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Submission + - Yet another study suggests that Sixth Extinction Event is underway

Submitted by garyisabusyguy
garyisabusyguy writes: This is not the first time that it has been proposed that an extinction event is underway. However, this new study takes into consideration many other factors that may be tilting the data, and still come up with the inevitable conclusion that we have triggered a large die-off, and that we may become victims of it as well.

From the paper summary:
"Even under our assumptions, which would tend to minimize evidence of an incipient mass extinction, the average rate of vertebrate species loss over the last century is up to 114 times higher than the background rate. Under the 2 E/MSY background rate, the number of species that have gone extinct in the last century would have taken, depending on the vertebrate taxon, between 800 and 10,000 years to disappear. These estimates reveal an exceptionally rapid loss of biodiversity over the last few centuries, indicating that a sixth mass extinction is already "
http://advances.sciencemag.org...

But wait, the authors suggest that rapid work to avert the worst of the die-off is still possible. The question may really be whether we can get past paid trolls, fud and finger pointing in order to act wisely in a timely manner.

Feed Techdirt: New Hampshire Legislators Propose Law Banning Warrantless Use Of Tracking Devices (google.com)

From feed by feedfeeder

New Hampshire is continuing to lead the way in privacy. After becoming the first state to ban the use of automatic license plate readers, its legislators are now attempting to rein in warrantless tracking of cellphone users. A couple of false starts (dating back to last year) resulted in no changes (and complaints from app makers that the wording might make some of their offerings illegal).

But it now appears to be moving forward again after the implementation of some changes. The heart of the bill is this paragraph:

No government entity shall place, locate, or install an electronic device on the person or property of another, or obtain location information from such an electronic device, without a warrant issued by a judge based on probable cause and on a case-by-case basis.
As Watchdog.org points out, the spirit of the law is somewhat undermined by the letter of the law.

There are noteworthy exceptions, many of which appeared in previous iterations.

Tracking is permitted without a warrant with the informed consent of a device owner, unless the owner knowingly loaned it to a third party. You can track calls for 911 emergencies. A parent or legal guardian can provide informed consent to locate a missing child. The government can track its own property or employees in possession of that property. And alcohol ignition interlock control devices placed by court order would also be traceable without a warrant.
The other problem with the bill is a problem with all bills introduced by state legislators: it can't lock out federal intrusion, at least not in its present form. The bill states that it does not apply to "federal government agencies." So, if local law enforcement wants to engage in warrantless tracking of cellphones, all it has to do is partner up with a federal agency.

On top of that, there are the loopholes that have always been exploited. Stingray use -- one method of tracking location -- has routinely been hidden under more innocuous paperwork, like pen register orders. Obtaining cellphone records -- including location data -- is primarily done with subpoenas, considering most laws still treat these as third-party business records. While the law would force some of the latter requests to take the form of a search warrant, it doesn't make a clear distinction between real-time tracking and historical data.

What it does appear to outlaw is the warrantless, real-time tracking of GPS location, meaning tracking devices can only be deployed after obtaining a warrant. This is certainly a step forward, one perhaps partially prompted by the Supreme Court's US v. Jones decision. However, this would go against precedent in the First Circuit Court (which covers New Hampshire), which has found that warrantless GPS tracking devices may constitute a "search," but not to the extent that a lack of a warrant should automatically result in suppression of evidence. (Also somewhat aligned with the Supreme Court's reluctance to declare all GPS tracking worthy of a warrant.)

The court then held that it was reasonable for the agents to use the GPS device in Sparks case based upon reliance on clear precedent.

However, the court noted that they did not decide the issue of whether any exceptions to the warrant requirement exist for future installation use of the GPS device to monitor suspects movements. Therefore, future use of such GPS monitoring is governed under the United States v. Jones.

As such, the court of appeals affirmed the denial of the motion to suppress.
Although this case appeared before the judges after the Supreme Court's US v. Jones decision, the events of the case proceeded that finding. This may change rulings in the future, but for now, the First Circuit has not made it expressly clear that tracking devices require warrants.

As the proposed law pertains to physical tracking devices, it's much more closely aligned with the Supreme Court's decision. Left unclear is its application to Stingray devices and obtaining historical cell site location information from telcos -- both forms of "tracking" that don't involve attaching a monitoring device to a "person or property."



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Submission + - Using lasers to trigger a mouse's happy memory gives it the will to struggle on (ieee.org)

Submitted by the_newsbeagle
the_newsbeagle writes: With optogenetics, scientists can tag neurons with light-responsive proteins, and then trigger those neurons to "turn on" with the pulse of a light. In the latest application, MIT researchers used light to turn on certain neurons in male mice's hippocampi that were associated with a happy memory (coming into contact with female mice!), and then tested whether that artificially activated memory changed the mice's reactions to a stressful situation (being hung by their tails). Mice who got jolted with the happy memory struggled to get free for longer than the control mice. This tail-suspension test was developed to screen potential antidepressant drugs: If a rodent struggles longer before giving up, it's considered less depressed.

Comment Re:Effect of nukes on NEOs (Score 2) 272

You are assuming that the object is solid enough to be nudged from a single point

I would much rather that we look into splattering it with a bunch of white material

This will significantly alter the pressure that it receives from the sun and deflect every single piece of it that you can get 'paint' on

Comment Re:smart people, including Bill Gates (Score 4, Insightful) 367

by garyisabusyguy (#49927333) Attached to: The Future of AI: a Non-Alarmist Viewpoint

In the old 'world of the future' exhibits they prophecized that we would have machines doing the work for us and that all humans would enjoy more leisure time

We end up with is the masses being commoditized out of jobs and the wealthy reaping all of the benefits

What happened to get us all to sell ourselves out so cheaply and willingly accept the idea that a few bastards should end up with the bulk of the nations wealth while our children are faced with a future with no jobs and parents whose retirement funds cannot pay to take care of them?

Dystopia? We are living it and don't even see it

Comment Re:More like a bad design for voting system (Score 1) 57

In 'Brewster's Millions', Richard Pryor runs for office to waste a lot of money and has his election motto be, 'Vote for none of the above', but he throws the election because the major plot point is that he needs to be penniless to inherit his fortune and the salary of office would blow it

Then there was 'Dave' where an actor is a stand in for a President who dies, then finally fakes his own death to get eh right person into office.

There still seems to be something out there that is closer to what you are mentioning but it isn't ringing a bell right now. If we are not careful Adam Sandler will use it as a plot for a movie

Submission + - Russia and China crack encrypted Snowden files. Britain responds

Submitted by garyisabusyguy
garyisabusyguy writes: According to Sunday Times:
RUSSIA and China have cracked the top-secret cache of files stolen by the fugitive US whistleblower Edward Snowden, forcing MI6 to pull agents out of live operations in hostile countries, according to senior officials in Downing Street, the Home Office and the security services.
http://www.thesundaytimes.co.u...

And this non-paywalled Reuters version:
http://www.reuters.com/article...

MI6 has decided that it is too dangerous to operate in Russia or China. This removes intelligence capabilities that have existed throughout the Cold War, and which may have helped to prevent a 'hot' nuclear war.

Have the actions of Snowden, and, apparently, the use of weak encryption, made the world less safe?

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