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DannyB writes:

Octopuses torture and eat themselves after mating and science finally knows why:

She even eats pieces of her own arms.

Many animal species die after they reproduce. But in octopus mothers, this decline is particularly alarming: In most species, as an octopus mother's eggs get close to hatching, she stops eating. She then leaves her protective huddle over her brood and becomes bent on self-destruction. She might beat herself against a rock, tear at her own skin, even eat pieces of her own arms.

Now, researchers have discovered the chemicals that seem to control this fatal frenzy. [....]

[....] No one knows the purpose of the behavior. Theories include the idea that the dramatic death displays draw predators away from eggs, or that the mother's body releases nutrients into the water that nurture the eggs. Most likely, Wang said, the die-off protects the babies from the older generation. Octopuses are cannibals, she said, and if older octopuses stuck around, they might end up eating all of each other's young.

[....] If the nerves to the optic gland were cut, Wodinsky found, the mother octopus would abandon her eggs, start eating again and live for another four to six months. That's an impressive life extension for creatures that live only about a year.

But no one knew what the optic gland was doing to control this cascade of self-injury.

Wouldn't it be more efficient if the parent octopuses could become nourishment for the young hatchlings?

See Also:
Scientists discover why female octopuses self-mutilate to death after laying eggs

Journal Reference:
Z. Yan Wang et al., Steroid hormones of the octopus self-destruct system, Curr Biol, 2022.
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.04.043

Original Submission

upstart writes:

We have a glimpse now of NASA's latest vision for its first crewed Mars mission:

The agency released its top objectives for a 30-day, two-person Mars surface mission on Tuesday (May 17) and asked the public to provide feedback on how the planning is going. Submissions were initially due on May 31, but that deadline was recently extended to June 3.

NASA aims to launch astronauts to Mars by the late 2030s or early 2040s. Making that vision a reality will be challenging. Assuming the funding and technology come into play at the right time, for example, the round-trip travel time would still be about 500 days given the distance between Earth and Mars.

[...] "We want to maximize the science so we allow them to drive around before they become conditioned enough to get in the spacesuits, and walk and maximize that science in 30 days," Kurt Vogel, NASA director of space architectures, said in a 30-minute YouTube video accompanying the data release.

upstart writes:

Vangelis, composer of Chariots of Fire and Blade Runner soundtracks, dies aged 79:

Vangelis, the Greek composer and musician whose synth-driven work brought huge drama to film soundtracks including Blade Runner and Chariots of Fire, has died aged 79. His representatives said he died in hospital in France where he was being treated.

Born Evángelos Odysséas Papathanassíou in 1943, Vangelis won an Oscar for his 1981 Chariots of Fire soundtrack. Its uplifting piano motif became world-renowned, and reached No 1 in the US charts, as did the accompanying soundtrack album.

[...] Vangelis had continued his film score work throughout the 1970s, but it was in the 80s that this reached its commercial heights. Chariots of Fire became inextricable from Vangelis's timeless theme, and the music became synonymous with slow-motion sporting montages. "My music does not try to evoke emotions like joy, love, or pain from the audience. It just goes with the image, because I work in the moment," he later explained.

His score to Blade Runner is equally celebrated for its evocation of a sinister future version of Los Angeles, where "replicants" and humans live awkwardly alongside one another, through the use of long, malevolent synth notes; saxophones and lush ambient passages enhance the film's romantic and poignant moments. "It has turned out to be a very prophetic film – we're living in a kind of Blade Runner world now," he said in 2005.

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

Phys.org:

For over a decade, scientists have attempted to synthesize a new form of carbon called graphyne with limited success. That endeavor is now at an end, though, thanks to new research from the University of Colorado Boulder.

Graphyne has long been of interest to scientists because of its similarities to the "wonder material" graphene—another form of carbon that is highly valued by industry whose research was even awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2010. However, despite decades of work and theorizing, only a few fragments have ever been created before now.

Graphyne is thought to have "unique electron conducting, mechanical and optical properties." They can better explore those possibilities if they can find a way to reliably and affordably synthesize the material.

How long before humans start mining the atmosphere for carbon?

More information: Yiming Hu et al, Synthesis of γ-graphyne using dynamic covalent chemistry, Nature Synthesis (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s44160-022-00068-7

Original Submission

upstart writes:

Scientists Just Measured a Mechanical Quantum System Without Destroying It:

There's a key aspect of quantum computing you may not have thought about before. Called 'quantum non-​demolition measurements', they refer to observing certain quantum states without destroying them in the process.

If we want to put together a functioning quantum computer, not having it break down every second while calculations are made would obviously be helpful. Now, scientists have described a new technique for recording quantum non-demolition measurements that shows a lot of promise.

In this case, the research involved mechanical quantum systems – objects that are relatively large in quantum computing terms, but exceedingly tiny for us. They use mechanical motion (such as vibration) to handle the necessary quantum magic, and they can be combined with other quantum systems too.

[...] They describe it as similar to playing a theremin, the strange musical instrument that doesn't need to be touched to produce sound.

[...] A hybrid qubit-resonator device such as the one described in this study potentially offers the best of two different fields of research: the computational capabilities of superconducting qubits, and the stability of mechanical systems. Now scientists have shown information can be extracted from such a device in a non-destructive way.

Plenty more work needs to be done – once the task of measuring states has been refined and completed, these states then need to be exploited and manipulated to be of real use – but the huge potential of quantum computing systems may have just been brought another step closer.

The article also includes a video of someone playing a theremin.

Journal Reference:
von Lüpke, U., Yang, Y., Bild, M. et al. Parity measurement in the strong dispersive regime of circuit quantum acoustodynamics. Nat. Phys. (2022).
DOI: 10.1038/s41567-022-01591-2

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

SciTechDaily:

In a new study, the physicists studied discrete aurora, a light-in-the-sky phenomenon that occurs predominantly during the night in the red planet's southern hemisphere. While scientists have known about discrete aurora on Mars–which also occur on Earth—they were mystified as to how they formed. That's because Mars does not have a global magnetic field like Earth, which is a main trigger for aurora, also called the northern and southern lights on our planet.

Instead, the physicists report, discrete aurora on Mars are governed by the interaction between the solar wind—the constant jet of charged particles from the sun—and magnetic fields generated by the crust at southern latitudes on Mars. It's the nature of this localized interaction between the solar wind and the crustal magnetic fields that leads to discrete aurora, the scientists discovered.

The findings come from more than 200 observations of discrete aurora on Mars by the NASA-led Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft.

Reference: "Discrete Aurora at Mars: Dependence on Upstream Solar Wind Conditions" by Z. Girazian, N. M. Schneider, Z. Milby, X. Fang, J. Halekas, T. Weber, S. K. Jain, J.-C. Gérard, L. Soret, J. Deighan and C. O. Lee, 27 March 2022, JGR: Space Physics. DOI: 10.1029/2021JA030238

Original Submission

An Anonymous Coward writes:

https://tails.boum.org/security/prototype_pollution/index.en.html

"Tor Browser in Tails 5.0 and earlier is unsafe to use for sensitive information.

We recommend that you stop using Tails until the release of 5.1 (May 31) if you use Tor Browser for sensitive information (passwords, private messages, personal information, etc.).

A security vulnerability was discovered in the JavaScript engine of Firefox and Tor Browser. See the Mozilla Foundation Security Advisory[1] 2022-19

This vulnerability allows a malicious website to bypass some of the security built in Tor Browser and access information from other websites.

upstart writes:

Broadcom In Talks To Buy Cloud Computing Firm VMWare - Benzinga:

Broadcom Inc is reportedly in discussions to take over cloud computing company VMWare Inc.

VMWare denied commenting, while a Broadcom representative wasn't available immediately, according to Bloomberg.

Broadcom has been on the lookout for big software acquisition, noted Bloomberg. In 2018, the Hock Tan-led company announced the acquisition of infrastructure technology company CA Technologies for $18.9 billion in cash. The following year it purchased Symantec Corporation's enterprise security business.

Michael Dell, CEO of Dell Technologies Inc, along with Silver Lake are top investors in VMWare, according to Bloomberg.

Also reported at:

• Broadcom to buy VMware 'on Thursday for $60 billion'
• Broadcom's Pursuit of VMware Takes Page From Michael Dell
• Broadcom in Talks to Acquire VMware, the Cloud Computing Company

Original Submission

An Anonymous Coward writes:

link: https://news.yahoo.com/mountains-sugar-found-ocean-under-192535826.html

"Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology report that mountains of sugar have been discovered hiding underneath seagrass meadows across the world's oceans."

Seagrass meadows are amongst the top carbon-capturing ecosystems — just one square kilometre of seagrass stores nearly twice as much carbon as forests on land at a rate 35 times faster, according to the Institute.

To better understand these carbon-capturing powerhouses, the scientists conducted a study off the Italian island of Elba where they took samples of seagrass meadows and their surrounding sediments. Their data revealed that sugar concentrations underneath the seagrass were at least 80 times higher than those found in other marine ecosystems.

"To put this into perspective: we estimate that worldwide there are between 0.6 and 1.3 million tons of sugar, mainly in the form of sucrose," stated Manuel Liebeke, a scientist at the Institute, in a press release.

Journal Reference:
Sogin, E. Maggie, Michellod, Dolma, Gruber-Vodicka, Harald R., et al. Sugars dominate the seagrass rhizosphere [open], Nature Ecology & Evolution (DOI: 10.1038/s41559-022-01740-z)

Here's to not packing lunch when climbing a mountain.

Original Submission

Freeman writes:

https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/05/cdc-reports-6th-child-death-from-unexplained-hepatitis-180-cases/

A sixth child has died in the United States from puzzling liver inflammation—aka hepatitis—and the number of unexplained cases has risen to 180 across 36 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The latest death was announced in a press briefing Friday, led by CDC Deputy Director for Infectious Diseases Jay Butler, who said it was reported to the agency Thursday. He did not indicate in which state the death occurred.

In addition to the deaths, 15 of the 180 cases required liver transplants, Butler reported. The cases all occurred in children under the age of 10 but skewed to preschool-age children, with the median age being around 2 years.

The latest US tallies feed into a global phenomenon that now includes over 600 cases across 31 countries, including 15 deaths. But, despite the growing numbers, international health experts are still scrambling to understand what's behind the illnesses after eliminating the most obvious possibilities, such as hepatitis viruses A, B, C, D, and E.

Previously:
CDC Raises Alarm of Mysterious Hepatitis Cases in Kids; 2 States Report Cases

Original Submission

upstart writes:

All your favorite dead products from the past are back:

Google held its I/O conference earlier this month, and for longtime Google watchers, the event felt like a seance. Google CEO Sundar Pichai stepped on stage for his keynote address and channeled the spirits of long-dead Google products. "I'm hearing... something about an Android tablet? And a smartwatch?" he seemed to say.

By my count, "resurrecting the past" accounted for around half of the company's major announcements. In all of these cases, Google would be in a much stronger position if it had committed to a long-term plan and continuously iterated on that plan.

Unfortunately, the company doesn't have that kind of top-down direction. Instead, for most of the resurrected products, Google is trying to catch up to competitors after years of standing still. There's a question we have to ask for every announcement: "Will things be different this time?"

hubie writes:

Research team makes mind-reading possible with electronics and AI:

Many current commercial prosthetic limbs use a cable and harness system that is controlled by the shoulders or chest, and more advanced limbs use sensors to pick up on subtle muscle movements in a patient's existing limb above the device. But, both options can be cumbersome, unintuitive, and take months of practice for amputees to learn how to move them.

Researchers in the University's Department of Biomedical Engineering, with the help of industry collaborators, have created a small, implantable device that attaches to the peripheral nerve in a person's arm. When combined with an artificial intelligence computer and a robotic arm, the device can read and interpret brain signals, allowing upper limb amputees to control the arm using only their thoughts.

[...] A big part of what makes the system work so well compared to similar technologies is the incorporation of artificial intelligence, which uses machine learning to help interpret the signals from the nerve.

[...] Right now, the system requires wires that come through the skin to connect to the exterior AI interface and robotic arm. But, if the chip could connect remotely to any computer, it would give humans the ability to control their personal devices—a car or phone, for example—with their minds.

Journal Reference:
Anh Tuan Nguyen et al., A portable, self-contained neuroprosthetic hand with deep learning-based finger control, J Neural Eng., 18, 5, 2021
DOI: 10.1088/1741-2552/ac2a8d

Original Submission

upstart writes:

Apple display supplier BOE may lose all iPhone 14 orders after trying to cheat:

The problems faced by tertiary Apple display supplier BOE appear to have gone from bad to worse, according to a new report. The company is now in danger of losing all orders for the iPhone 14. Too many of the company's displays were failing to pass quality control checks, and BOE reportedly tried to solve this by quietly changing the specs – without telling Apple ...

Chinese display manufacturer BOE was only ever third-placed in Apple's supply chain, behind Samsung and LG, but was still hoping to make as many as 40M OLED screens this year for a range of iPhone models.

BOE hit two problems, however, which put this number in doubt. First, it was struggling to buy enough display driver chips. As we noted previously, these are one of the worst-hit components in the global chip shortage.

Second, BOE was experiencing poor yield rates – the proportion of units that passed quality control.

Yield rates are always a challenge for Apple suppliers, as the company's specs are often tighter than those set by other smartphone makers. Even Samsung Display, which has the most-advanced OLED manufacturing capabilities, has at times had yield rates as low as 60% for iPhone displays.

Original Submission

upstart writes:

Scientists have discovered "proto-peat" forming in the Arctic as the Earth naturally sequesters carbon, but it could take centuries to mature:

Thank peat for that scotchy flavor of Scotch whisky: The muck forms in Scotland's bogs, when layer after layer of dead vegetation resists decay and compresses into fuel, which is burned during scotch distillation. But you can also thank peat for helping keep our planet relatively cool, as all that muck—which is particularly common across the Arctic—traps a tremendous amount of carbon that would otherwise heat the atmosphere.

That peat is in serious trouble, and not because the world is drinking too much Scotch. As the Arctic warms, peat is drying out and igniting thanks to lightning strikes. These become some of the strangest wildfires on Earth, because they can smolder through the ground, moving slowly across the landscape until they pop up somewhere else—earning them the nickname "zombie fires." Peat fires will even "overwinter," burning under the snow and igniting new fires aboveground in the spring. These blazes can burn for months and release astonishing amounts of carbon into the atmosphere.

At the same time, the Arctic is greening, which might sound great, but it's actually a slow-motion nightmare for the region's ability to keep carbon sequestered. [...]

Scientists, though, just discovered that there might be a small ray of hope as the Arctic greens. All of that plant growth may be building new peat, potentially offsetting at least some of the losses of carbon from peat fires and permafrost thaw. [...]

takyon writes:

AMD has announced "Mendocino", a mid-range chip for Windows and ChromeOS laptops that will launch in Q4 2022. The Mendocino die has a quad-core Zen 2 CPU and an unspecified amount of RDNA2 graphics cores, and uses LPDDR5 memory. It looks similar if not identical to the Van Gogh chip used in Valve's Steam Deck, except that it uses TSMC's "6nm" process instead of "7nm".

Seeing AMD planning to mint a new Zen 2-based APU in late 2022 is at first blush an unusual announcement, especially since the company is already two generations into mobile Zen 3. But for the low-end market it makes a fair bit of sense. Architecturally, Zen 3's CPU complexes (CCXes) are optimized for 8C designs; when AMD needs fewer cores than that (e.g. Ryzen 3 5400U), they've been using salvaged 8C dies. For Zen 2, on the other hand, the native CCX size is 4, which allows AMD to quickly (and cheaply) design an SoC based on existing IP blocks, as opposed to engineering a proper 4C Zen 3 CCX.

AMD's Ryzen 7000 series of desktop CPUs will launch this fall on a new AM5 socket, with a Land Grid Array (LGA) design. The heat spreader for the CPUs has cutouts on the top for capacitors, while the back is completely covered with pads (not pins like on AM4 CPUs). AM5 CPUs will only use dual-channel DDR5 memory, with no mixed DDR4/DDR5 support like Intel's latest Alder Lake CPUs.

Three new chipsets have been announced for the first AM5 motherboards: X670E (the 'E' is for "Extreme"), X670, and B650. These are differentiated primarily by the guaranteed level of support for PCIe 5.0 devices. X670E should support up to two PCIe 5.0 graphics card slots and multiple PCIe 5.0 SSDs, whereas B650 may only support a single PCIe 5.0 SSD, using PCIe 3/4 elsewhere. PCIe 5.0 x4 supports theoretical sequential read speeds of 16 GB/s, with SSDs in the real world likely reaching 14 GB/s.