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upstart writes:

Facebook agrees to settle Cambridge Analytica lawsuit alleging millions of users' data exposed:

Facebook has agreed to settle a four-year federal lawsuit seeking damages for letting third parties, including Cambridge Analytica, access private user data, according to court filings.

The settlement – the terms of which have not been disclosed by Meta Platforms, the social media giant's parent company – brings closure to a long-running case alleging that Facebook violated consumer privacy laws by sharing millions of users' data with third parties, including the now-defunct British firm connected with Donald Trump's presidential campaign.

[...] The agreement was reached before a 20 September deadline for Meta CEO and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to submit pre-trial depositions in the case.

Now-former COO Sheryl Sandberg, who announced she is leaving the company after 14 years earlier this year, also was likely to be deposed.

[...] The lawsuit asserted Facebook is both a "data broker and surveillance firm" as well as a social network.

A spokesperson for Facebook told The Independent that the company does not have a comment at this time.

Original Submission

hubie writes:

Hiding chocolate stashes or Amazon purchases from a partner? 'Guilty' purchases may have benefits:

Do you have a secret stash of chocolates that you keep from your partner, or do you intentionally keep your spouse from knowing about something you bought on Amazon? New research indicates that small but commonly hidden actions such as these may be good for the relationship.

[...] "In our study, we found that 90% of people have recently kept everyday consumer behaviors a secret from a close other -- like a friend or spouse -- even though they also report that they don't think their partner would care if they knew about it," said Kelley Gullo Wight, an assistant professor of marketing at the Kelley School and one of two lead authors on the study. "Even though most of these secret acts are quite ordinary, they can still -- positively -- impact the relationship. The positive impact is an important piece."

Most previous research on secrets has focused on those that hide significant and negative information, such as trauma or extramarital affairs. That research has generally found negative outcomes of secrets.

[...] "One of my favorite findings is that partners often keep the same secrets from each other," said Brick, the study's co-lead author. "In one couple, both partners reported secretly eating meat when they were both supposed to be vegetarian."

Wight said their findings offer companies insights into ways to help consumers use their products in secret. For example, marketers should ask their consumers about when and from whom they use their products so they can better support the secret usage.

"We find that people generally keep consumption a secret from a specific person, not necessarily everyone, which means that encouraging secret consumption shouldn't inhibit other marketing strategies, such as word of mouth," Wight said.

Marketing research papers start with interesting observations on human behavior before revealing their evil underbelly when they point out how to manipulate people using that information.

Journal Reference:
Danielle J. Brick, Kelley Gullo Wight, and Gavan J. Fitzsimons, Secret consumer behaviors in close relationships, J Consumer Psych, 2022. DOI: 10.1002/jcpy.1315

Original Submission

An Anonymous Coward writes:

https://torrentfreak.com/denuvo-promises-to-kill-switch-emulator-piracy-with-new-protection-220824/

Anti-piracy company Denuvo has announced a new product that aims to prevent pirated copies of Nintendo Switch games from being played on PC-based emulators. Denuvo says that 'Nintendo Switch Emulator Protection' will have no impact on the gaming experience and will ensure that anyone wishing to play a game will have to buy a legitimate copy.

DenuvoMost video gamers will be familiar with the concept of an end-of-level or end-of-game 'boss'. They take many forms but tend to present as an escalated challenge designed to prevent gamers from progressing any further.

[...] Providing there's no obvious reuse of copyrighted code or trademark abuse, emulation software is mostly immune to legal attack. Emulators that mimic gaming hardware are mostly legal to develop, legal to distribute, legal to own, and even legal to use.

In reality, most emulator gamers like to gloss over that last bit. In the time it takes the minority to shout "HOMEBREW", the rest will have downloaded several hundred MAME ROMs, a few Nintendo Switch games, and will be playing them on a PC.

Nintendo is concerned about all piracy, but emulator piracy is special in that gamers don't need to buy games, and they don't need to buy a console either. Denuvo announced today that it has a new product to bring this to an end.

[...] Denuvo says its solution integrates "seamlessly and automatically" and works by detecting differences in the way a game behaves compared to what it was designed for.

"In this way, our software can tell that your game has been tampered with – and will make it unplayable." Denuvo says its solution will stop Switch games from being pirated and help to secure income for developers. As for gamers, they will "simply have to pay" if they want in on the action.

Original Submission

hubie writes:

Global hunt for dark matter arrives in Australia with completion of Stage 1 of Stawell Underground Physics Laboratory:

Located one kilometre underground in the Stawell Gold Mine, the first dark matter laboratory in the Southern Hemisphere is preparing to join the global quest to understand the nature of dark matter and unlock the secrets of our universe.

Officially unveiled today, the Stawell Underground Physics Laboratory (SUPL) will be the new epicentre of dark matter research in Australia.

[...] With Stage 1 now complete, the lab is ready to host the experiment known as SABRE South to be installed over the coming months, which aims to directly detect dark matter.

SABRE South will run in conjunction with the complementary SABRE experiment taking place in Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, Italy. These experiments are designed to detect Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs), one of the likely forms for dark matter particles.

[...] The Stawell laboratory will be managed by SUPL Ltd., which is co-owned by the University of Melbourne, ANSTO, the Australian National University, Swinburne University of Technology and the University of Adelaide.

Accompanying video

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

Lateral flow assays (LFA) tests have become ubiquitous within the general public; they are the format for standard home pregnancy and COVID-19 tests, indicating a positive result with a colored line, and a negative result with no colored line. In their current iteration, these tests are largely qualitative and binary in their outputs.

[...] In a paper published Aug. 17 in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, members of the lab of Professor Tim Swager, led by postdoc Jie Li and graduate student Weize Yuan, reveal the design for a new generation of LFA that uses conductivity (or resistivity) changes in an electronic polymer to create the response.

Electrical resistance (or conductance) is universal in electronic devices. It can be readily measured with great accuracy, and prior research has shown that the group's electronic LFAs have both intrinsic quantitative capabilities and ultra-high sensitivity. The approach of the MIT team generates base signals in which the resistance can change by 700,000 percent, and with these strong signals, can detect trace quantities of a target biomarker. The electronic-LFA uses a biological trigger employing the well-known enzyme glucose oxidase. It was shown to be able to monitor glucose, but this LFA is far more than a glucose meter.

[...] When this electronic LFA is integrated into a resonant radio frequency circuit, users can power and read the device with a conventional smartphone. As a result, the passive LFA-RFID devices can be used at home without a specialized reader. With this in mind, electronic LFA has enormous potential in home health care diagnostics and environmental monitoring.

Your smartphone will be able to read it, but I'm sure the information will need to go back to some company server before they will tell you what the measurements mean.

Journal Reference:
Jie Li et al, Wireless Lateral Flow Device for Biosensing, JACS (2022). DOI: 10.1021/jacs.2c06579

Original Submission

Four hours until liftoff!? NASA is scheduled to launch its first heavy-lift rocket since retiring the space shuttle in 2011.

At long last, the SLS rocket will soon launch. After a dozen years and more than $20 billion, the Space Launch System rocket has been cleared for launch by NASA's Flight Readiness Review process. This week I wrote a feature about the rocket's history, my history with it, and where I think it is taking the space program. In the end, I have decidedly mixed feelings about the launch. I most definitely want it to succeed, but I also cannot let go of the fact that its production was in some ways responsible for a lost decade of US space exploration.

So it's bad, but also it may be good ... Between the rocket, its ground systems, and the Orion spacecraft launching on top of the stack, NASA has spent tens of billions of dollars. But I would argue that the opportunity costs are higher. For a decade, Congress pushed NASA's exploration focus toward an Apollo-like program, with a massive launch vehicle that is utterly expended, using 1970s technology in its engines, tanks, and boosters. The good news is that, in building Congress' favorite rocket, NASA has recently been able to wrangle money from Congress for an actual deep space exploration program—Artemis. I'm not sure that happens without SLS.

Meanwhile, SpaceX has been busy. It has independently developing its own heavy-lift rocket called Starship. With a designed lift capacity of 100 metric tons to low-earth orbit AND reusability, too. First nearly round-the-earth flight is slated for later this year and to Mars in a "couple years". Was this worth the expense to NASA? Who will use it?

[Update 0755 UTC - JR] They are having a problem filling the hydrogen tanks but the countdown is continuing while they are trying to resolve the problem. Launch is expected at 0833 EDT.

[Update 1047 UTC - JR] Live stream of the action on youtube. Problems getting engine 3 to the correct temperature and this is currently being actioned using bleed hydrogen from the other engines through engine 3.

[Update 1244 UTC - t] Artemis I: NASA has missed the first launch window for its SLS rocket

The next launch window opens on 2 September, with another on 5 September. If the spacecraft has to be rolled back inside to fix the engine issue, it will likely be delayed beyond that.

upstart writes:

PFAS are everywhere and have been linked to negative health effects:

A team of scientists may have found a safe and affordable way to destroy "forever chemicals." PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are found in many household items, including non-stick Teflon pans and dental floss. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, at least 12,000 such substances exist today. They all share one common feature between them: a carbon-fluorine backbone that is one of the strongest known bonds in organic chemistry. It's what gives PFAS-treated cookware its non-stick quality. However, that same characteristic can make those substances harmful to humans.

Since they're so durable from a molecular perspective, PFAS can stay in soil and water for generations. [...]

In a study published Thursday in the journal Science, a group of chemists from UCLA, Northwestern University and China found that a mixture of sodium hydroxide, a chemical used in lye, and an organic solvent called dimethyl sulfoxide was effective at breaking down a large subgroup of PFAS known as perfluoro carboxylic acids or PFCAs. When lead author Brittany Trang heated the mixture between 175 and 250 degrees Fahrenheit (about 79 to 121 degrees Celsius), it began breaking down the bonds between the PFAS molecules. After a few days, the mixture can even reduce any fluorine byproducts into harmless molecules. The sodium hydroxide is part of what makes the mixture so potent. It bonds with PFAS molecules after the dimethyl sulfoxide softens them and hastens their breakdown.

Professor William Dichtel, one of the study's co-authors, told The New York Times there's a lot of work to be done before the solution works outside the lab.There's also the enormity of the problem. [...]

I suppose it is affordable once you have accumulated the PFAS first.

Journal Reference:
Brittany Trang, Yuli Li, Xiao-Song Xue, et al., Low-temperature mineralization of perfluorocarboxylic acids, Science, 377, 2022. DOI: 10.1126/science.abm8868

Original Submission

An Anonymous Coward writes:

A new study finds that most "silent" mutations are harmful rather than neutral:

Marshall Nirenberg, a University of Michigan alumni, and a small group of researchers cracked the genetic code of life in the early 1960s, figuring out the rule by which information stored in DNA molecules is converted into proteins, the functional components of living cells.

They discovered three-letter DNA units called codons that describe each of the 20 amino acids that make up proteins. This discovery would win Nirenberg and two others the Nobel Prize.

Occasionally, single-letter misspellings in the genetic code, known as point mutations, occur. Nonsynonymous mutations are point modifications that alter the protein sequences that result from them, while silent or synonymous mutations do not change the protein sequences.

[...] “Since the genetic code was solved in the 1960s, synonymous mutations have been generally thought to be benign. We now show that this belief is false,” said study senior author Jianzhi “George” Zhang, the Marshall W. Nirenberg Collegiate Professor in the U-M Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

“Because many biological conclusions rely on the presumption that synonymous mutations are neutral, its invalidation has broad implications. For example, synonymous mutations are generally ignored in the study of disease-causing mutations, but they might be an underappreciated and common mechanism.”

First Underground Radar Images From Mars Perseverance Rover Reveal Some Surprises

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

After a tantalizing year-and-a-half wait since the Mars Perseverance Rover touched down on our nearest planetary neighbor, new data is arriving—and bringing with it a few surprises.

[...] Perseverance is currently exploring a delta on the western edge of the crater, where a river once fed the lake, leaving behind a large deposit of dirt and rocks it picked up along its course. As the rover gathers more data, the researchers hope to clear up the complex history of this part of the Red Planet.

"We were quite surprised to find rocks stacked up at an inclined angle," said David Paige, a UCLA professor of Earth, planetary and space sciences and one of the lead researchers on the Radar Imager for Mars Subsurface Experiment, or RIMFAX. "We were expecting to see horizontal rocks on the crater floor. The fact that they are tilted like this requires a more complex geologic history. They could have been formed when molten rock rose up towards the surface, or, alternatively, they could represent an older delta deposit buried in the crater floor."

[...] "RIMFAX is giving us the backstory of the samples we're going to analyze. It's exciting that the rover's instruments are producing data and we're starting to learn, but there's a lot more to come," Paige said. "We landed on the crater floor, but now we're driving up on the actual delta, which is the main target of the mission. This is just the beginning of what we'll hopefully soon know about Mars."

upstart writes:

Norway reportedly wants to fine Meta for illegal data transfers:

A month after the Irish data watchdog submitted a draft ruling to EU regulators, Norway has weighed in on the legal quagmire around EU-US data transfers.

Norway's data protection authority wants Facebook's parent company to be fined for continuing to transfer EU data to the US in violation of EU law, according to a document seen by Politico.

While Norway is not a member of the EU, it is part of the European Economic Area which has incorporated GDPR.

The proposal was a response to a draft ruling issued by the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) to other EU regulators last month, following an investigation into whether Meta's transatlantic data-sharing practices comply with EU rules.

[...] Datatilsynet said that while limitations and bans can ensure future processing of personal data is in line with GDPR, sanctions such as administrative fines "are directed towards violations in the past and carry a punitive element".

[...] In March, Meta was fined €17m by the Irish DPC for not complying with GDPR requirements and having in place "appropriate technical and organisational measures" to protect user data in the context of a dozen data breaches.

But Meta could be waiting some time for a ruling from the DPC on the US-EU data transfers case. Politico reported earlier this month that the Irish watchdog has received objections from several other EU regulators to its draft order, delaying a final decision.

€17M is punitive? Zuckerberg's annual haircut budget is probably larger than that.

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

Even a relatively small nuclear war would create a worldwide food crisis lasting at least a decade in which hundreds of millions would starve, according to our new modeling published in Nature Food.

In a nuclear war, bombs dropped on cities and industrial areas would start firestorms, injecting large amounts of soot into the upper atmosphere. This soot would spread globally and rapidly cool the planet.

Although the war might only last days or weeks, the impacts on Earth's climate could persist for more than ten years. We used advanced climate and food production models to explore what this would mean for the world's food supply.

[...] We simulated six different war scenarios, because the amount of soot injected into the upper atmosphere would depend on the number of weapons used.

The smallest war in our scenarios was a "limited" conflict between India and Pakistan, involving 100 Hiroshima-sized weapons (less than 3% of the global nuclear arsenal). The largest was a global nuclear holocaust, in which Russia and the United States detonate 90% of the world's nuclear weapons.

[...] Even under the smallest war scenario we considered, sunlight over global crop regions would initially fall by about 10%, and global average temperatures would drop by up to 1–2℃. For a decade or so, this would cancel out all human-induced warming since the Industrial Revolution.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

T-Mobile is looking to SpaceX's satellites in the skies to help flesh out its network coverage. On Thursday, the two companies announced that they will be working together to "bring cell phone connectivity everywhere," including offering "complete coverage in most places in the US." 

The partnership aims to use SpaceX's constellation of low Earth orbit satellites to beam down connectivity that T-Mobile users can tap into. While SpaceX already offers home internet service around the globe through its Starlink program, with this program T-Mobile users should be able to connect to the SpaceX satellites through a "new network, broadcast from Starlink's satellites using T-Mobile's midband spectrum nationwide." 

Although the company hasn't yet offered specifics on where the network will appear, T-Mobile says it should deliver "nearly complete coverage almost anywhere a customer can see the sky," with the companies envisioning this service as a replacement for using satellite phones in remote areas like a national park or in the mountains.

The carrier will start offering service through SpaceX in a beta that will take place in "select areas by the end of next year" as SpaceX launches its Starlink V2 satellites. Once operational, the network should cover the continental US as well as Hawaii, "parts" of Alaska, Puerto Rico and "territorial waters."

The beta will initially be limited just to text messaging (via SMS, MMS and "participating messaging apps") though T-Mobile and SpaceX are open to adding voice and data support in the future (albeit with no timeline given beyond "the coming years"). 

[...] Because the new network is broadcasting over T-Mobile's midband spectrum, the wireless carrier said that the "vast majority of smartphones" already on its network will be compatible with the new service and that users won't necessarily need to buy a new phone to tap into the signal. The cellular network will be exclusive to T-Mobile customers and will exist alongside SpaceX's Starlink broadband program on future satellites that SpaceX launches. 

[...] As for pricing, Sievert said the company plans to include it on the carrier's "most popular plans," though older or cheaper plans may need to pay a monthly fee for the feature.

Original Submission

hubie writes:

An experiment prepared by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) will launch as part of NASA's scheduled Artemis I mission to orbit the moon Aug. 29:

The NRL experiment will use samples of fungi to investigate effects of the deep space radiation environment outside of Earth's protective magnetosphere.

[...] In addition to being found in human environments, fungi are notable for their natural mechanisms to protect and repair DNA damage caused by radiation. The experiment seeks to understand fungi's radiation protective qualities, as well as generally studying how biological systems adapt to deep space.

[...] "Looking at the impact of melanin and DNA repair pathways in the samples with the effects of both cosmic radiation and microgravity will increase our knowledge for how humans may be impacted at the Moon and beyond as we continue to explore further," said Zheng Wang, NRL microbiologist and the principal investigator on this project. "We also hope to gain knowledge for the development of new ways to protect astronauts and equipment during space travel. As the fungi adapt to the space environment they may also produce novel biomolecules that could have therapeutic potentials."

While NRL has a long history in space exploration, stretching back to the V-2 rocket test in the late 1940s, this experiment marks a first in space for the Lab. The fungal experiment will become the first biological project performed at NRL to be launched to space.

[...] The NRL experiment is one of four space biology investigations selected for Biological Experiment 01 (BioExpt-01) mission aboard the Orion spacecraft by NASA's Space Biology Program. During the Artemis I mission, the fungal samples will be stored in a specialized Biological Research in Canisters system within the crew compartment of NASA's Orion capsule. According to NASA, all of the investigations aim to study DNA damage and protection from radiation, which for Moon missions experience approximately twice as much radiation exposure as levels on the ISS.

Accompanying video

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

The Chattanooga telecommunications company EPB is launching the first communitywide 25Gbps internet speed tier in the US.

[...] The 25,000Mbps plan, which features symmetrical download and upload speeds, is five times faster than AT&T's highly touted "hypergig" plan and Ziply Fiber's speediest tier. It's more than four times faster than the Gigabit Pro plan from Xfinity. 

Chattanooga might still be most familiar for some as the city name-checked in the popular 1941 Glenn Miller Orchestra song Chattanooga Choo Choo. But to observers in the tech industry, it's been known as "Gig City" for more than 10 years. It was an early adopter of Gig-speed internet, offering it communitywide back in 2010, and it was the first US city to have a residential, 10 gig plan, back in 2015.  

"We are once again breaking the typical approach for internet service providers by proactively upgrading to the latest technologies in anticipation of future needs," said EPB Board Chair Vicky Gregg in a press release. "Our goal is to enable new frontiers for technical innovation and job creation for our customers to the benefit of our whole community."

Original Submission

upstart writes:

Nato investigates hacker sale of missile firm data:

NATO is assessing the impact of a data breach of classified military documents being sold by a hacker group online.

The data includes blueprints of weapons being used by NATO allies in the Ukraine conflict. Criminal hackers are selling the dossiers after stealing data linked to a major European weapons maker. MBDA Missile Systems admitted its data was among the stash but claimed none of the classified files belong to the firm.

The pan-European company, which is headquartered in France, said its information was hacked from a compromised external hard drive, adding that it was cooperating with authorities in Italy, where the data breach took place.

It is understood investigations are centred around one of MBDA's suppliers.

In a statement, a Nato spokesperson said: "We are assessing claims relating to data allegedly stolen from MBDA. We have no indication that any NATO network has been compromised."

Cyber criminals, operating on Russian and English forums, are selling 80GB of the stolen data for 15 Bitcoins (approximately £273,000) and claimed to have sold the stash to at least one unknown buyer so far.

In their advert for the stolen data, the hackers claimed to have "classified information about employees of companies that took part in the development of closed military projects" as well as "design documentation, drawings, presentations, video and photo materials, contract agreements and correspondence with other companies".

Original Submission