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Phoenix666 writes:

Air-filled rubber tires have been around for quite a long while, though the evolution of their design has been relatively slow. But we are now seeing inklings of new innovations such as airless tires (at least for bicycles) making an appearance. They may even be 3D printed someday, as French tire company Michelin is proposing with this biodegradable concept tire that is uses computational design to come up with a sensor-equipped tire that can be modified whenever needed, using on-demand additive manufacturing technology.

Presented in a striking blue hue, Michelin's Vision tire has a spongy "permanent structure" that's produced by computational design tools, giving it an organic look that's quite different from the black rubber tires we are so accustomed to. It's this web-like yet solid structure that allows the tire to function without air, eliminating any possibility of a flat tire. The company says that the tire would be made out of organic and recyclable rubber compounds; for example, using orange zest, hay, paper and metal instead of petroleum and synthetic elastomers.

Michelin is behind this concept, so it's less vaporware than usual.

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Phoenix666 writes:

Confusion over what is a "safe following distance" has QUT [(Queensland University of Technology)] road safety researchers calling for a standardised definition to prevent tailgating.

• Tailgating conclusively linked to rear-end crashes
• Most drivers leave less than a 2 second gap between them and the vehicle in front
• Rear-enders account for one in five Queensland crashes

Dr Sebastien Demmel, from QUT's Centre for Accident Research & Road Safety -- Queensland (CARRS-Q), said the results of the study which found 50 per cent of drivers tailgate, was being presented at the 2017 Australasian Road Safety Conference in Perth today.

"This study, for the first time conclusively linked tailgating with rear-end crashes, but we also identified confusion among drivers over what is deemed to be a safe following distance," he said.

"Despite drivers perceiving they are following at a safe distance, our on-road data showed that in reality most don't leave the recommended two to three second gap," he said.

"At some locations 55 per cent of drivers were found to leave less than a two second gap between them and the vehicle in front, and 44 per cent less than a one second [gap]."

A safe following distance is 5 feet. While looking at a smartphone.

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MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for AndyTheAbsurd

Reports are coming out that at least 6 iPhone 8 Plus batteries grew too big for their britches.

There have been at least six separate reports of iPhone 8 Plus batteries swelling to the point of splitting open their enclosures since the phones first went on sale on Sept. 22.

Stories at MacRumors, The Next Web and 9to5mac as early as last week cited social media postings showing what appeared to be separate incidents in Japan and Taiwan where the phones had split apart because of expanding batteries.

More recently, The Guardian has reported on additional incidents in Greece, Canada and China. Taken together, it adds up to at least six cases exhibiting nearly identical symptoms.

An Apple spokesperson said the company was aware of the reports, and looking into them.

Doesn't seem like it's as bad as Samsung's issues with Note 7 batteries - but the iPhone 8 is still relatively new, so I wouldn't go selling your AAPL stock right away.

Source: https://www.cnet.com/news/iphone-8-plus-battery-swelling/

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cafebabe writes:

For anyone who enjoys Things I Won't Work With, this is similar craziness in a longer form. I laughed outrageously over numerous incidences.

Dr. Clark retired from rocket research in 1970 and his long-suffering wife was an impetus for him publishing an account of his experience and expertise in 1972. The stated purpose of Ignition - An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants was for people to avoid repeating mistakes. Indeed, if the contents were more widely understood, particularly the three references to O-rings and numerous references to temperature, the Challenger disaster could have been avoided. The chapter on energy density should also be read more widely because, in 1970, LiH was used to start rockets rather than make batteries which, predictably, catch fire. Likewise, if the USAF had heeded Dr. Clark's advice against the disclosure of a particular technique, SS-1 "Scud" missiles may have been less effective against US personnel.

The book provides a brief and functional history of rocket chemistry before it expands massively into Dr. Clark's first-hand knowledge. No attempt is made to explain rocket hardware which can be obtained from numerous other sources. Dr. Clark's personal technical contributions conclude the longest chapter and this concludes within the first half of the book. The remainder of the book is a number of advanced topics which progress after the industry checkpointed with the success combination of RFNA and UDMH.

Dr. Clark's remaining experience is mostly in an adminstrative capacity of running a chemistry laboratory or the practicalities of industrial test standardization. His speciality was the two types of explosive test. He generally avoided compounds which exceeded a cellulose card-gap test from 30 to 35. Compounds which exceeded this or other limits often led to hurried telephone calls to other labs. Unfortunately, this was too late for one chemist who was blinded in one eye and lost four fingers in an avoidable incident. Numerous people were killed or hospitalized. Although researchers rapidly shied away from the most dangerous compounds, this often came too late for one or two people:

RFNA attacks skin and flesh with the avidity of a school of piranhas. (One drop of it on my arm gave me a scar which I still bear more than fifteen years later.) And when it is poured, it gives off dense clouds of NO₂, which is a remarkably toxic gas. A man gets a good breath of it, and coughs a few minutes, and then insists that he's all right. And the next day, walking about, he's just as likely as not to drop dead.

takyon writes:

Amazon has made its premium Kindle Oasis e-reader an inch larger and given the device an IPX8 waterproof rating (in this case, immersion in up to 2 meters of fresh water for up to 60 minutes):

Amazon has been selling Kindles for 10 years now, but "waterproof" hasn't appear on its list of incremental technological advancements until now. The company just announced a new version of its popular e-reader that builds on last year's Kindle design and now has an IPX8 waterproof rating.

The new Kindle Oasis — the same name as last year's premium Kindle — has jumped up in size, moving from a 6-inch screen to a 7-inch screen. It has an aluminum back, which gives it a more premium look and feel than the Kindles with soft-touch plastic.

It supports AZW, TXT, PDF, MOBI, and PRC, but lacks EPUB support. Storage starts at 8 GB ($249) but there is a 32 GB option. Amazon has brought back physical buttons for page turning as an alternative to the touchscreen, and comes with an accelerometer to automatically change page orientation.

Still no color e-ink.

What's that book to the right of The Hobbit? Does it support that book?

Also at CNET and TechCrunch.

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takyon writes:

Mark Zuckerberg showed off Facebook's VR platform on Monday with a "tone-deaf" trip to Puerto Rico:

Mark Zuckerberg put on an Oculus Rift this afternoon and used Facebook's new virtual reality platform, Facebook Spaces, to transport himself to Puerto Rico, the Moon, and his house. He broadcast the moment live on Facebook in what turned out to be a rather strange demo of a social platform that doesn't have a clear use yet. In particular, Zuckerberg's choice of locations emphasized just how odd it'll be to watch other people in any sort of serious situation in virtual reality.

Zuckerberg's first stop, along with Facebook social VR chief Rachel Franklin, was to Puerto Rico, where he stood in front of a 360-degree video from NPR documenting the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. He used the opportunity to discuss what Facebook is doing to aid relief — matching donations, sharing data with the Red Cross — but it was all pretty strange to watch for what perhaps should have been an obvious reason: Zuckerberg was represented by a floating cartoon character.

Up next: Puerto Ricans and homeless Californians tour Mark Zuckerberg's home at 1456 Edgewood Dr, Palo Alto, CA 94301.

Also at The Register, The Guardian, and CNET.

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

We are all aware that Antarctica's ice shelves are thinning, but recently scientists have also discovered huge canyons cutting through the underbelly of these shelves, potentially making them even more fragile. Thanks to the CryoSat and Sentinel-1 missions, new light is being shed on this hidden world.

Antarctica is surrounded by ice shelves, which are thick bands of ice that extend from the ice sheet and float on the coastal waters. They play an important role in buttressing the ice sheet on land, effectively slowing the sheet's flow as it creeps seaward.

The ice sheet that covers Antarctica is, by its very nature, dynamic and constantly on the move. Recently, however, there has been a worrying number of reports about its floating shelves thinning and even collapsing, allowing the grounded ice inland to flow faster to the ocean and add to sea-level rise.

While scientists continue to study the changing face of Antarctica, monitor cracks in the surface of the ice that might signal the demise of a shelf and learn how these changes are affecting the biology of coastal waters, they are also aware of dramatic changes taking place below the surface, hidden from view.

A Sword of Damocles hanging over the heads of the Earth's coastal populations?

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Pornhub has begun to use machine learning to automatically tag videos:

Artificial intelligence has proven to be a dab hand at recognizing what's going on in photos and videos, but the datasets it's usually trained on are pretty genteel. Not so for Pornhub, which announced today that it's using machine learning to automatically catalog its videos.

The site is starting small, deploying facial recognition software that will detect 10,000 individual porn stars and tag them in footage. (Usually this information is provided by uploaders and viewers, who will still play a part by verifying the software's choices.) It plans to scan all 5 million of its videos "within the next year," and then move onto more complicated territory: using the software to identify the specific categories videos belong to, like "public" and "blonde."

In a press statement, Pornhub VP Corey Price said the company was joining the trend of firms using AI to "expedite antiquated processes." However, the speed at which PornHub's AI processes the data doesn't seem like it would be an improvement on its current crowdsourced system. While in beta the machine learning software apparently scanned some 50,000 videos in a month. At this rate it would take nearly a decade to scan the entire site, but presumably improvements are being made.

Meanwhile, a security firm has warned that millions of Pornhub users were targeted by "malvertising" for more than a year:

Millions of Pornhub users were targeted with a malvertising attack that sought to trick them into installing malware on their PCs, according to infosec firm Proofpoint.

By the time the attack was uncovered, it had been active "for more than a year", Proofpoint said, having already "exposed millions of potential victims in the US, Canada, the UK, and Australia" to malware by pretending to be software updates to popular browsers.

Although Pornhub, the world's largest pornography site with 26bn yearly visits according to data from ranking firm Alexa, and its advertising network have shut down the infection pathway, the attack is still ongoing on other sites.

Also at TechCrunch, Engadget, and The Sacremento Bee.

Related: BugReplay - Finding How Ads Get Past the Blockers
Linux Use on Pornhub Surged 14% in 2016
Malvertising Campaign Finds a Way Around Ad Blockers
Pornhub's Newest Videos Can Reach Out and Touch You

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An Anonymous Coward writes:

It's not just Saturn and gas giants such as Uranus which have rings in our solar system – as a tiny dwarf planet has just been spotted with its very own.

It's the first dwarf planet beyond Neptune to be spotted with its own ring – and could prove that such rings are not uncommon in the outer solar system.

takyon: Haumea has two known moons as well as this newly discovered ring:

A stellar occultation observed on 21 January 2017 indicated the possibility of a ring system around Haumea. As published in Nature on 11 October 2017, this occultation was confirmed to be a ring, representing the first such ring discovered for a TNO. The ring has a radius of about 2,287 km, a width of ~70 km and an opacity of 0.5. The ring plane coincides with Haumea's equator and the orbit of its larger, outer moon Hi'iaka. The ring is close to the 3:1 resonance with Haumea's rotation.

Haumea is known for its extremely elongated shape, a consequence of its rapid rotation.

The size, shape, density and ring of the dwarf planet Haumea from a stellar occultation (DOI: 10.1038/nature24051) (DX)

Original Submission   Alternate Submission

Phoenix666 and looorg have both written in with stories about 'Star Trek: Discovery':

'Star Trek: Discovery' Producers: Be Patient With Us

Phoenix666 writes:

The Fine Article contains spoilers for those who haven't seen the show:

The lightness and easygoing chemistry among the "Discovery" cast present a stark contrast with the characters of "Discovery." In the first few episodes, the show has turned Burnham into a shunned mutineer, introduced a suspicious skipper in Capt. Gabriel Lorca (Jason Isaacs) and given us an arrogant and snappy scientist in Lt. Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp).
star-trek-discovery-starfleet

It's the darkness of the characters and the background, which is set amid a war with the Klingons, as well as potentially continuity-bending aspects like Burnham being the adoptive daughter of Sarek, Spock's dad, that have some longtime Trekkies nervous.

If you're among those worried about the changes brought on by "Discovery," the producers have some advice for you: Just wait a little bit.

"We are canon," executive producer Alex Kurtzman said in an interview Saturday. "You'll have to be patient with us."

Kurtzman addressed the notion that the show would be grittier, assuring fans that the core themes of Star Trek remain.

Is it Game of Thrones in Space?

Windows into the Future

looorg writes:

So this is a sure sign of the apocalypse. Windows will still be around in 2256 according to Star Trek. Guess we have to wait for that year of the Linux desktop for a few hundred more years.

https://www.theverge.com/tldr/2017/10/3/16412372/star-trek-discovery-cbs-windows-code-command-line

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CoolHand writes:

Newsweek has this article on America's skewed definition of terrorism:

What is terrorism? According to the FBI, animal activists who stole two piglets from a farm were terrorists. As of now, Stephen Paddock, who killed 58 people at a country music concert in Las Vegas two weeks ago, has not been labeled a terrorist by the federal security organization.

In a viral story posted on The Intercept, journalist Glenn Greenwald details an account of federal agents investigating animal activists and scouring farm-animal sanctuaries to find two missing piglets that allegedly had been stolen from a farm. The FBI devoted such resources to finding these two piglets because their alleged theft and the capturing of undercover videos of the farm's conditions count as terrorism.

Why is the piglet theft classified as terrorism, but not the Las Vegas shooting? The distinction is rooted in the definition of the term. In spite of the emotions the word "terrorist" might elicit, the definition is not "mass killer" or "Muslim extremist" or "very bad person." The legal definition of terrorism is "the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property in order to coerce or intimidate a government or the civilian population in furtherance of political or social objectives."

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takyon writes:

Facebook is attempting to make virtual reality a mainstream product, and hopes to reach one billion VR users "one day":

In its continued effort to take virtual reality mainstream, Facebook has announced Oculus Go - a standalone headset that will be released in 2018. Mark Zuckerberg said the device, priced at $199, would be the "most accessible VR experience ever".

Sales of the company's VR hardware have been slow since launching the first Oculus Rift headset in March 2016. "If VR doesn't go mass market at this price point, I think we can conclude that it never will," said John Delaney, an analyst with IDC. Facebook's previous budget VR product, Gear VR, is $129, but requires a high-end Samsung smartphone in order to work. Speaking at Facebook's yearly virtual reality developers conference in San Jose, Mr Zuckerberg acknowledged the slow adoption of the technology to date. But he said his company's goal was that one day, it would get one billion people into VR.

The headset is a standalone device that does not require a smartphone, headphones, or tether to a desktop computer. The high-end Oculus Rift headset has had its price cut to $400 (for good).

Oculus Go is not being sold anytime soon, and the Oculus blog warns that "Oculus Go is not, and may not be, offered for sale or lease, or sold or leased, until [FCC] authorization is obtained". Facebook says that the devices will be sent to developers within the next 12 months. Specs and battery details are also unknown (maybe they need to use one of these for you to feel safe strapping it to your head).

Also at Washington Post and TechCrunch. Oculus Blog.

Previously: Google Partnering With HTC and Lenovo for Standalone VR Headsets
Virtual Reality Audiences Stare Straight Ahead 75% of the Time
Google Bisects VR
Facebook/Oculus Reportedly Working on $200 Standalone VR Headset

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Phoenix666 writes:

The southeast African island of Madagascar is scrambling to contain an outbreak of pneumonic plague that has killed at least 42 people and infected 343 more since August.

[...] Pneumonic, the most lethal form [of plague], has broken out in Madagascar. Highly contagious, it is transmitted from person to person often by coughing. If untreated, it has a fatality rate close to 100 percent and can be fatal within 24 hours of being contracted.

Bubonic plague is spread by fleas or rodents to humans and can spread to a person's lungs. About 10 percent of bubonic plague cases develop to become pneumonic.

The third strain septicaemic, when the infection spreads through the bloodstream. This could happen from flea bites or if the bacteria enters through a cut on a person's skin, for example.

[...] The Madagascar outbreak could be much worse. It is by no means a repeat of the Great Plague of 1665, Europe's last bubonic plague epidemic that is believed to have killed 15 percent of London's population, up to 100,000 people.

"Historically, plague was responsible for widespread pandemics with high mortality," according to Charlotte Ndiaye of the World Health Organization (WHO). "It was known as the 'Black Death' during the 14th century, causing more than 50 million deaths in Europe. Nowadays, plague is easily treated with antibiotics and the use of standard precautions to prevent acquiring infection."

[...] WHO has sent 1.2 million doses of antibiotics to not only treat the current epidemic but prevent it from spreading. Up to 5,000 infected people will be able to be treated and an additional 100,000 who may have been exposed can be given prophylactics.

Original Submission

An Anonymous Coward writes:

A motion for Summary Judgement in the ongoing Artefix v. Hancom GPL enforcement case has been denied. Seen previously on Soylent. From the FSF:

In the previous ruling, the judge in the case had denied a motion to dismiss those claims, allowing the case to proceed. We've now reached the next step in the suit, involving a motion for summary judgment on the contract claim, which was also denied. In a motion to dismiss, the court assumes the truth of the allegations involved and rules on whether such allegations actually present a valid legal claim. In summary judgment, the court is asked to look at the undisputed facts and determine whether the outcome is so obvious that the matter need not go through a full trial. Such motions are routine, but making it past summary judgment does mean that the issue of recovery under contract theory is still alive in this case.

Hancom here made several arguments against the contract claim, but one is of particular interest. Hancom argued that if any contract claim is allowed, damages should only be considered prior to the date of their initial violation. They argued that since the violation terminated their license, the contract also ended at that point. The judge noted that:

the language of the GPL suggests that Defendant's obligations persisted beyond termination of its rights to propagate software using Ghostscript ... because the source code or offer of the source code is required each time a "covered work" is conveyed, each time Defendant distributed a product using Ghostscript there was arguably an ensuing obligation to provide or offer to provide the source code.

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canopic jug writes:

Ruth Holloway at Red Hat's marketing site, OpenSource.com, has a retrospective on three decades of perl covering some history and a few of the top user groups. The powerful and flexible scripting language perl turns 30 at the end of this year. It is a practical extraction and reporting language widely used even today and has a dedicated community. It's ease of use and power made it the go-to tool through the boom of the 90's and 00's when the WWW was growing exponentially. However, its flexible syntax, while often an advantage, also functions as a sort of Rorschach test. One that some programmers fail. Perhaps two of its main strengths are pattern matching and CPAN. The many, mature perl modules available from CPAN make it a first choice for many when needed to draft something quickly or deal with a quick task.

Original Submission