Representatives of the attorney general's office say the VictoryLand casino in Shorter is continuing to operate illegal electronic bingo machines and shouldn't be given a liquor license. Deputy Attorney General Sonny Reagan urged the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board Wednesday to deny the casinos' application. VictoryLand attorney Joe Espy said the machines have been determined to be legal by Macon County Sheriff David Warren and the license should be granted.
Child Pornography
A Montgomery man has been sentenced to 35 years in prison for producing child pornography using an online sextortion scheme that stretched across the U.S. and into other countries. The U.S. Attorney for Alabama's Middle District, George Beck, says Christopher Patrick Gunn used computers, chat rooms and other social media to threaten hundreds of girls, ages 9 to 16, to pressure some of them into making elicit and pornographic materials of themselves. The investigation into Gunn's actions found that he had conducted the scheme for more than two years. he plead guilty to charges of making child pornography, interstate extortion and internet stalking.
DNA Storage
A new report says DNA might be a useful tool for storing digital information, the way hard drives and CDs are used today. Researchers say it could store the information from a million CDs in a space no bigger than a little finger, and keep it safe for centuries. To demonstrate that, the scientists created strands of DNA with data from all 154 Shakespeare sonnets, a photo, a scientific paper and a brief audio recording. That all fit in a barley visible bit of DNA in a test tube. The data was stored in the four-letter genetic code.