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takyon writes:

Tesla "big battery" in Australia is becoming a bigger nightmare for fossil fuel power generators

Tesla's "big battery" utility-scale Powerpack system at the Hornsdale Power Reserve [(HPR)] in South Australia has yielded more than doubled[sic] the savings to consumers in 2019 than the year prior as it dominates fossil fuel generators on quicker demand response for the grid.

Hornsdale Power Reserve saved consumers AUD116 million ($75.78 million) in 2019, a big jump from AUD40 million ($26.14 million) savings in 2018.

The Hornsdale Power Reserve, owned and operated by French renewable energy producer Neoen, is home to the largest lithium-ion battery energy storage system in the world with a 100 MW/129 MWh. Tesla Powerpack [that] has been playing a significant role in grid stability since its installation in 2017, a function previously dominated by fossil fuel generators that bring energy prices high during system faults [or] planned maintenance.

"Hornsdale has just been the best asset for the state, and for us as well, it's a real success story," head of development at Neoen Australia Garth Heron said in an interview with RenewEconomy. We have shown that these kinds of systems can work. It saves consumers a lot of money, and it's something we should be rolling out right across the market."

[...]The HPR also announced plans to expand its capacity by 50%, boosting it by 50MW/64.5MWh. The project is expected to be completed in the first half of 2020 and will provide stabilizing inertia services critical to the shift to renewable energy in the region, and help push Australia closer to its goal of being net 100% renewable by 2030.

Previously:
Elon Musk: I Can Fix South Australia Power Network in 100 Days or It's Free
Tesla to Build 129 Megawatt-Hours Battery Storage System in Australia
Tesla Delivers on 100 MW Australian Battery Promise

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upstart writes in with an IRC submission for SoyCow3025:

Heart Rate Limitations Show Why You Shouldn't Get Your Medical Advice From the Apple Watch:

The Apple Watch is the smartwatch to beat. It's massively popular, has a full range of features, and compared to some of its competitors, leads the way in rethinking how wearables can function within the health sector. During the Apple Watch portion of Apple events, you can generally expect a feel-good reel of real-life users sharing stories of how the watch saved their lives by notifying them of their irregular heartbeat. That said, Apple's own FDA application for its ECG app admits the watch does not detect atrial fibrillation (AFib) for heart rates exceeding 120 beats per minute—a limitation that a Forbes report suggests could leave a large number of Apple Watch users with a false sense of security.

That 120bpm limitation is, as it turns out, significant, according to Forbes. Mayo Clinic says that the heart rate of AFib patients can range anywhere from 100 to 175bpm—meaning the Apple Watch isn't looking at a decent chunk of folks who may be affected.

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canopic jug writes:

Hans Wennborg does a deep dive into the history and evolution of the Zip compression format and underlying algorithms in a blog post. While this lossless compression format became popular around three decades ago, it has its roots in the 1950s and 1970s. Notably, as a result of the "Arc Wars" of the 1980s, hitting BBS users hard, the Zip format was dedicated to the public domain from the start. The main work of the Zip format is performed through use of Lempel-Ziv compression (LZ77) and Huffman coding.

I have been curious about data compression and the Zip file format in particular for a long time. At some point I decided to address that by learning how it works and writing my own Zip program. The implementation turned into an exciting programming exercise; there is great pleasure to be had from creating a well oiled machine that takes data apart, jumbles its bits into a more efficient representation, and puts it all back together again. Hopefully it is interesting to read about too.

This article explains how the Zip file format and its compression scheme work in great detail: LZ77 compression, Huffman coding, Deflate and all. It tells some of the history, and provides a reasonably efficient example implementation written from scratch in C. The source code is available in hwzip-1.0.zip.

Previously:
Specially Crafted ZIP Files Used to Bypass Secure Email Gateways (2019)
Which Compression Format to Use for Archiving? (2019)
The Math Trick Behind MP3s, JPEGs, and Homer Simpson's Face (2019)
Ask Soylent: Internet-communication Archival System (2014)

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Last week we made fun of Porsche for their optional giant fingerprint printed on the hood.

This week they made (trade magazine) news with something more sensible(?) Taking advantage of the "auto parking" capabilities already built into their SUVs, they've added some cameras around a dealership and service center in Ludwigsburg, Germany. They have also added an "AI" computer and communication between the car and base (also known as vehicle-to-everything, V2X).

Now when you bring your Porsche in for service, it can drive itself into the service bay. Well, not really -- it is directed by workers using a tablet. You leave it in the customer parking lot and there are no more greasy mechanics climbing into your luxury ride!

https://www.autonomousvehicleinternational.com/videos/porsche-tests-autonomous-vehicles-in-the-workshop.html (with video)
https://www.autonomousvehicleinternational.com/news/testing/porsche-drives-autonomously-in-the-workshop.html (no video, different text)

For once, someone decides to test self-driving on their own private property, rather than out on the public roads.

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upstart writes in with an IRC submission for SoyCow4275:

An extended interview with Atrus himself, Myst creator Rand Miller:

A couple of weeks back after running our War Stories piece on Oddworld, we took a chance and published an extended cut of the interview with Oddworld creator Lorne Lanning. Readers responded very well to the extended interview, so we're doing it again—this time with Myst creator Rand Miller.

To produce our War Stories video on Myst and its CD-ROM-based design challenges, we spent more or less the entire day at the Cyan offices in beautiful Washington state, where Rand and his team were the very soul of hospitality (they even insisted on buying coffee for the crew while we were shooting). The pastoral setting—everything looked so much like Myst island!—brought out the storyteller in Rand and, as usually happens with these things, we got way more stories and tales of game design out of him than we ever could have crammed into a 15-minute video.

So here we are, with Rand unleashed. Hear more about the creative process behind The Manhole and the magical tool that was HyperCard! See Rand talk about Cosmic Osmo and the transition from black and white to color game design! Feel the... uh... OK, there's no tactile component to this whole deal, so you'll have to come up with something on your own to feel. (Maybe grab a Myst box and give it a squeeze, or, you know, whatever you're into.)

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upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Bytram:

Children who read books daily score higher in school tests, vast new study states:

What children choose to read outside school directly influences their academic performance, according to a major new study led by the University of Malaga and UCL, and published in the peer-reviewed journal Oxford Review of Education.

Using longitudinal census data to look at more than 43,000 students, aged 10 to 11 and then again when they were 13 to 14, the research provides substantial evidence that pupils who enjoy reading high-quality books daily score higher in tests.

The average marks of pupils who read books rose by 0.22 points overall, which is the equivalent of 3 months' worth of additional secondary school academic growth.

The study demonstrated no similar advantage for children's reading daily newspapers, comics or magazines, and only marginal benefits from short stories.

The findings have important implications for parents, teachers and policymakers, and the international research team is recommending that young people devote their reading time solely to books.

"Although three months' worth of progress may sound comparatively small to some people, it equates to more than 10% of the three academic secondary school years measured—from when these young people are aged 11 years old to 14, which we know is a hugely developmental period," explains co-author Professor John Jerrim, from the UCL.

"In an increasingly digital world, it's important that young people are encouraged to find time to read a good book.

The author does note however,

The findings of this study should be interpreted in the context of some limitations and the need for further research. These include the research being carried out in one particular region within Spain, and the focus upon academic progress made during the early teenage years. At this point, reading skills are already quite well-developed—there is no data for younger children.

John Jerrim, Luis Alejandro Lopez-Agudo & Oscar D. Marcenaro-Gutierrez (2020) Does it matter what children read? New evidence using longitudinal census data from Spain, Oxford Review of Education, DOI: 10.1080/03054985.2020.1723516

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upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Bytram:

Google Doodle celebrates Alice in Wonderland illustrator John Tenniel's 200th birthday:

Look long enough at Friday's Google Doodle and a familiar smile will emerge. The unmistakable grin belongs, of course, to the Cheshire Cat, the mischievous feline who befriends Alice in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

[...] The famous grin was created by John Tenniel, a prominent English illustrator and satirical artist in the 19th century. Google dedicated a Doodle that imitates Tenniel's style to the artist on his 200th birthday. Framing the Doodle are an artist's pencil and pen, apparently placed on the drawing after its completion.

[...] Carroll had originally decorated Alice's Adventures in Wonderland with his own illustrations, but recognizing his limited artistic ability, turned to Tenniel, captivated by the exaggerated characters he drew in a dark, grotesque style.

Tenniel was knighted in 1893 by Queen Victoria and retired from illustrating in 1901. He died in 1914 at the age of 93.

Friday's Doodle was created by Doodler Matthew Cruickshank, who hails from North London. Cruickshank said that as a child he found the illustrations "hauntingly beautiful and bizarre."

He said he drew inspiration from the conversations Alice had with the Cheshire Cat.

"You really can 'go' anywhere you want on the homepage, depending on what you're searching for," he told Google.

Also at Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.

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upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Bytram:

Learning Morse Code The Ludwig Koch Way:

Most countries have dropped the requirement for learning Morse code to become a ham radio operator. Because of that, you might think Morse code is dead. But it isn't. Some people like the nostalgia. Some like that you can build simple equipment to send and receive Morse code. Others like that Morse code is much more reliable than voice and some older digital modes. Regardless of the reason, many people want to learn Morse code and it is still a part of the ham radio scene. The code has a reputation of being hard to learn, but it turns out that is mostly because people haven't been taught code in smart ways.

[...] If you want to learn the code, or if you want to learn it better than you know it now, the Koch method is pretty simple. If a bunch of students can learn code in 14 hours, you should be able to, as well. Even spending an hour a day, that's only two weeks.

There are plenty of resources, but one we like is LCWO (Learn CW Online — CW or Continous Wave is ham-speak for Morse code). The site costs nothing and will track your progress. Once you've learned it, you can practice text, words, callsigns, and common ham radio exchanges.

Even if you don't need Morse for a ham license anymore, it does open up new opportunities. If you don't want to do ham radio, think of all the Arduino projects you could do where the device could signal you with a blinking LED and you could command it with a single switch contact. Not that we'd use a scheme like that to count blackjack cards. We'd never do that. If you don't want to use the computer and still need a coach, you could try this 1939 code trainer.

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upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Bytram:

The man behind the sphere, Freeman Dyson, is dead at 96:

Freeman Dyson, a physicist whose interests often took him to the edge of science fiction, has died at the age of 96. Dyson is probably best known for his idea of eponymous spheres that would allow civilizations to capture all the energy radiating off a star. But his contributions ranged from fundamental physics to the practicalities of using nuclear weapons for war and peace. And he remained intellectually active into his 90s, although he wandered into the wrong side of science when it came to climate change.

Degrees? Who needs 'em?

It's difficult to find anything that summarizes a career so broad, but a sense of his intellectual energy comes from his educational history. Dyson was a graduate student in physics when he managed to unify two competing ideas about quantum electrodynamics, placing an entire field on a solid theoretical foundation. Rather than writing that up as his thesis, he simply moved on to other interests. He didn't get a doctorate until the honorary ones started arriving later in his career. His contributions were considered so important that he kept getting faculty jobs regardless.

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takyon writes:

SLS debut slips to April 2021, KSC teams working through launch sims

Preparations continue at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the first launch of the Space Launch System, or SLS rocket – NASA's gigantic rocket the agency hopes to use to launch humans to the lunar surface and to the commercial-rocket constructed Lunar Gateway.

But while Kennedy prepares for the rocket's arrival and first mission, various NASA centers are now actively planning for a No Earlier Than 18 April 2021 launch for the rocket's debut.

[...] The 20 February 2020 NASA press release regarding the KSC launch team's performance of Artemis 1 countdown and launch simulations was the first NASA release to publicly confirm SLS will not fly this year, noting "NASA is preparing for the first uncrewed flight test next year of the agency's powerful new rocket and spacecraft in development for the Artemis lunar exploration program."

The previous NASA-provided No Earlier Than (NET) November 2020 launch date of Artemis 1 was always viewed as political in nature and not an accurate reflection of the rocket's readiness.

See also: Cruz skeptical about prospects for NASA appropriations or other legislation

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takyon writes:

Northrop Grumman makes history, Mission Extension Vehicle docks to target satellite

Four and a half months after its launch on a Proton-M rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Northrop Grumman's Mission Extension Vehicle[(MEV)] has made history, successfully docking with its target satellite above Geostationary Orbit to extend that satellite's lifetime well beyond the original plan.

The successful maneuver marked a groundbreaking change in how satellites are operated in orbit, with the Mission Extension Vehicle capable of not just extending a satellite's life but also moving defunct satellites to safer orbits.

[...] Two months after the MEV's launch, though, Intelsat began the process of decommissioning satellite Intelsat 901, formally removing it from service in December 2019 and transferring telecommunication customers to other satellites in its fleet. [...] After this decommissioning, Intelsat 901 was commanded to fire its thrusters to move itself into the GEO graveyard orbit. This satellite was chosen for the first MEV mission because it only had a "few months" of propellant life left according to Intelsat.

[...] The combined spacecraft stack will now perform on-orbit checkouts before MEV-1 begins relocating the combined vehicle to return Intelsat 901 into service in late-March/early-April.

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takyon writes:

AMD Launches Ultra-Low-Power Ryzen Embedded APUs: Starting at 6W

While it doesn't get the same attention as their high-profile mobile, desktop, or server CPU offerings, AMD's embedded division is an important fourth platform for the chipmaker. To that end, this week the company is revealing its lowest-power Ryzen processors ever, with a new series of embedded chips that are designed for use in ultra-compact commercial and industrial systems.

The chips in question are the AMD Ryzen Embedded R1102G and the AMD Ryzen Embedded R1305G SoCs. These parts feature a 6 W or a configurable 8 W - 10 W TDP, respectively. Both SoCs feature two Zen cores with or without simultaneous multithreading, AMD Radeon Vega 3 graphics, 1 MB L2 cache, 4 MB L3 cache, a single channel or a dual-channel memory controller, and two 10 GbE ports.

[...] Both ultra-low-power AMD Ryzen Embedded APUs will be available for the next 10 years, meaning availability will stretch all the way till 2030.

AMD Ryzen Embedded R1000 Series

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DannyB writes:

Petnet's smart pet feeder system is back after a week-long outage, but customers are still waiting for answers:

Petnet, the smart pet feeder backed by investors including Petco, recently experienced a week-long system outage affecting its second-generation SmartFeeders. While the startup's customer service tweeted over the weekend that its SmartFeeders and app's functionality have been restored, Petnet's lack of responsiveness continues to leave many customers frustrated and confused.

Petnet first announced on Feb. 14 that it was investigating a system outage affecting its second-generation SmartFeeders that made the feeders appear to be offline. The company said in a tweet that the SmartFeeders were still able to dispense on schedule, but several customers replied that their devices had also stopped dispensing food or weren't dispensing it on schedule.

But all is not lost. A system update announcement reports:

System Update: SmartFeeders are returning online. There will be a system reset to help stabilize your SmartFeeder's app functionality. We will promptly update you once this has been completed. Scheduled automatic feeds should still dispense on time.

Those darn customers, so impatient, unwilling to wait for their next fix to download. Please check back in one quarter of a galactic rotation. Thank you.

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Freeman writes:

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2020/02/flaw-in-billions-of-wi-fi-devices-left-communications-open-to-eavesdroppng/

Billions of devices—many of them already patched—are affected by a Wi-Fi vulnerability that allows nearby attackers to decrypt sensitive data sent over the air, researchers said on Wednesday at the RSA security conference.

[...]Eset researchers wrote in a research paper published on Wednesday. "The attack surface is greatly increased, since an adversary can decrypt data that was transmitted by a vulnerable access point to a specific client (which may or may not be vulnerable itself)."

[...]Kr00k exploits a weakness that occurs when wireless devices disassociate from a wireless access point. If either the end-user device or the access point is vulnerable, it will put any unsent data frames into a transmit buffer and then send them over the air. Rather than encrypt this data with the session key negotiated earlier and used during the normal connection, vulnerable devices use a key consisting of all zeros, a move that makes decryption trivial.

[...]Eset researchers determined that a variety of devices are vulnerable, including:

• Amazon Echo 2nd gen
• Amazon Kindle 8th gen
• Apple iPad mini 2
• Apple iPhone 6, 6S, 8, XR
• Apple MacBook Air Retina 13-inch 2018
• Google Nexus 5
• Google Nexus 6
• Google Nexus 6S
• Raspberry Pi 3
• Samsung Galaxy S4 GT-I9505
• Samsung Galaxy S8
• Xiaomi Redmi 3S

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Bytram:

Listed on Forbes "30 under 30" for Science in 2017, Michelle Kunimoto has discovered 17 new, extra-solar planets.

Astronomy student discovers 17 new planets, including Earth-sized world:

University of British Columbia astronomy student Michelle Kunimoto has discovered 17 new planets, including a potentially habitable, Earth-sized world, by combing through data gathered by NASA's Kepler mission.

Over its original four-year mission, the Kepler satellite looked for planets, especially those that lie in the "Habitable Zones" of their stars, where liquid water could exist on a rocky planet's surface.

The new findings, published in The Astronomical Journal, include one such particularly rare planet. Officially named KIC-7340288 b, the planet discovered by Kunimoto is just 1 ½ times the size of Earth—small enough to be considered rocky, instead of gaseous like the giant planets of the Solar System—and in the habitable zone of its star.

"This planet is about a thousand light years away, so we're not getting there anytime soon!" said Kunimoto, a Ph.D. candidate in the department of physics and astronomy. "But this is a really exciting find, since there have only been 15 small, confirmed planets in the Habitable Zone found in Kepler data so far."

The planet has a year that is 142 ½ days long, orbiting its star at 0.444 Astronomical Units (AU, the distance between Earth and our Sun) - just bigger than Mercury's orbit in our Solar System, and gets about a third of the light Earth gets from the Sun.

Of the other 16 new planets discovered, the smallest is only two-thirds the size of Earth—one of the smallest planets to be found with Kepler so far. The rest range in size up to eight times the size of Earth.

More information: Michelle Kunimoto et al, Searching the Entirety of Kepler Data. I. 17 New Planet Candidates Including One Habitable Zone World, The Astronomical Journal (2020). DOI: 10.3847/1538-3881/ab6cf8

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