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MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for ErnestTBass

When railroad tracks were first laid across the western U.S., there were eight different gauges all competing to dominate the industry – making a nationwide, unified rail system impossible; it took an act of Congress in 1863 to force the adoption of an industry standard gauge of 4-ft., 8-1⁄2 inches.

FedEx CIO Rob Carter believes the same kind of thing needs to happen for blockchain to achieve widespread enterprise adoption.

While the promise of blockchain to create a more efficient, secure and open platform for ecommerce can be realized using a proprietary platform, it won't be a global solution for whole industries now hampered by a myriad of technical and regulatory hurdles. Instead, a platform based on open-source software and industry standards will be needed to ensure process transparency and no one entity profits from the technology over others.

"I think we're in the state where we're duking it out for the dominant design," Carter said during a CIO panel discussion at the Blockchain Global Revolution Conference here. "We're not an organization that pushes for more regulatory control, but there are times regulatory mandates and pushes can be incredibly helpful."

Source: https://www.computerworld.com/article/3391070/fedex-cio-its-time-to-mandate-blockchain-for-international-shipping.html

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upstart writes:

Submitted via IRC for ErnestTBass

Nikon will help build Velodyne's lidar sensors for future self-driving cars

With the notable exception of one automaker, most companies are generally in agreement that lidar is a vital component of the hardware necessary to enable some degree of vehicle autonomy. However, with all that demand out there, any company that wants its product all over the industry will need to build at scale. To achieve that scale, one lidar manufacturer is reaching out to a company with a lot of lens experience.

Velodyne announced on Thursday that it has signed an agreement with Nikon, in which the company most famous for its cameras will manufacture lidar sensors for Velodyne. Nikon plans to start mass production of Velodyne's lidar in the second half of 2019.

"Mass production of our high-performance lidar sensors is key to advancing Velodyne's immediate plans to expand sales in North America, Europe, and Asia," said Marta Hall, president of Velodyne Lidar, in a statement. "It is our goal to produce lidar in the millions of units with manufacturing partners such as Nikon. Working with Nikon, an expert in precision manufacturing, is a major step toward lowering the cost of our lidar products."

Nikon has already invested $25 million in Velodyne's business, so this manufacturing announcement represents the first big step in their partnership. Velodyne didn't specify how else the two companies plan to join forces, saying only that the pair "will continue to investigate further areas of a wide-ranging and multifaceted business alliance." Velodyne did say, though, that it wants its lidar to be used beyond automotive applications, including agriculture, mapping and security.

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James Orme writes:

Two major banking groups have apologised after some customers struggled to access their online accounts at the start of the new working week.

Some customers with Lloyds Banking Group, which includes Halifax, had issues with internet and mobile banking services on Monday morning.

And NatWest/RBS said a small number of customers may have experienced problems logging into online and mobile banking for a short period on Monday morning.

Both banking groups said services were later running as normal. The groups haven't yet revealed exactly what caused the outage.

Source: https://techerati.com/news-hub/lloyds-halifax-mobile-banking-outage/

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upstart writes:

Submitted via IRC for ErnestTBass

Photoacoustic endoscopy could improve Crohn's disease treatment: Better view of intestinal changes could lead to targeted treatments and fewer adverse effects

A newly developed endoscope could give doctors a better view of intestinal changes caused by Crohn's disease. This additional information would help improve treatment of the painful and debilitating form of inflammatory bowel disease, which currently affects hundreds of thousands of U.S. adults.

Researchers from the University of Michigan describe the new device in The Optical Society (OSA) journal Biomedical Optics Express. The endoscope is used for photoacoustic imaging, a relatively new biomedical imaging method that uses light to produce sound waves in tissue that can be captured with ultrasound imaging.

"This new imaging technology could help more accurately plan therapy for each Crohn's disease patient," said Guan Xu, leader of the research team. "This would allow more targeted treatment and help minimize any adverse effects that might result from treatment."

In Crohn's disease, both inflammation and fibrosis cause the development of strictures -- areas of narrowing -- in the intestines. Although strictures caused by inflammation can be treated with drugs, the ones caused by fibrosis must be removed surgically.

"Currently, there is no imaging modality that can be used in the intestine to distinguish inflammation from fibrosis," said Xu. "The difficulty in accurately assessing the presence and development of ?brosis in the strictures adds a great deal of complexity to Crohn's disease management decisions."

In the new study, the researchers developed a capsule-shaped photoacoustic imaging endoscope to examine whether this imaging technique could be used to characterize inflammation and fibrosis in intestinal strictures. The capsule-shaped probe was 7 millimeters in diameter and 19 millimeters long.

They designed the endoscope to deliver near infrared light at 1310 nanometers because this wavelength is absorbed by collagen protein, which is characteristic of fibrosis. The light absorption causes the protein to expand slightly, leading to a mechanical vibration that can be captured using ultrasound imaging. To generate a strong signal, the researchers constructed the endoscope to maximize delivery of 1310-nanometer light.

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Phoenix666 writes:

Phys.org:

In 2008, New York City's Mayor Bloomberg brought together leading climate scientists, academics and members of the private sector to advise the city on adapting to the impacts of climate change. This group, called the New York City Panel on Climate Change (NPCC), released its 2019 report in March. The report documents that local extreme weather events are becoming more frequent, longer lasting and more intense; temperatures in summer are getting hotter, and heavy downpours are increasing—changes that generally bear out the projections in the 2015 NPCC report.
...
The design guidelines provide criteria to follow depending on the projected life of the building, the anticipated climate impacts and the location. For example, some areas of the city become especially hot in the summer because there is little shade and buildings are dense. Where this urban heat island effect is severe, designers should consider both how their buildings will worsen the heat and how they can withstand the heat. To lessen a building's contribution of heat, the guidelines suggest using light colored and reflective surfaces in building materials and on roofs, improving building insulation, increasing shade by planting trees and other plants, installing a green or blue roof (the latter is designed to store rainfall), and using other permeable surfaces that can retain moisture. To withstand the heat, heating and cooling systems should be assessed for durability; backup power systems might be needed, and passive solar cooling and ventilation is recommended.

Sea level rise and the risk of tidal flooding need to be taken into consideration for all city buildings, especially those sited in current or future floodplains. If the risk is high, the building should be relocated. Otherwise, design strategies include constructing floodwalls or deployable flood barriers at the site, using natural systems such as restored wetlands, employing water-resistant materials, elevating critical systems, installing sump pumps, protecting underground telecommunications systems from damage, and providing backup power.

Maybe the city should take this route instead.

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Phoenix666 writes:

Phys.org

A research collaborative between the University of Hamburg and DESY has developed a process suitable for 3-D printing that can be used to produce transparent and mechanically flexible electronic circuits. The electronics consists of a mesh of silver nanowires that can be printed in suspension and embedded in various flexible and transparent plastics (polymers). This technology can enable new applications such as printable light-emitting diodes, solar cells or tools with integrated circuits, as Tomke Glier from the University of Hamburg and her colleagues report in the journal Scientific Reports. The researchers are demonstrating the potential of their process with a flexible capacitor, among other things.

On a tour of Ford's Advanced Manufacturing Division last week they said that given the current speeds and capabilities of 3D printers tool-making and rapid prototyping are the places to realize the best gains, because they can do in hours and hundreds of dollars of feedstock what takes weeks and tens of thousands of dollars to do with outside suppliers. Further, they're integrating the design and printing process with Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) rigs such that teams all over the world can collaborate and prove out plans before they're implemented. Being able to integrate electronic circuits into a print can only boost those advantages.

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Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

In Ukraine, a cyberattack can mean a freezing night without power. But in the United States, it often seems like just one more unavoidable hassle of modern life. People change a few passwords, maybe sign up for credit monitoring, and then go on with life. But for the organizations on the receiving end—Target, Equifax, the federal government’s Office of Personnel Management, just to name a few—a cyberattack can mean scrambling to get systems back on line, setting up response war rooms, and, of course, paying huge bills for missed orders or new equipment.

And US businesses may no longer be able to rely on insurance to cover their losses. In an era of unceasing cyberattacks, including cases of state-sponsored hacking, insurance companies are beginning to re-interpret an old line in their contracts known as the “war exclusion.” Stripping away the metaphorical connotation of the term “cyberwarfare,” big insurers like Zurich Insurance have decided that state-sponsored attacks are basically just plain warfare. This shift comes as the US government is increasingly attributing state-sponsored cyberattacks to their alleged perpetrators, a development that some argue is a means of holding bad actors accountable.

But the policy certainly doesn’t seem to be doing any favors to the private sector.

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upstart writes:

Submitted via IRC for ErnestTBass

The FDA just cleared an iPhone ECG sensor that beats the Apple Watch

Apple Watch wearers and fitness enthusiasts were ecstatic when Apple Watch Series 4 came out with a built-in electrocardiogram (ECG) monitor that detects irregular heart rate. And rightfully so -- early detection of atrial fibrillation (AFib) could prevent a serious medical event.

Now, a tiny smartphone accessory from life sciences company AliveCor goes two steps further: The KardiaMobile EKG Monitor detects tachycardia (unusually high heart rate) and bradycardia (unusually low heart rate).

[...] Tachycardia and bradycardia aren't often anything to worry about -- many people experience a low heart rate during sleep and daily stress can cause a high heart rate. But sometimes, these heart arrhythmias can be indicative of severe anxiety, heart disease, thyroid conditions or other health complications.

"No other consumer ECG device in the world can tell you more about your heart than KardiaMobile," said Ira Bahr, AliveCor CEO, in a statement. "Until today, patients have been frustrated when devices label their ECG reading as 'unclassified' or 'inconclusive.'"

AliveCor's device has the potential to reduce those unclassified and inconclusive readings. However, even AliveCor points out that your KardiaMobile EKG readings shouldn't replace conversations with your doctor. Rather, you should use the KardiaMobile readings to inform those conversations.

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upstart writes:

Submitted via IRC for ErnestTBass

Researchers reveal how bacteria can adapt to resist treatment by antibiotics

In a joint collaboration, researchers from Denmark and Switzerland have shown that bacteria produce a specific stress molecule, divide more slowly, and thus save energy when they are exposed to antibiotics. The new knowledge is expected to form the basis for development of a new type of antibiotics.

All free-living organisms are under constant pressure to survive. Darwin dubbed this "survival of the fittest" and thus described how the best adapted species would have most offspring and therefore eventually end up propagating itself.

This fundamental principle is particularly prominent in the world of microorganisms, where free-living bacteria live in a constant fight to be the most well adapted and thus those who divide fastest in any given natural habitat. But when bacteria at the same time are exposed to deadly antibiotics, this fight becomes a question of balancing fitness, i.e. the ability to divide fast, with tolerance towards antibiotics. This amazing adaptability of bacteria is a contributing factor to the severity of infectious diseases in humans, including tuberculosis and severe urinary tract infection, for which the disease often resurfaces after treatment has ended.

In a new research paper, just published in the high-impact journal Molecular Cell, researchers from Aarhus University have collaborated with experts from the University of Copenhagen and the technical university ETH Zürich in Switzerland and taken a close look at how bacteria handle this difficult balancing act. The results show that bacteria very quickly reduce their rate of cell division when exposed to antibiotics in order to maintain the highest possible tolerance, but quickly start growing again when the substances are removed and fitness is the most important factor.

[...] It is expected that the new knowledge about the molecular basis for the reaction of bacteria to antibiotics can be used to develop a whole new type of antibiotics that prevent bacteria from saving up energy and thus adapt to the treatment.

Yong Everett Zhang, René Lysdal Bærentsen, Tobias Fuhrer, Uwe Sauer, Kenn Gerdes, Ditlev Egeskov Brodersen. (p)ppGpp Regulates a Bacterial Nucleosidase by an Allosteric Two-Domain Switch. Molecular Cell, 2019; DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2019.03.035

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MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for ErnestTBass

The Atlanta Hawks need to play better defense online after a security researcher discovered malware at the basketball team's online store.

The merchandise website for the Hawks, the 12th-ranked team in the NBA's Eastern conference, was infected with malware designed to steal credit card information, according to Willem de Groot, lead forensic analyst at Sanguine Security.

De Groot said he first spotted the malware April 20 and noted it was stealing the names, addresses and credit card numbers of Hawks fans. He said he notified the team on Tuesday.

"We take these threats seriously and are investigating," a Hawks spokesperson said. The malware is no longer active on the site, the representative said.

The malware represents the latest example of a credit-card skimming scam that's gained steam over the last few years. During the last several months, NewEgg, British Airways and Ticketmaster UK were among the victims of the same type of attack, perpetrated by Magecart, the world's largest credit card-skimming operation, made up of different hacking groups.

De Groot said Magecart, which targets popular online stores with security vulnerabilities, also hit Hawks Shop, a site for Atlanta Hawks fans to buy hats, jerseys and other team gear.

"The frequency of hacked stores has gone down somewhat. However, the volume of stolen transactions apparently has gone up," de Groot said. "They seem to have shifted from hacking many small stores (automated breaches) to manual breaches of larger, more profitable targets."

Source: https://www.cnet.com/news/hackers-hit-atlanta-hawks-with-malware-stealing-credit-card-information/

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upstart writes:

Submitted via IRC for ErnestTBass

Study shows the potential of carbon nanotubes to cool electronic circuits

The use of solid-state refrigerators to cool appliances and electronic devices is a possible technological application for a theoretical study conducted at the University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in São Paulo State, Brazil.

Although this application is not considered in the study, which was based on computer simulations, such applications are on the horizon and could be an efficient and environmentally friendly alternative to vapor-compression refrigerators, which currently dominate the market and contribute to ozone depletion and global warming.

The study, led by Alexandre Fonseca with participation by his former student Tiago Cantuário, was part of the project "Carbon nanostructures: modeling and simulations," supported by São Paulo Research Foundation—FAPESP. The results are published in an article in the journal Annalen der Physik.

"Solid-state cooling is a young field of research with promising results. The method we investigated is based on the so-called elastocaloric effect (ECE), which makes use of temperature variations in a system in response to mechanical stress. We performed computer simulations of this effect in carbon nanotubes," Fonseca said.

number11 writes:

Possible restitution from Prenda copyright trolls

Know anybody who got extorted by settled out of court with Steele Hansmeier/Prenda/Alpha Law, Anti-Piracy Group, AF Holdings, Ingenuity 13, Guava LLC, Livewire, or LW Systems for (allegedly or actually) downloading porn vids?

After admitting to several criminal acts, Prenda Law attorneys John Steele and Paul Hansmeier will be sentenced a few weeks from now. In addition to prison sentences, the court may order the two to pay restitution. To facilitate this process, the U.S. Attorney's Office of the District of Minnesota is inviting victims of the fraudulent anti-piracy lawyers to come forward.

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takyon writes:

Ok Google, please ignore this free tax filing code so we can keep on screwing America: TurboTax and H&R Block find robots.txt to hide in plain sight

The United States' tax-filing software industry actively prevents search engines from discovering their free-filing versions, it has been discovered, adding further criticism to an industry that drives Americans toward unnecessary paid-for products.

Internet users, incensed at efforts by the tax filing software market to legally lock-in their business model, have been digging into the actions of Intuit and competitors including H&R Block and discovered that the webpages for their free tax filing software has code to stop search engines like Google from linking to or indexing to it. It is, of course the robots.txt file that is used by webmasters to indicate where it doesn't want search engine robots to look. Typically this is used to stop search engines from accidentally gathering confidential information. It is a sort of honor system that has been in place since the early days of the internet.

[...] The IRS has agreed not to develop free software for its own systems so long as the software industry offers free versions for anyone earning under $66,000 a year or anyone receiving an income tax credit. Over time however, the power dynamic between the IRS – which has increasingly been starved of funds – and the software industry – which has grown rich from charging tens of millions of Americans every year to navigate the overly complex US tax system - has flipped.

RandomFactor writes:

The FCC has approved a modification to SpaceX's plan to loft 1,500 low orbit satellites to provide internet service to all parts of the globe.

In November, SpaceX sent a request to the FCC to partially revise plans for the company’s satellite internet constellation, known as Starlink. Under SpaceX’s original agreement with the commission, the company had permission to launch 4,425 Starlink satellites into orbits that ranged between 1,110 to 1,325 kilometers up. But then SpaceX decided it wanted to fly 1,584 of those satellites in different orbits, thanks to what it had learned from its first two test satellites, TinTin A and B. Instead of flying them at 1,150 kilometers, the company now wants to fly them much lower at 550 kilometers.

And now the FCC is on board. “This approval underscores the FCC’s confidence in SpaceX’s plans to deploy its next-generation satellite constellation and connect people around the world with reliable and affordable broadband service,” SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell said in a statement.

"“This approval underscores the FCC’s confidence in SpaceX’s plans.”"

SpaceX argues that by operating satellites at this orbit, the Starlink constellation will have much lower latency in signal, cutting down transmission time to just 15 milliseconds.

The first batch of satellites is already at the launch site and is expected to liftoff sometime in May. SpaceX plans to launch a total of nearly 12,000 satellites to build its Starlink satellite constellation, although most of these will be in higher orbits.

Not everyone was happy about SpaceX’s updated plans, though. OneWeb, another company developing a large satellite internet network, and satellite operator Kepler Communications both filed petitions to deny SpaceX’s request for a change to the FCC. They both argue that since SpaceX uses similar frequencies, the Starlink satellites could interfere with their satellites if moved to a lower orbit. But ultimately, the FCC did not think interference would be an issue.

There are other companies undertaking similar projects. Previously-mentioned OneWeb has already launched the initial six satellites of an eventual buildout of 650 satellites. Amazon has announced its own internet initiative called Project Kuiper which will put another 3,236 satellites in orbit.

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RandomFactor writes:

China's Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) recently became the first facility in the world to generate plasma temperatures of 100 Million degrees Celsius (180 Million Fahrenheit).

For comparison, the temperature at the core of the Sun is a paltry 15 Million degrees Celsius (27 Million Fahrenheit)

EAST is part of the multi-billion dollar International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project which seeks to demonstrate the feasibility of nuclear fusion as a power source. ITER is funded by the EU, USA, India, Russia, South Korea, Japan, and China.

China's quest for clean, limitless energy heats up

Wu Songtao, a top Chinese engineer with ITER, conceded that China's technical capabilities on fusion still lag behind more developed countries, and that US and Japanese tokamaks have achieved more valuable overall results.

But the Anhui test reactor underlines China's fast-improving scientific advancement and its commitment to achieve yet more.

China's capabilities "have developed rapidly in the past 20 years, especially after catching the ITER express train," Wu said.

In an interview with state-run Xinhua news agency in 2017, ITER's Director-General Bernard Bigot lauded China's government as "highly motivated" on fusion.

China is also planning a separate fusion reactor that it hopes will be able to generate commercially viable fusion power in about thirty years and has already promised six billion yuan ($890 million) to that project.

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