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c0lo writes:

Trying to do without Google to see how hard it can be is a way to understand just how much Google's tentacles are intertwined in everyday's life

As part of an experiment to live without the tech giants, I'm cutting Google from my life both by abandoning its products and by preventing myself, technologically, from interacting with the company in any way.

Engineer Dhruv Mehrotra built a virtual private network, or VPN, for me that prevents my phone, computers, and smart devices from communicating with the 8,699,648 IP addresses controlled by Google... Because I'm blocking Google with Dhruv's VPN, I have to find replacements for all the useful services Google provides and without which my life would largely cease to function:

• I migrate my browser bookmarks over to Firefox (made by Mozilla).
• I change the default search engine on Firefox and my iPhone from Google—a privilege for which Google reportedly pays Apple up to $13 billion per year—to privacy-respecting DuckDuckGo, a search engine that also makes money off ads but doesn't keep track of users' searches.
• I download Apple Maps and the Mapquest app to my phone. I hear Apple Maps is better than it used to be, and damn, Mapquest still lives! I don't think I've used that since the 90s/a.k.a. the pre-smartphone age, back when I had to print directions for use in my car.
• I switch to Apple's calendar app.
• I create new email addresses on Protonmail and Riseup.net (for work and personal email, respectively) and direct people to them via autoreplies in Gmail. Lifehack: The easiest way to get to inbox zero is to start a brand new inbox.

...
This experiment is not just about boycotting Google products. I'm also preventing my devices from interacting with Google in invisible or background ways, and that makes for some big challenges.

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takyon writes:

The James Webb Space Telescope may only last 5-10 years, and its successor (LUVOIR) may not be launched until the mid-2030s or later. Extremely large ground telescopes could fill in the gaps for astronomers:

A solution to [the] future space telescope gap may come from the ground. A new generation of what are known as extremely large telescopes, or ELTs, are under development and expected to enter service in the 2020s. With mirrors of between 25 and 40 meters in diameter, they're far larger than anything foreseen for space for decades. Even with the limitations of operating on the ground, like weather and atmospheric distortions, they have capabilities that will be unmatched for years.

[...] A problem for many astronomers, though, is that [Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT)] and [Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT)] are being developed not by government agencies but by consortia of universities and nonprofit organizations. Astronomers who are not part of the consortia won't be able to use them.

That's why, at the AAS meeting, there was a concerted push for what's called the U.S. ELT Program, a proposal to provide those two observatories with federal funding in exchange for open access to any American astronomer, just like NASA-operated space telescopes. A specific proposal for the program called for a combined $1 billion in National Science Foundation funding for GMT and TMT, in exchange for 25 percent of the observing time on each.

[...] The two observatories say they would be willing to give up a share of their observing time to the broader astronomical community in exchange for the financial support and stability the NSF would provide. "Their financial support will be very helpful for staying on schedule and meeting our overall plan," said Pat McCarthy, vice president of GMT. "There's a real advantage to knowing that the entire U.S. community is behind us."

[...] ELT advocates have no problem with NASA jumping on board. "We would welcome NASA investment in our giant machines," said Silva when asked at an AAS session about the space agency contributing to the U.S. ELT Program. But, he added, no one from NASA could comment on the idea. Thanks to the shutdown, no one from NASA could attend.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Joshua Tree national park 'may take 300 years to recover' from shutdown

The former superintendent of Joshua Tree national park has said it could take hundreds of years to recover from damage caused by visitors during the longest-ever government shutdown.

"What's happened to our park in the last 34 days is irreparable for the next 200 to 300 years," Curt Sauer said at a rally over the weekend, according to a report from the Desert Sun. Sauer retired in 2010 after running the park for seven years.

The park reopened Monday after the record 35-day shutdown, and park workers returned to a state of chaos, including damaged trees, graffiti and ruined trails. The reduced ranger supervision during the shutdown saw increased vandalism at the park, causing officials to announce on 8 January that Joshua Tree would temporarily close. It was announced a day later that officials were able to use recreation fee revenue to avoid the closure.

"While the vast majority of those who visit Joshua Tree do so in a responsible manner, there have been incidents of new roads being created by motorists and the destruction of Joshua trees in recent days that have precipitated the closure," said park spokesman George Land in the news release.

Joshua Tree National Park.

Related: Cost to Enter National Parks Will More Than Double

Original Submission

canopic jug writes:

Researchers at ETH Zurich and Technische Universität Berlin have described a flaw in the 3G, 4G, and 5G communications which keeps mobile phone communications vulnerable to international mobile subscriber identity-catcher (IMSI-catcher) attacks. Specifically, the Authentication and Key Agreement (AKA) protocol accidentally (?) allows for a new privacy attack against all variants of the protocol, including more detailed location disclosure.

The standards body in charge of 5G—the 3rd Generation Partnership Project, or 3GPP—has improved AKA to mitigate those well-known privacy issues. However, the researchers say, they have been able to find a new vulnerability that affects all versions of the AKA, including in the upcoming 5G standard. And what's more, the researchers say that this new attack "breaches subscribers' privacy more severely than known location privacy attacks do."

The newly discovered vulnerability allows an attacker who can intercept mobile traffic in the area (meaning anyone with a software-defined radio costing around $500) to monitor individual subscriber activity, such as the number of outgoing calls or SMSs sent in a given amount of time (but not the metadata or contents of the messages.) On top of that, the technique can tell an attacker how many calls or text messages an individual victim sent even if the victim is not near the attacker when the calls or texts are sent. Instead, after the first time the victims enters the attack area and subsequently leaves the area, even past call and text activity would become vulnerable as soon as the victim and their device re-enters the attack area.

[...] It's important to keep in mind here that, for cases of lawful intervention from law enforcement agencies, there are better ways than this attack technique to get location information, such as getting a warrant and getting the information directly from the phone companies. People working outside the legal system, such as spies and criminals, cannot get warrants and cannot typically work directly with the phone companies. Law enforcement does not need the location-finding capabilities of an IMSI catcher unless they are trying to circumvent the legal system.

Earlier on SN:
If 5G Is So Important, Why Isn't It Secure? (2019)
Sen. Wyden Confirms Cell-Site Simulators Disrupt Emergency Calls (2018)
Trump's Cell Phone Use is Security "Nightmare" Waiting to Happen, Lawmakers Say (2018)
New York District Court Throws Out DEA Stingray Evidence (2016)

Original Submission

"exec" writes:

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Intensive control of blood pressure in older people significantly reduced the risk of developing mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a precursor of early dementia, in a clinical trial led by scientists at Wake Forest School of Medicine, part of Wake Forest Baptist Health.

However, the National Institutes of Health-supported Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT) Memory and Cognition in Decreased Hypertension (SPRINT MIND) study did not prove that treating blood pressure to a goal of 120 mm Hg or less statistically reduced the risk of dementia. This result may have been due to too few new cases of dementia occurring in the study, the authors noted.

The results were reported in the Jan. 28 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

MCI is defined as a decline in memory and thinking skills that is greater than expected with normal aging and is a risk factor for dementia. Dementia is defined as a group of symptoms associated with a decline in memory or other thinking skills severe enough to reduce a person's ability to perform everyday activities.

"As doctors treating older patients, we are encouraged to finally have a proven intervention to lower someone's risk for MCI," said the study's principal investigator, Jeff Williamson, M.D., professor of gerontology and geriatric medicine at Wake Forest School of Medicine. "In the study, we found that just three years of lowering blood pressure not only dramatically helped the heart but also helped the brain."

[...] Williamson said some caution should be exercised in interpreting the study result both because MCI was not the primary cognitive focus of the trial and because it is not clear what intensive blood pressure control may mean for the longer-term incidence of dementia. Although MCI considerably increases the risk of dementia, this progression is not inevitable and reversion to normal cognition is possible, he said.

Jeff D. Williamson, et. al. Effect of Intensive vs Standard Blood Pressure Control on Probable Dementia. JAMA, 2019; DOI: 10.1001/jama.2018.21442

-- submitted from IRC

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Study shows how LSD interferes with brain's signalling

A group of volunteers who took a trip in the name of science have helped researchers uncover how LSD messes with activity in the brain to induce an altered state of consciousness.

Brain scans of individuals high on the drug revealed that the chemical allows parts of the cortex to become flooded with signals that are normally filtered out to prevent information overload.

The drug allowed more information to flow from the thalamus, a kind of neural gatekeeper, to a region called the posterior cingulate cortex, and it stemmed the flow of information to another part known as the temporal cortex. [...] The scientists wanted to test a hypothesis first put forward more than a decade ago. It states LSD causes the thalamus to stop filtering information it relays to other parts of the brain. It is the breakdown of this filter that gives rise to the weird effects the drug induces, or so the thinking goes.

Effective connectivity changes in LSD-induced altered states of consciousness in humans (open, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1815129116) (DX)

Related: Research into Psychedelics, Shut Down for Decades, is Now Yielding Exciting Results
Research Into Psychedelics Continues
Lucy in the Sky With Protein: Key to LSD's Psychoactive Potency Possibly Found
From 'problem Child' to 'prodigy'? LSD Turns 75

Original Submission

upstart writes:

Submitted via IRC for Bytram

PG&E files for bankruptcy. Here's why that could mean bigger electricity bills

PG&E Corp., which owns California's largest electric utility, filed for bankruptcy protection Tuesday in anticipation of huge legal claims, starting an unpredictable process that could take years to resolve and is likely to result in higher energy bills for the millions of Californians who depend on Pacific Gas & Electric for power.

PG&E said a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, which allows the company to continue operating while it comes up with a plan to pay its debts, was the only way to deal with billions of dollars in potential liabilities from a series of deadly wildfires, many of which were sparked by the company's power grid infrastructure.

"Through this process, we will prioritize what matters most to our customers and the communities we serve — safety and reliability," interim Chief Executive John R. Simon said in a statement. "We believe that this process will make sure that we have sufficient liquidity to serve our customers and support our operations and obligations."

Energy experts say PG&E's rates probably will increase when the utility emerges from Chapter 11 protection because bankruptcy inevitably makes it more expensive for a company to borrow money and creates large legal and other bankruptcy-related costs. The utility passes such expenses along to its customers.

"It's almost impossible to see a way out of this that doesn't have some short-term cost increases," Ralph Cavanagh, co-director of the energy program at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said in a recent interview.

Original Submission

martyb writes:

Big Slow-Moving Earthquake South of Istanbul:

The quake happened so slowly that only special processing methods applied to data from borehole strainmeters were able to detect it.

A big earthquake occurred south of Istanbul in the summer of 2016, but it was so slow that nobody noticed. The earthquake, which took place at mid-crustal depth, lasted more than fifty days.

[...] The study in Earth and Planetary Science Letters reports on a large 2-month lasting ultra-slow earthquake that occurred south of Istanbul below the Sea of Marmara in conjunction with elevated moderate-sized seismicity at shallow depth in the region. The researchers investigated the crustal deformation data from borehole instruments installed around the eastern Sea of Marmara as part of the GONAF Plate Boundary Observatory.

Data from one of the borehole strainmeter stations located in the most seismically active portion of the area on the Armutlu Peninsula was processed using novel computing techniques. 'This allowed to identify the slow slip signal that presumably occurred at mid-crustal depth level and that is of the same size as the largest ever seen such signal that occurred along the San Andreas Fault in California', says Dr. Martínez-Garzón, lead-author of the study.

Should have noticed from all the snails saying "Wheeee!" =)

Journal Reference:

Patricia Martínez-Garzón, Marco Bohnhoff, David Mencin, Grzegorz Kwiatek, Georg Dresen, Kathleen Hodgkinson, Murat Nurlu, Filiz Tuba Kadirioglu, Recai Feyiz Kartal. Slow strain release along the eastern Marmara region offshore Istanbul in conjunction with enhanced local seismic moment release. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2019; 510: 209 DOI: 10.1016/j.epsl.2019.01.001

Original Submission

martyb writes:

Missing Galaxies? Now There's Too Many:

Gaze skyward from the Southern Hemisphere and it's hard to miss the Large Magellanic Cloud. The fact that it looks like one of the Milky Way's spiral arms, albeit smaller, reveals that it's a small galaxy roughly 30,000 light-years across with a few billion stars. Indeed, any small telescope will show that it's scattered with glowing nebulae that are punctured by dark dollops of dust.

And it isn't the only satellite galaxy that slowly swirls around the Milky Way. By 1999, astronomers had detected a dozen companions, many of them invisible to the unaided eye. But at that time, computer simulations of the evolution of the universe had predicted that the Milky Way's neighborhood should be bustling with activity — hosting not a dozen, but thousands, of tiny companions. So where were the missing satellites?

That astronomical riddle went on to bedevil astronomers for nearly two decades. Researchers came up with a number of potential explanations. Some involved speculative new ideas about how galaxies evolve. Others proposed the existence of exotic forms of dark matter — the mysterious substance that makes up 84 percent of the matter in the universe.

But within the past few years something strange happened. New surveys allowed astronomers to find more satellite galaxies that had previously been hidden. At the same time, updated computer simulations predicted the existence of far fewer galaxies than their predecessors did.

In fact, the estimates of galaxy numbers from observational studies and from theoretical simulations converged so quickly that they ended up overshooting each other. Whereas in the early 2000s astronomers worried that there were too few satellites, by 2018 there appeared to be too many. The missing satellites problem had been turned inside out.

The story dives into ultra faint dwarf galaxies, dark matter halos, mini-halos, tiny little ghost galaxies, as well as computer simulations of the Milky Way galaxy having different results depending on whether they were based on dark matter or on our everyday baryonic matter.

upstart writes:

Submitted via IRC for Bytram

Fried food linked to heightened risk of early death among older US women: Fried chicken and fried fish in particular seem to be associated with higher risk of death

Regularly eating fried food is linked with a heightened risk of death from any cause and heart-related death, among postmenopausal women, finds a US study in The BMJ today.

Foods such as fried chicken and fried fish/shellfish were associated with a higher risk of heart-related death, particularly among younger women in the study (aged 50-65 years old).

The researchers suggest that reducing consumption of fried foods, especially fried chicken and fried fish/shellfish, could have a positive public health impact.

Up to a third of North American adults have fast-food every day, and previous studies have suggested that a greater intake of fried food is associated with a higher risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

But evidence about the risk of death linked with eating fried foods is limited and subject to much debate.

So to address this, US researchers investigated the association of eating fried food with death from any cause, and in particular heart and cancer-related death.

[...] After taking account of potentially influential factors such as lifestyle, overall diet quality, education level and income, the researchers found that regularly eating fried foods was associated with a heightened risk of death from any cause and, specifically, heart-related death: those who ate one or more servings a day had an 8% higher risk compared with those who did not eat fried food.

[...] But the researchers found no evidence that eating fried food was associated with cancer-related death.

[...] But the authors highlight the large size and diversity of the study sample, and say that "we have identified a risk factor for cardiovascular mortality that is readily modifiable by lifestyle."

Original Submission

An Anonymous Coward writes:

Google has appealed its case with Oracle to the Supreme Court of the United States over a dispute about whether a java API may be copyrighted.

The ARS Technica Story: Google asks Supreme Court to overrule disastrous ruling on API copyrights.

The consensus among the comments on ARS seem to be that this will result in a substantial amount of litigation. I'm forced to ask whether this future litigation should have happened already, and that this paradigm shift is just a matter of catching up to the effects of a previous bad ruling Lotus v. Borland from the early 1990s.

I get that it is going to cause a lot of code refactoring. But won't that also create a lot of new products? The other thing to consider is that communications protocols are essentially API specifications. Historically intellectual property protection for protocols is very weak. Some (myself at least) would attribute the effectiveness of the EEE business tactic to the inability to defend protocol compatibility within the legal framework provided by the USPTO and Copyright Office.

Which is to say that an Oracle victory may expand the scope of FOSS licensing, giving FOSS developers more say over how their products are used. This would reduce barrier to entry in new communications product markets that are based on FOSS, and give more power to startups.

Yes it is going to be expensive for established players if Oracle wins. Most people seem to agree with that. That is the price of operating on a bad premise. Does it matter whether responsibility for the premise resides with a judge or a CEO? Aren't there also some upsides if Oracle wins? What are the trade offs?

Of course the whole thing could be a put on.

Original Submission

martyb writes:

Here's how to see Black Panther for free during Black History Month:

Ready to go back to Wakanda? Marvel's billion-dollar blockbuster Black Panther came out in 2018, but now that it's up for the Academy Award for best picture, it might be time to watch it again.

The film will be rereleased in theaters for one week at 250 participating AMC theaters, Marvel Studios said Monday, and it's free. Interested moviegoers had better book now. A waiting list will be started once showings fill up. Screenings start Feb. 1.

Popcorn not included.

Original Submission

An Anonymous Coward writes:

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Jan. 29, 2019 - AMD (NASDAQ:AMD) today announced revenue for fiscal year 2018 of $6.48 billion, operating income of $451 million, net income of $337 million and diluted earnings per share of $0.32. On a non-GAAP (1) basis, operating income was $633 million, net income was $514 million and diluted earnings per share was $0.46.

For the fourth quarter of 2018, the Company reported revenue of $1.42 billion, operating income of $28 million, net income of $38 million and diluted earnings per share of $0.04. On a non-GAAP (1) basis, operating income was $109 million, net income was $87 million and diluted earnings per share was $0.08.

[...] Today AMD announced it entered into a seventh amendment to its wafer supply agreement with
GLOBALFOUNDRIES Inc. (GF). GF continues to be a long-term strategic partner to AMD for the 12nm
node and above and the amendment establishes purchase commitments and pricing at 12 nm and above
for the years 2019 through 2021. The amendment provides AMD full flexibility for wafer purchases from
any foundry at the 7nm node and beyond without any one-time payments or royalties.

http://ir.amd.com/static-files/a69f5450-a053-498f-b77d-e3f3ca25f0e9 (pdf)

Original Submission

takyon writes:

ASML to Ship 30 EUV Scanners in 2019: Faster EUV Tools Coming

ASML said last week that it planned to ship 30 extreme ultraviolet scanners in 2019, up significantly from 2018. The plan is not surprising, as demand for EUV lithography tools is rising and semiconductors manufacturers are building new fabs. In addition, ASML indicated plans to introduce a new EUV scanner that will offer a higher production throughput, the NXE: 3400C.

Last year ASML shipped (only) 18 Twinscan NXE: 3400B EUV scanners. This was slightly below its expectations, to supply 20 machines. In total, as of July 2018, there were 31 EUV scanners installed at various fabs across the world, including several machines in various semiconductor research organizations, including imec. If everything goes as planned, ASML will ship more extreme ultraviolet scanners in 2019 than it did in in years before that.

[...] Samsung Foundry has already started to use ASML's EUV equipment for production of commercial chips using its 7LPP process technology at its Fab S3.

[...] TSMC is set to start using its Twinscan NXE scanners for commercial wafers in the second half of this year to produce chips using its N7+ manufacturing technology. Initially EUV scanners will be used for non-critical layers, but their use will be expanded at the 5 nm node in 2020 – 2021.

[...] Demand for ASML's Twinscan NXE tools will be further boosted by demand from Intel and SK Hynix.

Previously: ASML Says Fire at Supplier Prodrive Will Lead to Delays Early Next Year

Related: TSMC Details Scaling/Performance Gains Expected From "5nm CLN5" Process

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Intel Considers $11 Billion Fab in Israel

Late last year Intel announced massive plans to increase its global chip production capacities by upgrading, expanding, and equipping four of its fabs. As it turns out, the company is not going to stop there and is considering to build a brand new fab in Israel, which will cost $11 billion.

Moshe Kahlon, Israeli Finance Minister, on Tuesday confirmed that Intel had applied for a grant of about $1 billion from the government for its new investment plan to build a fab that would cost $11 billion. If everything goes as planned, the investment will not only be the biggest of its kind in Israel, but Intel will also build the largest semiconductor fab in the region. Furthermore, the expansion will add 1,000 new employees to Intel's staff of approximately 13,000 in Israel.

[...] Intel and Ministry of Finance reportedly started talks about the new fab several weeks ago, so the production facility is a few years away.

Previously: Intel to Spend $5 Billion on Fab in Israel, Likely to Produce 10nm Chips

Original Submission

RandomFactor writes:

Accelerated Evolution Biotechnologies Ltd. (AEBi) is making some grandiose claims regarding a new approach to fighting cancer they have been developing dubbed "MuTaTo" (multi-target toxin).

"We believe we will offer in a year's time a complete cure for cancer."

most anti-cancer drugs attack a specific target on or in the cancer cell, [Dr. Ilan Morad] explained. Inhibiting the target usually affects a physiological pathway that promotes cancer. Mutations in the targets – or downstream in their physiological pathways – could make the targets not relevant to the cancer nature of the cell, and hence the drug attacking it is rendered ineffective.

In contrast, MuTaTo is using a combination of several cancer-targeting peptides for each cancer cell at the same time, combined with a strong peptide toxin that would kill cancer cells specifically. By using at least three targeting peptides on the same structure with a strong toxin, Morad said, "we made sure that the treatment will not be affected by mutations;

He continues

"The probability of having multiple mutations that would modify all targeted receptors simultaneously decreases dramatically with the number of targets used. Instead of attacking receptors one at a time, we attack receptors three at a time – not even cancer can mutate three receptors at the same time."

It seems there is a new cancer cure regularly, but hope springs eternal, in this case the research is out of a petri dish and into animal testing.

Morad said that so far, the company has concluded its first exploratory mice experiment, which inhibited human cancer cell growth and had no effect at all on healthy mice cells, in addition to several in-vitro trials. AEBi is on the cusp of beginning a round of clinical trials which could be completed within a few years and would make the treatment available in specific cases.

What say you? 'We're saved!' or 'wake me when it gets through Phase III clinical trials'?

Original Submission