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Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

New data from the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite reveal the decline of air pollution, specifically nitrogen dioxide emissions, over Italy. This reduction is particularly visible in northern Italy which coincides with its nationwide lockdown to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

The animation shows the fluctuation of nitrogen dioxide emissions across Europe from 1 January 2020 until 11 March 2020, using a 10-day moving average. These data are thanks to the Tropomi instrument on board the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite which maps a multitude of air pollutants around the globe.

Claus Zehner, ESA's Copernicus Sentinel-5P mission manager, comments, "The decline in nitrogen dioxide emissions over the Po Valley in northern Italy is particularly evident.

"Although there could be slight variations in the data due to cloud cover and changing weather, we are very confident that the reduction in emissions that we can see, coincides with the lockdown in Italy causing less traffic and industrial activities."

Josef Aschbacher, ESA's Director of Earth Observation Programmes, says, "Copernicus Sentinel-5P Tropomi is the most accurate instrument today that measures air pollution from space. These measurements, globally available thanks to the free and open data policy, provide crucial information for citizens and decision makers."

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

The Santa Monica Pier at night. Artificial light can cause problems for a range of species that live and breed in coastal environments.

When tides are at their highest a few days after a full or new moon, thousands of small silver fish called grunion flop onto Southern California beaches. Females wriggle their tails into the sand, males spray the females with sperm, and the fertilized eggs are deposited below the beach surface. The entire affair lasts no more than a minute or two.

Ten days later, the eggs hatch and baby grunions are washed out to sea.

Artificial light is known to disrupt mating cycles in species like the grunion — as well as disorient insects and upset predator-prey relationships — along the Southern California coast. With those harmful effects of artificial light in mind, a team of UCLA and University of Southern California researchers led by Travis Longcore, UCLA adjunct professor of urban conservation biology, have mapped light pollution conditions at hundreds of locations along the coast that they will use to inform decision-making for future infrastructure and construction plans.

A database of their findings is described in a new paper in the journal Environmental Research Communications. Because the database combines ground-level measurements with satellite data, it is one of the world’s most accurate databases of light pollution.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Microsoft Edge is one of the least private web browsers — even more so than other popular browsers like Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox — according to academic researchers.

According to the analysis, from Douglas Leith with the School of Computer Science and Statistics at Trinity College in Ireland, Edge sends privacy-invasive telemetry to Microsoft’s back-end servers — including “persistent” device identifiers and URLs typed into browsing pages.

Leith measured the connections made by six browsers to back-end services during web browsing sessions. From these measurements, he deduced Brave Browser to be the most private, with Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Apple Safari coming in as part of a less-secure second group. In the third, least private group was Microsoft Edge and Russian web browser Yandex Browser. Internet Explorer wasn’t included in the research since it is largely confined to legacy devices.

“The results of this study have prompted discussions, which are ongoing, of browser changes including allowing users to opt-out of search auto-complete on first startup plus a number of browser specific changes,” said Leith, in research released last week. “From a privacy perspective Microsoft Edge and Yandex are qualitatively different from the other browsers studied. Both send persistent identifiers than can be used to link requests (and associated IP address/location) to back-end servers.”

[...] “When the same identifier is used across multiple transmissions it allows these transmissions to be tied together across time,” he explained. “While linking data to a browser instance does not explicitly reveal the user’s real-world identity, many studies have shown that location data linked over time can be used to de-anonymize [users].”

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TSA Admits Liquid Ban Is Security Theater

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

The TSA is allowing people to bring larger bottles of hand sanitizer with them on airplanes:

Passengers will now be allowed to travel with containers of liquid hand sanitizer up to 12 ounces. However, the agency cautioned that the shift could mean slightly longer waits at checkpoint because the containers may have to be screened separately when going through security.

Won't airplanes blow up as a result? Of course not.

Would they have blown up last week were the restrictions lifted back then? Of course not.

It's always been security theater.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

It might be stating the obvious, but your car's headlights are a safety device, and not all headlights are created equal. For a while, carmakers have been fitting powerful LED headlights to their high-end offerings, but more often than not, their cheaper cars—and particularly cheaper trim levels—get saddled with much-weaker illumination. But sometimes a commuter wants to see more of where they're going when the sun goes down. Eventually, they go looking for a solution, starting with their local automotive parts store. But stuffing aftermarket LED headlight bulbs into OEM housings designed for conventional halogen units results in dangerous glare for oncoming drivers. While LEDs can deliver more intense light at a higher end of the spectrum, most aftermarket units also create a hazardous condition.

The major brick-and-mortar auto parts stores know this, which is why they tend to shy away from aftermarket H11 LED bulbs, other than ones clearly marked for use in fog lamps or "for off-road use only." It's a different world online, with off-brand H11 LED bulb listings on Amazon, eBay, and Walmart websites failing to carry the same prominent warnings.

You can get pulled over for non-spec headlamps, and for a good reason. In addition to issuing a citation, the law enforcement officer may have the legal right to force you to remove the bulbs. More ominously, once the officer has pulled you over, you risk a vehicle search. With all that in mind, it would be wise to keep a set of securely packaged OEM bulbs in the glovebox or trunk if you are running aftermarket LEDs.

Although Consumer Reports tests new vehicle headlamps, it hasn't tackled the topic of LED replacement bulbs, despite Consumer Reports' extensive resources. A comprehensive Consumer Reports aftermarket LED replacement bulb test would go a long way to bring clarity to the market. Consumer Reports' testing of conventional replacement bulbs found that while aftermarket units can improve headlight brightness, there's much more to it than that. "Distance and how far a headlight illuminates is governed more by the reflector (behind the bulb) or the lens (ahead of the bulbs). While you can change the bulb, you are not changing the distance, i.e., not necessarily improving safety."

-- submitted from IRC

Original Submission

An Anonymous Coward writes:

https://www.courthousenews.com/feds-move-to-drop-charges-against-russian-firm-filed-in-mueller-probe/

A federal judge on Monday dismissed charges against a Russian company accused of funding the Kremlin's efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election, after federal prosecutors said the company has flaunted court rules and made the prosecution more trouble than it is worth.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich came hours after the Justice Department asked to drop the charges against Concord Management and Consulting.

"There is a substantial federal interest in defending American democratic institutions, exposing those who endeavor to criminally interfere with them, and holding them accountable, which is why this prosecution was properly commenced in the first place," the government said in a 9-page motion filed Monday. "In light of the defendant's conduct, however, its ephemeral presence and immunity to just punishment, the risk of exposure of law enforcement's tools and techniques and the post-indictment change in the proof available at trial, the balance of equities has shifted."

Part of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, a grand jury in February 2018 indicted Concord Management and Consulting, as well as 13 Russian nationals and two other companies in connection with Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential elections using social media troll farms and influence campaigns.

Concord Management was the only alleged conspirator to enter an appearance in court and vigorously contested the charges over the ensuing two years.

But prosecutors say Concord Management has never really participated in the prosecution, instead using court proceedings to collect information about how the U.S. government responds to and monitors efforts from foreign countries to interfere in its elections.

Original Submission

martyb writes:

A lot has already happened this year. SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2) which can cause COVID-19 (COronaVIrus Disease 2019) has been making headlines shortly after it was first reported. The first cases were reported to WHO (World Health Organization) on 2019-12-31. The virus spread. It began as an epidemic in China . The world watched apprehensively. Reports surfaced of cases in other countries and the the apprehension grew. For many folk, it turned to fear when it was upgraded to a pandemic: WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19 - 11 March 2020: "We have therefore made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic."

We have seen increasing efforts to stem the spread of the disease. Efforts have run the gamut. Closing of borders. Cancellation of sporting events. Conferences cancelled. Churches and other places of worship also closed. Schools closed. Panic buying of household goods and supplies. Supply chain disruptions affecting manufacturers. Restaurant, bars, and other such establishments closed. Work-from-home policies established and enacted.

The changes have been many, widespread, and continuing.

Reading about all the ways that "other people" have been affected is one thing. It seems different, somehow, when it hits closer to home and affects us directly. With many of our usual social activities curtailed or cancelled, it is easy to begin isolating and lose perspective. SoylentNews arose from a troubled period (the SlashCott) and a community has formed from that challenging period.

How have you been affected? Have you been infected? Had a family member or friend who was? Helped neighbors who are struggling? Hunkering down and isolating? (In a basement is optional.) Are you suddenly working from home and finding it challenging to manage your time? Still working on site, but now have a faster commute due to all the other people staying home? Catching up on watching TV shows? Reading more SoylentNews? How has your life changed?

From a somewhat different perspective, how have others helped you to cope... and how have you been able to help others? One of the potential impacts of social distancing is isolation and depression. I count myself fortunate, indeed, to have served this site for over 6 years and for all the people I have gotten to know, here. For those who may not be aware, SoylentNews has its own IRC (Internet Relay Chat) server. Feel free to drop in to #Soylent and just say "Hi!"

Social distancing is permanent when you're dead. So, practice good hygiene and stay safe.

Previously (oldest first):
China Battles Coronavirus Outbreak: All the Latest Updates
2019-nCoV Coronavirus Story Roundup
Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Roundup
Coronavirus Roundup
Coronavirus Roundup (Feb. 17)
Roundup of Stories about the SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus and COVID-19 Disease
COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2 - CoronaVirus) Roundup
CoronaVirus (SARS-CoV-2) Roundup 2020-03-12
Working from Home: Lessons Learned Over 20 Years

Original Submission

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Bytram:

Microsoft Patches 26 Critical Bugs in Big March Update:

Microsoft tackled 115 bug fixes as part of its March Patch Tuesday update – 26 rated critical and 88 rated medium severity. The bugs patched span its product catalog, from Azure DevOps to Windows 10.

This month's haul is notable in its quantity and that there are only a few stand-out bugs causing headaches for system administrators. Unlike last month, Microsoft did not report that any of its bugs were publicly known or under attack at the time it released its bulletin.

Within the mix of critical issues, Microsoft tacked three remote code execution vulnerabilities. Two are tied to Internet Explorer (CVE-2020-0833, CVE-2020-0824) and the third (CVE-2020-0847) to the VBscript scripting language used by Microsoft.

As for the two bugs in IE, researchers warned that either one could lead to code execution only if the victim was logged in with administrative rights.

"The vulnerabilities could corrupt memory allowing an attacker to execute arbitrary code in the context of the current user," wrote Richard Melick, Sr., technical product manager at Automox, in prepared analysis. "What this means is that an attacker could run malicious code directly on the user's system. If the user is logged in with administrative rights, those rights would extend to the code."

As for the VBscript bug, the researcher said, if an attacker was successful in commandeering the tool via code execution, it would allow an adversary to have sysadmin-like powers. That would allow them to run scripts and leverage software tools to control connected endpoints. "[It] will give the user complete control over many aspects of the device," Melick said.

As for the other critical bugs, 17 fixes are tied to Microsoft's browser and scripting engines, four are for Media Foundation, two are for GDI+ and the remaining three address potentially dangerous LNK files and Microsoft Word and Dynamics Business, points out Animesh Jain with Qualys' Patch Tuesday team.

Jain also singled out another remote code-execution vulnerability (CVE-2020-0852), this time in Microsoft Word. "An attacker could exploit the vulnerability using a specially crafted file to perform actions on behalf of the logged-in user with the same permissions as the current user," he noted.

Original Submission

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for SoyCow420:

Data of millions of eBay and Amazon shoppers exposed:

Researchers have discovered another big database containing millions of European customer records left unsecured on Amazon Web Services (AWS) for anyone to find using a search engine.

A total of eight million records were involved, collected via marketplace and payment system APIs belonging to companies including Amazon, eBay, Shopify, PayPal, and Stripe.

Discovered by Comparitech's noted breach hunter Bob Diachenko, the AWS instance containing the MongoDB database became visible on 3 February, where it remained indexable by search engines for five days.

Data in the records included names, shipping addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, items purchased, payments, order IDs, links to Stripe and Shopify invoices, and partially redacted credit cards.

Also included were thousands of Amazon Marketplace Web Services (MWS) queries, an MWS authentication token, and an AWS access key ID.

Because a single customer might generate multiple records, Comparitech wasn't able to estimate how many customers might be affected.

About half of the customers whose records were leaked are from the UK; as far as we can tell, most if not all of the rest are from elsewhere in Europe.

[Ed. note. SoylentNews offers Stripe and PayPal for signing up for a site subscription. The breach mentioned in the story had to do with a company providing VAT (Value Added Tax) calculations for other companies. Since no VAT is required for a subscription, there is no reason for any subscription transactions with us to have been in the database. Out of an abundance of caution, I have reached out to both Stripe and PayPal for their confirmation. We will update this story when new information is made known. --martyb]

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Original Submission

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for AnonymousCoward:

Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, UNIST, announce a breakthrough made towards building the world's most powerful particle accelerator:

An international team of researchers, affiliated with UNIST has for the first time succeeded in demonstrating the ionization cooling of muons. Regarded as a major step in being able to create the world's most powerful particle accelerator, this new muon accelerator is expected to provide a better understanding of the fundamental constituents of matter.

This breakthrough has been carried out by the Muon Ionization Cooling Experiment (MICE) collaboration, which includes many UK scientists, as well as Professor Moses Chung and his research team in the School of Natural Sciences at UNIST. Their findings have been published in the online version of Nature on February 5, 2020.

"We have succeeded in realizing muon ionization cooling, one of our greatest challenges associated with developing muon accelerators," says Professor Chung. "Achievement of this is considered especially important, as it could change the paradigm of developing the Lepton Collider that could replace the Neutrino Factory or the Large Hadron Collider (LHC)."

[...] To tackle this challenge, the MICE collaboration team succeeded in channelling muons into a small enough volume to be able to study physics in new systems via a method, known as Ionization Cooling, which was previously suggested and developed into theoretically operable schemes in the 1980s.

The results of the experiment, carried out using the MICE muon beam-line at the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) ISIS Neutron and Muon Beam facility on the Harwell Campus in the UK, clearly shows that the phase-space volume occupied by the muon beam can be controlled via the ionization cooling, as predicted by the theory.

MICE collaboraboration. Demonstration of cooling by the Muon Ionization Cooling Experiment. Nature, 2020 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-1958-9

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Intel & Micron Sign New 3D XPoint Wafer Supply Agreement

Intel and Micron have inked a new 3D XPoint memory wafer supply agreement. Analysts believe that Intel will now have to pay Micron more than it did previously as it is now the only maker of 3D XPoint. The new pact also shows that Intel wants to continue making products based on 3D XPoint, but details about the products remain to be seen.

Having ended its NAND and 3D XPoint partnerships with Micron, Intel sold its former partner its stake in their mutually owned fab in Lehi, Utah. Since the company yet has to move production of 3D XPoint memory used for its Optane-branded products to its Fab 68 in Dalian, China, the chipmaker had to sign a supply agreement with Micron, under which the latter would sell the memory to its former ally at pre-agreed prices for one year after it gains ownership of the fab.

Micron gained ownership back in October, which is when the agreement came into effect. As it turns out, the two companies terminated the deal on March 9 and signed a new one 'with changes to pricing and forecast terms'. The companies did not reveal additional details, but Micron said that the deal was 'not material to Micron and does not change Micron's previously-communicated outlook'.

Previously:
Micron: 96-Layer 3D NAND Coming, 3D XPoint Sales Disappoint
Micron Buys Out Intel's Stake in 3D XPoint Joint Venture
Micron Follows Through, Buys Out Intel's Stake in NAND and 3D XPoint Joint Venture

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Marvell Announces ThunderX3: 96 Cores & 384 Thread 3rd Gen Arm Server Processor

The Arm server ecosystem is well alive and thriving, finally getting into serious motion after several years of false-start attempts. Among the original pioneers in this space was Cavium, which went on to be acquired by Marvell in 2018. Among the company's server CPU products is the ThunderX line; while the first generation ThunderX left quite a lot to be desired, the ThunderX2 was the first Arm server silicon that we deemed viable and competitive against Intel and AMD products. Since then, the ecosystem has accelerated quite a lot, and only last week we saw how impressive the new Amazon Graviton2 with the N1 chips ended up. Marvell didn't stop at the ThunderX2, and had big ambitions for its newly acquired CPU division, and today is announcing the new ThunderX3.

The ThunderX3 is a continuation and successor to then-Cavium's custom microarchitecture found in the TX2, adopting a lot of the key characteristics, most notably the capability of 4-way SMT. Adopting a new microarchitecture with higher IPC capabilities, the new TX3 also ups the clock frequencies, and now hosts up to a whopping 96 CPU cores, allowing the chip to scale up to 384 threads in a single socket.

Related: Marvell Technology to Buy Cavium for $6 Billion
ARM "Project Trillium", Cambricon MLU-100, and Cavium ThunderX2
HPE Delivers World's Largest Arm Supercomputer for U.S. Department of Energy
Ampere Launches its First ARM-Based Server Processors in Challenge to Intel
Amazon Announces 64-core Graviton2 Arm CPU
80-Core Arm CPU To Bring Lower Power, Higher Density To A Rack Near You

Original Submission

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for AnonymousCoward:

Blood stem cells boost immunity by keeping a record of previous infections:

"The first exposure to LPS causes marks to be deposited on the DNA of the stem cells, right around genes that are important for an immune response. Much like bookmarks, the marks on the DNA ensure that these genes are easily found, accessible and activated for a rapid response if a second infection by a similar agent was to come."

The authors further explored how the memory was inscribed on the DNA, and found C/EBPb to be the major actor, describing a new function for this factor, which is also important for emergency immune responses. Together, these findings should lead to improvements in tuning the immune system or better vaccination strategies.

"The ability of the immune system to keep track of previous infections and respond more efficiently the second time they are encountered is the founding principle of vaccines. Now that we understand how blood stem cells book mark immune response circuits, we should be able to optimize immunization strategies to broaden the protection to infectious agents. It could also more generally lead to new ways to boost the immune response when it underperforms or turn it off when it overreacts", concluded Prof. Michael Sieweke.

Original Submission

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for AnonymousCoward:

India's Chandrayaan 2 is creating the highest-resolution map we have of the moon:

India's space organization, ISRO, launched Chandrayaan 2 to the moon last year in July. While its lander Vikram crashed on the lunar surface on September 7, the Chandrayaan 2 orbiter continues to orbit the moon.

The Chandrayaan 2 orbiter hosts an extensive set of instruments to map the moon, and now, we get a peek at the data it has sent.

ISRO scientists had submitted a raft of initial results from the orbiter's mapping instruments to present at the flagship 51st Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in March. This is an annual conference hosted in the United States where more than 2000 planetary scientists and students from around the world attend and present their latest work. However, due to concerns about the novel coronavirus, the conference has been canceled.

[...] The Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC 2) onboard Chandrayaan 2 is a stereo imager, meaning it can capture 3-D images. It does that by imaging the same site from three different angles, akin to NASA's LRO, from which a 3-D image is constructed.

TMC 2 has beamed back images taken from 100 km above the lunar surface and the 3-D views generated from them look great. Here is one of a crater and a wrinkled ridge, the latter being a tectonic feature.

Such images are very useful for understanding how lunar features form and get their shape. For example, a 3-D image can help construct an accurate picture of the geometry of the impact that formed a crater.

Over time, Chandrayaan 2 will provide the highest resolution 3-D images of the entire moon, the best case resolution being 5 meters/pixel.

Original Submission

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for SoyCow420:

Comcast accidentally published 200,000 "unlisted" phone numbers:

Comcast mistakenly published the names, phone numbers, and addresses of nearly 200,000 customers who paid monthly fees to make their numbers unlisted. The names and numbers were made available on Ecolisting, a directory run by Comcast, and picked up by third-party directories. After discovering the mistake, Comcast shut Ecolisting down, gave $100 credits to affected customers, and advised them that they can change their phone numbers at no charge.

This is similar to a mistake in the early 2010s that resulted in Comcast paying a $33 million settlement in 2015.

The Denver Post reported last week:

For years, customers have had the ability to pay a small sum per month to ensure their phone numbers and personal information remain off of telephone and online directories. But in January and February, thousands of people across the country received letters from Xfinity telling them the company had inadvertently published personal information on Comcast's online directory, Ecolisting.com. The issue affected 2 percent of Comcast's 9.9 million voice customers, the company said.

Comcast charged $3.50 a month for the number-privacy feature in Pennsylvania, The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote. Customers elsewhere apparently paid more—some Comcast users on a support forum reported having to pay $5.50 per month.

In a statement to Ars, Comcast said, "We have corrected this issue for our identified customers, apologized to them for this error, and given them an additional $100 credit. We are working with our customers directly to address this issue and help make it right, and are taking steps to prevent this from happening again."

Related: https://www.techlicious.com/tip/remove-yourself-spokeo-intelius-peoplesmart-mylife/

Original Submission