An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: The White House escalated its fight against vaccine misinformation on Friday, with President Biden directly criticizing Facebook and other platforms for allowing vaccine misinformation to spread -- and consequently raising the ongoing death toll from the deadly pandemic. Asked for a message to platforms like Facebook, Biden replied, "They're killing people ... the only pandemic we have is among the unvaccinated, and they're killing people." The White House did not immediately respond to a request for clarification of the president's comments. The full exchange is embedded [here]. "We will not be distracted by accusations which aren't supported by the facts," said a Facebook spokesperson. "The fact is that more than 2 billion people have viewed authoritative information about COVID-19 and vaccines on Facebook, which is more than any other place on the internet. More than 3.3 million Americans have also used our vaccine finder tool to find out where and how to get a vaccine."

"The facts show that Facebook is helping save lives," the spokesperson continued. "Period."

Virginia will use $700 million in American Rescue Plan funding to expedite broadband buildouts in underserved communities throughout the state, Governor Ralph Northam announced on Friday. Virginia is only one of the states across the country that plans to use that money to build faster internet infrastructure. Engadget reports: With the investment, Virginia says it's on track to become one of the first states in the US to achieve universal broadband access. An estimated 233,500 homes and businesses throughout the Commonwealth fall under what the Federal Communications Commission would consider an underserved location. They don't have an internet connection that can achieve download speeds of 25Mbps down. The state estimates the additional funding will allow it to connect those places to faster internet by the end of 2024, instead of 2028, as previously planned. What's more, the "majority" of those connections will be completed within the next 18 months.

sciencehabit shares a report from Science Magazine: Over the past 2 decades, researchers have found hundreds of radioactive atoms, trapped in seafloor minerals, that came from an ancient supernova explosion marking the death of a nearby star. Erupting from hundreds of light-years away, the flash of x-rays and gamma rays probably did no harm on Earth. But the expanding fireball also accelerated cosmic rays -- mostly nuclei of hydrogen and helium -- to close to the speed of light. These projectiles arrived stealthily, decades later, ramping up into an invisible fusillade that could have lasted for thousands of years and might have affected the atmosphere -- and life. In a flurry of studies and speculation, astronomers have sketched out their potential effects, including a depleted ozone layer, cancer-causing particles, wildfires, and a cooling of the climate that could have helped initiate the ice ages 2.5 million years ago. Most paleontologists are yet to be convinced, but astronomers argue that such supernovae could explain some extinction events that lack customary triggers like volcanic outbursts or asteroid impacts.

An anonymous reader writes: Protecting the coasts in the United States from the impacts of climate change comes with a hefty price tag. But new research shows that using sea walls to safeguard land can just make the rising tides a problem somewhere else. The paper, published in PNAS, looks into the effect of erecting sea walls in one location and what that means for other places along the coast. Using the San Francisco Bay as a case study, it also assesses the economic impacts of flood scenarios in the nonprotected regions. According to the paper, defending individual parcels of the shore can increase flooding elsewhere by as much as 36 million cubic meters. This can result in $723 million in damages for a single flooding event in the most dire situations -- costs can even exceed the damages that would have resulted otherwise in the protected region.

Robert Griffin, an assistant professor at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth's School of Marine Science and Technology, decided to look into what happens to unprotected areas. Griffin and his team combined hydrodynamic and economic modeling to investigate flood damages in the San Francisco Bay under a variety of different scenarios -- with different parts of the shore protected by walls with different lengths, for instance. (For the sake of the experiment, the sea walls were modeled as being infinitely high.) The team focused on problems brought on by tidal events, rather than storms, and broke the results down by amount of sea-level rise: 50 cm, 100 cm, 150 cm, and 200 cm above 2010 levels. The study "can be useful in a variety of outcomes through time," Griffin told Ars, adding that the 200 cm scenario is close to the high end of current projections for the year 2100. "Displacement effects relate to the morphology of the land. Places that are low-lying, and valleys, can potentially accommodate more water in a tidal flooding scenario. If you block those places in the case of a flood, those waters go elsewhere. If those other places aren't also similarly defended, then it can increase the damages on those places," Griffin said.

For example, if you protect the Napa-Sonoma shoreline, the Santa Clara Valley and San Leandro in the South Bay can expect to experience $82 million and $70 million in flooding damages, respectively, with a sea-level rise of 200 cm. San Rafael would also be hit with an additional $53 million in damages in the case of a flood. On the positive side of things, protecting parts of the South Bay could lead to small but widespread damage reductions. Protecting Alameda, for instance, could reduce flood damages in areas south of there, including San Lorenzo and Newark. It would also cut down damages on the opposite side of the shoreline, near Palo Alto and Silicon Valley, the paper notes. Though the modeling done in this research focuses on the San Francisco Bay, Griffin noted that other parts of the world's coasts could see similar effects. Further, around 468 million people live close to bays and estuaries, according to the paper. Considering sea walls are already in place along many coasts, these displaced damages could already be happening -- though potentially to a lesser extent than if the sea level reached the paper's more dire levels.

sciencehabit shares a report from Science Magazine: Physicists at Google have taken an important step toward protecting delicate information in their nascent quantum computer from errors that can obliterate it. The researchers can't yet compensate for all types of errors -- a necessary step toward building a full-fledged quantum computer -- but others say they're poised to achieve that goal. Working with chains of up to 11 data qubits, Google researchers have now been able to preserve a logical qubit for a time that increases exponentially with the number of physical qubits, they report today in Nature. By spreading a single qubit's state over up to 11 data qubits, they reduced the chances of an error after 50 microseconds from 40% to 0.2%. Other groups have demonstrated similar error corrections schemes, but the new work is the first to demonstrate the exponential suppression of errors, says Julian Kelly, a physicist at Google and senior author on the paper. Such exponential suppression suggests developers may eventually be able to maintain a logical qubit indefinitely by spreading it over about 1000 physical qubits.

Hikers looking to summit Scotland's highest mountain and other peaks in the area are being sent up "potentially fatal" routes by Google Maps, the region's mountaineering organizations have warned. CNN reports: The John Muir Trust said Thursday that growing numbers of people using Google Maps to navigate up Ben Nevis risk being directed via a route that is "highly dangerous, even for experienced climbers." Ben Nevis, a popular tourist destination, is the highest mountain in the British Isles, standing at 1,345 meters (4,413 feet). Although thousands summit it annually, climbing the peak is not without risks and deaths have been recorded on the mountain as recently as this year. "The problem is that Google Maps directs some visitors to the Upper Falls car park, presumably because it is the closest car park to the summit," John Muir Trust's Nevis Conservation Officer Nathan Berrie said in a statement. "But this is NOT the correct route and we often come across groups of inexperienced walkers heading towards Steall Falls or up the south slopes of Ben Nevis believing it is the route to the summit," Berrie added. Mountaineering Scotland also warned that a route suggested by Google Maps was "potentially fatal."

"For those new to hill walking, it would seem perfectly logical to check out Google Maps for information on how to get to your chosen mountain," Heather Morning, Mountaineering Scotland's mountain safety adviser explained in a statement. "But when you input Ben Nevis and click on the 'car' icon, up pops a map of your route, taking you to the car park at the head of Glen Nevis, followed by a dotted line appearing to show a route to the summit." Morning said that "even the most experienced mountaineer would have difficulty following this route. The line goes through very steep, rocky, and pathless terrain where even in good visibility it would be challenging to find a safe line. Add in low cloud and rain and the suggested Google line is potentially fatal." She also added that Google Maps suggested other routes which would direct users towards "life threatening terrain" when they sought to navigate the country's other high peaks, including the 1,062-meter An Teallach. "For An Teallach in the northwest, a 'walking' route was input into the search engine and the line offered would take people over a cliff," she warned. A spokesperson for Google said the company was looking into the complaints. "We built Google Maps with safety and reliability in mind, and are working quickly to investigate the routing issue on Ben Nevis and surrounding areas," the spokesperson said in an email. "In addition to using authoritative data and high definition imagery to update the map, we encourage local organizations to provide geographic information about roads and routes through our Geo Data Upload tool."

Earlier this week, Netflix announced that it is planning an expansion into video games and has hired a former EA and Facebook executive to lead the effort. Now, according to a recent datamine, the streaming giant may be forming a partnership with PlayStation to bring some of the biggest PlayStation brands to Netflix. IGN reports: Reported by VGC, dataminer Steve Moser appears to have uncovered PlayStation brand imagery and content in the Netflix app code. Moser shared the information via a tweet, including images of both the Ghost of Tsushima box art and some PS5 controllers. It's unclear exactly what this means for Netflix, but if there is a burgeoning partnership between Netflix and PlayStation, it could see Ghost of Tsushima content come to the streaming service in some form.

Moser suggests that the gaming section of Netflix currently has the codename 'Shark', and the placement of PlayStation IP within that suggests a collaborative approach. This wouldn't be the first major deal between Sony and Netflix, as the two companies agreed a deal earlier this year that means movies from Sony Pictures Entertainment will come to Netflix first after their theatrical run. [...] Given that many first-party PlayStation games are narrative-driven adventure games with a focus on cinematic stories, it makes sense to try and adopt games like Ghost of Tsushima and the last of us into movies and TV. Whilst PlayStation already has a games streaming service, PlayStation Now, it could also potentially be looking to push gaming content beyond the PlayStation console ecosystem, as Microsoft has done with Xbox Game Pass.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from CNET: LG's futuristic rollable TV has arrived. The LG Signature OLED R TV is now available in the US for $100,000 -- costing roughly 50 times more than your average 4K OLED TV. But this isn't your average TV. It has a thin, flexible 65-inch OLED screen. The "wow factor" is the TV's ability to roll down into its housing unit when you're not watching a movie or playing a video game in 4K. It also comes with a sound system with Dolby Atmos and Sound Pro, and has Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa built-in for voice control. The TV has three viewing modes: LG calls them "full view," "zero view" and "line view." In full view, the TV is completely unrolled from the base. In zero view, it's wrapped back up, letting you take advantage of just the Dolby Atmos speaker. In line view, part of the TV is unrolled, roughly a quarter of the screen. This unrolled section could show a clock, the weather or photos. If you're interested in purchasing this TV, LG requires you to contact a representative in your region via their website.

Covid cases are rising in all 50 US states as the Delta variant spreads coast to coast, news outlets reported on Friday , and with less than half the US population fully vaccinated, public health chiefs warned of an "extraordinary surge." Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said at a White House briefing: "This is becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated." The Guardian reports: Walensky said the US was seeing an average of 26,000 new coronavirus cases a day -- a seven-day average that is 70% higher than last week. Hospitalizations and deaths are also seeing increases -- about 36% and 26%, respectively, with Walensky noting this was another "critical moment" in the outbreak. "We are seeing outbreaks of cases in parts of the country that have low vaccination coverage because unvaccinated people are at risk. Communities that are fully vaccinated are generally faring well," she said.

Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious diseases official, said there had been an "extraordinary surge" in the Delta variant of Covid-19 -- which is more transmissible -- around the world, including in the US. Jeff Zients, the coordinator of the White House coronavirus team, confirmed that unvaccinated Americans "account for virtually all recent Covid-19 hospitalizations and deaths." Four states that are currently seeing high increases in Covid-19 cases have accounted for over 40% of the total Covid cases seen in the country this past week, Zients said. One in five cases occurred in Florida, in which about 50% of the state is fully vaccinated.

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi was the second-largest smartphone maker in the second quarter, overtaking Apple, according to analyst firm Canalys. CNBC reports: Xiaomi had a 17% share of global smartphone shipments, ahead of Apple's 14% and behind Samsung's 19%. "Xiaomi is growing its overseas business rapidly," Canalys research manager Ben Stanton said in a press release, noting shipments increased 300% year on year in Latin America and 50% in Western Europe. The Chinese smartphone maker posted year-on-year smartphone shipment growth of 83% versus 15% for Samsung and 1% for Apple. Stanton noted, however, that Xiaomi phones are still skewed toward the mass market, with the average selling price of its handsets 75% cheaper than Apple's.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from ZDNet, written by Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols: Microsoft now has its very own, honest-to-goodness general-purpose Linux distribution: Common Base Linux, (CBL)-Mariner. And, just like any Linux distro, you can download it and run it yourself. Microsoft didn't make a big fuss about releasing CBL-Mariner. It quietly released the code on GitHub and anyone can use it. Indeed, Juan Manuel Rey, a Microsoft Senior Program Manager for Azure VMware, recently published a guide on how to build an ISO CBL-Mariner image. Before this, if you were a Linux expert, with a spot of work you could run it, but now, thanks to Rey, anyone with a bit of Linux skill can do it.

CBL-Mariner is not a Linux desktop. Like Azure Sphere, Microsoft's first specialized Linux distro, which is used for securing edge computing services, it's a server-side Linux. This Microsoft-branded Linux is an internal Linux distribution. It's meant for Microsoft's cloud infrastructure and edge products and services. Its main job is to provide a consistent Linux platform for these devices and services. Just like Fedora is to Red Hat, it keeps Microsoft on Linux's cutting edge. CBL-Mariner is built around the idea that you only need a small common core set of packages to address the needs of cloud and edge services. If you need more, CBL-Mariner also makes it easy to layer on additional packages on top of its common core. Once that's done, its simple build system easily enables you to create RPM packages from SPEC and source files. Or, you can also use it to create ISOs or Virtual hard disk (VHD) images.

As you'd expect the basic CBL-Mariner is a very lightweight Linux. You can use it as a container or a container host. With its limited size also comes a minimal attack surface. This also makes it easy to deploy security patches to it via RPM. Its designers make a particular point of delivering the latest security patches and fixes to its users. For more about its security features see CBL-Mariner's GitHub security features list. Like any other Linux distro, CBL-Mariner is built on the shoulders of giants. Microsoft credits VMware's Photon OS Project, a secure Linux, The Fedora Project, Linux from Scratch -- a guide to building Linux from source, the OpenMamba distro, and, yes, even GNU and the Free Software Foundation (FSF). To try it for yourself, you'll build it on Ubuntu 18.04. Frankly, I'd be surprised if you couldn't build it on any Ubuntu Linux distro from 18.04 on up. I did it on my Ubuntu 20.04.2 desktop. You'll also need the latest version of the Go language and Docker.

We're in for an information revolution.Engineers in Japan just shattered the world record for the fastest internet speed, achieving a data transmission rate of 319 Terabits per second (Tb/s), according to a paper presented at the International Conference on Optical Fiber Communications in June. From a report: The new record was made on a line of fibers more than 1,864 miles (3,000 km) long. And, crucially, it is compatible with modern-day cable infrastructure. This could literally change everything.

Note well: we can't stress enough how fast this transmission speed is. It's nearly double the previous record of 178 Tb/s, which was set in 2020. And it's seven times the speed of the earlier record of 44.2 Tb/s, set with an experimental photonic chip. NASA itself uses a comparatively primitive speed of 400 Gb/s, and the new record soars impossibly high above what ordinary consumers can use (the fastest of which maxes out at 10 Gb/s for home internet connections).

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed a new bill into law Thursday barring police from lying to underage kids during interrogations. From a report: Commonly used interrogation tactics, such as promising leniency or insinuating that incriminating evidence exists, are banned when questioning suspects younger than 18 under the new law, which goes into effect Jan. 1. According to the Innocence Project, an organization focused on exonerating wrongly convicted people, those types of interrogation methods have been shown to lead to false confessions. They've also played a role in about 30% of all wrongful convictions later overturned by DNA. Illinois once was called the "False Confession Capital of the United States," the organization said, because of a number of high-profile exonerations of people who falsely confessed to crimes they didn't commit. "In Illinois alone, there have been 100 wrongful convictions predicated on false confessions, including 31 involving people under 18 years of age," said Lauren Kaeseberg, legal director at the Illinois Innocence Project.

The United States on Friday took a new stab at Russia's cybersecurity industry, restricting trade with four information technology firms and two other entities over "aggressive and harmful" activities -- including digital espionage -- that Washington blames on the Russian government. From a report: A Commerce Department posting said the six entities were sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in April, which targeted companies in the technology sector that support Russian intelligence services. Their addition to the Commerce Department's blacklist means U.S. companies cannot sell to them without licenses, which are seldom granted. The announcement follows April's sanctions, which were aimed at punishing Moscow for hacking, interfering in last year's U.S. election, poisoning Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and other alleged malign actions - allegations the Kremlin denies. They come as the United States is responding to a drumbeat of digital intrusions blamed on Russian government-backed spies and a spate of increasingly disruptive ransomware outbreaks blamed on Russian cybercriminals.

Pocket Casts has a new owner. Automattic, which runs WordPress.com and recently purchased Tumblr, announced today that it's acquired Pocket Casts, the well-regarded podcast app. The blog post announcing the purchase didn't offer much in the way of a preview, but it did tease potential future integrations. From a report: "As part of Automattic, Pocket Casts will continue to provide you with the features needed to enjoy your favorite podcasts (or find something new)," the post states. "We will explore building deep integrations with WordPress.com and Pocket Casts, making it easier to distribute and listen to podcasts." Pocket Casts launched in 2010 and sold to NPR and a group of other public media groups eight years later. It's been well-received, particularly from sites like The Verge, because it's available across platforms. It started monetizing through a program called Pocket Casts Plus, which charges users a monthly subscription fee for features like desktop app access and a standalone Apple Watch app, in 2019.