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takyon writes:

140nm node carbon nanotube array field-effect transistors have outperformed 90nm node silicon MOSFETs in a test:

Now, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison) have given SWCNTs (Single-Walled Carbon NanoTubes) a new boost in their resurgence by using them to make a transistor that outperforms state-of-the-art silicon transistors.

[...] In research described in the journal Science Advances [open, DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1601240] [DX], the UW-Madison researchers were able to achieve a current that is 1.9 times as fast as that seen in silicon transistors. The measure of how rapidly the current that can travel through the channel between a transistor's source and drain determines how fast the circuit is. The more current there is, the more quickly the gate of the next device in the circuit can be charged.

The key to getting the nanotubes to create such a fast transistor was a new process that employs polymers to sort between the metallic and semiconducting SWCNTs to create an ultra-high purity of solution. "We've identified specific conditions in which you can get rid of nearly all metallic nanotubes, [leaving] less than 0.01 percent metallic nanotubes [in a sample]," said Arnold.

The researchers had already tackled the problem of aligning and placing the nanotubes on a wafer two years ago when they developed a process they dubbed "floating evaporative self-assembly." That technique uses a hydrophobic substrate and partially submerges it in water. Then the SWCNTs are deposited on its surface and the substrate removed vertically from the water.

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frojack writes:

NPR's "The Salt" column carries the grusome (but interesting) story of a medical mystery:

When researchers made their way to the highlands of Papua New Guinea in the 1950s, they found something disturbing. Among a tribe of about 11,000 people called the Fore, up to 200 people a year had been dying of an inexplicable illness. They called the disease kuru, which means "shivering" or "trembling."

Once symptoms set in, it was a swift demise. First, they'd have trouble walking, a sign that they were about to lose control over their limbs. They'd also lose control over their emotions, which is why people called it the "laughing death." Within a year, they couldn't get up off the floor, feed themselves or control their bodily functions.

Shirley Lindenbaum, a medical anthropologist with the City University of New York, who continues to write about the epidemic, knew it couldn't be genetic, because it affected women and children in the same social groups, but not in the same genetic groups. She also knew that it had started in villages in the north around the turn of the century, and then moved south over the decades.
...
Lindenbaum had a hunch about what was going on: In many villages, when a person died, they would be cooked and consumed. It was an act of love and grief. ... Women removed the brain, mixed it with ferns, and cooked it in tubes of bamboo. They fire-roasted and ate everything except the gall bladder. It was primarily adult women who did so, says Lindenbaum, because their bodies were thought to be capable of housing and taming the dangerous spirit that would accompany a dead body.

Finally, after urging from researchers like Lindenbaum, biologists came around to the idea that the strange disease stemmed from eating dead people.

The story goes on to explain that the disease wasn't spread by a virus or a bacterium, fungus, or parasite. It could survive being boiled into soup, and had no DNA. It was a totally new infectious agent.

It was a twisted protein called "prions," or "proteinaceous infectious particles", that could cause normal proteins in nerve cells to twist just like them, and slowly over long periods of time kill areas of nerve cells in the brain.

The story goes on to cover the similarity to Mad Cow Disease, a species jumping disease also caused by prions, and Chronic Wasting Disease that is affecting mule deer, white-tailed deer, elk, and moose in 21 states.

The CDC is working with public health authorities in Wyoming and Colorado to monitor hunters for signs of prion disease.

If the Zika doesn't get us, the Kuru probably will.

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takyon writes:

Intel is acquiring computer vision startup Movidius for an undisclosed sum in order to bolster its RealSense gesture-sensing platform:

Today, [Intel] announced that it is acquiring the computer vision startup behind Google's Project Tango 3D-sensor tech, Movidius.

In a blog post, Movidius CEO Remi El-Ouazzane announced that his startup will continue in its goal of giving "the power of sight to machines" as it works with Intel's RealSense technology. Movidius has seen a great deal of interest in its radically low-powered computer vision chipset, signing deals with major device makers, including Google, Lenovo and DJI.

[...] "We're on the cusp of big breakthroughs in artificial intelligence," wrote El-Ouazzane. "In the years ahead, we'll see new types of autonomous machines with more advanced capabilities as we make progress on one of the most difficult challenges of AI: getting our devices not just to see, but also to think."

The company's Myriad 2 family of Vision Processor Units are being used at Lenovo to build the company's next generation of virtual reality products while Google struck a deal with the company to deploy its neural computation engine on the platform to push the machine learning power of mobile devices.

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takyon writes:

Jeff Williams, Alexey Ovchinin, Oleg Skripochka have returned to Earth from the International Space Station:

Less than a week after winding up a successful spacewalk, outgoing space station commander Jeff Williams, America's most experienced astronaut, joined two Russian cosmonauts for a fiery return to Earth Tuesday, closing out a 172-day mission with an on-target landing in Kazakhstan.

[...] The four-minute 41-second burn slowed the ship by 286 mph, just enough to drop the far side of the orbit deep into Earth's atmosphere. After a 25-minute free fall to just above the top of the discernible atmosphere, the three modules making up the Soyuz TMA-20M spacecraft separated. A few moments after that, the central crew cabin, the only module protected by a heat shield, slammed into the atmosphere at an altitude of 62 miles and a velocity of some 17,000 mph. Using atmospheric friction to slow down, the descent module's main parachute deployed at an altitude of a little less than seven miles and the spacecraft settled to the steppe of Kazakhstan.

[...] For Williams, the end of the mission marked a personal milestone. On Aug. 20, he surpassed the U.S. record for most cumulative time in space -- 520 days -- that was set earlier this year by astronaut Scott Kelly at the end of his nearly yearlong mission. With landing Tuesday, Williams' mark will stand at 534 days aloft over four missions, moving him up to 14th on the list of most experienced spacemen. The overall record is held by Gennady Padalka, who has logged 878 days in space over five missions.

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An Anonymous Coward writes:

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SUPREME_COURT_SEX_TRAFFICKING

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Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

FRANKFURT -- The gleaming white Porsche with menacing black trim took less than 8 minutes to complete the Nurburgring's demanding Nordschleife circuit. The result was respectable but not spectacular for a 600-hp beast that sprints from 0 to 62 mph in a little more than 3 seconds.

Unlike the Panamera production car, which can easily beat its lap time, the Mission E concept doesn't have camshafts, pistons or valves to mix air and fuel in a combustion chamber or a spark plug to ignite it. It runs on a current of pure electrons supplied by a lithium ion battery, and it can almost fully recharge itself within 15 minutes.

The Tesla Model S doesn't come anywhere close to those specs -- which is the point.

Porsche's 1 billion euro ($1.12 billion) gamble to lure Tesla owners from their beloved electric car is just one example of how much premium European automakers are investing to try and match their Silicon Valley-based rival. Tesla's zero-emissions sports sedan has made Europe's finest automakers look woefully behind the times in an area they typically dominate: technology. The question is whether established brands can win back the hearts and minds of car buyers seeking the next big thing.

Germany's best known sports car maker promises its Mission E, which was teased at last year's Frankfurt auto show, will be "an electric Porsche that deserves the name." That means it will be consistently fast over an extended period with no loss of performance despite repeated accelerating and braking. It is supposed to be the first zero-emissions car worthy of being taken to the racetrack.

Porsche, however, will need years before it can mass produce and sell its electric sports car at a decent profit. Meanwhile, Tesla will continue to deliver tens of thousands of its vaunted sedans and SUVs every year to wealthy progressives around the world, most likely at a loss. "I wish we had put that car on the road and not Tesla," confided a senior engineer at Porsche, not a brand typically prone to technological envy. "We have to earn money at the end of the day though."

[...] Moreover, reputational problems may catch up to it. Allegations have been leveled that Tesla tried to hide suspension flaws in the Model S from the public by forcing customers to sign nondisclosure agreements. More recently, a fatal accident has put its Autopilot in a negative spotlight. Also, when the Model 3 eventually debuts, Tesla will target more demanding consumers, who are not likely to be as forgiving when it comes to the inherent trade-offs of an electric car.

A senior automotive executive at Bosch is convinced that sooner or later Musk will not be able to maintain this startup style showmanship over substance: "At some point as they grow customers won't accept this and Tesla will have to adopt a zero-tolerance approach."

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takyon writes:

The "real life Nessie" is finally being examined:

Half a century after it was first discovered, the fossil of an ancient Scottish ichthyosaur – a creature that ruled the seas some 170 million years ago – is finally being studied. On Monday, the specimen dubbed the Storr Lochs Monster was unveiled to the public by National Museums Scotland, but only after sitting on a shelf for 50 years waiting for her day in the spotlight. [...] Researchers have been well aware of her existence since she was discovered by the lone power station worker for the Isle of Skye in 1966, and her bones have been lovingly preserved and cared for. Researchers just didn't have the means to study her – until now. [...] It took half a century for the right confluence of circumstances – new techniques for extracting tricky fossils and a critical mass of interested researchers, Brusatte included – to free the Storr Lochs Monster from her rocky tomb.

[...] "There's a good chance it's a new species just because it's from a part of the world and a place in time where very few fossils are known," he explained. Very few fossils have been hunted down and studied in Scotland, and in the rest of the world fossils from the Middle Jurassic Period, when this creature lived, are exceedingly rare.

Also at Phys.org (AFP) and National Geographic.

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takyon writes:

General Electric is thirsty for "complementary additive technology modalities":

GE, the US industrial jack-of-all-trades, has pledged to invest a whopping $1.4bn in two 3D printing suppliers to boost materials science and improve manufacturing capabilities. Arcam AB and SLM Solutions Group both specialise in metal-based 3D printing with applications ranging from aerospace to the healthcare industry. Both companies are part of GE's wider efforts to expand production and improve existing work on powder metals through the use of 3D printing.

Since 2010, GE has invested $1.5bn in 3D printing, leading to better manufacturing processes and 346 patents in the powdered metals field. [...] 3D printed components are reportedly lighter and more durable than traditionally manufactured parts as because they need less welding and produce less waste material.

Also at Reuters and Bloomberg.

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n1 writes:

Bloomberg reports:

Elon Musk sent an e-mail to employees at Tesla Motors Inc. urging them to cut costs and deliver "every car we possibly can" in a push to show positive cash flow in the third quarter.

The chief executive officer of the electric-car company said it would be his last chance to show improved financial numbers before he tries to raise more money. The third quarter is crucial to Tesla's future because the company is trying to acquire SolarCity Corp. and preparing to roll out the Model 3, its lower-priced sedan, late next year.

[...] The e-mail says that Tesla is "on the razor's edge of achieving a good Q3, but it requires building and delivering every car we possibly can, while simultaneously trimming any cost that isn't critical, at least for the next 4.5 weeks."

Tesla delivered 50,568 vehicles in 2015 and has said it will deliver about 80,000 this year. It missed its first two quarterly sales targets and has not given guidance for the third quarter, but has said it will deliver 50,000 cars in the second half of the year.

"I thought it was important to write you a note directly to let you know how critical this quarter is," Musk wrote. "The third quarter will be our last chance to show investors that Tesla can be at least slightly positive cash flow and profitable before the Model 3 reaches full production."

[...] Tesla burned through $611 million in cash in the first half of this year and $2.2 billion last year, according to Bloomberg data. The company also lost $568 million on an adjusted bases in the first half of this year and lost $889 million last year.

[Continues...]

An Anonymous Coward writes:

https://www.nber.org/digest/sep16/w22360.html

One more way in which Big Data is used against Little Guys.

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An Anonymous Coward writes:

Including pandas living in captivity, the total population is approximately 2500.

http://www.livescience.com/55991-giant-pandas-no-longer-endangered.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_panda

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n1 writes:

Today, ITT Educational Services, Inc. (ITT) announced that it is closing all of its ITT Technical Institute campuses. For most of the world, that news will be covered as a business story or a political one, but I know that for you it is deeply personal. You are probably wondering what this means for your future; how it is going to affect your finances and your ability to continue your education.

In recent years, ITT has increasingly been the subject of numerous state and federal investigations. In August, ITT's accreditor, the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) determined that ITT "is not in compliance, and is unlikely to become in compliance with [ACICS] Accreditation Criteria." This came amid increasingly heightened financial oversight measures put in place by the Department over the past two years due to significant concerns about ITT's administrative capacity, organizational integrity, financial viability, and ability to serve students.

[...] Whatever you choose to do, do not give up on your education. Higher education remains the clearest path to economic opportunity and security. Restarting or continuing your education at a high-quality, reputable institution may feel like a setback today, but odds are it will pay off in the long run. There are people and tools – like our College Scorecard – out there to help you pick a program that gives you a real shot at success.

I am proud of your hard work and dedication, and we will do all we can to continue to provide information to you on your options.

Sincerely,

John B. King Jr., U.S. Secretary of Education

Source: Department of Education

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takyon writes:

Two judges on the panel that awards the Nobel prize for medicine have been asked to resign:

Two judges have been asked to leave a panel that picks the Nobel prize for medicine in a scandal surrounding a disgraced Italian transplant surgeon. The decision to drop Harriet Wallberg and Anders Hamsten came after the Swedish government sacked the entire board of the prestigious Karolinska Institute, where the scientist worked.

Paolo Macchiarini was seen as a leading specialist on windpipe transplants. But two of his patients died and he was accused of falsifying his work record. Dr Macchiarini denies all the charges against him.

The two judges who lost their positions on the Nobel panel have both served as heads of the Karolinska Institute, and were among several individuals suspected of ignoring warnings about the Italian windpipe scientist.

Also at Reuters.

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MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for Runaway1956

Paul Krugman did something that he made clear he regarded as quite brave: He defended the Democratic Party presidential nominee and likely next U.S. president from journalistic investigations. Complaining about media bias, Krugman claimed that journalists are driven by “the presumption that anything Hillary Clinton does must be corrupt, most spectacularly illustrated by the increasingly bizarre coverage of the Clinton Foundation.” While generously acknowledging that it was legitimate to take a look at the billions of dollars raised by the Clintons as she pursued increasing levels of political power — vast sums often received from the very parties most vested in her decisions as a public official — it is now “very clear,” he proclaimed, that there was absolutely nothing improper about any of what she or her husband did.

Krugman’s column, chiding the media for its unfairly negative coverage of his beloved candidate, was, predictably, a big hit among Democrats — not just because of their agreement with its content but because of what they regarded as the remarkable courage required to publicly defend someone as marginalized and besieged as the former First Lady, two-term New York Senator, Secretary of State, and current establishment-backed multi-millionaire presidential front-runner. Krugman — in a tweet-proclamation that has now been re-tweeted more than 10,000 times — heralded himself this way: “I was reluctant to write today’s column because I knew journos would hate it. But it felt like a moral duty.”

[...] The reality is that large, pro-Clinton liberal media platforms — such as Vox, and The Huffington Post, and prime-time MSNBC programs, and the columnists and editorialists of The New York Times and The Washington Post, and most major New-York-based weekly magazines — have been openly campaigning for Hillary Clinton. I don’t personally see anything wrong with that — I’m glad when journalists shed their faux-objectivity; I believe the danger of Trump’s candidacy warrants that; and I hope this candor continues past the November election — but the everyone-is-against-us self-pity from Clinton partisans is just a joke. They are the dominant voices in elite media discourse, and it’s a big reason why Clinton is highly likely to win.

That’s all the more reason why journalists should be subjecting Clinton’s financial relationships, associations, and secret communications to as much scrutiny as Donald Trump’s. That certainly does not mean that journalists should treat their various sins and transgressions as equivalent: nothing in the campaign compares to Trump’s deport-11-million-people or ban-all-Muslim policies, or his attacks on a judge for his Mexican ethnicity, etc. But this emerging narrative that Clinton should not only enjoy the support of a virtually united elite class but also a scrutiny-free march into the White House is itself quite dangerous. Clinton partisans in the media — including those who regard themselves as journalists — will continue to reflexively attack all reporting that reflects negatively on her, but that reporting should nonetheless continue with unrestrained aggression.

Source: The Intercept

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ghost writes:

Douglas Crockford (JSON, JSLint, JSMin, Javascript: The Good Parts) is a founding father of modern Javascript. He is a frequent speaker on the Javascript circuit and, until recently, was the scheduled as the keynote speaker for the Nodevember Conference. For reasons no one can explain, he was removed from the conference schedule to help foster inclusivity. No one (including Crockford) knows why he was banned. Internet commenters have speculated it may have been due to a talk titled "Monads and Gonads" or slut shaming the "promiscuous" web or a his use of the gender (and species) exclusive phrase "hanging out there like a pair of dog balls". Others believe it's because he's a curmudgeon (aka grumpy old white cis heterosexual man). One of the Nodevember organizers (not involved with the decision to ban Crockford) has stepped down.

This is not the first time Crockford has experienced censorship -- he previously ported Maniac Mansion to the NES.

Original Submission