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AnonTechie writes:

A study by researchers at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics at Oxford University has uncovered the key role played by a single gene in how groups of animals diverge to form new species. The study, published today in the journal Nature, restored fertility to the normally-infertile offspring of two subspecies of mice, by replacing part of the Prdm9 gene with the equivalent human version. Despite the nearly 150 million years of evolution separating mice and humans, these 'humanized' mice were completely fertile.

New animal species form when groups of animals become isolated and as a result, begin to separate through evolution (a process known as speciation). When these isolated populations meet later, they might be able to breed with each other, but the male offspring are often infertile. Horses and donkeys are an example of such speciation: they can interbreed, but their offspring, mules, are infertile.

http://phys.org/news/2016-02-species.html

[Abstract]: Re-engineering the zinc fingers of PRDM9 reverses hybrid sterility in mice

[Source]: http://www.ndm.ox.ac.uk/principal-investigators/project/re-engineering-the-dna-binding-characteristics-of-a-speciation-gene

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Antonin Scalia, a sitting U.S. Supreme Court Justice, has died:

US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia - one of most conservative members of the high court - has died. Justice Scalia's death could shift the balance of power on the US high court, allowing President Barack Obama to add a fifth liberal justice to the court. The court's conservative majority has recently stalled major efforts by the Obama administration on climate change and immigration.

Justice Scalia, 79, was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1986. He died in his sleep early on Saturday while in West Texas for [a] hunting trip, the US Marshall service said. Justice Scalia was one of the most prominent proponents of "originalism" - a conservative legal philosophy that believes the US Constitution has a fixed meaning and does not change with the times.

Justice Scalia's death is, unsurprisingly, now being widely reported.

From the San Antonio Express News:

According to a report, Scalia arrived at the ranch on Friday and attended a private party with about 40 people. When he did not appear for breakfast, a person associated with the ranch went to his room and found a body.

[...] The U.S. Marshal Service, the Presidio County sheriff and the FBI were involved in the investigation. Officials with the law enforcement agencies declined to comment.

A federal official who asked not to be named said there was no evidence of foul play and it appeared that Scalia died of natural causes.

A gray Cadillac hearse pulled into the ranch last Saturday afternoon. The hearse came from Alpine Memorial Funeral Home.

Most major news outlets are covering this story, including CNN [video autoplays], The Washington Post, The New York Times, and NBC.

Original Submission

NotSanguine writes:

Multiple sources (including Cisco, CERT and NIST) are reporting on a critical buffer overflow vulnerability in Cisco software running on its ASA platforms.

From the Cisco advisory:

A vulnerability in the Internet Key Exchange (IKE) version 1 (v1) and IKE version 2 (v2) code of Cisco ASA Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a reload of the affected system or to remotely execute code.

The vulnerability is due to a buffer overflow in the affected code area. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted UDP packets to the affected system. An exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code and obtain full control of the system or to cause a reload of the affected system.

Note: Only traffic directed to the affected system can be used to exploit this vulnerability. This vulnerability affects systems configured in routed firewall mode only and in single or multiple context mode. This vulnerability can be triggered by IPv4 and IPv6 traffic.

Cisco has released software updates that address this vulnerability.

Affected software versions/platforms are as follows:
ASA Software: before 8.4(7.30), 8.7 before 8.7(1.18), 9.0 before 9.0(4.38), 9.1 before 9.1(7), 9.2 before 9.2(4.5), 9.3 before 9.3(3.7), 9.4 before 9.4(2.4), and 9.5 before 9.5(2.2).
On the following platforms: ASA 5500, ASA 5500-X, ASA Services Module for Cisco Catalyst 6500 and Cisco 7600, ASA 1000V, Adaptive Security Virtual Appliance (aka ASAv), Firepower 9300 ASA Security Module, and ISA 3000.

CERT Vulnerability ID: VU#327976.
CVE ID: 2016-1287.
Cisco Advisory: cisco-sa-20160210.
Cisco Bug IDs (Cisco login required): CSCux29978 and CSCux42019.

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

People seem to love HBO's "Game of Thrones" and "Girls." But maybe not that much if they have to pay to watch them.

HBO Now, the premium channel's online-only subscription service, was expected to be a big hit with people who are cutting back on cable subscriptions, but adoption of the new service for now looks to be underwhelming. The channel's CEO mentioned on a call with analysts Wednesday that HBO Now has brought in about 800,000 subscribers so far, well below the lofty predictions for the service.

With Wall Street expectations as high as 2 million subscribers, HBO chief Richard Plepler was forced on the defensive.
...
HBO Now launched in April amid expectations that more consumers are dropping or cutting back on their cable packages and instead cobbling together their daily video entertainment with online options like YouTube and Netflix. Hoping to entice these so-called cord-cutters and perhaps tamp down online piracy of its shows, HBO came out with the standalone service for $15 a month, the same price as with a cable subscription. The fact that HBO Now isn't growing as fast as expected could mean that major shift in consumer habits is moving slower than predicted, or perhaps HBO isn't as popular with cord-cutters as many thought.

Original Submission

AnonTechie writes:

Data generated by your body is routinely captured and sold by healthcare companies. Shouldn't you benefit from it, too ?

Getting access to your medical information is supposed to be good for you, and good for the country. It's supposed to help you take charge of your health, and save the beleaguered US healthcare system loads of money. Getting your medical record can reveal life-changing information: Symptoms you should be watching, drugs you shouldn't take, even diagnoses you didn't know you had. So the federal government has poured billions into making it easier for people to access their medical information.

In reality your medical information is anything but free. If you would take on the challenge of claiming your data from those who hold it hostage, you must prepare for the journey. You may be forced to scale massive bureaucracies, combat insane copyright laws, sneak into secret data stashes, hack into medical devices — or perhaps even locate a working fax machine.

Scientists mine this "data exhaust" for previously undetected patterns in health and illness. Pharmaceutical companies analyze prescription data to figure out how to sell more drugs to both doctors and patients. Data analytics companies purchase millions of electronic health records, lab test results, and insurance claims reports, slicing it and dicing it to expose patterns that weren't visible before. These data-mining startups, a fast-growing sector of the digital health industry, brought in more than $400 million in venture capital last year. They sell custom reports to all manner of buyers: employers trying to predict how much they'll spend on healthcare, companies selling products and services to hospitals, and hospitals looking for ways to charge more for their services.

All of these people can get their hands on your data and make money off it. But for you — the wellspring of all this value — it is not so easy, even though it can be far more precious to you.

https://backchannel.com/our-medical-data-must-become-free-f6d533db6bed

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

Marijuana use is on the rise, with an estimated 12.5 percent of adults living in the United States reportedly using the drug at least once in 2013, according to a new study that looked at drug usage over the span of a decade.

But those findings also show that, contrary to previous reports, the rate of pot use did not double from 2002 to 2013—and that the rate of problems related to the drug remained steady.

Published in JAMA Psychiatry, the study shows that rather than doubling, the increase in marijuana use among adults was closer to 20 percent over the same time period and that problems related to using pot, such as addiction, remained steady or even declined.

The new findings are in stark contrast to data published in 2015 by another team of researchers that suggested the percentage of US adults using marijuana had more than doubled from 2002 to 2013, with a similar increase in the rate of marijuana-use disorders.

Recent Trends in the Prevalence of Marijuana Use and Associated Disorders in the United States (DOI: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2015.3111)

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Ground control has given up on Philae, the craft that made a historic landing on Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko:

Exactly 15 months after it completed a seemingly impossible journey to land on the surface of a comet, the Philae lander now faces "eternal hibernation," as officials at the European Space Agency say the craft doesn't get enough sunlight to power its batteries.

"The chances for Philae to contact our team ... are unfortunately getting close to zero," says Stephan Ulamec, Philae project manager at the German Aerospace Center, DLR. He added, "We are not sending commands any more and it would be very surprising if we were to receive a signal again."

Philae is the lander from the Rosetta spacecraft, which for months now has been orbiting Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko and listening for signs of activity from its companion craft. But after an encouraging period of contact last summer, Philae has been silent since July 9.

A tweet issued from the ESA's Rosetta Mission account today includes an artist's rendering of the current situation. But instead of an airbrushed space scene, this one is a cartoon showing Rosetta thinking about its little lander taking a nap on the comet's cold surface.

BBC.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

In order to help fight the heroin epidemic in the northeast United States, Kroger supermarkets and CVS pharmacies will carry the anti-overdose (opioid antagonist) drug naloxone (trade name: Narcan) over the counter:

Ohio-based grocery chain Kroger Co. said Friday it will make the overdose-reversal drug naloxone available without a prescription in its pharmacies across Ohio and northern Kentucky, a region hard-hit by deadly heroin. Kroger said more than 200 of its pharmacies will offer naloxone over the counter within days. "We want families dealing with addiction to know that they can count on having the drug available in the event that they need it," Jeff Talbot, Kroger vice president of merchandising, said in a statement.

Ohio fire crews and other first responders use naloxone thousands of times a year to revive opioid overdose victims. Ohio overdose deaths jumped 18 percent in 2014, one of the nation's sharpest increases. Those on the front lines of the battle against heroin's spread have increasingly supported allowing and educating families and friends of addicts to administer naloxone in emergencies.

State regulators in Ohio and Kentucky have allowed the drug to be sold over the counter. Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, joined Kroger officials at a Cincinnati grocery store for the retailer's announcement. Portman has been pushing a multi-pronged heroin bill in the Senate that includes expanded availability of naloxone. "This marks an important step in our fight to combat addiction and we all need to continue to work for a bottom-up, comprehensive approach to the heroin epidemic," Portman, from the Cincinnati area, said in a statement.

CVS said recently it will soon offer naloxone without a prescription at its Ohio pharmacies.

Naloxone became available over the counter in Australia on February 1.

In the U.S., there are currently a patchwork of state laws which govern access to Naloxone.

In the U.K. as of 1 October, 2015, "...[A]ny worker in a commissioned drug service can now distribute naloxone without prescription."

Related: Alarming Rise in Death Rates for Middle-Aged White Americans

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

Pompeii's graffiti is the world's most frustrating goldmine.

When it comes to ancient Rome, the vast majority of insights into their world we have are from one group: Wealthy (or patronized) free men. According to Charles Freeman[1], in all of the surviving works from Rome, only one author speaks of his life as a former slave—a philosopher named Epicetus. Meanwhile, every female Roman voice has been lost to time.

But there is one place on Earth that may yet hold their stories: The Bay of Naples, where in 79 CE, Mount Vesuvius buried the two seaside towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum under feet of lava and ash. These places weren't necessarily vast repositories of lost literature, but the eruption froze them nearly perfectly in time, preserving them for nearly 2,000 years—and preserving thousands of pieces of graffiti along with them.

Now, in modern times, graffiti bears the notions of vandalism and illegality, usually resulting in small, hasty scribbles of "Joanie loves Chachi" or some anatomically-puzzling genitalia (which was actually pretty true for Pompeii, too). But, unlike today, Roman graffiti was not forbidden—and it was practically everywhere, from the private dining rooms of wealthy homes (domi, where friends sometimes left messages for the hosts) to the public forum. In fact, according to Kristina Milnor[2], more 11,000 graffiti images have been found in Pompeii—which is just about the size of the population at the height of the town.

[...] Without this threat of punishment, it seems that graffiti was readily practiced by people at all strata of society, making it perhaps the most valuable text we have from the ancient world. Man, woman, child, slave, poor, rich, illiterate—it did not matter, so long as there was an empty spot on a wall. Which means that, through graffiti, we are able to hear the voices of those who have been traditionally voiceless, granting us the possibility of astounding insights into lives and minds we've never been able to access.

[...] Another long-held belief was that very few members of Roman society were literate, especially in the case of the lower classes. However, the graffiti found in the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum seem to tell otherwise.

[1] Freeman, Charles. Egypt, Greece and Rome: Civilizations of the Ancient Mediterranean. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2004.

[2] Milnor, Kristina. Graffiti and the Literary Landscape in Roman Pompeii. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2014.

No matter the time, place, or culture, half of graffiti is about somebody's wang. The other half is an interesting window into the minds of the people.

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

Aziz Ansari & Eric Klinenberg have a story in Nautilus, She'll Text Me, She'll Text Me Not, which looks into the modern-technology challenges of making romantic contact.

Modern romance is stressful—especially when it comes to texting, which is on course to be the new norm for asking someone out. In 2010 only 10 percent of young adults used texts to ask someone out for the first time, compared with 32 percent in 2013. And so, more and more of us find ourselves sitting alone, staring at our phone's screen with a whole range of emotions. But in a strange way, we are all doing it together, and we should take solace in the fact that no one has a clue what's going on. So, I decided to look into it myself, but I knew that bozo comedian Aziz Ansari probably couldn't tackle the topic on my own, and so I teamed up with New York University sociologist Eric Klinenberg. We designed a massive research project during 2013 and 2014, which involved conducting focus groups and interviews with people worldwide, and also interviewing eminent researchers who have dedicated their careers to studying modern romance. We learned a lot about finding love today, including what to do once you fire off a text or receive one.

One area where there was a lot of debate was the amount of time one should wait to text back. Several people subscribed to the notion of doubling the response time. (They write back in five minutes, you wait 10, etc.) This way you achieve the upper hand and constantly seem busier and less available than your counterpart. Others thought waiting just a few minutes was enough to prove you had something important in your life besides your phone. Some thought you should double, but occasionally throw in a quick response to not seem so regimented (nothing too long, though!). Some people swore by waiting 1.25 times longer. Others argued they found three minutes to be just right. There were also those who were so fed up with the games that they thought receiving timely responses free of games was refreshing and showed confidence.

What technique(s) have you tried and how did they work out for you?

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

Constancy illusions are adaptive: consider what would have happened if your ancestors thought a friend became a foe whenever a cloud hid the sun, or if they lost track of their belongings–and even their own children—every time they stepped out of the cave and into the sunlight. Why, they might have even eaten their own kids! You are here because the perceptual systems of your predecessors were resistant to annoying changes in the physical reality–as is your own (adult) perception.

There are many indications that constancy effects must have helped us survive (and continue to do so). One such clue is that we are not born with perceptual constancy, but develop it many months after birth. So at first we see all differences, and then we learn to ignore certain types of differences so that we can recognize the same object as unchanging in many varied scenarios. When perceptual constancy arises, we lose the ability to detect multiple contradictions that are nevertheless highly noticeable to young babies.

Babies, in other words, see the world more like a machine would, a stream of images that are not necessarily related to each other.

Pre-constancy Vision in Infants (open, DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2015.10.053)

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

America's second-poorest school district is also home to a surprising IT program that has won it national acclaim.

The Coachella Valley Unified School District [requires JS], located east of Los Angeles in California's Riverside County, encompasses around 1,250 square miles of largely rural areas. It includes 20,000 students, most from hard-up families and many so far removed from large cities that the daily bus ride to school can take up to two hours.

In such areas, internet connections can be few and far between. When the district began equipping students with tablets as part of a mobile learning initiative, administrators found that getting the devices online outside of school wasn't always easy for the children.

"We looked at the poverty in some of our areas – some of them were not connected," said Dr Darryl Adams, district superintendent.

"Parents were going out and sitting in school parking lots, or at McDonalds and Starbucks."

To address the issue, the district looked at a valuable resource it already had: school buses equipped with LTE antennas and Wi-Fi hotspots were already able to provide access to students on their daily commutes.

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

A dog lies unconscious on the operating table, as Woosuk Hwang gently lifts the puppy from its womb. While I watch, one of his researchers, David Kim, tells me about the original – the source of this puppy's DNA.

He calls it the original, because the nearly born puppy is a clone.

Hwang snips open the amniotic sac and the little fur ball slips out into the world. It's black, wet – and motionless. An assistant wraps it in a towel, massages it gently – and it starts to yelp. Success!

This puppy is a sign of things to come for Hwang and his lab. For the past few years, the lab has worked on cloning domestic dogs. Now the researchers plan move on to saving their wild relatives. They want to rescue some of the world's most endangered canids, including the Ethiopian wolf and the dhole, or Asiatic wild dog.

This has raised concerns among conservationists, not least because they fear cloning will be little more than a shiny distraction from wider efforts to preserve habitats and biodiversity.

Original Submission

PBear writes:

ZDNet has an article on the inferior IT which doomed the expansion of the Target stores into Canada.

Business school case studies tend to fall into two categories: epic wins and oh-my-gosh-how-could-they-possibly-have-been-so-stupid epic failures. This article discusses a real-world billion dollar story that falls into the second category. As epic failures go, this one is worthy of the history books. The moral of the story: IT drives the enterprise.

http://www.zdnet.com/article/billion-dollar-failures-how-bad-decisions-and-poor-it-killed-target-canada/

[Updated.] For another perspective and more information, see: The Last Days of Target — The untold tale of Target Canada’s difficult birth, tough life and brutal death.

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

Scientists have preserved and recovered cryogenically-frozen brains in near-perfect condition.

Robert McIntyre and Gregory Fahy from 21st Century medicine were able to prevent neuron shrinkage that follows dehydration.

The pair used ultrafast chemical fixation and a new cryogenic storage technique called aldehyde-stabilised cryopreservation (ASC) to preserve and thaw rabbit and pig brains.

The Brain Preservation Foundation announced the team had won the Small Mammal Brain Preservation Prize for the work first published last August in the paper Aldehyde-stabilized cryopreservation (pdf) [open, DOI: 10.1016/j.cryobiol.2015.09.003].

"To demonstrate the feasibility of ASC, we perfuse-fixed rabbit and pig brains with a glutaraldehyde-based fixative, then slowly perfused increasing concentrations of ethylene glycol over several hours in a manner similar to techniques used for whole organ cryopreservation," the pair say in the paper.

Original Submission

NotSanguine writes:

Shaun Nichols over at The Register (El Reg) is reporting on a New York Civil Liberties Union report (NYCLU) detailing New York City Police Department (NYPD) use of IMSI catchers.

According to the NYCLU's report, the NYPD has used IMSI catchers (essentially mobile cell towers powerful enough to induce all nearby cellular devices to connect to them, rather than commercial cell towers) more than 1,000 times in the past seven years.

From the El Reg article:

According to the NYCLU report, between 2008 and May of 2015 police used stingray hardware 1,016 times, and that permission to deploy the devices required a court order rather than a harder-to-obtain warrant.

The use of stingray devices by police has become a point of contention between law enforcement and groups who see the devices as a violation of personal privacy. Long used by the FBI, stingray devices impersonate legit cellphone towers to monitor nearby mobile phones and track their movements.

[...] "If carrying a cell phone means being exposed to military-grade surveillance equipment, then the privacy of nearly all New Yorkers is at risk," said NYCLU executive director Donna Lieberman.

"Considering the NYPD's troubling history of surveilling innocent people, it must at the very least establish strict privacy policies and obtain warrants prior to using intrusive equipment like Stingrays that can track people's cell phones."

This kind of gives a little more zing to the old saw "Welcome to New York. Now go home."

Original Submission