SoylentNews

upstart writes:

A team of researchers suggests the space observatory just spotted "dark stars"—theoretical stellar objects powered by dark matter:

Astronomers looking at ancient light seen by the Webb Space Telescope have found three pinpricks that they think could be "dark stars," theoretical objects powered by dark matter.

Dark matter makes up about 27% of the universe; its partner in ambiguity, dark energy, makes up about 68%. You can do the math: we know stunningly little of what makes up the universe and how it behaves. It's in that zone of cosmic uncertainty that Webb's latest targets pop up. The team's research was published last week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[...] The three objects date to when the universe was between 320 million and 400 million years old, making them quite young (in a cosmic sense). And while they could well be galaxies containing millions of stars, the recent research team posits that they are never-before-seen dark stars, which could be millions of times the mass of our Sun and would be powered by the collisions of dark matter particles, rather than nuclear fusion.

Dark matter is not literally dark, at least not necessarily. It is called dark matter because it is nearly impossible for humans to detect. We see dark matter in its gravitational effects; haloes of dark matter glom galaxies together, and astronomers see ancient light more clearly when dark matter bends and focuses the photons transiting its gravitational field.

owl writes:

https://medium.com/re-form/x-to-close-417936dfc0dc

X's are everywhere in user interface (UI) design. A powerful symbol, [x] is capable of closing windows and popups, toolbars and tabs and anything else that might otherwise be cluttering up your screen.

Clicking on [x] to close a feature has become an instinctual part of using a computer and a standard in web and software design. Although it may seem like the ubiquitous [x] has always been a part of Graphical User Interfaces (GUI), a quick jaunt through the history of GUIs reveals that this actually isn't the case.

So where and when did the [x] first enter into the UI lexicon?

Original Submission

upstart writes:

Thankfully the probe regularly phones home to fix this sort of mess:

NASA revealed on Friday that its venerable Voyager 2 probe is currently incommunicado, because the space agency pointed its antenna in the wrong direction.

By the time the news was released, the antenna on the spacecraft had been pointing two degrees away from the Earth for over a week.

This left it without the ability to receive commands or transmit data to antennae operated by the Deep Space Network (DSN).

NASA reckons the situation is temporary and will not end the probe's nearly 46-year stint in space as it is programmed to recalibrate its position a few times a year. October 15 is the next scheduled reset.

[...] But while old cars can be lovingly worked on by hand in real time, the Voyagers are over 20 light hours from Earth, and communication crawls along at a tedious 160 bits per second.

Original Submission

upstart writes:

As Twitter destroys its brand by renaming itself X, Mastodon user numbers are again soaring:

As Twitter ditches its iconic branding in favor of owner Elon Musk's favorite letter "X," its open source rival Mastodon is seeing usage numbers soar. According to a new post from Mastodon founder and CEO Eugen Rochko, the number of monthly active users for his Twitter alternative has been steadily climbing over the past couple of months to have now reached 2.1 million — or, as remarked Rochko, "not far off from our last peak."

Previously, Mastodon's monthly active user numbers had peaked at 2.5 million between the months of October and November, which was shortly after Elon Musk officially took ownership of Twitter. Before, Mastodon had been a much smaller network, with approximately 300,000 monthly active users, the founder had said.

The fate of Mastodon's growth seems often to be tied to Twitter's moves — or rather, its missteps. After Twitter's acquisition, for example, there was a bit of a Twitter exodus as longtime users rebelled against the changes that Musk soon enacted on their favorite microblogging site, ranging from widespread layoffs to erratic moves impacting Twitter's platform, policy and product strategies, which included a mishandled relaunch of Twitter's subscription, Twitter Blue, which devalued verification by opening it up to anyone with a credit card to pay for it. That decision is still negatively affecting the Twitter experience, as the company recently admitted to having a Verified spammer problem, requiring a change to Twitter DMs.

Twitter has officially changed its logo to 'X'

Original Submission

hubie writes:

A team of researchers from around the world is urging the international community to recognize the full environmental and health threat of plastics:

In a new Viewpoint published in Environmental Science & Technology the researchers argue categorizing plastics, including micro- and nano-sized particles as PBT pollutants would give governments the tools they need to better manage plastic production, use and recycling.

"We need to wake up the world and understand the risks of these pollutants," says University of British Columbia (UBC) ocean researcher Dr. Juan José Alava, lead author of the paper that includes researchers from Canada, the United States, Europe, South America and Asia.

[...] "We live in the age of plastic — the Plasticene," says Dr. Alava, principal investigator of the Ocean Pollution Research Unit at UBC's Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries. "There's plastic everywhere. It is in the ocean, coastal zones and terrestrial environment. It has been found in animals across the globe, human tissues and organs, and deep in the Mariana Trench — the deepest part of our ocean. They do not degrade easily, so they last for many, many years."

[...] Plastics are prone to accumulation in all organisms, with aquatic animals most at risk of exposure to micro- and nano-sized particle. These particles are toxic to marine animals — they can change gene and protein expression, produce inflammatory responses, affect brain development, and decrease growth and reproduction rates, while also preventing proper feeding and foraging behaviours.

"It's hugely important to remember that it's not just plastics," emphasizes Dr. Gunilla Öberg, coauthor from UBC's Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, University of British Columbia. "Many plastic products contain chemicals that in themselves are known to be persistent, bioaccumulate and toxic."

hubie writes:

Five subtypes of heart failure that could potentially be used to predict future risk for individual patients have been identified:

Heart failure is an umbrella term for when the heart is unable to pump blood around the body properly. Current ways of classifying heart failure do not accurately predict how the disease is likely to progress.

[...] Using several machine learning methods, they identified five subtypes: early onset, late onset, atrial fibrillation related (atrial fibrillation is a condition causing an irregular heart rhythm), metabolic (linked to obesity but with a low rate of cardiovascular disease), and cardiometabolic (linked to obesity and cardiovascular disease).

The researchers found differences between the subtypes in patients' risk of dying in the year after diagnosis. The all-cause mortality risks at one year were: early onset (20%), late onset (46%), atrial fibrillation related (61%), metabolic (11%), and cardiometabolic (37%).

[...] "The next step is to see if this way of classifying heart failure can make a practical difference to patients – whether it improves predictions of risk and the quality of information clinicians provide, and whether it changes patients' treatment. We also need to know if it would be cost effective. The app we have designed needs to be evaluated in a clinical trial or further research, but could help in routine care."

[...] The subtypes were established on the basis of 87 (of a possible 635) factors including age, symptoms, the presence of other conditions, the medications the patient was taking, and the results of tests (e.g., of blood pressure) and assessments (e.g., of kidney function).

The team also looked at genetic data from 9,573 individuals with heart failure from the UK Biobank study. They found a link between particular subtypes of heart failure and higher polygenic risk scores (scores of overall risk due to genes as a whole) for conditions such as hypertension and atrial fibrillation.

Journal Reference:
Amitava Banerjee et al., Identifying subtypes of heart failure from three electronic health record sources with machine learning: an external, prognostic, and genetic validation study [open], Lancet Digital Health, 2023. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2589-7500(23)00065-1

Original Submission

upstart writes:

Russia Sends Cybersecurity CEO to Jail for 14 Years:

The Russian government today handed down a treason conviction and 14-year prison sentence on Iyla Sachkov, the former founder and CEO of one of Russia's largest cybersecurity firms. Sachkov, 37, has been detained for nearly two years under charges that the Kremlin has kept classified and hidden from public view, and he joins a growing roster of former Russian cybercrime fighters who are now serving hard time for farcical treason convictions.

In 2003, Sachkov founded Group-IB, a cybersecurity and digital forensics company that quickly earned a reputation for exposing and disrupting large-scale cybercrime operations, including quite a few that were based in Russia and stealing from Russian companies and citizens.

In September 2021, the Kremlin issued treason charges against Sachkov, although it has refused to disclose any details about the allegations. Sachkov pleaded not guilty. After a three-week "trial" that was closed to the public, Sachkov was convicted of treason and sentenced to 14 years in prison. Prosecutors had asked for 18 years.

[...] In December 2021, Bloomberg reported that Sachkov was alleged to have given the United States information about the Russian "Fancy Bear" operation that sought to influence the 2016 U.S. election. Fancy Bear is one of several names (e.g., APT28) for an advanced Russian cyber espionage group that has been linked to the Russian military intelligence agency GRU.

Original Submission

Stanford University President, Dr. Marc Tessier-Lavigne, has resigned after a university investigation found that he had fostered an environment that led to "unusual frequency of manipulation of research data and/or substandard scientific practices" across labs at multiple institutions.

The review focused on five major papers for which he was listed as a principal author, finding evidence of manipulation of research data in four of them and a lack of scientific rigor in the fifth, a famous study that he said would "turn our current understanding of Alzheimer's on its head."

The Stanford investigation did not find that Dr. Tessier-Lavigne personally altered data or pasted pieces of experimental images together. Instead, it found that he had presided over a lab culture that "tended to reward the 'winners' (that is, postdocs who could generate favorable results) and marginalize or diminish the 'losers' (that is, postdocs who were unable or struggled to generate such data)."

A cynical Soylentil might see Dr. Tessier-Lavigne in much the same way as Al Capone who was only found guilty of tax evasion. Who benefited from falsification "across labs at multiple institutions"? It's well past time to put the scientists back in science and rethink the funding system that rewards the bullshitters.

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

Rapidus, a semiconductor consortium backed by the Japanese government and industrial conglomerates, plans to start high-volume production of chips on its 2nm fabrication process in 2027. In a bid to ensure that all of its production capacity is used, Rapidus wants to land orders from at least one global company, essentially competing with TSMC and other foundries. But at the same time, Rapidus does not plan to be like TSMC.

[...] In a bid to recoup production node R&D costs and fab costs, one needs to produce a boatload of chips on a leading-edge node and Japanese companies may not generate significant demand for such parts. Which is why Rapidus needs to land orders from a multinational like Apple or AWS.

"We are looking for a U.S. partner, and we have begun discussions with some GAFAM [Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft] corporations," said Atsuyoshi Koike, chief executive of Rapidus, in an interview with Nikkei. "Specifically, there is demand [for chips] from data centers [and] right now, TSMC is the only company that can make the semiconductors they envision. That is where Rapidus will enter."

[...] Interestingly, Rapidus is not looking forward serving dozens of companies, but only intends to serve five to 10 clients. 

[...] It remains to be seen whether 5 to 10 companies can generate enough demand to recoup tens of billions of dollars that Rapidus will need to invest to start 2nm production in 2027. Meanwhile, winning even five customers with significant 2nm orders in 2027 will be quite difficult, since the number of companies willing to invest in designs to be made on a leading-edge node is fairly limited.

Then again, from Japanese government point of view, Rapidus is meant to rejuvenate the leading-edge semiconductor supply chain in the country — so even if the company's 2nm node does not turn out to be a triumph, it will still pave the way for successors and open new doors to local chip designers. 

Original Submission

hubie writes:

Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden have shown that it can be cheaper to run heavy goods vehicles on electricity than on diesel:

The transition from a fossil-fuelled to an electric vehicle fleet has so far been most visible in lighter vehicles, such as private cars and delivery vans. In the case of heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) travelling long distances, the transition has been slow because the prevailing view is that such vehicles would need large batteries, which take up so much load capacity that electric operation is not profitable. But now researchers at Chalmers University of Technology have found that electricity can indeed be a cheaper alternative to diesel – even for heavy goods vehicles.

"We have looked at a scenario where heavy goods vehicles drive the 553 kilometres between Helsingborg and Stockholm in Sweden. We have compared two different battery sizes and two possible prices for fast charging. Our conclusion is that it seems possible to electrify this type of vehicle in a cost-effective way," says Johannes Karlsson.

In the study, the researchers created a model based on data from a real haulage company in the town of Helsingborg, which was chosen because it can be considered to have typical tasks and operating conditions for a haulage company in that part of Sweden covering long distances. The large battery did not need to be recharged on the road, only at the company's own depots, but it did take up more load capacity. The smaller battery needed quick charging on the road but did not restrict the load capacity as much. The results showed that running on electricity was profitable for the haulage company in the study.

This is a summary report from the SoylentNews PBC meeting of Monday, July 31, 2023. An IRC log of the full text of the meeting (from channel #meeting) is available, as well as a log of the related discussion (IRC log of #meeting-discuss channel).

[Ed. note: the # sign gives problems so here they are in plain text, feel free to left click and open in a new window]

#Meeting:
https://logs.sylnt.us/%23meeting/2023-07-31.html
#Meeting-discuss:
https://logs.sylnt.us/%23meeting-discuss/2023-07-31.html

The Meeting

The significant events of the meeting were as follows:

• matt_ called the meeting to order at 4:34pm EDT with all members (matt_ and NCommander) present. The community was invited to sit in on the meeting and participate in a Q&A session afterwards.
• matt_ moved that minutes from the previous meeting be accepted; NCommander seconded; motion passed.
• NCommander nominated kolie to be added to the board of directors of SoylentNews PBC as the third member (after matt_ and NCommander). matt_ moved that the board be expanded to three and kolie added; NCommander seconded; motion carried unanimously.
• kolie put forth a detailed proposal for the establishment of a governance committee to replace the existing governing structure. There was general agreement, and discussion about the legality of such a move.
• It was decided that such a governance committee should decide on a new governing structure going forward, which the PBC would then transfer its assets to (all ip, including the domain, trademarks, data, etc.).
• The proposal was restated by matt_ as a motion, "Motion to approve the formation of a committee of volunteers to explore the formation of a new entity for the purpose of acquiring the PBC's assets, including all internet domains, data, and intellectual property, which committee shall present a proposal to the Board within 14 days of today's date, which may be extended to a maximum of 90 days at the committee's discretion."
• Both kolie and NCommander seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
• There being no further official business, matt_ moved to adjourn, kolie seconded, and the meeting was adjourned at 5:28pm EDT.

After the meeting there was a Q&A time, and some steps were taken towards the formation of the governance committee.

upstart writes:

Vendors knew all about it, but most customers were clueless:

For more than 25 years, a technology used for critical data and voice radio communications around the world has been shrouded in secrecy to prevent anyone from closely scrutinizing its security properties for vulnerabilities. But now it's finally getting a public airing thanks to a small group of researchers in the Netherlands who got their hands on its viscera and found serious flaws, including a deliberate backdoor.

The backdoor, known for years by vendors that sold the technology but not necessarily by customers, exists in an encryption algorithm baked into radios sold for commercial use in critical infrastructure. It's used to transmit encrypted data and commands in pipelines, railways, the electric grid, mass transit, and freight trains. It would allow someone to snoop on communications to learn how a system works, then potentially send commands to the radios that could trigger blackouts, halt gas pipeline flows, or reroute trains.

Researchers found a second vulnerability in a different part of the same radio technology that is used in more specialized systems sold exclusively to police forces, prison personnel, military, intelligence agencies, and emergency services, such as the C2000 communication system used by Dutch police, fire brigades, ambulance services, and Ministry of Defense for mission-critical voice and data communications. The flaw would let someone decrypt encrypted voice and data communications and send fraudulent messages to spread misinformation or redirect personnel and forces during critical times.

Three Dutch security analysts discovered the vulnerabilities—five in total—in a European radio standard called TETRA (Terrestrial Trunked Radio), which is used in radios made by Motorola, Damm, Hytera, and others. The standard has been used in radios since the '90s, but the flaws remained unknown because encryption algorithms used in TETRA were kept secret until now.

[...] The researchers say anyone using radio technologies should check with their manufacturer to determine if their devices are using TETRA and what fixes or mitigations are available.

Original Submission

hubie writes:

Robots and Rights: Confucianism Offers Alternative:

Philosophers and legal scholars have explored significant aspects of the moral and legal status of robots, with some advocating for giving robots rights. As robots assume more roles in the world, a new analysis reviewed research on robot rights, concluding that granting rights to robots is a bad idea. Instead, the article looks to Confucianism to offer an alternative.

[...] "People are worried about the risks of granting rights to robots," notes Tae Wan Kim, Associate Professor of Business Ethics at CMU's Tepper School of Business, who conducted the analysis. "Granting rights is not the only way to address the moral status of robots: Envisioning robots as rites bearers—not [as] rights bearers—could work better."

[...] Although many believe that respecting robots should lead to granting them rights, Kim argues for a different approach. Confucianism, an ancient Chinese belief system, focuses on the social value of achieving harmony; individuals are made distinctively human by their ability to conceive of interests not purely in terms of personal self-interest, but in terms that include a relational and a communal self. This, in turn, requires a unique perspective on rites, with people enhancing themselves morally by participating in proper rituals.

When considering robots, Kim suggests that the Confucian alternative of assigning rites—or what he calls role obligations—to robots is more appropriate than giving robots rights. The concept of rights is often adversarial and competitive, and potential conflict between humans and robots is concerning.

upstart writes:

ESA awards contract for demo of plane-tracking satellites:

The European Space Agency (ESA) has awarded a contract to a US company to create a technology demonstrator for a proposed aircraft monitoring system using low Earth orbit satellites.

Spire Global, headquartered in San Francisco, won the €16 million ($17.6 million) agreement for the EURIALO project, which aims to prove that a satellite-based system can monitor aircraft in flight for air traffic management purposes, without relying on any existing systems.

[...] The EURIALO project intends to demonstrate the viability of using satellites to track aircraft by determining in real time the aircraft position based on timing the arrival of radio signals detected by multiple satellites, a technique known as multilateration. The radio signals in this case will be standard telecoms radio signals already routinely broadcast by aircraft.

Current monitoring systems largely rely on self-reported positions of aircraft, which are typically obtained from satellite navigation systems. The objective of EURIALO is to provide a complementary tracking system that can feed location data to existing air navigation service providers for integration into their services.

Ultimately, this could help track planes in real time from takeoff to landing anywhere in the world and could more speedily locate aircraft in the event of an emergency. It isn't clear whether such a system would have helped in the infamous case of Malaysia Airlines flight 370, which went missing in 2014, as the aircraft's transponder was apparently switched off mid-flight, as was the Aircraft Communication Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS).

Under the terms of the contract, Spire will develop a design for an operational satellite constellation then deploy and operate a demonstrator mission that proves the performance of the service. It will head up a consortium of other companies as part of the project, including European Satellite Services Provider (ESSP), which was founded by seven air navigation service providers and is based in Toulouse, France.

Original Submission

upstart writes:

Robots—and then humans—are going back to the lunar surface. Here's what they'll be doing:

We're going back to the moon. And back. And back. And back again.

It's been more than 50 years since humans last walked on the lunar surface, but starting this year, an array of missions from private companies and national space agencies plan to take us back, sending everything from small robotic probes to full-fledged human landers.

The ultimate goal? Getting humans living and working on the moon, and then using it as a way station for possible later missions into deep space.

More than a dozen robotic vehicles are scheduled to land on the moon in the 2020s.

[...] These private companies are backed by millions of dollars in government money, driven by NASA's desire to return humans to the moon as part of its Artemis program. NASA wants to expand commercial moon activity in the same way it has helped fund commercial activity in Earth orbit with companies such as SpaceX.

"The goal is we return to the moon, open up a lunar economy, and continue exploring to Mars," says Nujoud Merancy, chief of NASA's Exploration Mission Planning Office at the Johnson Space Center in Texa. The ultimate plan, Merancy says, is to foster a "permanent settlement on the moon."

Not all are convinced, especially when it comes to how companies will make money on lunar missions outside of funding from NASA. "What is the GDP of lunar activities?" says Sinead O'Sullivan, a former senior researcher at Harvard Business School's Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness. "Some commercial economy may evolve, but it's kind of hard to tell."