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upstart writes in with an IRC submission:

Brave takes brave stand against Google's plan to turn websites into ad-blocker-thwarting Web Bundles:

A proposed Google web specification threatens to turn websites into inscrutable digital blobs that resist content blocking and code scrutiny, according to Peter Snyder, senior privacy researcher at Brave Software.

On Tuesday, Snyder published a memo warning that Web Bundles threaten user agency and web code observability. He raised this issue back in February, noting that Web Bundles would prevent ad blockers from blocking unwanted subresources. He said at the time he was trying to work with the spec's authors to address concerns but evidently not much progress has been made.

His company makes the Brave web browser, which is based on Google's open-source Chromium project though implements privacy protections, by addition or omission, not available in Google's commercial incarnation of Chromium, known as Chrome.

[...] The Web Bundles API is a Google-backed web specification for bundling the multitude of files that make up a website into a single .wbn file, which can then be shared or delivered from a content delivery network node rather than a more distant server. It's one of several related specifications for packaging websites.

The problem, as Snyder sees it, is that Web Bundles takes away the very essence of the web, the URL.

"At root, what makes the web different, more open, more user-centric than other application systems, is the URL," he wrote. "Because URLs (generally) point to one thing, researchers and activists can measure, analyze and reason about those URLs in advance; other users can then use this information to make decisions about whether, and in what way, they'd like to load the thing the URL points to."

An individual concerned about security or privacy, for example, can examine a JavaScript file associated with a particular URL and take action if it looks abusive. That becomes difficult when the file isn't easily teased out of a larger whole. Web Bundles set up private namespaces for URLs, so privacy tools that rely on URLs don't work.

"The concern is that by making URLs not meaningful, like just these arbitrary indexes into a package, the websites will become things like .SWF files or PDF files, just a big blob that you can't reason about independently, and it'll become an all or nothing deal," Snyder explained in a phone interview with The Register.

Separately, Google has been working to hide full URLs in the Chrome omnibox.

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upstart writes in with an IRC submission for nutherguy:

Take a closer look at Elon Musk's Neuralink surgical robot – TechCrunch:

While the science was front-and-center in Elon Musk's presentation about Neuralink, his human brain computer inference company, the surgical robot the company debuted made a splash of its own. The rounded polycarbonate sci-fi design of the brain surgeon bot looks like something out of the Portal franchise, but it's actually the creation of Vancouver-based industrial design firm Woke Studio. To be clear, Musk's engineers and scientists have created the underlying technology, but Woke built the robot's look and user experience, as well as the behind-the-ear communication end piece that Neuralink has shown in prior presentations.

[...] "While the patient may not be awake to see the machine in action, it was still important to design a non-intimidating robot that can aesthetically live alongside the iconic machines in Musk's portfolio," the company explains in a press release. "It also needed to meet a long list of medical requirements in terms of sterility and maintenance, and provide safe and seamless utilization for its operators."

Previously:
Elon Musk to Show Off Working Brain-Hacking Device

Original Submission

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:

Researchers develop a fast, accurate, low-cost COVID-19 test:

A new low-cost diagnostic test for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) quickly delivers accurate results without the need for sophisticated equipment, according to a study published August 27 2020 in the open-access journal PLOS Pathogens by Teng Xu of the Vision Medicals Center for Infectious Diseases, Tieying Hou of the Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Bing Gu of the Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Jianwei Wang of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, and colleagues.

[...] In the new study, the researchers developed an alternative COVID-19 test by leveraging CRISPR-based technology, which has been widely used in recent years for gene editing. The assay, named CRISPR-COVID, enables high-throughput detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) -- the virus that causes COVID-19. CRISPR-COVID delivers comparable sensitivity and specificity as mNGS within as short as 40 minutes. When produced at a large scale, the material cost of a CRISPR-COVID test could be less than 70 cents, suggesting that CRISPR-COVID is a competitive alternative not only technologically but also financially.

Journal Reference:
Tieying Hou, Weiqi Zeng, Minling Yang, et al. Development and evaluation of a rapid CRISPR-based diagnostic for COVID-19, PLOS Pathogens (DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1008705)

Original Submission

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:

Mother transmitted COVID-19 to baby during pregnancy, UTSW physicians report:

A pregnant mother who tested positive for COVID-19 transmitted the virus causing the disease to her prematurely born baby, UT Southwestern physicians report. Both were treated and recovered.

The case, detailed in an article published last month in The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, adds to a growing body of evidence that the SARS-CoV-2 virus can be transmitted in utero. It also underscores the importance of limiting COVID-19 exposure for pregnant women.

[...] In the case described in the paper, a woman who was 34 weeks pregnant visited the emergency room with signs of premature labor and was admitted to the COVID unit at Parkland Memorial Hospital when she tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus. While she did not have the typical respiratory symptoms associated with COVID-19, she did have a fever and diarrhea, which suggested possible viral infection.

[...] The woman, who did not know how she acquired the virus, remained hospitalized because of her COVID-19 diagnosis. Three days after admission, her water broke. Following an eight-hour labor in early May, she gave birth to a healthy 7-pound, 3-ounce girl.

[...] About 24 hours after birth, the newborn developed a fever that spiked, and she also showed signs of respiratory distress, including an abnormally high breathing rate and lower levels of oxygen in her blood. Sisman and her colleagues ran tests for viruses and bacteria. While other tests came back negative, a COVID-19 test was positive at both 24 and 48 hours after birth.

"At that time, the knowledge we had was that transmission doesn't occur in utero, so we really weren't expecting that at all," says Sisman.

Original Submission

Freeman writes:

SpaceX satellites' effect on night sky can't be eliminated, astronomers say:

Broadband satellites being launched by SpaceX and other companies will inevitably have a negative impact on astronomers' ability to observe the night sky, according to a new report by astronomers. There are no mitigation strategies that can completely eliminate the satellites' impact on astronomical observations—other than not launching satellites at all—but the report includes recommendations for how satellite operators can minimize disruption and how observatories can adjust to the changes.

The report released this week is titled, "Impact of Satellite Constellations on Optical Astronomy and Recommendations Toward Mitigations."

Original Submission

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for nutherguy:

After Buying DirecTV For $50 Billion In 2015, AT&T Now Seeks To Sell It For Under $20 Billion:

How do you destroy $30 billion in value in just five years? If you are AT&T, you buy DirecTV in 2015 for $50 billion and five years later you try to sell it - now renamed to AT&TTV - for less than $20 billion, a loss of 60% on the deal.

That, according to the Wall Street Journal is what AT&T hopes to do as it takes "a fresh look its DirecTV business" exploring a deal for a service wounded by cord-cutting. And by fresh look, the journal means sell.

When AT&T announced plans to acquire DirecTV in May 2014, the vision was to control some 26 million TV subscribers. However, the resulting slump in cable and satellite viewership due to the relentless encroachment of streaming services, the value of DirecTV has seen a sharp drop in recent years and the result is yet another catastrophic media deal. And since the pay-TV unit has shed 7 million U.S. video connections over the past two years, a deal could value the business below $20 billion, the WSJ sources said.

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

Practicing sustainability during a pandemic:

The coronavirus pandemic has complicated, well, everything, including everyday efforts to reduce, reuse and recycle.

With disposable masks cluttering landfills and waterways, stores banning reusable bags and restaurants serving food only in takeout containers, it can be easy to get discouraged about the waste we're creating.

In a recent UCLA Connections webinar, UCLA Deputy Chief Sustainability Officer Bonny Bentzin offered much-needed encouragement for all of those who, thanks to the pandemic, see the word "reusable" and think "infected."

Video from the webinar on YouTube.

Pass on plastics, and help deflation spiral.

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

Low-cost, fly footpad-like adhesive structure capable of repeated attachment/detachment:

NIMS, HUE and HUSM have developed a method of easily and cheaply producing an adhesive structure capable of repeated attachment and detachment. The design of this structure was inspired by the adhesive spatula-shaped hairs (setae) found on the footpads of flies, while the method of producing it was hinted at by seta formation in fly pupae. These environmentally sound technologies could potentially contribute to a more sustainable society.

[...] This research group focused on biological adhesive structures (e.g., insect footpads) known to form in an energy efficient manner at room temperature. The group developed adhesive structures and efficient methods of creating them by mimicking biological processes. In this research project, the group specifically focused on the adhesive, spatula-shaped setae that grow on fly footpads as a model for the development of adhesive structures that can be repeatedly attached to and detached from objects. The group observed the biological process by which the setae are formed in pupal fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) by staining fly legs for immunohistochemical analysis and labeling cytoskeletal actin with fluorescent dyes. As a result, the group discovered that adhesive spatulate footpad setae are formed in a simple two-step process: (1) seta forming cells elongate and cytoskeletal actin filaments in the cells accumulate at the distal tips of the elongated cells, forming the spatula-like frameworks, and (2) cuticle deposits form on the surfaces of the setae, solidifying them. The group then succeeded in developing a similar, simple two-step process to fabricate an adhesive spatulate structure at room temperature by (1) stretching nylon fibers to form a spatulate structure and (2) solidifying it. The structure's adhesive strength and ease of detachment were confirmed to vary, depending on the direction in which it is pulled away from the object to which it is attached—similar to the mechanisms insects use to attach or detach themselves to/from objects. A single spatulate fiber is sufficiently strong to suspend a silicon wafer from it weighing 52.8 g. Extrapolating from this, a bundle of 756 fibers (9 cm² in cross-sectional area) can be expected to support a person weighing 60 kg.

Other advances in this area have attempted to mimic gecko feet.

More information:
Ken-ichi Kimura et al, Framework with cytoskeletal actin filaments forming insect footpad hairs inspires biomimetic adhesive device design, Communications Biology (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s42003-020-0995-0

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

Russian tourist offered employee $1 million to cripple Tesla with malware:

Tesla's Nevada Gigafactory was the target of a concerted plot to cripple the company's network with malware, CEO Elon Musk confirmed on Thursday afternoon.

The plan's outline was divulged on Tuesday in a criminal complaint that accused a Russian man of offering $1 million to the employee of a Nevada company, identified only as "Company A," in exchange for the employee infecting the company's network. The employee reported the offer to Tesla and later worked with the FBI in a sting that involved him covertly recording face-to-face meetings discussing the proposal.

"The purpose of the conspiracy was to recruit an employee of a company to surreptitiously transmit malware provided by the coconspirators into the company's computer system, exfiltrate data from the company's network, and threaten to disclose the data online unless the company paid the coconspirators' ransom demand," prosecutors wrote in the complaint.

Was the Russian working for Ivan Vanko?

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) announced a number of node scaling details and technological advancements at its 2020 Technology Symposium:

TSMC's first "5nm" node (N5) has a lower defect rate than its initial "7nm" node did at the same point in its development cycle (high volume manufacturing, which N5 is now in). This is due in part to increasing use of extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV). "5nm" will represent 11% of TSMC's sub-"16nm" wafer production in 2020.

TSMC's "3nm" node (N3) will continue to use FinFETs rather than gate-all-around (GAA) transistors, and is scheduled for volume production in mid-late 2022. Performance is expected to improve 10-15% at the same power (compared to N5), or power consumption will be reduced 25-30% for the same performance. Logic area density improvement will be 1.7x, but SRAM density will only increase by 1.2x, leading to a 1.27x overall density increase for chips that are 70% SRAM and 30% logic.

Intel's EMIB (Embedded Die Interconnect Bridge) connects "chiplets" together without using a full silicon interposer. TSMC has its own version that it is calling Local Si Interconnect (LSI), and it will be combined with other packaging technologies. TSMC has demonstrated 12-layer stacking of chips using through silicon vias (TSVs), although cooling or doing anything useful with them could be somebody else's job.

See also: TSMC Updates on Node Availability Beyond Logic: Analog, HV, Sensors, RF
TSMC Launches New N12e Process: FinFET at 0.4V for IoT
2023 Interposers: TSMC Hints at 3400mm² + 12x HBM in one Package
TSMC and Graphcore Prepare for AI Acceleration on 3nm
TSMC Has Reportedly Secured Orders for Its 2nm Node – Samsung May Not Beat Its Foundry Rival Until 2030, Claims New Report

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

Cashierless stores are popping up at gas stations, stadiums and even Dunkin':

Pretty soon you might find Amazon Go-like concepts just about everywhere.

Mastercard on Friday said it's joining the effort to create more of these kinds of cashierless stores, unveiling a platform it calls Shop Anywhere. It teamed up with retail tech company Accel Robotics to create a handful of new test concepts that let customers check into a store, grab what they want and walk out.

[...] For instance, the team created a new self-service Dunkin' store that allows people to check in at a kiosk, get doughnuts and coffee, and leave without stopping at a cashier. The store will be staffed with workers to restock items and provide customer service, but there won't be a register.

[...] The payment network pitched these concepts as more flexible than Amazon Go, with Shop Anywhere capable of going into all kinds of locations and being retrofitted into existing stores -- something Amazon Go hasn't yet done. Both Shop Anywhere and Amazon Go are powered by a series of cameras that are kitted with computer vision and AI.

Customers will no longer have to interact with proprietors or employees.

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

Elon Musk to show off working brain-hacking device:

Elon Musk is due to demonstrate a working brain-to-machine interface as part of his ambitious plans to give people superhuman powers.

His brain-hacking company, Neuralink, applied to start human trials last year.

But Friday's demonstration will involve a robot and "neurons firing in real time", a series of tweets reveals.

The interface could allow people with neurological conditions to control phones or computers with their mind.

But the long-term ambition is to usher in an age of what Mr Musk calls "superhuman cognition".

People need to merge with artificial intelligence, he says, in part to avoid a scenario where AI becomes so powerful it destroys the human race.

[...] The device the company is developing consists of a tiny probe containing more than 3,000 electrodes attached to flexible threads thinner than a human hair, which can monitor the activity of 1,000 brain neurons.

The company has been working with monkey brains to its realize brain/computer interface.

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

Phys.org:

Structural colors are a way to colorize a material without using a dye. Instead, the transparent material generates color through the regular arrangement of its molecules or other elements, as seen, for instance, in the ripples in the scales of colorful fish and butterflies, or in nanocrystals arranged at certain distances, as in the color-changing skin of chameleons.

Manos Anyfantakis and colleagues at the University of Luxembourg have identified a means to control the pitch, the distance of a full helical turn in a polymer, as a structural element on which reflection might occur and structural colors appear. Scientists can prepare liquid crystalline phases of biopolymers with pitches generating structural colors—called cholesteric phases—but these preparations depend on many parameters and need a long time to reach equilibrium.

Now, Anyfantakis and colleagues have discovered a faster and better controllable method, using liquid marbles as a platform for the controlled self-assembly of biopolymer-based structural colors. Liquid marbles are millimeter-sized droplets of liquid crystalline solutions, which are coated with nanoparticles. The coating protects the liquid from mixing with the outside fluid, but still allows for some interaction, dependent on the nature of both liquids.

The technique is expected to find application in bio-based sensors and photonics.

Journal Reference:
Manos Anyfantakis, Venkata S. R. Jampani, Rijeesh Kizhakidathazhath, et al. Responsive Photonic Liquid Marbles [$], Angewandte Chemie International Edition (DOI: 10.1002/anie.202008210)

Original Submission

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for nutherguy:

One Database to Rule Them All: The Invisible Content Cartel that Undermines the Freedom of Expression Online:

Every year, millions of images, videos and posts that allegedly contain terrorist or violent extremist content are removed from social media platforms like YouTube, Facebook, or Twitter. A key force behind these takedowns is the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT), an industry-led initiative that seeks to "prevent terrorists and violent extremists from exploiting digital platforms."

[...] Hashes are digital "fingerprints" of content that companies use to identify and remove content from their platforms. They are essentially unique, and allow for easy identification of specific content. When an image is identified as "terrorist content," it is tagged with a hash and entered into a database, allowing any future uploads of the same image to be easily identified.

This is exactly what the GIFCT initiative aims to do: Share a massive database of alleged 'terrorist' content, contributed voluntarily by companies, amongst members of its coalition. The database collects 'hashes', or unique fingerprints, of alleged 'terrorist', or extremist and violent content, rather than the content itself. GIFCT members can then use the database to check in real time whether content that users want to upload matches material in the database. While that sounds like an efficient approach to the challenging task of correctly identifying and taking down terrorist content, it also means that one single database might be used to determine what is permissible speech, and what is taken down—across the entire Internet.

Countless examples have proven that it is very difficult for human reviewers—and impossible for algorithms—to consistently get the nuances of activism, counter-speech, and extremist content itself right. The result is that many instances of legitimate speech are falsely categorized as terrorist content and removed from social media platforms. Due to the proliferation of the GIFCT database, any mistaken classification of a video, picture or post as 'terrorist' content echoes across social media platforms, undermining users' right to free expression on several platforms at once. And that, in turn, can have catastrophic effects on the Internet as a space for memory and documentation.

Original Submission

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for RandomFactor:

Cosmic rays may soon stymie quantum computing: Building quantum computers underground or designing radiation-proof qubits may be needed, researchers find.:

[...] The team, working with collaborators at Lincoln Laboratory and PNNL [(Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)], first had to design an experiment to calibrate the impact of known levels of radiation on superconducting qubit performance. To do this, they needed a known radioactive source -- one which became less radioactive slowly enough to assess the impact at essentially constant radiation levels, yet quickly enough to assess a range of radiation levels within a few weeks, down to the level of background radiation.

The group chose to irradiate a foil of high purity copper. When exposed to a high flux of neutrons, copper produces copious amounts of copper-64, an unstable isotope with exactly the desired properties.

"Copper just absorbs neutrons like a sponge," says [MIT physics professor Joseph] Formaggio, who worked with operators at MIT's Nuclear Reactor Laboratory to irradiate two small disks of copper for several minutes. They then placed one of the disks next to the superconducting qubits in a dilution refrigerator in [William] Oliver [associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science and Lincoln Laboratory Fellow at MIT]'s lab on campus. At temperatures about 200 times colder than outer space, they measured the impact of the copper's radioactivity on qubits' coherence while the radioactivity decreased -- down toward environmental background levels.