SoylentNews

Phoenix666 writes:

Salt can be dangerous, with too much of it causing blood pressure spikes. But what are we meant to do, just give it up?! Japan has a better solution.

The Electro Fork, developed at Tokyo University as part of the No Salt Restaurant project, harmlessly zaps salted flavour into unsalted foods, essentially using electricity as seasoning.

As well as stimulating the tongue to taste saltiness, the electronic signals can also be used to enhance sourness and food texture. Sweetness, however, has proven difficult to reproduce, sad news for dessert lovers everywhere.

At the end of the meal, do diners' hair stand on end ?

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bitstream writes:

AT&T will impose usage caps on their U-Verse broadband and DSL customers. They now announced they will follow Comcasts lead by "allowing" users to pay 30 US$ more a month to avoid usage caps completely and thus have things working as they used to. The AT&T fee can however be avoided if the customer voluntarily subscribes to DirecTV or U-Verse TV. The data caps enables ISP like AT&T and Comcast to demand payment for internet video and make cord-cutting less viable by increasing the cost for streaming. The TV subscription pricing policy just shows what's all about.

Smells monopoly and there's some laws against laying cables asfair.

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The WWW - How We Got Here

An Anonymous Coward writes:

The editors [it was the developers - ed] with their relaxing site scheme have sure brought back memories of the good ol' days of CompuServe, 14.4K modems, and AOL install CDs falling out of CompUSA shopping bags. In that spirit, and mindful of NCommander's decree that no lamestream April Fool's stories will be posted on his watch, I spent literally hours identifying the world's most definitive and comprehensive history of the Internet. Wait, maybe it's this one. Whatever.

Nice!

jimbrooking writes:

The new design for SN is just great, however I think you will agree it would be so much better with slowly falling snowflakes (or toasters) overlaying the content!

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frojack writes:

According to an Email from Google:

More details are at the Google Wallet FAQ

This will leave a certain number of people scrambling for a better solution.

The Google Wallet card, (basically a standard Debit Master Card) was very convenient for funding kids at College, or sending money to family/friends. Money in the wallet could be spent with the debit card.

Apparently the Wallet will continue to work, but transferring money out of wallet to anything but the Google Play store will become impossible. There are vague promises in the FAQ about future enhancements, but nothing concrete.

Another Google service killed by its own popularity.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Amazon will prohibit listings of non-compliant USB Type-C cables, following reports of hardware being damaged by faulty cables:

Amazon has updated its rules governing the sale of USB-C cables in the US, saying only fully compliant products will be stocked on the site. The update to a list of prohibited listings now includes "any USB-C (or USB Type-C) cable or adapter product that is not compliant with standard specifications".

Google developer Benson Leung noticed the change. Some USB-C cables can damage devices or fail to charge them properly. "Really great news, but we all have to continue to be vigilant and call out any bad products we find on Amazon and other stores (both online and brick and mortar) as we find them," wrote Mr Leung on Google+.

Amazon's rules, which refer to standards set by USB Implementers Forum, Inc., apply to any merchant selling items through its Amazon Sellers programme. [...] A list of compliant USB-C cables has been published by USB Implementers Forum, Inc.

Previously: One Manufacturer's "Fundamentally Dangerous" USB Type-C Cable Fries Hardware

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butthurt writes:

Published in Nature (full article is paywalled),

a model coupling ice sheet and climate dynamics—including previously underappreciated processes linking atmospheric warming with hydrofracturing of buttressing ice shelves and structural collapse of marine-terminating ice cliffs

The article predicts that sea levels could rise by over a meter between now and 2100, due to melting of the Antarctic ice sheet. The predicted rise is about twice as rapid as that predicted by the IPCC (PDF) and others.

The story was picked up by The Guardian , Gizmodo, the New Yorker , the New York Times and Slate.

Nature has an article summarizing this research and relating it to other recent studies published in Nature.

A representative of Climate Central told PBS Newshour that, due to melting in Greenland and expansion of ocean water as it warms, sea level could rise even faster than the new model predicts: as much as 6 feet (~2 metres) by the end of this century.

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A Semi-Anonymous Crutchy writes:

Join #soylent @http://chat.soylentnews.org/ to play some asynchronous rock/paper/scissors with other SoylentNews lurkers and staff. Asynchronous rock/paper/scissor is basically a game that records all your rps choices, and as players throw in their next rounds, they get played against your previous turns.

The bot named 'exec' is hosted by one of our (generally) trustworthy editors (cmn32480) and includes the '~rps' command to play.

~rps
Outputs syntax and online help link.

~rps r
Adds rock to your account's sequence.

~rps p
Adds paper to your account's sequence.

~rps s
Adds scissors to your account's sequence.

~rps rank
Outputs current ranking to http://ix.io/nAz

You can also submit multiple turns in one command, which is useful if you're a new player. The script will trim the sequence to the current maximum sequence length of all players, plus one (to gradually advance the available turns). Example: ~rps rrrrpsrpsrpssspss

Note, there is also a random delay requirement between turns, so you can try playing with a bot but you will need to allow for this mandatory delay.

You can play from any channel that 'exec' is currently in, or private message the bot to hide your sequence from prying eyes.

Players are tied to NickServ accounts, so to play you must register with NickServ. This is easy to do and most IRC clients can automagically identify for you with minimal fuss. This is to keep your game from being manipulated when you're offline.

Ranking is based on a handicap that balances the number of wins with the number of turns played. This is so that a new player who gets a win doesn't secure top spot just because they have a 100% win rate.

The script is certainly not perfect and is gradually evolving, but it has reached a point where I think it is at least stable enough to enjoy. There are also lots of other asynchronous rock, paper, scissors games out there on the interwebs.
Check out the source code for the IRC bot game script here if you're curious or would like to contribute: https://github.com/crutchy-/exec-irc-bot/blob/master/scripts/rps.php

When you hop on IRC to play, be sure to say 'hi'. We don't bite... much :p

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butthurt writes:

The SCO Group has notified the court that it intends to file an appeal in its 13-year lawsuit against IBM over IBM's use of Linux. Ars Technica and The Inquirer reported on the notice of appeal.

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takyon writes:

Reddit's warrant canary has disappeared from its 2015 transparency report, indicating that the website probably received a National Security Letter:

A warrant canary is a technique whereby companies can get around the restrictions involved with National Security Letters, which typically bar the recipient from letting on that Uncle Sam is snooping around on their servers. Companies can, however, say that they haven't received one, and then take that comment down once the Feds come knocking.

Reddit has had a canary up for two years, but on Thursday the site released its 2015 transparency report and it was quickly spotted that the canary had taken wing and was no longer mentioned. Reddit being Reddit, plenty of angry words were posted online and then the user /specz – aka the site's CEO Steve Huffman – came on to comment. "I've been advised not to say anything one way or the other," he said, which makes things clear.

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

While figuring out whether the leftovers in your fridge have gone bad or not, the sniff-test just doesn't cut it. But unfortunately, there are virtually no consumer-based tests to assure you that your food hasn't turned, which is a huge public health problem. Each year, around 50 million Americans get food poisoning, and around 3,000 die.

Now, a research group in South Korea has come up with a possible solution, which can be briefly summarized with: pew, pew, nom, nom.

That's right, researchers at the Korea Advanced Institutes of Science and Technology have developed a fridge-mountable laser that detects the squirming movements of microbes on the surface of your chow. The method is cheap, easy to use, and requires no contact with the contaminated food, making it an ideal solution to a common health problem, the authors suggest.

The method works by zapping food with a series of laser shots while using a camera to watch how the light of each zap scatters off the surface. If the surface is still, the scatter pattern will stay completely or almost completely the same with repeated laser fire. But if the food is swarming with infectious bacteria, the scatter pattern will change in a matter of seconds. This is because microbes tend to propel themselves around with whip-like tails, called flagella, causing the light to scatter differently as they wriggle and swim to and fro.

Would we ever eat anything again?

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HughPickens.com writes:

Sophie Kleeman writes at Gizmodo that according to a study at the University of Michigan people who are more sensitive to written typos and grammatical errors are indeed the kinds of Type A assholes everyone already suspects them to be. Researchers gathered 83 people and had them read emails that either contained typos ("mkae" or "abuot"), grammar errors (to/too, it's/its or your/you're), or no spelling mistakes at all. Participants were asked at the end of the experiment whether or not they'd spotted any grammatical errors or typos in the emails, and, if so, how much it had bothered them. The researchers then asked the participants to complete a Big Five personality assessment - which rates where they are on a scale of openness, agreeableness, extraversion/introversion, neuroticism, and conscientiousness - as well as answer questions about their age, background, and attitude towards language. People who tested as being more conscientious but less open were more sensitive to typos, while those with less agreeable personalities got more upset by grammatical errors. "Less agreeable participants showed more sensitivity to grammos than participants high in agreeability," the researchers said, "perhaps because less agreeable people are less tolerant of deviations from convention."

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Phoenix666 writes:

SubPartners' APX-West cable from Perth to Singapore will finally go ahead, after the company changed its business model to a consortium build.

Mooted for some years now, the company originally wanted to finance and build the cable itself and sell access to all comers. It proved difficult to convince investors, however, so although it had secured landing rights in Australia and Singapore, construction hasn't yet begun.

With carriers Telstra and Singtel signing a memorandum of understanding for all the capacity on the 4,500 km cable, it will now go ahead, with construction expected to finish in 2018.

Each of the two fibre pairs in the system has a minimum design capacity of 10 Tbps, and the cable will land in "facilities operated by the consortium members" in each country.

There's also the tantalising prospect of APX-West improving links between Australia, Europe and the Middle East.

Installation may stall somewhere near Bali.

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

Scientists are using computer models to answer what many believe is one of science's most puzzling questions: How did heavy metals like gold get to Earth?

There are two candidates, neither of which are located on Earth—a supernova, a massive star that, in its old age, collapsed and then catastrophically exploded under its own weight—or a neutron-star merger, in which two of these small yet incredibly massive stars come together and spew out huge amounts of stellar debris.

In a recently published paper in the journal Physical Review Letters , researchers detail how they are getting close to an answer.

"At this time, no one knows the answer," says Witold Nazarewicz, professor of physics at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams at Michigan State University. "But this work will help guide future experiments and theoretical developments."

From the paper, "Impact of Nuclear Mass Uncertainties on the r Process."

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

Calculations reveal how sensors must take turns to harvest power efficiently from a data hub.

Algorithms that describe the most efficient ways to transmit data and power between wireless sensors and a central hub could help develop large networks of smart devices.

Interconnected wireless devices are increasingly common. For example, smart home appliances can transmit or receive data so that users can remotely control heating or lighting, while remote sensor networks can help gather environmental data such as water quality or air pollution. This burgeoning 'Internet of Things' could see billions of sensors deployed across cities, homes, offices and factories.

But many sensors rely on battery power, which can limit their use. "To change the batteries after a few years of deployment would be problematic," explains Chin Keong Ho of Singapore's Agency of Science, Technology and Research Institute for Infocomm Research. "The sensors might be dispersed throughout a city, and in certain locations, it could be impractical or dangerous to change batteries."

One alternative is to build a wireless-powered communication network (WPCN), containing sensors that can harvest energy from the radio waves transmitted by the central hub.

One word: lossy.

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

Ideally, the electronic components that route electricity through power supplies, inverters, and electric motors are cheap, efficient, and capable of handling high voltages. Judged in these terms, gallium oxide could be the best material yet, according to recent work by ­Flosfia, a startup in Kyoto.

That's because silicon—the incumbent material for making diodes and transistors for the power electronics market—is cheap but not very efficient. And although this weakness is addressed by devices made from silicon carbide and gallium nitride, both have had limited commercial success due to high prices. Flosfia's diodes are already performing more efficiently than those made from SiC and GaN.

The superiority of these gallium oxide devices stems from the material's approximately 5–electron-volt bandgap—way higher than that of gallium nitride (about 3.4 eV) or silicon carbide (about 3.3 eV). Bandgap is a measure of the energy required to kick an electron into a conducting state. A bigger bandgap enables a material to withstand a stronger electric field, making it possible to use a thinner device for a given voltage. That's a big deal because the thinner the device, the lower its resistance, and thus the more efficient it is.

Gallium oxide devices do not excel in all areas. Their Achilles' heel is poor thermal conductivity. "When you make a high-power device, you need to have a good thermal conductivity to extract the heat out of the device," explains Hong Lin, senior market and technology analyst at Yole Développement in Lyon, France.

Original Submission