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AnonTechie writes:

Americans are getting older, but not this old: Social Security records show that 6.5 million people in the U.S. have reached the ripe old age of 112. In reality, only a few could possibly be alive. As of last fall, there were only 42 people known to be that old in the entire world.

But Social Security does not have death records for millions of these people, with the oldest born in 1869, according to a report by the agency's inspector general.

Only 13 of the people are still getting Social Security benefits, the report said. But for others, their Social Security numbers are still active, so a number could be used to report wages, open bank accounts, obtain credit cards, or claim fraudulent tax refunds.

http://phys.org/news/2015-03-social-65m-age.html

tonyPick writes:

Spotted at Colossal is the plan for an Analog Memory Desk: A desk with a rolling sketching surface, designed by Kristen Camara.

The desk has a built-in mechanism for scrolling 1,100 yards of butcher paper on rolls embedded in its legs, a sort of tablecloth of memory that records months or even years of random ideas, doodles, and coffee rings. The desk isn’t available for purchase, instead Camara released detailed blueprints through a Creative Commons license so you can build your own

AnonTechie writes:

IP addresses linked to the New York Police Department's computer network have been used to sanitize Wikipedia entries about cases of police brutality.

This wouldn't be the first time we've seen nefarious alterations to Wikipedia entries, and it won't be the last. But the disclosure of NYPD's entries by Capital New York come as the Justice Department announced a national initiative for "building community trust and justice" with the nation's policing agencies.

As many as 85 IP addresses connected to 1 Police Plaza altered entries for some of the most high-profile police abuse cases, including those for victims Eric Garner, Sean Bell, and Amadou Diallo, Capital New York said. Edits have also been made to other entries covering NYPD scandals, its stop-and-frisk program, and the department leadership.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/03/nypd-caught-red-handed-sanitizing-police-brutality-wikipedia-entries/

tonyPick writes:

Over at the Society For Science is an interesting story of a fencing student using video analysis to prove that some traditional advice given out by coaches was incorrect.

Anya Michaelsen, 17, has always loved to fence. But when her fencing coaches taught her to hold her hand high for an advanced movement called a flick, their advice felt wrong, somehow. So the teen decided to run some experiments. She ended up confirming that her coaches were wrong — and that a little science could improve her favorite sport.

Spotted at the Scientific American Physics Week In Review blog.

Hugh Pickens writes:

Matt Ford writes in The Atlantic that thanks to a European Union embargo on the export of key drugs, and the refusal of major pharmaceutical companies to sell them the nation’s predominant method of execution is increasingly hard to perform. With lethal injection’s future uncertain, some states are turning to previously discarded methods. The Utah legislature just approved a bill to reintroduce firing squads for executions, Alabama’s House of Representatives voted to authorize the electric chair if new drugs couldn’t be found, and after last years botched injection, Oklahoma legislators are mulling the gas chamber.

The driving force behind the creation and abandonment of execution methods is the constant search for a humane means of taking a human life. Arizona, for example, abandoned hangings after a noose accidentally decapitated a condemned woman in 1930. Execution is prone to problems as witnesses routinely report that, when the switch is thrown, the condemned prisoner "cringes," "leaps," and "fights the straps with amazing strength." The hands turn red, then white, and the cords of the neck stand out like steel bands. The prisoner's limbs, fingers, toes, and face are severely contorted. The force of the electrical current is so powerful that the prisoner's eyeballs sometimes pop out and "rest on [his] cheeks." The physical effects of the deadly hydrogen cyanide in the gas chamber are coma, seizures and cardiac arrest but the time lag has previously proved a problem. According to Ford one reason lethal injection enjoyed such tremendous popularity was that it strongly resembled a medical procedure, thereby projecting our preconceived notions about modern medicine—its competence, its efficacy, and its reliability—onto the capital-punishment system. "As states revert to earlier methods of execution—techniques once abandoned as backward and flawed—they run the risk that the death penalty itself will be seen in the same terms."

AnonTechie writes:

Apple's chief executive Tim Cook offered part of his liver for a transplant to Steve Jobs before the company co-founder died, but the offer was rejected, a new book states.

The book said Jobs reacted angrily to the offer to help extend his life when he was suffering from pancreatic cancer.

"He cut me off at the legs, almost before the words were out of my mouth," said Cook, according to the book, "Becoming Steve Jobs," due to be released later this month by Brent Schlender and Rick Tetzeli.

Cook quoted Jobs as saying, "I'll never let you do that. I'll never do that."

Jobs refused the offer even though Cook had the same rare blood type as Jobs and as a result would have been compatible, the book said. Because the liver can regenerate, a partial transplant from a living donor can often be successful.

http://phys.org/news/2015-03-tim-cook-liver-steve-jobs.html

[Also Covered By]:
The Washington Post, CNet and AppleInsider.

mendax writes:

All of you knew that it could only get worse:

Kaspersky malware probers have uncovered a new 'operating system-like' platform that [they claim] was developed and used by the National Security Agency (NSA) in its Equation spying arsenal. The EquationDrug or Equestre platform is used to deploy [an estimated] 116 plug-in modules to target computers that can siphon data and spy on victims. So far, only 30 modules have been identified.

"It's important to note that EquationDrug is not just a trojan, but a full espionage platform, which includes a framework for conducting cyber-espionage activities by deploying specific modules on the machines of selected victims," Kaspersky researchers say in a report.

The article goes on to explain that Kaspersky further believes that the software is part of the "NSA's campaign to infect hard disk firmware". There is considerably more detail in the article.

I think I am going to get my old manual typewriter out of the garage, get a new ribbon, use U.S. Mail instead of e-mail, and buy more ink for my fountain pens.

Leebert writes:

Information Week reports on the financial difficulties of Harlan Stenn, the primary developer of the NTP reference implementation. No specific financial information is provided, but apparently Stenn is only "scraping by" on "sporadic" consulting work.

From the article:

For the last three-and-a-half years, Stenn said he's worked 100-plus hours a week answering emails, accepting patches, rewriting patches to work across multiple operating systems, piecing together new releases, and administering the NTP mailing list.

Stenn "has given himself a deadline: Garner more financial support by April, 'or look for regular work.'"

The story is reminiscent of those we've recently heard about OpenSSL and GPG: Widely deployed, critical code mostly maintained with volunteered time and a shoestring budgets.

NotSanguine writes:

It has long been known that microbes, as well as less complex multicellular organisms, often transfer genetic information between them and incorporate it into their own genomes.

A study, published on March 13, 2015 in the journal Genome Biology has identified a number of genes which have been transferred to complex animals, including humans. From the Phys.Org writeup on the study:

The transfer of genes between organisms living in the same environment is known as horizontal gene transfer (HGT). It is well known in single-celled organisms and thought to be an important process that explains how quickly bacteria evolve, for example, resistance to antibiotics.
...
Lead author Alastair Crisp from the University of Cambridge, UK, said: "This is the first study to show how widely horizontal gene transfer (HGT) occurs in animals, including humans, giving rise to tens or hundreds of active 'foreign' genes. Surprisingly, far from being a rare occurrence, it appears that HGT has contributed to the evolution of many, perhaps all, animals and that the process is ongoing, meaning that we may need to re-evaluate how we think about evolution."
...
The researchers studied the genomes of 12 species of Drosophila or fruit fly, four species of nematode worm, and 10 species of primate, including humans. They calculated how well each of their genes aligns to similar genes in other species to estimate how likely they were to be foreign in origin. By comparing with other groups of species, they were able to estimate how long ago the genes were likely to have been acquired.

A number of genes, including the ABO blood group gene, were confirmed as having been acquired by vertebrates through HGT. The majority of the other genes were related to enzymes involved in metabolism.

In humans, they confirmed 17 previously-reported genes acquired from HGT, and identified 128 additional foreign genes in the human genome that have not previously been reported.

It would be quite interesting to discover whether or not antibiotics and the western obsession with disinfectants has slowed this process or not.

rts008 writes:

Back in the 1960's, Jerry Lewis starred in the movie "Way...Way Out" (1966), one of the things that made an impression on a young NASA brat (myself), was the 'instant vodka' the Russians had up in space in the movie. After Tang came out, I wondered when we would see the 'instant vodka'. I'm glad I was not holding my breath in anticipation!

After a false start following the announcement almost a year ago, Palcohol not only has instant vodka, but several other flavors of 'powdered-just mix with water' instant alcoholic beverages. From the article:

Powered alcohol will now be legal in the United States after a federal agency approved the product Palcohol to be sold. [...] The product will be sold in pouches, and water can be added to them in order to create an alcoholic beverage.

The product was approved in April, 2014 by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, who then turned right around and revoked approval due to concerns of abuse, misuse, and ease of concealment and availability to minors.

A bureau spokesman has now confirmed that "the issues were resolved" and "four varieties of Palcohol were approved," including cosmopolitan, margarita, vodka, and rum.

In response to critics concerned about the product being snorted or easier to sneak into venues that ban alcohol consumption, a statement on the Palcohol website says: "We believe that powdered alcohol is actually safer than liquid alcohol." "It's painful to snort due to the alcohol. Second, it's impractical. It takes approximately 60 minutes to snort the equivalent of one shot of vodka," Palcohol founder Mark Phillips said. "Why would anyone do that when they can do a shot of liquid vodka in two seconds?"

Apparently Palcohol is optimistic about starting sales this summer, but they also say they have some issues to work out in some states, regarding regulations to allow this to happen. (Nothing more specific was mentioned.) So now, with a few kilos of Palcohol, and a few kilos of powdered water, yer stocked for the zombie apocalypse. ;-)

frojack writes:

NASA reports:

The largest, most powerful rocket booster ever built successfully fired up last Wednesday. The test lasted only two minutes, which is its expected operational burn time. This is one of only two tests that the rocket motor has to pass before it will be flight certified.

An image from NASA reveals the size of this motor (compare the size of the stairway).

This "Hot" test was to test the rocket engine at the highest allowed launch temperature, 90F, as explained in another NASA article. A second "Cold" booster qualification test is planned for early next year where the booster will be conditioned to 40 degrees -- the low-end temperature parameter for the booster.

The Space Launch System Wiki page has a description of the entire system and shows the relative size of these rockets compared to the shuttle.

NotSanguine writes:

Phys.Org is reporting that Twitter has announced that it is banning the posting of sexually explicit images without the consent of the subject of those images.

From the article:

Twitter has become the latest online platform to ban "revenge porn," or the posting of sexually explicit images of a person without consent. In updated terms of service released Wednesday, Twitter explicitly banned "intimate photos or videos that were taken or distributed without the subject's consent."

The update comes following Reddit's announcement last month of a similar ban, which came after the online bulletin board was criticized for allowing the distribution of hacked nude pictures of Hollywood stars.

Have you been a victim of "revenge porn"? Have you posted explicit photos of others without their permission?

Would any lawyers care to jump in and discuss what copyright infringement issues, if any, might be raised?

bradley13 writes:

Scott Adams of Dilbert fame has posted a blog entry on gender discrimination. His goal is to gather as many links as possible on all sides of the issue; he intends to try to summarize what's out there in a subsequent post. His blog entry includes a few interesting, possibly insightful comments, for example:

"Some men are bullies and assholes. And most men are assholes at least some of the time. When men are bullies and assholes to each other, we interpret it as exactly that. But if I observe those same bullies and assholes mistreating a woman, I interpret it as sexism. I assume others see it the same way.

"The other day a good friend who works as a massage therapist was describing a time in her past she was a victim of gender discrimination. The story sounded convincing to me. Then I asked if she knew I would not have considered her as my massage therapist if she were a man. Cricket noises."

"My larger point today is that any discussion of gender in the workplace is like two blind people standing on an elephant and arguing whether the elephant is a sandwich or a bar of soap. Both are 100% wrong. That includes me."

Personally, I find Adams' writing to be frequently interesting — he at least tries to find his way around traditional blindspots. Sometimes he even succeeds. Since gender discrimination is so often a topic in technical fields, perhaps Soylentils will find this of interest...

Fluffeh writes:

Two weeks ago PayPal closed the account of cloud-storage service Mega, citing pressure from Visa and MasterCard. The ban has undoubtedly hurt Mega's business, and CEO Graham Gaylard is in Europe to discuss possible legal repercussions against a report that's partly responsible for the ban. From the TorrentFreak story:

Initially, taking legal action against NetNames for defamation was difficult, as UK law requires the complaining party to show economic damage. However, after the PayPal ban this shouldn’t be hard to do.

“Mega has been operating, and continues to operate, a completely legitimate and transparent business. Unfortunately now, with the blatant, obvious, political pressure and industry lobbying against Mega, Mega needs to defend itself and will now cease taking a passive stance,” Gaylard says.

el_oscuro writes:

According to ABC News , U.S. News & World Report , and a bunch of other websites, the US Department of State has been hacked again, or never was unhacked.

"The State Department shut down large parts of its unclassified email system today in a final attempt to rid it of malware believed to have been inserted by Russian hackers in what has become one of the most serious cyber intrusions in the department’s history, U.S. officials told ABC News."

"The outage could last though the weekend, according to officials. But as of now there is no time limit and no real indication of when the system will be back online."