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upstart writes in with an IRC submission:

Not even scientists can tell these birds apart. But now, computers can:

[...] For years, researchers have identified birds by placing colored bands on their legs. They use those bands to identify birds in the wild—and in photographs and videos back in the lab. The task can often be laborious, Levin says.

[...T]eam member André Ferreira, a Ph.D. student at the University of Montpellier, decided to try a kind of artificial intelligence. The tool, called a convolutional neural network, sifts through thousands of pictures to figure out which visual features can be used to classify a given image; it then uses that information to classify new images.

[...] Ferreira fed the neural network several thousand photos of 30 sociable weavers that had already been tagged. [...] To take the photos, he set up cameras near bird feeders equipped with radio-frequency antennas. As soon as the birds landed, a small computer recorded their identity using their PIT tag, and a camera snapped pictures of their backs every 2 seconds. (The rear view is the part of the bird seen most often while they are nesting or foraging.)

After just 2 weeks, Ferreira had enough photos to train the neural network. [...W]hen given photos it hadn't seen before, the neural network correctly identified individual birds 90% of the time, they report this week in Methods in Ecology and Evolution. Doutrelant says that's about the same accuracy as humans trying to spot color rings with binoculars.

Ferreira then tried the approach on two other bird species studied by Damien Farine, a behavioral ecologist at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior. The tool was just as accurate in identifying zebra finches in captivity and great tits in the wild. Both species are widely studied by ecologists.

Journal Reference:
André C. Ferreira, Liliana R. Silva, Francesco Renna, et al. Deep learning‐based methods for individual recognition in small birds [open], Methods in Ecology and Evolution (DOI: 10.1111/2041-210X.13436)

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upstart writes in with an IRC submission:

In a warming world, New England's trees are storing more carbon:

Climate change has increased the productivity of forests, according to a new study that synthesizes hundreds of thousands of carbon observations collected over the last quarter century at the Harvard Forest Long-Term Ecological Research site, one of the most intensively studied forests in the world.

The study, published today in Ecological Monographs, reveals that the rate at which carbon is captured from the atmosphere at Harvard Forest nearly doubled between 1992 and 2015. The scientists attribute much of the increase in storage capacity to the growth of 100-year-old oak trees, still vigorously rebounding from colonial-era land clearing, intensive timber harvest, and the 1938 Hurricane—and bolstered more recently by increasing temperatures and a longer growing season due to climate change. Trees have also been growing faster due to regional increases in precipitation and atmospheric carbon dioxide, while decreases in atmospheric pollutants such as ozone, sulfur, and nitrogen have reduced forest stress.

[...] The trees show no signs of slowing their growth, even as they come into their second century of life. But the scientists note that what we see today may not be the forest's future. "It's entirely possible that other forest development processes like tree age may dampen or reverse the pattern we've observed," says Finzi.

Journal Reference:
Adrien C. Finzi, Marc‐André Giasson, Audrey A. Barker Plotkin, et al. Carbon budget of the Harvard Forest Long‐Term Ecological Research site: pattern, process, and response to global change [$], Ecological Monographs (DOI: 10.1002/ecm.1423)

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upstart writes in with an IRC submission:

Why do humans prefer to mate in private?

Anecdotal evidence suggests that human beings generally prefer to mate in private—but why? And why is it so rare? Other than humans, only one other species has demonstrated a preference for privacy during mating: Arabian babblers. To learn more, [anthropologist Yitzchak] Ben Mocha retrieved data from 4,572 accounts of cultural studies—ethnographies—and studied them looking for what he describes as normal sexual practices. Those involved were not trying to shock or avoid punishment for engaging in taboo practices such as incest—and were also not in the pornography business. He found that virtually every known culture practices private mating—even in places where privacy is difficult to find. He also looked for examples of other animals mating in private, and found none, except for the babblers. He also found that there were no explanations for it, and in fact, there were very few other people wondering why humans have such a proclivity. And, not surprisingly, he was unable to find any evolutionary theories on the topic.

Journal Reference:
Yitzchak Ben Mocha. Why do human and non-human species conceal mating? The cooperation maintenance hypothesis, Proceedings of the Royal Society B (DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.1330)

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upstart writes in with an IRC submission:

Ex-Googler Levandowski gets 18 months in prison for trade-secret theft:

Ex-Google engineer Anthony Levandowski yesterday was sentenced to 18 months in prison following his March guilty plea for stealing a confidential document related to Google's self-driving technology.

Levandowski's lawyers last week asked a judge in US District Court for the Northern District of California to let him off without any prison time, arguing that a year of home confinement, a fine, restitution, and community service would be sufficient punishment. The federal government asked for a 27-month prison sentence.

While handing down the 18-month sentence, US District Judge William Alsup said that a sentence without imprisonment would give "a green light to every future brilliant engineer to steal trade secrets," according to a Reuters report. Levandowski was originally charged with 33 counts of stealing trade secrets by downloading thousands of documents to his personal laptop in December 2015 shortly before he left Google to work on his startup, Otto, which was acquired by Uber for a reported $680 million in August 2016. In a plea deal, Levandowksi admitted to stealing one document called "Chauffeur TL weekly updates," which tracked the progress of Google's "Project Chauffeur" that later became Waymo. Prosecutors dropped the other charges.

Levandowski won't have to serve the sentence right away, as Alsup ruled that he can go to prison after the coronavirus pandemic subsides, according to Reuters and other news outlets.

Levandowski also must pay $756K to Waymo

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upstart writes in with an IRC submission for RandomFactor:

Scientists build ultra-high-speed terahertz wireless chip:

To enable data transmission speeds that surpass the 5th Generation (5G) standards for telecommunications, scientists from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) and Osaka University in Japan have built a new chip using a concept called photonic topological insulators.

Published recently in Nature Photonics, the researchers showed that their chip can transmit terahertz (THz) waves resulting in a data rate of 11 Gigabits per second (Gbit/s), which is capable of supporting real-time streaming of 4K high-definition video, and exceeds the hitherto theoretical limit of 10 Gbit/s for 5G wireless communications.

[...] fundamental challenges need to be tackled before THz waves could be used reliably in telecommunications. Two of the biggest issues are the material defects and transmission error rates found in conventional waveguides such as crystals or hollow cables.

These issues were overcome using Photonic Topological Insulators (PTI), which allows light waves to be conducted on the surface and edges of the insulators, akin to a train following railroads, rather than through the material.

[...] Their discovery could pave the way for more PTI THz interconnects—structures that connect various components in a circuit—to be integrated into wireless communication devices, to give the next generation '6G' communications an unprecedented terabytes-per-second speed (10 to 100 times faster than 5G) in future.

[...] "By employing THz technology, it can potentially boost intra-chip and inter-chip communication to support Artificial intelligence and cloud-based technologies, such as interconnected self-driving cars, which will need to transmit data quickly to other nearby cars and infrastructure to navigate better and also to avoid accidents."

[...] Areas of potential application for THz interconnect technology will include data centers, IOT devices, massive multicore CPUs (computing chips) and long-range communications, including telecommunications and wireless communication such as Wi-Fi.

Journal Reference:
Yihao Yang, Yuichiro Yamagami, Xiongbin Yu, et al. Terahertz topological photonics for on-chip communication, Nature Photonics (DOI: 10.1038/s41566-020-0618-9)

Previously:
(2020-07-15) Samsung's 6G White Paper: Available by 2030, 1,000 Gbps Peak Speed, 1 Gbps "User Experienced" Speed
(2020-06-02) Atom-Thin Switches Could Route 5G, and Even 6G Radio Signals
(2020-01-21) Record-Breaking Terahertz Laser Beam
(2019-03-17) FCC Will Allow Wireless Devices to Operate in the 95 GHz to 3 THz Range
(2018-03-30) Smaller and Faster: The Terahertz Computer Chip is Now Within Reach

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upstart writes in with an IRC submission for RandomFactor:

Microsoft is making it possible to run Android apps in Windows 10:

Microsoft has made great progress with its Your Phone, gradually adding more and more capabilities so you can text, answer calls and browse photos stored on your phone from the comfort of your computer. But now things are about to get really interesting.

The company is increasing what it dubs the "seamless connection between PC and phone", adding the ability to run Android apps in Windows 10 via the Your Phone app. There is, of course, a bit of a catch.

The new capability is something that huge numbers of Android handset owners would excitedly embrace, and it comes about because of Microsoft's partnership with Samsung. The ability to run mobile apps within Windows 10 without the need for an emulator or complicated software is something of a dream for many people, but there is a danger that it is a luxury that might only be afforded to Samsung customers.

[...] The fact that this new integration was born from the relationship between Microsoft and Samsung means that it is hardly surprisingly to see it debut on the Galaxy Note 20. But it is, at this stage, impossible to tell whether such PC/phone integration will remain exclusive to "select Samsung devices" or if other companies -- and therefore more users -- will be able to take advantage of it.

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upstart writes in with an IRC submission for RandomFactorAtWork:

dasvidaniya

Alleged GandCrab Distributor Arrested in Belarus:

A 31-year-old man who allegedly distributed versions of the GandCrab ransomware has been arrested in Belarus for possession and distribution of malware, according to the country's Ministry of Internal Affairs.

On July 30, government officials in Belarus announced that the unnamed suspect, who lives in the city of Gomel, was arrested by police in cooperation with the authorities from the U.K. and Romania. GandCrab ransomware was pulled from distribution by its creators in 2019 (see: Did GandCrab Gang Fake Its Ransomware Retirement?).

Officials in Belarus note that the suspect also appears to have also been distributing cryptominers and programming malicious codes for illegal forums. The suspect apparently obtained a strain of the Gancrab ransomware by joining a darknet forum and then learned how to operate as a GandCrab affiliate, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The creator of the GandCrab malware offered it to others using a ransomware-as-a-service model.

Once the suspect obtained the malware, he sent malicious PDF files through spam emails to victims to infect their system, authorities allege. The suspect charged a fee of about $1,200 in cryptocurrency to decrypt each of the infected systems, the ministry says. The suspect leased servers to conduct his operation and used the ransomware profits to pay for the facilities, it alleges.

The hacker allegedly targeted victims in more than 100 countries, including the U.S., U.K. India, Germany, France, Italy and Russia, says Vladimir Zaitsev, the deputy head of the high-tech crimes department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

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Freeman writes:

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/08/mulan-skips-us-theaters-will-debut-on-disney-sept-4-for-an-extra-30/

After delisting Mulan from a potential theatrical run in June, Disney has firmed up its plans for its newest live-action remake. Starting September 4, Mulan will premiere exclusively on Disney+ in various territories, including the United States, Canada, and New Zealand, according to Disney CEO Bob Chapek.

Unlike other Disney+ streaming premieres, however, Mulan will launch with an extra price point on top of the service's $7/mo subscription rate. Paying Disney+ users in the US will have to fork over an additional $30 for what Chapek described as "premiere access," which likely equates to a temporary rental of the film instead of full-blown ownership a la platforms like iTunes and Amazon Video. Other territories' rates have not yet been confirmed. (Chapek took the opportunity to confirm that Disney+'s worldwide subscriber numbers are somewhere near 60.5 million.)

[Update, 9:30pm ET: Disney has since confirmed that a $30 payment for Mulan will permanently unlock it in your Disney+ account, so long as you remain a paying subscriber.]

The beginning of the end of movie theaters?

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NPC-131072 writes:

From Big Blue

Frances "Fran" Allen, a pioneer in the world of computing, the first female IBM Fellow and the first woman to win the Turing Award, died on August 4, 2020, the day of her 88th birthday.

Fran grew up on a farm in Peru, New York. She graduated from The New York State College for Teachers (now SUNY – Albany) with a B.Sc. in mathematics in 1954 and began teaching school back at her local school in Peru. After two years, she enrolled at the University of Michigan and earned an M.Sc. degree in mathematics in 1957. In debt with student loans, Fran joined IBM Research in Poughkeepsie, NY as a programmer on July 15, 1957, where she taught incoming employees the basics of FORTRAN. She planned to stay only until her debts were paid, however, she ended up spending her entire career at IBM. Fran retired from IBM in 2002, but remained affiliated with the company as a Fellow Emerita.

As a pioneer in compiler organization and optimization algorithms, Fran made seminal contributions to the world of computing. Her work on inter-procedural analysis and automatic parallelization continues to be on the leading edge of compiler research. She successfully reduced this science to practice through the transfer of this technology to products such as the STRETCH HARVEST Compiler, the COBOL Compiler, and the Parallel FORTRAN Product.

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Freeman writes:

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/08/zoombomber-crashes-court-hearing-on-twitter-hack-with-pornhub-video/

Zoombombers today disrupted a court hearing involving the Florida teen accused of masterminding a takeover of high-profile Twitter accounts, forcing the judge to stop the hearing. "During the hearing, the judge and attorneys were interrupted several times with people shouting racial slurs, playing music, and showing pornographic images," ABC Action News in Tampa Bay wrote. A Pornhub video forced the judge to temporarily shut down the hearing.

[...] "Predictably, the Zoom hearing for the 17-year-old alleged Twitter hacker in Fla. was bombed multiple times, with the final bombing of a pornhub clip ending the zoom portion of the proceedings," security reporter Brian Krebs wrote on Twitter. "How the judge in charge of the proceeding didn't think to enable settings that would prevent people from taking over the screen is beyond me. My guess is he didn't know he could."

Nash said that he'll require a password next time, according to WFLA reporter Ryan Hughes.

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martyb writes:

I recently received a message from our Treasurer and updated financial statements. I've taken this opportunity to put this out to the community. While I was at it, it seemed like a good time to take a look at things and provide an update to the community on where we're at and how we're doing. If you are not interested in this kind of stuff, a new story will be along before too long. Otherwise, more will be revealed after the break.

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:

Interesting side note to the SpaceX capsule recovery.

Boaters gatecrash SpaceX's 1st splashdown with astronauts. 'We need to do better,' NASA chief says.:

The SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour splashed down off the coast of Pensacola, Florida Sunday (Aug. 2), returning astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to Earth after their historic Demo-2 test flight. But shortly after that splashdown, private boats swarmed the space capsule, apparently hoping for a closer look.

"That was not what we were anticipating," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a post-splashdown briefing. "After they landed, the boats just came in. We need to do a better job next time for sure."

[...] Bridenstine said the U.S. Coast Guard did clear the landing zone ahead of the splashdown, and the landing itself had no issues. The SpaceX recovery ship Go Navigator recovered the capsule about 30 minutes after splashdown, but not before the private boats arrived.

"That capsule was in the water for a good amount of time and those boats just made a beeline for it," Bridenstine said. "There are things that we're going to look at, that we need to do better at, for sure."

SpaceX recovery crews in fast boats worked to push back the encroaching boaters. Still, the private boats could be seen in an arc around SpaceX's Go Navigator as the retrieval team plucked the capsule from the sea.

"The lesson learned here is that we probably need more Coast Guard assets,and maybe more SpaceX and NASA assets as well," SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said in the post-splashdown briefing. "This was a demonstration mission. This is the time that you go learn about these things, and we'll certainly be better prepared next time."

Previously:
(2020-08-02) Demo-2 Astronauts Safely Splashdown in Gulf of Mexico
(2020-08-01) More Quickly than Anyone Expected, NASA Embraces Reuse for Human Flights
(2020-05-30) Today WAS the Day -- Crew Demo 2 Launch Successful -- Heading to ISS [Updated]

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upstart writes in with an IRC submission:

Rocket Lab will resume missions in August following launch failure:

Rocket Lab's Electron vehicle will resume ferrying satellites and other payloads to space this month. The FAA has given the company the go-ahead to launch Electron rockets again after figuring out why its 13th mission ended in failure. [...] The company launched an investigation with the FAA and managed to pinpoint the culprit: an anomalous electrical connection.

Apparently, one of the rocket's electrical connections was "intermittently secure through flight," increasing resistance and causing the component to heat up and expand. That, in turn, caused surrounding components to liquefy, which led to the electrical system's disconnection and ultimately to the engine's shutdown a few minutes into the second stage burn.

[...] Rocket Lab founder and CEO Peter Beck said in a statement:

"The issue occurred under incredibly specific and unique circumstances, causing the connection to fail in a way that we wouldn't detect with standard testing. Our team has now reliably replicated the issue in test and identified that it can be mitigated through additional testing and procedures."

The next Electron launch doesn't have an exact date yet, but it will take off from Rocket Lab's Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand.

Previously:
After a Second Stage Failure, Rocket Lab Loses Seven Satellites

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takyon writes:

SpaceX's Starship SN5 prototype conducted a successful 150-meter hop test on August 4:

The Starship SN5 prototype has successfully conducted a 150-meter test flight on Tuesday from SpaceX's Boca Chica test site in Texas. Monday's opening attempt was scrubbed after the Raptor SN27 engine aborted at ignition. Following an abort early in the window on Tuesday, the attempt late in the window saw SN5 take to the air and land in one piece. The hop was the first flight of a full-scale Starship tank section, clearing the way for SpaceX to attempt higher altitude flights with Starship prototypes.

[...] SpaceX had not performed a flight from their Boca Chica facility since Starhopper – a smaller-scale Starship test vehicle – hopped to 150 meters in August, 2019.

Starship SN5 features a thrust section with liquid oxygen and methane tanks stacked on top. A nose cone and aero surfaces are the only significant components missing between SN5 and a full-size Starship vehicle.

While SpaceX has not released the official height of SN5, it is estimated to be in the ballpark of 30 meters.

To perform the 150-meter hop, SN5 used Raptor SN27. While SN5's thrust section was built to support up to three Raptor engines in a triangle configuration, only one methane-fueled engine has been installed for the flight. This means that the thrust during the hop was asymmetric. The asymmetric thrust caused Starship SN5 to powerslide as it left the pad.

[...] Starship SN8 – the prototype which is currently under construction – is expected to feature three Raptor engines, a nose cone, and aero surfaces. These features would allow the vehicle to perform flight tests to much higher altitudes. However, plans are very fluid with Starship testing, so until SpaceX has had a chance to review the data from Starship SN5's hop, future testing activities remain very much in flux.

SpaceX video (1m). spaceXcentric video (2m39s). NASASpaceflight video (skips to 39:50).

Also at Teslarati, Ars Technica, and Space News.

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An Anonymous Coward writes:

MMR Vaccine Could Protect Against the Worst Symptoms of COVID-19 :

"Administering the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine could serve as a preventive measure to dampen septic inflammation associated with COVID-19 infection

[...] The protection was mediated by long-lived myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) previously reported inhibiting septic inflammation and mortality in several experimental models.

[...] The milder symptoms seen in the 955 sailors on the U.S.S Roosevelt who tested positive for COVID-19 (only one hospitalization) may have been a consequence of the fact that the MMR vaccinations are given to all U.S. Navy recruits. In addition, epidemiological data suggest a correlation between people in geographical locations who routinely receive the MMR vaccine and reduced COVID-19 death rates. COVID-19 has not had a big impact on children, and the researchers hypothesize that one reason children are protected against viral infections that induce sepsis is their more recent and more frequent exposures to live attenuated vaccines that can also induce the trained suppressive MDSCs that limit inflammation and sepsis."

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