Senate Dems press John Roberts for meeting to demand Justice Alito’s recusal from Trump cases

The top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee has sent a letter to Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. demanding he meet with him to discuss the Supreme Court’s “ethics crisis” and the need for Justice Samuel A. Alito’s recusal from pending cases.

Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin, Illinois Democrat, and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, Rhode Island Democrat, said in a four-page letter that the latest reports of Justice Alito flying two flags at his homes which were also displayed by Jan. 6 rioters ran afoul of ethics guidelines.

“By displaying the upside-down and ‘Appeal to Heaven’ flags outside his homes, Justice Alito actively engaged in political activity, failed to avoid the appearance of impropriety, and failed to act in a manner that promotes public confidence in the impartiality of the judiciary. He also created reasonable doubt about his impartiality and his ability to fairly discharge his duties in cases related to the 2020 presidential election and January 6th attack on the Capitol. His recusal in these matters is both necessary and required,” wrote the senators.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2024/may/24/senate-dems-press-john-roberts-for-meeting-to-dema/

Scientists developed a sheet of gold that’s just one atom thick

(facinating because this is circuit board tech on a nano level.)

Gold joins a rarefied group consisting of several elements, including carbon and phosphorus, that have been formulated into 2-D sheets (SN: 3/10/14). While two-dimensional sheets of nonmetal elements — such as carbon-based graphene — can be prepared with relative ease, making 2-D sheets with metals such as iron and gold is harder, Hultman says (SN: 1/17/18). In gold’s case, atoms tend to form clumps rather than flat sheets.

Hultman and colleagues first made a three-dimensional material called titanium gold carbide, whose structure contains two-dimensional sheets of gold. Then they etched off the surrounding material with a potassium-based solution, leaving goldene behind.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/goldene-sheet-gold-one-atom-thick