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upstart writes:

Centuries-old capture documents now online:

Centuries-old documents related to the capture of ships by the British are accessible online from today, for the use of international researchers. The "Prize Papers"  Project of the Academy of Sciences and Humanities Göttingen is, as a first stage, making available online via the website www.prizepapers.de documents from court processes linked to approximately 1,500 ship captures between 1793 and 1815. The act of capturing ships, as so-called prize, was once a common practice during the conduct of war by legitimate means. Since 2018, the research project has had as its long-term objectives the cataloguing and digitisation of the "Prize Papers" in their entirety, which were originally drawn up for or during court processes related to ship captures by the English or British between 1652 and 1817. This project, which is situated at the University of Oldenburg, as well as at The National Archives, UK (TNA), is being funded by the Academies Programme of the Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities which in turn is, in equal parts, financed by the Federal Government of Germany and the state of Lower Saxony. The project co-operates closely with the German Historical Institute London, as well as the VZG, the Head Office of the Common Library Network in Göttingen (VZG) in Göttingen, who provide their IT expertise.

upstart writes:

Magpies have outwitted scientists by helping each other remove tracking devices - ABC News:

When we attached tiny, backpack-like tracking devices to five Australian magpies for a pilot study, we didn't expect to discover an entirely new social behaviour rarely seen in birds.

Our goal was to learn more about the movement and social dynamics of these highly intelligent birds, and to test these new, durable and reusable devices. Instead, the birds outsmarted us.

As our new research paper explains, the magpies began showing evidence of cooperative "rescue" behaviour to help each other remove the tracker.

upstart writes:

EU Challenges China Over Telecom Patents:

The European Union has filed suit against China to protect companies' telecom technology patents, according to a report.

The European Commission alleged that companies from the EU's member countries were being discouraged from protecting certain patents in foreign courts. The legal challenges allege Chinese courts have been threatening these companies with heavy fines if they persist, as Reuters reported. In one case, the fines were 130,000 euros (more than $147,000) per day.

The EU says that since August 2020, Chinese courts have been handing European companies' "anti-suit injunctions" to prevent them from going to non-Chinese courts to legally protect the companies' patents, and threatening fines if they do.

Original Submission

upstart writes:

Well-functioning fat may be the key to fewer old-age ailments:

How well does your fat function? It isn't a question that one gets asked very often. Nonetheless, research in recent years suggests that the function of our fat tissue, or adipose tissue, is central to why our bodies decay with age, and strongly linked to human diseases like diabetes 2, cancer as obesity often develop and fat cells undergo functional changes as we get older. Thus, overall health is not just influenced by the amount of fat we bear, but about how well our fat tissue functions.

[...] Gudiksen and a group of colleagues looked at the role of age and physical training in maintaining fat tissue function. Specifically, they studied mitochondria, the tiny power plants within fat cells. Mitochondria convert calories from food to supply cells with energy. To maintain the life processes within cells, they need to function optimally.

upstart writes:

Fear Not: Intel Says the Chip Technology That'll Power Your PC in 2025 Is Going Great:

Intel on Thursday showed a silicon wafer studded with chips built with a manufacturing process that's set to arrive in 2025, a signal intended to reassure customers that the company's years of chip manufacturing difficulties are behind it.

"We remain on or ahead of schedule against the timelines that we laid out," Chief Executive Pat Gelsinger said of the company's plan to improve manufacturing processes. He showed off a gleaming wafer of memory chips built with the company's upcoming Intel 18A process, which overhauls the transistors at the heart of chip circuitry and the way power is delivered to them.

upstart writes:

How NASA plans to destroy the International Space Station, and the dangers involved:

NASA has announced plans for the International Space Station (ISS) to be officially decommissioned in 2031. After dozens of launches since 1998 got the station up and into orbit, bringing it down will be a feat of its own—the risks are serious if things go wrong.

NASA's plans for the decommissioning operation will culminate in a fiery plunge into the middle of the Pacific Ocean—a location called Point Nemo, also known as the "spacecraft graveyard," the furthest point from all civilisation.

Finding Point Nemo will be the final stop in a complex and multi-staged mission to transition the operations of the ISS to new commercial space stations, and to bring the remaining structure safely down to Earth.

Originally commissioned for a 15-year lifespan, the ISS is outliving all expectations. It has already been in operation for 21 years, and NASA has given the go-ahead for one more decade, thereby doubling its total planned time in orbit.

Original Submission

canopic jug writes:

Late last month the US Department of Defence (DoD) published a memorandum on software development (warning for PDF). It focuses specifically on Open Source Software (OSS), though it misses the fact that OSS can also be commercial in nature.

A. The Department must follow an "Adopt, Buy, Create" approach to software, preferentially adopting existing government or OSS solutions before buying proprietary offerings, and only creating new non-commercial software when no off-the-shelf solutions are adequate.

(1) OSS meets the definition of "commercial computer software" and therefore, shall be given equal consideration with proprietary commercial offerings, in accordance with Section 2377 of Title 10, U.S.C. (reference (e)) (see also FAR 2.l0l(b), 12.000, 12.101 (reference (f)); and DFARS 212.212, DFARS 208.74, DFARS 227.7202, and 252.227-7014(a)(l) (reference (g))).

 

(2) In accordance with FAR 13.104, (reference (h)) refusal to consider all OSS based solely on software being open source may be contrary to statutory and regulatory preferences for commercial products, and would unnecessarily restrict competition. OSS should be considered to the maximum extent practical.

upstart writes:

Turning waste PPE into water and vinegar:

Shredded masks, gowns, gloves and plastic safety glasses go into a machine; hot, pressurized water and compressed air are applied; water and acetic acid are the end-products. The PPE-to-liquid process is carried out at a temperature of 300°C and takes about an hour in a small prototype machine in a laboratory in the faculty. Gaseous by-products from the process are oxygen and low concentrations of carbon dioxide which can be safely discharged. "This is a clean, chemical-free solution which will be a game changer internationally," says Dr. Saied Baroutian, an associate professor in the faculty's Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering.

"The technology used is a hydrothermal deconstruction or valorisation process and it destroys the waste completely. The liquid produced in the process is safe, inert and can be reused—the vinegar or acetic acid can be used for disinfecting and the water can be reused for the processing cycle therefore minimizing water consumption and helping with sustainability."

The process has been developed at the university in collaboration with the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences and the Universities of Otago and Waterloo (Canada). It is one of two innovative solutions that link up to tackle the COVID-19 healthcare waste problem which has been described as "threatening human and environmental health" by the World Health Organisation.

Journal Reference:
Disinfecting PPE for reuse, recycling, (DOI: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0817/11/1/83)

Original Submission

upstart writes:

Forget state surveillance. Our tracking devices are now doing the same job:

Way back in 2009 the German Green politician Malte Spitz went to court to obtain the data that his mobile phone operator, Deutsche Telekom, held on him and then collaborated with the newspaper Die Zeit to analyse and visualise it. What emerged was a remarkably detailed timeline of his daily life, a timeline that would have been readily available to state authorities if they had come for it with appropriate legal authorisation.

But in internet time 2009 was aeons ago. Now, intensive surveillance is available to anyone. And you don't have to be a tech wizard to do it. In mid-January this year, Kashmir Hill, a talented American tech reporter, used three bits of everyday consumer electronics – Apple AirTags, Tiles and a GPS tracker – to track her husband's every move. He agreed to this in principle, but didn't realise just how many devices she had planted on him. He found only two of the trackers: a Tile he felt in the breast pocket of his coat and an AirTag in his backpack when he was looking for something else. "It is impossible to find a device that makes no noise and gives no warning," he said when she showed him the ones he missed.

canopic jug writes:

The annual Linux Questions software poll results are in for the year 2021.

The polls are closed and the results are in. We once again had some extremely close races (and multiple ties) and the large number of new categories this year certainly kept things interesting. Congratulations to each and every nominee. The official results:

[...] If you have any questions or suggestions on how we can improve the MCA's next year, do let us know. Visit https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...ce-awards-133/ to view the individual polls, which contain the complete results. Visit http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/2021mca.php for a visual representation of each category on a single page.

There are just over 40 categories, from Desktop Distribution to Log Management Tool and many in between.

Do you have your own favourites that are different from those shown in the polls published here?

Original Submission

upstart writes:

NASA's Perseverance celebrates first year on Mars by learning to run:

NASA's Perseverance rover has notched up a slew of firsts since touching down on Mars one year ago, on Feb. 18, 2021, and the six-wheeled scientist has other important accomplishments in store as it speeds toward its new destination and a new science campaign.

Weighing roughly 1 ton (1,025 kilograms), Perseverance is the heaviest rover ever to touch down on Mars, returning dramatic video of its landing. The rover collected the first rock core samples from another planet (it's carrying six so far), served as an indispensable base station for Ingenuity, the first helicopter on Mars, and tested MOXIE (Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment), the first prototype oxygen generator on the Red Planet.

Perseverance also recently broke a record for the most distance driven by a Mars rover in a single day, traveling almost 1,050 feet (320 meters) on Feb. 14, 2022, the 351st Martian day, or sol, of the mission. And it performed the entire drive using AutoNav, the self-driving software that allows Perseverance to find its own path around rocks and other obstacles.

upstart writes:

ConocoPhillips is selling extra gas to bitcoin miners in North Dakota:

Oil and gas major ConocoPhillips is in the bitcoin mining fuel business.

The company said in a statement to CNBC on Tuesday that it has one bitcoin pilot project currently operating in the Bakken, a region in North Dakota known as an important source of new oil production in the U.S.

A representative for ConocoPhillips said the company is not operating the crypto mine itself. Instead, it sells gas that would otherwise have been burned off to a bitcoin processor that is owned and managed by a third party.

[...] The push into bitcoin mining dovetails with an initiative by the oil and gas major to reduce routine flaring, or burning off extra gas, to zero by 2030.

The company has published reports about efforts to phase out the practice of routinely flaring natural gas in the "Lower 48" states, which represents the largest segment in ConocoPhillips today, based on production. It is comprised of two regions covering the Gulf Coast and Great Plains — an area that includes the Bakken.

upstart writes:

Scientists identify how caffeine reduces bad cholesterol:

[...] Observations are one thing, but scientists hadn't identified many mechanisms for how compounds in coffee, particularly caffeine, might bestow these benefits. So for the new study, researchers at McMaster University investigated what might be behind caffeine's apparent knack for preventing cardiovascular disease.

The team found that regular caffeine consumption was linked to lower levels of a protein called PCSK9 in the bloodstream. Lower levels of this protein boosts the liver's ability to break down LDL cholesterol, the "bad" type that can block arteries and lead to cardiovascular disease. Not only did caffeine and derivatives of it work directly on PCSK9, but the researchers found that it also blocked the activation of another protein called SREBP2. This in turn also reduces levels of PCSK9 in the blood.

"These findings now provide the underlying mechanism by which caffeine and its derivatives can mitigate the levels of blood PCSK9 and thereby reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease," said Richard Austin, senior author of the study. "Given that SREBP2 is implicated in a host of cardiometabolic diseases, such as diabetes and fatty liver disease, mitigating its function has far reaching implications."

Of course, it's not as simple as guzzling coffee to stave off heart disease. Mixing it with cream or sugar (or a donut on the side) may cancel out any positive health effects – and that's especially true if your caffeine delivery method of choice is soft drinks or energy drinks. Too much caffeine can also be a bad thing, and scientists aren't yet settled on how much is too much. All up, if improving your heart health is the goal, there are probably far more direct methods you could take.

Journal Reference:
Paul F. Lebeau, Jae Hyun Byun, Khrystyna Platko, et al. Caffeine blocks SREBP2-induced hepatic PCSK9 expression to enhance LDLR-mediated cholesterol clearance [open], Nature Communications (DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-28240-9)

Original Submission

An Anonymous Coward writes:

Free Cybersecurity Services and Tools:

"As part of our continuing mission to reduce cybersecurity risk across U.S. critical infrastructure partners and state, local, tribal, and territorial governments, CISA [*] has compiled a list of free cybersecurity tools and services to help organizations further advance their security capabilities. This living repository includes cybersecurity services provided by CISA, widely used open source tools, and free tools and services offered by private and public sector organizations across the cybersecurity community. CISA will implement a process for organizations to submit additional free tools and services for inclusion on this list in the future.

The list is not comprehensive and is subject to change pending future additions. CISA applies neutral principles and criteria to add items and maintains sole and unreviewable discretion over the determination of items included. CISA does not attest to the suitability or effectiveness of these services and tools for any particular use case. CISA does not endorse any commercial product or service. Any reference to specific commercial products, processes, or services by service mark, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not constitute or imply their endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by CISA."

[*] Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act "is a United States federal law designed to "improve cybersecurity in the United States through enhanced sharing of information about cybersecurity threats, and for other purposes".

Original Submission

upstart writes:

Easy aluminum nanoparticles for rapid, efficient hydrogen generation from water:

For years, researchers have tried to find efficient and cost-effective ways to use aluminum's reactivity to generate clean hydrogen fuel. A new study by researchers at UC Santa Cruz shows that an easily produced composite of gallium and aluminum creates aluminum nanoparticles that react rapidly with water at room temperature to yield large amounts of hydrogen. The gallium was easily recovered for reuse after the reaction, which yields 90% of the hydrogen that could theoretically be produced from reaction of all the aluminum in the composite.

"We don't need any energy input, and it bubbles hydrogen like crazy. I've never seen anything like it," said UCSC Chemistry Professor Scott Oliver.

Oliver and Bakthan Singaram, professor of chemistry and biochemistry, are corresponding authors of a paper on the new findings, published February 14 in Applied Nano Materials.

The reaction of aluminum and gallium with water has been known since the 1970s, and videos of it are easy to find online. It works because gallium, a liquid at just above room temperature, removes the passive aluminum oxide coating, allowing direct contact of aluminum with water. The new study, however, includes several innovations and novel findings that could lead to practical applications.

[...] Previous studies had mostly used aluminum-rich mixtures of aluminum and gallium, or in some cases more complex alloys. But Singaram's lab found that hydrogen production increased with a gallium-rich composite. In fact, the rate of hydrogen production was so unexpectedly high the researchers thought there must be something fundamentally different about this gallium-rich alloy.

Journal Reference:
Gabriella Amberchan, Isai Lopez, Beatriz Ehlke, et al. Aluminum Nanoparticles from a Ga–Al Composite for Water Splitting and Hydrogen Generation, ACS Applied Nano Materials (DOI: 10.1021/acsanm.1c04331)

Original Submission