SoylentNews

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

It isn’t an uncommon science fiction trope for our hero to be in a situation where there is no technology. Maybe she’s back in the past or on a faraway planet. The Professor from Gilligan’s Island comes to mind, too. I’d bet the average Hacakday reader could do pretty well in that kind of situation, but there’s one thing that’s often overlooked: materials. Sure, you can build a radio. But can you make wire? Or metal plates for a capacitor? Or a speaker? We tend to overlook how many abstractions we use when we build. Even turning trees into lumber isn’t a totally obvious process.

People are by their very nature always looking for ways to use the things around them. Even 300,000 years ago, people would find rocks and use them as tools. It wasn’t long before they found that some rocks could shape other rocks to form useful shapes like axes. But the age of engineered materials is much younger. Whether clay, metal, glass, or more obviously plastics, these materials are significantly more useful than rocks tied to sticks, but making them in the first place is an engineering story all on its own.

The first steps were using wood from trees, including bark and unusual wood like cork, and other plant materials. They used mud, too, and mudworking evolved into ceramics about 26,000 years ago. Pottery was high science in its day. The Corded Ware culture, who spread across Europe around 5,000 years ago, created pottery that  they would decorate with rope while it was still wet. When fired, the rope would burn away and leave its imprint in the finished piece. Bone was another early structural element. People today sometimes mimic prehistoric pottery techniques, like the stone-age tech video below. [link]

upstart writes:

For some Greenlanders, eating sugar is healthy:

"Adult Greenlanders with the genetic variation have lower BMI, weight, fat percentage, cholesterol levels and are generally significantly healthier. They have less belly fat and might find it easier to get a six pack. It is amazing and surprising that a genetic variation has such a profoundly beneficial effect," says University of Copenhagen biology professor Anders Albrechtsen.

Along with colleagues from the University of Copenhagen, the University of Southern Denmark and a number of research institutions and public agencies in Greenland, Professor Albrechtsen analysed data from 6,551 adult Greenlanders and conducted experiments on mice.

The results demonstrate that carriers of the genetic variation have what is known as sucrase-isomaltase deficiency, meaning that they have a peculiar way of metabolizing sugar in the intestine. Simply put, they do not absorb ordinary sugar in the bloodstream the way people without the genetic variation do. Instead, sugar heads directly into their intestine.

"Here, gut bacteria convert the sugar into a short-chain fatty acid called acetate, which in previous studies has been shown to reduce appetite, increase metabolism and boost the immune system. That is most likely the mechanism happening here," explains Mette K. Andersen, an assistant professor at the Center for Metabolism Research at the University of Copenhagen and first author of the study.

The reason for this widespread genetic variation among Greenlanders is due to a diet that has stood out from that of the rest of the world for millennia.

upstart writes:

People with IBD have more microplastics in their feces:

The prevalence of IBD [(Inflammatory bowel disease)], which includes Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, is rising globally. [...] Microplastics can cause intestinal inflammation, gut microbiome disturbances and other problems in animal models, so Faming Zhang, Yan Zhang and colleagues wondered if they could also contribute to IBD. As a first step toward finding out, the researchers wanted to compare the levels of microplastics in feces from healthy subjects and people with different severities of IBD.

[...] The microplastics had similar shapes (mostly sheets and fibers) in the two groups, but the IBD feces had more small (less than 50 µm) particles. The two most common types of plastic in both groups were polyethylene terephthalate (PET; used in bottles and food containers) and polyamide (PA; found in food packaging and textiles). People with more severe IBD symptoms tended to have higher levels of fecal microplastics. Through a questionnaire, the researchers found that people in both groups who drank bottled water, ate takeaway food and were often exposed to dust had more microplastics in their feces. These results suggest that people with IBD may be exposed to more microplastics in their gastrointestinal tract. However, it's still unclear whether this exposure could cause or contribute to IBD, or whether people with IBD accumulate more fecal microplastics as a result of their disease, the researcher say.

Journal Reference:
Zehua Yan, Yafei Liu, Ting Zhang, et al. Analysis of Microplastics in Human Feces Reveals a Correlation between Fecal Microplastics and Inflammatory Bowel Disease Status, Environmental Science & Technology (DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.1c03924)

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

The Matterhorn appears as an immovable, massive mountain that has towered over the landscape near Zermatt for thousands of years. A study now shows that this impression is wrong. An international research team has proven that the Matterhorn is instead constantly in motion, swaying gently back and forth about once every two seconds. This subtle vibration with normally imperceptible amplitudes is stimulated by seismic energy in the Earth originating from the world's oceans, earthquakes, as well as human activity.

Every object vibrates at certain frequencies when excited, like a tuning fork or the strings of a guitar. These so-called natural frequencies depend primarily on the geometry of the object and its material properties. The phenomenon is also observed in bridges, high-rise buildings, and now even mountains.

[...] For the study, the scientists installed several seismometers on the Matterhorn, including one directly on the summit at 4,470 meters above sea level and another in the Solvay bivouac, an emergency shelter on the northeast ridge, better known as Hörnligrat. Another measuring station at the foot of the mountain served as a reference. Extensive past experience from Jan Beutel (ETH Zurich / University of Innsbruck) and Samuel Weber installing equipment for measuring rock movements in high mountains made deployment of the measurement network possible. The data are automatically transmitted to the Swiss Seismological Service.

Gaaark writes:

Steve Ballmer's "parting gift" as Microsoft CEO: Trying to name Cortana "Bingo":

Microsoft's Cortana voice assistant is clearly winding down—the feature is still available in the desktop versions of Windows, but it's no longer included in a default install of Windows 11, and the mobile app was discontinued back in March.

But the future once looked bright for the chipper virtual assistant, according to former Microsoft Product Manager Sandeep Paruchuri [...]

The Cortana feature was only officially called "Cortana" after the codename leaked during development—another early suggestion was "Alyx," and then-CEO Steve Ballmer tried to name it "Bingo" as a "parting gift" before handing the reins to current CEO Satya Nadella. (Ballmer had "poor product taste," says Paruchuri, in what we in the tech biz call "an understatement.") Cortana's developers were inspired by Siri but wanted their voice assistant to be more proactive, making suggestions based on context and user data rather than merely responding to direct input. The team also wanted Cortana to have more of a personality than Siri or Google Now, which was helped along by Cortana's Halo voice actor, Jen Taylor.

Paruchuri ultimately blames a loss of focus and "dilution" for Cortana's decline.

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

Tesla's infotainment screen has offered video games for years, but in late 2020, the company enabled them while driving.

The probe covers around 580,000 Model S, Model X, Model 3 and Model Y EVs with this Passenger Play function. Tesla had previously added various video games to its center touchscreen but only made them playable when the vehicle was in Park. The ability to play games while on the move reportedly changed sometime in December, 2020, but it's unclear why the change was made.

Passenger Play does include a so-called "lawyer screen" with an interstitial warning that states "playing while the car is in motion is only for passengers." The screen requires a confirmation press to have access to the games, but the on-screen button can be pressed by passenger or driver.

The probe comes in the wake of a Dec. 8 story in the New York Times that investigated the concern. NHTSA reportedly engaged Tesla as soon as the following day.

Original Submission

upstart writes:

New grafting technique could combat the disease threatening Cavendish bananas:

Scientists have found a novel way to combine two species of grass-like plant including banana, rice and wheat, using embryonic tissue from their seeds. The technique allows beneficial characteristics, such as disease resistance or stress tolerance, to be added to the plants.

Grafting is the technique of joining the shoot of one plant with the root of another, so they continue to grow together as one. Until now it was thought impossible to graft grass-like plants in the group known as monocotyledons because they lack a specific tissue type, called the vascular cambium, in their stem.

Researchers at the University of Cambridge have discovered that root and shoot tissues taken from the seeds of monocotyledonous grasses—representing their earliest embryonic stages—fuse efficiently. Their results are published today in the journal Nature.

An estimated 60,000 plants are monocotyledons; many are crops that are cultivated at enormous scale, for example rice, wheat and barley.

The finding has implications for the control of serious soil-borne pathogens including Panama Disease, or 'Tropical Race 4', which has been destroying banana plantations for over 30 years. A recent acceleration in the spread of this disease has prompted fears of global banana shortages.

upstart writes:

Critical Apache HTTPD Server Bugs Could Lead to RCE, DoS:

Don't duck at the latest mention of Apache: Two critical bugs in its HTTP web server – HTTPD – need to be patched pronto, lest they lead to attackers triggering denial of service (DoS) or bypassing your security policies.

Apache, the open-source software foundation behind the Log4J logging library that's been making for so many Log4Shell headlines, on Monday put out an update to fix the two bugs in HTTPD, which is a web server that's right up there with Log4j in its ubiquity.

Both vulnerabilities are found in Apache HTTP Server 2.4.51 and earlier.

[...] In a Tuesday writeup of the two CVEs, Sophos principal security researcher Paul Ducklin said that the two bugs could leave servers at risk of some serious hurt.

"These bugs might not be exposed in your configuration, because they are part of optional run-time modules that you might not actually be using," Ducklin noted. "But if you are using these modules, whether you realize it or not, you could be at risk of server crashes, data leakage or even remote code execution."

upstart writes:

From the oilfield to the lab: How a special microbe turns oil into gases:

Microorganisms can convert oil into natural gas, i.e. methane. Until recently, it was thought that this conversion was only possible through the cooperation of different organisms. In 2019, Rafael Laso-Pérez and Gunter Wegener from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology suggested that a special archaeon can do this all by itself, as indicated by their genome analyses. Now, in collaboration with a team from China, the researchers have succeeded in cultivating this microbe in the laboratory. This enabled them to describe exactly how the microbe achieves the transformation. They also discovered that it prefers to eat rather bulky chunks of food.

Underground oil deposits on land and in the sea are home to microorganisms that use the oil as a source of energy and food, converting it into methane. Until recently, it was thought that this conversion was only possible in a complicated teamwork between different organisms: certain bacteria and usually two archaeal partners. Now the researchers have managed to cultivate an archaeon called Methanoliparia from a settling tank of an oil production facility that handles this complex reaction all by itself.

[...] This archaeon breaks down oil into methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2). "Methanoliparia is a kind of hybrid creature that combines the properties of an oil degrader with those of a methanogen, i.e. a methane producer," explains study author Gunter Wegener from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology and the MARUM—Center for Marine Environmental Sciences at the University of Bremen.

NPC-131072 writes:

Series of preclinical studies supports the Army's pan-coronavirus vaccine development strategy:

A series of recently published preclinical study results show that the Spike Ferritin Nanoparticle (SpFN) COVID-19 vaccine developed by researchers at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) not only elicits a potent immune response but may also provide broad protection against SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern as well as other coronaviruses.

Scientists in WRAIR's Emerging Infectious Diseases Branch (EIDB) developed the SpFN nanoparticle vaccine, based on a ferritin platform, as part of a forward-thinking "pan-SARS" strategy that aims to address the current pandemic and acts as a first line of defense against variants of concern and similar viruses that could emerge in the future.

[...] SpFN entered Phase 1 human trials in April 2021. Early analyses, expected to conclude this month, will provide insights into whether SpFN's potency and breadth, as demonstrated in preclinical trials, will carry over into humans. The data will also allow researchers to compare SpFN's immune profile to that of other COVID-19 vaccines already authorized for emergency use.

Journal Reference:
M. Gordon Joyce, Hannah A. D. King, Ines Elakhal-Naouar, et al. A SARS-CoV-2 ferritin nanoparticle vaccine elicits protective immune responses in nonhuman primates, Science Translational Medicine (DOI: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scitranslmed.abi5735

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

Ewa Jodlowska, the Python Software Foundation's outgoing executive director, says Python 'will go down in history' - but there is still plenty of work to be done.

The Python Software Foundation (PSF) has been the driving force behind the Python project since 2001. As well as managing the license for the open-source programming language, the non-profit organization is charged with supporting the growth of the Python community – a vast and globe-spanning network comprising upwards of 10.1 million developers, many of whom contribute to the language's ongoing development.

Yet things can take time when you're largely reliant on part-time volunteers to keep things moving forward, particularly when each contributor has their own particular interest in the language and may be trying to pull it in a certain direction accordingly.

[...] "I don't think it's an issue, it just takes a lot longer to do anything because getting community consensus around any kind of direction or change takes a long time. In Python and a lot of open-source communities, decisions don't come top-down: they come from making sure that the community is involved in the discussion."

Community has always been central to the Python programming language. Only a handful of developers work on the core programming language full-time, with much of the contributions to the language coming from an army of volunteers.

An Anonymous Coward writes:

Half of top cancer studies fail high-profile reproducibility effort

A US$2-million, 8-year attempt to replicate influential preclinical cancer research papers has released its final — and disquieting — results. Fewer than half of the experiments assessed stood up to scrutiny, reports the Reproducibility Project: Cancer Biology (RPCB) team in eLife. The project — one of the most robust reproducibility studies performed so far — documented how hurdles including vague research protocols and uncooperative authors delayed the initiative by five years and halved its scope.

"These results aren't surprising. And, simultaneously, they're shocking," says Brian Nosek, an RPCB investigator and executive director of the Center for Open Science in Charlottesville, Virginia. Although initially planning to repeat 193 experiments from 53 papers, the team ran just 50 experiments from 23 papers.

The low replication rate is "frankly, outrageous", says Glenn Begley, an oncologist and co-founder of Parthenon Therapeutics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, who was not involved in the study. But it isn't unexpected, he agrees. In 2012, while at the biotech firm Amgen in Thousand Oaks, California, Begley's team helped to draw attention to growing evidence of a 'reproducibility crisis', the concern that many research findings cannot be replicated. Over the previous decade, his haematology and oncology team had been able to confirm the results of only 6 of the 53 (11%) landmark papers it assessed, despite working alongside the papers' original authors.

Other analyses have reported low replication rates in drug discovery, neuroscience and psychology.

Journal Reference:
Asher Mullard. Half of top cancer studies fail high-profile reproducibility effort, (DOI: 10.1038/d41586-021-03691-0)

Original Submission

Ayn Anonymous writes:

[Editor's Note: This is how we received it. We are searching for anything else but the claim that Assange is (being) extradited is currently unsubstantiated.]

Assange is extradited to die in the US empire.
Wikileaks now puts EVERYTHING online in return.
https://file.wikileaks.org/file/?fbclid=IwAR2U_Evqah_Qy2wxNY12FMqFC5dAFUcZL5Kl4FIfQuMFMp8ssbM46oHXWMI

Original Submission

DannyB writes:

How we fought an anti encryption law in Belgium - and won!

The Belgian government has removed 'backdoor requirement' from new law after international protest.

In June 2021, the Belgian government proposed a draft law called "Law on the collection and storage of identification, traffic and location data in the electronic communications sector and their access by the authorities", or short, "the Data Retention Legislation". This draft included a passage that would have forced companies such as WhatsApp and Signal to decrypt their encrypted chats upon request by the authorities for criminal investigation.

This law would have been the worst in Europe, worse than the Snoopers' Charter in the UK or the EARN IT bill in the USA.

[...] the Belgian government did not have to wait long for the public outcry: Belgian intellectuals like Professor Bart Preneel said that "by putting a backdoor into Whatsapp, you would make it less safe for everyone".

The main criticism was that it is simply impossible to rule out that a backdoor - once it is built - is abused by criminals or undemocratic regimes. A lowering of the security level would immediately affect all users - and not just those who are the subject of a judicial investigation.

[...] The public outcry against the Belgian draft law was so strong that politicians within the government itself changed their course. Finally, the proposed passage that would have forced companies to decrypt encrypted data upon request by the authorities got removed from the draft law.

At the Federal Council of Ministers last Friday, the government approved a reworked version of the law, in which the backdoor requirement was dropped entirely.

A government mandated back door will always and should always be less popular than a central government registry of passwords and encryption keys. For your protection. In case you forget.

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

Tiny microbes belching toxic gas helped cause—and prolong—the biggest mass extinction in Earth's history, a new study suggests.

Generally, scientists believe Siberian volcanos spitting greenhouse gases primarily drove the mass extinction event about 250 million years ago, at the end of the Permian period. The gases caused extreme warming, which in turn led 80% of all marine species, as well as many land species, to go extinct.

Until now, scientists could not explain exactly how the heat caused those deaths. A new UC Riverside-led study in Nature Geoscience shows that the heat accelerated microbes' metabolisms, creating deadly conditions.

"After oxygen in the ocean was used up to decompose organic material, microbes started to 'breathe' sulfate and produced hydrogen sulfide, a gas that smells like rotten eggs and is poisonous to animals," said UC Riverside Earth system modeler Dominik Hülse.