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takyon writes:

California passes strongest net neutrality law in the country

California's legislature has approved a bill being called the strongest net neutrality law in the US. The bill would ban internet providers from blocking and throttling legal content and prioritizing some sites and services over others. It would apply these restrictions to both home and mobile connections.

That would essentially restore the net neutrality rules enacted federally under former President Barack Obama, which were later repealed by the Federal Communications Commission under the watch and guidance of current chairman Ajit Pai. But this bill actually goes further than those rules with an outright ban on zero-rating — the practice of offering free data, potentially to the advantage of some companies over others — of specific apps. Zero-rating would, however, still be allowed as long as the free data applies to an entire category of apps. So an ISP could offer free data for all video streaming apps, but not just for Netflix. [...] The Electronic Frontier Foundation called the final legislation "a gold standard net neutrality bill."

Now, the bill heads to the governor's desk. California Gov. Jerry Brown hasn't said whether he'll sign the legislation, but it's garnered the support of top state Democrats, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Kamala Harris.

Also at Engadget.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Gene editing of dogs offers hope for treating human muscular dystrophy

Fighting fire with fire, researchers working with dogs have fixed a genetic glitch that causes Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) by further damaging the DNA. The unusual approach, using the genome editor CRISPR, allowed a mutated gene to again make a key muscle protein. The feat—achieved for the first time in a large animal—raises hopes that such genetic surgery could one day prevent or treat this crippling and deadly disease in people. An estimated 300,000 boys around the world are currently affected by DMD.

The study monitored just four dogs for less than 2 months; more animal experiments must be done to show safety and efficacy before human trials can begin. Even so, "I can't help but feel tremendously excited," says Jennifer Doudna of the University of California, Berkeley, who heard the results last week at a CRISPR meeting she helped organize. "This is really an indication of where the field is heading, to deliver gene-edited molecules to the tissues that need them and have a therapeutic benefit. Obviously, we're not there yet, but that's the dream."

[...] The study offers little evidence that dogs regained muscle function, however, and that, coupled with the short duration of the study and the small number of animals studied, left some scientists less enthusiastic. One researcher in the tight-knit DMD field who asked not to be named wonders whether the study was rushed to help draw investment in Exonics Therapeutics, a Boston-based company Olson launched last year to develop the potential treatment.

[...] Another challenge was to alter billions of muscle cells throughout a living animal. So the team enlisted a helper: a harmless adeno-associated virus that preferentially infects skeletal muscle and heart tissue. Two 1-month-old dogs received intramuscular injections of the virus, engineered to carry CRISPR's molecular components. Six weeks later, those muscles were making dystrophin again. Those results led the researchers to give an intravenous infusion to two more dogs, also 1 month old, to see whether the CRISPR-carrying viruses could add the genome editor to muscles throughout the body. By 8 weeks, Olson told the meeting, dystrophin levels climbed to relatively high levels in several muscles, reaching 58% of normal in the diaphragm and 92% in the heart. But because the dogs were euthanized, Olson could show little evidence that they had avoided DMD symptoms, save for a dramatic video of a treated dog walking and jumping normally.

Also at Science News.

Gene editing restores dystrophin expression in a canine model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DOI: 10.1126/science.aau1549) (DX)

More about Duchenne muscular dystrophy at Wikipedia.

Related: Scientists Create Extra-Muscular Beagles
FDA Panel Recommends Rejection of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Treatment
Nonviral CRISPR-Gold Editing Technique Fixes Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Mutation in Mice
CRISPR Used to Epigenetically Treat Diseases in Mice

Original Submission

canopic jug writes:

The EFF is writing an update on the case where Google has been trying to patent the use of the asymmetric numeral systems (ANS) alogrithm. The ANS algorithm is for video compression and has long since been placed in the public domain by its designer, Jarek Duda. The US Patent and Trademark Office has just issued a preliminary rejection of Google's request to patent the algorithm based in part on Duda's third-party formal contact with the patent examiner. The EFF points out that tiny variations on existing methods are inappropriate for patent claims and that the case Alice vs CLS Bank rejects the notion of being able to patent methods such as software.

At EFF, we often criticize software patents that claim small variations on known techniques. These include a patent on updating software over the Internet, a patent on out-of-office email, and a patent on storing data in a database. Now, Google is trying to patent the use of a known data compression algorithm - called asymmetric numeral systems (ANS) – for video compression. In one sense, this patent application is fairly typical. The system seems designed to encourage tech giants to flood the Patent Office with applications for every little thing they do. Google's application stands out, however, because the real inventor of ANS did everything he could to dedicate his work to the public domain.

Jarek Duda developed ANS from 2006-2013. When he published his work, he wanted it to be available to the public free of restrictions. So he was disappointed to learn that Google was trying to patent the use of his algorithm. In his view, Google's patent application merely applied ANS to a standard video compression pipeline. Earlier this summer, Timothy B. Lee of Ars Technica published a detailed article about the patent application and Duda's attempt to stop it.

The Ars Technica article linked to in the quote provides a detailed background on the situation. Actually, it's two situations since Google has also applied at Trademark Office and the European Patent Office despite relevant current European treaty prohibiting patents on software, maths, and business methods.

More about ANS on Wikipedia.

Earlier on SN: Google Accused of Trying to Patent Public Domain Technology (2017)

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Sharp Announces 2nd Gen 8K UHD TVs at IFA

Sharp this week introduced its second-generation 8K ultra-high def TVs at IFA in Berlin. The new televisions use the company's new panels as well as the latest processors that can upscale Full-HD and Ultra-HD 4K content to a 7680×4320 resolution.

The initial lineup of Sharp's 2nd Gen Aquos 8K UHD TVs will include models featuring sizes of 60, 70, and 80 inches. The new televisions will be based on the company's new image processor that doubles its compute throughput over the predecessor and can upscale 2K as well as 4K content to an 8K resolution with a 100/120 Hz refresh rate.

Samsung's first 8K TV goes on sale next month

Samsung is announcing its first commercial 8K TV, the Q900R, at IFA 2018 this week. The QLED panel will be available in 65-inch, 75-inch, 82-inch, and 85-inch sizes, and is capable of peak brightness of 4,000 nits. It also supports the newer HDR10+ format backed by Samsung and Amazon.

The incredibly poor detail of 4K makes my eyes bleed; it's impossible to look at. At least now we'll have some more 8K options to tide us over until we reach 64K (61440×34560).

See also: Tech Tent: Are you ready for an 8K telly?
Samsung's 8K QLED TV looks great, but who needs it?
Toshiba Intros Its First Ever 8K TV Concept – IFA 2018

Previously: AU Optronics to Ship 8K Panels to TV Manufacturers in H1 2018

Related: Dell Announces First "Mass-Market" 8K Display
Philips Demos an 8K Monitor

Original Submission

Bytram (from IRC) writes:

CNET:

Sony doesn't want you to play with your Xbox or Switch friends, I argued last June. We've known since 2016 that Sony is the only company standing in the way of buddies being able to team up across PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC, since there's no technological limitation.

And though Sony has since been shown up by Microsoft and Nintendo, and though Sony enraged the Fortnite community, and though Fallout developer Bethesda has badmouthed Sony about cross-play and threatened to hold another game hostage, and even though PlayStation America CEO Shawn Layden suggested Sony might have actually gotten the message...

...today, Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida reportedly told the press that his company generally doesn't believe in the idea of opening up the PlayStation to cross-platform multiplayer.

"On cross-platform, our way of thinking is always that PlayStation is the best place to play. Fortnite, I believe, partnered with PlayStation 4 is the best experience for users, that's our belief," he said, according to The Independent.

Previously: Sony Faces Growing 'Fortnite' Backlash At E3
Bethesda Clashes With Sony on PS4 Cross-Play, Changes Review Policy

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:

A bot called Arthur has collected the following story from the RSS feeds:

If we proactively implement effective fisheries management and limit global temperature rise, the world's oceans still have the potential to be significantly more plentiful in the future than today, despite climate change. This finding is among several that appear in a first-of-its kind study, "Improved fisheries management could offset many negative effects of climate change," that appears today in the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences' journal Science Advances.

"The expected global effects of climate change on our oceans are broadly negative," said Steve Gaines, the study's lead author and dean of UC Santa Barbara's Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, "but we still have the fortunate opportunity to turn the tide and create a more bountiful future."

The study finds that with concerted and adaptive responses to climate change, the world's oceans could actually create more abundant fish populations, more food for human consumption and more profit for fishermen despite the negative impacts of climate change. Conversely, the study cautions, inaction on fisheries management and climate change will mean even more dramatic losses of fish and the benefits they provide to people.

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:

A bot called Arthur has collected the following story from the RSS feeds:

University of California researchers are feeding seaweed to dairy cows in an attempt to make cattle more climate-friendly.

UC Davis is studying whether adding small amounts of seaweed to cattle feed can help reduce their emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas that's released when cattle burp, pass gas or make manure.

In a study this past spring, researchers found methane emissions were reduced by more than 30 percent in a dozen Holstein cows that ate the ocean algae, which was mixed into their feed and sweetened with molasses to disguise the salty taste.

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:

A bot called Arthur has collected the following story from the RSS feeds:

New research has shown just how bad AI is at dealing with online trolls.

Such systems struggle to automatically flag nudity and violence, don’t understand text well enough to shoot down fake news and aren’t effective at detecting abusive comments from trolls hiding behind their keyboards.

A group of researchers from Aalto University and the University of Padua found this out when they tested seven state-of-the-art models used to detect hate speech. All of them failed to recognize foul language when subtle changes were made, according to a paper [PDF] on arXiv.

Adversarial examples can be created automatically by using algorithms to misspell certain words, swap characters for numbers or add random spaces between words or attach innocuous words such as ‘love’ in sentences.

The models failed to pick up on adversarial examples and successfully evaded detection. These tricks wouldn’t fool humans, but machine learning models are easily blindsighted. They can’t readily adapt to new information beyond what’s been spoonfed to them during the training process.

Original Submission

"exec" writes:

Over the past two months, dozens of dead dolphins have washed ashore in Florida and hundreds of diseased seals have died in the northeastern United States, officials said Friday.

[...] From July 1 to August 30, a total of 48 dolphins have been found dead in southwest Florida, as a harmful algae bloom known as red tide killed hundreds of tons of fish from Naples to Tampa, said the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

[...] All 10 of the bottlenose dolphin autopsies—known as necropsies—done so far have tested positive for the red tide organism, Karenia brevis, a potent neurotoxin.

[...] Further north, along the coasts of Maine, New Hampshire and northern Massachusetts, an infectious disease outbreak has affected both harbor seals and gray seals.

Since July, there have been 599 confirmed cases "and probably in the hundreds of unconfirmed cases" of stranded seals, Rowles told reporters on a conference call.

Tests have shown some seals were sickened with either avian influenza or phocine distemper virus—which is related to canine distemper virus—and in some cases, both.

https://phys.org/news/2018-08-dead-dolphins-diseased-shores.html

-- submitted from IRC

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:

A bot called Arthur has collected the following story from the RSS feeds:

Until renewable sources of energy like wind or solar become more reliable and less expensive, people worldwide remain reliant on fossil fuels for transportation and energy. This means that if people want to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, there need to be better ways of mitigating the effects of extracting and burning oil and gas.

Now, Adam Brandt, assistant professor of energy resources engineering in the School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences at Stanford, and his colleagues have performed a first global analysis comparing emissions associated with oil production techniques -- a step toward developing policies that could reduce those emissions. They published their work Aug. 30 in Science.

The group found that the burning of unwanted gas associated with oil production -- called flaring -- remains the most carbon-intensive part of producing oil. Brandt spoke with Stanford Report about the group's findings and strategies for reducing flaring.

Original Submission

MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for AndyTheAbsurd

[...] When we have any function, whether it's language or vision or cognitive functions like memory, we aren't dealing with a straight line to the brain that says "This is what I do." The brain builds a network of connections, a network of neurons that have a particular role in that function. So when we have a new cognitive function, like literacy, it doesn't have a preset network. Rather, it makes new connections among older networks, and that whole collection of networks becomes a circuit. It's a connected scaffolding of parts.

The beauty of the circuit for functions like literacy is its plasticity. You can have one for each different language, like English or Chinese or Hebrew. And then something miraculous happens: the circuit builds upon itself. The first circuits are very basic — for decoding letters as we're learning to read — but everything we read builds upon itself.

So what's changing now with technology? How is that affecting our circuits?

The fact that a circuit is plastic is both its beautiful strength and its Achilles' heel. Reading reflects our medium. And to the extent that a digital medium is going to require us to process large amounts of information very quickly, it will diminish from the time we have for slower processing work.

Source: https://www.theverge.com/2018/8/27/17787916/reader-come-home-maryanne-wolf-neuroscience-brain-changes

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:

A bot called Arthur has collected the following story from the RSS feeds:

Electrons whizzing around each other and humans crammed together at a political rally don't seem to have much in common, but researchers at Cornell are connecting the dots.

They've developed a highly accurate mathematical approach to predict the behavior of crowds of living creatures, using Nobel Prize-winning methods originally developed to study large collections of quantum mechanically interacting electrons. The implications for the study of human behavior are profound, according to the researchers.

For example, by using publicly available video data of crowds in public spaces, their approach could predict how people would distribute themselves under extreme crowding. By measuring density fluctuations using a smartphone app, the approach could describe the current behavioral state or mood of a crowd, providing an early warning system for crowds shifting toward dangerous behavior.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Australian filmmaker James Ricketson found guilty of espionage in Cambodia

Australian filmmaker James Ricketson has been sentenced to six years in a Cambodian prison, after being found guilty of spying for an unnamed country. The 69-year-old filmmaker was arrested in Cambodia in June 2017 after flying a drone over a rally organized by the Cambodia National Rescue Party, an opposition group that was later dissolved by the government.

A statement released by Ricketson's family Friday said they were "absolutely devastated" by the verdict and sentence. "We are in utter shock at this outcome and that James, an innocent Australian, has been sentenced so harshly. Our family lives this tragedy daily," his family said.

Ricketson's lawyer Sam Onn Kong told CNN that Ricketson would seek a royal pardon, which could take up to a month to be decided. Meanwhile his family urged the Australian government to intervene, saying that Ricketson's health had suffered during the 15 months he's spent in Prey Sar prison, in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh.

Also at Time and Reuters.

Original Submission

European Commission to Recommend Abolition of Daylight Saving Time

An Anonymous Coward writes:

https://www.dw.com/en/eu-to-stop-changing-the-clocks-juncker-pledges/a-45300586

Speaking to German public broadcaster ZDF, Juncker said that he would push for the changing clocks to be abolished and that the Commission "will decide on it today."

[...] Those who are looking forward to future undisturbed sleep will have to wait a while longer. The European Commission, the EU's top executive body, will need to agree on the measure and put forward a draft law on abolishing daylight saving time. The EU Parliament and the bloc's currently 28-member states would also then need to approve the measure.

The Commission is set to release the official results of the online poll, which experienced several technical problems due to the high level of interest when it was first launched online.

Clock Changes: EU Backs Ending Daylight Saving Time

MrPlow writes in with a story submitted (via IRC) for AndyTheAbsurd.

Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-45366390

martyb writes:

Waters off New England in Midst of Record Year for Warmth:

The waters off of New England are already warming faster than most of the world's oceans, and they are nearing the end of one of the hottest summers in their history.

That is the takeaway from an analysis of summer sea surface temperatures in the Gulf of Maine by a marine scientist with the Gulf of Maine Research Institute in Portland. The average sea surface temperature in the gulf was nearly 5 degrees Fahrenheit above the long-term average during one 10-day stretch in August, said the scientist, Andy Pershing, who released the work Thursday.

Aug. 8 was the second warmest day in recorded history in the gulf, and there were other sustained stretches this summer that were a few degrees higher than the average from 1982 to 2011, Pershing said. He characterized this year as "especially warm" even for a body of water that he and other scientists previously identified as warming faster than 99 percent of the global ocean.

[...] The Gulf of Maine is a body of water that resembles a dent in the coastal Northeast, and it touches Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Atlantic Canada. It's the nerve center of the U.S. lobster fishing industry, an important feeding ground for rare North Atlantic right whales and a piece of ocean that has attracted much attention in recent years because of its rapid warming.

[...] The warming of the gulf is happening at a time when the center of the U.S. lobster population appears to be tracking northward. America's lobster catch is still high, but rising temperatures threaten to "continue to disrupt the marine ecosystem in this region," said John Bruno, a marine ecologist with the University of North Carolina who was not involved in Pershing's work.

The warming waters are causing a migration of lobsters northward which is having repercussions in Maine's $400+million lobster fisheries. This story in Bloomberg, Maine's Lobster Tide Might Be Ebbing explores what may lie ahead: