27 May 2023

Number 244

Gravitational-Wave Detector LIGO Is Back

The twin gravitational-wave detectors have started a new observation run after a major upgrade.

== the future?
Eating Disorder Helpline Fires Staff, Transitions to Chatbot After Unionization

The chatbot is named “Tessa” and will replace the entire Helpline program starting June 1.

Delaware taps artificial intelligence to evacuate crowded beaches when floods hit

Delaware’s low elevation mixed with crowded beaches and limited exit routes make the state particularly vulnerable to massive flooding,…

Provinces and territories agree to help Ottawa meet 2030 targets for protecting wild spaces

Nature society calls on governments to turn commitments into action .

Orcas are ramming boats off the Spanish coast, puzzling experts

24 incidents so far this year, Spain’s Maritime Rescue service says.

Free medications produce overall health-care savings in Ontario trial, new study suggests

Average yearly savings of $1,488/patient when drugs covered for those who struggle to pay.

== an old friend
A Popular Password Hashing Algorithm Starts Its Long Goodbye

The coinventor of “bcrypt” is reflecting on the ubiquitous function’s 25 years.

Solar Power To Overtake Oil Production Investment For First Time

The irony remains that some of the sunniest places in the world have the lowest levels of solar investment.

Uultrasound used to induce a hibernation-like state

Researchers have induced hibernation in a non-hibernating species (rats) with ultrasound, indicating the potential to do the same in humans with applications for medical trauma and spaceflight.

El Niño is on our doorstep, but not all are created equal. So what does it mean for Canada?

Typically, El Niño affects Canada in the winter and spring, bringing milder temperatures

What microplastics are doing to seabirds could tell us about their effect on humans

These plastic fragments are showing up in digestive systems, blood, breast milk, possibly even the brain.

== ?$
IBM Wants To Build a 100,000-Qubit Quantum Computer

The company wants to make large-scale quantum computers a reality within just 10 years.

== is this a case of politics over science?
Supreme Court Limits EPA’s Authority Under the Clean Water Act

Two former EPA chiefs saw Thursday’s decision as a major setback for the nation’s environment, and its future in combating the effects of climate change.

== if you owned any nvidia stock this past week, you would certainly have made a few bucks
== I have a pc with two nvidia gpus, far cry from 10,000
The chip maker that became an AI superpower

When ChatGPT went public last November, it sent a jolt well beyond the technology industry.

Deep-sea mining hotspot teems with mystery animals

A vast stretch of ocean floor earmarked for deep sea mining is home to thousands of oddball sea creatures, most of them unknown to science.

New superbug-killing antibiotic discovered using AI

Scientists have used artificial intelligence (AI) to discover a new antibiotic that can kill a deadly species of superbug.

Scientists Working to Generate Electricity From Thin Air Make Breakthrough

Scientists making the “Air-gen” device have discovered that any material can be used to generate electricity from the air.

Keeping Moore’s Law Going Is Getting Complicated

CMOS 2.0 will require exceptional creativity to rewire and 3D-stack the chip

New study raises alarm over rapid global wildlife loss

Research on 70,000 animal species suggests nearly half are experiencing population declines

Supreme Court Declines To Hear Challenge To Warrantless Pole Camera Surveillance

In this case, police secretly attached a small camera to a utility pole, using it to surveil a Massachusetts home 24/7 for eight months — all without a warrant.

== nyt ?$
Driver’s Licenses, Addresses, Photos: Inside How TikTok Shares User Data

Employees of the Chinese-owned video app have regularly posted user information on a messaging and collaboration tool called Lark, according to internal documents.

== alternate site
https://rivaltimes.com/licenses-addresses-and-photos-how-tiktok-shares-its-users-data/

== couple of related articles
Chinese hackers targeted U.S. infrastructure, security agencies warn

Canadian Centre for Cyber Security was one of several international agencies to issue an alert.

Volt Typhoon targets US critical infrastructure with living-off-the-land techniques

From the Microsoft Security blog.

France Bans Short-haul Flights To Cut Carbon Emissions

France has banned domestic short-haul flights where train alternatives exist, in a bid to cut carbon emissions.

Brain implants help paralysed man to walk again

A paralysed man has been able to walk simply by thinking about it thanks to electronic brain implants, a medical first he says has changed his life.

Hundreds of species new to science discovered in South-East Asia

A WWF report catalogues a cornucopia of plants and animals newly identified in the Greater Mekong region in 2021 and 2022, but many of them are endangered

Big Polluters’ Share Prices Fall After Climate Lawsuits, Study Finds

Fossil fuel companies register drop in value after litigation or unfavourable judgments.

== My first ‘dynamic’ web site was writtne with Perl using CGI back in the 80’s
WCGI Is WebAssembly + Old School CGI

CGI (Common Gateway Interface) was a way for web servers and server-side programs to interact simply by taking a request over STDIN and returning a response over STDOUT.

AMD Now Powers 121 of the World’s Fastest Supercomputers