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owl writes:

https://therecord.media/firefox-follows-chrome-and-prepares-to-block-insecure-downloads/

Mozilla developers are putting the finishing touches on a new feature that will block insecure file downloads in Firefox.

Called mixed content downloaded blocking, the feature works by blocking files downloads initiated from an encrypted HTTPS page but which actually take place via an unencrypted HTTP channel.

The idea behind this feature is to prevent Firefox users from getting misled by the URL bar and think they're downloading a file securely via HTTPS when, in reality, the file could be tampered with by third parties while in transit.

Original Submission

upstart writes:

GM to spend $1 billion to expand Chevy Bolt EV recall due to fires:

GM said it is pursuing reimbursement commitments from EV battery supplier LG Energy Solution, which produced the defective parts in plants in South Korea and Michigan. Parts from the U.S. plant were previously not involved in the recall.

The automaker plans to replace the vehicle's costly battery cell modules. GM also said it is working with LG to rectify the cause of the defects and increase production of the new modules.

"Our focus on safety and doing the right thing for our customers guides every decision we make at GM," Doug Parks, a GM executive vice president who oversees products, purchasing and supply chains, said in a release. "As leaders in the transition to an all-electric future, we know that building and maintaining trust is critical. GM customers can be confident in our commitment to taking the steps to ensure the safety of these vehicles."

The expansion follows the companies finding that the batteries for these vehicles may have two manufacturing defects — a torn anode tab and folded separator — present in the same battery cell, which increases the risk of fire.

Original Submission

owl writes:

https://wccftech.com/ibm-z-next-gen-processor-detailed-telum-chip-7nm-process-22-5-billion-transistors-8-cores-beyond-5-ghz-clocks/

IBM has detailed its next-generation Telum chip which is part of the Z processor lineup at HotChips 33. The Telum chip features a brand new core architecture design that's geared for AI acceleration.

According to IBM, the newly optimized Z core along with its brand new cache and multi-chip fabric hierarchy enables over 40% per socket performance growth. The Telum chip is comprised of a total of 8 cores that feature their dedicated L2 cache. The chip features SMT2 so[sic] which gives 16 threads on the chip while a maximum configuration of 32 core and 64 threads is possible with a 4-drawer system.

Original Submission

upstart writes:

Under the northern lights: Mesospheric ozone layer depletion explained:

The same phenomenon that causes aurorae -- the magical curtains of green light often visible from the polar regions of the Earth -- causes mesospheric ozone layer depletion. This depletion could have significance for global climate change and therefore, understanding this phenomenon is important.

[...] In the Earth's magnetosphere -- the region of magnetic field around the Earth -- electrons from the sun remain trapped. Interactions between electrons and plasma waves can cause the trapped electrons to escape and enter the Earth's upper atmosphere (thermosphere). This phenomenon, called electron precipitation, is responsible for aurorae. But, recent studies show that this is also responsible for local ozone layer depletions in the mesosphere (lower than thermosphere) and may have a certain impact on our climate.

What's more, this ozone depletion at the mesosphere could be occurring specifically during aurorae. And while scientists have studied electron precipitation in relation to aurorae, none have been able to sufficiently elucidate how it causes mesospheric ozone depletion.

Prof. Miyoshi and team took the opportunity to change this narrative during a moderate geomagnetic storm over the Scandinavian Peninsula in 2017. They aimed their observations at "pulsating aurorae" (PsA), a type of faint aurora. Their observations were possible through coordinated experiments with the European Incoherent Scatter (EISCAT) radar (at an altitude between 60 and 120 km where the PsA occurs), the Japanese spacecraft Arase, and the all-sky camera network.

Arase data showed that the trapped electrons in the Earth's magnetosphere have a wide energy range. It also indicated the presence of chorus waves, a type of electromagnetic plasma wave, in that region of space. Computer simulations then showed that Arase had observed plasma waves causing precipitations of these electrons across the wide energy range, which is consistent with EISCAT observations down in the Earth's thermosphere.

Journal Reference:
Miyoshi, Y., Hosokawa, K., Kurita, S., et al. Penetration of MeV electrons into the mesosphere accompanying pulsating aurorae [open], Scientific Reports (DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-92611-3)

Original Submission

Stradivari and Guarneri Treated Soundboards With Various Chemicals, Study Shows

upstart writes:

Stradivari and Guarneri Treated Soundboards with Various Chemicals, Study Shows:

Two renowned violin makers from Cremona, Italy, Antonio Stradivari and Giuseppe Guarneri 'del Gesù,' treated their instruments with various chemicals that produced their unique sound, and several of these chemicals have been identified for the first time: borax and metal sulfates for fungal suppression, table salt for moisture control, alum for molecular crosslinking, and potash or quicklime for alkaline treatment.

In string instruments, specially selected woods act as transducers of mechanical energy from vibrating strings into acoustic energy.

Violin-family instruments, including violas and cellos, are made of two types of tonewoods: Norway spruce (Picea abies) for soundboards and maple (Acer sp.) for ribs and back plates.

Curiously, leading violinists today still prefer antique instruments made by Antonio Stradivari and Giuseppe Guarneri 'del Gesù.'

Stradivari made about 1,200 violins in his lifetime and sold them only to the very rich, including the royalty. Today, there are about 600 Stradivari violins remaining. He also made violas and cellos that are highly prized.

Guarneri 'del Gesù' had trouble selling his work, but his instruments are now considered equal in quality and price to Stradivari violins.

[...] "All of my research over many years has been based on the assumption that the wood of the great masters underwent an aggressive chemical treatment, and this had a direct role in creating the great sound of the Stradivari and the Guarneri," said Professor Joseph Nagyvary, a researcher in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at Texas A&M University.

[...] "Both Stradivari and Guarneri would have wanted to treat their violins to prevent worms from eating away the wood because worm infestations were very widespread at that time."

[...] "This new study reveals that Stradivari and Guarneri had their own individual proprietary method of wood processing, to which they could have attributed a considerable significance," Professor Nagyvary said.

The Secret of the Stradivari Violin Confirmed

SpaceX Now Claims They Might Return Humans to the Moon Even Before 2024

upstart writes:

SpaceX Now Claims They Might Return Humans to The Moon Even Before 2024:

It's no secret that a new Space Race has been brewing over the past few years. This time, rather than being a competition between two federal space agencies, the race has more competitors and is more complicated.

In addition to more state competitors, there are also commercial space entities vying for positions and lucrative contracts. Add to that a network of public-private partnerships, and you have Space Race 2.0!

In particular, there has been quite the stir ever since NASA awarded the Artemis contract for the Human Landing System (HLS) to SpaceX. This resulted in legal challenges filed by Blue Origin and Dynetics (SpaceX's competitors), as well as a lawsuit and messy public relations campaign.

NASA has since removed the stop-work order and commenced payments to SpaceX, which recently indicated their HLS concept could be ready to go before the 2024 deadline.

As part of the NextSTEP – 2 Appendix H program, NASA selected SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Dynetics to develop the HLS that will take the Artemis III astronauts back to the lunar surface. Initially, NASA hoped to award contracts to two of these companies but ultimately went with SpaceX due to budget constraints and timetables.

In response, Blue Origin and Dynetics filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

SpaceX Thinks It Can Send Humans to the Moon Sooner Than 2024 - Universe Today

upstart writes:

At least 22 dead after 17 inches of rain in Tennessee:

Up to 17 inches [(43 cm)] of rain fell in Humphreys County in less than 24 hours Saturday, appearing to shatter the Tennessee record for one-day rainfall by more than 3 inches, the National Weather Service said.

[...] At the beginning of a news conference on Tropical Storm Henri’s impact on New England, President Joe Biden offered condolences to the people of Tennessee and directed federal disaster officials to talk with the governor and offer assistance.

[...] A flash flood watch was issued for the area before the rain started, with forecasters saying 4 to 6 inches of rain was possible. The worst storm recorded in this area of Middle Tennessee only dropped 9 inches of rain, said Krissy Hurley, a weather service meteorologist in Nashville.

“Forecasting almost a record is something we don’t do very often,” Hurley said. “Double the amount we’ve ever seen was almost unfathomable.”

Recent scientific research has determined that extreme rain events will become more frequent because of man-made climate change. Hurley said it is impossible to know its exact role in Saturday’s flood, but noted in the past year her office dealt with floods that used to be expected maybe once every 100 years in September south of Nashville and in March closer to the city.

Original Submission

upstart writes:

Best Way to Make Tea - Kettle or Microwave?:

Because you're typically heating a liquid from beneath, like setting a kettle over a stovetop, the liquid at the bottom of the container warms up, becomes less dense, and floats to the top. At the same time, the cooler liquid at the top starts to sink closer to the heat source. Eventually, you get a uniform temperature throughout.

But microwaves are an entirely different beast. A magnetron inside the metal box generates microwaves, the kind of electromagnetic radiation that gives the appliance its name. Microwaves fall along the electromagnetic spectrum, just like the ultraviolet light you protect your skin from in the summer, or the X-ray scans your doctor might take.

From there, the magnetron converts electricity from your home into some pretty intense radio waves. A channel called a "wave guide" blasts the radiation into the microwave box to heat your meal or, in this case, water. A turntable rotates the food in question to evenly heat it.

The microwaves bounce all over the reflective metal walls until they ping your food or drink. Then, they blast right through the food, just like radio waves can travel through the walls in your home. This excites the molecules inside the food, causing them to vibrate more quickly, creating heat.

Because the electromagnetic waves are coming from all angles of the microwave unit, rather than just from the bottom, convection doesn't occur at all. Instead, the liquid at the top is much hotter than the liquid at the bottom, which isn't optimal for the seasoned tea connoisseur.

Journal Reference:
Peiyang Zhao, Weiwei Gan, Chuanqi Feng, et al. Multiphysics analysis for unusual heat convection in microwave heating liquid [open], AIP Advances (DOI: 5.0013295)

Original Submission

upstart writes:

Razer bug lets you become a Windows 10 admin by plugging in a mouse:

A Razer Synapse zero-day vulnerability has been disclosed on Twitter, allowing you to gain Windows admin privileges on a local computer simply by plugging in a mouse.

[...] When plugging in a Razer device into Windows 10 or Windows 11, the operating system will automatically download and begin installing the Razer Synapse software on the computer. Razer Synapse is software that allows users to configure their hardware devices, set up macros, or map buttons.

Security researcher jonhat discovered a zero-day vulnerability in the plug-and-play Razer Synapse installation that allows users to gain SYSTEM privileges on a Windows device quickly.

upstart writes:

National Ignition Facility Breakthrough: Experiment Puts Researchers at Threshold of Fusion Ignition:

On August 8, 2021, an experiment at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's (LLNL's) National Ignition Facility (NIF) made a significant step toward ignition, achieving a yield of more than 1.3 megajoules (MJ). This advancement puts researchers at the threshold of fusion ignition, an important goal of the NIF, and opens access to a new experimental regime.

The experiment was enabled by focusing laser light from NIF — the size of three football fields — onto a target the size of a BB that produces a hot-spot the diameter of a human hair, generating more than 10 quadrillion watts of fusion power for 100 trillionths of a second.

"These extraordinary results from NIF advance the science that NNSA depends on to modernize our nuclear weapons and production as well as open new avenues of research," said Jill Hruby, DOE under secretary for Nuclear Security and NNSA administrator.

[...] "This result is a historic step forward for inertial confinement fusion research, opening a fundamentally new regime for exploration and the advancement of our critical national security missions. It is also a testament to the innovation, ingenuity, commitment and grit of this team and the many researchers in this field over the decades who have steadfastly pursued this goal," said LLNL Director Kim Budil. "For me it demonstrates one of the most important roles of the national labs – our relentless commitment to tackling the biggest and most important scientific grand challenges and finding solutions where others might be dissuaded by the obstacles."

Journal Reference:
K. L. Baker, C. A. Thomas, D. T. Casey, et al. Hotspot parameter scaling with velocity and yield for high-adiabat layered implosions at the National Ignition Facility, Physical Review E (DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.102.023210)

Original Submission

upstart writes:

Cancer patients' own cells used in 3D printed tumours to test treatments:

TEL AVIV, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Researchers have used brain cancer patients' own cells in a form of 3D printing material to make a model of their tumour to test the efficacy of potential treatments before using them for real inside the body.

The scientists extract "a chunk" of the tumour from the brain of a patient with glioblastoma [...] and use it to print a model matching their MRI scans, said Professor Ronit Satchi-Fainaro, who led the research at Tel Aviv University.

The patient's blood is then pumped through the printed tumour, made with a compound that mimics the brain, followed by a drug or therapeutic treatment.

While previous research has used such "bioprinting" to simulate cancer environments, the Tel Aviv University researchers say they are the first to print a "viable" tumour.

[...] A treatment is deemed promising if the printed tumour shrinks or if it lowers metabolic activity against control groups.

The article has photos and a short video of the process.

Also at: Nerdist.

Journal Reference:
Lena Neufeld, Eilam Yeini, Noa Reisman, et al. Microengineered perfusable 3D-bioprinted glioblastoma model for in vivo mimicry of tumor microenvironment [open], Science Advances (DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abi9119)

Original Submission

[Update #2; 2021-08-23 02:35:27 UTC]

So, mechanicjay responded to the bat signal, and "did a kill on every process that referenced slashd and started the service."

We think that should do the trick; please reply here or in the #soylent channel on IRC.

Again, many MANY thanks for your patience and understanding!

[Update #1; 2021-08-23 01:41:16 UTC]

"Constants aren't; variables won't." So goes an old adage. Seems to be the case for us, as well. My efforts to get comment counts to update and to get get mod points to be distributed have been fruitless. I've reached out to mechanicjay to see if he is available to take a look and lend a hand. So far, it appears that mod points were not distributed at 00:10 UTC this [Monday] morning.

I apologize for the disruption. --martyb

Original story follows below the fold.

upstart writes:

Tesla unveils chip to train A.I. models inside its data centers:

Tesla on Thursday unveiled a custom chip for training artificial-intelligence networks in data centers.

The work, shown at the automaker's live-streamed AI Day, demonstrates the company's continuing pursuit of vertical integration.

The D1 chip, part of Tesla's Dojo supercomputer system, uses a 7-nanometer manufacturing process, with 362 teraflops of processing power, said Ganesh Venkataramanan, senior director of Autopilot hardware. Tesla places 25 of these chips onto a single "training tile," and 120 of these tiles come together across several server cabinets, amounting to over an exaflop of power, Venkataramanan said.

"We are assembling our first cabinets pretty soon," said Venkataramanan, who previously worked at chipmaker AMD.

He said the Tesla technology will be the fastest AI-training computer.

[...] "We should have Dojo operational next year," CEO Elon Musk said.

Original Submission

Common Joe writes:

I'd like some feedback from those on Soylent News about a personal project of mine -- a "unique" Git glossary. (After looking at a few terms, it should be clear what makes it unique from other Git glossaries.)

For those who use Git, it's pretty well known that Git documentation is... how shall I put this nicely? Git documentation is "difficult to understand" at times.

I never learned Git from more experienced people at the places I worked, because the groups in which I worked never used Git. That means I started learning Git on my own at home. This turned into a confusing and frustrating experience because as I tried to learn Git from different online sources and even a couple of books, I noticed a lot of conflicting information. No one seemed to be able to agree what terms to use or what certain terms meant. Turning to more official sources, it didn't get any better. Actually, sometimes it was worse.

I decided to figure out what exact Git terminology is and where things went wrong -- my glossary was born. My glossary is not meant to replace the Git documentation in any way, but to supplement it.

upstart writes:

Baidu Announces Upgraded Baidu Brain 7.0 and Mass Production of 2nd Generation Kunlun AI Chip:

Baidu today showcased its strengths in artificial intelligence technology with the launch of Baidu Brain 7.0, the start of mass production of its 2nd generation Kunlun AI chip, Kunlun II, and the demonstration of industrial applications using Baidu AI Cloud. Shared at Baidu World 2021, Baidu's annual flagship technology conference, the announcements represent the depth of Baidu's expertise in AI technology and industrial practice, and its efforts to make AI technology more accessible.

"AI technology is growing increasingly complex, and integrated innovation has made AI more powerful," said Haifeng Wang, Baidu's Chief Technology Officer at Baidu World 2021. As AI technology plays an expanding role in a wider range of industries and drives a new era of technological revolution and industrial transformation, it is increasingly important to lower the threshold for different real-world applications and to increase accessibility to AI development platforms.

A key infrastructure supporting industrial applications of AI and Baidu Cloud, Baidu Brain is one of the world's largest AI open platforms. The newly upgraded Baidu Brain 7.0 offers greater integration of a wide array of knowledge sources and deep learning, including language comprehension and reasoning, using numerous combined technologies to enable output across language, voice and visual formats.

Working together with Baidu Brain 7.0's software capabilities is the new Kunlun II AI Chip, providing an improved hardware foundation for a new generation of AI applications. Independently developed by Baidu, Kunlun II offers 2-3 times more processing power than the previous generation, using the world's leading 7nm process and equipped with Baidu's own second-generation XPU architecture.

Original Submission