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Phoenix666 writes:

ScienceMag:

Plastic makes up nearly 70% of all ocean litter, putting countless aquatic species at risk. But there is a tiny bit of hope—a teeny, tiny one to be precise: Scientists have discovered that microscopic marine microbes are eating away at the plastic, causing trash to slowly break down.

[...] Both types of plastic lost a significant amount of weight after being exposed to the natural and engineered microbes, scientists reported in April in the Journal of Hazardous Materials. The microbes further changed the chemical makeup of the material, causing the polyethylene’s weight to go down by 7% and the polystyrene’s weight to go down by 11%. These findings may offer a new strategy to help combat ocean pollution: Deploy marine microbes to eat up the trash. However, researchers still need to measure how effective these microbes would be on a global scale.

Perhaps one day Earth's inheritors will snack on Big Mac...wrappers.

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

The Register:

Terrorists have been caught strapping Wi-Fi-activated backup triggers to bombs in Indonesia, police claimed this week.

The explosives were discovered in a raid earlier this month, and included a switching mechanism that enabled them to be detonated using a signal sent via Wi-Fi if the main trigger, which uses a SIM card and waits for a mobile phone message to detonate, was blocked by radio-frequency jammers.

"With that, he can put [the bombs] in some backpacks, and later he would just detonate them from a distance of 1km, for example," said Brigadier-General Dedi Prasetyo at a press conference, according to The Strait Times.
...
Even though Wi-Fi will not travel as far as some cellphone signals, the police said that a careful construction of routers and amplifiers can extend the range as far as one kilometer. Which, while it may be news to people that deal with dead spots in their own house, is alarming to security forces trying to secure large areas full of people.

It might be fun to try infrasound, too.

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Phoenix666 writes:

CNet:

New York state Sen. John Liu introduced a bill last week that would ban texting while walking. Pedestrians could be fined between $25 and $250 if they're seen "using any portable device" while crossing a roadway, according to a copy of the bill obtained by The Guardian.

"Using" a device means looking at it, playing games, being online, sending emails, texting and more, according to the bill. The legislation makes exceptions for emergency first-responders and those trying to contact hospitals, fire departments, police and other emergency services.

The penalties for people who don't look up from their phones while crossing are already pretty high, aren't they?

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

New Scientist:

We think that Pluto is hiding a liquid ocean, but why it hasn't frozen is a big mystery. Now it seems that gas trapped inside the bottom layer of its icy outer shell may be keeping it warm.
...
The layer would be made out of a material called a gas hydrate, which occurs when gas molecules get trapped between frozen water molecules. "It's not bubbles, it's a little microscopic cage for keeping gas atoms in," says Nimmo. "It doesn't look very different from regular ice, but it's got all that gas in there."

Gas hydrates are much better insulators than water ice, so the researchers calculated that this extra layer could keep the ocean around and maintain the ice shell as we see it now. This may help explain why Pluto's tenuous atmosphere has lots of nitrogen but almost no methane – it's much easier for methane to get caught in a gas hydrate and kept underground.

Perhaps we should send our climate-harming cows to Pluto...

Also at ScienceAlert and Space.com.

Pluto's ocean is capped and insulated by gas hydrates (DOI: 10.1038/s41561-019-0369-8) (DX)

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martyb writes:

The Pun-Loving Computer Programs that Write Adverts:

"Have a suite stay" read an ad for a hotel offering all-suite rooms. A neat - if obvious - pun you might think.

But what made this ad noteworthy was that it was created by an automated copywriting programme developed by Dentsu Aegis Network, the marketing giant.

The firm launched its natural language generation algorithm last year to increase output after changes were made to Google's advertising system, explains Audrey Kuah, the firm's managing director.

The programme creates 20 to 25 full ads a second in English and is "trained" by feeding it thousands of the kind of ads it is meant to produce, she says.

[...] Google's "cost-per-click-basis" advertising system, whereby the cost of an ad falls the more it is clicked on, encourages clients to play it safe, says Ms Kuah, making the ads rather pedestrian.

[...] So they began to "feed" the algorithm with editorial headlines from travel articles and idioms to see if it could learn "more flowery" language.

[...] "Our ambition is to train this AI [artificial intelligence] copywriter to learn how to inject a little bit of that human creativity, which today is taken out of the search advertising system because it may not be so readily rewarded," she says.

[...] Ms Kuah says the Dentsu Aegis algorithm sometimes gets confused when you give it new information.

"It will start to go haywire," she says. "You will suddenly have things that don't make sense appear. So it's a little bit like teaching a wayward dog that doesn't want to sit."

All the better to manipulate people so they will buy their stuff. Is this how SkyNet will be created?

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An Anonymous Coward writes:

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20190516/06282042219/after-five-year-legal-battle-top-judges-rule-that-uks-spying-activities-can-be-challenged-ordinary-courts.shtml

The digital rights group Privacy International has won a major victory against UK government surveillance after a five-year legal battle. One of the many shocking revelations of Edward Snowden was that the UK security and intelligence services break into computers and mobile phones on a massive scale. Privacy International challenged this "bulk" surveillance at the UK's Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT), the "judicial body which operates independently of government to provide a right of redress for anyone who believes they have been a victim of unlawful action by a public authority using covert investigative techniques". In February 2016, the IPT dismissed Privacy International's challenge, ruling that:

the UK government may use sweeping 'general warrants' to engage in computer hacking of thousands or even millions of devices, without any approval from by a judge or reasonable grounds for suspicion. The Government argued that it would be lawful in principle to use a single warrant signed off by a Minister (not a judge) to hack every mobile phone in a UK city -- and the IPT agreed with the Government.

[...]Undeterred, the digital rights group applied for and was granted permission to appeal to the UK's Supreme Court, which has now ruled that IPT decisions can indeed be challenged in the courts (pdf).

[...]Privacy International intends to take advantage of the new judgment immediately to tackle the UK's bulk surveillance revealed by Snowden:

Today's ruling paves the way for Privacy International's challenge to the UK Government's use of bulk computer hacking warrants. Our challenge has been delayed for years by the Government's persistent attempt to protect the IPT's decisions from scrutiny. We are heartened that our case will now go forward.

Original Submission

upstart writes:

Submitted via IRC for AnonymousLuser

Lenovo stole a fan's video to promote the foldable Motorola RAZR

Yesterday, Lenovo shared a promotional video for the rumored foldable Motorola RAZR. While the 30-second teaser was shared with members of the media during a group interview and was accompanied by the Lenovo logo, it appears that the company used video from a fan and branded it as its own. The footage that was played by Lenovo was actually spliced together from a render created by tech YouTuber Waqar Khan. According to Khan, he didn't give Lenovo permission to use the concept images that he created. Engadget has reached out to Lenovo and Motorola regarding the video and will update this story if we hear back.

The clip Lenovo showed to the press yesterday appears to be cut together from a number of renders that was first seen in a video titled "Motorola RAZR 2019 - Introduction & First Look!" that was uploaded to by Khan to YouTube on February 9th of this year. Many of the images in Lenovo's video are identical to those that appear in Khan's, and it even looks like Khan's Twitter handle watermark is still present in the footage shared by Lenovo. However, Lenovo's video ends with the company's logo, making it look like an official product.

Despite Lenovo's branding appearing on the footage, Khan confirmed that he was not approached by the company regarding the renders. "They used it without my permission," he told Engadget via direct message on Twitter. "I don't know what's going [on], man."

Original Submission

martyb writes:

DOJ Leans Against Approving T-Mobile's Takeover of Sprint:

The Justice Department is leaning against approving T-Mobile US Inc.'s proposed takeover of Sprint Corp., according to a person familiar with the review, even after the companies won the backing of the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.

The remedies proposed by the wireless carriers earlier Monday don't go far enough to resolve the department's concerns that the deal risks harming competition, said the person, who asked not to be named because the investigation is confidential.

Opposition to the deal by the Justice Department's antitrust chief, Makan Delrahim, would mark a rare break with the FCC. The two agencies work side by side on merger reviews and typically emerge on the same page about whether to approve deals.

Earlier on Monday, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said he would recommend approval of T-Mobile's $26.5 billion deal for Sprint after the companies offered a package of concessions, including spinning off Sprint's Boost pre-paid brand, to win regulators' blessing.

[...] More than a dozen states attorneys general are also investigating the deal and have raised concerns about harm to consumers. The states have signaled they may sue to block the deal even if the Justice Department clears it.

Original Submission

canopic jug writes:

Ross Anderson, a British professor who was recently denied entrance to the US, well-known for his extensive background in cryptography and computer security research, is in the process of writing a new edition of his book on computer security engineering. So far, the preface and two chapters of Security Engineering, 3rd edition are online available for review. Other chapters will follow online as well. The first and second editions will remain available too.

Today I put online a chapter on Who is the Opponent, which draws together what we learned from Snowden and others about the capabilities of state actors, together with what we've learned about cybercrime actors as a result of running the Cambridge Cybercrime Centre. Isn't it odd that almost six years after Snowden, nobody's tried to pull together what we learned into a coherent summary?

There's also a chapter on Surveillance or Privacy which looks at policy. What's the privacy landscape now, and what might we expect from the tussles over data retention, government backdoors and censorship more generally?

Earlier on SN:
Sustainable Security for Durable Goods (2018)
Daniel Stenberg, Author of cURL and libcurl, Denied US Visit Again (2018)

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

IWEA:

"Wind energy is an Irish success story, driving down electricity costs for consumers, cutting millions of tonnes of CO2 emissions every year and securing a homegrown energy future that doesn't depend on importing fossil fuels."

The 37 per cent share of electricity demand amounted to more than 2.8 million MWh of electricity, compared to 2.7 million in the first quarter of 2018. The average Irish household uses approximately 4.5 MWh of electricity every year.

The total installed capacity of Ireland's wind farms has now risen to 3,700 MW, approximately enough to power 2.2 million Irish homes annually.

Ireland is becoming green in more ways than one.

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

Fast Company:

LeanIn.org and SurveyMonkey just released the results of a survey on the state of men and women interacting in the workplace in the age of #MeToo. The results are frustrating. The data reveals that 60% of male managers say they are uncomfortable performing common workplace activities such as mentoring, working one on one, or socializing with a woman. That's a 32% increase over last year.

To add insult to insult, senior-level men who were surveyed are now far more hesitant to spend time with junior female colleagues than junior male ones, across a range of basic work activities. The men were 12 times more likely to hesitate to have one-on-one meetings, nine times more likely to hesitate to travel with a junior woman for work, and six times more likely to hesitate to have a work dinner with a junior woman.

(Emphasis from original retained.)

A 32% increase in one year is a dramatic social trend.

Original Submission

ikanreed writes:

In 1996, the an early genomic study found a correlation between variants of the SLC6A4 gene and clinical depression. For years after, researchers wrote paper after paper describing possible mechanisms and more detailed relationships of the gene and depression.

The Atlantic has an article about how a 2005 study using better methods and a larger sample set found no correlation, but researchers continued to treat the original (weak) correlation as a valid basis for further study for years later.

"You would have thought that would have dampened enthusiasm for that particular candidate gene, but not at all," he says. "Any evidence that the results might not be reliable was simply not what many people wanted to hear."

While this may not be the only case of suspect evidence leading to mountains of papers of dubious quality in scientific history, it's certainly a very modern one that raises the question of how far the replication crisis extends into the "hard sciences" rather than just the softer sort.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Google announces a new $999 Glass augmented reality headset

Google has announced a new version of its business-focused Glass augmented reality headset, which it's now designating an official Google product instead of an experiment. The Glass Enterprise Edition 2 costs $999, although, like its predecessor, it's not being sold directly to consumers. It's got a new processor, an improved camera, a USB-C port for faster charging, and a variety of other updates.

Google still isn't positioning Glass as a mainstream product. But it seems to be expecting greater sales of the Glass Enterprise Edition 2. The device has been moved out of the Google X "moonshot factory" and into the main Google family of products, letting Google "meet the demands of the growing market for wearables in the workplace," according to a blog post.

See also: Google unveils new $999 smart glasses for businesses, undercutting Microsoft's HoloLens on price
Google's next-gen Glass eyewear lasts longer and runs on Android
Glass graduates from Alphabet's X as it scores new hardware update

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

Phys.org:

Colonies of social insects are capable of self-organizing and accomplishing complex tasks through individual interactions. For example, to march across large gaps, ants grip the bodies of each other, forming a living bridge that allows the colonies to reach the other side. Inspired by this swarm behavior of ants, scientists from the Chinese University of Hong Kong developed a nanoparticle self-assembly system that can fix broken electrical circuits.

The nanoparticles, made of iron oxide, have magnetic properties and can be controlled by a magnetic field. They are coated with a layer of gold that can conduct electricity. Under an external magnetic field, the nanoparticles can self-organize into a ribbon-like, conductive structure. The length and thickness of the nanoparticle ribbon can be controlled by fine-tuning the field, and the ribbons "dry" into hard structures after the magnetic field has been turned off. This "microswarm" system has demonstrated capabilities of fixing broken microscale circuits by making a stable and permanent conductive pathway between two disconnected electrodes, mimicking the structure and functionality of ant bridges.

The particles piggyback on the magnetic field to bridge the gap.

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

ScienceDaily:

New discoveries made at the Klasies River Cave in South Africa's southern Cape, where charred food remains from hearths were found, provide the first archaeological evidence that anatomically modern humans were roasting and eating plant starches, such as those from tubers and rhizomes, as early as 120,000 years ago.
...
"Our results showed that these small ashy hearths were used for cooking food and starchy roots and tubers were clearly part of their diet, from the earliest levels at around 120,000 years ago through to 65,000 years ago," says Larbey. "Despite changes in hunting strategies and stone tool technologies, they were still cooking roots and tubers."
...
By combining cooked roots and tubers as a staple with protein and fats from shellfish, fish, small and large fauna, these communities were able to optimally adapt to their environment, indicating great ecological intelligence as early as 120,000 years ago.

"Starch diet isn't something that happens when we started farming, but rather, is as old as humans themselves," says Larbey. Farming in Africa only started in the last 10,000 years of human existence.

"Meat and potatoes" is much older than you thought.

Original Submission