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An Anonymous Coward writes:

T-Mobile probes 'huge data breach' as hackers claim they have names & social security numbers of 100m customers

T-MOBILE is currently investigating claims of a massive customer data breach which hackers claim has affected 100 million users.

The data breach reportedly includes social security numbers, phone numbers, names, physical addresses, unique IMEI numbers, and driver's license information.

[...] The post didn't mention T-Mobile specifically, but when contact by VICE the seller claimed that the data had been lifted from T-Mobile Servers.

"T-Mobile USA. Full customer info," the seller told the outlet, adding that the information of 100 million customers had been compromised.

Original Submission

canopic jug writes:

Daniel Aleksandersen has delved into RFC 8375 from 2018 and its guidance on home LANs. Specifically, it says that the deinitive answer is to use the domain home.arpa special purpose Top-Level Domain (spTLD).

Do not use undelegated domain names like .lan, .home, .homenet, .network, nor should you make up your own domain name. You can use a domain or a subdomain of a domain name you've bought from a domain registrar, however. This last option requires extra configuration of your router to work locally, and an advanced setup involving dynamic-domain names (DynDNS) to work over the internet.

If you use a made-up domain name, then DNS requests may go unfulfilled by your router and it can forward them to the global root servers. This creates needless overhead for the core internet infrastructure, and leaks information about your network (such as device names.) Web browsers and other software, including your router, should know not to do that with .local and .home.arpa domains.

Original Submission

upstart writes:

Researchers take step toward next-generation brain-computer interface system:

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are emerging assistive devices that may one day help people with brain or spinal injuries to move or communicate. BCI systems depend on implantable sensors that record electrical signals in the brain and use those signals to drive external devices like computers or robotic prosthetics.

Most current BCI systems use one or two sensors to sample up to a few hundred neurons, but neuroscientists are interested in systems that are able to gather data from much larger groups of brain cells.

Now, a team of researchers has taken a key step toward a new concept for a future BCI system — one that employs a coordinated network of independent, wireless microscale neural sensors, each about the size of a grain of salt, to record and stimulate brain activity. The sensors, dubbed "neurograins," independently record the electrical pulses made by firing neurons and send the signals wirelessly to a central hub, which coordinates and processes the signals.

In a study published on August 12 in Nature Electronics, the research team demonstrated the use of nearly 50 such autonomous neurograins to record neural activity in a rodent.

The results, the researchers say, are a step toward a system that could one day enable the recording of brain signals in unprecedented detail, leading to new insights into how the brain works and new therapies for people with brain or spinal injuries.

Journal Reference:
Lee, Jihun, Leung, Vincent, Lee, Ah-Hyoung, et al. Neural recording and stimulation using wireless networks of microimplants, Nature Electronics (DOI: 10.1038/s41928-021-00631-8)

Original Submission

upstart writes:

3D-printed concrete bridge doesn't need supports:

3D-printed concrete bridge doesn't need supports

Concrete is the most consumed material in the world, second only to water. The material is pervasive because it has many practical uses — from building homes to forging dams that protect from storm surges. Reinforced concrete, concrete with steel embedded in it, is a foundation for the infrastructure of many essential industries: education, healthcare, transportation, government, and more. It would be next to impossible to live without reinforced concrete.

But the 2.8 billion tonnes of CO2 concrete emits falls just behind the total emissions of China or the United States — the two countries with the most CO2 emissions, reports Yale Environment 360.

Emissions aside, concrete thwarts natural habitats, covers and chokes ecosystems, and heats cities. We produce more concrete every two years than the plastic made in the past 60 years. Planet Earth is becoming a concrete world. And the steel used for reinforcement and the cement that binds the concrete together are at the heart of the problem.

[...] A team from Zaha Hadid Architects, ETH Zurich, and the Block Research Group decided to remove the reinforcement to build their approximately 39×52 foot arched pedestrian bridge.

upstart writes:

Data signals third year of vast Brazil Amazon deforestation:

Preliminary government data released on Friday indicates annual deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon may have surpassed 10,000 square kilometers (3,861 square miles) for the third straight year, continuing a worrisome jump since President Jair Bolsonaro assumed office.

The area deforested from August to July – the 12-month period that is Brazil’s reference – was 8,793 square kilometers, just below last year’s record, according to daily alerts compiled by the National Institute for Space Research’s Deter monitoring system.

That data is considered a leading indicator for complete calculations released near year end from the more accurate system, Prodes. It uses at least four different satellites to capture images, addressing oversights in preliminary data caused by lower resolution and cloud cover.

[...] Before Bolsonaro’s term began in 2019, the Brazilian Amazon hadn’t recorded a single year with that much deforestation in over a decade and, between 2009 and 2018, the average was 6,500 square kilometers. The far-right president has encouraged development of the biome and dismissed global handwringing about its destruction as a plot to hold back the nation’s agribusiness. At the same time, his administration defanged environmental authorities and legislative measures to loosen land protections have advanced, emboldening land grabbers.

“In two and a half years, the Bolsonaro government has managed to provoke a situation of destruction and chaos in the environment,” Suely Araujo, a former president of the environmental regulator, Ibama, told The Associated Press. “A group of factors is delegitimizing enforcement. There is an anti-policy that has no way of going right.”

Original Submission

upstart writes:

'Likes' and 'shares' teach people to express more outrage online:

Social media platforms like Twitter amplify expressions of moral outrage over time because users learn such language gets rewarded with an increased number of "likes" and "shares," a new Yale University study shows.

And these rewards had the greatest influence on users connected with politically moderate networks.

"Social media's incentives are changing the tone of our political conversations online," said Yale's William Brady, a postdoctoral researcher in the Yale Department of Psychology and first author of the study. He led the research with Molly Crockett, an associate professor of psychology at Yale.

The Yale team measured the expression of moral outrage on Twitter during real life controversial events and studied the behaviors of subjects in controlled experiments designed to test whether social media's algorithms, which reward users for posting popular content, encourage outrage expressions.

"This is the first evidence that some people learn to express more outrage over time because they are rewarded by the basic design of social media," Brady said.

Journal Reference:
William J. Brady, Killian McLoughlin, Tuan N. Doan, et al. How social learning amplifies moral outrage expression in online social networks [open], Science Advances (DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abe5641)

Original Submission

AnonTechie writes:

https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2021/08/touted-clean-blue-hydrogen-may-be-worse-gas-or-coal:

"Blue" hydrogen – an energy source that involves a process for making hydrogen by using methane in natural gas – is being lauded by many as a clean, green energy to help reduce global warming. But Cornell and Stanford University researchers believe it may harm the climate more than burning fossil fuel.

The carbon footprint to create blue hydrogen is more than 20% greater than using either natural gas or coal directly for heat, or about 60% greater than using diesel oil for heat, according to new research published Aug. 12 in Energy Science & Engineering.

[...] Blue hydrogen starts with converting methane to hydrogen and carbon dioxide by using heat, steam and pressure[*], or gray hydrogen, but goes further to capture some of the carbon dioxide. Once the byproduct carbon dioxide and the other impurities are sequestered, it becomes blue hydrogen, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

The process to make blue hydrogen takes a large amount of energy, according to the researchers, which is generally provided by burning more natural gas.

[...] An ecologically friendly "green" hydrogen does exist, but it remains a small sector and it has not been commercially realized. Green hydrogen is achieved when water goes through electrolysis (with electricity supplied by solar, wind or hydroelectric power) and the water is separated into hydrogen and oxygen.

[Said Professor Robert Howarth]: "The best hydrogen, the green hydrogen derived from electrolysis – if used wisely and efficiently – can be that path to a sustainable future. Blue hydrogen is totally different."

[*] See the Sabatier reaction on Wikipedia.

Journal Reference:
Robert W. Howarth, Mark Z. Jacobson. How green is blue hydrogen? [open], Energy Science & Engineering (DOI: 10.1002/ese3.956)

Original Submission

upstart writes:

NYPD secretly spent $159 million on surveillance tech:

The New York City Police Department has spent over $159 million on surveillance systems and maintenance since 2007 without public oversight, according to newly released documents. The Legal Aid Society (LAS) and the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (STOP) obtained the documents from the NYPD, which include contracts with vendors. They show that the NYPD has spent millions on facial recognition, predictive policing tech and other surveillance systems.

The NYPD made the purchases through a Special Expenses Fund. It didn't need to gain the approval of the NYC Council or other city officials before signing the contracts, as Wired reports.

From Wired:

Last year, STOP and other privacy groups successfully pushed for the passage of the Public Oversight of Surveillance Technology (POST) Act, which required the NYPD to reveal information about the surveillance tools it uses. After the POST Act's passage, the current comptroller, Scott Stringer, ended the agreement, opening the door for the Legal Aid Society and STOP to obtain and publish the contracts.

"New Yorkers deserve transparency, accountability, and oversight for all taxpayer dollars," Stringer said in a statement. "By shedding light on how taxpayer dollars are spent, we can continue to make government more open and accessible and build public trust."

In a statement, a spokesperson for the NYPD said, "No police department or federal agency has gone to the level of depth and transparency on law enforcement tools used in the field that the NYPD did in its POST Act disclosures."

The Public Oversight of Surveillance Technology (POST) Act: A Resource Page

Related:
Victory! New York's City Council Passes the POST Act

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Sci-Hub Pledges Open Source & AI Alongside Crypto Donation Drive

Sci-Hub founder Alexandra Elbakyan has launched a donation drive to ensure the operations and development of the popular academic research platform. For safety reasons, donations can only be made in cryptocurrencies but the pledges include a drive to open source the project and the introduction of artificial intelligence to discover new hypotheses.

[...] A new campaign launched by Elbakyan on Saturday hopes to encourage people to contribute to the site's future, promising "dramatic improvements" over the next few years in return.

In addition to offering enhanced search features and a mobile app, Sci-Hub is pledging developments that include the open sourcing of the project. Also of interest is the pledge to introduce an artificial intelligence component that should make better use of the masses of knowledge hosted by Sci-Hub.

"Sci-Hub engine will [be] powered by artificial intelligence. Neural Networks will read scientific texts, extract ideas and make inferences and discover new hypotheses," Elbakyan reveals.

The overall goal of the next few years is to boost content availability too, expanding from hosting "the majority of research articles" available today to include "any scientific document ever published."

Related: Sci-Hub Bounces from TLD to TLD
Sci-Hub Proves That Piracy Can be Dangerously Useful
Paywall: A Documentary About the Movement for Open-Access Science Publishing
Swedish ISP Punishes Elsevier for Forcing It to Block Sci-Hub by Also Blocking Elsevier
Library Genesis Seeding Project Helps to Decentralize Archive of Scientific Knowledge
Scientists to be Heard in High-Profile Publisher Lawsuit Against Sci-Hub in India

Original Submission

KilroySmith writes:

Not going anytime soon

Today, Boeing informed NASA that the company will destack its CST-100 Starliner from the Atlas V rocket and return the spacecraft to the Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility
(C3PF) for deeper-level troubleshooting of four propulsion system valves that remain closed after last Tuesday's scrubbed launch.

Boeing's Starliner is a human-rated space capsule built for NASA's Commercial Crew Program. Its initial test flight in December 2019 (OFT-1) was partially successful, but due to software errors was unable to dock with the International Space Station. This was to be its second flight test (OFT-2), but less than 24 hours before launch 13 valves in the propulsion system of the capsule were found to be stuck; after several days of "applying mechanical, electrical and thermal techniques to prompt the valves open", seven (and now nine) of the thirteen have been restored to operation. But the remaining four are being recalcitrant, and more invasive work will need to be done.

Previously: Boeing's Starliner Orbital Flight Test 2 Mission Runs into Thruster, Scheduling Issues

Original Submission

TheMightyChickadee writes:

News from Newsweek:

An elusive "shape-shifting" fish was recently spotted off the coast of California in a rare sighting.

On August 6, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) tweeted a video of a whalefish.

"A whalefish was spotted last week with ROV Doc Ricketts," the research institute tweeted. "This whalefish [order Cetomimiformes] was encountered by [Steven Haddock's] team on their R/V Western Flyer expedition 2,013 meters deep offshore of Monterey Bay."

The video shows a bright orange fish swimming in the dark depths of the ocean.

[...] A mystery, indeed. In 2010, the Smithsonian reported the whalefish was first discovered in 1895. As one might have guessed, scientists named their newest specimen after its "whale-like appearance."

AnonTechie writes:

Sex with robots: How should lawmakers respond?:

Advancements in technology have resulted in the design of hyper–realistic, Wi-Fi–connected, programmable sex robots that can mimic human responses, but what do these developments mean for how we regulate interactions with "sexbots" in the future?

In a new article in the The Bulletin: The Law Society of SA [south Australia] Journal, Flinders University law researchers analyzed the factors Australian lawmakers will have to consider when they weigh up whether it should be legal to import, own and use sexbots that resemble human adults.

[...] A recent study into the therapeutic benefits of sex robots found the top three suggestions for the use of robots were for patients with: social anxiety (50%), people who do not have a partner but still want a sex life without resorting to fleeting acquaintances or prostitution (50%) and premature ejaculation (47%), according to sex therapists.

[...] “Legislators will have to balance competing and complex individual and public interests which pose new ethical, regulatory and legal challenges because of advancements in technology.”

“While no Australian legislation currently regulates or prohibits sexual intercourse with robots, there are regulations on child-like sex dolls which have been addressed by the Commonwealth, South Australia and Queensland. These statutory provisions may guide any future laws on the use of adult sex robots but there are new factors which have to be considered.”

[ARTICLE]: Law Society of SA Journal

Should the government get involved in this matter?

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Exclusive: Apple's child protection features spark concern within its own ranks -sources

A backlash over Apple's move to scan U.S. customer phones and computers for child sex abuse images has grown to include employees speaking out internally, a notable turn in a company famed for its secretive culture, as well as provoking intensified protests from leading technology policy groups.

Apple employees have flooded an Apple internal Slack channel with more than 800 messages on the plan announced a week ago, workers who asked not to be identified told Reuters. Many expressed worries that the feature could be exploited by repressive governments looking to find other material for censorship or arrests, according to workers who saw the days-long thread.

Past security changes at Apple have also prompted concern among employees, but the volume and duration of the new debate is surprising, the workers said. Some posters worried that Apple is damaging its leading reputation for protecting privacy.

Apple says it will refuse gov't demands to expand photo-scanning beyond CSAM:

upstart writes:

US legislation aims to break grip on app stores:

A bill introduced on Wednesday by US senators seeks to loosen the grip Apple and Google have on their lucrative online shops for apps and other digital content.

The measure, backed by Democrats Richard Blumenthal and Amy Klobuchar and Republican Marsha Blackburn, would have to make its way through Congress to become law. [edited for readability -- Ed.]

The bill would make it illegal for app store operators to require use of their own payment systems for transactions, a tactic that lets Apple and Google collect commissions on sales at their respective shops.

The legislation also calls for app store operators who also control device operating systems, as do Apple and Google, to allow users ways to get apps from places other than their stores.

"As mobile technologies have become essential to our daily lives, it has become clear that a few gatekeepers control the app marketplace, wielding incredible power over which apps consumers can access," Klobuchar said in a release.

Also at Ars Technica, CNBC, Reuters and MarketWatch.

Original Submission

upstart writes:

Dolphins Get 40s Flab, Too:

A Duke University-led study finds that bottlenose dolphins burn calories at a lower rate as they get older, just like we do.

It's the first time scientists have measured an age-related metabolic slowdown in another large-bodied species besides humans, said first author Rebecca Rimbach, postdoctoral associate in evolutionary anthropology at Duke.

Rimbach has studied energy expenditure and other aspects of physiology in animals ranging from mice to monkeys. But data on the inner workings of marine mammals such as dolphins and whales have been scant, she says. That's because these ocean dwellers are notoriously difficult to recapture for repeat measurements.

[...] The researchers studied 10 bottlenose dolphins aged 10 to 45 living at two marine mammal facilities, Dolphin Research Center in Florida and Dolphin Quest in Hawaii.

To measure their average daily metabolic rate, the researchers used the "doubly labeled water method." Used to measure energy expenditure in humans since the 1980s, it's a method that involves getting the animals to drink a few ounces of water with naturally occurring "heavy" forms of hydrogen and oxygen added, and then tracking how long the animals take to flush them out.

[...] The researchers expected dolphins to have revved-up metabolisms, since dolphins are warm-blooded just like people, and keeping warm requires more energy in water than in air.

But despite living in a watery world, they found that bottlenose dolphins burn 17% less energy per day than expected for a marine mammal of their size.

The scientists also noted some of the same signs of metabolic aging common in people. The oldest dolphins in the study, both in their 40s, used 22% to 49% fewer calories each day than expected for their body weight. And similar to humans, more of those calories ended up as fat rather than muscle. Dolphins in their 40s had body fat percentages that were 2.5 times higher than their under-20 counterparts.

Journal Reference:
Rimbach, Rebecca, Amireh, Ahmad, Allen, Austin, et al. Total energy expenditure of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) of different ages, Journal of Experimental Biology (DOI: 10.1242/jeb.242218)

Original Submission