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martyb writes:

'Black nitrogen': Researchers discover new high-pressure material and solve a puzzle of the periodic table:

In the periodic table of elements there is one golden rule for carbon, oxygen and other light elements: Under high pressures, they have similar structures to heavier elements in the same group of elements. But nitrogen always seemed unwilling to toe the line. However, high-pressure chemistry researchers of the University of Bayreuth have disproved this special status. Out of nitrogen, they created a crystalline structure which, under normal conditions, occurs in black phosphorus and arsenic. The structure contains two-dimensional atomic layers, and is therefore of great interest for high-tech electronics. The scientists have presented this "black nitrogen" in Physical Review Letters.

[...] Elements with similar properties are placed one below the other in the same column, and thus form a group of elements. [...] In earlier high-pressure experiments, nitrogen showed no structures similar to those exhibited under normal conditions by the heavier elements of this group—specifically, phosphorus, arsenic and antimony. Instead, such similarities are observed at high pressures in the neighboring groups headed by carbon and oxygen.

In fact, nitrogen is no exception to the rule. [...] At very high pressures and temperatures, nitrogen atoms form a crystalline structure that is characteristic of black phosphorus, which is a particular variant of phosphorus. The structure also occurs in arsenic and antimony. It is composed of two-dimensional layers in which nitrogen atoms are cross-linked in a uniform zigzag pattern.

[...] It took truly extreme conditions to produce black nitrogen. The compression pressure was 1.4 million times the pressure of the Earth's atmosphere, and the temperature exceeded 4,000 degrees

More information: Dominique Laniel et al, High-Pressure Polymeric Nitrogen Allotrope with the Black Phosphorus Structure, Physical Review Letters (2020). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.124.216001

Original Submission

[Speaking as the de-facto leader of SoylentNews, I know this community is very sensitive to self-promotional "Slashvertising" and similar. Since our inception, we've prided ourselves on listening to our community and taking those views into account. I've walked a bit of a fine line with that with my original content articles both recently and in the past. I do not want to be a rule unto myself so if this post ends up crossing that line, mention it in the comments and we'll take those lessons to heart. Also, we haven't had a community roundtable here at SN in quite a long time, so I'm going to schedule one go to live on Monday.]

[NB: Yes, "original content" articles are welcome here. If anyone is considering it, please try to keep them tech-related and provide supporting links. Also provide contact info (email address) so any issues or questions can be discussed as needed. --martyb]

The simple fact is that in the last few weeks, the world, especially in the United States has become a very different place. Here in New York City, there's been constant protests and escalation between the police and protesters. In an era where drones are being used to track and monitor protesters, digital security is more important more than ever. I want to do my bit on trying to help people keep themselves safe and secure in these times.

Normally, I try not to push self-promotion here, and I've made sure that my recent original content articles are not pushing that line. I mentioned in my last article that I host a weekly hacking show called HACK-ALT-NCOMMANDER, as part of DEFCON 201, the local DEF CON group for the New Jersey area. Usually, I cover some bit of retro-tech, random reverse engineering, and other random and strange things. Not today.

This time, I've decided to cover these topics:

• email security
• a quick primer on GnuPG and S/MIME
• understanding Tor
• basic OPSEC (using Windows as a base)

I'll also be fielding questions in real-time. If you're interested, please tune in at 8PM Eastern Daylight Time (24:00 UTC) to the DEFCON 201 video streams (see links below). I may also cover aspects of securing systems for IT administrators depending on how chat directs me.

73 de NCommander, hoping that you're all safe

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:

How to make the food and water Mars-bound astronauts will need for their mission:

If we ever intend to send crewed missions to deep-space locations, then we need to come up with solutions for keeping the crews supplied. For astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS), who regularly receive resupply missions from Earth, this is not an issue. But for missions traveling to destinations like Mars and beyond, self-sufficiency is the name of the game.

This is the idea behind projects like BIOWYSE and TIME SCALE, which are being developed by the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Space (CIRiS) in Norway. These two systems are all about providing astronauts with a sustainable and renewable supply of drinking water and plant food. In so doing, they address two of the most important needs of humans performing long-duration missions that will take them far from home.

[...] In short, the ISS relies on costly resupply missions to provide 20% of its water and all of its food. But if and when astronauts establish outposts on the moon and Mars, this may not be an option. While sending supplies to the moon can be done in three days, the need to do so regularly will make the cost of sending food and water prohibitive. Meanwhile, it takes eight months for spacecraft to reach Mars, which is totally impractical.

So it is little wonder that the proposed mission architectures for the moon and Mars include in-situ resource utilization (ISRU), in which astronauts will use local resources to be as self-sufficient as possible. Ice on the lunar and Martian surfaces, a prime example, will be harvested to provide drinking and irrigation water. But missions to deep-space locations will not have this option while they are in transit.

[...] Technologies like these will be crucial when it comes time to establish a human presence on the moon, on Mars, and for the sake of deep-space missions. In the coming years, NASA plans to make the long-awaited return to the moon with Project Artemis, which will be the first step in the creation of what they envision as a program for "sustainable lunar exploration."

Original Submission

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:

Twitter suspends hundreds over #DCBlackout hoax:

Twitter has suspended hundreds of accounts for spreading claims about a Washington DC "blackout" which never happened.

Amid widespread civil unrest in the US, thousands of tweets using the #DCBlackout hashtag claimed that communications had been blocked in the capital to cripple protests.

But there was no evidence of this.

Twitter also said it had banned an account for inciting violence while impersonating a protest group.

The #DCBlackout hashtag trended on Twitter on Monday, with millions of tweets and retweets claiming that internet and phone communications were cut late in the night as the protests continued.

But reporters covering the protests had no such problems, and Twitter collated several of their tweets into a prominent link in Twitter's main website sidebar. An internet monitoring service also said there was no indication of any widespread disruption.

A Twitter spokesperson said the social media site had "suspended hundreds of spammy accounts" that used the #DCBlackout hashtag, citing the company's platform manipulation and spam policies.

[...] Prof Philip Howard from the Oxford Internet Institute said that while Twitter was taking action, conspiracy theories and polarising stories keep returning.

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

Could corporations control territory in space? Under new US rules, it might be possible:

First, the Artemis Accords go beyond simply rejecting the unpopular 1979 Moon Agreement, which declared lunar resources to be the "common heritage of mankind" and committed parties to establish an international regime to oversee space mining. Only 18 countries have signed the treaty.

In its place, the accords envisage a US-centric framework of bilateral agreements in which "partner nations" agree to follow US-drafted rules.

Second, the accords introduce the concept of "safety zones" around lunar operations.

Although territorial claims in space are prohibited under international law, these safety zones would seek to protect commercial and scientific sites from inadvertent collisions and other forms of "harmful interference". What kinds of conduct could count as harmful interference remains to be determined.

Previously:
(2020-06-02) Third European Service Module for Artemis Mission to Land Astronauts on the Moon
(2020-05-16) NASA Wants Partner Nations to Agree to "Artemis Accords" for Lunar Exploration
(2020-03-12) CoronaVirus (SARS-CoV-2) Roundup 2020-03-12
(2018-07-22) Who Owns The Moon? A Space Lawyer Answers
(2018-03-07) China to Recruit Civilian Astronauts, Partner With Russia on Upcoming Missions
(2018-01-09) Russia Assembles Engineering Group for Lunar Activities and the Deep Space Gateway
(2017-10-18) Bigelow and ULA to Put Inflatable Module in Orbit Around the Moon by 2022
(2015-11-26) Who Owns Space? USA's Asteroid-Mining Act is Dangerous and Potentially Illegal

Robert Heinlein explored the notion in a novel. Does the future of space exploration lie with governments or corporations?

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Publishers Sue the Internet Archive Over its Open Library, Declare it a Pirate Site

Several major publishers have filed a copyright infringement lawsuit in a New York court targeting the Internet Archive's Open Library. According to the complaint, the project is a massive and willful infringement project that amounts to little more than a regular pirate site.

Back in March, the Internet Archive responded to the coronavirus pandemic by offering a new service to help "displaced learners".

Combining scanned books from three libraries, the Archive offered unlimited borrowing of more than a million books, so that people could continue to learn while in quarantine.

While the move was welcomed by those in favor of open access to education, publishers and pro-copyright groups slammed the decision, with some describing it as an attempt to bend copyright law and others declaring the project as mass-scale piracy.

Today, major publishers Hachette Book Group, Inc., HarperCollins Publishers LLC, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., and Penguin Random House LLC went to war with the project by filing a copyright infringement lawsuit against the Internet Archive and five 'Doe' defendants in a New York court.

Complaint (PDF).

See also: Lawsuit over online book lending could bankrupt Internet Archive

Previously: Internet Archive's Open Library Now Supports Full-Text Searches for All 4+ Million Items
Internet Archive Suspends E-Book Lending "Waiting Lists" During U.S. National Emergency
Authors Fume as Online Library "Lends" Unlimited Free Books
University Libraries Offer Online "Lending" of Scanned In-Copyright Books

Original Submission

martyb writes:

Two lefties make a right—if you are a one-in-a-million garden snail:

In October 2016, evolutionary geneticist Dr. Angus Davison in the University of Nottingham's School of Life Sciences appealed to the public for their help in match-making for Jeremy, a garden snail with a rare left-coiling shell.

Dr. Davison hoped to use the offspring from Jeremy to study the genetics of this condition, because his previous work on snails had given insight into understanding body asymmetry in other animals, including humans. But another left-coiling snail had to be found first. As well as a mirror-imaged shell, Jeremy had genitals on the opposite side making it very difficult for the snail to mate with normal snails.

The science to unravel this mystery was made possible by the involvement of the general public in finding a mate for Jeremy, initially via an appeal put out on BBC Radio Four's Today program, and then the wider media using #snaillove.

[...] Altogether more than 40 lefty snails were found by citizen scientists, in the wild and from snail farms. Davison and the citizen scientists bred the lefty snails together to test whether their occurrence was due to an inherited condition. Over three years, nearly fifteen thousand eggs were hatched from four generations of snails, including Jeremy.

[...] The new evidence shows that rare lefty garden snails are not usually produced due to an inherited condition. Instead, they are mainly produced by a developmental accident.

[...] "We have learned that two lefties usually make a right, at least if you are a garden snail. In other snails, being a lefty is an inherited condition, but we still don't really know how they do it. If we are able to find out, then this may help us understand how the right and left side of other animal bodies are defined, including ourselves.

Journal Information:

DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2020.0110 Internet 'shellebrity' reflects on origin of rare mirror-image snails, Biology Letters, https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2020.0110

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

Mass production of individualized products:

"Right now, individualization in the automotive industry basically means preparing every vehicle for every possible version and then adding the specific features each customer has ordered at the end of the line. This means, for example, that every car has to be fitted with the entire wiring harness," says project manager Professor Thomas Otto. Professor Reinhard Baumann, who works at Fraunhofer ENAS and is in charge of coordinating the Lighthouse Project, explains the new concept: "By combining traditional manufacturing methods with emerging digital technologies and production processes, we have found a way to integrate product individualization within mass production environments. Our emphasis right from the start has been on product and production reliability—but we still have a long way to go."

[...] The basic concept is simple: Just like an inkjet printer in the office, the researchers use inkjet and dispensing technologies to print geometric patterns. But instead of using colored inks—in other words, inks that have the functionality of "color"—they use inks with functionalities such as electrical conductivity, semiconductivity and insulation. This technology can be used to create both single-layer and multilayer systems. Even sensors and transistors are feasible. "And I can do all this not only on smooth, level surfaces such as a sheet of paper but also, using robots, on three-dimensional curved workpieces such as deep-drawn car doors," says Baumann. The second digital manufacturing technology that comes into play is the laser. Researchers at the six Fraunhofer Institutes have combined the two methods. As a result, the laser beam follows exactly the line taken by the printer, allowing it, for example, to cure previously printed photopolymers or sinter nanoparticle inks. Numerous robots are already used for assembly purposes on the shop floor, yet the new method is very different. "We have achieved orders-of-magnitude improvements in the spatial resolution of the printing with line widths down to approximately 50 micrometers," says Baumann.

The teams at the Fraunhofer Institutes are focusing initially on sensors and circuitry.

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

Astronomers capture a pulsar 'Powering Up':

"Using multiple telescopes that are sensitive to light in different energies we were able to trace that the initial activity happened near the companion star, in the outer edges of the accretion disk, and it took 12 days for the disk to be brought into the hot state and for material to spiral inward to the neutron star, and X-rays to be produced," she said.

In an 'accreting' neutron star system, a pulsar (a dense remnant of an old star) strips material away from a nearby star, forming an accretion disk of material spiraling in towards the pulsar, where it releases extraordinary amounts of energy—about the total energy output of the sun in 10 years, over the period of a few short weeks.

The pulsar observed is SAX J1808.4−3658 which rotates at a rapid 400 times per second and is located 11,000 light-years away in the constellation Saggitarius.

"The physics behind this 'switching on' process has eluded physicists for decades, partly because there are very few comprehensive observations of the phenomenon."

Also at: Mantra.

Original Submission

Common Joe writes:

Taking a brief step back from the usual politics and hard tech...

A momentous event took place in Toba Aquarium on 26 May, when the keeper of the facility's five giant isopods discovered fecal matter in their tank. This would be the first time since April of 2018 that even a trace of poop had been found.

From the article, there were other, small interesting tidbits about the isopods who moved in seven years ago:

• The fecal material contained digested food that wasn't served in the aquarium meaning it was eaten at least seven years ago
• At least one of the isopods didn't eat for six years and lived

If there are any biologists, it would be interesting to hear your comments on these guys.

[#1 The linked story did not take a pass on bad puns. #2 (See what I did there?) Has a video of a Giant isopod eating the face off a shark. --Ed.]

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Atom-Thin Switches Could Route 5G and 6G Radio Signals

Two-dimensional, atom-thin materials are good for a lot of things, but until two years ago, nobody thought they'd make good memory devices. Then Deji Akinwande, Jack Lee, and their team at UT Austin tried it out. It turns out that sandwiching a 2D material like molybdenum disulfide between two electrodes makes a memristor—a two-terminal device that stores data as a change in resistance. In research reported last week, they've proved a very important potential application for these "atomristors"—analog RF switches for 5G and perhaps future 6G radios.

[...] The key figure of merit for RF switches is called cut-off frequency. It's a combination of on-state resistance and off-state capacitance, both of which should be low in a good switch. Terahertz values for cutoff frequency indicate that a device is a good candidate for an RF switch, and the experimental hBN[*] devices scored 129 terahertz. As part of the testing, the team transmitted real-time high-definition video at a rate of 8.5 gigabits per second using a 100 gigahertz carrier frequency, which they say is more than sufficient for 5G's streaming needs. At this data rate, several movies can be downloaded in a few seconds. They reported their results in Nature Electronics (DOI: 10.1038/s41928-020-0416-x) (DX).

[...] For 6G frequencies, which are expected to include frequencies in the terahertz range (300 to 3000 GHz), the UT Austin team is planning new laboratory measurements.

[*] hBN: hexagonal boron nitride and Wikipedia.

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

'Plastic-free' fashion is not as clean or green as it seems:

We have all become more aware of the environmental impact of our clothing choices. The fashion industry has seen a rise in "green," "eco" and "sustainable" clothing. This includes an increase in the use of natural fibres, such as wool, hemp, and cotton, as synthetic fabrics, like polyester, acrylic and nylon, have been vilified by some.

However, the push to go "natural" obscures a more complex picture.

Natural fibres in fashion garments are products of multiple transformation processes, most of which are reliant on intensive manufacturing as well as advanced chemical manipulation.

While they are presumed to biodegrade, the extent to which they do has been contested by a handful of studies. Natural fibres can be preserved over centuries and even millennia in certain environments. Where fibres are found to degrade they may release chemicals, for example from dyes, into the environment.

Perhaps the real threat to the environment is over-consumption.

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

When investigating how tumors grow, or how pharmaceuticals affect different types of cells, researchers have to understand how molecules within a cell react—and interact. This is possible with modern laser microscopy. Until now, however, molecules in cell specimens had to be labelled with fluorescent substances in order to make them visible, and this can distort the very behavior of the molecules. Research groups from Bielefeld University and the University of Hong Kong have developed a laser microscope that works without having to label the molecules. For this, the researchers innovated a unique compact fibre laser instead of the solid-state lasers that had previously been used. The new microscope generates far less noise when in use than customary designs, making it suitable for use in operating rooms. The researchers presented their innovative technology in the journal Light: Science and Applications, which is published by Springer Nature.

"Label-free microscopic imaging is currently a hot topic in biomedical research," says Professor Dr. Thomas Huser, a biophysicist who leads the Biomolecular Photonics research group at Bielefeld University. His team worked together with Professor Dr. Kenneth K.Y. Wong's research group at the University of Hong Kong on the fibre laser microscope.

"Staining with fluorescent markers is generally unsuitable for in-vivo tissues," says Huser. "Label-free microscopy is needed, for instance, to investigate how various new types of cells develop from stem cells. It also allows for a tumor to be demarcated from normal tissue without staining. And we can ascertain how pharmaceutical compounds react with molecules in the muscle tissue cells of the heart and liver, as well as other cells."

Journal Reference:
Cihang Kong, Christian Pilger, Henning Hachmeister, et al. High-contrast, fast chemical imaging by coherent Raman scattering using a self-synchronized two-colour fibre laser [open], Light: Science & Applications (DOI: 10.1038/s41377-020-0259-2)

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

Colorado State University:

Samples were collected during the NSF-funded SOCRATES field campaign, led by research scientist and coauthor Paul DeMott. Graduate student Kathryn Moore sampled the air in the marine boundary layer, the lower part of the atmosphere that has direct contact with the ocean, aboard the Research Vessel Investigator as it steamed south from Tasmania to the Antarctic ice edge. Research scientist and first author Jun Uetake examined the composition of airborne microbes captured from the ship. The atmosphere is full of these microorganisms dispersed over hundreds to thousands of kilometers by wind.

Using DNA sequencing, source tracking and wind back trajectories, Uetake determined the microbes' origins were marine, sourced from the ocean. Bacterial composition also was differentiated into broad latitudinal zones, suggesting aerosols from distant land masses and human activities, such as pollution or soil emissions driven by land use change, were not traveling south into Antarctic air.

It looks like Maatsuyker Island off the south coast of Tasmania is the cleanest air you're going to get.

Journal Reference
Jun Uetake, Thomas C. J. Hill, Kathryn A. Moore, et al. Airborne bacteria confirm the pristine nature of the Southern Ocean boundary layer [open], Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2000134117)

Original Submission

martyb writes:

African-American George Floyd's death has led to marches, demonstrations, acts of violence, and looting across the USA and in other parts of the world. Emotions are running high. We will not attempt to accuse or defend anyone here. Just attempt to lay out the information we have and offer it up for the community to discuss. Many comments about this incident have been posted to unrelated stories on this site. This is, therefore, an attempt to provide one place on SoylentNews where people are encouraged to discuss it. So as to not derail other stories on the site, I kindly ask you focus those comments here.

Wikipedia has a page about this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_George_Floyd (permanent link to the page as it appeared at the time of writing):

On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, an African-American man, was killed in the Powderhorn community of Minneapolis, Minnesota. While Floyd was handcuffed and lying face down on a city street during an arrest, Derek Chauvin, a white American Minneapolis police officer, kept his knee on the right side of Floyd's neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds; according to the criminal complaint against Chauvin, 2 minutes and 53 seconds of that time occurred after Floyd became unresponsive.[3][4][5][6][7] Officers Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng, and Thomas K. Lane participated in Floyd's arrest, with Kueng holding Floyd's back, Lane holding his legs, and Thao looking on and preventing intervention by an onlooker as he stood nearby.[8]:6:24[9][10]

The arrest was made after Floyd was accused of using a counterfeit $20 bill at a market.[11] Police said Floyd physically resisted arrest.[12][13] Some media organizations commented that a security camera from a nearby business did not show Floyd resisting.[14][15] The criminal complaint filed later said that based on body camera footage, Floyd repeatedly said he couldn't breathe while standing outside the police car, resisted getting in the car and intentionally fell down.[16][17][18][19] Several bystanders recorded the event on their smartphones, with one video showing Floyd repeating "Please", "I can't breathe", "Mama", and "Don't kill me" being widely circulated on social media platforms and broadcast by the media.[20] While knee-to-neck restraints are allowed in Minnesota under certain circumstances, Chauvin's usage of the technique has been widely criticized by law enforcement experts as excessive.[21][22][23] All four officers were fired the day after the incident.[24]

[...] Charges: Third-degree murder (Chauvin) Second-degree manslaughter (Chauvin)

This has been extensively covered by the media. Some outlets attempt to put their own interpretations on their coverage with their selection of video footage and with their commentary. It is difficult to find a simple video of the incident. Here is one that has coverage from the time of initial encounter of the police the officers with George Floyd up through his being taken away by ambulance. The video is a composite of shots from a restaurant's surveillance camera (Dragon Wok), Officer body cam, and bystander cell phones. YouTube footage: Full George Floyd Available Footage (21:12). If anyone has more complete footage of the arrest, please mention it clearly (with a link) in the comments.

Lastly, this is a hard time for everybody. Pandemic. Lock-down. Unemployment. Fears. Please be mindful of others' circumstances when commenting. We are a community sprung from a time of challenge. Let us continue to be here for one-another during this difficult time. SoylentNews is People.

Original Submission