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takyon writes:

Valve Shares New Steam Deck Details, Proton Update Available For Testing

The recording from the livestream is embedded below for those interested, but some of the key takeaways from today's developer-focused Steam Deck event included:

- Steam Deck will use an immutable root file-system, albeit can be changed for developers/enthusiasts wanting more control over the system state. The immutable root file-system approach is similar to the likes of Fedora Silverblue.

- SteamOS 3.0 will be generally available in due course for those wanting to run the Arch-based Linux distribution on other hardware.

- SteamOS 3.0 is making use of PipeWire.

- Flatpak'ed apps will be supported.

- At least initially the Steam Deck is now making use of a global frame limiter but initially is being left up to the individual games to handle. We'll see how quickly such functionality or so is built into Gamescope.

- The AMD SoC powering the Steam Deck is codenamed "Aerith" and as previously reported is a quad-core Zen 2 design with RDNA2 graphics. The TDP range for Aerith is 4 to 15 Watts. The Steam Deck should support up to two 4K screens at 60Hz via the USB3/DP 1.4 DSC interface.

canopic jug writes:

Two Finnish news sites, YLE and Helsinki Times, are reporting that Jamie Hyneman of Mythbusters fame has begun a five year stint as professor of "practice" at the Lappeenranta University of Technology in Finland. He was previously awarded an honorary doctorate by the same institution and there is a prototyping lab named after him where students can design, build, and test prototypes. He is said to be on site at the moment but the first lecture is scheduled to take place via proprietary videoconferencing software.

This is not the first time Hyneman has engaged with the university, as he received an honorary doctorate from the institution in 2017. The interaction helped spark the creation of the Jamie Hyneman Center (JHC). Open to all LUT students and staff, the center's workshop helps participants "develop new ideas and solutions to problems and build and test prototypes," according to the university.

"As a Professor of Practice, I plan to encourage and support student innovations at JHC. I also hope to participate in the university's activity on a wider scale. For instance, environmental issues and different types of vehicles are especially close to my heart. These are things I've been delighted to find that LUT and I are very much aligned with," Hyneman said in the statement.

Associate Professor Markku Ikävalko said the collaboration of LUT University and Hyneman is "a good fit."

YLE: LUT University appoints former MythBuster Hyneman as Professor of Practice
Helsinki Times: MythBuster's Jamie Hyneman appointed Professor of Practice at LUT University of Finland

Previously:
(2020) Grant Imahara, Host of 'MythBusters' and 'White Rabbit Project,' Dies at 49
(2019) Former Mythbusters Host Adam Savage Will Be Back On US TV With Savage Builds
(2015) Mythbusters to End After Next Season

Original Submission

upstart writes:

US says it 'won't tolerate' Russia's 'reckless and dangerous' anti-satellite missile test:

The US strongly condemned a Russian anti-satellite test on Monday that forced crew members on the International Space Station to scramble into their spacecraft for safety, calling it "a reckless and dangerous act" and saying that it "won't tolerate" behavior that puts international interests at risk.

US Space Command said Russia tested a direct-ascent anti-satellite, or DA-ASAT missile, striking a Russian satellite and creating a debris field in low-Earth orbit of more than 1,500 pieces of trackable orbital debris that is also likely to generate hundreds of thousands of pieces of smaller orbital debris.

US officials emphasized the long-term dangers and potential global economic fallout from the Russian test, which has created hazards for satellites that provide people around the world with phone and broadband service, weather forecasting, GPS systems which underpin aspects of the financial system, including bank machines, as well in-flight entertainment and satellite radio and television.

"Russia has demonstrated a deliberate disregard for the security, safety, stability, and long-term sustainability of the space domain for all nations," said US Space Command commander Gen. James Dickinson. "The debris created by Russia's DA-ASAT will continue to pose a threat to activities in outer space for years to come, putting satellites and space missions at risk, as well as forcing more collision avoidance maneuvers. Space activities underpin our way of life and this kind of behavior is simply irresponsible."

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement that he was "outraged by this irresponsible and destabilizing action. With its long and storied history in human spaceflight, it is unthinkable that Russia would endanger not only the American and international partner astronauts on the ISS, but also their own cosmonauts. Their actions are reckless and dangerous, threatening as well the Chinese space station."

December 16, 2020: Russia has launched an anti-satellite missile test, US Space Command says submitted via IRC for FatPhil.

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Top500: No Exascale, Fugaku Still Reigns, Polaris Debuts at #12

MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for Bytram

Source: https://www.hpcwire.com/2021/11/15/top500-no-exascale-fugaku-still-reigns-polaris-debuts-at-12/

No exascale for you -- at least, not within the High-Performance Linpack (HPL) territory of the latest Top500 list, issued today from the 33rd annual Supercomputing Conference (SC21), held in-person in St. Louis, Mo., and virtually, from Nov. 14–19. ""We were hoping to have the first exascale system on this list but that didn't happen," said Top500 co-author Jack Dongarra in a press briefing this morning.

In an alternate timeline, the United States might have stood up two exascale systems by now: Aurora at Argonne National Laboratory and Frontier at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Installation continues on the latter, and when we talked to Intel last week, they said that Argonne was preparing for the arrival of Aurora, now slated to be a two exaflops peak machine, doubling its (most recent) previous performance target.

The 58th edition of the Top500 offers a familiar lineup at the top. Japan's Fugaku system is still in the number one spot providing 442 petaflops, with the U.S. systems Perlmutter – which improved its performance by nearly 10 percent to 70.9 petaflops – and Selene in fifth and sixth place, respectively. (DOE's Summit and Sierra and China's Sunway TaihuLight are still keeping their seats warm as well, holding second, third and fourth place respectively.)

takyon adds the following:

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upstart writes:

Zero-day bug in all Windows versions gets free unofficial patch:

A free and unofficial patch is now available for a zero-day local privilege escalation [(LPE)] vulnerability in the Windows User Profile Service that lets attackers gain SYSTEM privileges under certain conditions.

The bug, tracked as CVE-2021-34484, was incompletely patched by Microsoft during the August Patch Tuesday. The company only addressed the impact of the proof-of-concept (PoC) provided by security researcher Abdelhamid Naceri who reported the issue.

Naceri later discovered that threat actors could still bypass the Microsoft patch to elevate privileges to gain SYSTEM privileges if certain conditions are met, getting an elevated command prompt while the User Account Control (UAC) prompt is displayed.

CERT/CC vulnerability analyst Will Dormann tested the CVE-2021-34484 bypass PoC exploit and found that, while it worked, it would not always create the elevated command prompt. However, in BleepingComputer's tests, it launched an elevated command prompt immediately, as shown below.

Luckily, the exploit requires attackers to know and log in with other users' credentials for exploiting the vulnerability, which means that it will likely not be as widely abused as other LPE bugs (including PrintNightmare).

The bad news is that it impacts all Windows versions, including Windows 10, Windows 11, and Windows Server 2022, even if fully patched.

[...] While Microsoft is still working on a security update to address this zero-day flaw, the 0patch micropatching service has released Thursday a free unofficial patch (known as a micropatch).

Original Submission

upstart writes:

Polymer discovery gives 3D-printed sand super strength:

The study, published in Nature Communications, demonstrates a 3D-printed sand bridge that at 6.5 centimeters can hold 300 times its own weight, a feat analogous to 12 Empire State Buildings sitting on the Brooklyn Bridge.

The binder jet printing process is cheaper and faster than other 3D-printing methods used by industry and makes it possible to create 3D structures from a variety of powdered materials, offering advantages in cost and scalability. The concept stems from inkjet printing, but instead of using ink, the printer head jets out a liquid polymer to bind a powdered material, such as sand, building up a 3D design layer by layer. The binding polymer is what gives the printed sand its strength.

The team used polymer expertise to tailor a polyethyleneimine, or PEI, binder that doubled the strength of sand parts compared with conventional binders.

Parts printed via binder jetting are initially porous when removed from the print bed. They can be strengthened by infiltrating the design with an additional super-glue material called cyanoacrylate that fills in the gaps. This second step provided an eight-fold strength increase on top of the first step, making a polymer sand composite stronger than any other and any known building materials, including masonry.

upstart writes:

Team of Experts Approve Do-It-Yourself Artificial Pancreas for People With Type 1 Diabetes:

More than 40 healthcare professionals and legal experts have issued the first guidance of its kind to support people with type 1 diabetes using Do-it-Yourself (DIY) technology-driven systems to manage their condition.

The paper was co-led by King's College London and Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. It sets out recommendations that allow health-care professionals to support DIY artificial pancreas systems as a safe and effective treatment option for type 1 diabetes.

The work is published today (November 13, 2021) in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology and endorsed by nine professional diabetes organizations including the International Diabetes Federation. Patients say using the technology has been a "revolution and a revelation" that has had positive impacts on their wider health.

[...] Traditional monitoring of type 1 diabetes involves taking blood samples from the fingertips several times a day and calculating precise injections of insulin to maintain blood sugar levels. This can be a time-consuming and stressful method, but according to the paper's authors, more than 10,000 people worldwide are choosing a different approach, and the number is growing.

Just days after voting to water down restrictions on fossil fuel use at COP26, India finds itself struggling to deal with the consequences of fossil fuel use.

New Delhi Braces for Emergency Measures as Toxic Smog Worsens

upstart writes:

New Delhi braces for emergency measures as toxic smog worsens:

A thick haze of toxic smog hung over the Indian capital, exacerbated by a spike in the burning of crop waste in surrounding farmlands.

It reduced visibility and the Air Quality Index (AQI) hit 470 on a scale of 500, according to the federal pollution control board. This level of pollution means the air will affect healthy people and seriously impact those with existing diseases.

According to the pollution board's "Graded Response Action Plan," air quality remaining "severe" for 48 hours must prompt states and local bodies to impose emergency measures that include shutting down schools, imposing 'odd-even' restrictions on private cars based on their number plates, and stopping all construction.

In a circular late on Friday, the board said the government and private offices should reduce the use of private transport by 30% and advised the city's residents to limit outdoor exposure.

upstart writes:

Surveillance firm pays $1 million fine after 'spy van' scandal:

The Office of the Commissioner for Personal Data Protection in Cyprus has collected a $1 million fine from intelligence company WiSpear for gathering mobile data from various individuals arriving at the airport in Larnaca.

While this is just an administrative fine under the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), it is related to a scandal two years ago widely publicized as the "spy van" case.

In 2019, a Chevrolet van packed with at least $3.5 million worth of equipment that could hack Android smartphones and steal data including WhatsApp and Signal messages, was stationed near the Larnaca airport.

The van had been in the area for months when politicians in Cyprus criticized the government for being passive about the activity of the vehicle after seeing its capabilities in action close to the airport in a video from Forbes.

In a press release today, the data protection watchdog in Cyprus announced that WiSpear paid an administrative fine of 925,000 euros for GDPR violations.

Original Submission

upstart writes:

NASA's Juno Captures Jupiter Photo So Gorgeous You'll Swear It's Fake:

Jupiter is one of the most daunting planets in our Solar System, and thanks to the continually impressive work of Juno, NASA just shared a truly jaw-dropping photo. Considering most people won't ever get the chance to visit outer space for themselves, images from NASA and other organizations are extremely important. While it's difficult to convey the vastness of space in words alone, a picture from Perseverance, Hubble, or another instrument makes things much easier.

There are regular examples of this all the time. You could read an article about a massive aurora engulfing the Earth, but seeing a picture of its unfathomable beauty is that much more impactful. The same is true of all the Mars exploration happening right now. It's one thing to read about the planet having vast dunes and peculiar rocks, but to see actual pictures of these things is completely different. Whether it be for educational purposes or a passing interest, these photos are most people's gateway to the Milky Way and beyond.

NASA uploaded its latest space picture on November 10 and, simply put, it's so good you'll probably think it's fake. What you're looking at above is an image of Jupiter, as captured by NASA's Juno spacecraft and edited by scientist Brian Swift. The photo was originally taken on September 2 while Juno was 16,800 miles above Jupiter's gassy atmosphere. Juno's been orbiting Jupiter since July 2016 to do exactly this. It orbits the planet, regularly uses its 'JunoCam' to capture high-quality pictures, and is entirely solar-powered despite receiving 25x less sunlight compared to Earth. It's not the most talked-about spacecraft in Nasa's portfolio, but it really is one of the most impressive.

Original Submission

upstart writes:

Facebook Puts Instagram for Kids on Hold after Pushback:

Facebook drew outrage for its now paused plans for an Instagram app for kids aged 12 and under. But 13-year-olds are already welcome on social media with few protections and sometimes tragic effects, experts and parents said. That's because 13 effectively serves as the age of majority online under a two-decade-old law, and is the minimum set by Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat — all of which are massively popular among children.

Josh Golin at advocacy Fairplay said the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) intended to protect the privacy of kids aged 12 or under, but was crafted well before social media and is now dangerously outdated.

"At age 13, essentially the internet treats you as an adult," Golin told AFP. "I doubt very many people now would say... 'That seems like a good time to throw them into the belly of the beast.'"

At the age of thirteen, the internet will automatically consider you as an adult

US senators have called a hearing Thursday about the "toxic effects of Facebook and Instagram" on young people, which will include the questioning of Facebook executive Antigone Davis.

Worries over the platforms' potential to harm youth have spiked after a scathing Wall Street Journal series revealing the social media giant's own research showed it knew of the damage Instagram can do to teenage girls' well-being.

In the wake of those reports, Facebook announced Monday it was suspending development of the kids' version of the photo-sharing app to consult with the parents and advocacy groups who fought against the plan.

upstart writes:

Amazon Rainforest birds' bodies transform due to climate change:

"Even in the middle of this pristine Amazon rainforest, we are seeing the global effects of climate change caused by people, including us," said Vitek Jirinec, LSU alumnus (Ph.D. '21), associate ecologist at the Integral Ecology Research Center and lead author to this study published in the journal Science Advances.

Birds in the Amazon rainforest have become smaller and their wings have become longer over several generations, indicating a response to the shifting environmental conditions that may include new physiological or nutritional challenges.

This is the first study to discover these changes in non-migratory birds' body size and shape, which eliminates other factors that may have influenced these physiological changes. Jirinec and colleagues studied data collected on more than 15,000 individual birds that were captured, measured, weighed, marked with a leg band and released, over 40 years of field work in the world's largest rainforest. The data reveal that nearly all of the birds' bodies have reduced in mass, or become lighter, since the 1980s. Most of the bird species lost on average about 2 percent of their body weight every decade. For an average bird species that weighed about 30 grams in the 1980s, the population now averages about 27.6 grams. How significant is this?

"These birds don't vary that much in size. They are fairly fine-tuned, so when everyone in the population is a couple of grams smaller, it's significant," said co-author Philip Stouffer, who is the Lee F. Mason Professor in the LSU School of Renewable Natural Resources.

The data set covers a large range of the rainforest so the changes in the birds' bodies and wings across communities are not tied to one specific site, which means that the phenomenon is pervasive.

Journal Reference:
Vitek Jirinec, Ryan C. Burner, Bruna R. Amaral, et al. Morphological consequences of climate change for resident birds in intact Amazonian rainforest, Science Advances (DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abk1743)

Original Submission

sgleysti writes:

I'd like to know Soylentils' takes on the following Sci-Fi thought experiment:

In the near future, scientists create a safe, non-invasive, and irreversible procedure that causes a person to perceive reality without any human biases. It is offered to the general public at no cost and takes 15 minutes with no convalescence time or physical restrictions. The effects take hold gradually over the course of 24 hours and are thereafter permanent.

Would you do it?

Original Submission

upstart writes:

Cheers! Better Beer From CRISPR Gene-Edited Barley:

Using CRISPR/Cas9 technology, scientists develop and study gene-edited barley that resists pre-harvest sprouting.

After a spell of unexpected rain, before the harvest season, a farmer may be faced with the unpredictable problem of untimely sprouting of barley. Sprouted barley fetches considerably lower market prices and poses an economic burden on farmers and corporations that are at the mercy of nature to survive in the agriculture industry. The aggravation of climate change has not made this situation any better either.

The problem of pre-harvest sprouting, thus, has kept agricultural researchers occupied for a long time. Pre-harvest sprouting can be avoided by prolonged grain dormancy through genetic manipulation. However, such dormancy can interfere with malt production and can also cause non-uniform germination upon sowing. Balancing these issues is, therefore, necessary for high-quality barley production.

[...] To achieve the barley of interest, Dr. Hisano and his team genetically manipulated samples of 'Golden Promise' barley using CRISPR/Cas9 targeted mutagenesis, to be either single mutants (qsd1, or qsd2), or double mutants (qsd1 and qsd2). Then, they proceeded to perform germination assays on all mutants and non-mutated samples.

Subsequently, the results they obtained for mutants, when compared to non-mutants, was extremely interesting. All the mutants showed delayed germination, but there were mutant-specific or conditional properties. Germination of mutants was promoted by 3% hydrogen peroxide treatment; exposure of all mutants to cold temperatures largely promoted germination, indicating that the grains of the mutants were not dead but had been dormant longer. The qsd1 mutation in single mutants partially reduced long grain dormancy, owing to qsd2; and qsd2 mutants could germinate in the dark, but not in the light. Also, all mutants showed abscisic acid build-up, consistent with conditions observed with delayed germination. Notably, this abscisic acid build-up in itself cannot maintain long-term grain dormancy, the latter being important for high-quality barley production.

Journal Reference:
Hiroshi Hisano, Robert E. Hoffie, Fumitaka Abe, et al. Regulation of germination by targeted mutagenesis of grain dormancy genes in barley [open], Plant Biotechnology Journal (DOI: 10.1111/pbi.13692)

Original Submission

upstart writes:

China "Boldly Goes" for Space Independence - Asian Military Review:

While China's rapid progress as a major player in space technology and capability is undeniable, the 'achilles heel' to its next step may be the restraint of the private sector.

On 29 April this year a China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) Long March 5B Y2 rocket was successfully launched from the Wenchang launch site in Hainan Province, China. It carried the Tianhe module which will become the core of China's orbiting space station. Once completed in 2022, Tiangong (as the orbiting station is named) will be China's first long-term space presence. After 2025, it may become the only orbit space station if the International Space Station (ISS) is retired to schedule (although this could potentially be extended to 2028). Tiangong is expected to have a service life of ten years (although again this could be extended).

Tiangong is the successor to China's Tiangong-1 and Tiangong-2 space laboratories, launched in 2011 and 2016. It's only one of a growing number of Chinese space projects. Beijing's leaders have invested a vast treasure into a long-term strategy that works, simultaneously, at multiple targets: placing into space new orbiting assets; ensuring advanced technologies for land-based assets on earth, such a launch facilities; assets inserted onto celestial bodies, starting with the Moon, and extending to asteroids and Mars.

Dr. Namrata Goswami, an independent scholar on space policy, great power politics, and ethnic conflicts, stated that a permanent space station is deemed to be important by Beijing's leaders because it helps to send 'signals' to the world that China is openly contesting the US for space leadership, and that it is a capable partner for international cooperation in space.