SoylentNews

upstart writes:

Spotted hyenas adjust their foraging behavior in response to climate change:

It is crucial to understand the mechanisms and extent to which animals in diverse ecosystems are resilient to climate change. Changes in the timing or amount of precipitation can alter vegetation growth and hence the distribution of migratory herbivores, such as the blue wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) and plains zebras (Equus quagga) in the Serengeti ecosystem in Tanzania, East Africa. Climate change may thus ultimately influence the location of profitable feeding areas for predators, such as spotted hyenas, who feed on these herbivores. A recent paper reveals that spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) can adjust their foraging behaviour to shifts in migratory prey presence in their territories that are linked to recent changes in pattern and amount of rainfall.

Scientists from the Leibniz-IZW and CEFE analysed data from a long-term project on three clans of spotted hyenas in the centre of the Serengeti National Park. The three clans have been monitored continuously from 1990 to 2019, on a near-daily basis. Weather data show that total annual rainfall substantially increased in the Serengeti over these three decades. Simultaneously, the presence of migratory herds in hyena clan territories essentially halved. "To assess how the hyenas responded to these changes in rainfall patterns and prey abundance in their territories, we focused on maternal den attendance -- the presence of lactating hyenas with entirely milk-dependent offspring at communal dens," says Morgane Gicquel, first author of the paper and doctoral student at the Leibniz-IZW.

The research team found that, over the course of a year, the probability of migratory herd presence in hyena clan territories increased with the amount of rainfall two months earlier, and that the probability of maternal den presence in clan territories also increased with that of migratory herd presence. As rainfall volume increased over the years, the presence of migratory herds in hyena clans decreased because the association between rainfall and herd presence became weaker. Surprisingly, maternal den attendance did not decrease throughout the entire study period and still matched periods of high prey abundance.

Journal Reference:Morgane Gicquel, Marion L. East, Heribert Hofer, Sarah Cubaynes, Sarah Benhaiem. Climate change does not decouple interactions between a central‐place‐foraging predator and its migratory prey. Ecosphere, 2022; 13 (4)(DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4012)

Original Submission

upstart writes:

NASA Uses Moonlight to Improve Satellite Accuracy - Technology Org:

NASA's airborne Lunar Spectral Irradiance, or air-LUSI, flew aboard NASA's ER-2 aircraft from March 12 to 16 to accurately measure the amount of light reflected off the Moon. Reflected moonlight is a steady source of light that researchers are taking advantage of to improve the accuracy and consistency of measurements among Earth-observing satellites.

"The Moon is extremely stable and not influenced by factors on Earth like climate to any large degree. It becomes a very good calibration reference, an independent benchmark, by which we can set our instruments and see what's happening with our planet," said air-LUSI's principal investigator, Kevin Turpie, a research professor at the University of Maryland, College Park.

The air-LUSI flights are part of NASA's comprehensive satellite calibration and validation efforts. The results will compliment ground-based sites such as Railroad Valley Playa in Nevada, and together will provide orbiting satellites with a robust calibration dataset.

upstart writes:

House Committee Investigating Amazon's Labor Practices:

The House Committee on Oversight and Reform has opened an investigation into Amazon's labor practices during severe weather, according to a letter the members sent to Andy Jassy, ​​Amazon's chief executive.

"We are concerned about recent reports that Amazon may be endangering the health and safety of its workers, including requiring them to work in hazardous conditions during tornadoes, hurricanes, and other extreme weather conditions," indicates the letter, signed by the chair of the committee. [...]

The investigation will focus on the December tornado who hit amazon's delivery station in Edwardsville, Illinois, killing six people. Most employees at the facility were not direct Amazon employees. They were contracted delivery drivers, a complication that hampered the response when authorities could not easily determine how many people were at the scene.

[...] "Our goal remains to support our employees and partners, the families who have lost loved ones, the surrounding community, and everyone affected by the tornadoes," Amazon spokeswoman Kelly Nantel said Friday. "We will respond to this letter in due course."

What does YOUR workplace do in severe weather?

Original Submission

upstart writes:

US tested hypersonic missile in mid-March but kept it quiet to avoid escalating tensions with Russia:

US tested hypersonic missile in mid-March but kept it quiet to avoid escalating tensions with Russia

The Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC) was launched from a B-52 bomber off the west coast, the official said, in the first successful test of the Lockheed Martin version of the system. A booster engine accelerated the missile to high speed, at which point the air-breathing scramjet engine ignited and propelled the missile at hypersonic speeds of Mach 5 and above.

The official offered scant details of the missile test, only noting the missile flew above 65,000 feet and for more than 300 miles. But even at the lower end of hypersonic range -- about 3,800 miles per hour -- a flight of 300 miles is less than 5 minutes.

Original Submission

upstart writes:

The world's oldest pants are a 3,000-year-old engineering marvel:

With the help of an expert weaver, archaeologists have unraveled the design secrets behind the world's oldest pants. The 3,000-year-old wool trousers belonged to a man buried between 1000 and 1200 BCE in Western China. To make them, ancient weavers combined four different techniques to create a garment specially engineered for fighting on horseback, with flexibility in some places and sturdiness in others.

[...] Mounted herders and warriors needed their leg coverings to be flexible enough to let the wearer swing a leg across a horse without ripping the fabric or feeling constricted. At the same time, they needed some added reinforcement at crucial areas like the knees. It became, to some extent, a materials-science problem. Where do you want something elastic, and where do you want something strong? And how do you make fabric that will accomplish both?

For the makers of the world's oldest pants, produced in China around 3,000 years ago, the answer was apparently to use different weaving techniques to produce fabric with specific properties in certain areas, despite weaving the whole garment out of the same spun wool fiber.

The world's oldest-known pants were part of the burial outfit of a warrior now called Turfan Man. He wore the woven wool pants with a poncho that belted around the waist, ankle-high boots, and a wool headband adorned with seashells and bronze discs. The pants' basic design is strikingly similar to the pants most of us wear today, but closer inspection reveals the level of engineering that went into designing them.

Journal Reference:
Mayke Wagner, et. al., The invention of twill tapestry points to Central Asia: Archaeological record of multiple textile techniques used to make the woollen outfit of a ca. 3000-year-old horse rider from Turfan, China, Archaeological Research in Asia (DOI: 10.1016/j.ara.2021.100344)

Original Submission

upstart writes:

Elon Musk will join Twitter's board of directors:

Elon Musk isn't just stopping at buying a stake in Twitter — he'll also have a seat at the table. As CNBCreports, Twitter is appointing Musk to the company's board of directors. He'll be of value as both a "passionate believer and intense critic" of the social network, according to chief executive Parag Agrawal.

An SEC filing shows that Musk will serve as a Class II director (that is, not top-tier) with a term that expires at the company's 2024 annual shareholder meeting. The appointment limits the stake Musk can hold. He can't own more than 14.9 percent of common stock during his tenure, and for 90 days afterward.

[...] It's too soon to say how much influence Musk will have as a director. However, he recently blasted Twitter for allegedly falling short of "free speech principles" and asked the social site's users if they want an edit button. He clearly intends to make his presence felt, not to mention thumb his nose at the SEC for its crackdown against his finance-related tweets.

Original Submission

upstart writes:

Russians bypass website blocks to access Western news sources:

A new blog post published today by Cloudflare presents statistical evidence that the netizens of Russia are adopting blockage circumvention tools pretty aggressively to access British, American, and French news sites.

At the same time, the Russian government appears unwilling to isolate the country from the global internet, as many suggested was the plan, and also unable to ramp up its resource access blockages due to quality issues.

However, Russia has blocked access to Western media outlets and social sites to control the narrative regarding its invasion of Ukraine.

As the war in Ukraine continues and Russian media is not providing evidence of success or even convincing justification for the so-called special military operation, many Russians are attempting to bypass blocks to learn more from Western news outlets.

In March, Russia's most downloaded mobile apps were various VPN tools, Telegram, and Cloudflare's own "WARP / 1.1.1.1", a privacy-focused recursive DNS resolver that can route users' requests through one of the firm's servers.

Original Submission

upstart writes:

'Striking a balance': How one company is rethinking the office for hybrid work:

With huge demand for developers and their salaries at an all-time high, companies are focusing on creating the working conditions that will appeal to tech professionals in a highly competitive marketplace.

While high wages will help attract talented staff and interesting projects will keep them keen, companies also need to ensure they foster a working environment that allows developers to work how they want to, where they want to.

That's something that resonates with Milena Nikolic, CTO at digital ticketing company Trainline, who says a key challenge for her company during the next 12 months is ensuring it can attract and retain the IT talent the business requires.

[...] Crucially, the company isn't setting quotas in terms of days and hours at either the office or home. Decisions over the location of work are delegated to teams, managers and employees.

"Among the tech people, my guidance to my team has been that, if you feel your team is operating well remotely, then that approach works," says Nikolic.

While this hybrid-working arrangement has been effective so far, she also recognises any change is always a work in progress.

[...] "It's about striking a balance – so far, we think we've accomplished a reasonably good balance, but that was something that we spent a lot of time looking at."

Original Submission

upstart writes:

Germany takes down Hydra, world's largest darknet market:

The servers of Hydra Market, the most prominent Russian darknet platform for selling drugs and money laundering, have been seized by the German police.

The police were also able to seize 543 bitcoins from the profits of Hydra, which are currently worth a little over $25 million.

The confiscated money indicate the size of the Hydra market, which counted around 19,000 registered seller accounts that served at least 17 million customers around the world.

In an announcement today, the Central Office for Combating Cybercrime (ZIT) and Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) estimate that Hydra Market had a turnover of $1.35 billion in 2020, making it the largest darknet market in the world.

[...] Apart from narcotics and money laundering services, which were the main focus, Hydra also offered stolen databases, forged documents, and hacking for hire services.

At the moment, Hydra's homepage shows that the BKA acting on behalf of the Attorney General's Office in Frankfurt am Main seized the market's infrastructure following a coordinated international law enforcement effort.

[...] In the meantime, the seized equipment most likely contains incriminating evidence on Hydra sellers and clients, so a significant number of users could be charged in an upcoming second phase.

Original Submission

owl writes:

http://www.righto.com/2022/04/reverse-engineering-mysterious-univac.html

The IBM 1401 team at the Computer History Museum accumulates a lot of mystery components from donations and other sources. While going through a box, we came across the unusual circuit board below. At first, it looked like an IBM SMS (Standard Modular System) card, the building block of IBM's computers of the late 1950s and early 1960s. However, this board is larger, has double-sided wiring, the connector is different, and the labeling is different.

I asked around about the board and Robert Garner identified it as from the Univac 1004, a plugboard-controlled data processing system from 1963. The Univac 1004 was marketed as a "Card Processor" rather than a computer, designed for business applications that read punch cards and producing output, but still required calculation and logical decisions. Typical applications were payroll, inventory, billing, or accounting.

Original Submission

upstart writes:

Decoding Movement and Speech from the Brain of a Tetraplegic Person - Technology Org:

Every year, the lives of hundreds of thousands of people are severely disrupted when they lose the ability to move or speak as a result of spinal injury, stroke, or neurological diseases.

At Caltech, neuroscientists in the laboratory of Richard Andersen, James G. Boswell Professor of Neuroscience, and Leadership Chair and Director of the Tianqiao & Chrissy Chen Brain-Machine Interface Center, are studying how the brain encodes movements and speech, in order to potentially restore these functions to those individuals who have lost them.

Brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) are devices that record brain signals and interpret them to issue commands that operate external assistive devices, such as computers or robotic limbs. Thus, an individual can control such machinery just with their thoughts.

For example, in 2015, the Andersen team and colleagues worked with a tetraplegic participant to implant recording electrodes into a part of the brain that forms intentions to move. The BMI enabled the participant to direct a robotic limb to reach out and grasp a cup, just by thinking about those actions.

upstart writes:

Hertz plans to buy 65,000 EVs from Polestar over five years:

Hertz Global Holdings Inc. plans to buy 65,000 electric vehicles from Polestar over the next five years, betting its renters are both EV curious and eager to drive brands beyond Tesla.

The vehicles from Polestar, the all-electric automaker controlled by Volvo Car AB and its owner Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., will join some 100,000 Teslas that Hertz has said it's buying for more than $4 billion. The new deal delivered a boost to shares of Hertz and Gores Gugenheim Inc., the special purpose acquisition company planning to merge with Polestar.

The Tesla and Polestar purchases give Hertz a steady stream of some of the most coveted battery-powered cars, even as manufacturers scurry to keep up with swelling order books. Polestar expects to double sales this year, delivering 65,000 vehicles globally. It plans to produce 290,000 EVs a year by 2025, a tally Tesla now reaches in less than three months.

"It is our objective to build the largest fleet of electric vehicles, certainly in North America," Hertz Chief Executive Officer Stephen Scherr said.

[...] Hertz has said that, in time, its global fleet of cars — roughly half a million vehicles — will be electric and it intends to work with every EV maker on the market to make that happen.

Original Submission

upstart writes:

Revolutionary DNA Nanotechnology Speeds Up Development of Vaccines by More Than One Million Times:

In search of pharmaceutical agents such as new vaccines, industry will routinely scan thousands of related candidate molecules. A novel technique allows this to take place on the nano scale, minimizing use of materials and energy. The work is published in the prestigious journal Nature Chemistry.

More than 40,000 different molecules can be synthesized and analyzed within an area smaller than a pinhead. The method, developed through a highly interdisciplinary research effort in Denmark, promises to drastically reduce the amounts of material, energy, and economic cost for pharmaceutical companies.

The method works by using soap-like bubbles as nano-containers. With DNA nanotechnology, multiple ingredients can be mixed within the containers.

"The volumes are so small that the use of material can be compared to using one liter of water and one kilogram of material instead of the entire volumes of water in all oceans to test material corresponding to the entire mass of Mount Everest. This is an unprecedented save in effort, material, manpower, and energy," illustrates head of the team Nikos Hatzakis, Associate Professor at the Department of Chemistry, University of Copenhagen.

upstart writes:

Review: Ryzen 5 5500 and 5600 can breathe new life into older AMD PCs:

AMD's Ryzen 5 5500 and 5600 CPUs (which go on sale today for $159 and $199, respectively) are both six-core 12-thread processors aimed squarely at mid-range, price-conscious PCs used for gaming and photo and video editing. The new Ryzens significantly undercut the original $299 asking price of the Ryzen 5 5600X (the 5600X was, for many months, the cheapest way to get Zen 3). And the CPUs finally provide a replacement for the last-gen $199 Ryzen 5 3600.

But the new chips have stiff competition in Intel's Core i5-12400 processor ($210-ish with an integrated GPU, $180-ish without one). Intel's desktop CPUs were saddled with the aging Skylake architecture and/or the aging 14nm manufacturing process for years, but a modern architecture and the Intel 7 process make the 12400 Intel's most appealing mid-range CPU option in a long time. The Ryzen 5 5600X has also seen price cuts recently, falling down to around $230 to make more room for the $300 eight-core Ryzen 7 5700X.

[...] AMD's power efficiency compares well to older 10th- and 11th-generation Intel chips. The Ryzen PCs draw a bit more power at the wall, but they also take less time to complete the work. But the Core i5-12400 manages to catch up and then some, thanks to the Intel 7 process. AMD may well regain its power-efficiency edge with Ryzen 7000 CPUs on TSMC's 5nm process, but for now, Intel has a small advantage (at least when you're not running a Core i7 or i9 CPU with its power limits turned up).

Original Submission

upstart writes:

Fed up with fees? Crypto use is growing for cross-border payments - survey:

A new survey released today by non-profit Stellar Development Foundation and UK-based cryptocurrency payments platform Wirex has revealed a heightened awareness, and increasing use and acceptance, of cryptocurrencies for cross-border payments in four key developed and emerging countries -- United States, United Kingdom, Mexico and Singapore -- indicating that crypto is being used for sending money to, and from, emerging markets in the form of remittances, or money sent by people working overseas to their families back home.

The survey, which gauged nearly 10,000 consumers across Mexico, Singapore, UK and US, suggests that the force behind the shift toward crypto as a form of payment is a frustration with the current financial system for transacting money between developed and emerging countries. More than half of the people surveyed -- 53% -- said they felt they paid too much in fees for international remittances via traditional financial means, such as wiring fiat currencies, while 37% said they didn't know what they paid in fees.

Given these pain points, the Stellar/Wirex survey indicates that cryptocurrencies used in international remittances, especially by people in emerging markets, is growing to the point where 52% surveyed said they see crypto "as a valid alternative to sending money overseas using traditional means," while 45% surveyed said they've already used it for remittances. What's more, the survey revealed that more than 80% of consumers -- in all four countries surveyed -- said they're aware of cryptocurrency.

"For me, the most important finding is that crypto is reaching the mainstream audience, not only in terms of awareness but also with what you can do with this technology to make the movement of money and value faster, cheaper and more efficient," says Denelle Dixon, CEO and executive director for Stellar Development Foundation, in an interview with ZDNet.

So what do you think? Have you transferred money across borders and if so, have the fees been too high to you? Have you considered using some form of cryptocurrency as an alternative means of transferring money?

Original Submission