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takyon writes:

AMD unexpectedly (page 4) released details about its upcoming Zen CPU microarchitecture:

AMD hosted an offsite invitation-only briefing during IDF to unveil the company's new Zen processor core microarchitecture, which will initially come to market in its Summit Ridge desktop CPUs. [...] AMD's original goal was to increase Zen's IPC (Instructions Per Cycle) performance by 40 percent compared to the previous-generation Excavator core. According to the company, it achieved its goals. AMD also noted that the company focused on providing power efficiency gains in tandem with the performance improvements, which is the key attribute that will allow the Zen cores to scale to address a broad swath of market segments. The Summit Ridge processors on display featured 8 cores and 16 threads.

[...] Zen uses the same 14nm GlobalFoundries FinFET process that it employs on its Polaris GPUs. The process provides a nice improvement over the 28nm process used with the Excavator and Steamroller microarchitectures. Zen CPUs will drop into the AM4 chipset that debuted with the Bristol and Stony Ridge products. The AM4 chipset supports DDR4, PCIe 3.0, Next-Gen I/O, USB 3.1 Gen 2, NVMe and SATA Express. AMD added SMT (Simultaneous Multi-Threading), a new cache hierarchy and increased branch prediction capabilities to the Zen core to attain its ambitious IPC goals.

The company added a micro-op cache, which helps with better instruction predictions, to increase ILP (Instruction Level Parallelism). AMD also added a wider execution width and improved instruction scheduling to boost ILP (and thus IPC). The company claims the optimizations provide 75 percent more scheduling capacity and a 50 percent increase in instruction width over its previous-generation processors.

Zen will be available "in volume" in 2017. Also on display was a 32 core/64 thread "Naples" server CPU.

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takyon writes:

Ford plans to build cars capable of SAE Level Four autonomous driving and have them hit the road as part of a ride-hailing service by 2021:

Building on more than a decade of autonomous vehicle research and development, Ford's first fully autonomous vehicle will be a Society of Automotive Engineers-rated level 4-capable vehicle without a steering wheel or gas and brake pedals. It is being specifically designed for commercial mobility services, such as ride sharing and ride hailing, and will be available in high volumes. [...] This year, Ford will triple its autonomous vehicle test fleet to be the largest test fleet of any automaker – bringing the number to about 30 self-driving Fusion Hybrid sedans on the roads in California, Arizona and Michigan, with plans to triple it again next year.

Ford was the first automaker to begin testing its vehicles at Mcity, University of Michigan's simulated urban environment, the first automaker to publicly demonstrate autonomous vehicle operation in the snow and the first automaker to test its autonomous research vehicles at night, in complete darkness, as part of LiDAR sensor development.

Ford also announced investments/partnerships with Velodyne, SAIPS, Nirenberg Neuroscience LLC, and Civil Maps, as well as an expansion of its Silicon Valley presence with a new campus in Palo Alto.

Reported at BBC, NPR, CNBC, and Bloomberg, which notes that the company is skipping driver-assist steps.

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-- OriginalOwner_ writes:

TechDirt reports

Earlier this year, we discussed how UC Davis detailed in a report that it spent $175k with a reputation management firm to try bury the 2011 pepper-spraying incident that has become so infamous, as well as to bolster the positive reputation and search results of its former Chancellor, Linda Katehi.

[...] A new report has been issued that makes it clear that the $175k with the one reputation management vendor was just the tip of the iceberg, and that Katehi's obsession with her own online reputation was far more serious than anyone had known. Indeed, her attempts to meddle in her own online search results started long before the 2011 pepper-spraying incident.

[...] While the initial reporting indicated a single vendor had been paid $175k on Katehi's request to try to control messaging about the school and herself through a barrage of good, but trumped up, press, UC Davis actually hired three different reputation management firms to do this, all to the tune of over $400k. And she appears to have been more concerned with her own reputation than that of the school she was to be stewarding.

[...] It goes without saying that as we, the link above, and several other online media outlets are discussing these revelations, and placing them alongside the original 2011 incident for context, the work of the three vendors and the nearly half a million dollars paid to them has failed.

Previous: UC Davis Chancellor Suspended After $175,000 Online Name-Scrubbing Antics
University of California in Davis Spent $175k on SEO and "Reputation Management"

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Sysadmins are making mistakes configuring and managing DNSSec, and it's leaving systems that should be secure open to exploitation in DNS reflection attacks.

That's the conclusion of Neustar, in a study released here and which found that of more than 1,300 DNSSec-protected domains tested 80 per cent could be used in an attack.

The domains in question had DNSSec deployed, and also responded to the DNS “ANY” query. The ANY request asks the responder to provide all information about a domain – the MX (mail server) records, IP addresses, and so on. An ANY request therefore returns a lot more information than a simple request for the domain's IP address.

[...] Neustar reckons on average, the poorly-configured DNSSec servers could amplify an attacker's traffic by 28.9 times; they turned an 80 byte query into a 2,313 response; and the biggest response they received from one of the protected servers was 17,377 bytes, 217 times the size of the query.

Unfortunately, all of this isn't a bug, it's a feature: even with DNSSec, the purpose of the system is to answer queries – so it's not a matter of applying a patch; it's about taking care of systems.

Original Submission

jdavidb writes:

Motherboard reports on a strange Bitcoin "lottery" that is now claimed to be a marriage proposal.

Strange event #1: someone claiming to be the anonymous hacker who stole 119,000 Bitcoins from the Bitfinex Bitcoin exchange announced a "lottery" to win 1000 Bitcoins on Reddit, garnering over 7000 responses on the thread from people posting their Bitcoin addresses on the chance that this was somehow legit.

Strange event #2: the Reddit poster actually sent 1000 Bitcoins to the address of one of the users in the thread. Almost immediately the money was sent from that destination to yet another address, one with a public note attached that says "Please send me some money. I'm very poor."

Strange event #3: the poster on Reddit who received the money emerged, admitted to knowing the original poster (not surprising), and revealed that somehow this entire event is some sort of wedding proposal to her (very surprising).

I'm not sure what to think of this. If it's a scam I'm not quite sure who got ripped off.

Previous Coverage: Bitcoin Exchange Bitfinex has been hacked. 119,756 BTC Stolen

Original Submission

butthurt writes:

CBS News reports that Univision has won the auction for Gawker Media. Univision bid $135 million for the company. The only other bidder was Ziff Davis. The sale must be approved by a bankruptcy court.

From the article:

Spanish-language broadcaster Univision won an auction Tuesday for Gawker Media, which was put on the block in the aftermath of a $140 million judgment against it in the Hulk Hogan invasion-of-privacy case.

Univision is paying $135 million for the online gossip and news publisher, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because the deal had not been formally announced.

In a statement Tuesday evening however, Gawker's founder confirmed they agreed to sell their business and brand to Univision.

Expanding from its Spanish-language base, Univision has been investing in media properties aimed at young people, including taking a stake in satirical website The Onion in January. In April, it said it was taking full control of Fusion, a TV channel and website aimed at English-speaking young people it had launched with ABC in 2013.

Univision outbid Ziff Davis, the owner of tech and gaming sites, in the auction for Gawker Media. They were the only two bidders, according to a person familiar with the bankruptcy auction. A judge must still approve the sale at a hearing Thursday.

previously:
Hulk Hogan Awarded $115 Million in Privacy Suit Against Gawker Media
Hulk Hogan's Sex Tape and a Tech Billionaire's Revenge on Gawker
Gawker Files for Chapter 11; Won't Pay Hulk Hogan and Peter Thiel

Original Submission

butthurt writes:

Al Jazeera and Fox News (Tor-friendly archived copy) report that fifteen captives have been released from the Guantánamo Bay Detention Camp in Cuba. The prisoners, who were captured in Afghanistan and Yemen, are being transferred to the United Arab Emirates for settlement.

There remain 61 prisoners at the camp, of whom at least 19 have been cleared for release.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-08/mu-mr081616.php

Researchers at McMaster University have [developed] a new way to purify carbon nanotubes - the smaller, nimbler semiconductors that are expected to replace silicon within computer chips and a wide array of electronics. "Once we have a reliable source of pure nanotubes that are not very expensive, a lot can happen very quickly," says Alex Adronov, a professor of Chemistry at McMaster whose research team has developed a new and potentially cost-efficient way to purify carbon nanotubes.

[...] While previous researchers had created polymers that could allow semiconducting carbon nanotubes to be dissolved and washed away, leaving metallic nanotubes behind, there was no such process for doing the opposite: dispersing the metallic nanotubes and leaving behind the semiconducting structures. Now, Adronov's research group has managed to reverse the electronic characteristics of a polymer known to disperse semiconducting nanotubes - while leaving the rest of the polymer's structure intact. By so doing, they have reversed the process, leaving the semiconducting nanotubes behind while making it possible to disperse the metallic nanotubes.

Influence of Polymer Electronics on Selective Dispersion of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes (DOI: 10.1002/chem.201603553)

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Astronomers have reportedly discovered an Earth-like exoplanet in the habitable zone of Proxima Centauri, one of the closest stars to our Sun. However, the claim is based on an anonymous source who is said to have leaked the news ahead of an announcement by the European Southern Observatory:

[In] what may prove to be the most exciting find to date, the German weekly Der Spiegel [translation] announced recently that astronomers have discovered an Earth-like planet orbiting Proxima Centauri, just 4.25 light-years away. Yes, in what is an apparent trifecta, this newly-discovered exoplanet is Earth-like, orbits within it's sun's habitable zone, and is within our reach. But is this too good to be true? [...] Citing anonymous sources, the magazine stated:

The still nameless planet is believed to be Earth-like and orbits at a distance to Proxima Centauri that could allow it to have liquid water on its surface — an important requirement for the emergence of life. Never before have scientists discovered a second Earth that is so close by.

In addition, they claim that the discovery was made by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) using the La Silla Observatory's reflecting telescope. Coincidentally, it was this same observatory that announced the discovery of Alpha Centauri Bb back in 2012, which was also declared to be "the closest exoplanet to Earth". Unfortunately, subsequent analysis cast doubt on its existence, claiming it was a spurious artifact of the data analysis.

However, according to Der Spiegel's unnamed source – whom they claim was involved with the La Silla team that made the find – this latest discovery is the real deal, and was the result of intensive work. "Finding small celestial bodies is a lot of hard work," the source was quoted as saying. "We were moving at the technically feasible limit of measurement." The article goes on to state that the European Southern Observatory (ESO) will be announcing the finding at the end of August. But according to numerous sources, in response to a request for comment by AFP, ESO spokesman Richard Hook refused to confirm or deny the discovery of an exoplanet around Proxima Centauri.

[Continues...]

fliptop writes:

In less than two months the U.S. Department of Commerce will hand over control of the Internet to international authorities:

The department will finalize the transition effective Oct. 1, Assistant Secretary Lawrence Strickling wrote on Tuesday, barring what he called "any significant impediment."

The move means the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority, which is responsible for interpreting numerical addresses on the Web to a readable language, will move from U.S. control to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, a multistakeholder body based in Los Angeles that includes countries such as China and Russia.

The move is not without its critics. In a letter to Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker penned last week and signed by Republican senators Ted Cruz of Texas, James Lankford of Oklahoma, and Mike Lee of Utah, they stated:

"The proposal will significantly increase the power of foreign governments over the Internet, expand ICANN's historical core mission by creating a gateway to content regulation, and embolden [its] leadership to act without any real accountability."

[...] "We have uncovered that ICANN's Beijing office is actually located within the same building as the Cyberspace Administration of China, which is the central agency within the Chinese government's censorship regime," the trio wrote, noting that some of the American companies involved with the transition process had already "shown a willingness to acquiesce" to Chinese demands that they assist with blocking content in the country.

Original Submission

has found the following story:

Drones are increasingly becoming a go-to for both hobbyists and the workforce, with racing and aircraft inspection being two prime examples of how this technology is becoming a big thing.

Tokyo's Vantan High School is now ensuring the next generation is abreast of this burgeoning tech by offering a three-year course on drones.

The course offers more than just an understanding of how to pilot a drone, also providing lessons in maintenance, aviation laws and computer programming when the need arises for firmware updates.

Original Submission

butthurt writes:

Interns working at United Launch Alliance have built and launched two suborbital rockets from a site in Colorado, according to a space.com story. Billed as the "largest sport rocket launched in the world," the Future Heavy was 50 feet (15.24 m) in length and was designed to reach an apogee of 10,000 feet (3 km); the Genesis rocket measured 10 feet (3 m). Several payloads were lofted, including "a kindergarten experiment in solar physics."

additional coverage:

• company press release
• KDVR-TV
• Colorado Springs Gazette (has video)
• www.aerospace-technology.com
• Tech Insider
• engineering.com
• SpaceNews

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

NASA has pressed the “Go” button for its Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM).

During July, the project went through “Key Decision Point-B”, and it got the tick from management on August 15, meaning the agency is going to get busy on a “baseline mission design”.

The plan, as we [The Register] reported in March 2015, is to rendezvous with a suitable near-Earth asteroid; chip off a chunk to bring back to Earth; and nudge the asteroid into Lunar orbit.

With the bureaucracy out of the way, the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory says it's going to issue a request for proposals (RFP) for the spacecraft. There will also be an approach to market for third-party payloads on the robotic flight system.

NASA's cost cap for the project has been lifted from US$1.25 billion to $1.4 billion, something the agency says is entirely due to a one-year delay in launch scheduling, with the robotic ARM now slated to fly in December 2021 (a crewed launch is also on the cards for 2026, but that part of the project is in a much earlier stage of planning).

More from NASA here.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

DARPA is seeking to build very low frequency/ultra low frequency transmitters that are also very small:

Wireless transmitters that operate at very or ultra low frequencies (0.3‐30 kHz) typically require some big antenna complexes to handle their communications. Scientists at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) said they are interested looking to eliminate that issue and develop smaller physical structures that could handle new long-distance communication applications.

In a Request for Information, DARPA wrote: "At these frequencies, free‐space electromagnetic (EM) field wavelengths are measured in tens of kilometers, resulting in very large transmitter structures when employing conventional antenna approaches. Electrically‐small antennas are defined as having dimensions much smaller than the EM wavelength, with examples in the literature of antenna‐sizes as small as 1/10th of the EM wavelength. DARPA is seeking innovation to bring that size below 1/10,000 of the EM wavelength or by at least a factor of 10³ smaller than the current state of the art (SOA)."

Such a tremendous reduction in size is impossible to achieve through traditional antenna design so DARPA said it is looking to gather information "in the areas of materials, mechanical actuation, and overall transmitter architectures to address impedance matching, power handling, signal modulation, scalability, and other system level considerations."

The article mentions other wireless research that DARPA is involved in, including the XPRIZE-like Spectrum Collaboration Challenge.

Original Submission

jdavidb writes:

A new study claims that women who use acetaminophen during pregnancy are more likely to have a hyperactive child.

Acetaminophen is also known as paracetamol and by the brand name Tylenol. It is used as a pain reliever and fever reducer and is often bundled into other medications. It has been in the news the last few years because of the risk of overdose and liver damage, and a lot of combination children's medicines that include it have been removed from the market because of the risk that parents may not understand and may overdose the child with the combination medicine and a separate dose of acetaminophen.

the researchers discovered that a mother using acetaminophen at 18 weeks of pregnancy was associated with a greater chance of her child becoming hyperactive or developing conduct problems. At 32 weeks into pregnancy, a mother's use of acetaminophen was linked to higher odds of her child having emotional symptoms, conduct problems and hyperactivity symptoms.

"It is important to note there are no studies demonstrating a causal link between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and adverse effects on child development," said Marc Boston, a spokesman for McNeil Consumer Healthcare, the maker of Tylenol.

Acetaminophen has long been considered safe for use during pregnancy.

Original Submission