SoylentNews

An Anonymous Coward writes:

Analysis of official deceased organ donation data casts doubt on the credibility of China's organ transplant reform:

Background

Since 2010 the People's Republic of China has been engaged in an effort to reform its system of organ transplantation by developing a voluntary organ donation and allocation infrastructure. This has required a shift in the procurement of organs sourced from China's prison and security apparatus to hospital-based voluntary donors declared dead by neurological and/or circulatory criteria. Chinese officials announced that from January 1, 2015, hospital-based donors would be the sole source of organs. This paper examines the availability, transparency, integrity, and consistency of China's official transplant data.

[...] Results

COTRS [(China Organ Transplant Response System )] data conforms almost precisely to a mathematical formula (which first appeared to be a general quadratic, but with further confirmatory data was discovered to be a simpler one-parameter quadratic) while Central Red Cross data mirrors it, albeit imperfectly. The analysis of both datasets suggests human-directed data manufacture and manipulation. Contradictory, implausible, or anomalous data artefacts were found in five provincial datasets, suggesting that these data may have been manipulated to enforce conformity with central quotas. A number of the distinctive features of China's current organ procurement and allocation system are discussed, including apparent misclassification of nonvoluntary donors as voluntary.

Conclusion

A variety of evidence points to what the authors believe can only be plausibly explained by systematic falsification and manipulation of official organ transplant datasets in China. Some apparently nonvoluntary donors also appear to be misclassified as voluntary. This takes place alongside genuine voluntary organ transplant activity, which is often incentivized by large cash payments. These findings are relevant for international interactions with China's organ transplantation system.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-019-0406-6

Original Submission

upstart writes in with a submission, via IRC, for Bytram.

Americans and Privacy: Concerned, Confused and Feeling Lack of Control Over Their Personal Information

A majority of Americans believe their online and offline activities are being tracked and monitored by companies and the government with some regularity. It is such a common condition of modern life that roughly six-in-ten U.S. adults say they do not think it is possible to go through daily life without having data collected about them by companies or the government.

Data-driven products and services are often marketed with the potential to save users time and money or even lead to better health and well-being. Still, large shares of U.S. adults are not convinced they benefit from this system of widespread data gathering. Some 81% of the public say that the potential risks they face because of data collection by companies outweigh the benefits, and 66% say the same about government data collection. At the same time, a majority of Americans report being concerned about the way their data is being used by companies (79%) or the government (64%). Most also feel they have little or no control over how these entities use their personal information, according to a new survey of U.S. adults by Pew Research Center that explores how Americans feel about the state of privacy in the nation.

Americans' concerns about digital privacy extend to those who collect, store and use their personal information. Additionally, majorities of the public are not confident that corporations are good stewards of the data they collect. For example, 79% of Americans say they are not too or not at all confident that companies will admit mistakes and take responsibility if they misuse or compromise personal information, and 69% report having this same lack of confidence that firms will use their personal information in ways they will be comfortable with.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science researchers have completed a study on the impact of Conowingo Dam on water quality in Chesapeake Bay. Scientists synthesized field observations, model results, and long-term monitoring data to better understand the potential impacts of nutrient pollution associated with sediment transported from behind the Dam to the Bay.

"This synthesis is important for bringing the best science to Bay management decisions by considering the entire Susquehanna-Conowingo-upper Bay system and integrating insights from several related studies," said Peter Goodwin, president of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. "Since most rivers around the world are dammed, understanding potential impacts to adjacent estuaries is highly relevant to international scientific and management communities."

Dams initially starve downstream ecosystems of both sediments and particulate nutrients by trapping them in upstream reservoirs. Eventually, however, these reservoirs fill, increasing the delivery of sediment and nutrients to downstream ecosystems, especially during storm events when stored sediments can be scoured. Since its construction in 1928, Conowingo Dam has trapped most of the Susquehanna River watershed sediment and associated particulate nitrogen and phosphorus before they enter Chesapeake Bay. However, its storage capacity has significantly decreased, raising questions of potential impacts to Bay ecosystems.

upstart writes in with a submission, via IRC, for SoyCow1337.

New NextCry Ransomware Encrypts Data on NextCloud Linux Servers

A new ransomware has been found in the wild that is currently undetected by antivirus engines on public scanning platforms. Its name is NextCry due to the extension appended to encrypted files and that it targets clients of the NextCloud file sync and share service.

The malware targets Nextcloud instances and for the time being there is no free decryption tool available for victims.

xact64, a Nextcloud user, posted on the BleepingComputer forum some details about the malware in an attempt to find a way to decrypt personal files.

Although his system was backed up, the synchronization process had started to update files on a laptop with their encrypted version on the server. He took action the moment he saw the files renamed but some of them still got processed by NextCry, otherwise known as Next-Cry.

“I realized immediately that my server got hacked and those files got encrypted. The first thing I did was pull the server to limit the damage that was being done (only 50% of my files got encrypted)” - xact64

Looking at the malware binary, Michael Gillespie said that the threat seems new and pointed out the NextCry ransomware uses Base64 to encode the file names. The odd part is that an encrypted file's content is also encoded this way, after first being encrypted.

The malware has not been submitted to the ID Ransomware service before but some details are available. BleepingComputer discovered that NextCry is a Python script compiled in a Linux ELF binary using pyInstaller. At the moment of writing, not one antivirus engine on the VirusTotal scanning platform detects it.

upstart writes in with a submission, via IRC, for SoyCow1337.

Pre-installed apps on low-end Android phones are full of security holes

In what has become an annual reckoning, security research company Kryptowire recently published its 2019 report on the state of manufacturer-installed software and firmware for Android devices and, to no one's surprise, they found more than 140 bugs which could be exploited for malicious purposes.

The DHS-funded report uncovered 146 apps, which come pre-installed on inexpensive Android handsets, would pull shenanigans like eavesdropping through the microphone, unilaterally changing their permissions or surreptitiously transmitting data back to the manufacturer without ever notifying the user.

Kryptowire found these bugs on phones from 29 different manufacturers from relatively unknowns like Cubot and Doogee to marquee companies include Sony. And given that the average Android come with anywhere from 100 to 400 apps pre-installed, often bundled as part of larger app suites, these vulnerabilities pose a growing threat to users.

Original Submission

upstart writes in with a submission, via IRC, for SoyCow1337.

One of CRISPR's inventors has called for controls on gene-editing technology

Regulators need to pay more attention to controlling CRISPR, the revolutionary gene-editing tool, says Jennifer Doudna.[*]

The anniversary is that of the announcement by a Chinese scientist, He Jiankui, that he had created gene-edited twin girls. That was a medical felony as far as Doudna is concerned, an unnecessary experiment that violated the doctor’s rule to avoid causing harm and ignored calls not to proceed.

“I believe that moratoria are no longer strong enough countermeasures,” she writes, adding that there are “moments in the history of every disruptive technology that can make or break its public perception and acceptance.”

But the same advances mean that “the temptation to tinker with the human germline” is not going to go away, Doudna says. That language—tinkering and temptation—makes it clear she thinks designer babies are a Pandora’s box we might not want to open.

Doudna specifically calls out Russia, since a scientist there is bidding to use the technology again to make babies.

[*] Wikipedia entry on Jennifer Doudna.

Original Submission

upstart writes:

Submitted via IRC for Runaway1956__

Boeing received 'unnecessary' contract boost for astronaut capsule, watchdog says

Boeing’s multibillion dollar contract to build U.S. astronaut capsules received an “unnecessary” extension from NASA, a watchdog report said on Thursday, the latest management blunders in the agency’s program to restart domestic human spaceflight.

NASA agreed to pay Boeing Co (BA.N) a $287 million premium for “additional flexibilities” to accelerate production of the company’s Starliner crew vehicle and avoid an 18-month gap in flights to the International Space Station. NASA’s inspector general called it an “unreasonable” boost to Boeing’s fixed-priced $4.2 billion dollar contract.

Instead, the inspector general said the space agency could have saved $144 million by making “simple changes” to Starliner’s planned launch schedule, including buying additional seats from Russia’s space agency, which the United States has been reliant on since the 2011 retirement of its space shuttle program.

[...] In a response to the inspector general’s report, NASA “strongly” disagreed with the report’s findings that it overpaid Boeing, though it did agree the “complex and extensive” negotiations with the aerospace company could have resulted in a lower price.

“However, this is an opinion, three years after the fact and there is no evidence to support the conclusion that Boeing would have agreed to lower prices,” the agency said in a letter to the inspector general.

Original Submission

barbara hudson writes:

In 1951 Isaac Asimov inflicted psychohistory on the world with the Foundation Trilogy. Now, thanks to data sets going back more than 2,500 years, scientists have discovered the rules underlying the rise and fall of civilizations, after examining more than 400 such historical societies crash and burn - or in some cases avoid crashing. More here:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/nov/12/history-as-a-giant-data-set-how-analysing-the-past-could-help-save-the-future

Turchin's approach to history, which uses software to find patterns in massive amounts of historical data, has only become possible recently, thanks to the growth in cheap computing power and the development of large historical datasets. This "big data" approach is now becoming increasingly popular in historical disciplines. Tim Kohler, an archaeologist at Washington State University, believes we are living through "the glory days" of his field, because scholars can pool their research findings with unprecedented ease and extract real knowledge from them. In the future, Turchin believes, historical theories will be tested against large databases, and the ones that do not fit – many of them long-cherished – will be discarded. Our understanding of the past will converge on something approaching an objective truth.

Discuss. Or throw rocks.

Original Submission

upstart writes:

Submitted via IRC for Runaway1956__

Study: There may be no such thing as objective reality

Everyone is entitled to their own facts. That's not an opinion. At least, according to a new quantum mechanics study.

What we view as objective reality – the idea that what we can observe, measure, and prove is real and those things we cannot are theoretical or imaginary – is actually a subjective reality that we either unravel, create, or dis-obfuscate by the simple act of observation.

A smarter way of putting it can be found in the aforementioned study, "Experimental test of nonlocal causality" conducted by lead author Martin Ringbauer and an international team of physicists and researchers:

Explaining observations in terms of causes and effects is central to empirical science. However, correlations between entangled quantum particles seem to defy such an explanation. This implies that some of the fundamental assumptions of causal explanations have to give way.

Also at The Conversation

Original Submission

upstart writes:

Submitted via IRC for SoyCow1337

DDoS-for-Hire Services Owner Sentenced to 13 Months in Prison

Sergiy P. Usatyuk, the owner and admin of several DDoS-for-hire services also known as booters or stressers, was sentenced to 13 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release.

Booters are web-based platforms designed to allow cybercriminals for a small fee or subscription to launch distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) against a target of their choice, leading to the victim's servers being "booted" from the Internet.

These type of attack tools are usually very cheap and allow anyone to hit online services, websites, or servers with a large scale DDoS attack, and have become increasingly popular during the last five years.

He was sentenced on one count of conspiracy to cause damage to internet-connected computers for launching millions of DDoS attacks against victims from the U.S. and all over the world with the help of booter services he owned, administered, or supported.

Usatyuk was also ordered by Chief U.S. District Judge Terrence W. Boyle to forfeit dozens of servers, computer equipment, as well as $542,925 in proceeds from his illegal scheme.

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Tropical Cyclone Kalmaegi is still experiencing wind shear and those winds have continued to displace the strongest storms north of the cyclone's center. NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite passed overhead and identified those strong storms using infrared light.

The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument aboard Suomi NPP provided an infrared image of the storm. Infrared imagery reveals cloud top temperatures, and the higher the cloud top, the colder it is, and the stronger the storm. The VIIRS instrument aboard captured an infrared image of the storm on Nov. 14 at 1:12 a.m. EST (0512 UTC). VIIRS showed strong storms in a large area north and northwest of the center, where cloud top temperatures were as cold as minus 80 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 62.2 Celsius). Storms with cloud tops that cold have been found to generate heavy rainfall.

[...] Kalmaegi is moving toward the west-northwest toward a landfall in Luzon, Philippines in the northern part of the country. Landfall is expected in northeastern Luzon on Nov. 16.

Original Submission

upstart writes:

Submitted via IRC for SoyCow1337

Virgin Galactic begins 'Astronaut Readiness Program' for first paying customers – TechCrunch

Virgin Galactic has begun its “Astronaut Readiness Program” this week, which is being run out of Under Armour Global HQ to start. Under Armour is Virgin Galactic’s partner on its official astronaut uniforms, which its first paying space tourists will don on the company’s initial trips beyond Earth.

The Astronaut Readiness Program is a preparatory course that all of Virgin Galactic’s passengers undertake before they can get their trip aboard the company’s VSS Unity sub-orbital spaceplane. It involves guidance and instruction provided by Virgin Galactic team members, including its Chief Astronaut Instructor Beth Moses and Chief Pilot Dave Mackay. Both Mackay and Moses were on Virgin’s February demonstration flight to space, and so can provide not only guidance based on their considerable expertise, but also share insights from actually having flown aboard the same vessel that will take the company’s paying passengers up. Moses will advise on how to get around on board the spacecraft, too.

[...] To date, Virgin Galactic has 600 customers signed up to fly aboard its SpaceShipTwo spacecraft, which launches from a customized cargo jet aircraft to reach sub-orbital space and provides customers with a 90-minute flight, for $250,000 per ticket. It’s looking to launch its first flights for paying customers in the first half of next year.

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

NASA auditors warned Thursday the space agency faces "significant safety and technical challenges" that need to be solved before astronauts fly in private capsules.

In its report, NASA's inspector general office noted Boeing and SpaceX are several years late in transporting crews to the International Space Station. The private capsules likely won't be certified before next summer, according to the report, and NASA should set a realistic timetable to avoid compromising safety.

NASA officials concurred with this and most of the other recommendations in the 53-page audit.

The auditors reported, meanwhile, that NASA overpaid Boeing $287.2 million to keep the company moving forward. Most of this overcharge was unnecessary, they said, a point with which NASA disagreed.

[...]

Boeing and SpaceX have made significant progress during these past eight years, NASA Inspector General Paul Martin and his auditors concluded in Thursday's report.

"However, after more than 2 years of delays both contractors will miss the current schedule to begin crewed test flights in late 2019," they wrote. "Addressing outstanding technical challenges, safety and performance testing, and verification of the contractors' requirements, hazards, and safety concerns likely will take significant time to complete."

Original Submission

upstart writes:

Submitted via IRC for SoyCow1337

How Laws Against Child Sexual Abuse Imagery Can Make It Harder to Detect

Child sexual abuse photos and videos are among the most toxic materials online. It is against the law to view the imagery, and anybody who comes across it must report it to the federal authorities.

So how can tech companies, under pressure to remove the material, identify newly shared photos and videos without breaking the law? They use software — but first they have to train it, running repeated tests to help it accurately recognize illegal content.

Google has made progress, according to company officials, but its methods have not been made public. Facebook has, too, but there are still questions about whether it follows the letter of the law. Microsoft, which has struggled to keep known imagery off its search engine, Bing, is frustrated by the legal hurdles in identifying new imagery, a spokesman said.

The three tech giants are among the few companies with the resources to develop artificial intelligence systems to take on the challenge. One route for the companies is greater cooperation with the federal authorities, including seeking permission to keep new photos and videos for the purposes of developing the detection software.

But that approach runs into a larger privacy debate involving the sexual abuse material: How closely should tech companies and the federal government work to shut it down? And what would prevent their cooperation from extending to other online activity?

upstart writes:

Submitted via IRC for SoyCow1337

Lyft is ceasing scooter operations in six cities and laying off 20 employees – TechCrunch

In an industry where unit economics and rider utilization are key to running a profitable business, perhaps it’s better to cut your losses early on. Lyft notified employees today that it’s pulling its scooters from six markets: Nashville, San Antonio, Atlanta, the Phoenix area, Dallas and Columbus.

“We're choosing to focus on the markets where we can have the biggest impact,” a Lyft spokesperson told TechCrunch. “We're continuing to invest in growing our bike and scooter business, but will shift resources away from smaller markets and toward bigger opportunities.”

[...] Lyft landed on this decision because it found that cities with the greatest population density are best for micromobility, and those six markets are not included in that group. But Lyft is not the only company to pull out from markets this year. Competitor Uber has also pulled JUMP bikes and scooters from a handful of markets, including San Diego, Providence and Atlanta. In some cases, what led to ceasing operations were regulatory hurdles. For Lyft, however, the company said it came down to a lack of ridership.

Original Submission