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upstart writes in with an IRC submission:

Citizen scientists help geologists to identify earthquakes and tectonic tremors:

It is not yet possible to predict earthquakes, but the analysis of different types of seismic data allows scientists to pinpoint where and when each type of earthquake originated, and hence better understand when and where tectonic slip might occur via damaging earthquakes. Tens of thousands of seismic stations around the world continuously record local seismic activity, with an output that is far beyond what scientists can process. Here, researchers from Northwestern University have called over 2,000 citizen scientists to the rescue for the crowd-based analysis of seismic recordings, rendered into audiovisual format, through the program Earthquake Detective on the Open-Science platform Zooniverse. They show that citizens are at least as accurate as machine learning, and can even identify tectonic tremors, which previously was only possible for trained professionals. The results are published today in Frontiers in Earth Science.

"My aim was to receive help with detections of these special seismic events because I felt overwhelmed by the rapidly growing mountain of data I was investigating for my Ph.D. research," says lead author Vivian Tang, a graduate student at the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences of Northwestern University, Illlinois. "With Zooniverse and the Earthquake Detective team, we provide people everywhere with a simple and engaging way to help further scientific research."

[...] The authors conclude that citizen scientists can make a major contribution to seismology, allowing scientists to process much more data than they ever could on their own, thus helping them to better understand processes deep inside the Earth's crust and forecast earthquakes with greater precision. The citizens' ability to collectively identify tremors, which artificial intelligence can't yet do, will be especially valuable for the field.

Journal Reference:
Vivian Tang, Boris Rösler, Jordan Nelson, JaCoya Thompson, Suzan van der Lee, Kevin Chao and Michelle Paulsen. Citizen Scientists Help Detect and Classify Dynamically Triggered Seismic Activity in Alaska. Frontiers in Earth Science, https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2020.00321/full

Original Submission

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:

California virus-fighting efforts hampered by data delays:

California has stopped removing or adding to a list of counties facing more restrictions on businesses and schools as it tries to resolve a technical problem with the state's coronavirus testing database, health officials said Wednesday.

The state has recorded a highest-in-the-nation 525,000 positive tests. But California health officials say the true number is even higher. They don't know how much so until they can add backlogged testing data and fix the problem with the California Reportable Disease Information Exchange, also known as CalREDIE.

The incomplete data in the nation's most populous state has hampered public health officials' ability to follow up with those who test positive and contact people who have been around them to limit the spread.

"Back in February and March when we didn't have enough testing, I would say we felt blind," said Dr. Sara Cody, Santa Clara County's public health director. "I would say now we're back to feeling blind. We don't know how the epidemic is trending."

Original Submission

"MrPlow" writes in with a submission, via IRC, for chromas.

Black Hat: Hackers can remotely hijack enterprise, healthcare Temi robots:

Temi's interactive assistance robots are remotely exploitable with little more than a phone number.

On Thursday at Black Hat USA, McAfee's Advanced Threat Research (ATR) team disclosed new research into the robots, in which remotely-exploitable vulnerabilities were uncovered, potentially leading to mobile, audio, and video tampering on the hospital floor.

The robot in question is Robotemi Global's Temi, a "personal robot" that uses a range of sensors, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies, as well as modern voice activation and mobile connectivity to perform functions including personal assistance tasks, answering Internet queries, and facilitating remote video calls.

[...] In total, four vulnerabilities were found, the use of hard-coded credentials, an origin validation error, missing authentication for critical functions, and an authentication bypass. The security issues spotted by McAfee have been assigned CVE-2020-16170, CVE-2020-16168, CVE-2020-16167, and CVE-2020-16169.

"Together, these vulnerabilities could be used by a malicious actor to spy on Temi's video calls, intercept calls intended for another user, and even remotely operate Temi -- all with zero authentication," the researchers say.

Original Submission

GreatOutdoors writes:

For those of you into Ham (Amateur) radio, especially the Technician class license holders, this will be pretty exciting and a good way to keep interest in the hobby going due to now having HF transmit ability. The article discusses the re-balancing for digital modes as well, which many people will find to be good move in the digital age.

"ARRL[*] has asked the FCC to expand HF privileges for Technician licensees to include limited phone privileges on 75, 40, and 15 meters, plus RTTY and digital mode privileges on 80, 40, and 15 meters. The FCC has not yet invited public comment on the proposals, which stem from recommendations put forth by the ARRL Board of Directors' Entry-Level License Committee, which explored various initiatives and gauged member opinions in 2016 and 2017."

[*] ARRL: American Radio Relay League (Wikipedia).

Link to original Story:
http://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-requests-expanded-hf-privileges-for-technician-licensees

Powerpoint presentation of changes (With new bandplan pictures):
http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Bandplanning/25%20Appendix%20BP_Committee_recs%20FINAL%20(h).pdf

Thanks for reading and 73's
KE5DKD

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Massive 20GB Intel IP Data Breach Floods the Internet, Mentions Backdoors (archive)

A leaker today posted on Twitter a link to a file sharing service that contains what an anonymous source claims is a portion of Intel's crown jewels: A 20GB folder of confidential Intel intellectual property. The leaker dubbed the release the "Intel exconfidential Lake Platform Release ;)."

[...] The folder has been posted by an anonymous source that claims more is coming soon, and while we don't know the exact specifics of the folder's contents, we have verified that it does exist. In fact, the title of many of the documents do correlate to the list of purported information posted by the leaker:

• Intel ME Bringup guides + (flash) tooling + samples for various platforms
• Kabylake (Purley Platform) BIOS Reference Code and Sample Code + Initialization code (some of it as exported git repos with full history)
• Intel CEFDK (Consumer Electronics Firmware Development Kit (Bootloader stuff)) SOURCES
• Silicon / FSP source code packages for various platforms
• Various Intel Development and Debugging Tools
• Simics Simulation for Rocket Lake S and potentially other platforms
• Various roadmaps and other documents
• Binaries for Camera drivers Intel made for SpaceX
• Schematics, Docs, Tools + Firmware for the unreleased Tiger Lake platform
• (very horrible) Kabylake FDK training videos
• Intel Trace Hub + decoder files for various Intel ME versions
• Elkhart Lake Silicon Reference and Platform Sample Code
• Some Verilog stuff for various Xeon Platforms, unsure what it is exactly.
• Debug BIOS/TXE builds for various Platforms
• Bootguard SDK (encrypted zip)
• Intel Snowridge / Snowfish Process Simulator ADK
• Various schematics
• Intel Marketing Material Templates (InDesign)
• Lots of other things

[...] The poster encourages downloaders to look for mentions of 'backdoors' in some of the Intel source code, and even provides a sample clip of one such listing, but we aren't sure of the intentions behind the listings in the code.

The source appears to be an employee of Intel or a company partnered with Intel. The roadmaps alone could be a big deal depending on how detailed they are. Some of this information could be relevant to a recent class-action lawsuit over "7nm" delays.

Also at AnandTech, Wccftech, AdoredTV, Ars Technica, and ZDNet.

Original Submission

NPC-131072 writes:

From The Verge:

President Trump has signed a new executive order which will block all transactions with Bytedance, TikTok's parent corporation, in an effort to "address the national emergency with respect to the information and communication technology supply chain."

The move comes after months of escalating tensions, which saw Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and others at the White House warn that TikTok presented a national security threat because of its Chinese ownership. Microsoft is currently in talks to acquire portions of the app, aimed to be complete by September 15th.

A parallel order banned transactions with WeChat, a popular texting app in China that maintains a small user base in the US.

[...] The executive branch has the power to levy sanctions against individuals and corporations by placing them on the "entity list," as the US did against Huawei and ZTE last year. But such sanctions are typically put in place by the Commerce Department rather than the White House, and subject to a specific rule-making procedure that seems to have been short-circuited by the surprise executive order.

See also: Tencent stock plummets after Trump announces plan to ban WeChat in the US

Previously:
(2020-08-01) President Trump Threatens TikTok Ban, Microsoft Considers Buying TikTok's U.S. Operations[Updated 2]
(2020-07-07) Reddit and LinkedIn Stop Copying iPhone Clipboard Contents
(2020-06-30) India Bans TikTok, WeChat, and Other Chinese-Owned Apps
(2020-06-28) TikTok and 53 Other iOS Apps Still Snoop Your Sensitive Clipboard Data
(2019-12-27) Investigation Claims United Arab Emirates Uses The ToTok App To Spy
(2019-10-26) Lawmakers Ask US Intelligence to Assess If TikTok is a Security Threat

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Chants of 'revolution' in Beirut as France's Macron is mobbed by angry crowds

Large crowds mobbed French President Emmanuel Macron in Beirut as he toured a neighborhood of the Lebanese capital devastated by Tuesday's massive explosion.

"Revolution, revolution!" people chanted, as shock at the devastation in the city gave way to anger on Thursday. New information reveals that Beirut officials had ignored repeated warnings about a stockpile of dangerous chemicals linked to the blast that has killed 137 people and injured 5,000.

Macron told a crowd of reporters and angry people that he would propose a "new political pact" to Lebanon's embattled political class during his visit to a predominantly Christian quarter of the city.

"The people want the fall of the regime," the protesters shouted, echoing calls for the downfall of Lebanon's long-time political elite that were popularized during a nationwide uprising late last year. "Michel Aoun is a terrorist! Help us," one man pleaded, referring to the Lebanese president. One woman screamed inaudible words inches away from Macron's face. "They are terrorists," came the repeated cries.

Most people were masked, including the French president, who removed his face covering to speak to the press. There was no social distancing.

Previously: Beirut Explosion Kills Over 100, Linked to 2,700 Tons of Ammonium Nitrate in Port Warehouse

Original Submission

DannyB writes:

Scientists Create Unbelievably Bright Fluorescent Objects:

New research published today in the scientific journal Chem describes a newly developed material, dubbed SMILES, that can be transformed into a solid, crystalline state with an unusually bright fluorescent glow when seen under ultraviolet light.

[...] The development of solid fluorescent materials represents somewhat of a holy grail for chemists owing to a phenomenon called “quenching.” This happens when fluorescent dyes, after entering into a solid state, get squished together, producing a muted glow. This close proximity causes interference, and the dyes stop behaving as stand-alone ingredients. Sadly, “when putting dyes into solids, they couple together and stop fluorescing—they also change color in unpredictable ways,” said Flood.

To solve this problem, Flood, with the help of co-author Bo Laursen from the University of Copenhagen, took colored dyes and mixed them with a colorless solution containing a star-shaped molecule known as cyanostar. This worked to prevent unwanted interactions between the fluorescent dyes as the formula was transformed into a solid state, allowing the dyes to retain their fluorescent qualities. The solid mixture, a state known as SMILES, or small-molecule ionic isolation lattice, essentially resulted in a lattice-like structure, within which the dyes could remain intact and isolated.

[...] “We allow the process to become foolproof by offering design rules,” he said, adding that the critical breakthrough was to “explore ideas of hierarchical self-assembly, or, how to make solids form regular lattices.” Key to this were the cyanostars, which have no color. As a consequence, “they produce the checkerboard lattice but play no other role than one of isolation,” so in the solid, the dyes “no longer interfere with each other to turn off the fluorescence and change the color,” Flood explained.

A primary application of brighter fluorescent materials would be amusement park "dark rides".

Also at Science Daily and Science Alert.

Journal Reference:

Christopher R. Benson, Laura Kacenauskaite, Katherine L. VanDenburgh, et al. Plug-and-Play Optical Materials from Fluorescent Dyes and Macrocycles. Chem, 2020; 6 (8): 1978 DOI: 10.1016/j.chempr.2020.06.029

Original Submission

takyon writes:

SpaceX's next Starship starts to take shape as Elon Musk talks next steps

Less than a day after SpaceX successfully hopped a full-scale Starship prototype for the first time, the company has begun stacking the next rocket and Elon Musk is talking next steps.

[...] According to Musk, SpaceX intends to perform at least several more smaller hops (a la SN5) "to smooth out [the] launch process." It's unclear which prototype(s) will be involved in that series of hops but after SpaceX is satisfied with the state of launch operations, the plan is to "go high altitude with body flaps." Based on past comments, it's safe to assume that Musk is referring to a plan to launch a Starship to 20 km (~12 mi).

After reaching 20 km, Starship would orient itself belly down – a bit like a skydiver – and quite literally fall its way to ~1 km altitude before attempting an aggressive Raptor-powered pitch-over maneuver and last-second landing. By using Earth's atmosphere much like a skydiver trying to slow down, Starship will theoretically be able to dramatically reduce the amount of propellant it needs to land.

That high-altitude launch and landing demonstration will also be the first time a Starship truly needs aerodynamic control surfaces (i.e. "body flaps") to safely complete a flight test. According to NASASpaceflight.com info, Starship SN8 – also the first full-scale prototype to be built out of a different steel alloy – will be the first ship to receive functional flaps and a nosecone. If initial tests go according to plan, SN8 will also be the first ship to attempt a skydiver-style landing as described above. As far as full-scale aerodynamics goes, such a landing is loosely understood at best. For an orbital-class spacecraft, it's even more of a wildcard.

Regardless, just hours after Starship SN5's successful hop debut, SpaceX began stacking the first of several already finished Starship SN8 sections. Based on the assembly of past prototypes, the ship's tank section could reach its full height just a few weeks from now, while subsequent nosecone and flap installations are uncharted territory.

Previously: SpaceX Completes Static Fire of Starship Prototype, Will Hop Next
SpaceX's Starship SN5 Conducts Successful 150-Meter Flight Test

[Ed. note: Check out https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=51332.760 for developments at Boca Chica. Lots of pictures and videos of the sites (launch and construction), deliveries, component construction (e.g. nosecone, thrust ring, main body, etc.), and assembly of these components into actual Starships. And the occasional test firing or launch, too!]

Original Submission

takyon writes:

What's wrong with Intel, and how to fix it: Former principal engineer unloads (archive)

In a blunt video posted late Thursday evening, outspoken former Intel principal engineer Francois Pidnoel offered his advice on how to "fix" Intel CPUs, criticized current leadership for not being engineers, said AVX512 was a misadventure, and declared that it's only luck AMD hasn't grabbed more market share.

"First, Intel is really out of focus," Piednoel said in the nearly hour-long video presentation. "The leaders of Intel today are not engineers, they are not people who understand what to design to the market."

[...] Pidnoel flat-out dismissed including AVX512 in consumer chips as a mistake. "You had Skylake and Skylake X for a reason," Piednoel said. "AVX512 is designed for a race of throughput that is lost to the GPU already. There's two ways to get throughput. One is to get the throughput is by having larger vectors to your core, and the other way is to have more cores."

[...] "Intel is very lucky AMD cannot get the volume, to be able to compete," Piednoel. "If they were getting volume, the price difference would definitely cost Intel market share a lot more than what they are losing right now."

Related: AVX-512: A "Hidden Gem"?
Intel CEO Blames "10nm" Delays on Aggressive Density Target, Promises "7nm" for 2021
Intel's Process Nodes Will Trail Behind Competitors Until at Least Late 2021
Linus Torvalds: Don't Hide Rust in Linux Kernel; Death to AVX-512
Intel Engineering Chief Out After 7nm Product Delays
Intel Faces Class-Action Lawsuit Over "7nm" Delays

Original Submission

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for guy_:

Scientists rename genes because Microsoft Excel reads them as dates:

Microsoft Excel’s automatic formatting is normally helpful for finishing spreadsheets quickly, but it’s proving to be an agent of chaos for geneticists. The Verge has learned that the HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee has issued guidelines for naming human genes to prevent Excel’s automatic date formatting from altering data. MARCH1 (Membrane Associated Ring-CH-Type Finger 1), for example, should now be labeled MARCHF1 to stop Excel from changing it to 1-Mar.

The names of 27 genes have been changed in the past year to avoid Excel-related errors, HGNC coordinator Elspeth Bruford said. This isn’t a rare error, either, as Excel had affected about a fifth of genetics-related papers examined in a 2016 study.

Journal Reference:
Mark Ziemann, Yotam Eren, Assam El-Osta. Gene name errors are widespread in the scientific literature [open], Genome Biology (DOI: 10.1186/s13059-016-1044-7)

Original Submission

martyb writes:

U.S. Offers Reward of $10M for Info Leading to Discovery of Election Meddling:

The U.S. government is concerned about foreign interference in the 2020 election, so much so that it will offer a reward of up to $10 million for anyone providing information that could lead to tracking down potential cybercriminals aiming to sabotage the November vote.

The U.S. Department of State’s Rewards for Justice (RFJ) program, overseen by the Diplomatic Security Service, will pay for info that can identify or locate someone workingwith[sic] or for a foreign government “for the purpose of interfering with U.S. elections through certain illegal cyber activities,” according to a release posted on the department’s website.

The reward covers anyone seeking to interfere with an election at the federal, state or local level by violating or even aiding the violation of a U.S. law against computer fraud and abuse, according to the department.

“The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1030, criminalizes unauthorized computer intrusions and other forms of fraud related to computers,” according to the release. “Among other offenses, the statute prohibits unauthorized accessing of computers to obtain information and transmit it to unauthorized recipients.”

The department is encouraging anyone with information on foreign interference in U.S. elections to contact them via their website or contact a U.S. Regional Security Officer at the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate.

[...] [Voting machine-maker Election Systems & Software ] ES&S said that its formally released policy applies to all digital assets owned and operated by ES&S – including corporate IT networks and public-facing websites.

No word on rewards for non-foreign interference.

Original Submission

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:

EU launching deep probe into Google's planned $2.1 billion Fitbit buy:

Regulators in the European Union are launching a deep investigation into Google's proposed acquisition of wearables maker Fitbit after expressing concerns that giving Google access to Fitbit's user data could "distort competition."

The Commission's in-depth investigation will examine not only the potential outcomes for the advertising market if the transaction goes through, but it will also look at the effects of the deal on the digital healthcare sector and the potential for Google to lock competitors out of access to Android users.

Data provided by wearable devices "provides key insights about the life and the health situation of the users of these devices," Margrethe Vestager, the European Commission's head of competition, said in a written statement. "Our investigation aims to ensure that control by Google over data collected through wearable devices as a result of the transaction does not distort competition."

Original Submission

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)

Original Submission

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)

Original Submission