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wirelessduck writes:

Staff at the freenode IRC network have resigned en-masse after control of it passed to what one described as a "narcissistic Trumpian wannabe korean royalty bitcoins millionaire." Resignation letters piled up from Fuchs, Ed Kellett, Emīls Piņķis, Jessica Sophie Porter and others, capping weeks of drama in the FOSS world's biggest chatbox.

https://boingboing.net/2021/05/19/freenode-irc-staff-quit-after-new-owner-seizes-control.html
http://techrights.org/2021/05/14/how-freenode-works/
https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/19/freenode_staff_resigns/
https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Free-Software-Exits-Freenode

Original Submission

Anti-aristarchus writes:

Interstellar Comet Borisov Was Leaking Metal When It Zipped Past Us in 2020:

Gaseous nickel was shedding from interstellar comet 2I/Borisov when it briefly visited our solar system two years ago, according to a new study. Sounds like weird behavior for a comet, but as related research shows, the spewing of atomic metals might actually be a regular thing that comets do, whether they're local or from across the Milky Way.

Two new papers, published in the journal Nature, are updating our understanding of comets, both in terms of their origins and the conditions under which they formed. Combined, the papers are allowing for an unprecedented comparative analysis, in which astronomers are contrasting local comets to one that formed far, far away.

We're talking about interstellar comet 2I/Borisov, which visited our solar system in January 2020. Astronomers were able to identify its interstellar nature owing to its peculiar orbit. Recent research suggests Borisov is a fragment of a Pluto-like object, having formed in the Kuiper belt of its home star system. Borisov is often overshadowed by 'Oumuamua—the first known interstellar object to visit our solar system (which it did in 2017)—but Borisov is equally deserving of attention, mostly because of the similarities it shares with native comets.

[...] Taken together, the two papers point to a common process of cometary origin. These shared chemical properties imply that native comets and Borisov formed under similar conditions and in similar places within their respective star systems. And as Bodewits and Bromley explain, should astronomers be able to "unravel the origin of iron and nickel in regular comets and this interstellar object," they may "uncover a story of organic chemistry between shared different planetary systems."

Not sure which is more interesting, gaseous nickel, or metallic hydrogen.

Journal References:
1.) Piotr Guzik, Michał Drahus. Gaseous atomic nickel in the coma of interstellar comet 2I/Borisov, Nature (DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03485-4)
2.) J. Manfroid, D. Hutsemékers, E. Jehin. Iron and nickel atoms in cometary atmospheres even far from the Sun, Nature (DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03435-0)

Original Submission

martyb writes:

Recent Windows 10 Update Blocks Microsoft Teams, Outlook Logins:

A recent Windows 10 1909 cumulative update prevents Microsoft 365 desktop users from logging into Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Outlook, and Microsoft OneDrive for Business.

When attempting to login, users are shown a message stating, "We ran into a problem. Reconnecting..." and asking the user to restart the program.

[...] To fix this issue, Microsoft states that you need to restart Windows 10 again after the update finishes installing.

[...] If reboot Windows 10 does not resolve the issue, Microsoft recommends that you use the web versions of the Microsoft Teams, OneDrive for Business, and Outlook applications while they investigate the problem.

The issue is caused by cumulative update kb5003169.

<sarcasm>It's too bad Microsoft couldn't find anyone to test their update before it was released.</sarcasm>

Original Submission

Freeman writes:

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/05/cryptocurrency-bubble-is-bursting-wiping-out-600-billion/

Overnight, a broad selloff of prominent cryptocurrencies has vaporized billions of dollars in value. Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency affected, is off more than 18 percent in the last 24 hours. Currently, it's worth just over half what it was in mid-April. Over the past week, more than $600 billion has been wiped out of a wide range of more than 7,000 cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, ether, and meme coins like dogecoin, according to CoinGecko.

The causes for the selloff are myriad. The first shot across the bow came last week when Tesla CEO Elon Musk declared that his company would no longer be accepting bitcoin for car purchases. The change happened less than two months after he said that Tesla would accept bitcoin, and the about-face came as Musk said he is concerned about the environmental damages being wrought by the energy-intensive cryptocurrency. (His thinking on the matter may have been influenced by an Ars article about a private equity firm that revived a zombie power plant just to mine bitcoin.)

Check up-to-date prices online at CoinBase.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Ampere will switch from using Arm's "Neoverse" cores to custom ARM cores developed in-house:

Today's big reveal comes in regard to the microarchitecture choices that Ampere is going to be using starting in their next generation 2022 "Siryn" design, successor to the Altra Max, and relates to the CPU IP being used:

https://images.anandtech.com/doci/16684/AmpereStrategyRoadmapFinal_5.png

Starting with Siryn, Ampere will be switching over from Arm's Neoverse cores to their new in-house full custom CPU microarchitecture. This announcement admittedly caught us completely off-guard, as we had largely expected Ampere to continue to be using Arm's Neoverse cores for the foreseeable future. The switch to a new full custom microarchitecture puts Ampere on a completely different trajectory than we had initially expected from the company.

In fact, Ampere explains that what the move towards a full custom microarchitecture core design was actually always the plan for the company since its inception, and their custom CPU design had been in the works for the past 3+ years.

[...] Ampere's explanation and rationale for designing a full custom core from the ground up, is that they are claiming they are able to achieve better performance and better power efficiency in datacentre workloads compared to what Arm's Neoverse "more general purpose" designs are able to achieve. This is quite an interesting claim to make, and contrasts Arm's projections and goals for their Neoverse cores. The recent Neoverse V1 and N2 cores were unveiled in more detail last month and are claimed to achieve significant generational IPC gains.

Previously: 80-Core Arm CPU To Bring Lower Power, Higher Density To A Rack Near You
Ampere Announces Altra ARM CPUs with Up to 80 Cores, Going to 128 Cores by 2021
ARM Announces Neoverse V1 and N2 Cores
80-Core Ampere Altra Server CPU Competes Well Against Xeon and Epyc

Original Submission

Freeman writes:

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2021/05/20-percent-of-switch-sales-now-going-to-households-that-already-had-a-switch/

In the last year, Nintendo sold roughly 5.8 million Switch units to households that already had at least one Switch. That's according to a recently translated investor Q&A in which Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa said that "household demand for multiple systems accounted for roughly 20% of [28.83 million] unit sales of the Nintendo Switch family of systems" for the fiscal year ending March 31.

While Nintendo said in 2019 that "some households have already purchased multiple consoles," this is our first concrete look into just how much multi-Switch households are contributing to the Switch's sales, which now amount to over 85 million units over the system's lifetime. And Furukawa thinks the trend of multi-Switch households is only set to increase.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Google wants to build a useful quantum computer by 2029

Google is aiming to build a "useful, error-corrected quantum computer" by the end of the decade, the company explained in a blog post. The search giant hopes the technology will help solve a range of big problems like feeding the world and climate change to developing better medicines. To develop the technology, Google has unveiled a new Quantum AI campus in Santa Barbara containing a quantum data center, hardware research labs, and quantum processor chip fabrication facilities. It will spend billions developing the technology over the next decade, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The target announced at Google I/O on Tuesday comes a year and a half after Google said it had achieved quantum supremacy, a milestone where a quantum computer has performed a calculation that would be impossible on a traditional classical computer. Google says its quantum computer was able to perform a calculation in 200 seconds that would have taken 10,000 years or more on a traditional supercomputer. But competitors racing to build quantum computers of their own cast doubt on Google's claimed progress. Rather than taking 10,000 years, IBM argued at the time that a traditional supercomputer could actually perform the task in 2.5 days or less.

This extra processing power could be useful to simulate molecules, and hence nature, accurately, Google says. This might help us design better batteries, creating more carbon-efficient fertilizer, or develop more targeted medicines, because a quantum computer could run simulations before a company invests in building real-world prototypes. Google also expects quantum computing to have big benefits for AI development.

If it's useful for simulations and AI, then video games and smartphones could use it by 2045.

See also: Google I/O 2021: the 14 biggest announcements
Google I/O unveils new features for Google Cloud, collaboration tools
Android 12 Beta released with revamped user interface

Related: Google's 72-Qubit "Bristlecone" Chip: Does It Demonstrate "Quantum Supremacy"?
Quantum Supremacy and Neven's Law
Google Quantum Processor Reportedly Achieves Quantum Supremacy
IBM and Google's Race for Quantum Computing Takes a Mysterious Turn
Google: We've achieved quantum supremacy! IBM: Nope. And stop using that word, please
Here's What the People Who Claimed Google's Quantum Supremacy Have to Say About It
Why I Dislike What "Quantum Supremacy" is Doing to Computing Research
Google Says It Just Ran the First-Ever Quantum Simulation of a Chemical Reaction

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Samsung shows off foldable display concepts of the not-too-distant future

The first concept (above) has been rumored for some time. Samsung's "S Foldable" OLED panel shows a mobile device that folds in two places. When folded outwards, it has a display size of 7.2-inches, making it appear more tablet-like than some of the best foldable phones on the market like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2. That said, it's been rumored that Samsung is preparing to launch this display concept as an actual product later this year alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 3.

Samsung also showed off a Slidable OLED display, not unlike the LG Rollable that was once in development. Similar to how the OPPO X 2021 functions, this device will extend outwards from one side to reveal a larger display when needed.

Other concepts are more focused on larger tablet and PC devices. One showcases a 17-inch foldable that resembles the Microsoft Surface Duo's larger, unreleased brother, the Surface Neo. The other device is a more traditional laptop but with Samsung's Under Panel Camera (UPC), which many OEMs have been trying to develop for smartphones. This indicates that we could see the technology arrive first in Samsung PCs, although some rumors have indicated that it will show up on the upcoming Galaxy Z Fold successor.

By the way, the Surface Neo may be dead, along with Windows 10X.

Also at The Verge and Gizmodo.

See also: Galaxy Z Roll Trademark Filed by Samsung Hinting at a New Rollable Phone
Foldable Pixel Codenamed 'Passport' & Pixel 6 Series Get Referenced in Android 12 Beta

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Newly discovered quasicrystal was created by the first nuclear explosion at Trinity Site

The newly discovered material was formed accidentally in the blast of the first atomic bomb test, which resulted in the fusion of surrounding sand, the test tower, and copper transmission lines into a glassy material known as trinitite. Quasicrystals are exotic material that break the rules of classical crystalline materials. Materials such as sugar, salt, or quartz form crystals with what is known as a periodic order: the atoms are arranged in a pattern that repeats itself in three dimensions. Quasicrystals, first discovered in the 1980s, have an atomic structure of the constituent elements, but the pattern is not periodic. The quasicrystal, created by the Trinity explosion in a sample of red trinitite, has 5-fold rotational symmetry, which is not possible in a natural crystal. The symmetry group of the quasicrystal is the same as that of the regular 20-sided solid known as an icosahedron, and the chemistry is given by the formula Si₆₁Cu₃₀Ca₇Fe₂. This new quasicrystal is now the oldest known human-made quasicrystal, with an unmistakable timestamp (through its composition, discovery location, and radioactivity), indicating its moment of origin.

"Quasicrystals are formed in extreme environments that rarely exist on Earth," said [co-author Terry C.] Wallace, who is a geophysicist. "They require a traumatic event with extreme shock, temperature, and pressure. We don't typically see that, except in something as dramatic as a nuclear explosion." The thermodynamic/shock conditions under which this quasicrystal formed are roughly comparable to those that formed the natural quasicrystals discovered in the Khatyrka meteorite, which dates back at least hundreds of millions of years and perhaps as far back as the beginning of the solar system.

Quasicrystal.

Journal Reference:
Luca Bindi, William Kolb, G. Nelson Eby, et al. Accidental synthesis of a previously unknown quasicrystal in the first atomic bomb test [$], Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2101350118)

Original Submission

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:

New evidence of how and when the Milky Way came together:

New research provides the best evidence to date into the timing of how our early Milky Way came together, including the merger with a key satellite galaxy.

Using relatively new methods in astronomy, the researchers were able to identify the most precise ages currently possible for a sample of about a hundred red giant stars in the galaxy.

With this and other data, the researchers were able to show what was happening when the Milky Way merged with an orbiting satellite galaxy, known as Gaia-Enceladus, about 10 billion years ago.

Journal Reference:
Josefina Montalbán, J. Ted Mackereth, Andrea Miglio, et al. Chronologically dating the early assembly of the Milky Way, Nature Astronomy (DOI: 10.1038/s41550-021-01347-7)

Original Submission

Anti-aristarchus writes:

Space craft studying the Sun have captured very cool video. Coverage at The Verge.

One of the instruments aboard Solar Orbiter, a probe built by the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA, caught its first video of a coronal mass ejection while whizzing around the other side of the Sun in February. Solar Orbiter, which launched in early 2020, has detected these massive bursts of energy in the past, but the explosion captured in February this year was an exciting first for NASA.

NASA built the Solar Orbiter Heliospheric Imager, or the SoloHI instrument for the Solar Orbiter. It recently captured an energetic gust of solar plasma jetting from the star's surface as the spacecraft was meandering around the Sun. Scientists didn't expect the spacecraft to beam back any exciting images at this point — data is slow to reach Earth from such a far distance, and Solar Orbiter's main mission doesn't kick off until November.

This is where you need to go to the link[*], to see the amazing videos.

But SoloHI delivered the goods anyway, as it came out from behind the Sun and reentered Earth's line of sight, beaming back what NASA called a "happy accident." Two other instruments aboard the Solar Orbiter, the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) and the Metis coronagraph, may have captured different views of the coronal mass ejection around the same time.

Scientists are still piecing together the images from the different instruments to get a clear picture of what was going on near the Sun that day. Around the same time that SoloHi recorded its first detection of a coronal mass ejection, EUI and METIS detected a pair of coronal mass ejections. Other solar-focused spacecraft also captured images and video of the eruptions that day.

Just not something you want to see really up close.

[*] Video appears to be available on YouTube.--martyb.

Original Submission

Freeman writes:

Indigenous forest gardens remain productive and diverse for over a century:

In the 1930s, an archeologist from the Smithsonian wrote a short paper remarking on the exquisite vegetation around First Nation villages in Alaska. The surroundings were filled with nuts, stone fruit, berries, and herbs—several non-native to the area and many that would never grow together naturally. Apart from this brief mention, however, the significance of these forest gardens went largely overlooked and unrecognized by modern archeology for the next 50-plus years.

In the last few decades, archeologists have learned that perennial forest management—the creation and care of long-lived food-bearing shrubs and plants next to forests—was common among the Indigenous societies of North America's northwestern coast. These forest gardens played a central role in the diet and stability of these cultures in the past, and now a new publication shows that they offer an example of a far more sustainable and biodiverse alternative to conventional agriculture.

Try This One Weird Trick Russian Hackers Hate:

In a Twitter discussion last week on ransomware attacks, KrebsOnSecurity noted that virtually all ransomware strains have a built-in failsafe designed to cover the backsides of the malware purveyors: They simply will not install on a Microsoft Windows computer that already has one of many types of virtual keyboards installed — such as Russian or Ukrainian. So many readers had questions in response to the tweet that I thought it was worth a blog post exploring this one weird cyber defense trick.

[...] DarkSide, like a great many other malware strains, has a hard-coded do-not-install list of countries which are the principal members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) — former Soviet satellites that mostly have favorable relations with the Kremlin.[*]

Simply put, countless malware strains will check for the presence of one of these languages on the system, and if they're detected the malware will exit and fail to install.

[...] Will installing one of these languages keep your Windows computer safe from all malware? Absolutely not. There is plenty of malware that doesn't care where in the world you are. And there is no substitute for adopting a defense-in-depth posture, and avoiding risky behaviors online.

Frosty Piss writes:

Scientists have long studied the fallibility of human memory. False-memory research has been controversial. Cognitive scientists and psychologists often disagree on how easy it is to develop false memories and how often that occurs. It has also been controversial partly because police investigations and court proceedings rely on the quality of memories. Researchers in Germany and the U.K. said they were able to plant false memories and then help study volunteers root them out, work that suggests potential remedies to ease the problem of erroneous recollections. In this new study, researchers sought to prove what they said was a relatively unexplored area of research: how to undo false memories.

New study finds false memories can be reversed:

The study highlights - for the first time - techniques that can correct false recollections without damaging true memories

[...] "By empowering people to stay closer to their own truth, rather than rely on other sources, we showed we could help them realise what might be false or misremembered – something that could be very beneficial in forensic settings." — Dr Hartmut Blank, Reader in Experimental and Social Psychology

Journal Reference:
Aileen Oeberst, Merle Madita Wachendörfer, Roland Imhoff, et al. Rich false memories of autobiographical events can be reversed [$], Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2026447118)

Original Submission

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:

Alcohol May Have Immediate Effect on Atrial Fibrillation Risk, Events - American College of Cardiology:

Alcohol appears to have an immediate—or near-immediate—effect on heart rhythm, significantly increasing the chance that an episode of atrial fibrillation (AFib) will occur, according to new data presented at the American College of Cardiology's 70th Annual Scientific Session.

The data revealed that just one glass of wine, beer or other alcoholic beverage was associated with twofold greater odds of an episode of AFib occurring within the next four hours. Among people having two or more drinks in one sitting, there was a more than threefold higher chance of experiencing AFib. Using an alcohol sensor placed on participants' ankles, which passively monitored alcohol intake, the investigators found that every 0.1% increase in inferred blood alcohol concentration over the previous 12 hours was associated with an approximate 40% higher odds of an AFib episode. Evidence from those sensors also demonstrated that the total alcohol concentration over time also predicted the chance AFib would occur.

"Alcohol is the most commonly consumed drug in the world, and there is still a lot we don't understand about what it does to our bodies and, in particular, our hearts," said Gregory M. Marcus, MD, cardiologist and professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, and the study's lead author. "Based on our data, we found that alcohol can acutely influence the likelihood that an episode of AFib will occur within a few hours, and the more alcohol consumed, the higher the risk of having an event."