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upstart writes in with an IRC submission for RandomFactor:

Tesla picks Austin for its next US factory to build Cybertruck, Semi truck, Model Y:

Tesla has picked a site near Austin for its next U.S. factory, a 4- to 5-million square foot $1.1 billion plant that will assemble the automaker's futuristic Cybertruck, the Tesla Semi and the Model Y and Model 3 for sales to customers on the East Coast.

[...] Tesla CEO Elon Musk described the future factory as an "ecological paradise," with a boardwalk and bike lanes and where the public will be welcome. While tours have been offered at Tesla's Fremont, Calif., the campus is not open for the public to wander its grounds.

[...] Tesla has promised Texas officials it will employ at least 5,000 people. About 25 of those workers are categorized as "qualifying" jobs and would be paid a minimum of $74,050, while the remaining would be middle income jobs with an annual salary of $47,147.

[...] Under terms of the agreement with Travis County, Tesla must invest $1.1 billion in the new factory within the first five years. In exchange, Travis County will rebate 70% of the property taxes Tesla will pay. Once Tesla's investment in the factory eclipses that $1.1 billion mark, the property taxes rebates will increase to 75%. Any investments in the factory beyond $2 billion, will give Tesla 80% in property tax rebates.

[...] If Tesla fails to hit the investment goal or if its falls 75% short of its jobs requirement in any year, the company won't receive any property tax relief. The county will also have the ability to recoup tax rebates if Tesla breaches its contract.

Together, Tesla will receive at least $61 million in property tax abatement. It's possible that Tesla could receive more from the state.

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upstart writes in with an IRC submission:

Ongoing Meow attack has nuked >1,000 databases without telling anyone why:

More than 1,000 unsecured databases so far have been permanently deleted in an ongoing attack that leaves the word "meow" as its only calling card, according to Internet searches over the past day.

The attack first came to the attention of researcher Bob Diachenko on Tuesday, when he discovered a database that stored user details of the UFO VPN had been destroyed. UFO VPN had already been in the news that day because the world-readable database exposed a wealth of sensitive user information[...]

[...] Besides amounting to a serious privacy breach, the database was at odds with the Hong Kong-based UFO's promise to keep no logs. The VPN provider responded by moving the database to a different location but once again failed to secure it properly. Shortly after, the Meow attack wiped it out.

Since then, Meow and a similar attack have destroyed more than 1,000 other databases. At the time this post went live, the Shodan computer search site showed that 987 ElasticSearch and 70 MongoDB instances had been nuked by Meow. A separate, less-malicious attack tagged an additional 616 ElasticSearch, MongoDB, and Cassandra files with the string "university_cybersec_experiment." That attackers in this case seem to be demonstrating to the database maintainers that the files are vulnerable to being viewed or deleted.

[...] In other cases—including the current Meow attacks—the data is simply wiped out with no ransomware note or any other explanation. The only thing left behind in the current attacks in the word "meow."

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upstart writes in with an IRC submission for RandomFactor:

Rumors Point Towards Remarkable Gains for AMD's Upcoming 'Big Navi' GPUs - ExtremeTech:

There’s been a lot of debate in the past 12 months over whether RDNA2 would deliver a huge improvement over RDNA. The Radeon 5700 and 5700 XT were significant leaps forward for AMD’s products, but they failed to cleanly beat Turing on absolute power efficiency, and while they challenged Nvidia’s RTX GPUs, they weren’t enough to deliver knockout blows. RDNA was important because it demonstrated that after years of iterating on GCN, AMD was still capable of delivering significant advances in GPU technology.

AMD raised eyebrows when it claimed RDNA2 would offer a 1.5x performance per watt improvement over RDNA, in the same way RDNA had improved dramatically over GCN. Generally speaking, such dramatic improvements only come from node shrinks, not additional GPUs built on the same node. Nvidia’s Maxwell is probably the best example of a GPU family that improved over its predecessor without a node change, and the gap between Maxwell and Kepler was smaller than the gap between Pascal and Maxwell, as far as power efficiency improvements and performance gains.

There are rumors going around that Big Navi might [be] dramatically faster than expected, with performance estimated at 1.95x – 2.25x higher than the 5700 XT. This would be an astonishing feat, to put it mildly. The slideshow below shows our test results from the 5700 XT and 5700. The 5700 XT matched the RTX 2070 (and sometimes the 2080) well, while the 5700 was modestly faster than the RTX 2060 for a slightly higher price. A 1.95 – 2.25x speed improvement would catapult Big Navi into playable frame rates even on the most demanding settings we test; 18fps in Metro Exodus at Extreme Detail and 4K becomes 35-41 fps depending on which multiplier you choose. I have no idea how Big Navi would compare against Ampere at that point, but it would handily blow past the RTX 2080 Ti.

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Phoenix666 writes:

Phys.org:

A team of researchers with Oregon State University has confirmed the first active leak of sea-bed methane in Antarctica. In their paper published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the group describes their trip to Cinder Cones located at McMurdo Sound situated in the Ross Sea, and why they believe it signals very serious repercussions for global warming.

[...] The researchers note that the methane leak at the Cinder Cones is not in a part of the ocean that has been warming; thus, the reason for the leak is a mystery. Much more concerning is the reaction of undersea microbes. Prior research has shown that when other parts of the seafloor begin releasing methane, microbes move in and eat it, preventing it from making its way to the surface and into the atmosphere. Cinder Cones has been leaking for at least five years, they note, but as yet, methane-eating microbes have not moved in. Thus, the methane is almost certainly making its way into the atmosphere. The reason this is so concerning, they point out, is because it suggests that if other parts of the seafloor in Antarctica begin to seep methane due to warming, microbes may not move into the area quickly enough to prevent massive amounts of the gas from making its way into the atmosphere. They plan to continue monitoring seepage at Cinder Cones, noting that it could take as long as five more years for microbes to move in. But that research will have to wait, as the pandemic has put their plans on hold.

Are krill or penguins to blame?

Journal Reference:
Andrew R. Thurber, Sarah Seabrook, Rory M. Welsh. Riddles in the cold: Antarctic endemism and microbial succession impact methane cycling in the Southern Ocean, Proceedings of the Royal Society B (DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.1134)

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upstart writes in with an IRC submission for RandomFactor:

sorry takyon

Quantum Tunneling Is Not Instantaneous, Physicists Show:

Although it would not get you past a brick wall and onto Platform 9¾ to catch the Hogwarts Express, quantum tunneling—in which a particle "tunnels" through a seemingly insurmountable barrier—remains a confounding, intuition-defying phenomenon. Now Toronto-based experimental physicists using rubidium atoms to study this effect have measured, for the first time, just how long these atoms spend in transit through a barrier. Their findings appeared in Nature on July 22.

The researchers have showed that quantum tunneling is not instantaneous—at least, in one way of thinking about the phenomenon—despite recent headlines that have suggested otherwise. "This is a beautiful experiment," says Igor Litvinyuk of Griffith University in Australia, who works on quantum tunneling but was not part of this demonstration. "Just to do it is a heroic effort."

To appreciate just how bizarre quantum tunneling is, consider a ball rolling on flat ground that encounters a small, rounded hillock. What happens next depends on the speed of the ball. Either it will reach the top and roll down the other side or it will climb partway uphill and slide back down, because it does not have enough energy to get over the top.

This situation, however, does not hold for particles in the quantum world. Even when a particle does not possess enough energy to go over the top of the hillock, sometimes it will still get to the opposite end. "It's as though the particle dug a tunnel under the hill and appeared on the other side," says study co-author Aephraim Steinberg of the University of Toronto.

Phoenix666 writes:

New cosmic magnetic field structures discovered in galaxy NGC 4217:

When evaluating the data from NGC 4217, the researchers found several remarkable structures. The galaxy has an X-shaped magnetic field structure, which has also been observed in other galaxies, extending far outwards from the galaxy disk, namely over 20,000 light years.

In addition to the X-shape, the team found a helix structure and two large bubble structures, also called superbubbles. The latter originate from places where many massive stars explode as supernovae, but also where stars are formed that emit stellar winds in the process. Researchers therefore suspect a connection between these phenomena.

"The data suggest that star formation and star explosions, so-called supernovae, are responsible for the visible structures."

Journal Reference:
Y. Stein, R.-J. Dettmar, R. Beck, et al. CHANG-ES - XXI. Transport processes and the X-shaped magnetic field of NGC 4217: off-center superbubble structure [open], Astronomy & Astrophysics (DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202037675)

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Phoenix666 writes:

ArsTechnica:

On Sunday, an orbiter built by the United Arab Emirates launched to Mars. Next week, possibly as early as Thursday, July 30, NASA will launch is large, 1.05-ton Perseverance rover toward the red planet.

Sandwiched in between these to missions, however, is China's first interplanetary spacecraft. With its ambitious Tianwen 1 mission, China will attempt to orbit and land on Mars on its first attempt, subsequently deploying a rover. This is significant, because the typical mode of exploration is to first flyby a new world, then enter orbit, and only then send a spacecraft to land and potentially rove around.
...
The mission is likely to launch early Thursday, US time, between midnight and 3am EDT (04:00-07:00 UTC) Thursday onboard a Long March 5 rocket from a spaceport on Hainan, an island in the South China Sea. China space reporter Andrew Jones estimates the launch will occur around 45 minutes after the window opens. Keeping with the nation's practice of generally only announcing launches after successful liftoffs, it seems unlikely that China will provide live coverage of the launch.

The lander aims to hover at 100 meters to autonomously determine the safest place to land.

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upstart writes in with an IRC submission:

Ex-boss of ICANN shifts from 'advisor' to co-CEO of private equity biz that tried to buy .org for $1bn+:

In the past week, the website of Ethos Capital, the private equity firm that offered $1.13bn to take control of the popular .org registry, was updated to list ex-ICANN CEO Fadi Chehade as its joint head.

The change is significant because it was Chehade's involvement in the attempted .org purchase that first alerted internet users that the deal deserved closer scrutiny.

The sale was ultimately vetoed several months later by ICANN, but only after the Attorney General of California got involved and sent a last-minute letter to LA-based ICANN telling it not to approve the deal in part due to the "lack of transparency" on Ethos Capital.

Part of that lack of transparency was who would actually own the .org registry after the sale: behind Ethos was a complex structure of no less than four shell companies that were all registered on the same day in Delaware with the prefix "Purpose Domains." Ethos Capital refused to divulge who all the directors of those companies actually were despite repeat requests, including from ICANN, which had the power to refuse the sale.

Chehade's close link to the proposed sale was only noticed because he had registered Ethos Capital's .org domain name, EthosCapital.org, under his own name on May 7, 2019. The company Ethos Capital LLC was registered in Delaware one week later, on May 14, 2019.

Acting merely as "advisor" until now allowed plausible deniability when pointed questions were made to The Internet Society and PIR (Public Interest Registry) concerning Ethos Capital.

Hmmmm 🤔

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upstart writes in with an IRC submission:

Senators demand answers on expired surveillance programs:

Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Mike Lee (R-Ut.) on Thursday pressed the Trump administration on whether and how mass surveillance programs authorized by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act have been halted since the act's expiration.

The letter to Attorney General William Barr and Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe raises concerns that the administration may be be continuing to conduct surveillance operations by relying on Executive Order 12333.

The order, issued on 1981, has been used before to conduct operations without statutory authorization or congressional oversight.

"Congress and the American people have a right to know if this or any other administration is spying on people in the United States outside of express congressional approval, with no or diminished guardrails," Sens. Leahy and Lee wrote.

"The rights of all Americans depend on their government exercising its power responsibly, adhering to the rule of law, and upholding its duty to act transparently. Any surveillance conducted in the absence of statutory authorities and congressional oversight would be extraordinarily concerning and illegal."

Reauthorization of the key FISA provisions under the USA Freedom Act has stalled.

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Phoenix666 writes:

Phys.org:

Thermosets, which include epoxies, polyurethanes, and rubber used for tires, are found in many products that have to be durable and heat-resistant, such as cars or electrical appliances. One drawback to these materials is that they typically cannot be easily recycled or broken down after use, because the chemical bonds holding them together are stronger than those found in other materials such as thermoplastics.

MIT chemists have now developed a way to modify thermoset plastics with a chemical linker that makes the materials much easier to break down, but still allows them to retain the mechanical strength that makes them so useful.
...
The same type of chemical reaction used to synthesize those polymers is also used to make some thermoset plastics, including polydicyclopentadiene (pDCPD), which is used for body panels in trucks and buses.

Using the same strategy from their 2019 paper, the researchers added silyl ether monomers to the liquid precursors that form pDCPD. They found that if the silyl ether monomer made up between 7.5 and 10 percent of the overall material, pDCPD would retain its mechanical strength but could be broken down into a soluble powder upon exposure to fluoride ions.

It is hoped the process can help boost recycling in industry.

Journal Reference:
Peyton Shieh, Wenxu Zhang, Keith E. L. Husted, et al. Cleavable comonomers enable degradable, recyclable thermoset plastics, Nature (DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2495-2)

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Phoenix666 writes:

Phys.org:

Scientists at South Ural State University (SUSU) have discovered that the extract of a common weed plant, Bidens pilosa, is a promising source of enzymes for the food industry. According to the authors, the technique can produce cheaper plant alternatives to expensive enzymes necessary in wine and cheese production. The study is published in the International Journal of Scientific and Technology Research.

As part of the work of the International Laboratory for the Synthesis and Analysis of Food Ingredients, the scientists proved that the Bidens pilosa leaf extract accelerates the breakdown of proteins, which makes it suitable for obtaining biologically active compounds like tyrosine, first isolated from cheese in 1846, and among the proteins expressed by all living organisms.

Currently the wine and cheese industries use enzymes from animal sources.

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upstart writes in with an IRC submission:

FCC Approves 988 as Suicide Prevention, Mental Health Crisis Number:

Yesterday the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) unanimously approved [(pdf)] 988 as a nationwide, three-digit phone number that people in crisis can call to speak with suicide prevention and mental health crisis counselors. All phone service providers are required to direct all 988 calls to the existing National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-TALK) by July 16, 2022. This includes all telecommunications carriers and interconnected and one-way Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service providers. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline will remain operational during and after the two-year transition to 988.

During the transition to 988, Americans who need help should continue to contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by calling 1-800-273-8255 (1-800-273-TALK) and through online chats. Veterans and service members may reach the Veterans Crisis Line by pressing 1 after dialing, chatting online at http://www.veteranscrisisline.net, or texting 838255. A transcript of the vote is posted here.

Activation of new 988 number will take a while. In the meantime, try calling "911" or:

• Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at: 1-800-273-8255 (1-800-273-TALK)
• Online chat with National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

Active and former US service members can:

• Call the above phone number and then press "1",
• Chat at http://www.veteranscrisisline.net
• Send a text to 838255.

If nothing else, talk to somebody. It's really important to remember that suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary situation. Help is available; ask for it and don't give up.

NOTE: The above are US-centric. For those who are aware of resources in other countries, please mention them in the comments.

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takyon writes:

DOJ: Chinese hackers stole "hundreds of millions of dollars" of secrets

Two state-sponsored hackers in China targeted US businesses in a "sophisticated and prolific threat" for more than 10 years, both for financial gain and to steal trade secrets, the Department of Justice said today.

The 11-count indictment (PDF), which was made public today, alleges Li Xiaoyu and Dong Jiazhi worked with China's Ministry of State Security (MSS) and other agencies to hack into "hundreds of victim companies, governments, non-governmental organizations, and individual dissidents, clergy, and democratic and human rights activists in the United States and abroad."

Li and Dong were allegedly infiltrating networks of businesses in a wide array of sectors, including "high tech manufacturing; civil, industrial, and medical device engineering; business, educational, and gaming software development; solar energy; and pharmaceuticals," as well as defense contractors, since at least September 2009. In recent months, prosecutors allege, the two were seeking ways in to "the networks of biotech and other firms publicly known for work on COVID-19 vaccines, treatments, and testing technology" in at least 11 countries, including the US.

The indictment does not name the firms in question, only saying that "on or about January 25 and 27," Li was trying to break into networks at a Maryland biotech firm and a Massachusetts biotech firm, both of which were publicly known by that point to be working on COVID-19 vaccines. Matching up the timelines, the targets seem to have been Novavax, based in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and Moderna, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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takyon writes:

U.S. Orders China to Close Its Houston Consulate in 72 Hours (archive)

The United States ordered China to close its diplomatic consulate in Houston, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Wednesday, dealing another blow to the rapidly deteriorating relations between the two countries.

In the hours after the Trump administration notified the Chinese of its decision, smoke was seen billowing from a courtyard inside the consulate as employees dumped what appeared to be documents into flaming barrels, according to a video posted by KPRC-TV, a local television station.

The Houston police and fire departments responded to reports of a fire on Tuesday evening but did not enter the building, over which the Chinese have sovereignty.

Also at BBC and CNBC.

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upstart writes in with an IRC submission for RandomFactor:

who am I rooting for again?

Microsoft Tells Congress That iOS App Store Is Anticompetitive:

US regulators are taking aim at big tech firms like Google, Apple, and Amazon, with the potential for antitrust cases later this year. A House committee is gearing up to question the CEOs of major technology companies, but Microsoft President Brad Smith has already chatted with the committee. Smith reportedly expressed concerns about Apple in particular, specifically when it comes to its handling of the App Store.

[...] According to Smith, the recent disagreement over the Basecamp Hey email app on iOS exemplifies the problem. The app needs a $99 annual subscription, but there was no way to purchase it in the app — users had to go to the web. That didn't please Apple, as it circumvented the 30 percent revenue charge. Apple resisted approving the app, only doing so when public pressure ramped up, and the developers added a 14-day free trial for iOS users.

[...] And that's at the heart of the antitrust probe: Is Apple harming competition with its policies now that iOS is one of two dominant mobile platforms? It might take a few years for the government to decide that one.

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