SoylentNews

owl writes:

https://www.thedrive.com/news/43636/toyota-reviewing-key-fob-remote-start-subscription-plan-after-massive-blowback

Earlier this month, we broke a story about Toyota locking its key fob remote start function behind a monthly subscription. If owners of certain models aren't actively enrolled in a larger Toyota connected services plan, the proximity remote start function on the fob—that is, when you press the lock button three times to start the car while outside of it—will not work even though it sends the signal directly to the car. Obviously, this sent people into a frenzy whether they own a Toyota or not, because it was seen as a dark harbinger of the perils of fully-connected cars. Automakers now have the ability to nickel and dime people to death by charging ongoing subscription fees for functions that used to be a one-and-done purchase, and it looked like Toyota was hopping on the bandwagon.

At the time, Toyota declined to give us a detailed answer on why it chose to take a feature that doesn't need an internet connection to function and moved it behind a paywall. Today, we've got answers. Toyota now claims it never intended to market the key fob remote start as a real feature, and it also says the subscription requirement was an inadvertent result of a relatively small technical decision related to the way its new vehicles are architectured. Finally, Toyota has heard the outrage over the last week—a spokesperson told us the company was caught off guard by the blowback—and its executive team is currently examining whether it's possible to reverse course and drop the subscription requirement for key fob remote start.

Previously: Toyota Owners Have to Pay $8/Month to Keep Using their Key Fob for Remote Start

Original Submission

upstart writes:

How do our organs know when to stop growing? A multidisciplinary team led by researchers from UNIGE and MPIPKS has solved with a mathematical equation the mystery of how an organ changes its size depending on the size of the animal.

Cells of a developing tissue proliferate and organize themselves under the action of signaling molecules, the morphogens. But how do they know what size is appropriate for the living organism to which they belong? The research groups of Marcos Gonzalez-Gaitan, Professor at the Department of Biochemistry of the Faculty of Science of the UNIGE and Frank Jülicher Director at the MPIPKS in Dresden, have solved this mystery by following a specific morphogen in the cells of tissues of different sizes in the fruit fly Drosophila.

In Drosophila, the morphogen Decapentaplegic (DPP), a molecule required for the formation of the fifteen (deca-penta) appendages (wings, antennae, mandibles...) diffuses from a localized source within the developing tissue and then forms decreasing concentration gradients (or gradual variations) as it moves away from the source. In previous studies, Marcos Gonzalez-Gaitan's group, in collaboration with the German team, has shown that these concentration gradients of DPP extend over a larger or smaller area depending on the size of the developing tissue. Thus, the smaller a tissue, the smaller the spread of the DPP gradient from its diffusion source. On the other hand, the larger a tissue, the larger the spread of the DPP morphogen gradient. However, the question remained as to how this concentration gradient scales to the growing size of the future tissue/organ.

"The original approach of my team, composed of biologists, biochemists, mathematicians, and physicists, is to analyze what happens at the level of each cell, rather than placing our observations at the scale of the tissue," comments Marcos Gonzalez-Gaitan. "The central point is to deal with living matter as if it was just matter, that is to say, studying biology with the principles of physics," says Frank Jülicher. The two teams have developed a battery of sophisticated tools to follow the fate of the DPP molecule in and between cells of a tissue with great precision using quantitative microscopy techniques. "These tools have allowed us to define a multitude of parameters, linked to cellular processes, for this morphogen.

Journal Reference:
Michailidi, Maria Romanova, Hadjivasiliou, Zena, Aguilar-Hidalgo, Daniel, et al. Morphogen gradient scaling by recycling of intracellular Dpp, Nature (DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-04346-w)

Original Submission

takyon writes:

James Webb Space Telescope reaches launch pad for Christmas liftoff

The James Webb Space Telescope is due to launch on Saturday (Dec. 25) during a 32-minute window that opens at 7:20 a.m. EST (1220 GMT). The massive observatory will blast off from Kourou, French Guiana, atop an Ariane 5 rocket operated by European launch provider Arianespace. You can watch launch coverage live at Space.com beginning at 6 a.m. EST (1100 GMT) courtesy of NASA or you can watch directly at the agency's website.

ESA launch kit (PDF).

Previously:

*SPOILER* (click to show) *SPOILER* (click to hide)

Space science: The telescope that ate astronomy
JWST Primary Mirror Starting To Come Together
New Space Telescope's Giant Gold Mirror Unveiled (April 29th)
Telescope That 'Ate Astronomy' Is on Track to Surpass Hubble
James Webb Space Telescope Vibration Testing Completed
Launch of James Webb Space Telescope Delayed to Spring 2019
Launch of James Webb Space Telescope Could be Further Delayed
JWST: Too Big to Fail?
GAO: James Webb Space Telescope Launch Date Likely Will be Delayed (Again)
Launch of James Webb Space Telescope Delayed to May 2020, Could Exceed Budget Cap
NASA Announces JWST Independent Review Board Members
Screws and Washers Have Fallen Off JWST Amid Testing and Independent Review
Launch of James Webb Space Telescope Delayed Again, This Time to March 2021, Cost at $9.66 Billion
NASA Administrator at House Hearing: WFIRST Could be Delayed to Help Pay for JWST
James Webb Passes Critical Mission Review for 2021 Launch, Final Testing Nearing Completion
NASA Ominously Chooses Halloween 2021 to Launch Long-Delayed Space Telescope
The James Webb Space Telescope, NASA's Next Great Observatory, Passes Final Ground Tests
The James Webb Telescope has a Launch Date
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope Passes Crucial Launch-Simulation Tests
James Webb Telescope: Preparations Resume for December 22 Launch
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope Fully Fueled for Launch

Original Submission

upstart writes:

Wise old elephants keep the young calm:

The study, in collaboration with Elephants for Africa, examined the behaviour of 281 male elephants in an all-male area in Makgadikgadi Pans National Park, Botswana, over a period of three years.

The elephants were divided into four age groups, adolescents (10-15 and 16-20 years), and adults (21-25 and 26+ years).

The results found that with fewer old bull elephants around, elephants were more likely to be aggressive towards non-elephant targets such as vehicles, livestock and other species.

The adolescent elephants, in particular, were more aggressive and fearful to non-elephant targets when they were alone compared to with other males. This indicates that socially isolated adolescents may also be an increased threat to people.

[...] "Our research draws attention to what is often a rather overlooked area in animal behaviour; that of the complex relationships and connections that occur between males in non-breeding all-male societies," said lead author Connie Allen of Exeter's Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour.

"It appears the presence of more knowledgeable, older elephants in groups may play a key role in keeping the younger, less experienced males calm and lowering their perception of their current threat level, which means there's less risk of aggression towards humans and other species.

Do gray-bearded programmers similarly rein in bright-eyed junior programmers?

Journal Reference:
Connie R. B. Allen, Darren P. Croft, Lauren J. N. Brent. Reduced older male presence linked to increased rates of aggression to non-conspecific targets in male elephants, Proceedings of the Royal Society B (DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2021.1374)

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

[...] The flexible gDNP [graphene depth neural probe] devices were chronically implanted in mice with epilepsy. The implanted devices provided outstanding spatial resolution and very rich wide bandwidth recording of epileptic brain signals over weeks. In addition, extensive chronic biocompatibility tests confirmed no significant tissue damage and neuro-inflammation, attributed to the biocompatibility of the used materials, including graphene, and the flexible nature of the gDNP device.

The ability to record and map the full range of brain signals using electrophysiological probes will greatly advance our understanding of brain diseases and aid the clinical management of patients with diverse neurological disorders. Current technologies are limited in their ability to accurately obtain with high spatial fidelity ultraslow brain signals.

Epilepsy is the most common serious brain disorder worldwide, with up to 30% of people unable to control their seizures using traditional anti-epileptic drugs. For drug-refractory patients, epilepsy surgery may be a viable option. Surgical removal of the area of the brain where the seizures first start can result in seizure freedom; however, the success of surgery relies on accurately identifying the seizure onset zone (SOZ).

Original Submission

upstart writes:

Tsunamis' magnetic fields are detectable before sea level change: Magnetic field information could provide earlier disaster warning to at-risk regions, potentially saving lives:

Tsunamis generate magnetic fields as they move conductive seawater through the Earth's magnetic field. Researchers previously predicted that the tsunami's magnetic field would arrive before a change in sea level, but they lacked simultaneous measurements of magnetics and sea level that are necessary to demonstrate the phenomenon.

The new study provides real-world evidence for using tsunamis' magnetic fields to predict the height of tsunami waves using data from two real events -- a 2009 tsunami in Samoa and a 2010 tsunami in Chile -- that have both sets of necessary data. The new study was published in AGU's Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, which focuses on the physics and chemistry of the solid Earth.

The study confirms the magnetic field generated by a tsunami arrives ahead of sea-level change and that its magnitude can be used to estimate the tsunami's wave height. How much earlier the magnetic field arrives depends on water depth, but in their results, the study authors found the early arrival time to be about one minute prior to sea level change over a 4,800-meter deep sea.

Journal Reference:
Zhiheng Lin, Hiroaki Toh, Takuto Minami. Direct Comparison of the Tsunami‐Generated Magnetic Field With Sea Level Change for the 2009 Samoa and 2010 Chile Tsunamis, Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth (DOI: 10.1029/2021JB022760)

Original Submission

[2021-12-24 23:01:40 UTC UPDATE] Yay! mechanicjay heard my plea, and responded! "slash died and left a stale pid behind. Cleaned it up, started slash, all good now." Thank-you! Thank-you! Thank-you! Original post follows.

It has been brought to my attention that the story comment counts have not been updating.

I'm seeing the same symptoms that I did on 2021-12-19 when this last happened. So, I tried to restart things armed with this new information. The system insisted on ignoring my efforts. :(

I've requested help from other, more-knowledgeable staff rather than following the time-honored tradition of not asking for help until everyone else has has a chance to gum up the works!

Summary: New stories ARE going out on schedule. Further, comment AND moderations ARE being accepted (and tallied) as expected. In short, it seems that everything *else* is working as expected (whew!). I apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience while things get sorted out. --martyb/Bytram

P.S. I can assure you that eggnog had no part in the current situation!

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

GEOST, a small company based in Tucson, Arizona, won two U.S. Space Force contracts worth $38 million to develop an optical sensor payload that could be hosted on government or commercial satellites to scan the geostationary belt more than 22,000 miles above Earth.

The contracts awarded to the company — $6 million in November 2020 and $32 million in December 2021 — include the design and development of the sensor, ground infrastructure, technical support and integration with the host platform and launch vehicle. But the actual payload is less than $10 million, a key price point that the Space Force believes would make it possible to deploy these in large numbers, said GEOST vice president and general manager Joshua Hartman.

Hartman said the company’s payload will be ready to launch in 2023. The Space Force has not yet identified a host satellite but the whole idea behind this program is to build sensors that could go on almost any U.S. or allied government, or commercial satellite to provide space domain awareness.

The Space Force wants to proliferate these sensors across geostationary orbit, so the $10 million target price is key to make that a reality, said Hartman. 

The Space Systems Command in an Oct. 21 solicitation said the Space Force is considering buying a large number of “space domain awareness sensors to augment current and planned systems.” Multiple sensors would be needed to get “frequent revisits of significant portions of the GEO belt.”

Original Submission

DannyB writes:

Yes, ANOTHER wonderful item that will "improve" your digital sound!

$2,500 Ethernet Switch Effectively Isolates Audiophiles From Cash:

Ever wondered if you needed an ethernet switch that has built-in power conditioning for the sake of better audio fidelity? You probably haven't, but Synergistic Research has. The company developed a wild ethernet switch that is designed to smooth out electric signals inside the switch in order to gain higher audio quality from audio streaming services, but the price point is dubious, to say the least.

The Ethernet Switch UEF costs a substantial $2,595, which will make it appealing to only the most diehard of audiophiles.

[...] The unit is equipped with Active EM Cell technology which claims to close the gap between digital audio quality and good old-fashioned analog tapes and LPs. To "further improve audio quality," the switch is constructed from a solid billet of aluminum and uses carbon fiber to eliminate chassis vibrations from making their way into the switch (which the company claims could interfere with the digital signal). There's even an optional SR Ground Block that serves as a ground for the switch.

It is important to understand that a bit value zero or one with low distortion conveys better quality information than a zero or one that is somewhat distorted but completely readable.

Previously:
Solid Snake-Oil Storage: This SSD Is Aimed at Audiophiles

Original Submission

upstart writes:

Semiconductors reach the quantum world:

Our current electronic infrastructure is based primarily on semiconductors. This class of materials emerged around the middle of the 20th century and has been improving ever since. Currently, the most important challenges in semiconductor electronics include further improvements that would increase the bandwidth of data transmission, energy efficiency and information security. Exploiting quantum effects is likely to be a breakthrough.

Quantum effects that can occur in superconducting materials are particularly worthy of consideration. Superconductors are materials in which the electrical resistance disappears when they are cooled below a certain temperature. The fact that quantum effects in superconductors can be utilised has already been demonstrated in first quantum computers.

To find possible successors for today's semiconductor electronics, some researchers -- including a group at Cornell University -- are investigating so-called heterojunctions, i.e. structures made of two different types of materials. More specifically, they are looking at layered systems of superconducting and semiconducting materials. "It has been known for some time that you have to select materials with very similar crystal structures for this, so that there is no tension in the crystal lattice at the contact surface," explains John Wright, who produced the heterojunctions for the new study at Cornell University.

DannyB writes:

Lisp in Conway's Game of Life

Lisp in Life is a Lisp interpreter implemented in Conway's Game of Life.

[...] The Lisp interpreter, written in C, is compiled to an assembly language for a CPU architecture implemented in the Game of Life, which is a modification of the computer used in the Quest For Tetris (QFT) project. The compilation is done using an extended version of ELVM (the Esoteric Language Virtual Machine). The Game of Life backend for ELVM was implemented by myself.

Generating a short enough Lisp interpreter assembly code and a Game of Life pattern that runs in a reasonable amount of time required a lot of effort.

Having an infinite size Game of Life grid [...] reduces the chances that any pattern will wrap around to the other side of the grid.

Original Submission

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.