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Mozilla retires Firefox Voice and Voice Fill extensions - gHacks Tech News:

Mozilla announced the retirement of the two Firefox extensions Firefox Voice and Firefox Voice Fill yesterday. Firefox Voice was labeled beta all the time. Mozilla released the source code of both extensions to the public.

The main reason for retiring both extensions is the decommissioning of the Mozilla Speech Proxy Server on February 28, 2021. The extensions require the server, and since it is decommissioned, will not work anymore after February 28, 2021.

Both extensions will be retired on February 19, 2021 as a consequence.

Mozilla will notify users about the retirement by updating the extensions. The update will inform users about the upcoming retirement of the extension, and the extensions will uninstall themselves automatically on the day of the deadline.

[...] Mozilla did not reveal why the Mozilla Speech Proxy Server is decommissioned. The extensions had 5800 (Voice Fill) and 11600 (Voice Beta) users and a 3.8 stars (out of 5) rating each.

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upstart writes in with an IRC submission for c0lo:

Green Run Update: NASA Proceeds With Plans for Second Hot Fire Test – Artemis:

NASA plans to conduct a second Green Run hot fire test as early as the fourth week in February with the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket's core stage that will launch the Artemis I mission to the Moon. The Green Run is a comprehensive assessment of the rocket's core stage prior to launching Artemis missions.

While the first hot fire test marked a major milestone for the program with the firing of all four RS-25 engines together for the first time for about a minute, it ended earlier than planned. After evaluating data from the first hot fire and the prior seven Green Run tests, NASA and core stage lead contractor Boeing determined that a second, longer hot fire test should be conducted and would pose minimal risk to the Artemis I core stage while providing valuable data to help certify the core stage for flight.

Inspections showed the core stage hardware, including its engines, and the B-2 test stand are in excellent condition after the first hot fire test, and no major repairs are needed to prepare for a second hot fire test at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.

[...] After the second hot fire test, it will take about a month to refurbish the core stage and its engines. Then, the Pegasus barge will transport the core stage to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida where it will be assembled with the other parts of the SLS rocket and the Orion spacecraft being prepared for the Artemis I launch later this year.

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upstart writes in with an IRC submission:

Extreme Events in Quantum Cascade Lasers Enable an Optical Neuron System 10,000× Faster Than Biological Neurons:

Recently, extreme events have been observed in quantum cascade lasers, as reported by researchers from Télécom Paris (France) in collaboration with UC Los Angeles (USA) and TU Darmstad (Germany). The giant pulses that characterize these extreme events can contribute the sudden, sharp bursts necessary for communication in neuromorphic systems inspired by the brain's powerful computational abilities. Based on a quantum cascade laser (QCL) emitting mid-infrared light, the researchers developed a basic optical neuron system operating 10,000× faster than biological neurons. Their report is published in Advanced Photonics.

Olivier Spitz, Télécom Paris research fellow and first author on the paper, notes that the giant pulses in QCLs can be triggered successfully by adding a "pulse-up excitation," a short-time small-amplitude increase of bias current. Senior author Frédéric Grillot, Professor at Télécom Paris and the University of New Mexico, explains that this triggering ability is of paramount importance for applications such as optical neuron-like systems, which require optical bursts to be triggered in response to a perturbation.

The team's optical neuron system demonstrates behaviors like those observed in biological neurons, such as thresholding, phasic spiking, and tonic spiking. Fine tuning of modulation and frequency allows control of time intervals between spikes. Grillot explains, "The neuromorphic system requires a strong, super-threshold stimulus for the system to fire a spiking response, whereas phasic and tonic spiking correspond to single or continuous spike firing following the arrival of a stimulus." To replicate the various biological neuronal responses, interruption of regular successions of bursts corresponding to neuronal activity is also required.

Journal Reference:
Olivier Spitz, Jiagui Wu, Andreas Herdt, et al. Extreme events in quantum cascade lasers [open], Advanced Photonics (DOI: 10.1117/1.AP.2.6.066001)

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upstart writes in with an IRC submission:

First Evidence That Earth's Magnetosphere Can Create Water on the Moon's Surface:

Water is far more prevalent in space than astronomers first thought, from the surface of Mars to Jupiter's moons and Saturn's rings, comets, asteroids and Pluto; it has even been detected in clouds far beyond our solar system. It was previously assumed that water was incorporated into these objects during the formation of the solar system, but there is growing evidence that water in space is far more dynamic. Though the solar wind is a likely source for lunar surface water, computer models predict that up to half of it should evaporate and disappear at high-latitude regions during the approximately three days of the full moon when it passes within Earth's magnetosphere.

Surprisingly, the latest analysis of surface hydroxyl/water surface maps by the Chandrayaan-1 satellite's Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) showed that lunar surface water does not disappear during this magnetosphere shielding period. Earth's magnetic field was thought to block the solar wind from reaching the moon so that water could not be regenerated faster than it was lost, but the researchers found this was not the case.

[...] Previous Kaguya satellite observations during the full moon detected high concentrations of oxygen isotopes that leaked out of Earth's ozone layer and embedded in lunar soil, along with an abundance of hydrogen ions in our planet's vast extended atmosphere, known as the exosphere. These combined flows of magnetosphere particles are fundamentally different from those in the solar wind. Thus, the latest detection of surface water in this study refutes the shielding hypothesis and instead suggest that the magnetosphere itself creates a "water bridge" that can replenish the moon.

Journal Reference:
H. Z. Wang, J. Zhang, et al. Earth Wind as a Possible Exogenous Source of Lunar Surface Hydration - IOPscience, The Astrophysical Journal Letters (DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/abd559)

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upstart writes in with an IRC submission for c0lo:

General Motors Says It Will Stop Making Gas-Powered Vehicles by 2035:

General Motors announced Thursday that it will stop making gas-powered cars and trucks and exclusively produce zero-emissions vehicles by 2035, upending the American automaker's decadeslong reputation for producing gas-guzzling SUVs. GM's articulation of an electric future is a seismic shift for the auto industry, particularly the American auto industry, which had lagged behind competitors in the transition to more environmentally-friendly makes and models.

GM said the goal of phasing out petroleum-powered cars and trucks over the next decade and a half in favor of electric and possibly hydrogen-powered vehicles is part of its larger ambition of going carbon neutral in its global production by 2040. "General Motors is joining governments and companies around the globe working to establish a safer, greener and better world," CEO Mary Barra said in a statement. "We encourage others to follow suit and make a significant impact on our industry and on the economy as a whole."

Previously: California Bans New Internal Combustion Engines, Starting in 2035

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upstart writes in with an IRC submission:

There's a Curious Effect Urban Trees Might Have on Depression, Study Finds:

There's already a long list of reasons to like trees, we know. Warding off depression could be the latest entry on that list, based on a study of 9,751 residents in Leipzig, Germany.

For a more consistent measure, researchers used antidepressant prescriptions rather than self-reporting to gauge the mental health of communities, and then cross-referenced these statistics with the numbers of street trees in each area.

They reported that more local foliage within 100 metres (328 feet) of the home was associated with a reduced likelihood of being prescribed antidepressants – findings that could be very useful indeed for city planners, health professionals, and governments.

The reduction in antidepressant use linked to street trees was particularly prominent in socioeconomically disadvantaged groups. While it's important not to take such findings too far, the results do hint that urban trees could act as a simple and affordable way of boosting mental health and assist in closing health inequality gaps across society.

"Our finding suggests that street trees – a small scale, publicly accessible form of urban greenspace – can help close the gap in health inequalities between economically different social groups," says environmental psychologist Melissa Marselle from De Montfort University in the UK.

[...] While the study has its limitations – not all depressed people are on antidepressants, for example, and there might be other factors at play affecting mental health – the stats show enough of a relationship to suggest that simply having street trees around is enough to improve the mood of an area as people go about their daily lives.

Journal Reference:
Melissa R. Marselle, Diana E. Bowler, Jan Watzema, et al. Urban street tree biodiversity and antidepressant prescriptions [open], Scientific Reports (DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-79924-5)

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MrPlow wrote in with a submission, via IRC, for c0lo.

200 light-years away from Earth, there’s a K-type main-sequence star named TOI (TESS Object of Interest) 178. When Adrian Leleu, an astrophysicist at the Center for Space and Habitability of the University of Bern, observed it, it appeared to have two planets orbiting it at roughly the same distance. But that turned out to be incorrect. In fact, six exoplanets orbit the smallish star.

And five of those six are locked into an unexpected orbital configuration.

Five of the planets are engaged in a rare rhythmic, dance around the star. In astronomical terms, they’re in an unusual orbital resonance, which means their orbits around their star display repeated patterns. That property makes them an intriguing object of study and one that could tell us a lot about how planets form and evolve.

Adrian Leleu leads a team of researchers who studied the unusual phenomenon. [...] In the team’s initial observations, it appeared there were only two planets, as five of them move in such a way as to deceive the eye. But further observations showed that something else was happening in the system. “Through further observations, we realized that there were not two planets orbiting the star at roughly the same distance from it, but rather multiple planets in a very special configuration,” said lead author Leleu.

[...] Systems like this are challenging to understand, but ultimately, they drive researchers to think harder and to observe more fully.

Source: https://www.universetoday.com/149834/exoplanetary-system-found-with-6-worlds-in-orbital-resonance/

Journal Reference:
A. Leleu, Y. Alibert, N. C. Hara, et al. Six transiting planets and a chain of Laplace resonances in TOI-178, Astronomy & Astrophysics (DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202039767)

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MrPlow wrote in with a submission, via IRC, for c0lo.

We may not know what dark matter is, but scientists now have a better idea of what to look for.

Based on quantum gravity, physicists have worked out new, much more stringent upper and lower mass limits of dark matter particles. And they have found that the mass range is way tighter than previously thought.

This means that the dark matter candidates that are either extremely light or heavy are unlikely to be the answer, based on our current understanding of the Universe.

"This is the first time that anyone has thought to use what we know about quantum gravity as a way to calculate the mass range for dark matter. We were surprised when we realised no-one had done it before - as were the fellow scientists reviewing our paper," said physicist and astronomer Xavier Calmet of the University of Sussex in the UK.

"What we've done shows that dark matter cannot be either 'ultra-light' or 'super-heavy' as some theorise - unless there is an as-yet unknown additional force acting on it. This piece of research helps physicists in two ways: it focuses the search area for dark matter, and it will potentially also help reveal whether or not there is a mysterious unknown additional force in the Universe."

Journal Reference:
Xavier Calmet, Folkert Kuipers. Theoretical bounds on dark matter masses [open], Physics Letters B (DOI: 10.1016/j.physletb.2021.136068)

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MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for c0lo

Seawater makes up about 96% of all water on earth, making it a tempting resource to meet the world’s growing need for clean drinking water and carbon-free energy. And scientists already have the technical ability to both desalinate seawater and split it to produce hydrogen, which is in demand as a source of clean energy.

But existing methods require multiple steps performed at high temperatures over a lengthy period of time in order to produce a catalyst with the needed efficiency. That requires substantial amounts of energy and drives up the cost.

Researchers from the University of Houston have reported an oxygen evolving catalyst that takes just minutes to grow at room temperature on commercially available nickel foam. Paired with a previously reported hydrogen evolution reaction catalyst, it can achieve industrially required current density for overall seawater splitting at low voltage. The work is described in a paper published in Energy & Environmental Science.

Zhifeng Ren, director of the Texas Center for Superconductivity at UH (TcSUH) and corresponding author for the paper, said speedy, low-cost production is critical to commercialization.

[...] Ren said one key to the researchers’ approach was the decision to use a chemical reaction to produce the desired material, rather than the energy-consuming traditional focus on a physical transformation.

“That led us to the right structure, the right composition for the oxygen evolving catalyst,” he said.

Source: https://scitechdaily.com/high-efficiency-at-low-cost-new-catalyst-moves-seawater-desalination-hydrogen-production-closer-to-commercialization/

Journal Reference:
Luo Yu, Libo Wu, Brian McElhenny, et al. Ultrafast room-temperature synthesis of porous S-doped Ni/Fe (oxy)hydroxide electrodes for oxygen evolution catalysis in seawater splitting, Energy & Environmental Science (DOI: 10.1039/D0EE00921K)

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upstart writes in with an IRC submission for aristarchus:

Dissecting the Anatomy of Planetary Nebulae Using the Hubble Space Telescope:

Images of two iconic planetary nebulae taken by the Hubble Space Telescope are revealing new information about how they develop their dramatic features. Researchers from Rochester Institute of Technology and Green Bank Observatory presented new findings about the Butterfly Nebula (NGC 6302) and the Jewel Bug Nebula (NGC 7027) at the 237th meeting of the American Astronomical Society on Friday, January 15, 2021.

Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 observed the nebulae in 2019 and early 2020 using its full, panchromatic capabilities, and the astronomers involved in the project have been using emission line images from near-ultraviolet to near-infrared light to learn more about their properties. The studies were first-of-their-kind panchromatic imaging surveys designed to understand the formation process and test models of binary-star-driven planetary nebula shaping.

“We’re dissecting them,” said Joel Kastner, a professor in RIT’s Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science and School of Physics and Astronomy. “We’re able to see the effect of the dying central star in how it’s shedding and shredding its ejected material. We’re now seeing where material that the central star has tossed away is being dominated by ionized gas, where it’s dominated by cooler dust, and even how the hot gas is being ionized, whether by the star’s UV or by collisions caused by its present, fast winds.”

Kastner said analysis of the new HST images of the Butterfly Nebula is confirming that the nebula was ejected only about 2,000 years ago—an eyeblink by the standards of astronomy – and established that the S-shaped iron emission that helps give it the “wings” of gas is even younger. Surprisingly, they found that while astronomers previously believed they had located the nebula’s central star, that previously-identified star is actually not associated with the nebula and is instead much closer to Earth than the Butterfly Nebula. Kastner said he hopes that future studies with the James Webb Space Telescope could help locate the real dying star at the heart of the nebula.

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Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) calls antibiotic resistance "one of the biggest public health challenges of our time." Each year, about 2.8 million people in the U.S. are infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria or fungi. More than 35,000 of them die, among an estimated 700,000 deaths worldwide.

At USC, scientists are working to build new lines of defense against the rise of powerful bacteria and fungi. They've turned the university into an epicenter for research as they race to develop new strategies and tools to counteract the growing threat.

"Antibiotic resistance is a naturally occurring phenomenon—it's been happening before we humans walked the earth. We're just making it worse," says Adam Smith, an environmental engineer at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering who studies the presence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in our water supply. Microbes have gained such resilience through adaptation, he adds, that "we're quickly reaching a post-antibiotic world."

Used properly, antibiotics can knock out many bacterial infections, from strep throat to urinary tract infections. But the CDC estimates that at least 30% of antibiotic prescriptions in emergency rooms, hospitals and clinics are inappropriate. They're doled out for virus-caused health issues they can't fix, such as the flu or a common cold.

Says Nanda: "What's disappointing is why this has happened—the absence of a disciplined restriction around prescribing antibiotics."

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story by Virginia Tech:

When you think of fungi, what comes to mind may be a crucial ingredient in a recipe or their amazing ability to break down dead organic matter into vital nutrients. But new research by Shuhai Xiao, a professor of geosciences with the Virginia Tech College of Science, and Tian Gan, a visiting Ph.D. student in the Xiao lab, highlights yet another important role that fungi have played throughout the Earth's history: helping the planet recover from an ice age.

A team of scientists from Virginia Tech, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guizhou Education University, and University of Cincinnati has discovered the remains of a fungi-like microfossil that emerged at the end of an ice age some 635 million years ago. It is the oldest terrestrial fossil ever found. To put it into perspective, this microfossil predates the oldest dinosaurs about three times over.

Their findings were published in Nature Communications on Jan. 28.

The fossil was found in small cavities within well-studied sedimentary dolostone rocks of the lowermost Doushantuo Formation in South China. Although the Doushantuo Formation has provided a plethora of fossils to date, researchers did not expect to find any fossils toward the lower base of the dolostones.

But against all odds, Gan found a few long, thread-like filaments—one of the key characteristics of fungi.

[...] "The question used to be: 'Were there fungi in the terrestrial realm before the rise of terrestrial plants'," said Xiao, an affiliated faculty member of the Fralin Life Sciences Institute and the Global Change Center. "And I think our study suggests yes. Our fungus-like fossil is 240 million years older than the previous record. This is, thus far, the oldest record of terrestrial fungi."

[...] However, it can't be said for sure if this fossil is a definitive fungus. Although there is a fair amount of evidence behind it, the investigation into these microfossils is ongoing.

Wikipedia entry on fungus.

Journal Reference:
Tian Gan, Taiyi Luo, Ke Pang, et al. Cryptic terrestrial fungus-like fossils of the early Ediacaran Period [open], Nature Communications (DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-20975-1)

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MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for c0lo

As early as March, the Muon g-2 experiment at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) will report a new measurement of the magnetism of the muon, a heavier, short-lived cousin of the electron. The effort entails measuring a single frequency with exquisite precision. In tantalizing results dating back to 2001, g-2 found that the muon is slightly more magnetic than theory predicts. If confirmed, the excess would signal, for the first time in decades, the existence of novel massive particles that an atom smasher might be able to produce, says Aida El-Khadra, a theorist at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. "This would be a very clear sign of new physics, so it would be a huge deal."

The measures that g-2 experimenters are taking to ensure they don't fool themselves into claiming a false discovery are the stuff of spy novels, involving locked cabinets, sealed envelopes, and a second, secret frequency known to just two people, both outside the g-2 team. "My wife won't pick me for responsible jobs like this, so I don't know why an important experiment did," says Joseph Lykken, Fermilab's chief research officer, one of the keepers of the secret.

Source: https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/01/cloak-and-dagger-tale-behind-year-s-most-anticipated-result-particle-physics

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upstart writes in with an IRC submission:

New biosensors quickly detect coronavirus proteins and antibodies:

Scientists have created a new way to detect the proteins that make up the pandemic coronavirus, as well as antibodies against it. They designed protein-based biosensors that glow when mixed with components of the virus or specific COVID-19 antibodies. This breakthrough could enable faster and more widespread testing in the near future. The research appears in Nature.

[...] In an effort to directly detect coronavirus in patient samples without the need for genetic amplification, a team of researchers led by David Baker, professor of biochemistry and director of the Institute for Protein Design at UW Medicine, used computers to design new biosensors. These protein-based devices recognize specific molecules on the surface of the virus, bind to them, then emit light through a biochemical reaction.

[...] "We have shown in the lab that these new sensors can readily detect virus proteins or antibodies in simulated nasal fluid or donated serum, said Baker. "Our next goal is to ensure they can be used reliably in a diagnostic setting. This work illustrates the power of de novo protein design to create molecular devices from scratch with new and useful functions."

Beyond COVID-19, the team also showed that similar biosensors could be designed to detect medically relevant human proteins such as Her2 (a biomarker and therapy target for some forms of breast cancer) and Bcl-2 (which has clinical significance in lymphoma and some other cancers), as well as a bacterial toxin and antibodies that target Hepatitis B virus.

Journal Reference:
Alfredo Quijano-Rubio, Hsien-Wei Yeh, Jooyoung Park, et al. De novo design of modular and tunable protein biosensors [open], Nature (DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03258-z)

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MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for c0lo

A team of researchers led by chemists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory has identified new details of the reaction mechanism that takes place in batteries with lithium metal anodes.

The findings, published today in Nature Nanotechnology ("Identification of LiH and nanocrystalline LiF in the solid–electrolyte interphase of lithium metal anodes"), are a major step towards developing smaller, lighter, and less expensive batteries for electric vehicles.

Scientists have long recognized the advantages of lithium metal anodes; in fact, they were the first anode to be coupled with a cathode. But due to their lack of "reversibility," the ability to be recharged through a reversible electrochemical reaction, the battery community ultimately replaced lithium metal anodes with graphite anodes, creating lithium-ion batteries.

Now, with decades of progress made, researchers are confident they can make lithium metal anodes reversible, surpassing the limits of lithium-ion batteries. The key is the interphase, a solid material layer that forms on the battery's electrode during the electrochemical reaction.

Source: https://www.nanowerk.com/nanotechnology-news2/newsid=57158.php

Journal Reference:
Zulipiya Shadike, Hongkyung Lee, Oleg Borodin, et al. Identification of LiH and nanocrystalline LiF in the solid–electrolyte interphase of lithium metal anodes, Nature Nanotechnology (DOI: 10.1038/s41565-020-00845-5)

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