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martyb writes:

Researchers are closing in on a non-addictive opiod-based pain-killer with limited side effects:

[...] [An] international team [has] captured the crystal structure of the kappa opioid receptor—critical for providing pain relief—in action on the surface of human brain cells. The researchers also made another important discovery: a new opioid-based compound that, unlike current opioids, activates only the kappa opioid receptor, raising hopes that they may develop a painkiller that has no risk of addiction and, therefore, none of the devastating consequences and side effects that accompany it.

The findings were published Jan. 4 in the journal Cell.

[...] Currently, most opioids bind to several opioid receptors on the membrane of brain cells, which has its share of drawbacks. They alleviate pain but cause a range of side effects, from nausea to numbness, constipation, anxiety, severe dependency, hallucinations and even death by respiratory depression.

In this study, the computer models revealed the formulations that would create the strongest bond between the ligand and the kappa opioid receptor without affecting other receptors.

Katritch said the latest research may pave the way for a major drug breakthrough.

"We have already found the structure of the inactive kappa opioid receptor highly useful for discovering potential candidates for a new painkiller," Katritch said. "Now with the structure of the active receptor, we have a template for designing new types of pain medications that have no disruptive side effects for patients and would reduce the burden that opioid addiction has placed on society."

Journal reference: Tao Che et al. Structure of the Nanobody-Stabilized Active State of the Kappa Opioid Receptor, Cell (2018). DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2017.12.011

Having known several people who got addicted to painkillers after receiving prescriptions for oxycodone or similar compounds from their doctors, this can't happen soon enough.

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

Ten years of planning and sampling has led to the creation of the largest harmonised European soil dataset, and the Joint Research Centre, the European Commission's science and knowledge service, is ready to carry out the most comprehensive assessment of soil biodiversity across the continent.
...
Around 22,000 samples were collected from all European Union (EU) Member States in 2009-2012, while a further 23 000 samples were acquired in 2015 from the EU, Switzerland and Western Balkan countries.

Scientists are now concluding the process of analysing the physico-chemical soil properties of the second batch. Once completed, the JRC will be able to carry out assessments of how the impacts of EU and national land based policies—such as those designed to tackle climate change and the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) - are manifested through changes in soil characteristics over time.

The assessment includes things like the physical and chemical properties of the soil, biodiversity, density, structure and pollutants present.

The dataset will give agricultural scientists, climatologists, microbiologists, geographers, and others the most fine-grained survey ever undertaken in Europe to inform their research.

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

As a hard and brittle material, silicon has practically no natural elasticity. But in a new study, researchers have demonstrated that amorphous silicon can be grown into superelastic horseshoe-shaped nanowires that can undergo stretching of more than twice their original length, and still maintain their excellent electric properties.

The results are exciting news for the area of stretchable electronics, as they suggest that silicon nanowire springs could serve as a stretchable semiconducting material for future flexible, bendable electronic devices. So far, almost all of the stretchable electronics that have been demonstrated have been made of polymer and organic semiconductors, whose semiconducting properties are inferior to those of silicon.
...
As the researchers explain, the new method is somewhat like a nanoscale, in-plane version of crystal pulling. The process, called line-shape engineering, involves guiding molten indium droplets to move along a pre-patterned track that is coated with amorphous silicon. As the droplet moves along the track, it takes in amorphous silicon and precipitates crystalline silicon nanowires.

The technique could prove to be useful in producing flexible electronics.

Original Submission

martyb writes:

According to a report at phys.org, The moon is about to do something it hasn't done in more than 150 years:

Three separate celestial events will occur simultaneously that night, resulting in what some are calling a super blue blood moon eclipse. The astronomical rarity hasn't happened for more than 150 years.

A super moon, like the one visible on New Year's Day, is the term for when a full moon is closest to the Earth in its orbit, appearing bigger and brighter than normal.

On Jan. 31, the moon will be full for the second time in a month, a rare occasion—it happens once every two and a half years—known as a blue moon.

To top it off, there will also be a total lunar eclipse. But unlike last year's solar eclipse, this sky-watching event isn't going to be as visible in the continental United States. The best views of the middle-of-the-night eclipse will be in central and eastern Asia, Indonesia, New Zealand and Australia, although Alaska and Hawaii will get a glimpse, too.

For the rest of the U.S., the eclipse will come too close to when the moon sets for the phenomenon to be visible.

Because of the way the light filters through the atmosphere during an eclipse, blue light is bounced away from the moon, while red light is reflected. The eclipsed moon's reddish color earned it the nickname blood moon.

Super blue blood moon?

So, an extremely noble or socially prominent moon? ;)

I wonder what differences, if any, there would be in the appearance of the Earth from a person standing on the moon, compared to a "normal" full moon?

Original Submission

fliptop writes:

TrendMicro has discovered 36 apps in Google Play that execute unwanted behavior:

These apps posed as useful security tools under the names Security Defender, Security Keeper, Smart Security, Advanced Boost, and more. They also advertised a variety of capabilities: scanning, cleaning junk, saving battery, cooling the CPU, locking apps, as well as message security, WiFi security, and so on.

The apps were actually able to perform these simple tasks, but they also secretly harvested user data, tracked user location, and aggressively pushed advertisements.

The apps in question have been removed from Google Play.

Related: Google Pauses Crackdown on Apps That Use Accessibility Features

Original Submission

"MrPlow" writes:

Submitted via IRC for SoyCow1984

Smart lock company Otto is suspending operations after a failed acquisition agreement. In a blog post late last year, CEO and founder Sam Jadallah says the company made an acquisition deal that limited its ability to fundraise, but the buyer pulled out at the last minute, leaving Otto with no remaining cash. The first locks were supposed to ship within the next few weeks, but "Otto will not ship next month and it may never ship," says Jadallah. The company will "evaluate [its] options" for moving forward in the coming weeks.

The Otto Lock was pitched as a tiny and stylish, but very expensive, smart lock. It sold for $699, and was intended for wealthy homeowners.

Source: https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/1/16838016/otto-smart-lock-startup-suspends-operations

Original Submission

"MrPlow" writes:

Submitted via IRC for SoyCow1984

The new replay tools offered in PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds are so much more than standard video-capture technology. In fact, it isn't video capture at all -- it's data capture. The 3D replay tools allow players to zoom around the map after a match, tracking their own character, following enemies' movements, slowing down time and setting up cinematic shots of their favorite kills, all within a 1-kilometer radius of their avatar. It's filled with statistics, fresh perspectives and infinite data points to dissect. This isn't just a visual replay; it's a slice of the actual game, perfectly preserved, inviting combatants to play God.

The toolset comes from South Korean company Minkonet, which just opened a second office in Los Angeles. PUBG is its first big client, and last month's rollout marks the first real mainstream implementation of this data-capture technology.

It definitely won't be the last. According to Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer Gilbert Kim, Minkonet's phone has been ringing off the hook since the PUBG announcement, with studios around the world wanting a piece of the replay pie.

Source: https://www.engadget.com/2018/01/01/pubg-playerunknowns-battlegrounds-3d-replay-minkonet-future/

Original Submission

"MrPlow" writes:

Submitted via IRC for SoyCow8317

Cybercriminals are increasingly moving away from bitcoin as their preferred digital currency in favor of lesser-known cryptocurrencies because of prolonged transaction delays, surging transaction costs and general market volatility, experts tell CyberScoop.

Although cybercriminals have been slowly moving away from bitcoin for months, researchers say a noticeable shift towards alternative coins — such as Monero, Dash and ZCash — occurred when bitcoin's value skyrocketed over $19,000 for one bitcoin in mid-December. The price has drastically fluctuated between $12,000 and roughly $19,000 since then.

"Many cybercriminals emulate the operational best practices of legitimate businesses in order to minimize their overhead costs and maximize returns, and in the case of high transaction costs with bitcoin, it makes perfect sense to look at other coins with smaller overheads," said Richard Henderson, a global security strategist with endpoint cybersecurity firm Absolute.

Source: https://www.cyberscoop.com/bitcoin-hype-pushers-hackers-to-stash-their-money-in-lesser-known-cryptocurrencies/

Original Submission

canopic jug writes:

Over at Techdirt, Glyn Moody writes about Vietnam's Internet monitoring unit called "Force 47". The unit is a large team, around 10,000 in number, tasked with combating prohibited viewpoints, inconvenient facts, and anything against policy through monitoring, complaints, and astroturfing.

Facebook this year removed 159 accounts at Vietnam's behest, while YouTube took down 4,500 videos, or 90 percent of what the government requested, according to VietnamNet news, which cited Minister of Information and Communications Truong Minh Tuan last week. The National Assembly is debating a cybersecurity bill that would require technology companies to store certain data on servers in the country.

Related: Indonesia Introduces New Internet Censorship System

Original Submission

martyb writes:

New largest known prime number found:

RALEIGH, NC., January 3, 2018 -- The Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search (GIMPS) has discovered the largest known prime number, 2^77,232,917-1, having 23,249,425 digits. A computer volunteered by Jonathan Pace made the find on December 26, 2017. Jonathan is one of thousands of volunteers using free GIMPS software available at www.mersenne.org/download/.

The new prime number, also known as M77232917, is calculated by multiplying together 77,232,917 twos, and then subtracting one. It is nearly one million digits larger than the previous record prime number, in a special class of extremely rare prime numbers known as Mersenne primes. It is only the 50th known Mersenne prime ever discovered, each increasingly difficult to find. Mersenne primes were named for the French monk Marin Mersenne, who studied these numbers more than 350 years ago. GIMPS, founded in 1996, has discovered the last 16 Mersenne primes. Volunteers download a free program to search for these primes, with a cash award offered to anyone lucky enough to find a new prime. Prof. Chris Caldwell maintains an authoritative web site on the largest known primes, and has an excellent history of Mersenne primes.

The primality proof took six days of non-stop computing on a PC with an Intel i5-6600 CPU. To prove there were no errors in the prime discovery process, the new prime was independently verified using four different programs on four different hardware configurations.

• Aaron Blosser verified it using Prime95 on an Intel Xeon server in 37 hours.
• David Stanfill verified it using gpuOwL on an AMD RX Vega 64 GPU in 34 hours.
• Andreas Höglund verified the prime using CUDALucas running on NVidia Titan Black GPU in 73 hours.
• Ernst Mayer also verified it using his own program Mlucas on 32-core Xeon server in 82 hours. Andreas Höglund also confirmed using Mlucas running on an Amazon AWS instance in 65 hours.

Jonathan Pace is a 51-year old Electrical Engineer living in Germantown, Tennessee. Perseverance has finally paid off for Jon - he has been hunting for big primes with GIMPS for over 14 years. The discovery is eligible for a $3,000 GIMPS research discovery award.

I once had Pi (π) memorized to 200 decimal places, but that has fallen to only 120 digits. What mathematical/numerical oddity/skill do you have?

Original Submission

realDonaldTrump writes:

President Trump took to Twitter on Tuesday morning to report some good news concerning the commercial aviation industry. Namely, that there wasn't a single commercial aviation-related death in 2017.

Trump's announcement, however, has come under scrutiny from the media and Twitter users alike — but not because it makes a dubious claim. Rather, he's being criticized by those who felt he took credit for the statistic.

Since taking office I have been very strict on Commercial Aviation. Good news - it was just reported that there were Zero deaths in 2017, the best and safest year on record!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018

The report to which Trump was likely referring was conducted by the Aviation Safety Network (ASN), a Dutch affiliate of the non-profit Flight Safety Foundation, The Wall Street Journal said. According to their statistics, not only were there no airline passenger fatalities recorded among U.S.-based carriers, but anywhere in the world. As a result, the ASN ultimately declared 2017 "the safest year in aviation history."

[...] Despite the good news, the ASN did report on 10 fatal airline accidents that occurred in 2017, but the Wall Street Journal explained that half of those involved cargo planes and the other half propeller-powered aircraft.

Trump's tweet, then, is factually accurate, though critics argue that it isn't due to any of his "strict" policies. The Atlantic, for example, argued that the statistic detailed in the report refers to the global fatalities, and that the U.S. hasn't seen a commercial aviation fatality since 2009, or long before he took office.

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2018/01/02/trump-tweets-good-news-about-death-free-year-in-commercial-aviation-industry.html

Original Submission

MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for Fnord666_

Using "acoustic shock waves" to promote healing isn't just for Overwatch, as Sanuwave has obtained FDA approval for its Dermapace System (Pulsed Acoustic Cellular Expression = PACE). Its approval is specifically to help heal foot ulcers in diabetic patients, where damage to blood vessels and nerves can lead to reduced circulation, infection and sometimes amputation. The Dermapace mechanically stimulates the wound, which Sanuwave says promotes healing. Like several other "first" FDA approvals we've seen recently, this device went through the de novo review process designed specifically to get new technology on the market.

Source: https://www.engadget.com/2017/12/31/fda-shock-wave-healing-dermapace/

Original Submission

MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for Fnord666

The recent news that stents inserted in patients with heart disease to keep arteries open work no better than a placebo ought to be shocking. Each year, hundreds of thousands of American patients receive stents for the relief of chest pain, and the cost of the procedure ranges from $11,000 to $41,000 in US hospitals.

But in fact, American doctors routinely prescribe medical treatments that are not based on sound science.

The stent controversy serves as a reminder that the United States struggles when it comes to winnowing evidence-based treatments from the ineffective chaff. As surgeon and health care researcher Atul Gawande observes, "Millions of people are receiving drugs that aren't helping them, operations that aren't going to make them better, and scans and tests that do nothing beneficial for them, and often cause harm."

Of course, many Americans receive too little medicine, not too much. But the delivery of useless or low-value services should concern anyone who cares about improving the quality, safety and cost-effectiveness of medical care. Estimates vary about what fraction of the treatments provided to patients is supported by adequate evidence, but some reviews place the figure at under half.

MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for Fnord666_

From wildfires in California to hurricanes on the Gulf and Atlantic coasts, communications are the bedrock of emergency response and management. However, those communications can be challenging when quickly evolving situations cross multiple jurisdictions — a truth painfully learned on 9/11, when more than a dozen agencies found it difficult to relay critical information to the right people at the right time.

Today, AT&T announced that all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia have officially signed on to FirstNet, a government program operated by AT&T to provide universal emergency response communications across the country. States had until yesterday to officially opt-in or opt-out of the FirstNet system. California, Florida, Mississippi and New York were among the states that waited until the last minute to confirm their participation.

This is a major win for AT&T, which officially won the FirstNet contract this past March. The contract stipulated that AT&T would manage the network for 25 years, and the company committed to spending $40 billion to manage and operate the network. In exchange, the company would receive 20 MHz of critical wireless spectrum from the FCC, as well as payments from the government totaling $6.5 billion for the initial network rollout.

takyon writes:

Nvidia's updated license for NVIDIA GeForce Software bans most usage of gaming-oriented GPUs in data centers, except for the purpose of "blockchain processing":

Nvidia has banned the use of its GeForce and Titan gaming graphics cards in data centers – forcing organizations to fork out for more expensive gear, like its latest Tesla V100 chips. The chip-design giant updated its GeForce and Titan software licensing in the past few days, adding a new clause that reads: "No Datacenter Deployment. The SOFTWARE is not licensed for datacenter deployment, except that blockchain processing in a datacenter is permitted."

In other words, if you wanted to bung a bunch of GeForce GPUs into a server box and use them to accelerate math-heavy software – such as machine learning, simulations and analytics – then, well, you can't without breaking your licensing agreement with Nvidia. Unless you're doing trendy blockchain stuff.

A copy of the license in the Google cache, dated December 31, 2017, shows no mention of the data center ban. Open the page today, and, oh look, data center use is verboten. To be precise, the controversial end-user license agreement (EULA) terms cover the drivers for Nvidia's GeForce GTX and Titan graphics cards. However, without Nvidia's proprietary drivers, you can't unlock the full potential of the hardware, so Nv has you over a barrel.

It's not just a blow for people building their own servers and data centers, it's a blow for any computer manufacturer – such as HPE or Dell – that hoped to flog GPU-accelerated servers, using GTX or Titan hardware, much cheaper than Nvidia charges for, say, its expensive DGX family of GPU-accelerated servers. A DGX-1 with Tesla V100 chips costs about $150,000 from Nvidia. A GeForce or Titan-powered box would cost much less albeit with much less processing power.

NVIDIA's DGX-1 product page.

Also at DataCenter Knowledge.

Original Submission