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upstart writes:

RISC-V house SiFive is coming for Arm's crown:

SiFive has announced plans to utilize a new cash injection to challenge the dominance of Arm with its RISC-V CPU cores.

The company has sealed an additional $175 million in funding in a recent investment round, which will combine with the takings from the sale of its connectivity business, OpenFive, to create a $350 nest egg.

According to Patrick Little, SiFive CEO, the firm will use the funds to accelerate the development of new RISC-V based cores capable of besting Arm across performance and efficiency metrics.

In today's market, Arm-based processors are ubiquitous. The company dominates the mobile computing landscape, and the success of Apple's M1 series shows Arm has a promising future inside laptops and desktops too. Arm designs also feature in chips for TVs, smart cars, drones, various IoT devices and some data center servers.

RISC-V is a free, open source instruction set architecture (ISA) built around the same design principles as Arm's proprietary designs, which command royalties each time they are integrated into an SoC. Although RISC-V-based processors are currently far less common, data from Deloitte suggests the number of RISC-V cores in circulation will double in each of the next two years.

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upstart writes:

Scientists Warn: Nutritious Fish Stocks Are Being Squandered by Salmon Farming:

Scientists studying the Scottish salmon farming industry say that using only fish by-products — such as trimmings — for salmon feed, rather than whole wild-caught fish, would deliver significant nutritional and sustainability gains.

This would allow 3.7 million tonnes of fish to be left in the sea, and enable global annual seafood production to increase by 6.1 million tonnes.

"If we want to feed the growing global population well and sustainably, we must stop catching wild fish to feed farmed fish." — David Willer

[...] As the world's fastest growing food sector, aquaculture is often presented as a way to relieve pressure on wild fish stocks. But many aquaculture fish — such as Atlantic salmon — are farmed using fish oil and meal made from millions of tonnes of wild-caught fish, most of which is food-grade and could be eaten directly to provide vital nutrition.

The team collected data on fish nutrient content, fishmeal, and fish oil composition, and salmon production, and examined the transfer of micronutrients from feed to fish in Scotland's farmed salmon industry. They found that over half of the essential dietary minerals and fatty acids available in wild fish are lost when these fish are fed to farmed salmon.

upstart writes:

Hundreds of GoDaddy sites caught up in hacking campaign:

A new hacking campaign infecting hundreds of sites hosted by GoDaddy-hosted sites has been uncovered.

An investigation by the Wordfence Incident Response team found more than 280 websites hosted with GoDaddy's Managed WordPress service were infected with a backdoor.

Among the compromised services are MediaTemple, tsoHost, 123Reg, Domain Factory, Heart Internet, and Host Europe, with a total of 298 sites found to be infected.

[...] This unnamed backdoor, it was further explained, has been in use for at least seven years. The threat actors add it to the beginning of wp-config.php and its goal seems to be to generate spammy Google search results, including resources customized to the infected site.

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upstart writes:

Russia is risking the creation of a "splinternet":

[...] So what would a real splinternet look like in practice? And how close are we to it? An actual splintering of the internet—rather than different countries using different platforms on the same underlying architecture—could take one of two forms, according to Milton Mueller of the School of Public Policy at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

"A major, serious splintering of the internet would involve a technically incompatible protocol used by a critical mass of the world's population," he says. This first type of splintering would not be catastrophic. "Technologists would probably find a way to bridge the two protocols in short order," says Mueller.

The second form of splintering would be to continue using technically compatible protocols, but to have different governing bodies managing those services.  This might prove trickier to reverse.

If Russia, China, or some other countries formed rivals to the bodies that manage IP addresses and DNS and got them established, that could be even harder to put back together than if they built rival technological protocols. Vested interests would form, wanting to stay with one or the other body, making the politics of reconnection almost impossible.

The problem of reconnecting these disparate networks into one global internet would thus be a political one, not a technical one—but it's often the political problems that are the most difficult to solve.

Famous Navy UFO Video Was Actually Camera Glare, Evidence Suggests

upstart writes:

Famous Navy UFO Video Was Actually Camera Glare, Evidence Suggests:

The footage in question appears to show a UFO defying modern aerodynamics off the coast of San Diego before it appears to vanish into the ocean. The footage was captured in 2004 and was originally leaked in 2017 before it was officially released in 2019.

The video was supposedly never supposed to be made public and has been one of the poster child pieces of the footage used to definitively point to the existence of extraterrestrials. The Pentagon performed a detailed analysis of the footage and found that there was no evidence that it came from a source outside of Earth, but was unable to eliminate the possibility either. This, of course, continued to fuel conspiracy theories about the existence of aliens.

But a new detailed analysis by self-described debunker, skeptic, and UFO investigator Mick West focuses on four aspects of the footage to demonstrate that what is likely being seen is actually a camera artifact. West says his primary focus is investigating the claims of evidence around conspiracy theories and he does so in this recent video using facts and science.

[...] West contends that what is being seen in the video is actually infrared glare that hides a hot object behind it and only rotates in the way it does because the camera rotates when tracking the target from left to right.

[...] As detailed as West's analysis is, it very likely won't convince those who have decided that it is footage of a UFO.

upstart writes:

Chinese CPUs could soon give Intel a run for its money:

If Intel's venture into the graphics card market has you wishing for more variety for processors too then you might be in luck. According to a report from Taiwan's DigiTimes, an Intel exec claims that Chinese CPU makers will become "strong competitors" to Intel within the next three to five years.

These comments were made by Rui Wang, SVP of Intel Corporation and chair of Intel China at the 2022 National Party Congress on March 11, though no specific maker of Chinese processors was named. Tom's Hardware also notes in its own report that this could simply be Wang trying to be polite given the event was hosted by the Chinese Communist Party given the lack of data provided alongside the predictions.

In fact, the only real support we can see provided for this prediction comes from China's Minister of Information and Technology, Xiao Yaqing, who asserted that the domestic chip industry had grown by a third since this time last year.

[...] Still, China's IT infrastructure is growing at an incredible rate, so while these claims may seem like nothing but appeasement, there is a chance that they could prove true if we see hardware that was previously exclusive to the region released globally. Right now, China provides around a quarter of Intel's annual revenue alone though, so whatever rival processors are hoping to bring the heat, they will need to start on home turf first.

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upstart writes:

Type 1 diabetes can be predicted with epigenetic changes:

Epigenetic changes can affect how our genes work. Environmental factors, such as viral infections, can cause epigenetic changes.

Earlier studies have shown that certain antibodies detected in children's blood samples indicate an increased risk of developing type 1 diabetes in the near future. So that medical professionals could intervene in the disease even sooner, earlier disease indicators than the antibodies are needed to detect the risk. This involves searching for biomarkers indicating type 1 diabetes, and epigenetic changes could be such a biomarker.

[...] In Finland, children's risk of developing type 1 diabetes is the highest in the world. In addition to the genetic susceptibility, environmental factors have a great significance for developing the disease. The environmental factors include, for example, excessive level of hygiene, biodiversity loss, and environmental toxins.

The newly published studies are based on long-term interdisciplinary research collaboration with international partners. The project has included doctors who are in charge of the patients and also conduct clinical research, researchers in molecular medicine and immunology, and experts in computational science. In the studies, researchers analysed longitudinal samples with deep sequencing covering the entire genome as well as with computational methods and artificial intelligence.

Journal Reference:
Suomi, Tomi, Kalim, Ubaid Ullah, Rasool, Omid, et al. Type 1 Diabetes in Children With Genetic Risk May Be Predicted Very Early With a Blood miRNA, Diabetes Care (DOI: 10.2337/dc21-2120)
Starskaia, Inna, Laajala, Essi, Grönroos, Toni, et al. Early DNA methylation changes in children developing beta cell autoimmunity at a young age [open], Diabetologia (DOI: 10.1007/s00125-022-05657-x)

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upstart writes:

Stackable 'holobricks' can make giant 3D images:

The researchers, from the University of Cambridge and Disney Research, developed a holobrick proof-of-concept, which can tile holograms together to form a large seamless 3D image. This is the first time this technology has been demonstrated and opens the door for scalable holographic 3D displays. The results are reported in the journal Light: Science & Applications.

As technology develops, people want high-quality visual experiences, from 2D high resolution TV to 3D holographic augmented or virtual reality, and large true 3D displays. These displays need to support a significant amount of data flow: for a 2D full HD display, the information data rate is about three gigabits per second (Gb/s), but a 3D display of the same resolution would require a rate of three terabits per second, which is not yet available.

Holographic displays can reconstruct high quality images for a real 3D visual perception. They are considered the ultimate display technology to connect the real and virtual worlds for immersive experiences.

[...] For 2D displays, it's standard practice to tile small size displays together to form one large display. The approach being explored here is similar, but for 3D displays, which has not been done before. "Joining pieces of 3D images together is not trivial, because the final image must be seen as seamless from all angles and all depths," said Chu, who is also Director of the Centre for Advanced Photonics and Electronics (CAPE). "Directly tiling 3D images in real space is just not possible."

canopic jug writes:

NewScientist covers highly efficient 2-actuator robotic legs. Apparently these are far more efficient than more complex devices.

"We're using just two actuators, one to move the leg back and forward, and one to lift it. Just the bare minimum required," says Badri-Spröwitz. "Usually in robotics, you're looking to improve efficiency by just 10 per cent or so, but we're seeing a 300 per cent increase."

The motors pull the tendons. Power is stored in a spring during compression and released when each foot strikes the floor, to help drive the robot forward.

Taking many actuators, sensors and electronics out of the system makes the robot lighter and cheaper to manufacture. It can also stand upright using no power.

See also the paywalled main article, DOI: 10.1126/scirobotics.abg4055

Previously:
(2021) These Virtual Obstacle Courses Help Real Robots Learn to Walk
(2018) Festo's New Bionic Robots Include Rolling Spider, Flying Fox
(2014) Tiny Walking Robots Powered by Muscle Cells

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upstart writes:

UK businesses struggling to support flexible work:

The challenges of the pandemic have driven and are continuing to drive employees restless, yet just over three in five employees in the UK don't believe their company's policies and technologies effectively enable flexible work, according to research from SAP Concur.

The Employee Experience Campaign research questioned 1,700 employees, taking a closer look at the way employee expectations have shifted.

It revealed that 90% of respondents indicated that their work can be done virtually, and that 87% prefer to work virtually most of the time, feeling that they should be able to decide where and when they work. Employers would like to follow suit, as more than 50% of executives expect to work remotely at least some of the time in the next two years, but only 42% agree that the technology their company has in place will be able to support flexible work.

In addition, 60% of employees agree that the pandemic caused them to re-evaluate what they want in the workplace. An overwhelming majority of staff (78%) now believe that employers are responsible for their job satisfaction and well-being, meaning that creating a better employee experience is essential to support flexible work while also increasing employee productivity.

Original Submission

upstart writes:

German government advises against using Kaspersky antivirus:

Germany's Federal Office for Information Security, BSI, is warning companies against using Kaspersky antivirus products due to threats made by Russia against the EU, NATO, and Germany.

Kaspersky is a Moscow-based cybersecurity and antivirus provider founded in 1997, that has a long history of success, but also controversy over the company's possible relationship with the Russian government.

[...] Kaspersky is also believed to offer its cybersecurity protection services to Russian state IT infrastructure, making it a concern that the company cannot stay completely neutral.

[...] As the BSI statement explains, antivirus software typically has higher-level privileges on Windows systems, maintaining a permanent, encrypted, and non-verifiable connection to the vendor's servers for constant virus definition updates.

Furthermore, as real-time protection from almost all antivirus vendors can upload suspicious files to remote servers for further analysis, there is concern that antivirus developers could use their software to exfiltrate sensitive files. While Kaspersky is likely trustworthy and ethical, it still has to abide by Russian laws and regulations, including allowing state agents to access private firm databases.

upstart writes:

LLNL constructing high-power laser for new experimental facility at SLAC - Technology Org:

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's decades of leadership in developing high-energy lasers is being tapped to provide a key component of a major upgrade to SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory's Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS).

Over the next several years, LLNL's Advanced Photon Technologies (APT) program will design and construct one of the world's most powerful petawatt (quadrillion-watt) laser systems for installation in an upgraded Matter in Extreme Conditions (MEC) experimental facility at LCLS, funded by the Department of Energy's Office of Science-Fusion Energy Sciences program.

The new laser will pair with the LCLS X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) to advance the understanding of high-energy density (HED) physics, plasma physics, fusion energy, laser-plasma interactions, astrophysics, planetary science and other physical phenomena.

owl writes:

https://blog.jgc.org/2022/03/resurrecting-dataman-s4-prom-programmer.html

The Dataman S4 is a lovely piece of 90s' kit: a PROM programmer and emulator launched in 1992. I recently bought one from a seller on eBay and needed to resurrect it. It was in perfect working order but needed a little awakening to get it going. Happily, Dataman are still around, still provide online support for the S4 and still sell accessories for it.

With a little work I have a fully functional S4 and recently used it to burn new firmware for a Minitel 2 (that also dates from 1992), but that's another story.

I enjoy reading about the efforts of those who resurrect old equipment - but, apart from Minitel 2, who uses the 128Kb ROMs nowadays? Minitel was a system showing block graphics (similar to CeeFax) that was popular in France and there were similar systems throughout western Europe in the 1980/90s. Whereas CeeFax used data hitching a ride on TV transmissions, Minitel used a telephone connection.

Original Submission

upstart writes:

Benefits of Taking Statins Called Into Question: Link Between High Cholesterol and Heart Disease "Inconsistent":

New research from RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences has revealed that the link between 'bad' cholesterol (LDL-C) and poor health outcomes, such as heart attack and stroke, may not be as strong as previously thought. Published in JAMA Internal Medicine, the research questions the efficacy of statins when prescribed with the aim of lowering LDL-C and therefore reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Previous research has suggested that using statins to lower LDL-C positively affects health outcomes, and this is reflected in the various iterations of expert guidelines for the prevention of CVD. Statins are now commonly prescribed by doctors, with one third of Irish adults over the age of 50 taking statins, according to previous research.

The new findings contradict this theory, finding that this relationship was not as strong as previously thought. Instead, the research demonstrates that lowering LDL-C using statins had an inconsistent and inconclusive impact on CVD outcomes such as myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, and all-cause mortality.

In addition, it indicates that the overall benefit of taking statins may be small and will vary depending on an individual's personal risk factors.

Journal Reference:
Paula Byrne, Maryanne Demasi, Mark Jones, et al. Association Between Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Reduction and Relative and Absolute Effects of Statin Treatment, JAMA Internal Medicine (DOI: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2022.0134)

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

As Russia's invasion of Ukraine nears its three-week mark, repercussions are being felt around the world as the prices of oil and grain climb. But a less common consumer product has also become a hot commodity as the war raises fears of global nuclear conflict: potassium iodide.

Twenty tablets of ThyroSafe, whose active ingredient is potassium iodide, can fetch as much as $175 on eBay. ThyroSafe's official distributor has stopped taking new orders from its website, and existing ones will see a delay in shipping.

Expecting a run on toilet rolls and tinned goods any time soon in the US?

Original Submission