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upstart writes:

In a feat of engineering, the X-59 travels faster than the speed of sound, while making barely any sound at all:

The Lockheed Martin X-59 is probably the strangest airplane ever designed. Its razor-sharp nose takes half of the airplane's length; there's no cockpit in sight; the wings are tiny compared to the entire fuselage; and its oversized tail engine looks like a weird hump about to fall off. Of course, there's a method to this madness. The design is the secret sauce that has produced a true unicorn: a supersonic jet that doesn't boom the hell out of people and buildings on the ground.

[...] The X-59's "quiet" supersonic boom isn't made possible by expensive magical materials or exotic engines, Richardson explains. "There is no radical technology in the airplane itself. It really is just the shape of the aircraft." And if the shape looks more like an anime alien spaceship than an actual vehicle created by human beings, that's because it was dreamed up in another dimension—by computers and humans—through special software created by the Bethesda, Maryland, company's engineers.

Many of the problems that plague supersonic flight can be traced back to the Concorde, the famous supersonic passenger jet that could travel from New York to London in a mere three and a half hours. When the Concorde first took flight in 1969, people were enthralled by the idea of super-fast air travel. It sounded like a technological marvel . . . until they heard the actual sound.

[...] The Concorde continued to fly until it was decommissioned in 2003, but most airlines couldn't justify the cost of operating the airplane if its supersonic abilities could be used only over water. "The real breakthrough for supersonic flight would be to be able to fly over land again so that you have those long routes where that supersonic flight is more advantageous," Richardson says. So that's exactly what Lockheed Martin set out to build.

mrpg writes:

Devs say a hotfix is incoming for the code, if not for the early access vibes:

When it comes to early access games, the only thing harder than code and quality assurance may be setting expectations.

Kerbal Space Program 2 was initially announced for 2020, then, after a whole bunch of development shifts, arrived in early access in February 2023—a bit too early, as suggested by player feedback. There were complaints about missing features and missing tutorials, but now there's an issue with having too much of something: Windows registry entries.

As detailed in a bug report, Kerbal Space Program 2 (KSP2) drops lots and lots of "PqsObjectState" entries into the Windows registry. The initial bug report offers a 322MB text file of them, to the point that the game started throwing "PlayerPrefsException" errors and refusing to load. The issue seems to be with how the game is using the Unity engine's PlayerPrefs game preference storing system.

[...] Discussion on Reddit, Steam, and elsewhere differs on the severity of the issue, with speculation that the developers simply set the wrong kind of variable for preferences, leading to the windfall of Registry entries. While there's heated debate about whether a stuffed registry can contribute to game performance issues or wider system problems, beyond a few hundred MB of chewed-up space, there is one broad point of agreement: It's a bad look for a game already viewed as having been offered up too early, even with a prominent Early Access label.

[...] Steam, among other platforms, continues to let customers review early access games. Kerbal Space Program is aggregated for all reviews as "Overwhelmingly Positive," while KSP2 is "Mixed" for all reviews, and "Mostly Negative" for 342 recent reviews, as of this writing. We will see whether this kind of feedback helps shape the game for its final release.

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upstart writes:

Elon Musk's X removes general option to report misleading info about politics:

X (formerly Twitter) appears to have removed an option that allowed users in a handful of markets to directly report misleading information about politics.

An Australian digital research group called Reset.Australia spotted the change and posted an open letter (via the Guardian), addressed to X's country manager, in which it writes:

A recent change to your reporting process appears to have left Australian users unable to report electoral misinformation.  This is because the categories for reporting in Australia offer no option to report electoral misinformation. Users are offered inappropriate categories such as hate speech, abuse, spam, imitation etc. Previously Australian users could select 'It's misleading' about 'Politics' category. This may leave violative content subject to an inappropriate review process and not labelled or removed in compliance with your policies.

The group warns X that the change could breach Australia's misinformation code — which it notes requires signatories to enable users to "report content or behaviours to Signatories that violate their policies... through publicly available and accessible reporting tools".

"X's Civic Integrity Policy makes clear that electoral misinformation is against your policies (see appendix 2). Users should be able to report this content appropriately," it adds. The letter also points out the timing of the change comes ahead of a major vote — dubbing it "extremely concerning that Australians would lose the ability to report serious misinformation weeks away from a major referendum".

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

The WEA test will play out on consumer cellular phones that are turned on, within range of an active tower, and whose provider participates in WEA testing. The test text message will read, "THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed."

A translated version of the text message will be displayed on devices with Spanish set as their primary language and will state the following: "ESTA ES UNA PRUEBA del Sistema Nacional de Alerta de Emergencia. No se necesita acción." The message will be broadcast for approximately 30 minutes, we are told.

WEA messages are free and do not count against texting limits on metered plans. There is no way to opt out of the test, and you will apparently receive an audible alert even if your device is on silent mode.

FEMA said WEA alerts are accompanied by a unique tone and vibration as to ensure they are accessible to the entire public, including those with disabilities. They are reserved for federal, state, local, territorial, and tribal governments and are sent to participating wireless providers, who pass them along to devices in geo-targeted regions.

The ESA test, meanwhile, will run for approximately one minute and be conducted in cooperation with television and radio broadcasters as well as over cable systems, weather radios, and via satellite radio. The message seen on these platforms will resemble familiar monthly ESA test messages, and will be be served as a common alerting protocol (CAP) message via the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System-Open Platform for Emergency Networks (IPAWS-OPEN).

The public tests can be a minor inconvenience but are a necessary evil to ensure that emergency alert services are operating as intended in the event of a true emergency. A backup date of October 11 is also in place should widespread severe weather or other significant events occur on October 4.

[...] Download Press Release PDF Accessible TXT Tags:Preparedness IPAWS News & Media

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upstart writes:

Nissan to go all-electric by 2030 despite petrol ban delay:

Nissan will accelerate plans towards electrification by committing that all vehicles sold in Europe will be electric by 2030.

The announcement comes despite the UK postponing its 2030 ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars to 2035.

Nissan's boss said the firm's move was "the right thing to do".

Car trade body the SMMT has voiced concerns that the postponement of the ban would see consumers delay the switch to electric vehicles.

Nissan will also introduce new battery technology by the end of the decade that it said will reduce both the charging time and cost of electric vehicles (EVs).

"Nissan will make the switch to full electric by 2030 in Europe. We believe it is the right thing to do for our business, our customers and for the planet," said Nissan's chief executive Makoto Uchida.

In an interview with the BBC, Mr Uchida said the company was aiming to bring down the cost of electric vehicles for customers, so that they were no more expensive than petrol and diesel cars.

"It may take a bit of time, but we are looking at the next few years," he said.

"We are looking at it from the point of view of the technology, from the point of view of cooperating with suppliers, and of course working with the government on how we can deliver that kind of cost competitiveness to the consumer," Mr Uchida added.

Will that price parity happen by 2030? "That's what we're aiming for," confirmed Mr Uchida.

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Freeman writes:

https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/eclipses/home/

Safety is the number one priority when viewing a solar eclipse. Be sure you're familiar with and follow these safety guidelines when viewing an eclipse.
[...]
Quick fact:
The U.S. will experience the next two solar eclipses: an annular in October 2023 and a total in April 2024. You can see the paths and download the map of these eclipses here. See Also: Annular Solar Eclipse: October 14, 2023
Total Solar Eclipse: April 8, 2024

from Annular solar eclipse 2023: Everything you need to know about North America's 'ring of fire' eclipse

Roughly 11 years after the same type of solar eclipse crossed the U.S. Southwest on May 20, 2012, this one will be visible from a similar region, crossing eight U.S. states from Oregon to Texas, according to NASA.

During an annular solar eclipse, the moon appears slightly smaller than the sun, so it can't block the entire disk. The result is a beautiful "ring of fire." Here's everything you need to know about this rare event.

The Total Solar Eclipse event on April 8, 2024 will be a Partial Solar Eclipse in the UK. Solar and Lunar Eclipses in Europe – Next 10 Years

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Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

Like the US Navy has long protected sea lanes during conflict, the military could be called upon to defend commercial satellites from attack, particularly as the Pentagon relies more on commercial networks for communication and surveillance, the Space Force's top general said last week.

In comments at a conference in Hawaii on September 20, Gen. Chance Saltzman echoed many statements made by military leaders over the last few years: US military space capabilities are under threat from China and Russia, military leaders need more information about what other countries are doing in space, and commercial satellites are playing an ever-larger role in the military's space programs.

But Saltzman went a little further in his comments when asked about the military's role in protecting commercial satellites from an attack. The questioner specifically asked how the US military might respond if Russia attacked SpaceX's Starlink broadband network, which Ukraine widely uses for Internet connectivity in its war with Russia, despite Elon Musk's refusal to allow Ukraine to employ Starlink services on certain military operations.

Saltzman didn't directly address the scenario posed in the question, but he clearly suggested the US military has a responsibility to defend commercial assets in space.

In a modern war, "there are going to be commercial entities, commercial organizations, commercial capabilities and assets that get caught up in the conflicts," Saltzman said. "Space is no different than sea lanes. It’s no different than civilian airliner traffic in Europe right now. The US has a long history of saying we’re going to protect the things that we need to be successful. So it would stand to reason that that same philosophy would extend into space, and I have no reason to believe that that will be different.”

A hypothetical military operation to defend a commercial satellite from an adversary's attack would likely go through US Space Command, a separate entity from the Space Force, which is charged with equipping and outfitting the military's combatant commands with the people and technology to carry out their missions.

It seems that a couple of recent stories have suddenly disappeared off our screens. We are looking into the cause but I apologize for those who were having a discussion which has now been cut short.

We will keep you informed.

janrinok

looorg writes:

https://thehill.com/opinion/technology/4218666-ai-girlfriends-are-ruining-an-entire-generation-of-men/

The rise of virtual artificial intelligence (AI) girlfriends is enabling the silent epidemic of loneliness in an entire generation of young men. It is also having severe consequences for America's future.

Are they really lonely if they have their AI girlfriend?

Interesting how this becomes a man problem, and not a woman problem. The blame here is entirely shifted towards the male of the species. While women are somehow innocent victims, as per usual. Are there no AI boyfriends, there are. They just don't seem to be problematic. Which is odd.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/IrrADTN-dvg

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Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

The hollowing out of U.S. cities' office and commercial cores is a national trend with serious consequences for millions of Americans. As more people have stayed home following the COVID-19 pandemic, foot traffic has fallen. Major retail chains are closing stores, and even prestigious properties are having a hard time retaining tenants.

The shuttering of a Whole Foods market after only a year in downtown San Francisco in May 2023 received widespread coverage. Even more telling was the high-end department store Nordstrom's decision to close its flagship store there in August after a 35-year run.

In New York City, office vacancy rates have risen by over 70% since 2019. Chicago's Magnificent Mile, a stretch of high-end shops and restaurants, had a 26% vacancy rate in spring 2023.

A recent study from the University of Toronto found that across North America, downtowns are recovering from the pandemic more slowly than other urban areas and that "older, denser downtowns reliant on professional or tech workers and located within large metros" are struggling the hardest.

Over more than 50 years of researching urban policy, I have watched U.S. cities go through many booms and busts. Now, however, I see a more fundamental shift taking place. In my view, traditional downtowns are dead, dying or on life support across the U.S. and elsewhere. Local governments and urban residents urgently need to consider what the post-pandemic city will look like.

U.S. downtowns were in trouble before the COVID-19 pandemic. Today's overhang of excess commercial space was years in the making.

Urban property markets are speculative enterprises. When the economy is booming, individual developers decide to build more—and the collective result of these rational individual decisions is excess buildings.

In the 1980s, the Reagan administration allowed a quicker depreciation of commercial real estate that effectively lowered tax rates for developers. With financial globalization, foreign money flowed into the U.S. property sector, especially to very big development projects that could absorb large pools of liquid capital looking for relatively safe long-term investments.

Years of low interest rates meant cheap money for developers to finance their projects. City governments were eager to greenlight projects that would generate tax revenues. In many downtowns, office space now takes up between 70% and 80% of all real estate.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

Not all yeasts are created equally. Unlike the yeast used by bakers and beer brewers for converting sugars to carbon dioxide and fermentation, oleaginous yeasts convert sugars from inedible biomass into fats and oils.

A research group jointly led by Kyoto University and Ryukoku University has discovered two new species of oil-forming yeast in the soil of Shiga Prefecture. Published in the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, their study also examines the relationship between the prefecture's diverse climate and microbial ecology.

"We are gauging the potential benefits of applying oleaginous yeast to sustainable oil and fat production through isolation technology, particularly in reducing carbon dioxide emissions," says team leader and first author Ayumi Tanimura of KyotoU's Society Academia Collaboration for Innovation.

The discovery of two species—Hannaella oleicumulans, named after its oil-accumulating properties, and Hannaella higashiohmiensis from Higashiomi City—suggest the high potential of microbial resources in this region. They join the roughly 160 species of known oil yeast, including the previously known Lipomyces starkeyi, Rhodotorula toruloides, and Yarrowia lipolytica.

mrpg writes:

We finally know for sure what a trilobite ate

Trilobites first appear early in the Cambrian and are one of the earliest examples of arthropods, the group that includes all insects. They flourished for over 100 million years, leaving fossils that are seemingly ubiquitous—we've described over 20,000 different trilobite species. That's over three times the number of mammalian species we're aware of.

Despite all those fossils, however, we've never found one with a meal inside it. We've been able to infer what some of them were likely to have been dining on based on their appearance and the ecosystems they were found in, but we haven't been able to establish what they ate with certainty. But today, researchers are describing an exquisitely preserved sample that includes several of the animal's last meals, which suggests that this particular animal was a bit like an aquatic vacuum cleaner.

[...] The one caution the researchers raise about this find is that the feeding behavior of the trilobite may not be entirely normal. There's a discontinuity in the animal's shell between two of its segments, which can be an indication that it's getting ready to molt. If that's the case, the animal may have been overeating to generate additional pressure to help it break out of its old shell.

So, after tens of thousands of trilobite fossils, we finally have one with food inside of it. Yet it seems to be from a species that had a bizarre feeding pattern, and this particular individual may have been sucking down more food than usual. So, we'll probably need to find a few more of these to get a better picture of what trilobites ate.

Journal Reference:
Petr Kraft, Valéria Vaškaninová, Michal Mergl, et al. Uniquely preserved gut contents illuminate trilobite palaeophysiology Nature (2023). (DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06567-7)

Original Submission

upstart writes:

This robotic exoskeleton can help runners sprint faster:

The exosuit could prove a useful tool for athletes looking to speed up during training. "Although this is a preliminary study, we can say the exosuit can augment the human ability to run," says Giuk Lee, an associate professor at Chung-Ang University in Seoul, South Korea, who led the research.

Lee and his team built a lightweight exosuit with steel cables powered by electrical motors attached to the runner's thighs. The motors pull the cables, mimicking the contraction of muscles. The exosuit helps people run faster by assisting their hip extension—the powerful motion that propels a runner forward.

The exosuit tracks the wearer's lower-body movements in real time through sensors on both thighs. This data feeds into an algorithm designed to monitor gait, which works in tandem with other algorithms to track each runner's individual running style and speed.

Journal Reference:
Junyoung Moon, Kimoon Nam, Jaewook Ryu, et al. Reducing sprint time with exosuit assistance in the real world (DOI: 10.1126/scirobotics.adf5611)

Original Submission

mrpg writes:

Backdoored firmware lets China state hackers control routers with "magic packets"

https://arstechnica.com/security/2023/09/china-state-hackers-are-camping-out-in-cisco-routers-us-and-japan-warn/

Hackers backed by the Chinese government are planting malware into routers that provides long-lasting and undetectable backdoor access to the networks of multinational companies in the US and Japan, governments in both countries said Wednesday.

The hacking group, tracked under names including BlackTech, Palmerworm, Temp.Overboard, Circuit Panda, and Radio Panda, has been operating since at least 2010, a joint advisory published by government entities in the US and Japan reported. The group has a history of targeting public organizations and private companies in the US and East Asia. The threat actor is somehow gaining administrator credentials to network devices used by subsidiaries and using that control to install malicious firmware that can be triggered with "magic packets" to perform specific tasks.

The hackers then use control of those devices to infiltrate networks of companies that have trusted relationships with the breached subsidiaries.

"Specifically, upon gaining an initial foothold into a target network and gaining administrator access to network edge devices, BlackTech cyber actors often modify the firmware to hide their activity across the edge devices to further maintain persistence in the network," officials wrote in Wednesday's advisory. "To extend their foothold across an organization, BlackTech actors target branch routers—typically smaller appliances used at remote branch offices to connect to a corporate headquarters—and then abuse the trusted relationship of the branch routers within the corporate network being targeted. BlackTech actors then use the compromised public-facing branch routers as part of their infrastructure for proxying traffic, blending in with corporate network traffic, and pivoting to other victims on the same corporate network."

[...] To install their modified bootloader, the US and Japanese advisory said, the threat actors install an older version of the legitimate firmware and then modify it as it runs in memory. The technique overrides signature checks in the Cisco ROM monitor signature validation functions, specifically functions of Cisco's IOS Image Load test and the Field Upgradeable ROMMON Integrity test. The modified firmware, which consists of a Cisco IOS loader that installs an embedded IOS image, allows the compromised routers to make connections over SSH without being recorded in event logs.

Original Submission

Freeman writes:

https://arstechnica.com/health/2023/09/big-dairy-still-sour-over-plant-based-milk-labels-tries-to-outlaw-them/

In an utterly firm effort to undercut plant-based rivals, big players in the dairy industry are again putting the squeeze on lawmakers to outlaw the use of the term "milk" for non-dairy beverages—or, in Food and Drug Administration lingo, beverages that are not the "lacteal secretion of cows."

Earlier this year, the dairy industry's blood curdled when the regulatory agency released a draft guidance stating that plant-based milk alternatives can keep using the term. It was a move that followed years of sour resentment over the labeling.

The FDA did humbly admit that almonds and other sources of plant-based milk don't, in fact, lactate;

[...] Following the FDA's milk ruling, dairy industry groups rounded up support from lawmakers to try to reverse it. Specifically, they got members of the House and Senate to push a bill called the DAIRY PRIDE Act.

[...] Dairy-state lawmakers are now trying to get the bill signed into law in the coming months as part of the 2023 farm bill reauthorization, according to a report by Stat News.

People that drink milk alternatives, don't want to drink milk. People that want to drink milk, don't confuse Almond/Coconut "milk" for milk.

What about goats' milk? Cleansing milk for removing makeup, milk of magnesia (medication), the milksnake (a reptile)?

Original Submission