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Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

We intuitively understand that the sand pouring through an hourglass, for example, forms a neat roughly pyramid-shaped pile at the bottom, in which the grains near the surface flow over an underlying base of stationary particles. Avalanches and sand dunes exhibit similar dynamics. But scientists at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania have discovered that applying a magnetic torque can actually cause sand-like particles to collectively flow uphill in seeming defiance of gravity, according to a September paper published in the journal Nature Communications.

Sand is pretty fascinating stuff from a physics standpoint. It's an example of a granular material, since it acts both like a liquid and a solid. Dry sand collected in a bucket pours like a fluid, yet it can support the weight of a rock placed on top of it, like a solid, even though the rock is technically denser than the sand. So sand defies all those tidy equations describing various phases of matter, and the transition from flowing "liquid" to a rigid "solid" happens quite rapidly. It's as if the grains act as individuals in the fluid form, but are capable of suddenly banding together when solidarity is needed, achieving a weird kind of "strength in numbers" effect.

Nor can physicists precisely predict an avalanche. That's partly because of the sheer number of grains of sand in even a small pile, each of which will interact with several of its immediate neighboring grains simultaneously—and those neighbors shift from one moment to the next. Not even a supercomputer can track the movements of individual grains over time, so the physics of flow in granular media remains a vital area of research.

But grains of sand that collectively flow uphill? That is simply bizarre behavior. Lehigh University engineer James Gilchrist manages the Laboratory for Particle Mixing and Self-Organization and stumbled upon this odd phenomenon while experimenting with "micro-rollers": polymer particles coated in iron oxide (a process called micro-encapsulation). He was rotating a magnet under a vial of micro-rollers one day and noticed they started to pile uphill. Naturally he and his colleagues had to investigate further.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

Python's been around in one form or another for over 30 years. Over that time, it has accumulated a wide and powerful set of modules in its standard library. These modules help developers get started with many common tasks. Fans of Python call this the "batteries included" part of the language.

But over the years, some of those batteries have died—meaning they've gone out of maintenance, or been used for technologies that are now obsolete. Some of these "dead batteries" were deprecated in Python 3.12, and will be removed entirely in Python 3.13.

So, here's a rundown—in roughly descending order of importance—of the standard library modules being removed in Python 3.13, including what each one does and what new module (if any) has replaced it.

Here are the most important deprecated standard library modules. These are the ones you are most likely still using in existing applications. 

Listed as the most important modules being deprecated are cgi, cgitb, smtpd, telnetlib, nntplib, msilib, and pipes. Other deprecated modules listed in the article are: asynchat/asyncore, imghdr/sndhdr, uu, mailcap, crypt, nis, spwd, xdrlib, chunk, sunau, and ossaudiodev. Click through to the fine article if you want to see a brief description of each module and a suggested possible replacement for it.

Original Submission

janrinok writes:

The first study to capture brainwaves from reindeer shows that they take small naps throughout the day while chewing:

Reindeer appear to snooze throughout the day while chewing their cud. This may be an adaptation to their Arctic habitat, where food is abundant in the summer and they must constantly eat to gain enough weight to survive the winter.

To help break down the fibrous plants that make up their diet, reindeer ruminate – that is, they regurgitate food from their stomach back into their mouth for extra chewing. And they often take on a trance-like stare as they chomp. “You can sort of see it in their face, they’re a bit gone,” says Gabriela Wagner at the Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research. “But nobody knew if they were actually asleep because no one has ever measured the brainwaves of reindeer before.”

Wagner and her colleagues used an electroencephalograph (EEG) – metal electrodes attached to the heads of four captive Eurasian tundra reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus), which recorded electrical pulses in their brains over the next few days as they ate, slept and moved around.

The reindeer's brainwave patterns revealed that, when ruminating, they were in a light stage of sleep known as non-REM sleep, suggesting the animals can recharge while chewing their cud. "It looks very much like human sleep – it's got the same stages of sleep spindles and slow wave activity," says Wagner, describing bursts of brain activity visible on the EEG. They also found that the more time the reindeer spent ruminating, the less they needed additional rest.

[...] Resting while ruminating may also explain why, unlike most other species that sleep more in winter, reindeer appear to sleep the same amount regardless of the season.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2023.12.012

Original Submission

upstart writes:

Three of the world's biggest pornography sites have been told their users in the European Union may have to use age verification technology:

Pornhub, Xvideos and Stripchat face stricter regulations because they have been assessed as having at least 45 million monthly users in EU countries.

EU rules mean firms of that size have to take extra steps to protect children.

It says that could mean the sites introducing age checking tech.

"An example of efficient measures in this respect could be age verification tools, to prevent minors from accessing pornographic content," a spokesperson for the European Commission told the BBC.

The spokesperson said one "potential" solution for a person proving their age would be the upcoming European Digital Identity wallet.

"Once it enters into force, it will offer solutions for all EU citizens, residents, and businesses in the EU," they said.

"Citizens will be able to prove their identity and share electronic documents from their European Digital Identity wallets with the click of a button on their phone."

[...] EU Digital Commissioner Margrethe Vestager welcomed the companies' designation, saying it would "allow for higher scrutiny and accountability of their algorithms and processes".

"I have been very clear that creating a safer online environment for our children is an enforcement priority under the DSA," she added.

[...] These companies are the second batch of firms to be designated VLOPs [Very Large Online Platforms]. In April, an initial 19 tech giants - including Facebook, Google and YouTube - were told the new rules applied to them.

For that initial round of companies, the DSA came into effect in August.

Original Submission

fliptop writes:

Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin have kept a low profile as the Big Tech firm weathers a series of critical antitrust court battles – and it’s part of a long-running pattern of avoiding federal scrutiny, experts say:

The search giant is reeling after a shocking court loss to “Fortnite” maker Epic Games that could upend its lucrative Android app store business. During that trial, US District Judge James Donato slammed what he called a “disturbing” companywide effort to destroy evidence in the high-stakes case.

Google faces yet another looming threat as it awaits a judge’s ruling on the Justice Department case alleging the company has maintained an illegal monopoly over online search. The 10-week trial concluded last month without an appearance by Page and Brin, who created Google’s search tool and held top executive roles as it rose to market dominance.

Instead, Justice Department’s antitrust lawyers grilled a number of current and former executives on Google’s payroll — as well as higher-ups from firms like Apple and Microsoft.

One prominent industry source who has been tracking the proceedings described the Justice Department’s decision not to call the founders to the stand as a “tactical mistake.” The source argued the feds missed an opportunity to grill the notoriously reclusive Page – an enigmatic figure who former friend Elon Musk once claimed has aspirations of becoming a “digital god.”

[...] The co-founders’ physical absence from the search trial, while notable and surprising to some outsiders, may have made more sense for federal antitrust lawyers aiming to build a laser-focused case about Google’s search business practices, experts told The Post.

“In a case that’s already 10 weeks long, you really want to walk the line between providing enough information and carrying your burden of proof as the government and dragging on and boring the judge,” said Rebecca Haw Allensworth, an antitrust law expert and professor at Vanderbilt Law School.

“Especially when it’s a bench trial, you don’t want to be in a situation where you’re putting irrelevant proof. You have to pick and choose your strongest witnesses,” Allensworth added.

Related:

• "Apple Must be Stopped" and Google is "Crazy" Says Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney
• Fortnite's Android Version Bypasses Google Play to Avoid 30% "Store Tax"

See also:

• US wraps up antitrust case against Google in historic trial
• What Google Argued to Defend Itself in Landmark Antitrust Trial
• Explainer: Epic Games verdict adds to Google’s global antitrust woes

Original Submission

An Anonymous Coward writes:

https://gizmodo.com/tuta-email-denies-connection-to-intelligence-services-1851022465

There are only a handful of trusted end-to-end encrypted email providers. Of those, Tuta (which has long been known as "Tutanota" but recently rebranded ) is one of the more well-known. This week, the company found itself on the defensive after being labeled a "front" for law enforcement and intelligence services. In an attempt to clear its name, the company released a statement denying that it's a honeypot operation, after a former, highly placed Canadian intelligence official alleged in court that was the case.

The cop in question, Cameron Ortis, formerly ran a "highly secret unit" within the Royal Canadian Mountain Police, but is now on trial for allegedly having attempted to sell government intelligence to criminals, CBC reports.

Ortis has denied that he was actually attempting to sell state secrets. In his testimony, which was made public this week, Ortis instead said that he was involved in a special operation. As part of that operation, agents used Tuta, which he described as a "storefront"—or a kind of honeypot—to lure in prospective criminals for surveillance, he said. CBC describes the former government official's allegations like this:

...according to Ortis, [another agent] briefed him about a "storefront" that was being created to attract criminal targets to an online encryption service. A storefront, said Ortis, is a fake business or entity, either online or bricks-and-mortar, set up by police or intelligence agencies. The plan, he said, was to have criminals use the storefront — an online end-to-end encryption service called Tutanota — to allow authorities to collect intelligence about them.

"So if targets begin to use that service, the agency that's collecting that information would be able to feed it back, that information, into the Five Eyes system, and then back into the RCMP," Ortis claimed, in reference to the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance, of which Canada is a prominent member. Ortis has claimed that some unnamed Five Eyes foreign agent introduced him to the honeypot operation and that he didn't notify his superiors at the RCMP about it. Follow-up questions about the whole thing have mostly led him to say things like "I don't recall," and "that's something I can't talk about."

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

Some of you will have enjoyed a good meal over Christmas, perhaps also at Thanksgiving if you are an American. It possibly included potatoes in some form; mashed, boiled, roasted, baked or in some other form of cooking. You would have probably considered them a vegetable. But the US Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee is planning to change that.

What an insult to potatoes everywhere. The US Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee is expected in 2025 to declare that potatoes aren't actually vegetables and instead will lump them in with grains and rice.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service, the primary vegetables consumed by Americans are potatoes and tomatoes. In 2019, the average American consumed nearly 50 pounds of potatoes and approximately 31 pounds of tomatoes throughout the year. French fries and pizza sauce FTW!

"The suggestion to reclassify potatoes as a non-vegetable is not grounded in any scientific metric," Kam Quarles, CEO of the National Potato Council, testified at a Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee meeting. "This unsupported notion, if acted upon, will confuse consumers, could result in nutrient gaps and also decreased vegetable consumption. We ask the Committee to avoid this chaotic outcome and continue to acknowledge the fact that potatoes are a vegetable." 

Do you agree with this reclassification? Should the same 'logic' be applied to other root vegetables which today are commonly thought to be correctly described already? Parsnips, beet, sweet potato, onion, etc. Or is this a case of a government body thinking that it must make changes to justify its existence?

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

Chips are not getting cheaper.

Increasingly sophisticated wafer fab tools are needed to produce chips on leading-edge process technologies, thus intensifying costs with each new node. Analysts from International Business Strategies believe that the situation will worsen at 2nm, with chip costs growing by around 50% compared to 3nm processors, reports Nikkei, ultimately resulting in a $30,000 price tag for each wafer of 2nm chips.

IBS estimates that a 2nm-capable fab with a capacity of roughly 50,000 wafer starts per month (WSPM) costs around $28 billion, up from around $20 billion for a 3nm fab with a similar production capacity. The cost increase will be driven by the increased number of EUV litho tools required to maintain a 50,000 WSPM capacity for a 2nm-class technology. This will significantly increase production costs per wafer and per chip, which will inevitably affect companies that use leading-edge fabrication technologies, such as Apple, which is currently the only company that mass produces processors for smartphones and PCs using TSMC's latest N3B (3nm-class fabrication process). 

[...] However, IBS seems to be a little dramatic with its per-chip cost estimate. The company believes that Apple's current 3nm per-chip cost is around $50, but it does not define the chip's die size. Arete Research estimates that Apple's latest A17 Pro system-on-chip for smartphones has a die size between 100mm^2 and 110mm^2, which is in line with die sizes of the company's previous-generation A15 (107.7mm^2) and A16 (around 5% larger than A15, so, approximately 113mm^2) SoCs. If Apple's A17 Pro has a die size of 105mm^2, then one 300-mm wafer can fit 586 of these, which brings their cost to approximately $34 at an unrealistic 100% yield and $40 at a more realistic 85% yield.

[...] Even with very rough estimates about 2nm fab costs and wafer costs, it is clear that chips made using a 2nm node will be more expensive than processors produced on a 3nm-class process technology. That said, expect companies like AMD and Intel to accelerate the adoption of multi-chipset designs comprised of chiplets made on different nodes in the coming years, thus defraying the costs associated with leading-edge nodes. Meanwhile, it is likely that smartphone processors will retain monolithic designs for a while as advanced packaging costs are still quite high.

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Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

It sounds like a joke or the stuff of a children's fantasy novel: taking an elevator to the moon.

But that's how astronauts plan to get from their spaceship to the lunar surface, and back, in a few years when NASA returns to the moon for Artemis missions III and IV.

The elevator is part of SpaceX's Starship human landing system, which will not only carry two crew members to the moon but serve as their home for about a week while they explore the south pole, a dark and cold region where scientists believe water ice is buried in craters. The natural resource is coveted because it could supply drinking water, oxygen, and rocket fuel for future missions, ushering a new era in spaceflight.

NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Doug Wheelock recently tested a small mockup of the elevator — a crucial element to SpaceX's solution for getting humans from space to the moon's surface. This lift will be the portal from which the first woman and person of color step onto the moon.

[...] SpaceX's elevator will transport equipment and astronauts between Starship's living quarters, near the top of the lander, and the lunar surface, where astronauts will exit for moonwalks. The demonstration allowed Mann and Wheelock to interact with a flight-like design of the elevator system and provide feedback from a crew perspective.

During the test at SpaceX's headquarters in Hawthorne, California, the astronauts wore spacesuits to get a feel for the mobility challenges they'll face on their journey. For Artemis III, the crew will wear new advanced spacesuits being developed by Axiom Space. They practiced using the controls for the gate latches and ramp deployment, and they assessed the roominess for moving cargo.

As part of the deal, SpaceX will need to demonstrate a successful uncrewed test flight to the moon before Artemis III.

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

Five semiconductor companies make a new RISC-V company.

Qualcomm and four other significant semiconductor firms have officially joined forces to establish Quintauris, a company focused on developing "next-generation hardware" based on the RISC-V open-standard architecture (via Business Wire). The self-stated mission of Quintauris is to provide a single source for enabling RISC-V devices and promote standards for the RISC-V industry, which has been criticized for being prone to fragmentation.

RISC-V is an open-standard (or open-source, depending on who you ask) instruction set architecture (ISA) for CPUs that was first established in 2014, and is maintained by RISC-V International. The basic premise for RISC-V is that any company can take the ISA and make their own CPUs, bypassing the closed ecosystems of Arm, AMD, and Intel. Since its debut, RISC-V has grown extremely quickly, with 16 billion cores sold forecasted by 2030.

Qualcomm is invested in the production of Arm architecture-based chips, so it might seem unintuitive for the company to get into RISC-V too. However, Qualcomm has actually been using RISC-V for five years for its microcontrollers, as have many other companies. Qualcomm is also using RISC-V for its Snapdragon Wear Platform, alongside Google. As a reduced instruction set computer architecture (which is what RISC means), RISC-V is inherently minimalistic, and it's found a niche in small chips.

[...] According to its official website, Quintauris says its products will initially focus on the automotive industry and then later cater to mobile and Internet of Things (IoT) applications. The company is also focused on promoting standards for the RISC-V hardware-software ecosystem, and the implication appears to be that the launch of successful products developed by several big companies will help realize standardization.

Quintauris isn't the only organization seeking to inject standards into the world of RISC-V however, as there is also the RISC-V Software Ecosystem (RISE). RISE has the official support of RISC-V International and key industry players such as Google, Intel, Nvidia, and even Qualcomm. While RISE concentrates on software, Quintauris will champion next-generation hardware development.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Houthis launch more drone attacks as shipping companies suspend Red Sea operations

The American military said one of its ships deployed to the Red Sea has successfully shot down more than a dozen drones launched from areas of Yemen controlled by the Houthi militant group.

[...] Britain's defense minister, Grant Shapps, said in a statement that the U.K. naval vessel HMS Diamond had also recently shot down what he termed a "suspected attack drone" that had targeted merchant shipping. "The recent spate of illegal attacks," Shapps wrote, "represent a direct threat to international commerce and maritime security in the Red Sea."

The Houthis, who control large swaths of northern Yemen, have said they will continue to attack vessels that are either owned or operated by Israeli firms, or are in transit to Israel.

[...] The impact on the international shipping business has been seismic, with Northern European companies Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd on Friday telling their ship captains to avoid the region or hold in place while the threat persists.

The Swiss-headquartered cargo giant MSC said on Saturday its vessels would cease transit through the Suez Canal for the foreseeable future after one of its ships, Palatium III, was attacked Friday morning.

Cracks Form In New Naval Coalition, Drone Strikes Spread To Indian Ocean

Operation Prosperity Guardian, the American-led coalition to defend shipping through the Red Sea, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, and the Gulf of Aden from Houthi attacks is showing major cracks just as it is forming. At the same time, the latest rash of drone strikes on commercial vessels appears to have spread far from Yemen's shores, to waters off India.

[...] Just hours ago, a Liberian-flagged chemical tanker M/V Chem Pluto that has ties to Israel was struck by a drone while sailing in the Indian Ocean, roughly 120 miles to the southwest of the Indian port city of Veraval.

Enjoy the new war and/or price hikes.

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

Beeper moving on from its attempt to bring iMessage to Android users due to Apple closing all the possible loopholes. But that doesn’t mean the story is about to end here.

After a blog post from the company CEO saying he wants Beeper to be the “best chat app ever,” with or without iMessage support for Android, The New York Times reports that the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission want to understand this Apple vs. Beeper controversy better.

The publication says this duel has “raised questions in Washington about whether Apple has used its market dominance over iMessage to block competition and force consumers to spend more on iPhones than lower-priced alternatives.”

People familiar with the matter told the Justice Department’s antitrust lawyer met with Eric Migicovsky, the co-founder of Beeper, about this possible anticompetitive behavior by Apple. At the same time, the FTC posted in its blog that it would scrutinize “dominant” players that “use privacy and security as a justification to disallow interoperability” between services.

Although ultimately, this fight has more to do with Americans being used to texting through the Messages app instead of WhatsApp, Telegram, or another alternative, the government is worried about anticompetitive behavior from Apple, as it has been questioning the company about the App Store, Apple Pay monopoly, and so on.

Original Submission

canopic jug writes:

Multiple sites are reporting from Reuters that new digital restrictions management requirements in Vista11 will send an estimated 480 million kg of otherwise viable desktops and notebooks prematurely to the landfill as e-waste.

Multiple key barriers prevent Windows 10-compatible PCs from running Windows 10, including a need for a 64-bit processor listed by Microsoft as a 'supported CPU,' at least 4 GB of RAM, a minimum of 64GB storage, and UEFI firmware with Secure Boot capability instead of the older BIOS. Additionally, a crucial requirement is TPM version 2.0 for enhanced security, which supersedes the TPM 1.2 version supported by some Windows 10 devices. In addition, Windows 11 also demands a DirectX 12-compatible GPU with a WDDM 2.x driver, which leaves out many older iGPUs. Many systems are still running outdated CPUs and using BIOS instead of UEFI with no SecureBoot support.

Canalys believes that a staggering 240 million PCs do not comply with Windows 11's requirements and are set to be rendered obsolete by Windows 10's October 14, 2025 support deadline. While recycling remains a viable option for these systems, the lack of compatibility with the latest Windows iteration significantly devalues them, making refurbishment less feasible. Consequently, despite growing capabilities in the refurbishment sector, many of these devices are still destined for landfills. This situation highlights a critical challenge in managing and disposing of electronic waste, Canalys believes. 

The effective lifespan of these devices could be preserved, and the waste reduced, by upgrading to more efficient, open software such as the GNU/Linux distro of your choice.

Via:
Tom's Hardware: Microsoft's draconian Windows 11 restrictions will send an estimated 240 million PCs to the landfill when Windows 10 hits end of life in 2025
NDTV: Microsoft Ending Windows 10 Support To Affect 240 Million Computers: Report
The Economic Times of India: Microsoft ending support for Windows 10 could send 240 million PCs to landfills: report
NeoWin: 240 million PCs could end up in landfills when Windows 10 support ends

Original Submission

canopic jug writes:

Ethan Zuckerman asks, how big is YouTube?. Using a statistical sampling method, their current estimate for the size of YouTube is 13.325 billion videos.

Interesting as Reddit and Twitter are, they are much less widely used than YouTube, which is used by virtually all [I]nternet users. Pew reports that 93% of teens use YouTube – the closest service in terms of usage is Tiktok with 63% and Snapchat with 60%. While YouTube has a good, well-documented API, there’s no good way to get a random, representative sample of YouTube. Instead, most research on YouTube either studies a collection of videos (all videos on the channels of a selected set of users) or videos discovered via recommendation (start with Never Going to Give You Up, objectively the center of the internet, and collect recommended videos.) You can do excellent research with either method, but you won’t get a sample of all YouTube videos and you won’t be able to calculate the size of YouTube.

I brought this problem to Jason Baumgartner, creator of PushShift, and prince of the dark arts of data collection. One of Jason’s skills is a deep knowledge of undocumented APIs, ways of collecting data outside of official means. Most platforms have one or more undocumented APIs, widely used by programmers for that platform to build internal tools. In the case of YouTube, that API is called “Inner Tube” and its existence is an open secret in programmer communities. Using InnerTube, Jason suggested we do something that’s both really smart and really stupid: guess at random URLs and see if there are videos there.

As seen in his charts, the amount of videos there grows exponentially. Thus one could also conclude that the storage costs also grow in proportion.

Original Submission

coolgopher writes:

From https://www.postfix.org/smtp-smuggling.html :

Days before a 10+ day holiday break and associated production change freeze, SEC Consult has published an email spoofing attack that involves a composition of email services with specific differences in the way they handle line endings other than <CR><LF>.

Unfortunately, criticial information provided by the researcher was not passed on to Postfix maintainers before publication of the attack, otherwise we would certainly have convinced SEC Consult to change their time schedule until after people had a chance to update their Postfix systems.

The attack involves a COMPOSITION of two email services with specific differences in the way they handle line endings other than <CR><LF>:

  - One email service A that does not recognize broken line endings in SMTP such as in <LF>.<CR><LF> in an email message from an authenticated attacker to a recipient at email service B, and that propagates those broken line endings verbatim when it forwards that message to:

  - One different email service B that does support broken line endings in SMTP such as in <LF>.<CR><LF>. When this is followed by "smuggled" SMTP MAIL/RCPT/DATA commands and message header plus body text, email service B is tricked into receiving two email messages: one message with the content before the <LF>.<CR><LF>, and one message with the "smuggled" header plus body text after the "smuggled" SMTP commands. All this when email service A sends only one message.

Postfix is an example of email service B. Microsoft's outlook.com was an example of email service A.

The "smuggled" SMTP MAIL/RCPT/DATA commands and header plus body text can be used to spoof email from any sender whose domain is hosted at email service A, to any recipient whose domain is hosted at email service B. Such email will pass SPF-based DMARC checks at email service B, because the smuggled message has a sender address that is hosted at email service A, and because the message was received from email service A.

Original Submission