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upstart writes in with an IRC submission:

Data transfer system connects silicon chips with a hair's-width cable:

Researchers have developed a data transfer system that can transmit information 10 times faster than a USB. The new link pairs high-frequency silicon chips with a polymer cable as thin a strand of hair. The system may one day boost energy efficiency in data centers and lighten the loads of electronics-rich spacecraft.

The research was presented at February's IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference. The lead author is Jack Holloway '03, MNG '04, who completed his PhD in MIT's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) last fall and currently works for Raytheon. Co-authors include Ruonan Han, associate professor and Holloway's PhD adviser in EECS, and Georgios Dogiamis, a senior researcher at Intel.

[...] The team's new link draws on benefits of both copper and fiber optic conduits, while ditching their drawbacks. "It's a great example of a complementary solution," says Dogiamis. Their conduit is made of plastic polymer, so it's lighter and potentially cheaper to manufacture than traditional copper cables. But when the polymer link is operated with sub-terahertz electromagnetic signals, it's far more energy-efficient than copper in transmitting a high data load. The new link's efficiency rivals that of fiber-optic, but has a key advantage: "It's compatible directly with silicon chips, without any special manufacturing," says Holloway.

[...] The new link also beats out copper in terms of size. "The cross-sectional area of our cable is 0.4 millimeters by a quarter millimeter," says Han. "So, it's super tiny, like a strand of hair." Despite its slim size, it can carry a hefty load of data, since it sends signals over three different parallel channels, separated by frequency. The link's total bandwidth is 105 gigabits per second, nearly an order of magnitude faster than a copper-based USB cable. Dogiamis says the cable could "address the bandwidth challenges as we see this megatrend toward more and more data."

In future work, Han hopes to make the polymer conduits even faster by bundling them together. "Then the data rate will be off the charts," he says. "It could be one terabit per second, still at low cost."

Also at Tech Explorist and HotHardware

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MrPlow writes in with a submission, via IRC, for TheMightyBuzzard.

Audacity Games is Making New Atari 2600 Titles:

Audacity Games is a newly-announced game developer with a bold vision: it's going to be making brand-new Atari 2600 games. And yes, there will be actual cartridges produced.

The Atari 2600[*] was one of the first home video game consoles to get widespread adoption and it has a pretty big library of games. Some of the very people who worked on popular cartridges for that console — including Pitfall and the Atari 2600 port of Donkey Kong — are now banding together to breathe a bit of new life into a very old video game console.

[...] Audacity Games promises to deliver "completely new" games in a retro style from classic designers David Crane, Garry Kitchen, and Dan Kitchen. Those names may not be immediately familiar to you, but you've probably heard of their work.

[...] Garry Kitchen says that their first wave of releases will also include a download of a digital version compatible with the Stella emulator.

There's no telling what this new developer's first project might be; all we know for now is that its first release will be on the Atari 2600. Other retro consoles may be supported, too, as long as there is "reasonable demand" for a port according to Garry Kitchen.

For now, fans of retro games have something to look forward to in the coming months and years. You can find out more about Audacity Games on its official website and you can also follow this new game developer on Twitter.

[*] Atari 2600 Wikipedia entry.

[On today's 55-inch UHD screens, how large would a single pixel be? --Ed.]

Original Submission

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:

F5 urges customers to patch critical BIG-IP pre-auth RCE bug:

F5 Networks, a leading provider of enterprise networking gear, has announced four critical remote code execution (RCE) vulnerabilities affecting most BIG-IP and BIG-IQ software versions.

F5 BIG-IP software and hardware customers include governments, Fortune 500 firms, banks, internet service providers, and consumer brands (including Microsoft, Oracle, and Facebook), with the company claiming that "48 of the Fortune 50 rely on F5."

The four critical vulnerabilities listed below also include a pre-auth RCE security flaw (CVE-2021-22986) which allows unauthenticated remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands on compromised BIG-IP devices:

• CVE-2021-22986: iControl REST unauthenticated remote command execution (9.8/10)
• CVE-2021-22987: Appliance Mode TMUI authenticated remote command execution (9.9/10)
• CVE-2021-22991: TMM buffer-overflow (9.0/10)
• CVE-2021-22992: Advanced WAF/ASM buffer-overflow (9.0/10)

[...] Successful exploitation of critical BIG-IP RCE vulnerabilities could lead to full system compromise, including the interception of controller application traffic and lateral movement to the internal network.

[...] "We strongly encourage all customers to update their BIG-IP and BIG-IQ systems to a fixed version as soon as possible," F5 says in a notification published earlier today.

"To fully remediate the critical vulnerabilities, all BIG-IP customers will need to update to a fixed version."

Original Submission

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for c0lo:

Astronomers May Have Found The First Evidence For Tectonic Activity On An Exoplanet:

On Earth, the heat generated from the radioactive decay of elements in Earth's mantle drives convection currents, pushing and dragging large plates of Earth's crust around. When the plates collide, mountains form, and parts of Earth's crust are recycled into the mantle. When the plates are pushed apart, the partially molten mantle rises upward to fill the gap. Plate tectonics is an essential part of the cycle that brings material from the planet's interior to the surface and the atmosphere, and then transports it back beneath the Earth's crust. Tectonics thus has a vital influence on the energy and matter transfer that ultimately makes Earth habitable.

Until now, researchers have found no evidence of global tectonic activity on planets outside our solar system. A team of researchers led by Tobias Meier from the Center for Space and Habitability (CSH) at the University of Bern and with the participation of ETH Zurich, the University of Oxford, and the National Center of Competence in Research NCCR PlanetS has now found evidence of the flow patterns inside a planet, located 45 light-years from Earth: LHS 3844b. Their results were published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for c0lo:

CMA investigates Apple over suspected anti-competitive behaviour:

The CMA has launched an investigation into Apple following complaints that its terms and conditions for app developers are unfair and anti-competitive.

[...] The probe has been prompted by the Competition and Markets Authority's (CMA) own work in the digital sector, as well as several developers reporting that Apple's terms and conditions are unfair and could break competition law.

[...] The CMA's investigation will consider whether Apple has a dominant position in connection with the distribution of apps on Apple devices in the UK – and, if so, whether Apple imposes unfair or anti-competitive terms on developers using the App Store, ultimately resulting in users having less choice or paying higher prices for apps and add-ons.

This is only the beginning of the investigation and no decision has yet been made on whether Apple is breaking the law.

[...] Today's announcement follows the CMA's July 2020 report on its market study into online platforms and digital advertising, and the CMA's advice to the Government in December 2020 on the shape of a new pro-competition regulatory regime for digital markets. As the CMA works with the Government on these proposals – which will complement its current enforcement powers – the CMA will continue to use its existing powers to their fullest extent in order to protect competition in these areas.

Original Submission

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:

Eye color genetics not so simple, study finds:

An international team of researchers led by King's College London and Erasmus University Medical Center Rotterdam have identified 50 new genes for eye colour in the largest genetic study of its kind to date. The study, published today in Science Advances, involved the genetic analysis of almost 195,000 people across Europe and Asia.

These findings will help to improve the understanding of eye diseases such as pigmentary glaucoma and ocular albinism, where eye pigment levels play a role.

In addition, the team found that eye colour in Asians with different shades of brown is genetically similar to eye colour in Europeans ranging from dark brown to light blue.

This study builds on previous research in which scientists had identified a dozen genes linked to eye colour, believing there to be many more. Previously, scientists thought that variation in eye colour was controlled by one or two genes only, with brown eyes dominant over blue eyes.

[...] "This study delivers the genetic knowledge needed to improve eye colour prediction from DNA as already applied in anthropological and forensic studies, but with limited accuracy for the non-brown and non-blue eye colours."

Journal Reference:
Mark Simcoe, Ana Valdes, Fan Liu, et al. Genome-wide association study in almost 195,000 individuals identifies 50 previously unidentified genetic loci for eye color [open], Science Advances (DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abd1239)

Original Submission

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:

Molson Coors brewing operations disrupted by cyberattack:

The Molson Coors Beverage Company has suffered a cyberattack that is causing significant disruption to business operations.

Molson Coors is well-known for its iconic beer brands, including Coors Light, Miller Lite, Molson Canadian, Blue Moon, Peroni, Killian's, and Foster's.

In a Form-8K filed with the SEC today, Molson Coors disclosed that they suffered a cyberattack on March 11th, causing significant disruption to their operations, including the production and shipment of beer.

"On March 11, 2021, Molson Coors Beverage Company (the "Company") announced that it experienced a systems outage that was caused by a cybersecurity incident. The Company has engaged leading forensic information technology firms and legal counsel to assist the Company's investigation into the incident and the Company is working around the clock to get its systems back up as quickly as possible.

"Although the Company is actively managing this cybersecurity incident, it has caused and may continue to cause a delay or disruption to parts of the Company's business, including its brewery operations, production, and shipments," Molson Coors disclosed in the Form-8K filing.

This is thought to be a ransomware attack.

Original Submission

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:

OVH data center burns down knocking major sites offline:

In a major unprecedented incident, data centers of OVH located in Strasbourg, France have been destroyed by fire.

OVH is the largest hosting provider in Europe and the third-largest in the world. The cloud computing company provides VPS, dedicated servers, and other web services.

Customers are being advised by the company to enact their disaster recovery plans after the fire has rendered multiple data centers unserviceable, impacting websites around the world.

[...] OVH, the world's third-largest and Europe's largest hosting provider has been impacted by a disaster.

Its French data centers, SBG1, SBG2, SBG3, and SBG4 located in Strasbourgh were shut down to contain the damage from a fire that started in SBG2.

A statement provided by OVH on their status page reads:

We are currently facing a major incident in our DataCenter of Strasbourg with a fire declared in the building SBG2.
Firefighters were immediately on the scene but could not control the fire in SBG2.
The whole site has been isolated, which impacts all our services on SBG1, SBG2, SBG3 and SBG4.
If your production is in Strasbourg, we recommend to activate your Disaster Recovery Plan.
All our teams are fully mobilized along with the firefighters.
We will keep you updated as more information becomes available.

[...] OVH data centers page no longer shows SBG2 and SBG3.

OVH has released an official statement.

Original Submission

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Runaway1956:

Keppel and Sumitomo to develop ammonia as ship fuel in Singapore:

Singapore's Keppel, Japan's Sumitomo, Denmark's Maersk and three other companies have joined forces to develop ammonia fuel for ships in a new green energy initiative, the group announced on Thursday.

The companies hope to turn the venture into a new business in Singapore, the world's largest marine refueling hub. The project includes developing a specialized ammonia tanker and infrastructure for refueling operations in the ocean.

The other participants in the project include Norwegian fertilizer maker Yara International and Hong Kong's Fleet Management.

Ammonia does not produce carbon dioxide when it burns, which makes it an attractive option as a green fuel. It is also less complicated to transport than hydrogen because it can be liquefied more easily.

Also at Maersk and Sumitomo Corp.

Original Submission

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:

Biden signs $1.9 trillion stimulus bill, making $1,400 checks and child tax credit official:

President Joe Biden on Thursday signed the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, which includes a third stimulus check, for up to $1,400, and an expanded child tax credit. The IRS and Treasury will begin to send the new stimulus checks as soon as this weekend, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday at a press briefing.

The bill signing comes just one day after the amended bill passed in the House by a vote of 220-211. The House initially passed the bill on Feb. 26, and the Senate approved it last week, albeit with some changes.

[...] Democrats had been pushing to get the stimulus package signed into law before current unemployment benefits expire March 14. Biden was originally scheduled to sign the bill on Friday, but it got moved forward after Congress sent the final bill to the president more quickly than anticipated, Psaki said on Thursday.

The stimulus package, called the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, includes changes made by the Senate last week, such as reducing income limits for the third stimulus payment and lowering proposed weekly unemployment benefits from $400 a week to $300 a week (though they'd extend through Sept. 6 rather than the end of August). The Senate also dropped a federal minimum wage increase from the legislation, but proponents say they'll reintroduce that at a later date.

How to watch President Biden's national address tonight.

DeathMonkey writes:

House passes $1.9 trillion Covid relief bill, sends it to Biden to sign:

[...] Here are the proposal's major pieces:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Runaway1956:

Google Science Fair teen found way to remove microplastics from water:

Fionn Ferreira lives on a remote island in West Cork, a seaside region in southern Ireland. One day while kayaking, he spotted a rock on the shore that was coated in oil from a recent spill. Attached to the rock were tiny bits of plastic less than 5 millimeters long — what scientists call "microplastics."

[...] Because microplastics are so small — about the size of a sesame seed — scientists have struggled to find ways to remove them from the environment. But Ferreira discovered something when he saw the oil-coated rock on the shore.

[...] Plastic and oil are nonpolar, meaning they're likely to stick to one another in nature. As a budding scientist, Ferreira had a hunch that the same effect could be created using a magnetic liquid found in speakers and electronic devices.

On Monday, Ferreira won the Google Science Fair's $50,000 grand prize for his experiment, which showed that the liquid could extract microplastics from water.

[...] In 1963, the NASA engineer Steve Papell came up with a way to make rocket fuel magnetic so that it could move around in zero gravity during the Apollo missions. In the process, he wound up creating the first ferrofluid, essentially a magnetic liquid.

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:

Verkada surveillance cameras at Tesla, hundreds more businesses breached: hackers:

A small group of hackers viewed live and archived surveillance footage from hundreds of businesses including Tesla Inc by gaining administrative access to camera maker Verkada over the past two days, one of the people involved in the breach told Reuters.

Swiss software developer Tillie Kottmann, who has gained attention for finding security flaws in mobile apps and other systems, shared screenshots on Twitter from inside a Tesla warehouse in California and an Alabama jail in messages to Reuters. Kottmann declined to identify other members of the group.

Kottmann said they sought to draw attention to the pervasive monitoring of people after having found login information for Verkada's administrative tools publicly online this week.

Verkada acknowledged an intrusion, saying it had disabled all internal administrator accounts to prevent unauthorized access.

"Our internal security team and external security firm are investigating the scale and scope of this issue, and we have notified law enforcement" and customers, the company said.

Kottmann said Verkada cut off the hackers' access hours before Bloomberg first reported the breach on Tuesday.

The hacking group, if it had chosen, could have used its control of the camera gear to access other parts of company networks at Tesla and software makers Cloudflare Inc and Okta Inc, according to Kottmann.

Tesla, Cloudflare and Okta did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Also at Bloomburg, Yahoo, Verkada, BBC, and Engadget among others.

Original Submission

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Runaway1956:

1.6-GW Coal Plant May Get New Life as Green Hydrogen Hub:

Global technology heavyweights Shell and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Swedish state-owned energy firm Vattenfall, and German municipal heat generator Wärme Hamburg are teaming on a massive project to repurpose a 2015-commissioned 1.6-GW coal plant in northern Germany as a massive green hydrogen hub.

[...] In January, Vattenfall, MHI, Shell, and Wärme Hamburg said the Moorburg site was ideally suited to the envisioned "Green Energy Hub" (Figure 2). "It is connected to both the national 380,000-volt transmission network and the 110,000-volt network of the City of Hamburg. In addition, overseas ships can call at the location directly and use the quay and port facilities as an import terminal," they noted in a joint statement. "The municipal gas network company also intends to expand a hydrogen network in the port within ten years and is already working on the necessary distribution infrastructure. Numerous potential customers for green hydrogen are located near the site, thus enabling the project to cover the entire hydrogen value chain—from generation to storage, transport, and utilization in various sectors."

[...] While it is unclear which technology the partners are considering for the 100-MW power-to-gas converters, Fabian Ziegler, CEO of Shell in Germany, noted that the project may encapsulate the "entire value chain for hydrogen"—from power production from "offshore wind to the expansion of capacities for green hydrogen production as well as to the supply for mobility or transport applications and other industries." Christian Heine, CEO of Wärme Hamburg GmbH and Gasnetz Hamburg GmbH, meanwhile, said that outside of the project's "enormous potential" as a means for power storage, the project could provide "climate neutral heat."

Original Submission

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Runaway1956:

The invention that made mass vaccinations possible:

Hundreds of millions of adults around the world can expect to be vaccinated against Covid over the next few months. It will be delivered by hypodermic syringe - but who invented it?

[...] The syringe that is now being used to provide protection against Covid may look simple enough - but appearances can be deceptive.

It took millennia to create the hypodermic syringe in a form that was to allow mass vaccinations to take place today.

An Irish surgeon, Francis Rynd, and French physician, Charles Pravaz, made a huge contribution to the field in the mid-19th Century.

But it was a Scottish doctor, Alexander Wood, who is now widely credited with inventing the modern-day hypodermic syringe.

Wood may have had little idea of the importance of his invention in the 1850s.

But his creation of an all-glass syringe with plunger and fine-bore needle was to become as recognisable a medical device as the stethoscope.

Original Submission

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Runaway1956:

Using Nmap results to help harden Linux systems:

System security is not a one-and-done task. Rather, there are numerous layers to an organization's approach to security. Some of those layers are physical security to the datacenters, regular patching and maintenance of the infrastructure, continuing user awareness education, and scanning systems for issues. This article discusses how to use the nmap and nc commands to scan a system so that you can determine the appropriate next steps. I use a few systems in my examples here. The system that does the scanning is my local Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 8.3 computer, opendemo.usersys.redhat.com is the Red Hat Satellite 6.8 system used because it has several open ports, and I have various target systems.

[...] Now that you've been able to get a detailed report of what's running on your systems, what do you do next? The first thing is to be sure that there are no unexpected ports open. For this, verify with the applications team, security teams, and your coworkers might be appropriate. Next is to ensure that the exposed services are properly secured. This means taking steps such as making sure that all software is updated, updated ciphers are supported, insecure protocols are not in use, and default passwords for the services have been changed.

[Ed Note - The fine article then walks you through a good, basic auditing of some security issues you can identify using nmap. Some uses include:

• Basic Scans
• Verifying Certificates
• Identifying Services

]

Original Submission