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Comment the examples are interesting (Score 5, Informative) 172

Great work by the investigators here! I enjoyed reading through the specific examples they found. There are a few that looked like people making mistakes with matplotlib and not catching it; a bunch that looked like people deliberately filling in missing sequence info with other data; and a few that are just baffling (little possibility it was a mistake; but also no obvious reason to fake that specific data). A bit of a shitshow, and clearly unacceptable. I mostly hope that this nonsense hasn't negatively impacted too much research and progress, and that the professional repercussions are appropriate.

Submission + - Lamborghini Licenses MIT's New High-Capacity, Fast-Charging Organic Battery Tech (techradar.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Thanks to new Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) research, which was part-funded by Lamborghini, we could soon see the end of difficult-to-source and often problematic rare metal materials featuring in the batteries of future electric vehicles. The MIT study's aim was to replace cobalt and nickel, typically used as a cathode in today's lithium-ion battery technology, with organic materials that could be produced at a much lower cost. This would also reduce the impact on the planet and conduct electricity at similar rates as cobalt batteries. [...] The research, which has been running for six years, has culminated in a novel organic material that could be a direct replacement for cobalt and nickel. According to details recently released by MIT, this material consists of many layers of TAQ (bis-tetraaminobenzoquinone), an organic small molecule that contains three fused hexagonal rings.

It's a complicated subject for those not donning lab coats for a living, but these TAQ layers can extend outward in every direction, forming a structure similar to graphite. Within the molecules are chemical groups called quinones, which are the electron reservoirs, and amines, which help the material to form strong hydrogen bonds, which ensure they don’t dissolve into the battery electrolyte (something that has previously blighted organic cathode compounds), thus extending the lifetime of the battery. It comes as no surprise that Lamborghini has licensed the patent on this technology, seeing as it funded the research and has a certain Lanzador high performance electric vehicle in the pipeline.

Researchers say that tests of the material revealed that its conductivity and storage capacity were comparable to that of traditional cobalt-containing batteries. Also, batteries with a TAQ cathode can be charged and discharged faster than existing batteries, which could speed up the charging rate for electric vehicles. This speedy rate of charge and discharge could help give something like Lamborghini’s Lanzador a performance edge, while super-fast charging capabilities will negate the need for lengthy charging stops – something the Italian marque's discerning clientele will likely be opposed to. However, Lamborghini is also part of the wider Volkswagen Group and seeing that the primary materials needed to manufacture this type of cathode are already commercially available and produced in large quantities as commodity chemicals, we may see the battery tech filter down to more affordable EVs in the future.

Comment Patient probably was going to die regardless (Score 4, Informative) 75

While not defending Cruise, the report states that the patient had a GCS score of 3 (the lowest you can get), agonal respirations, no peripheral pulse, and massive bleeding from the leg (Police had to tourniquet it),

The GCS score indicates this person likely had massive brain injuries, and the other information is indicative of massive hemorrhage and hypotensive shock.

This patient had virtually no chance of survival given the injuries. That said, I'm sure its only a matter of time before one of these automated vehicles DOES directly get someone killed.

Submission + - Ecosystem collapses may occur much sooner than expected (phys.org)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: An article in Nature Sustainability suggests that models may have underestimated the impact of warming on ecosystems. Two main reasons for this are the difficulty in accounting for variability and combining climate change with other pressure factors: for instance, pollution, excessive exploitation of species, deforestation due to increased demographics growth and meat consumption, ecosystem fragmentation, also harm wildlife.

Climate models operate under constant non-climatic pressures and do not consider the combined effects of a more hostile climate and increasing pressures. The models also fail to account for the decreasing resilience due to declining resource availability like fossil fuels.

Climate averages are typically calculated over a 30-year period, but extreme events can significantly affect ecosystems even if they fall within the overall margin of error. It is important to consider variability and the frequency of extreme deviations from the average. The climate system is becoming increasingly volatile, as observed in recent years.

In the linked article, researchers have studied the impact of introducing more volatility (noise) into climate simulations. The result suggests that ecosystem collapse could occur 80% earlier than anticipated by less volatile models, indicating that the impacts described by the IPCC Working Group II may greatly underestimate the consequences.

Comment Reddit has fundamentally changed (Score 1) 36

by mfh (#63627030) Attached to: Reddit Sales Growth Slowdown Preceded Fight Over New API Fees

Reddit used to have principles that aligned with the open source model. Now they are removing mods that protested their API pricing. They have changed and that is how they are killing the goose that lays golden eggs. Everyone was cheering for them to succeed. Not anymore. The good will people had towards reddit is gone. They killed it.

Comment Sorry Google, but my browser, my rules, not yours (Score 2) 243

by Indy1 (#63511935) Attached to: YouTube Has Started Blocking Ad Blockers

With the amount of ad servers that get compromised and serve out malware, blocking ads isn't just reducing annoyances, its basic system security.

Further, its up to me what system resources and bandwidth get used for. If I don't want to waste resources for crappy ads that only annoy me and get in the way, that's my right to refuse them at a client level or redirect them to /dev/null.

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