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Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Most strings found on the Internet are encoded using a particular unicode format called UTF-8. However, not all strings of bytes are valid UTF-8. The rules as to what constitute a valid UTF-8 string are somewhat arcane. Yet it seems important to quickly validate these strings before you consume them.

In a previous post, I pointed out that it takes about 8 cycles per byte to validate them using a fast finite-state machine. After hacking code found online, I showed that using SIMD instructions, we could bring this down to about 3 cycles per input byte.

Is that the best one can do? Not even close.

Many strings are just ASCII, which is a subset of UTF-8. They are easily recognized because they use just 7 bits per byte, the remaining bit is set to zero. Yet if you check each and every byte with silly scalar code, it is going to take over a cycle per byte to verify that a string is ASCII. For much better speed, you can vectorize the problem in this manner:

Essentially, we are loading up a vector register, comparing each entry with zero and turning on a flag (using a logical OR) whenever a character outside the allowed range is found. We continue until the very end no matter what, and only then do we examine our flags.

We can use the same general idea to validate UTF-8 strings. My code is available.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Looking at Earth from the International Space Station, astronauts see big, white clouds spreading across the planet. They cannot distinguish a gray rain cloud from a puffy white cloud. While satellites can see through many clouds and estimate the liquid precipitation they hold, they can't see the smaller ice particles that create enormous rain clouds.

An experimental small satellite has filled this void and captured the first global picture of the small frozen particles inside clouds, normally called ice clouds.

Deployed from the space station in May 2017, IceCube is testing instruments for their ability to make space-based measurements of the small, frozen crystals that make up ice clouds. "Heavy downpours originate from ice clouds," said Dong Wu, IceCube principal investigator at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Ice clouds start as tiny particles high in the atmosphere. Absorbing moisture, the ice crystals grow and become heavier, causing them to fall to lower altitudes. Eventually, the particles get so heavy, they fall and melt to form rain drops. The ice crystals may also just stay in the air.

Like other clouds, ice clouds affect Earth's energy budget by either reflecting or absorbing the Sun's energy and by affecting the emission of heat from Earth into space. Thus, ice clouds are key variables in weather and climate models.

Measuring atmospheric ice on a global scale remains highly uncertain because satellites have been unable to detect the amount of small ice particles inside the clouds, as these particles are too opaque for infrared and visible sensors to penetrate. To overcome that limitation, IceCube was outfitted with a submillimeter radiometer that bridges the missing sensitivity between infrared and microwave wavelengths.

Despite weighing only 10 pounds and being about size of a loaf of bread, IceCube is a bona fide spacecraft, complete with three-axis attitude control, deployable solar arrays and a deployable UHF communications antenna. The CubeSat spins around its axis, like a plate spinning on a pole. It points at Earth to take a measurement then looks at the cold space to calibrate.

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DeathMonkey and DannyB write:

Senate Approves Overturning FCC's Net Neutrality Repeal

The Senate approved a resolution Wednesday to nullify the Federal Communications Commission's net neutrality rollback, dealing a symbolic blow to the FCC's new rule that remains on track to take effect next month.

The final vote was 52-47. As expected, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Me., joined Democrats in voting to overturn the FCC's controversial decision. But two other Republicans — Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana and Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — also voted in favor of the resolution of disapproval.

The outcome is unlikely to derail the FCC's repeal of Obama-era rules that restrict Internet service providers' ability to slow down or speed up users' access to specific websites and apps.

The legislative victory is fleeting because the House does not intend to take similar action, but Democrats are planning to carry the political fight over Internet access into the 2018 midterms.

DannyB: Hopefully we don't all get slower connections so that ISPs can use the bandwidth to create paid prioritization.

Also at The Hill and TechCrunch.

See also: Everything you need to know about Congress's net neutrality resolution

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takyon writes:

The Ecuadorean government spent around $5 million to protect and spy on Julian Assange and his visitors, according to The Guardian. The operation evolved over time as the embassy's guest became less welcome:

Over more than five years, Ecuador put at least $5m (£3.7m) into a secret intelligence budget that protected the WikiLeaks founder while he had visits from Nigel Farage, members of European nationalist groups and individuals linked to the Kremlin. [...] Documents show the intelligence programme, called "Operation Guest", which later became known as "Operation Hotel" – coupled with parallel covert actions – ran up an average cost of at least $66,000 a month for security, intelligence gathering and counter-intelligence to "protect" one of the world's most high-profile fugitives. [...] The security personnel recorded in minute detail Assange's daily activities, and his interactions with embassy staff, his legal team and other visitors. They also documented his changing moods.

[...] Worried that British authorities could use force to enter the embassy and seize Assange, Ecuadorian officials came up with plans to help him escape. They included smuggling Assange out in a diplomatic vehicle or appointing him as Ecuador's United Nations representative so he could have diplomatic immunity in order to attend UN meetings, according to documents seen by the Guardian dated August 2012. In addition to giving Assange asylum, Correa's government was apparently prepared to spend money on improving his image. A lawyer was asked to devise a "media strategy" to mark the "second anniversary of his diplomatic asylum", in a leaked 2014 email exchange seen by the Guardian.

The money being spent was unknown to some members of the government, including the Ecuadorian ambassador to the UK, who learned of the operation in 2015. Ecuador's financial controller's office also investigated payments related to the operation.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

The EU Parliament has some questions for Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Tajani confirmed in a tweet on Wednesday that the Facebook CEO has accepted his invitation, and said the appearance could happen as early as next week. 

Zuckerberg will meet the leaders of the political groups, as well as the chair and the rapporteur of the Committee for Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs. The focus of the meetings will be on the potential impact of Facebook on electoral processes in Europe, as well as other aspects of personal data protection.

Tajani extended an invitation to Zuckerberg to appear in Brussels in the early days of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which first made headlines in March. In April, Zuckerberg testified before Congress regarding Cambridge Analytica, data privacy, Russian interference in the 2016 US election and how the social network handles political points of view. 

But in spite of his trips to Washington and Brussels, the Facebook CEO apparently isn't amenable to talking to all politicians about his company's role in the scandal. He has declined to speak to British politicians on multiple occasions -- the latest rejection taking place only on Tuesday -- despite being threatened with a potential formal summons by Parliament.

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takyon writes:

Drug target for curing the common cold

UK scientists believe they may have found a way to combat the common cold.

Rather than attacking the virus itself, which comes in hundreds of versions, the treatment targets the human host. It blocks a key protein in the body's cells that cold viruses normally hijack to self-replicate and spread. This should stop any cold virus in its tracks if given early enough, lab studies suggest [DOI: 10.1038/s41557-018-0039-2] [DX]. Safety trials in people could start within two years.

The Imperial College London researchers are working on making a form of the drug that can be inhaled, to reduce the chance of side-effects. In the lab, it worked within minutes of being applied to human lung cells, targeting a human protein called NMT, Nature Chemistry journal reports.

Related: Vaccine Against the Common Cold may be Achievable

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MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for Bytram

EVANSTON - Northwestern University’s Jiaxing Huang is ready to reignite carbon nanotube research. And he’s doing so with a common chemical that was once used in household cleaners.

By using an inexpensive, already mass produced, simple solvent called cresol, Huang has discovered a way to make disperse carbon nanotubes at unprecedentedly high concentrations without the need for additives or harsh chemical reactions to modify the nanotubes. In a surprising twist, Huang also found that as the nanotubes’ concentrations increase, the material transitions from a dilute dispersion to a thick paste, then a free-standing gel and finally a kneadable dough that can be shaped and molded.

The study was published online on May 14 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2018/may/making-carbon-nanotubes-as-usable-as-common-plastics/ AND http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1800298115

Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/05/180515162801.htm

Original Submission

takyon writes:

With RNA, Researchers Transfer Memories Between Sea Slugs

In the first chunk of their study, the team, led by David Glanzman, worked with groups of a marine slug called Aplysia. One group of slugs got shocked on the tail once every 20 minutes for a total of five shocks. The next day, they went through the same shock session. The point was to prime them to use what's called a defensive withdraw reflex — basically, the slug version of a flinch.

When Glanzman and his team later physically tapped these slugs on their tails, the creatures contracted for an average of 50 seconds. But when the team tapped another, shock-free group, those slugs only shied away for about one second.

Here's where things get interesting. The researchers then extracted ribonucleic acid (RNA) — the cellular messenger that carries out the genetic instructions of DNA — from the nervous systems of both the shock and non-shock groups. They took this RNA and injected it into a third set of slugs that hadn't had to deal with any shocks or taps. Seven of these slugs got the shock group's RNA, seven got the non-shock-group's RNA.

Next, the team tapped these RNA-injected slugs on their tails. Those that had received the shock group's RNA responded almost exactly like the shock group: They recoiled for about 40 seconds. "It was as though we transferred the memory," Glanzman said in a press release.

Also at Smithsonian Magazine.

RNA from Trained Aplysia Can Induce an Epigenetic Engram for Long-Term Sensitization in Untrained Aplysia (open, DOI: 10.1523/ENEURO.0038-18.2018) (DX)

Original Submission

MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for SoyCow0245

Concertgoers will soon live in their own personalized version of hell above and beyond the Ticketmaster convenience fee. Live Nation, Ticketmaster's parent company, recently announced a pilot program to ditch tickets in favor of advanced facial recognition technology.

For the pilot, Ticketmaster partnered with Blink Identity, a Texas-based biometric company that previously worked to implement biometric security programs in both Afghanistan and Iraq. The company claims it can make a positive ID in "half a second," even if those being scanned aren't looking directly at its cameras. Once scanned, the system flies through a potential database of tens (or hundreds) of thousands of attendees in an attempt to make a positive ID. Only then will it grant entry to the event.

Replacing physical (or digital) tickets with advanced biometrics systems, as you might have guessed, isn't without its critics.

Source: https://thenextweb.com/insider/2018/05/15/ticketmaster-plans-to-roll-out-facial-recognition-systems-for-events-what-could-go-wrong/

Original Submission

MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for SoyCow0245

The Monkey Island is probably one of the most important landmarks in gaming history. For the millions who played it, it not only confirmed that games could become an artform, but also that they could be deeply, outrageously funny.

Over the course of five games, the Monkey Island series tells the tale of the endearingly hapless Guybrush Threepwood, and his quest to become the most feared pirate in the Caribbean.

[...] Monkey Island was just one of many iconic adventure games that came out of LucasArts. Its stablemates include the beloved Sam and Max series, Grim Fandango, and Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle

takyon writes:

Microsoft's Surface Hub 2 is designed for an office of the future

Microsoft is unveiling the next-generation of its giant conference room displays today: Surface Hub 2. While the original Surface Hub shipped in 2016 with 1080p 55-inch and 4K 84-inch options, the Surface Hub 2 will use a 50.5-inch display with a greater than 4K resolution and 3:2 aspect ratio with extremely thin bezels. That's the same ratio as all other Surface products, and Microsoft has clearly picked this to compliment the fact its giant display now rotates to a portrait position.

[...] While it's still based on Windows 10, Microsoft is working on a new dynamic collaboration scenario that will allow multiple people to walk up to the Surface Hub 2, log into the device using the built-in fingerprint reader and then each pull their own work into a single collaborative document. Most of the software will be optimized for Microsoft Teams, and far-field microphones and 4K cameras will allow you to make video calls in portrait mode that make it feel like you're standing next to a colleague.

[...] Microsoft says pricing will be in line with similar competitive devices, which could mean we'll see a more aggressive price point to counter Google's own digital whiteboard. Microsoft has already sold Surface Hubs to more than 5,000 businesses in 25 countries. More than half of Fortune 100 companies already own a Surface Hub, and it's the most popular Surface device for enterprise customers. By simplifying to a single display size (50.5-inch) with the Surface Hub 2, the hardware should be easier to manufacture. Microsoft has struggled to manufacture Surface Hub devices to meet demand, and the company closed its US manufacturing plant last year, presumably to cut costs and speed up production elsewhere.

Related: Google's "Jamboard" Takes on the Giant Touchscreen Workplace Niche

Original Submission

MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for SoyCow0245

Cryptocurrencies have found a ton of admirers recently, but guess who isn't loving them right now — Dutch high school students.

This year's VWO examination – a matriculation test high school students are required to take to be eligible to pursue university education in the Netherlands – featured an unorthodox theme: Bitcoin.

The students were provided a description for Bitcoin and how the cryptocurrency is mined:

Bitcoin is a digital currency that only exists online. It exists since January 1, 2009 and can be used to pay at online stores or for other online services. Bitcoin is not issued by a central bank, unlike normal money. Instead, Bitcoin is created by letting computers work on solutions for selected mathematical problems.

It works like this: anyone can run special software on his or her computer to contribute to solving such a mathematical problem. The owner of the computer that finds the solution to a problem receives 25 BTC (newly mined) as a reward. Because in 2014, such a problem was solved every 10 minutes, 25 BTC were put into circulation every 10 minutes.

Based on the paragraph, the students were asked to answer five questions, which were all about mathematical problems but developed on the provided description of Bitcoin.

The questions asked were relevant to the real world Bitcoin, including calculating the year by which the reward for miners will be lower than one Bitcoin and determining the maximum amount of Bitcoins that can ever be in circulation.

Source: https://thenextweb.com/hardfork/2018/05/15/dutch-high-school-exam-bitcoin/

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Polycystic ovary syndrome: Scientists closer to understanding cause

A common cause of female infertility - polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) - may be due to a hormonal imbalance before birth, researchers have found. Researchers have been able to cure it in mice, and a clinical trial in human women is due to begin later this year, the New Scientist reports. PCOS affects up to one in five women worldwide, it says.

It affects how a woman's ovaries work - symptoms include irregular periods and difficulty getting pregnant. "It's by far the most common hormonal condition affecting women of reproductive age, but it hasn't received a lot of attention," Robert Norman at the University of Adelaide in Australia told the New Scientist. More than half of the women affected don't have any symptoms.

Researchers at the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) have found that the syndrome may be triggered before birth by excess exposure in the womb to a hormone called anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) [DOI: 10.1038/s41591-018-0035-5] [DX]. They found pregnant women with PCOS have 30% higher levels of the hormone than normal.

Polycystic ovary syndrome.

Also at Newsweek.

Original Submission

MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for SoyCow0245

Just days after Google announced that it would acquire Velostrata to help customers migrating more of their operations into cloud environments, HPE under its new CEO Antonio Neri is also upping its game in the same department. Today the company announced that it would acquire Plexxi, a specialist in software-defined data center solutions, aimed at optimising application performance for enterprises that are using hybrid cloud environments.

Source: https://techcrunch.com/2018/05/15/hpe-plexxi/

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Anne Frank's 'dirty jokes' found in hidden diary pages

Two new pages from Anne Frank's diary have been published, containing a handful of dirty jokes and her thoughts on sex. The young Jewish teen's diary, written in hiding from the Nazis, became world-famous when published after her death and at the end of the war.

The hidden pages had been covered with gummed brown paper - apparently to hide her risqué writing from her family. New imaging techniques have finally allowed researchers to read them.

The entries were written on 28 September 1942, not long after the 13-year-old Anne went into hiding. "I'll use this spoiled page to write down 'dirty' jokes", she wrote on a page with a handful of crossed-out phrases - and jotted down four dirty jokes she knew. She added a few dozen lines about sex education, imagining she has to give "the talk" to someone else, and mentioning prostitutes - who she wrote elsewhere that her father had told her about.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

First CubeSats to travel the solar system snap 'Pale Blue Dot' homage:

The Insight launch earlier this month had a couple stowaways: a pair of tiny CubeSats that are already the farthest such tiny satellites have ever been from Earth by a long shot. And one of them got a chance to snap a picture of their home planet as an homage to the Voyager mission's famous "Pale Blue Dot." It's hardly as amazing a shot as the original but it's still cool.

The CubeSats, named MarCO-A and B, are an experiment to test the suitability of pint-size craft for exploration of the solar system; previously they have only ever been deployed into orbit.

That changed on May 5, when the Insight mission took off, with the MarCO twins detaching on a similar trajectory to the geology-focused Mars lander. It wasn't long before they went farther than any CubeSat has gone before.

Pale Blue Dot.

Also at Business Insider.

Previously: NASA Launches InSight Mission to Study the Interior of Mars

Related: New Horizons Captures the Farthest Image From Earth Ever Made
New Horizons Spacecraft Will Take a "Pale Blue Dot" Photo in 2019

Original Submission

HTC is launching a blockchain-powered phone

MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for SoyCow0245

HTC is developing a new android phone that will be powered by blockchain technology. The phone, named Exodus, will feature a universal wallet and a built-in secure hardware enclave to support cryptocurrencies and decentralized applications.

Source: https://thenextweb.com/hardfork/2018/05/15/htc-blockchain-powered-phone/

Also at The Verge:

To start with, the Exodus phone will have support for bitcoin, ethereum, and other major networks, with more partnerships expected to come later on. HTC envisions a native blockchain network that uses Exodus phones as nodes that support cryptocurrency trading between users. HTC is also reportedly considering allowing people to purchase the Exodus phone with cryptocurrency. No price has been set yet for the phone.

[...] Chen said during the New York City blockchain conference, Consensus 2018, today: "We envision a phone where you hold your own keys, you own your own identity and data, and your phone is the hub."

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