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Phoenix666 writes:

Norway has just announced a new tool in its fight against transit emissions: a new network of bike highways.

As part of a plan announced last week, the country will spend a massive 8 billion Norwegian Kroner ($923 million) creating 10 broad, two-lane, cross-country bike tracks in and near Norway's nine largest cities, allowing longer-distance cyclists to travel with a speed and safety hitherto impossible. A key component of plans to slash Norway's transit emissions by half, the bike highway scheme still faces some resistance. Not only is cycling in Norway relatively uncommon by Scandinavian standards, but the new highways will be constructed in a mountainous country that is cold and dark for much of the year.

...These broad, twin-lane tracks will do more than offer protection, per se. They'll allow cyclists to speed up safely, riding at up to 40 kilometers (25 miles) per hour and thus making longer commutes feasible. If they succeed, they should take pressure off roads and public transit and help to cut Norway's fossil fuel use.

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takyon writes:

Verizon will pay $1.35 million to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over its use of "supercookies". Under the terms of the settlement, Verizon will have to inform customers when supercookies are used, give an opt-out option, and receive consent before sharing/selling supercookies with a third party:

Verizon Wireless has agreed to pay a $1.35 million fine to settle with the Federal Communications Commission over allegations that it improperly used "supercookies." The unique identifiers, which Verizon uses to target advertising to its mobile users, remain on wireless devices even when a customer clears a devices cache.

Investigators had found that Verizon had been using "supercookies" since December 2012, but the company didn't disclose it was doing so until October 2014.

"Consumers care about privacy and should have a say in how their personal information is used, especially when it comes to who knows what they're doing online," FCC Enforcement Bureau Chief Travis LeBlanc said in a statement. "Privacy and innovation are not incompatible. This agreement shows that companies can offer meaningful transparency and consumer choice while at the same time continuing to innovate."

Previously: Under Senate Pressure, Verizon Plans Supercookie Opt-Out

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pogostix writes:

From the Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2014/06/11/this-is-the-amazing-design-for-nasas-star-trek-style-space-ship-the-ixs-enterprise/:

NASA engineer and physicist Harold White announced a few years ago that he was working on a potentially groundbreaking idea that could allow space travel faster than the speed of light.

Yes, like in "Star Trek." http://techland.time.com/2012/09/19/nasa-actually-working-on-faster-than-light-warp-drive/

An over-simplified explanation is that the concept seeks to exploit a "loophole" in Albert Einstein's theory of relativity that allows travel faster than the speed of light by expanding space-time behind the object and contracting space-time front of it. Essentially, the empty space behind a starship would be made to expand rapidly, pushing the craft in a forward direction — passengers would perceive it as movement despite the complete lack of acceleration. White speculates that such a drive could result in "speeds" that could take a spacecraft to Alpha Centauri in a mere two weeks — even though the system is 4.3 light-years away.

So how quickly can this all become a reality? According to White, in an interview with i09 http://io9.gizmodo.com/5963263/how-nasa-will-build-its-very-first-warp-drive, proving that the math can become a reality in the lab is the first and probably most important step in the process:

What White is waiting for is existence of proof — what he's calling a "Chicago Pile" moment — a reference to a great practical example.

..."In late 1942, humanity activated the first nuclear reactor in Chicago generating a whopping half Watt — not enough to power a light bulb," he said. "However, just under one year later, we activated a ~4MW reactor which is enough to power a small town. Existence proof is important."

White explains in great detail the science behind his quest in this lecture:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9M8yht_ofHc&feature=youtu.be

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CoolHand writes:

SQL Server is coming to Linux...

Microsoft today announced that the company is planning to bring SQL Server to Linux. The company is launching the "core relational database capabilities" in (private) preview today, and it will be available for more users in mid-2017. With SQL Server on Linux, Microsoft will allow its customer to experience a consistent data platform across Linux and Windows Server.

More will be revealed Thursday during Microsoft's Data Driven SQL event — the presentation will be made available online at: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/server-cloud/data-driven.aspx

What's next? Office?

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The Mighty Buzzard writes:

Lawrence Hurley over at Reuters reports that Apple now has no legal options left to keep from paying the settlement for price-fixing ebooks:

The {United States] Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear Apple Inc's challenge to an appellate court decision that it conspired with five publishers to increase e-book prices, meaning it will have to pay $450 million as part of a settlement.

The court's decision not to hear the case leaves in place a June 2015 ruling by the New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that found Apple (AAPL.O) liable for engaging in a conspiracy that violated federal antitrust laws.

Apple, in asking the high court to hear the case, said the June appeals court decision that the company had conspired with the publishers contradicted Supreme Court precedent and would "chill innovation and risk-taking."

The 2nd Circuit's ruling followed a 2013 decision by U.S. District Judge Denise Cote that Apple played a "central role" in a conspiracy with publishers to raise e-book prices.

The Justice Department said the scheme caused some e-book prices to rise to $12.99 or $14.99 from the $9.99 price previously charged by market leader Amazon.com Inc.(AMZN.O)

"Apple's liability for knowingly conspiring with book publishers to raise the prices of e-books is settled once and for all," said Bill Baer, head of the U.S. Justice Department's antitrust division.

Now you might think that my "Yay, capitalism" self would be railing against that, but collusion to stifle competition is in fact anti-capitalistic, so "Yay, DOJ!".

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hubie writes:

The American Statistical Association (ASA) released a statement on the proper use of the p-value. The statement itself is summarized in their press release and lists six principles that address misuse of the p-value:

1. P-values can indicate how incompatible the data are with a specified statistical model.
2. P-values do not measure the probability that the studied hypothesis is true, or the probability that the data were produced by random chance alone.
3. Scientific conclusions and business or policy decisions should not be based only on whether a p-value passes a specific threshold.
4. Proper inference requires full reporting and transparency.
5. A p-value, or statistical significance, does not measure the size of an effect or the importance of a result.
6. By itself, a p-value does not provide a good measure of evidence regarding a model or hypothesis.

"Over time it appears the p-value has become a gatekeeper for whether work is publishable, at least in some fields," said Jessica Utts, ASA president. "This apparent editorial bias leads to the 'file-drawer effect,' in which research with statistically significant outcomes are much more likely to get published, while other work that might well be just as important scientifically is never seen in print. It also leads to practices called by such names as 'p-hacking' and 'data dredging' that emphasize the search for small p-values over other statistical and scientific reasoning."

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takyon writes:

Five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova has announced that she failed a drug test at the Australian Open. She will be provisionally suspended starting March 12th, according to the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme.

She claimed that she had used the substance meldonium (also known as Mildronate) for the past 10 years to treat "signs of diabetes", but failed to click on a link in an Dec. 22, 2015 email from the World Anti-Doping Agency about the changes to the 2016 prohibited list, which included moving meldonium from the monitoring program to the prohibited list due to "evidence of its use by athletes with the intention of enhancing performance".

Meldonium is an anti-ischemic drug widely used in the Russian Federation, and one of Latvia's top exports. From Wikipedia:

Meldonium is clinically used to treat angina and myocardial infarction. The first clinical trial testing the efficacy of using a combination of meldonium and lisinopril, an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor, to treat chronic heart failure was reported in 2005. The report concluded that the combined treatment of meldonium and lisinopril may improve the quality of life, exercise capacity and mechanisms of peripheral circulation of patients with chronic heart failure. A later report in 2008 concluded that combined meldonium-lisinopril treatment improved carotid baroreceptor reflex in patients with chronic heart failure.

[...] Using animal models, the applications of meldonium, sometimes in tandem with other drugs such as metformin, have shown beneficial effects on neurological disorder and diabetes. Meldonium may also be beneficial for the treatment of seizures and alcohol intoxication. Recent reports also suggest that meldonium may improve the ability of learning and memory, as the drug changes the expression of hippocampal proteins related to synaptic plasticity using rat model. Meldonium was reported to elevate the concentrations of γ-butyrobetaine hydroxylase in testes tissues; in addition, long term (90 days) administration of meldonium was reported to improve sexual performance, sperm motility and concentration of testosterone in boars, although further studies are needed to confirm the potential of using meldonium as a sperm motility and sperm quality-enhancing agent.

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takyon writes:

The planet Mercury's unusual dark coloration may be due to graphite on the surface, exposed by impact craters:

The planet Mercury may once have been encased in an outer shell of graphite, the same material used as pencil lead. The surface of the innermost planet is unusually dark, and scientists now think they know why.

Scientists analysing data from Nasa's Mercury Messenger spacecraft now think this mystery darkening agent is carbon in the form of graphite. This graphite may be a relic of the planet's primordial crust, which was later covered up by volcanism. [...] They found that the darkest "stuff" on Mercury had a carbon-rich composition and that it was associated with large impact craters.

According to the team, this association is consistent with the dark material coming from deeper within the planet and being exposed when space rocks gouged it out. Like Earth's Moon and the other inner planets, Mercury likely had a global magma ocean when it was young and the surface was very hot. "As this magma ocean cooled and minerals began to crystallise, minerals that solidified would all sink with the exception of graphite, which would have been buoyant and would have accumulated as the original crust of Mercury," said Rachel Klima, also from APL.

Info about the Gamma Ray and Neutron Spectrometer (GRNS).

Remote sensing evidence for an ancient carbon-bearing crust on Mercury (DOI: 10.1038/ngeo2669)

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HughPickens.com writes:

Joe Nocera has a fun read in the NYT about how since stepping down after three decades at Microsoft with a net worth of $24 billion, Steve Ballmer paid a staggering $2 billion for the Los Angeles Clippers — and is having a ball as the new owner and biggest fan of the team. At the news conference after he bought the team, Ballmer began screaming — screaming, the way he famously used to do at Microsoft events — in his excitement over being the Clippers' new owner. "He is a fan," says point guard Chris Paul. "And his energy is contagious." Ballmer has changed the team's culture, re-energizing the front office, focusing on making Clippers games more fun for fans — and creating an atmosphere that gives players and fans alike hope that a championship will one day soon be within their grasp. "He's brought credibility to this franchise," says Coach Doc Rivers.

Ballmer says that he had always been passionate about basketball and had long wanted to buy a basketball team. What held him back, he said, was his "day job." After TMZ got hold of a taped phone conversation between Donald Sterling and his mistress, V. Stiviano, in which the Clippers owner made a series of deeply offensive racist remarks, Ballmer got in touch with Shelly Sterling who was already talking to other potential buyers. Although Ballmer had bid well over $1 billion, but when he heard that someone was going to offer $1.8 billion, Ballmer increased his bid to $2 billion - more than double what anyone else has ever paid for a professional basketball team. That sealed the deal. Many people thought Ballmer had overpaid for a franchise that had always played second fiddle to the Lakers, and remains at least a notch below the likes of the Golden State Warriors and the San Antonio Spurs. But for Ballmer, it's been worth every penny. "Things are worth what other people are willing to pay for them," says Ballmer. "If I could get the deal done at $2 billion, who cares if I overpaid by 5 percent?"

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An Anonymous Coward writes:

Christopher "moot" Poole, best known as the founder of 4chan, announced that he has joined Google.

The news was later confirmed in a tweet by Bradley Horowitz, who is VP Streams, Photos and Sharing at Google. It is currently unknown what position Poole will take within the company.

BBC.

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MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for takyon

According to the head of ARPA-E – the research arm of the US Department of Energy – a number of breakthroughs in battery technology have been achieved, with huge implications on the use of renewable energy and electric cars.

Speaking at an ARPA-E event in Washington DC this week, director Dr Ellen Williams told an interviewer: "I think we have reached some holy grails in batteries ... we can create a totally new approach to battery technology, make it work, make it commercially viable, and get it out there."

The research agency has been working for a number of years on completely re-evaluating battery technology from their materials to their designs to their size and weight in an effort to identify new breakthroughs.

Several of the innovations are then mentioned at the bottom of the article, although it is light on technical details.

Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/03/04/us_hits_battery_storage_holy_grail/

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c0lo writes:

Phys.org reports on the discovery of 12 reptiles fossilized in amber in the tropical forest of Myanmar. Their report is based in the paleobiology article published (open access, full text linked) in the "Science advances".

Seventy-eight million years older than the previous oldest specimen on record, the dime-size chameleon along with 11 more ancient fossil lizards were pulled, encased in amber, from a mine decades ago, but it wasn't until recently that scientists had the opportunity to analyze them.
Of the 12 lizard specimens, three—a gecko, an archaic lizard and the chameleon—were particularly well-preserved.

"These fossils tell us a lot about the extraordinary, but previously unknown diversity of lizards in ancient tropical forests," said Stanley, co-author of a new study appearing online today in the journal Science Advances. "The fossil record is sparse because the delicate skin and fragile bones of small lizards do not usually preserve, especially in the tropics, which makes the new amber fossils an incredibly rare and unique window into a critical period of diversification."

A micro-CT scanner looked inside the amber without damaging the fossils, allowing study researchers to digitally piece together tiny bones and examine soft tissue. Scanned images of the detailed preservation provided insight into the anatomy and ecology of ancient lizards, Stanley said.

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c0lo writes:

The Christian Science Monitor reports on the latest Toyota concept car, to be revealed at the Milan Design Week.

Toyota will reveal its newest concept car, a roadster called Setsuna, at the Milan Design Week. This reveal comes with a twist – the electric car is made of wood.

The car's name, Setsuna, means "moment" in Japanese, and refers to the fleeting relationship between humans and material things, like cars.

...The car's shape is reminiscent of an Italian speedboat. Its curves and smooth lines are the product of a special Japanese construction technique called "okuriari." This technique uses no nails or screws to join body pieces, but instead relies on the way the wood is shaped to hold the piece together.

[more..]

c0lo writes:

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/mar/04/donald-trump-deep-drumpf-twitter-bot

MIT project uses artificial-intelligence algorithm to learn Republican frontrunner's speech patterns before publishing 'remarkably Trump-like statements'

Donald Trump may be a "really smart person" by his own estimation, but his speeches are now fuelling a really smart Twitter bot, which uses artificial-intelligence technology to copy the Republican frontrunner.

[...] "The bot creates Tweets one letter at a time. For example, if the bot randomly begins its Tweet with the letter 'M,' it is somewhat likely to be followed by an 'A,' and then a 'K,' and so on until the bot types out Trump's campaign slogan, 'Make America Great Again.' It then starts over for the next sentence and repeats the process until it reaches the 140-character limit.

The Tweetbot's creator, CSAIL postdoc Bradley Hayes, used techniques from 'deep-learning,' a field of artificial intelligence that uses systems called 'neural networks' to teach computers to to find patterns on their own. Hayes was inspired by an existing training model that can simulate Shakespeare, as well as a recent report that analysed the presidential candidates' linguistic patterns to find that Trump speaks at a fourth-grade level."

I'm not quite sure, but did @realDonaldTrump just replied to this one?

** [Lightweight #LittleMarco] no campaign chance. Believe me, we start winning, winning, winning. That's the mindset.

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Phoenix666 writes:

Iowa State University engineers have developed a new flexible, stretchable and tunable "meta-skin" that uses rows of small, liquid-metal devices to cloak an object from the sharp eyes of radar.

The meta-skin takes its name from metamaterials, which are composites that have properties not found in nature and that can manipulate electromagnetic waves. By stretching and flexing the polymer meta-skin, it can be tuned to reduce the reflection of a wide range of radar frequencies.

...What they came up with are rows of split ring resonators embedded inside layers of silicone sheets. The electric resonators are filled with galinstan, a metal alloy that's liquid at room temperature and less toxic than other liquid metals such as mercury.

Those resonators are small rings with an outer radius of 2.5 millimeters and a thickness of half a millimeter. They have a 1 millimeter gap, essentially creating a small, curved segment of liquid wire.

The rings create electric inductors and the gaps create electric capacitors. Together they create a resonator that can trap and suppress radar waves at a certain frequency. Stretching the meta-skin changes the size of the liquid metal rings inside and changes the frequency the devices suppress.

Tests showed radar suppression was about 75 percent in the frequency range of 8 to 10 gigahertz, according to the paper. When objects are wrapped in the meta-skin, the radar waves are suppressed in all incident directions and observation angles.

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