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frojack writes:

Courthouse News Service reports:

The story goes on to characterize the legal battle and the reasoning behind the ruling. Basically that ruling boils down to the fact that the state laws apply in this case, and the funding laws passed by congress seem to be only a bit player in this ruling.

The panel appeared to go further than just enforcing the "No Federal Funds" use by stating:

"By officially permitting certain conduct, state law provides for non-prosecution of individuals who engage in such conduct. If the federal government prosecutes such individuals, it has prevented the state from giving practical effect to its law providing for non-prosecution of individuals who engage in the permitted conduct."

That seems as close as you can come to a "States Rights" line of reasoning and still be welcome in liberal circles. The decision is reportedly being carefully scrutinized in the other circuit, and I would expect to see the government seek another venue.

Original Submission

jdavidb writes:

Whirlpool (the appliance manufacturer) donated washers and driers to schools and increased attendance.

According to Whirlpool's research, one in five school children report difficulty finding clean clothes to wear to school. It turns out that offering free in-school laundry services to kids with attendance problems increases their attendance.

When compared to factors like economic opportunity, unemployment, and institutional racism, laundry seems pretty inconsequential in the fight to keep kids in school. But while that might be the case for their parents, for a ten-year-old who already has the odds stacked against them, having nothing clean to wear to school could be the deciding factor in whether or not they want to face their classmates that day.

I can remember my grandmother telling me that she thought lunches in schools were a wonderful innovation, because they didn't have anything like that when she was a girl, and many children couldn't come because they wouldn't have lunch. I'm sure back then nobody thought of lunch as something school should provide. Now apparently laundry is the next big innovation.

Original Submission

An Anonymous Coward writes:

Based on the small percent of polio infections that result in paralytic disease, the estimated number of people infected with poliovirus in the region would be between 200-2000.

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/08/polio-reappears-nigeria-triggering-massive-response
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poliomyelitis#Signs_and_symptoms

Original Submission

cafebabe writes:

This review contains spoilers.

I thought I'd got a remaindered, 1000 page, hardback book, from a prominent author, at an absolute bargain price because the publisher made a typo on the cover. Unfortunately, that typo is deliberate. It was made by one of the characters in the book and gets propagated widely in malware.

I read this book to the end so that I could provide a fair review for SoylentNews but I really wish that I hadn't. At around the 75% mark, I wanted to abandon the book. Around the 95% mark, I was more interested in my bookmark than the book itself. The problem is that the book is too detailed and yet not detailed enough. The plot flips from a semi-autobiographical character to a dodgy Scottish accountant for the Russian Mafia to a needlessly exotic Black, Welsh, lesser-known contemporary of Osama bin Laden. Internal motive is rarely explained and therefore Welsh's Islamic subjugation of another needlessly exotic character makes her seem like a really irritating Mary Sue when it should have been a highly researched study of cultural belief.

Until reading What ISIS Really Wants, I thought the book would have benefited highly from Mary Sue being killed in the first half. Either way, it may be beneficial to read this book while referring to an atlas. It certainly seems to be written that way.

[More...]

"exec" writes:

Cisco Systems, the largest networking equipment company in the world, will lay off 14,000 of its over 73,000 employees, according to a new report by CRN. The company is expected to announce the news in the coming weeks and has reportedly already starting offering many employees early retirement packages.

http://gizmo.do/oPt0LQG

-- submitted from IRC

Other Links:
Reuters
Zdnet
Fortune

Original Submission

Two users have submitted stories about Microsoft's intended change to how it provides updates and patches in the future.:

Running Windows 7 or 8? From October, Monthly Patches Are All-or-Nothing

-- OriginalOwner_ writes:

El Reg reports

As of October, users of Windows 7, Windows 8, and various server products can [say farewell to] a Patch Tuesday of downloading multiple files: Microsoft is implementing the monthly patch rollup it promised in May.

At the same time, however, Redmond has decided to kill off individual security patches, something that might not please sysadmins. Instead, a monthly security-only rollup will collect "all of the security patches for that month into a single update".

[...] Instead of individual patches for each platform, for Windows 7.1 SP1, Windows 8, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, and Windows Server 2012 R2, there'll be a single set of updates.

The monthly rollups will include security patches and bug fixes, and each month's update will include the previous month's. That will reduce the chance that an update fails because it's got a dependency on a prior update (which, as Microsoft's Nathan Mercer writes in the announcement, can often mean hunting for a file that's hard to find).

[...] Servicing Stack and Adobe Flash won't be included in the rollups.

[Continues...]

takyon writes:

China has launched a satellite that will beam entangled photons to base stations on Earth:

China has successfully launched the world's first quantum-enabled satellite, state media said. It was carried on a rocket which blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in China's north west early on Tuesday. The satellite is named after the ancient Chinese scientist and philosopher Micius. The project tests a technology that could one day offer digital communication that is "hack-proof". But even if it succeeds, it is a long way off that goal, and there is some mind-bending physics to get past first.

The satellite will create pairs of so-called entangled photons - tiny sub-atomic particles of light whose properties are dependent on each other - beaming one half of each pair down to base stations in China and Austria. This special kind of laser has several curious properties, one of which is known as "the observer effect" - its quantum state cannot be observed without changing it. So, if the satellite were to encode an encryption key in that quantum state, any interception would be obvious. It would also change the key, making it useless.

Original Submission

So, during the last site update article, a discussion came up talking about how those who work and write for this site should get paid for said work. I've always wanted to get us to the point where we could cut a check to the contributors of SoylentNews, but as it stands, subscriptions more or less let us keep the lights on and that's about it.

As I was writing and responding to one specific thread, part of me started to wonder if there would be enough interest to try and crowdfund articles on specific topics. In general, meta articles in which we talk deploying HSTS or our use of Hesiod tend to generate a lot of interest. So, I wanted to try and see if there was an opportunity to both generate interesting content, and help get some funds back to those who donate their time to keep the lights on.

One idea that immediately comes to mind that I could write is deploying DNSSEC in the real world, and an active example of how it can help mitigate hijack attacks against misconfigured domains. Alternatively, on a retro-computing angle, I could cook something in 16-bit real mode assembly that can load an article from soylentnews.org. I could also do a series on doing (mostly) bare metal work; i.e., loading an article from PXE boot or UEFI.

However, before I get in too deep into building this idea, I want to see how the community feels about it. My initial thought is that the funds raised for a given article would dictate how long it would be, and the revenue would be split between the author, and the staff, with the staff section being divided at the end of the year as even as possible. The program would be open to any SN contributor. If the community is both interested and willing, I'll organize a staff meeting and we'll do a trial run to see if the idea is viable. If it flies, then we'll build out the system to be a semi-regular feature of the site

As always, leave your comments below, and we'll all be reading ...

~ NCommander

takyon writes:

Researchers have performed brain scans on Sting (aka Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner CBE) in order to "make maps of how Sting's brain organizes music":

What does the 1960s Beatles hit "Girl" have in common with Astor Piazzolla's evocative tango composition "Libertango"? Probably not much, to the casual listener. But in the mind of one famously eclectic singer-songwriter, the two songs are highly similar. That's one of the surprising findings of an unusual neuroscience study based on brain scans of the musician Sting.

The paper, published in the journal Neurocase, uses recently developed imaging-analysis techniques to provide a window into the mind of a masterful musician. It also represents an approach that could offer insights into how gifted individuals find connections between seemingly disparate thoughts or sounds, in fields ranging from arts to politics or science.

"These state-of the-art techniques really allowed us to make maps of how Sting's brain organizes music," says lead author Daniel Levitin, a cognitive psychologist at McGill University. "That's important because at the heart of great musicianship is the ability to manipulate in one's mind rich representations of the desired soundscape."

[...] This research was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

The real trick involves imprinting Sting's brain patterns on a computer used to conquer Earth. Next on the list... Taylor Swift, Kanye West, and Kim Kardashian.

Measuring the representational space of music with fMRI: a case study with Sting (DOI: 10.1080/13554794.2016.1216572)

Original Submission

butthurt writes:

A University of California Irvine press release promotes research into the decay of an isomer of the short-lived radioisotope beryllium-8.

Noting that

physicists propose "a 17 MeV protophobic gauge boson" (for comparison, an electron's mass is 0.51 MeV) to explain the observations, saying that the particle's existence could also account for a "discrepancy in the muon anomalous magnetic moment." The force conveyed by the particle is believed to only affect electrons and neutrons, and only at short distances.

further information:

• Evidence for a Protophobic Fifth Force from ⁸Be Nuclear Transitions (PDF)
• Particle Physics Models for the 17 MeV Anomaly in Beryllium Nuclear Decay (PDF)

Original Submission

JNCF writes:

Nikkei Asian Review reports that SpaceX is establishing a business relationship with Japanese material manufacturer Toray Industries. They're supposedly working on a $1.99 billion to $2.98 billion USD deal in which Toray will supply SpaceX with sheets of carbon fiber.

In Ars Technica's regurgitation of this story, one delicious chunk of information is brought to the surface (albeit coated in the putrid vile of a misused "irony"):

One angle the Nekkei Asian Review article touches on is that per-rocket cost should matter less now that SpaceX is successfully landing rockets.

Another angle mentioned is SpaceX's ambitions for Mars.

Do Soylentils think that this move towards carbon fiber has more to do with reusable rocket advances, or the requirements of Mars missions? Are those issues even separable? What other angles should we be discussing?

Original Submission

jdavidb writes:

Since its cancellation in 2003, science fiction television series Firefly has achieved a powerful cult status. Interest from the show's loyal fanbase has helped launch a feature film and comic books as means of continuing the series. Fans express continued interest in a series revival, although 13 years out that looks increasingly unlikely.

Animator Stephen Byrne offers a glimpse of what could be: a short teaser trailer for an animated Firefly . There's no dialogue, but all the characters are there doing many of the things you would expect and hope for. Could this lead to an animated Firefly revival? Or is it too late?

Personally, I'd be more likely to shell out for yet another exclusive streaming service for this than for the new Star Trek series...

Original Submission

martyb writes in with a story from Ars Technica — Wrong Chemical Dumped Into Olympic Pools Made Them Green, Smelly—and Unsafe | Ars Technica

After a week of trying to part with green tides in two outdoor swimming pools, Olympic officials over the weekend wrung out a fresh mea culpa and yet another explanation—neither of which were comforting.

According to officials, a local pool-maintenance worker mistakenly added 160 liters of hydrogen peroxide to the waters on August 5, which partially neutralized the chlorine used for disinfection. With chlorine disarmed, the officials said that "organic compounds"—i.e. algae and other microbes—were able to grow and turn the water a murky green in the subsequent days. The revelation appears to contradict officials' previous assurances that despite the emerald hue, which first appeared Tuesday, the waters were safe.

"Of course it's an embarrassment," Gustavo Nascimento, director of venue management for the Rio Olympics, told The New York Times . "We are hosting the Olympic Games, and athletes are here, so water is going to be an issue. We should have been better in fixing it quickly. We learned painful lessons the hard way."

Hydrogen peroxide is sometimes used in pools—often to de-chlorinate them. Basically, the chemical, a common household disinfectant, is a weak acid that reacts with chlorine and chlorine-containing compounds to release oxygen and form other chlorine-containing compounds. Those may not be good at disinfecting pools, but they still may be picked up by monitoring systems.

On Saturday, officials started draining and refilling one of the affected pools—the one used for synchronized swimming, a sport that requires underwater visibility. The 3,725,000-liter pool was refilled with water from a clean practice pool nearby. The diving pool, the first to turn green, is being filtered and treated to clean the waters.

By the end of last week, athletes and media reported that the waters had begun to irritate eyes and smell like farts.

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

In radio terms, the use of an helical antenna is well understood and it works well. A completely different - and apparently unrelated - problem is how to measure the viscosity of blood which is complicated by the need to make the measurement in the main arteries and veins, and also in the much smaller capillaries. In these 2 cases the science behind the viscosity is completely different.

This story is about someone who had a bright idea about how to solve this problem:

The basic idea behind the new work is to measure the viscosity of the fluid between the blood cells, which requires a probe that is much smaller than the cells themselves. Enter plasmonic antennas. Plasmonic antennas are little dollops of metal, somewhere between 20 and 200nm (10^-19m) in size. These metallic blobs respond fiercely to light.

This response depends on them being metal. The reason a metal is reflective is that its electrons are free to move around in response to light. When a light field hits the metal, the electrons re-radiate its electric field by jiggling up and down in response. Normally, this behavior is averaged out over any substantial hunk of metal.

If the metal is just a tiny blob, then the electrons are restricted in their motion: they pile up at one end of the blob and slosh back to the other. In doing so, they create an enormous electric field, so they radiate lots of light in every direction. As a result, little gold particles scatter huge amounts of light.

[Continues...]

slinches writes:

Elio Motors has locked in the base price of $7300 for non-refundable reservation holders for their 84mpg 3-wheel "autocycle". Reservations can be made for as little as $100 or as much as $1000 with higher values getting priority delivery when they go into production. The price is above the $6800 target that had been quoted for the last few years, but those who are willing to make a binding commitment to purchase a vehicle can sign an additional online form to knock their price back down to $7000. The locked-in prices will be available until they reach a total of 65,000 reservations (~57,000 have been made to date).

The startup car company is attempting to disrupt the auto industry by producing an efficient, affordable vehicle similar to what VW did with the $1699 Beetle in 1968, but at an even more affordable price (the Beetle cost $11,768 in 2016 dollars)

The vehicle itself, while technically a motorcycle under federal law, is controlled like a car with a steering wheel and pedals. Most states have enacted legislation exempting such vehicles from the extra license endorsements or helmet requirements that motorcycles and trikes normally need. Standard features of the base model include an enclosed cabin with A/C, heat, cruise control and power windows & door lock.

Original Submission