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Submission + - Scientists Discover Sawfish escape extinction through "virgin births"

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The first known virgin births in smalltooth sawfish have been documented in the wild among the critically endangered fish in Florida. Researchers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission used DNA fingerprinting to show that three percent of a Florida sawfish population was created by female-only reproduction. Dr Warren Booth, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Tulsa, who previously discovered an instance of parthenogenesis in snakes, said: “This is basically a very extreme form of inbreeding. Most people think of inbreeding as bad, but it could be helpful in purging deleterious mutations from a population.” The findings were published in the journal Current Biology.

Submission + - Facebook Now Supports PGP To Send You Encrypted Emails

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: You can now have Facebook encrypt email it sends to you by adding your PGP key to your profile. The PGP feature is "experimental" and will be rolled out slowly. The announcement reads in part: "...today we are gradually rolling out an experimental new feature that enables people to add OpenPGP public keys to their profile; these keys can be used to 'end-to-end' encrypt notification emails sent from Facebook to your preferred email accounts. People may also choose to share OpenPGP keys from their profile, with or without enabling encrypted notifications."

Submission + - US airport screeners missed 95% of weapons, explosives in undercover tests

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: An internal investigation by the TSA found that 95% of those testing airport checkpoints were able to bring weapons through at dozens of airports. In one case, an alarm sounded, but during the pat down, the screener failed to detect a fake plastic explosive taped to the undercover agent's back. ABC reports: "Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson was apparently so frustrated by the findings he sought a detailed briefing on them last week at TSA headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, according to sources. U.S. officials insisted changes have already been made at airports to address vulnerabilities identified by the latest tests. 'Upon learning the initial findings of the Office of Inspector General's report, Secretary Johnson immediately directed TSA to implement a series of actions, several of which are now in place, to address the issues raised in the report,' the DHS said in a written statement to ABC News."
Medicine

How Biostamps Can Replace Clunky Biomedical Sensors 43

Posted by samzenpus from the stamp-me dept.
An anonymous reader writes: The biostamp--a type of temporary tattoo that feels like skin, yet is laden with electronics--is just about ready for prime time. The technology has entered clinical trials for medical use, and consumer versions, costing just tens of cents, are coming soon. A visit to the University of Illinois researchers developing the technology reveals details about how biostamps work and how they are manufactured. A year from now, don't be surprised if you're wearing one--or two, or three--yourself.
Medicine

How Biostamps Can Replace Clunky Biomedical Sensors 43

Posted by samzenpus from the stamp-me dept.
An anonymous reader writes: The biostamp--a type of temporary tattoo that feels like skin, yet is laden with electronics--is just about ready for prime time. The technology has entered clinical trials for medical use, and consumer versions, costing just tens of cents, are coming soon. A visit to the University of Illinois researchers developing the technology reveals details about how biostamps work and how they are manufactured. A year from now, don't be surprised if you're wearing one--or two, or three--yourself.
Businesses

Foxconn Offers Electric Car Rental Service In China 20

Posted by samzenpus from the get-a-car dept.
Taco Cowboy writes: Foxconn plans to expand its electric-car rental business in ten more cities in China. Since starting the business in Beijing last year, they have launched similar services in Hangzhou and Changzhou. Another business in Guiyang will open with 100 electric vehicles in July. The service is activated through an app, website, or WeChat platform, and customers will be able to use the car with a QR code. The vehicles come equipped with internet connectivity and warns drivers of low battery and shows the nearest charging stations. The company is also working on a platform for the operation of new energy vehicles saying: "Foxconn's telematics devices have also entered BMW's supply chain, and the company is also shipping 17-inch in-car displays to Tesla. Additionally, Foxconn has also teamed up with China-based Chery to supply the automaker with digital dashboards, telematics devices, wireless charging boards and vehicle safety systems."

Comment Re: RAND PAUL REVOLUTION (Score 1) 500

People shouldn't necessarily work on what they want, they should work on what others value (whether that's a want or a need). Obviously it good when you can find an overlap between the two, but there's really a sharp limit to the number of professional masturbators, bong-hitters, and video-game players needed in an community.

Those who invented modern science actually spent much of their time working on projects for their patrons, just as artists did at the time. It's every adults duty, at least until retirement, to discover something that others value enough to pay for, that they won't hate doing, and get trained as needed to do that, then make that contribution to the community.

There's just no other way for the goods and services we all want and need to spring into existence. Not tax structure causes food to grow, nor houses to be constructed, nor the trash to be hauled. People doing what others value so that they can have the things they value makes all that happen.
Medicine

Tiny Fantastic Voyage Inspired Robots Are Starting To Get Reasonably Mature 27

Posted by samzenpus from the getting-small dept.
szotz writes: No shrinking machine in an underground military lab (as far as we know). And no Raquel Welch. Still there is a growing microrobotics movement underway, looking at ways that tiny, untethered robots might be used to perform medical interventions in the human body. There have been piecemeal reports for years now of various designs, such as microscallops that can swim through the eye and bots that can be pushed around by bacteria flagella. This article in IEEE Spectrum gives a round-up of recent progress and looks at some of the difficulties that arise when you try to make things tiny and still have them retain a modicum (or give them more than a modicum) of function.

Comment Re: In other words (Score 5, Interesting) 318

by AvitarX (#49818585) Attached to: Netflix Is Experimenting With Advertising

I really hope they don't do pre show ads, hbo does it, and it's a huge pain.

It's doubly a pain to see the same ones when binge watching.

I understand why hbo does this, they need to alert you to new content to keep you interested, but Netflix already does this on the home screen. They don't need to do ads, even for content I want to know about, before I watch something (I'm fine with it afterwards).
Space

Fuel Free Spacecrafts Using Graphene 265

Posted by samzenpus from the to-the-stars-and-beyond dept.
William Robinson writes: While using a laser to cut a sponge made of crumpled sheets of Graphene oxide, researchers accidentally discovered that it can turn light into motion. As the laser cut into the material, it mysteriously propelled forward. Baffled, researchers investigated further. The Graphene material was put in a vacuum and again shot with a laser. Incredibly, the laser still pushed the sponge forward, and by as much as 40 centimeters. Researchers even got the Graphene to move by focusing ordinary sunlight on it with a lens. Though scientists are not sure why this happens, they are excited with new possibilities such as light propelled spacecraft that does not need fuel.
Space

Fuel Free Spacecrafts Using Graphene 265

Posted by samzenpus from the to-the-stars-and-beyond dept.
William Robinson writes: While using a laser to cut a sponge made of crumpled sheets of Graphene oxide, researchers accidentally discovered that it can turn light into motion. As the laser cut into the material, it mysteriously propelled forward. Baffled, researchers investigated further. The Graphene material was put in a vacuum and again shot with a laser. Incredibly, the laser still pushed the sponge forward, and by as much as 40 centimeters. Researchers even got the Graphene to move by focusing ordinary sunlight on it with a lens. Though scientists are not sure why this happens, they are excited with new possibilities such as light propelled spacecraft that does not need fuel.
Advertising

Netflix Is Experimenting With Advertising 318

Posted by samzenpus from the here-comes-hulu-2 dept.
derekmead writes: Netflix is experimenting with pre-roll and post-roll advertisements for some of its users. For now, it's just pitching it's own original programming. However, many are concerned that they plan to serve third-party ads, but the company says they have no plans to do so. They told Mashable in a statement: "We are not planning to test or implement third-party advertising on the Netflix service. For some time, we've teased Netflix originals with short trailers after a member finishes watching a show. Some members in a limited test now are seeing teases before a show begins. We test hundreds of potential improvements to the service every year. Many never extend beyond that."
Advertising

Netflix Is Experimenting With Advertising 318

Posted by samzenpus from the here-comes-hulu-2 dept.
derekmead writes: Netflix is experimenting with pre-roll and post-roll advertisements for some of its users. For now, it's just pitching it's own original programming. However, many are concerned that they plan to serve third-party ads, but the company says they have no plans to do so. They told Mashable in a statement: "We are not planning to test or implement third-party advertising on the Netflix service. For some time, we've teased Netflix originals with short trailers after a member finishes watching a show. Some members in a limited test now are seeing teases before a show begins. We test hundreds of potential improvements to the service every year. Many never extend beyond that."
Security

Cybersecurity and the Tylenol Murders 74

Posted by samzenpus from the best-practices dept.
HughPickens.com writes: Cindy Cohn writes at EFF that when a criminal started lacing Tylenol capsules with cyanide in 1982, Johnson & Johnson quickly sprang into action to ensure consumer safety. It increased its internal production controls, recalled the capsules, offered an exchange for tablets, and within two months started using triple-seal tamper-resistant packaging. Congress ultimately passed an anti-tampering law but the focus of the response from both the private and the public sector was on ensuring that consumers remained safe and secure, rather than on catching the perpetrator. Indeed, the person who did the tampering was never caught.

According to Cohn the story of the Tylenol murders comes to mind as Congress considers the latest cybersecurity and data breach bills. To folks who understand computer security and networks, it's plain that the key problem are our vulnerable infrastructure and weak computer security, much like the vulnerabilities in Johnson & Johnson's supply chain in the 1980s. As then, the failure to secure our networks, the services we rely upon, and our individual computers makes it easy for bad actors to step in and "poison" our information. The way forward is clear: We need better incentives for companies who store our data to keep it secure. "Yet none of the proposals now in Congress are aimed at actually increasing the safety of our data. Instead, the focus is on "information sharing," a euphemism for more surveillance of users and networks," writes Cohn. "These bills are not only wrongheaded, they seem to be a cynical ploy to use the very real problems of cybersecurity to advance a surveillance agenda, rather than to actually take steps to make people safer." Congress could step in and encourage real security for users—by creating incentives for greater security, a greater downside for companies that fail to do so and by rewarding those companies who make the effort to develop stronger security. "It's as if the answer for Americans after the Tylenol incident was not to put on tamper-evident seals, or increase the security of the supply chain, but only to require Tylenol to "share" its customer lists with the government and with the folks over at Bayer aspirin," concludes Cohn. "We wouldn't have stood for such a wrongheaded response in 1982, and we shouldn't do so now."

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