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An Anonymous Coward writes:

SEO Situation on fire: google's weighting parameter list leaked

https://searchengineland.com/google-search-document-leak-ranking-442617
https://github.com/yoshi-code-bot/elixir-google-api/commit/d7a637f4391b2174a2cf43ee11e6577a204a161e

Highlights:

• Change history: Google apparently keeps a copy of every version of every page it has ever indexed. Meaning, Google can "remember" every change ever made to a page. However, Google only uses the last 20 changes of a URL when analyzing links.

• Google stores author information associated with content and tries to determine whether an entity is the author of the document

• Google measures the average weighted font size of terms in documents (avgTermWeight) and anchor text.

• it's likely the internal documents were accidentally included in a code review and pushed live from Google's internal code base, where they were then discovered

See Also: https://gizmodo.com/google-search-seo-leak-gatekeeps-internet-1851508410

Original Submission

quietus writes:

Three years ago, Subaru, Mazda, Toyota, Kawasaki, and Yamaha announced a joint development scheme for combustion engines based on alternatives to conventional fossil fuels i.e. synthetic fuels, biofuels and liquid hydrogen. Last Monday, May 28, Toyota, Subaru and Mazda unveiled the first results of that cooperation, a set of new ICE engines to go into production from 2026.

From the press blurb:

With the next generation of engines, the three companies will seek to not only improve standalone engine performance but also optimize their integration with electric drive units, harnessing the advantages of each.

While being highly efficient and powerful, the new engines will also revolutionize vehicle packaging by being more compact than existing models. Smaller engines will allow for even lower hoods, improving design possibilities and aerodynamic performance while contributing to better fuel efficiency. The development will also emphasize compliance with increasingly strict emissions regulations.

At the same time, the new engines will be made carbon neutral by shifting away from fossil fuels and offering compatibility with various alternatives, including e-fuel (synthetic fuel), biofuels, and liquid hydrogen. In doing so, these engines will contribute to the broader adoption of CN fuels.

Full video report of the press conference, along with detailed pictures of the new engines, here.

Last year, Toyota sold 2,248,477 cars in the United States, an increase of 6.6% compared to the year before, keeping its position as the number one passenger vehicle seller for the 12th consecutive year.

Only about 15,000 of those cars were BEVs.

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

The PCIe slot is strong enough to sustain the weight of a baby hippo.

Chinese publication Benchlife has shared a preview of the Gigabyte B650E Aorus Pro X USB4, which supports AMD's next-generation Ryzen Zen 5 processors. One of the motherboard's key selling points is the primary expansion slot, which can support graphics cards up to 128 pounds.

Despite being among the best graphics cards, the GeForce RTX 4090 has endured much controversy. First, there were reports of the 16-pin power connector suffering meltdowns. Later, accounts surfaced of the PCB cracking near the PCIe locking tab due to how bulky modern graphics cards have become. Gigabyte eventually revised the design of the brand's GeForce RTX 4080 and GeForce RTX 4090 graphics cards. For extra measure, Gigabyte has implemented what the brand calls the "PCIe UD Slot X" in some of its high-end Intel and AMD motherboards.

[...] While the PCIe UD Slot X feature isn't novel, this is the first time we've been given a specific metric of the maximum weight it can withstand. One trend we've seen is that graphics cards are becoming larger and more power-hungry. The transition from the GeForce RTX 30 series (Ampere) to the GeForce RTX 40 series (Ada Lovelace) is a perfect example. Although there are early whispers that the forthcoming GeForce RTX 50 series (Blackwell) likely won't be any slimmer, 128 pounds is overkill.

Moreover, the initial PCB cracking was caused by the design of the cutout, which didn't mitigate the weight of the graphics card. So, while Gigabyte's PCIe UD Slot X supports up to 128 pounds, it still won't impede PCB cracking because the problem lies in the graphics card and not the expansion slot. There weren't any reports of the expansion slot breaking. It was always about the graphics card's warping or the PCB cracking.

Perhaps the 128 pounds refers to impact load, which would make sense. A more sturdy expansion slot will help with shipping and transportation, especially in the case of pre-built machines. But then again, if the fall is high enough, it won't matter if the expansion slot can accommodate up to 500 pounds because the graphics card would probably break. In a situation like this, many would prefer that the expansion slot come off the motherboard rather than fracturing the graphics card, which, in most cases, is the more expensive hardware.

Original Submission

Freeman writes:

https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/05/deny-denounce-delay-the-battle-over-the-risk-of-ultra-processed-foods/

When the Brazilian nutritional scientist Carlos Monteiro coined the term "ultra-processed foods" 15 years ago, he established what he calls a "new paradigm" for assessing the impact of diet on health.

Monteiro had noticed that although Brazilian households were spending less on sugar and oil, obesity rates were going up. The paradox could be explained by increased consumption of food that had undergone high levels of processing, such as the addition of preservatives and flavorings or the removal or addition of nutrients.

But health authorities and food companies resisted the link, Monteiro tells the FT. "[These are] people who spent their whole life thinking that the only link between diet and health is the nutrient content of foods ... Food is more than nutrients."
[...]
In 2019, American metabolic scientist Kevin Hall carried out a randomized study comparing people who ate an unprocessed diet with those who followed a UPF diet over two weeks. Hall found that the subjects who ate the ultra-processed diet consumed around 500 more calories per day, more fat and carbohydrates, less protein—and gained weight.
[...]
"The strategy I see the food industry using is deny, denounce, and delay," says Barry Smith, director of the Institute of Philosophy at the University of London and a consultant for companies on the multisensory experience of food and drink.

So far the strategy has proved successful. Just a handful of countries, including Belgium, Israel, and Brazil, currently refer to UPFs in their dietary guidelines. But as the weight of evidence about UPFs grows, public health experts say the only question now is how, if at all, it is translated into regulation.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

Researchers looking at data from the James Webb Space Telescope have gained new insight on galaxies forming during an earlier period of the universe.

These three galaxies are believed to be actively forming when the universe was only 400m to 600m years old – compared to the universe’s current estimated age of roughly 13.7bn years. Thanks to Webb’s powerful instruments, researchers can peer into this early period and learn more about how the universe was formed.

Webb’s data on this early period shows these three galaxies are surrounded by gases. The researchers suspect these gases are almost purely hydrogen and helium, the earliest elements to exist in the cosmos.

[...] “We’re moving away from a picture of galaxies as isolated ecosystems,” Nielsen said. “At this stage in the history of the universe, galaxies are all intimately connected to the intergalactic medium with its filaments and structures of pristine gas.”

[...] By combining spectra with Webb images, the team found that the light from these three forming galaxies is being absorbed by large amounts of neutral hydrogen gas.

“The gas must be very widespread and cover a very large fraction of the galaxy,” said study co-author and associate professor Darach Watson. “This suggests that we are seeing the assembly of neutral hydrogen gas into galaxies. That gas will go on to cool, clump, and form new stars.”

By matching James Webb’s data to existing models of star formation, the researchers also found that these galaxies primarily have populations of young stars, suggesting these galaxies have not had enough time to form most of their stars yet.

arXiv paper

Original Submission

upstart writes:

Nvidia denies pirate e-book sites are "shadow libraries" to shut down lawsuit:

Some of the most infamous so-called shadow libraries have increasingly faced legal pressure to either stop pirating books or risk being shut down or driven to the dark web. Among the biggest targets are Z-Library, which the US Department of Justice has charged with criminal copyright infringement, and Library Genesis (Libgen), which was sued by textbook publishers last fall for allegedly distributing digital copies of copyrighted works "on a massive scale in willful violation" of copyright laws.

But now these shadow libraries and others accused of spurning copyrights have seemingly found an unlikely defender in Nvidia, the AI chipmaker among those profiting most from the recent AI boom.

Nvidia seemed to defend the shadow libraries as a valid source of information online when responding to a lawsuit from book authors over the list of data repositories that were scraped to create the Books3 dataset used to train Nvidia's AI platform NeMo.

That list includes some of the most "notorious" shadow libraries—Bibliotik, Z-Library (Z-Lib), Libgen, Sci-Hub, and Anna's Archive, authors argued. However, Nvidia hopes to invalidate authors' copyright claims partly by denying that any of these controversial websites should even be considered shadow libraries.

"Nvidia denies the characterization of the listed data repositories as 'shadow libraries' and denies that hosting data in or distributing data from the data repositories necessarily violates the US Copyright Act," Nvidia's court filing said.

The chipmaker did not go into further detail to define what counts as a shadow library or what potentially absolves these controversial sites from key copyright concerns raised by various ongoing lawsuits. Instead, Nvidia kept its response brief while also curtly disputing authors' petition for class-action status and defending its AI training methods as fair use.

"Nvidia denies that it has improperly used or copied the alleged works," the court filing said, arguing that "training is a highly transformative process that may include adjusting numerical parameters including 'weights,' and that outputs of an LLM may be based, at least in part, on such 'weights.'"

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

After years of promising legislation against Big Tech firms such as Apple, the UK has now sped up the process to get Digital Markets Act clone passed before its general election.

Up to now, the UK's progress on its tub-thumping insistence it will control Big Tech has been slow to the point of ridicule. It announced a government department in 2020, but didn't start it until 2021. Then when it was started with at least 60 staff, the UK literally did not give it powers to do anything, not until 2023.

However, also in 2023, the finally active Digital Markets Unit (DMU) did get going with a Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill. While its stated purpose is to lead to establishing codes of conduct for Big Tech firms, it's a step toward emulating the existing Digital Markets Act in the EU.

[...] So far, it's all big talk. How the details will work has yet to be hammered out.

The bill was, though, just one of very many legislative bills making their way through the UK parliamentary system — until this week. On May 22, 2024, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called for a General Election, and that immediately changed proceedings.

[...] Bills cannot be carried over from one Parliament to another, so the UK has been picking which it will rush through, and which it will abandon. Consequently, on May 23, Parliament debated and passed the bill.

[...] "We believe overall that this is a good Bill that takes the first steps to regulating the behaviour of the big tech companies, which is long overdue," said Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour).

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

Four zebrafish are alive and well after nearly a month in space aboard China's Tiangong space station. As part of an experiment testing the development of vertebrates in microgravity, the fish live and swim within a small habitat aboard the station.

While the zebrafish have thus far survived, they are showing some signs of disorientation. The taikonauts aboard Tiangong—Ye Guangfu, Li Cong, and Li Guangsu—have reported instances of swimming upside down, backward, and in circular motions, suggesting that microgravity is having an effect on their spatial awareness.

The zebrafish were launched aboard Shenzhou-18, which carried them, as well as a batch of hornwort, to orbit on April 25, 2024. The aim of the project is to create a self-sustaining ecosystem, studying the effects of both microgravity and radiation on the development and growth of these species.

[...] The zebrafish genome has been fully sequenced, and for these reasons zebrafish are commonly used in scientific experiments on Earth. Seeing how these well-studied creatures behave in such an extreme environment may have a lot to tell us about the life and development of vertebrates across species while exposed to microgravity.

[...] This is not the first time fish have been to space. Starting in 2012, a Japanese research project brought medaka and zebrafish to the International Space Station for study in a similar aquatic habitat. The results of those studies revealed a decrease in bone density in the fish within just ten days. Human astronauts experience similar effects in orbit, though not on such quick time scales, and they can be mitigated somewhat through rigorous exercise routines.

[...] The health and sustainability of animal life in space is a key area of research for human spaceflight efforts. If humans are to travel on long-term space missions, like those required to reach Mars, then understanding the biological implications of space travel is vital. These zebrafish are the latest in a long line of experiments undertaken in this pressing area of research.

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

The launch of a classified Russian military satellite last week deployed a payload that US government officials say is likely a space weapon.

In a series of statements, US officials said the new military satellite, named Kosmos 2576, appears to be similar to two previous "inspector" spacecraft launched by Russia in 2019 and 2022.

"Just last week, on May 16, Russia launched a satellite into low-Earth orbit that the United States assesses is likely a counter-space weapon presumably capable of attacking other satellites in low-Earth orbit," said Robert Wood, the deputy US ambassador to the United Nations. "Russia deployed this new counter-space weapon into the same orbit as a US government satellite."

Kosmos 2576 is flying in the same orbital plane as a National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) spy satellite, meaning it can regularly approach the top-secret US reconnaissance platform. The launch of Kosmos 2576 from Russia's Plesetsk Cosmodrome on a Soyuz rocket was precisely timed to happen when the Earth's rotation brought the launch site underneath the orbital path of the NRO spy satellite, officially designated USA 314.

[...] Russia's deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, dismissed the US government's assessment about the purpose of Kosmos 2576 as "fake news." However, in the last few years, Russia has steered satellites into orbits intersecting with the paths of US spy platforms, and demonstrated it can take out an enemy satellite using a range of methods.

[...] These two previous Russian satellites—Kosmos 2542 and Kosmos 2558— continually flew within a few dozen kilometers of two other NRO satellites—USA 245 and USA 326—in low-Earth orbit. In a post on the social media platform X, McDowell wrote that the Russian military craft "shadowed US satellites at a large distance but have not interfered with them."

Because of this, McDowell wrote that he is "highly skeptical" that Kosmos 2576 is an anti-satellite weapon.

upstart writes:

Tesla Cybertruck Owner Goes To ER After Being Sliced During Delivery:

The dent got his attention the most. He ran his finger across this damaged area to see if it was indeed a dent or perhaps some kind of residue. As he was rubbing the damaged area of the panel, he felt a sudden sharp pain and jerked his hand away. Due to the angle of his arm, he apparently slit his wrist open on the extremely sharp corner where the side panels and the tailgate meet.

Initially, he thought this was just a superficial cut. So did the Tesla employees who joked, "This thing can be dangerous!" Then they noticed the blood pooling on the ground below him. The service team rushed to get a first aid kit, with which they disinfected and bandaged his wound.

Despite this rather disastrous delivery, bdesign did finalize the paperwork and take the truck home. But by the end of the day, his wound still hadn't begun to close. So he spent the evening in the emergency room.

Unfortunately, 'bdesign' isn't the first owner to get a gash from the Cybertruck. Earlier this month, another owner cut themselves on the door's edge when exiting the vehicle. Of course, this type of door injury is not unheard of. For instance, a Bolt EUV owner had this happen to them on more than one occasion. A Rivian owner injured themselves in a similar manner, gashing their leg on the gear tunnel door.

But the unusually sharp corners of the Cybertruck's exterior and could prove dangerous to both owners and pedestrians. This is a concern that automotive reviewers, safety experts and owners have been pointing out for months. We even saw this as far back as December, when reviewer Jason Cammisa ripped his shirt and cut his arm on the edge of the vehicle's hood.

So this is not a one-off occurrence. Hopefully, it will not become more common as more trucks hit the streets, and we hope 'bdesign' has an easier time with his truck from now on.

Original Submission

upstart writes:

Abstract:

Silica glass, known for its brittleness, weight, and non-biodegradable nature, faces challenges in finding suitable alternatives.

Transparent wood, made by infusing polymers into wood, shows promise but is hindered by limited availability of wood in China and fire risks associated with its use. This study explores the potential of utilizing bamboo, which has a shorter growth cycle, as a valuable resource for developing flame-retardant, smoke-suppressing, and superhydrophobic transparent bamboo. A 3-layered flame-retardant barrier, composed of a top silane layer, an intermediate layer of SiO2 formed through hydrolysis-condensation of Na2SiO3 on the surface, and an inner layer of Na2SiO3, has been confirmed to be effective in reducing heat release, slowing flame spread, and inhibiting the release of combustible volatiles, toxic smoke, and CO.

Compared to natural bamboo and other congeneric transparent products, the transparent bamboo displays remarkable superiority, with the majority of parameters being notably lower by an entire order of magnitude.

It achieves a long ignition time of 116 s, low total heat release (0.7 MJ/m2), low total smoke production (0.063 m2), and low peak CO concentration (0.008 kg/kg). Moreover, when used as a substrate for perovskite solar cells, the transparent bamboo displays the potential to act as a light management layer, leading to a marked efficiency enhancement of 15.29%. The excellent features of transparent bamboo make it an enticing choice for future advancements in flame-retardant glasses and optical devices.

Bamboo, often referred to as "the second forest", boasts a rapid growth and regeneration rate, allowing it to reach maturity and be utilized as a building material within 4 to 7 years of growth. With an output 4 times higher than wood per acre, bamboo is recognized for its exceptional efficiency. In terms of chemical composition, bamboo shares similarities with wood, mainly consisting of lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose. Furthermore, the internal hierarchical structure of bamboo closely resembles that of wood, featuring high porosity and permeability because of neatly arranged vertical channels.

This characteristic suggests the potential use of bamboo in the production of transparent composite materials. Transparent bamboo offers 3 distinct advantages over traditional silica glass. Firstly, the abundant and renewable nature of bamboo feedstock aligns with environmental sustainability goals. Secondly, transparent bamboo exhibits high light transmittance and haze, enabling privacy while facilitating the entry of natural light indoors. Lastly, the low density and excellent ability to regulate temperature and humidity from a bamboo template further position it as a promising alternative to conventional glass.

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

The competition to produce the world's most advanced chips is fierce, and TSMC's product roadmap promises that the battle for supremacy will be intense. First, its performance-optimized N3P node is coming, set to enter mass production in the second half of 2024 and will be the company's most advanced node for a while.

Next year, however, TSMC will introduce two production nodes that will enter high-volume manufacturing in the second half of 2025, promising to accelerate the advantages of N3P. These nodes are N3X, a 3nm-class process, and N2, a 2nm-class process.

N3X is tailored for high-performance computing applications, with a maximum voltage of 1.2V. According to research compiled by AnandTech, N3X chips can either reduce power consumption by 7% by lowering Vdd from 1.0V to 0.9V, increase performance by 5%, or increase transistor density by around 10%.

N2 uses gate-all-around (GAA) nanosheet transistors – a first for TSMC – and features exceptional low Vdd performance that is designed for mobile and wearable applications. In addition, N2's ultra-thin stacked nanosheets deliver a new level of energy efficient computing for HPC, TSMC says. Backside power rail will also be added to boost performance even further.

N2 technology will come with TSMC NanoFlex, a design-technology co-optimization that provides designers with flexibility in N2 standard cells, with short cells emphasizing small area and greater power efficiency, and tall cells maximizing performance. Customers are able to optimize the combination of short and tall cells within the same design block.

In 2026, TSMC will introduce two more nodes: N2P (2nm-class) and A16 (1.6nm-class).

N2P is expected to deliver a 5% - 10% lower power or a 5% - 10% higher performance compared to the original N2. However, contrary to prior announcements, N2P will not incorporate a backside power delivery network, using conventional power delivery mechanisms instead. This means the integration of such advanced power delivery will shift to future generation nodes, including A16.

Original Submission

owl writes:

https://steveblank.com/2024/05/16/secret-history-when-kodak-went-to-war-with-polaroid/

Kodak and Polaroid, the two most famous camera companies of the 20th century, had a great partnership for 20+ years. Then in an inexplicable turnabout Kodak decided to destroy Polaroid's business. To this day, every story of why Kodak went to war with Polaroid is wrong.

The real reason can be found in the highly classified world of overhead reconnaissance satellites.

Here's the real story.

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

More than 190 nations agreed Friday on a new treaty to combat so-called biopiracy and regulate patents stemming from genetic resources such as medicinal plants, particularly ones whose uses owe a debt to traditional knowledge.

After lengthy negotiations, delegates approved to cheers and applause the "first WIPO Treaty to address the interface between intellectual property, genetic resources and traditional knowledge", the UN's World Intellectual Property Organization said in a statement.

[...] Genetic resources are increasingly used by companies in everything from cosmetics to seeds, medicines, biotechnology and food supplements.

They have enabled considerable progress in health, climate and food security, according to the United Nations.

[...] The treaty text says patent applicants will be required to disclose where the genetic resources used in an invention came from, and the indigenous people who provided the associated traditional knowledge.

The goal is to combat biopiracy by ensuring that an invention is genuinely new, and that the countries and local communities concerned agree with the use of their genetic resources, such as plant species cultivated over time, and the traditional knowledge surrounding them.

While natural genetic resources—such as those found in medicinal plants, agricultural crops and animal breeds—cannot be directly protected as intellectual property, inventions developed using them can be patented.

As it is currently not mandatory to publish the origin of innovations, many developing countries are concerned that patents are being granted that circumvent the rights of indigenous people.

Antony Scott Taubman set up WIPO's traditional knowledge division in 2001 but no longer works with the agency.

"I wouldn't go so far as to say it's revolutionary," he said of the treaty.

"Conceptually what we're looking at here is a recognition that when I apply for a patent, it's not purely a technical step... it recognizes that I have liabilities," he told AFP.

Brazilian ambassador Guilherme de Aguiar Patriota, who has chaired the talks, hailed the new treaty early Friday as a "very carefully balanced outcome" of the talks.

"It constitutes the best possible compromise and a carefully calibrated solution, which seeks to bridge and to balance a variety of interests, some very passionately held and assiduously expressed and defended over the course of decades."

[...] It took years of negotiations to reduce 5,000 pages of documentation on the subject down to the agreement.

Original Submission

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/plant-based-meat-substitutes-might-be-bad-for-diabetics-s-pore-study

The results showed that "contrary to our research hypothesis, we failed to substantiate any clear benefits for PBMD (Plant-Based Meat Diet) on cardiometabolic health compared with the corresponding ABMD (Animal-Based Meat Diet)", the team said.

However, one finding might be significant for the 9.5 per cent of the population here with diabetes. The study found that the group on ABMD had better glycaemic control.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002916524003964#fig2

However, time in range was significantly higher in the ABMD group than in the PBMD group [ABMD median: 94.1% (Q1: 87.2%, Q3: 96.7%); PBMD: 86.5% (81.7%, 89.4%); P = 0.041)]. This is shown in Figure 2, where the PBMD group had higher glucose concentration peaks and a greater proportion of time in range during the full-feeding period. No significant differences were found in other glycemic control and variability-related parameters during this full-feeding period.

Original Submission