant parenthood to the next level. — Read the rest

TL;DR: Looking to add something fun to your explorer toolkit? Get a closer look with the Portable Handheld Pocket LCD Microscope with a 4" Screen, and it's only $81.99 (reg. $100). 

Whether you're looking at bugs or reading tiny print, adults and children alike can enjoy this nifty microscope. — Read the rest

Two years ago, the Portland Bureau of Transportation planted 30 saplings in a vacant lot within a low-income East Portland neighborhood. Using federal infrastructure funds, the city paid for the baby trees to be watered and cared for by a contractor. — Read the rest

Earlier this month, Taylor Swift released a newly re-recorded version of her third album, Speak Now, as part of an ongoing response to an intellectual property rights dispute over the ownership of her old album masters. But one excited fan in Staffordshire, England unwrapped her brand new vinyl copy of the record to discover … something else. — Read the rest

As we've collectively realized that we're doing irreparable damage to the planet, there's been an increased push toward environmental preservation and sustainability. Watching Gen Z- who will, unfortunately, be the generation that shoulders the burden of climate change- place environmental issues at the top of their political priorities has been refreshing. — Read the rest

Scientist have long known that plants can sense Carbon Dioxide (CO₂), and will rapidly open and close stomata (microscopic pores located on it's leaves shown in the highly magnified video below) as a reaction to the CO₂ level detected, however "why" CO₂ levels caused plant Stomata to open and close was a mystery until a team of researchers published a paper in Science Advances journal, describing the triggering/inhibiting mechanisms that allow plants to sense CO₂ concentration and the downstream reactions that cause plants to breath via stomata. — Read the rest

Isn't it strange how the simplest thing can send you tumbling down a rabbit hole? Take, for instance, this creative post from Reddit, showing off a handmade action figure that declares 'All Cops Are Blobby' – an obvious play on the quick and catchy 'ACAB' slogan making the rounds in recent years. — Read the rest

Trump and his MAGA sycophants in media and government are trying to get ahead of the news about what the FBI collected during its search of Mar-a-Lago by suggesting anything incriminating was planted. No one but Trump's dumbest followers will believe it, but it's still an effective bit of reality-distortion black magic. — Read the rest