SoylentNews

Pennsylvania State University orders student groups to disband

An Anonymous Coward writes:

BBC News reports:

A US college outdoors club is being disbanded because its activities, which include hiking, running and backpacking, are deemed too risky.

Pennsylvania State University officials said the group will be reconstituted to focus more on safety.

The 98-year-old Outing Club is one of three that will be disbanded from next semester: the caving and scuba clubs have also been deemed unsafe.

Original Submission #1  Original Submission #2 

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

The letter, which was sent Wednesday by Rep. Ted Lieu (D-California) and Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Arizona), comes after recent media reports that Donald Trump is making "increased use" of his personal phone.

Last year, Trump reportedly had an iPhone with just one app on it: Twitter.

"While cybersecurity is a universal concern, the President of the United States stands alone as the single-most valuable intelligence target on the planet," the congressmen write.

The letter goes onto ask a number of questions of the White House Communications Agency, the entity responsible for the president’s infosec needs.

How frequently does the WHCA update the President’s phone’s operating system?

Does the President use encryption when he makes phone calls or texts from his personal cell phone?

How has WHCA adapted to the growing threat of "Stingray" devices, or IMSI catchers, in Washington D.C., especially given the President’s alleged proclivity for making outgoing voice calls on his personal cell phone?

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

An innovative, eel-like robot developed by engineers and marine biologists at the University of California can swim silently in salt water without an electric motor. Instead, the robot uses artificial muscles filled with water to propel itself. The foot-long robot, which is connected to an electronics board that remains on the surface, is also virtually transparent.

The team, which includes researchers from UC San Diego and UC Berkeley, details their work in the April 25 issue of Science Robotics. Researchers say the bot is an important step toward a future when soft robots can swim in the ocean alongside fish and invertebrates without disturbing or harming them. Today, most underwater vehicles designed to observe marine life are rigid and submarine-like and powered by electric motors with noisy propellers.

"Instead of propellers, our robot uses soft artificial muscles to move like an eel underwater without making any sound," said Caleb Christianson, a Ph.D. student at the Jacobs School of Engineering at UC San Diego.

An Anonymous Coward writes:

CNN reports

Sweden has a goal of achieving a completely fossil fuel free vehicle fleet by 2030 and in order to achieve this, it has started trialling a series of projects to develop and test technologies that will enable the country to completely convert to electric vehicles.

One project includes the "eRoad" which charges electric vehicles during journeys via a rail. So far, it has cost €6.4 million ($7.7 million) to install but it's predicted that if it were implemented across the country it would eventually work out less than €1 million ($1.2 million) per kilometer to build.

The track stretches along two kilometers (1.2 miles) and has been installed on public road "893" just 30 minutes outside of Stockholm. The eRoad has many advantages, Säll says. If implemented it will mean electric vehicle batteries can be smaller -- and therefore lighter -- because they won't need to retain as much charge, the vehicles will then be cheaper to manufacture and will ultimately be more sustainable. For a heavy truck to be 100% electric, he explains, it would need a battery that weighs 40 tonnes. But if technology like the eRoad was readily available, the truck's battery would be able to weigh as little as 600 kilograms.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

The European Space Agency's Gaia mission has released data on 1.7 billion stars, including velocity data for 7 million:

Wednesday was the day astronomers said goodbye to the old Milky Way they had known and loved and hello to a new view of our home galaxy. A European Space Agency mission called Gaia just released a long-awaited treasure trove of data: precise measurements of 1.7 billion stars. It's unprecedented for scientists to know the exact brightness, distances, motions and colors of more than a billion stars. The information will yield the best three-dimensional map of our galaxy ever.

"This is a very big deal. I've been working on trying to understand the Milky Way and the formation of the Milky Way for a large fraction of my scientific career, and the amount of information this is revealing in some sense is thousands or even hundreds of thousands of times larger than any amount of information we've had previously," said David Hogg, an astrophysicist at New York University and the Flatiron Institute. "We're really talking about an immense change to our knowledge about the Milky Way."

Also included are the precise positions of more than 14,000 known asteroids, with more asteroids promised in future data releases.

About the data release:

The second data release (DR2), currently scheduled for 25 April 2018, will be based on 22 months of observations made between 25 July 2014 and 23 May 2016. It will include positions, parallaxes and proper motions for about 1.3 billion stars and positions of an additional 200 million stars, red and blue photometric data for about 1.1 billion stars and single colour photometry for an additional 400 million stars, and median radial velocities for about 6 million stars between magnitude 4 and 13. It will also contain data for over 13,000 selected Solar System objects. Since the data processing procedure links individual Gaia observations with particular sources on the sky, in some cases the association of observations with sources will be different in the second data release. Consequently some source identification numbers will be different in DR2 than in DR1. The third data release potentially will include orbital solutions for many binary stars and classifications for spectroscopically "well behaved" objects, as well as improved positions, parallaxes and proper motions. The fourth data release potentially will include variable star classifications, complete Solar System results, and non single-star catalogues. The complete final Gaia catalogue is currently scheduled for 2022, three years after the end of the nominal five-year mission. It would be pushed back if the mission is extended to nine years. The number of releases between DR2 and the final release has not yet been decided.

Also at ESA, Science Magazine, and The Verge.

Previously: European Space Agency's Gaia Spacecraft Maps Over a Billion Stars in the Milky Way
ESA's Second Batch of Gaia Data Coming in April 2018

Original Submission

Anonymous Cow Herd writes:

[...] "When the train cruises at its optimal speed of 500 km/h, the energy it consumes is roughly one third of that of current high-speed trains in commercial service and one sixth of the maglev trains," according to Lai.

The new design of an annular spoiler is one of the highlights of the novel aerotrain. Different from the traditional, vertical spoilers which tend to produce unstable airflow, the annular spoiler can increase the lift-drag ratio by 30% to 40%.'

Source: China, Japan co-developing an 'aerotrain' with wings

Meanwhile, in California's Silicon Valley, recruiters - from across the country, with broken English skills - are trying to force everyone to work as a temporary employee, for hourly wages last seen - by everyone except H1-Bs - in the 1990s.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Sky bidding war erupts with £22bn formal bid from Comcast

US cable TV giant Comcast has made a formal £22bn bid for Sky that values the UK broadcaster at £12.50 a share.

The move threatens Rupert Murdoch's attempts to take full control of the pay-TV group. The media mogul's 21st Century Fox has already agreed to buy the 61% of Sky it does not already own - an offer worth about £19bn. Sky said it was withdrawing its recommendation for the Fox bid following Comcast's move.

Sky shares closed 3.4% higher at £13.59 - more than £1 above Comcast's offer, suggesting a bidding war for control of Sky could erupt. Disney, which struck a $66bn deal with Fox in December to buy most of its entertainment assets, could also make a play for Sky.

Disney's $66 billion deal included Fox's shares of Sky.

See troll: Comcast CEO Brian Roberts: Sky Is a Great Opportunity but Not a 'Necessity'

Also at Bloomberg.

Related: Disney to Buy 21st Century Fox Assets for $52.4 Billion in Historic Hollywood Merger

Original Submission

MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for AndyTheAbsurd

Mentioned previously on SN, Amazon has started direct-to-car deliveries:

Amazon is expanding its in-home delivery service called Key to include deliveries to trunks and back seats of cars. The service is available only to Amazon Prime members in 37 cities who have a 2015 or newer Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac or Volvo with an active OnStar or Volvo On Call account.

Essentially, these are already connected cars that can be remotely unlocked — in this case for package delivery, which Amazon promises within a four-hour window. The shopper has to confirm that they've parked within range of the delivery location — in a publicly accessible area — and can track the progress through the Amazon Key app.

Source: https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/04/24/605057245/amazon-wants-to-deliver-packages-inside-your-car

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Danish Court Sentences Inventor To Life For Woman's Murder In 'Submarine Case'

A Copenhagen court has sentenced eccentric inventor Peter Madsen to life in prison over the murder of Kim Wall, a journalist who was killed after joining Madsen on his submarine last August. Parts of Wall's body were recovered after Madsen claimed he "buried her at sea." The case has captivated Denmark and drawn international headlines, with its shocking and gruesome details, and Madsen's wildly shifting explanations for what happened.

The submarine had left a dock in Copenhagen's harbor on Aug. 10, 2017. But one day later, the sub sank. Madsen was rescued; he initially told police he had let Wall off of the sub after just a few hours. But it was also noted that he had fresh scratches on both arms. No sign of Wall was found until some of her remains washed ashore. After the submarine was recovered and brought on land, blood in the craft was matched to Wall's DNA. The discovery of Wall's body prompted Madsen to say that a horrible accident killed Wall — but Danish authorities were skeptical of that story.

[...] "Prosecutors have said they do not know exactly how Wall did die, but that the murder seemed to be premeditated judging from the range of unusual instruments found on board. Much of the case against Madsen was built on his untrustworthiness, a psychological evaluation that found him narcissistic and lacking in empathy, and torture videos found on his computer."

The court ordered Madsen to pay about $19,700 to Ole Stobbe, Kim Wall's boyfriend. Wall had been pursuing an interview with Madsen for months, and was a few days away from moving to Beijing with Stobbe when Madsen texted her. The court also ordered the recovered submarine to be destroyed.

Life imprisonment in Denmark.

Also at Ars Technica.

Previously: Submarine Builder Charged With Manslaughter After Burying Journalist at Sea
Search of "Rocket" Madsen's Space Lab Finds Footage of Woman's Decapitation
Submarine Builder Peter Madsen Admits to Dismembering Journalist

Original Submission

takyon writes:

A project to sequence the genomes of all complex/eukaryotic species on Earth is moving forward:

The central goal of the Earth BioGenome Project is to understand the evolution and organization of life on our planet by sequencing and functionally annotating the genomes of 1.5 million known species of eukaryotes, a massive group that includes plants, animals, fungi and other organisms whose cells have a nucleus that houses their chromosomal DNA. To date, the genomes of less than 0.2 percent of eukaryotic species have been sequenced.

The project also seeks to reveal some of the estimated 10 million to 15 million unknown species of eukaryotes, most of which are single cell organisms, insects and small animals in the oceans. The genomic data will be a freely available resource for scientific discovery and the resulting benefits shared with countries and indigenous communities where biodiversity is sourced. Researchers estimate the proposed initiative will take 10 years and cost approximately $4.7 billion.

In a perspective paper [DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1720115115] [DX] published today (April 23) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), 24 interdisciplinary experts comprising the Earth BioGenome Project Working Group, provide a compelling rationale for why the project should go forward and outline a roadmap for how it can be achieved.

canopic jug writes:

A competitive card game based on the CIA's declassified training game: Collection Deck has launched a kickstarter. The card game was developed to train operatives and has been declassified. Having been produced by federal employees, it is under the public domain and can be polished by this kickstarter.

The original FOIA files were collected by Muckrock and available online to show what the card game is like. The estimated date for completion of the kickstarter is November this year.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

U.S. EPA says it will define wood as a 'carbon-neutral' fuel, reigniting debate

Weighing in on a fierce, long-standing climate debate, the head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in Washington, D.C., said yesterday the agency will now define wood as a "carbon-neutral" fuel for many regulatory purposes.

The "announcement grants America's foresters much-needed certainty and clarity with respect to the carbon neutrality of forest biomass," EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said at an event in Cochran, Georgia, The Washington Post reports. But many environmental groups and energy experts decried the move, arguing the science is far from settled on whether wood is a climate-friendly fuel.

As Science contributing correspondent Warren Cornwall reported last year, the forest products industry has long been pushing for the carbon neutral definition in a bid to make wood an attractive fuel for generating electricity in nations trying to move away from fossil fuels. The idea is "attractively simple," Cornwall reported:

The carbon released when trees are cut down and burned is taken up again when new trees grow in their place, limiting its impact on climate. ...

Yet moves by governments around the world to designate wood as a carbon-neutral fuel—making it eligible for beneficial treatment under tax, trade, and environmental regulations—have spurred fierce debate. Critics argue that accounting for carbon recycling is far more complex than it seems. They say favoring wood could actually boost carbon emissions, not curb them, for many decades, and that wind and solar energy—emissions-free from the start—are a better bet for the climate. Some scientists also worry that policies promoting wood fuels could unleash a global logging boom that trashes forest biodiversity in the name of climate protection.

Original Submission

An Anonymous Coward and SoyCow8317 write:

Engadget reports that Eric Lundgren, who ordered unauthorized copies of Microsoft Windows, has lost in appeals court. He had received a 15-month prison sentence and $50,000 fine.

From Engadget:

Lundgren realized that people were simply discarding old computers and buying new ones, rather than trying to restore Windows. He decided to begin manufacturing restore CDs that could be sold to computer repair shops for a quarter each.

[...] However, things began to go downhill after US Customs got ahold of a shipment of these disks in 2012. They charged Lundgren with conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit goods, as well as criminal copyright infringement. The premise here was that Lundgren was providing users with a copy of the Windows operating system on these restore disks, but that was untrue. The users needed to have a previously purchased license, or the restore disks wouldn't work.

[...] While Lundgren argued that these disks had zero value, Microsoft claimed (through a letter and an expert witness) that these were "counterfeit operating systems" and that they had the potential to hurt Microsoft's sales. The pricing was set at $25 a piece, which was what Microsoft claimed it charged repair shops for these disks. The catch here is that this is the price for a fully licensed operating system, not Lundgren's version.

canopic jug writes:

The Verge reports that Match.com reactivated a bunch of old profiles, without asking. This raises many concerns about user data for those that might have missed the Facebook discussions recently.

[...] A Match Group spokesperson confirmed that a “limited number” of old accounts had been accidentally reactivated recently and that any account affected received a password reset. Match.com’s current privacy statement, which was last updated in 2016, says that the company can “retain certain information associated with your account” even after you close it. But that Match Group spokesperson also told The Verge that the company plans to roll out a new privacy policy “in the next month or so,” in order to comply with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR); under the new policy, all those years-old accounts will be deleted. The Verge has requested clarification on which accounts will qualify for deletion, and what “deletion” will specifically entail, but has not received a response as of press time.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

CRISPR used to genetically edit coral

In a proof-of-principle study, Stanford scientists and their colleagues used the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing system to modify genes in coral, suggesting that the tool could one day aid conservation efforts. [...] "Up until now, there hasn't been a way to ask whether a gene whose expression correlates with coral survival actually plays a causative role," Cleves said. "There's been no method to modify genes in coral and then ask what the consequences are."

[...] Corals pose a bit of a problem when it comes to CRISPR because of their spawning cycles. Most corals, including the Acropora millepora that was the focus of the study, breed only once or twice a year, during October and November in the Great Barrier Reef, cued by the rise of a full moon. During this fleeting window, corals release their sex cells into the ocean. When the eggs and sperm meet, they form zygotes, or fertilized single cells. During the narrow time window before these cells begin to divide, a researcher can introduce CRISPR by injecting a mixture of reagents into these zygotes to induce precise mutations in the coral DNA.

Retrieving the zygotes is quite a logistical challenge, Cleves acknowledged. Fortunately, his collaborators in Australia have the timing down pat; they can predict when the moon spawn will occur within a couple of days, allowing them to take coral samples from the reef to gather zygotes for experimentation.

CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing in a reef-building coral (DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1722151115) (DX)

Original Submission