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takyon writes:

Study: Roundup Weed Killer Could Be Linked To Widespread Bee Deaths

The controversial herbicide Roundup has been accused of causing cancer in humans and now scientists in Texas argue that the world's most popular weed killer could be partly responsible for killing off bee populations around the world.

A new study [open, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1803880115] [DX] by scientists at the University of Texas at Austin posit that glyphosate — the active ingredient in the herbicide — destroys specialized gut bacteria in bees, leaving them more susceptible to infection and death from harmful bacteria.

Researchers Nancy Moran, Erick Motta and Kasie Raymann suggest their findings are evidence that glyphosate might be contributing to colony collapse disorder, a phenomenon that has been wreaking havoc on honey bees and native bees for more than a decade.

Also at Science Magazine.

Related:

*SPOILER* (click to show) *SPOILER* (click to hide)

Landmark Study: Honeybee Queens Severely Affected by Neonicotinoid Pesticides
Cancer Hazard vs. Risk - Glyphosate
Glyphosate Linked to Liver Damage
Extensive Study Concludes Neonicotinoid Pesticides Harm Bees
Lithium Chloride May Help in Fixing Bee Colony Collapse Disorder
European Regulator Finds That Neonicotinoid Pesticides Threaten Bees
Monsanto Faces First US Trial Over Roundup Cancer Link
Monsanto Ordered to Pay $289 Million in Glyphosate Cancer Trial

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Japanese company ispace says it will launch two missions to the Moon in 2020 and 2021

A Japanese company with hopes of exploring the Moon says it has purchased room on two upcoming flights of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket in order to transport spacecraft to the lunar surface. These missions, slated for 2020 and 2021, are meant to serve as crucial technology demonstrations for the company, called ispace, which has grander ambitions of becoming a lunar delivery service one day.

The first of ispace's two missions entails putting a spacecraft into orbit around the Moon. If that is successful, then the company will launch its second mission — one that includes a lunar lander and rovers to explore the Moon's surface. All of ispace's hardware will ride as secondary payloads on the Falcon 9 flights; that means they will hitch rides on the larger vehicles that are launching to space and deploy separately. The rockets will drop off the spacecraft in a high orbit above Earth, and the vehicles will cruise the rest of the way to the Moon.

Also at Reuters and Popular Mechanics.

Previously: Japanese Company Could Put "Billboard" on the Moon

Original Submission

chromas (from IRC) writes:

Firefox Monitor will let you know when your accounts have been compromised:

Data breaches have sadly become a common occurrence on the internet, as websites and cyber-criminals engage in a cat-and-mouse game. It can be tough to figure out if you're affected by these hacks though, but Mozilla’s Firefox Monitor website (h/t: XDA-Developers) seems like a handy starting point.

Enter your email address on this website and it’ll let you know if any accounts tied to that address have been affected. Whether it's LinkedIn, MySpace or some obscure forum, Firefox Monitor should alert you to compromised accounts.

If it all sounds familiar, then it's because Mozilla has teamed up with the popular Have I Been Pwned website. This website has been offering breach alerts to users for years now, so it makes sense for Mozilla to partner with them instead of building everything from scratch.

Much like Have I Been Pwned, Firefox Monitor also lets you sign up for alerts that get sent directly to your inbox. This way, you don't necessarily have to visit the website to get prompt security alerts.

Firefox Monitor

Original Submission

realDonaldTrump writes:

Instagram Co-Founders to Step Down From Facebook

The two co-founders of Facebook Inc.'s popular Instagram app are stepping down, a move marking continued tumult at the social-networking giant.

The co-founders—Kevin Systrom, Instagram's chief executive, and Mike Krieger, chief technology officer—clashed with Facebook executives over the extent of Instagram's autonomy in recent months, according to people familiar with the matter. Earlier this year, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg shifted a senior Facebook executive, Adam Mosseri, over to Instagram in anticipation that the founders might leave, one of the people said.

Among other things, Facebook officials, including Mr. Zuckerberg, clashed with the co-founders over growth tactics and how to more rapidly expand the photo-sharing app's user base, another person said. Senior Facebook officials had known the two men were frustrated working within a large company and had begun making preparations for them to leave, another person familiar with the matter said.

Also at NYT, The Atlantic, and Gizmodo.

See also: Facebook's Terrible Year Hits a New Low: The departure of Instagram's founders is a particularly painful sting during a truly rotten year.

Related: Facebook's Instagram Valued at $100 Billion (It Was Purchased for $1 Billion)

Original Submission

canopic jug writes:

Technology and science fiction author Michael W. Lucas reports the adoption of Classless Interdomain Routing (CIDR) networking as a technology milestone in 1993. Back on 24 September 1993, the IETF published RFC 1519 thus designating Classless Interdomain Routing (CIDR) and variable length subnet masks as the standard which were further described in a series of RFCs. So Monday was the 25^th anniversary of the occasion.

CIDR entry on Wikipedia notes:

Before the implementation of CIDR, IPv4 networks were represented by the starting address and the subnet mask, both written in dot-decimal notation. Thus, 192.168.100.0/24 was often written as 192.168.100.0/255.255.255.0.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Bacteria's Password for Sporulation Hasn't Changed in 2.7 Billion Years

A Carnegie Mellon University research team has found that despite 2.7 billion years of evolution, bacteria are still using the same "password" to initiate the process for making spores. Their findings were published in the September issue of PLOS Genetics [open, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1007470] [DX].

The Carnegie Mellon researchers, led by the Department of Biological Sciences' Dannie Durand, used computational and experimental techniques to study how the signaling network that causes Bacilli and Clostridia to form spores has evolved since the two bacteria diverged from a common ancestor 2.7 billion years ago.

Bacteria make spores when times are tough. A protective shell forms around dormant cells to let them withstand harsh conditions like heat, acidity and radiation. Understanding sporulation has implications for many fields, including health care. For example, the spores of C. difficile can survive hand sanitizer, making that bacterium the leading cause of hospital-acquired infections.

Original Submission

[Updated 2018-09-26 20:30:00 to show the CoC is already in effect. --martyb]

[Ed Note: Given Linus Torvalds' recent decision to step down as head of Linux development for a while, and news of an attempt to install a a new CoC (Code of Conduct) on Linux development, I believe it important to communicate this to our community. It does, however, offer an opportunity for more, ummm, fire, flame, and feelings than the usual stories posted here. Let's try and keep things civil and discuss the merits (or lack of same). To quote Sergeant Joe Friday "All we're interested in is the facts, ma'am."

If you are not interested in this, another story will be along before too long... just ignore this one.

As for the code of conduct itself, take a look at: code of conduct and the kernel commit.]

An Anonymous Coward writes:

Eric S. Raymond speaks in regards to the Linux CoC:

takyon writes:

The first rovers to explore an asteroid just sent photos home

The first rovers to explore the surface of an asteroid have landed. After touching down September 21, the vehicles took pictures of asteroid Ryugu and at least one hopped around.

Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft, which arrived at the near-Earth asteroid on June 27 after a journey of more than three years, released the MINERVA-II1 container from a height of about 60 meters (SN Online: 6/27/18). The container then released two 18-centimeter-wide, cylindrical rovers. Because Ryugu's gravity is so weak, the rovers can hop using rotating motors that generate a torque and send them airborne for about 15 minutes.

Japan's Aerospace Exploration Agency released the first blurry, otherworldly pictures from the rovers on September 22. One image appears to have been taken midhop.

Images and comments from Hayabusa2 team members.

162173 Ryugu and Hayabusa2.

Previously: Hayabusa2 Approaches Asteroid Ryugu
Hayabusa2 Reaches Asteroid 162173 Ryugu
Hayabusa2 Deploys MINERVA Landers to Asteroid Ryugu

Original Submission

takyon writes:

This Was the World's Largest Bird. It Weighed as Much as a Dinosaur.

The world's largest bird — a newly identified species of elephant bird — weighed as much as a dinosaur when it strutted around Madagascar more than 1,000 years ago, a new study finds.

This monster bird is now extinct, but it weighed as much as 1,760 lbs. (800 kilograms), or about as much as seven modern ostriches when it was alive. It also stood a whopping as 9.8 feet (3 meters) high — a good 8 inches (20 centimeters) taller than an ostrich. And, also like the ostrich, this elephant bird couldn't fly.

[...] V. titan is so big, that its average weight of 1,430 lbs. (650 kg) is comparable to Europasaurus, a small sauropod (a long-necked dinosaur), which weighed about 1,500 lbs (690 kg), Hansford and study co-researcher Samuel Turvey, a professor at the Zoological Society of London's Institute of Zoology, wrote in the study.

When the herbivorous elephant birds went extinct about 1,000 years ago — largely because of human hunters — the Madagascar ecosystem changed. Plants that depended on the birds to eat and disperse seeds floundered.

Unexpected diversity within the extinct elephant birds (Aves: Aepyornithidae) and a new identity for the world's largest bird (open, DOI: 10.1098/rsos.181295) (DX)

Original Submission

canopic jug writes:

Ars Technica is reporting that the Italian-made MH-139 helicopter beat out two other bids to replace the UH-1 after the programme was put out for bidding.

Just in time to avoid the end of the fiscal year, the US Air Force has finally selected a successor to the aged UH-1 Hueys used by the Air Force's nuclear missile security force: the MH-139, a militarized version of the AgustaWestland AW139 from the Italian aerospace and defense company Leonardo. The MH-139 was a joint bid by Leonardo and Boeing and will be built in the United States at Leonardo's facilities in Philadelphia. The award this morning is for $375 million, covering delivery of the first four helicopters. But the overall program could be worth up to $2.4 billion, delivering up to 84 helicopters, as well as training systems and support equipment.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Excessive drinking killed over 3 million people in 2016

Drinking too much alcohol killed more than 3 million people in 2016, mostly men, the World Health Organization said.

The U.N. health agency also warned that current policy responses are not sufficient to reverse trends predicting an increase in consumption over the next 10 years.

In a new report Friday, the agency said that about 237 million men and 46 million women faced alcohol problems, with the highest prevalence in Europe and the Americas. Europe has the highest global per capita alcohol consumption, even though it has already dropped by 10 percent since 2010.

Around a third of alcohol-related deaths were a result of injuries, including car crashes and self-harm, while about one in five were due to either digestive disorders or cardiovascular diseases. Cancers, infectious diseases, mental disorders and other health conditions were also to blame.

From the Chapter 4 summary:

In 2016, the harmful use of alcohol resulted in some 3 million deaths (5.3% of all deaths) worldwide and 132.6 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) – i.e. 5.1% of all DALYs in that year. Mortality resulting from alcohol consumption is higher than that caused by diseases such as tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and diabetes. Among men in 2016, an estimated 2.3 million deaths and 106.5 million DALYs were attributable to the consumption of alcohol. Women experienced 0.7 million deaths and 26.1 million DALYs attributable to alcohol consumption.

Related: The Truth We Won't Admit: Drinking is Healthy
Study Shows 3 Drinks a Day May Cause Liver Cancer
Even Moderate Drinking Linked to a Decline in Brain Health
American Society of Clinical Oncology: Alcohol Use Increases Risk of Cancer
Study: No "Safe" Level of Alcohol Consumption

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Tracking the interstellar object 'Oumuamua to its home

A team of astronomers led by Coryn Bailer-Jones of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy has tracked the interstellar object 'Oumuamua to several possible home stars. The object was discovered in late 2017 – this was the first time astronomers have been able to observe an astronomical object from another star system visiting our own Solar System. Bailer-Jones and his colleagues used data from the ESA astrometry satellite Gaia to find four plausible stars where 'Oumuamua could have begun its long journey, more than a million years ago. [...] Earlier studies had attempted similar reconstructions of 'Oumuamua's origin, but had not come up with plausible candidates.

These earlier studies were missing a crucial ingredient: in June 2018, a group led by ESA astronomer Marco Micheli had shown that 'Oumuamua's orbit within the Solar System is not that of an object in free fall, that is, of an object moving exclusively under the influence of gravity. Instead, there was some additional acceleration when the object was close to the Sun. The likely explanation is that 'Oumuamua has some similarity to a comet – with ice that, when sufficiently heated by sunlight, produces gas that will in turn accelerate the source object like an exceedingly weak rocket engine. Although weak - the outgassing was not visible on images like it is with comets close to the Sun - it is too large to be ignored when back-tracking the orbit. The new study by Bailer-Jones and colleagues takes into account how 'Oumuamua's orbit has changed as the object passed close to the Sun, giving the astronomers a precise estimate of the direction the object came from originally, as well as the speed at which it entered our Solar System.

[...] Bailer-Jones and his colleagues found four stars that are possible candidates for 'Oumuamua's home world. All four of them are dwarf stars. The one that came closest to 'Oumuamua, at least about one million year ago, is the reddish dwarf star HIP 3757. It approached within about 1.96 light-years. Given the uncertainties unaccounted for in this reconstruction, that is close enough for 'Oumuamua to have originated from its planetary system (if the star has one). However, the comparatively large relative speed (around 25 km/s) makes it less probable for this to be 'Oumuamua's home. The next candidate, HD 292249, is similar to our Sun, was a little bit less close to the object's trajectory 3.8 million years ago, but with a smaller relative speed of 10 km/s. The two additional candidates met 'Oumuamua 1.1 and 6.3 million years ago, respectively, at intermediate speeds and distances. These stars have been previously catalogued by other surveys, but little is known about them.

'Oumuamua.

Also at Space.com.

Plausible home stars of the interstellar object 'Oumuamua found in Gaia DR2

Previously: 'Oumuamua Likely Originated in the Local Association (Pleiades Moving Group)
'Oumuamua Outgasses Like a Comet

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Less than a year after "Humanity's Star" was launched by Rocket Lab and destroyed in Earth's atmosphere, another art project aims to place a highly reflective object in the night sky:

Now, nearly 50 years [after the Apollo 12 mission], artist Trevor Paglen hopes to draw the public's eye back to the sky with "Orbital Reflector," a sculpture made of shiny material much like Mylar that will reflect the Sun's light while orbiting the Earth. The sculpture, contained in a small structure called a CubeSat, is scheduled to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, in mid-November. When it enters orbit about 350 miles away from Earth, the sculpture will detach and inflate to its full shape, a diamond that may shine as bright as a star in the Big Dipper. After about two months, it will re-enter Earth's atmosphere and disintegrate.

By sending an object with no military value into space, Paglen said he hopes to raise a conversation about who is allowed to operate past Earth's atmosphere. As artists and historians praise his effort as boundary-breaking, some people within scientific communities are saying it lacks a practical purpose.

Paglen, a 2017 MacArthur fellow, has long been preoccupied with the less-visible, or deliberately hidden, infrastructures that make up the world. For years, he tracked the movements of more than 180 classified U.S. military spy satellites, measuring and photographing their locations for his project "The Other Night Sky."

[...] The project has drawn some criticism and confusion from scientists who question the value of adding what they see as impractical items to Earth's orbit. "It's the space equivalent of someone putting a neon advertising billboard right outside your bedroom window," Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, told Gizmodo. [...] Paglen responded to criticisms in August in a Medium post titled "Let's Get Pissed Off About Orbital Reflector...," saying he hoped to provoke productive conversations.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Qualcomm accuses Apple of stealing its secrets to help Intel

Qualcomm Inc on Tuesday accused Apple Inc of stealing its chip-making secrets and giving them to rival Intel Corp, paving the way for Apple to switch to Intel's improved semiconductors, which may have cost Qualcomm billions of dollars in lost sales.

The accusation, made in a legal filing on Tuesday, is the latest salvo in a drawn-out patent dispute between the two tech heavyweights.

Qualcomm accused Apple of misusing secret Qualcomm software to share information about its chips with Intel engineers in a November lawsuit, but went further on Tuesday by saying Apple stole Qualcomm trade secrets as part of a "multi-year campaign of sloppy, inappropriate and deceitful conduct" designed to improve rivals' chipsets and ultimately divert Qualcomm's Apple-based business to Intel.

[...] The world's most valuable technology company previously used Qualcomm's modem chips in its iPhone, which helped the device connect to wireless data networks. With the iPhone 7, launched in 2016, Apple began using Intel modem chips in some models instead.

Also at CNBC.

Previously: Apple Sues Qualcomm for $1 Billion over Patent Royalties and "Retaliation"
Apple vs. Qualcomm Escalates, Manufacturers Join in, Lawsuits Filed in California and Germany
Apple Could Switch From Qualcomm to Intel and MediaTek for Modems
Qualcomm Files New Lawsuit Against Apple, Alleging it Shared Confidential Information with Intel

Original Submission

An Anonymous Coward writes:

Tor Browser Bundle 8.0 (TBB) sends OS+kernel+TOTAL_PING_COUNT in update queries to Mozilla

- Tails 3.9, which ships with TBB 8.0, is also affected.

User report:[1]
https://blog.torproject.org/comment/277375#comment-277375

Sanitize the add-on blocklist update URL
https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/16931

related, old, closed ticket (unresolved):

TBB-Firefox sends OS+kernel in update queries to Mozilla
https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/6734

[1]: "TBB-Firefox sends Linux kernel version in extensions blocklist update queries to Mozilla. 6 years old ticket closed https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/6734 without fix this privacy issue.

From Ubuntu 18.04.1 LiveCD
/v1/blocklist/3/%7Bec8030f7-c20a-464f-9b0e-13a3a9e97384%7D/60.2.0/Firefox/20180204030101/Linux_x86_64-gcc3/en-US/release/Linux 4.15.0-29-generic (GTK 3.22.30 libpulse 11.1.0)/default/default/1/1/new/"

"about:config
extensions.blocklist.url"

"Also it send TOTAL_PING_COUNT to tell mozilla how many days you use TBB."

Original Submission