canopic jug writes:Multiple sites have covered the 100 anniversary of the premier of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue.

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taylorvich writes:https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-02-odors-prompt-brain-cells-decisions.html

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Anonymous Coward writes:US climate scientist Michael Mann wins $1m in defamation lawsuit

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fliptop writes:In 2024 we are not yet completely inured to the latest technology - smart sex toys that track your orgasms, virtual-reality hookups, chatbot sexting - but we may be on our way. In less than 10 years' time, "app dating" became simply "dating."What will seem routine at the end of the next decade?

owl writes:https://rep-lodsb.mataroa.blog/blog/intel-286-secrets-ice-mode-and-f1-0f-04/

taylorvich writes:https://phys.org/news/2024-02-alien-invasion-native-earthworms-threaten.html

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taylorvich writes:https://phys.org/news/2024-02-laser-driven-lightsails-stable.html

AnonTechie writes:

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SomeGuy writes:Seth Lavin, a school principal in Chicago, reports his experience switching from a smart phone in this opinion piece that originates from the LA Times.

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Freeman writes:https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/02/humanitys-most-distant-space-probe-jeopardized-by-computer-glitch/

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tekk writes:Everyone knows we should be doing backups. While the standard these days is an online backup (too expensive for a full backup, I use it for important, small things,) or using an external hard drive, SSDs can lose their data after a few years of not being powered on and hard drives are complicated mechanical beasts susceptible to their grease hardening, bearings seizing, etc.The best option if I want long term backups is to grab good quality blurays and a burner. Is anyone else out there doing this? How are you handling splitting up your data (who only has 32gb of data these days?) Do you just have a dedicated spot on your hard drive to stage backups before burning or are there some software tricks on modern computers like the old days to burn a single "file" across multiple discs? How far back a backup have you recovered, now that bluray's going on 20 years old?Original SubmissionRead more of this story at SoylentNews.

taylorvich writes:https://spectrum.ieee.org/non-line-of-sight-infrared

Freeman writes:https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/02/trio-wins-700k-vesuvius-challenge-grand-prize-for-deciphering-ancient-scroll/

taylorvich writes:https://newatlas.com/medical/neuropathy-chronic-nerve-pain-non-opioid-compound/

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owl writes:https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/07/failed_usb_sticks/

Documents show industry-backed Air Pollution Foundation uncovered the severe harm climate change would wreak

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Freeman writes:https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2024/02/microsoft-in-deal-with-semafor-to-create-news-stories-with-aid-of-ai-chatbot/

PiMuNu writes:https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-68172162

taylorvich writes:https://www.science.org/content/article/electrifying-new-ironmaking-method-could-slash-carbon-emissions

canopic jug writes:The majority residents of Paris have voted in favor of heavy parking fees for suburban utility vehicles over 1.6 tons or more. These new fees rise to 18 an hour in the city center, with lower rates further out. The goals are to improve air quality, road safety, and provide for better commuting by bicycle.

taylorvich writes:https://spectrum.ieee.org/aluminum-nitrideOver the past decade, one of the biggest stories in semiconductors has been a surprise eclipsing of traditional silicon-in the field of power electronics, where silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) have raced past silicon to capture multibilllion-dollar segments of the market. And as major applications fell to these upstarts, with their superior attributes, a question naturally arose. What would be the next new power semiconductor-the one whose superior capabilities would grab major market share from SiC and GaN?Attention has focused on three candidates: gallium oxide, diamond, and aluminum nitride (AlN). All of them have remarkable attributes, as well as fundamental weaknesses that have so far precluded commercial success. Now, however, AlN's prospects have improved enormously, thanks to several recent breakthroughs, including a technological advance at Nagoya University reported at the most recent IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting, held this past December in San Francisco.The IEDM paper describes the fabrication of a diode based on alloys of aluminum nitride capable of withstanding an electric field of 7.3 megavolts per centimeter-about twice as high as what's possible with silicon carbide or gallium nitride. Notably, the device also had very low resistance when conducting current. "This is a spectacular result," says IEEE Senior Member W. Alan Doolittle, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Georgia Tech. "Particularly the on-resistance of this thing, which is ridiculously good." The Nagoya paper has seven coauthors, including IEEE Member Hiroshi Amano, who won a Nobel Prize in 2014 for his role in inventing the blue LED.[...] "This is a new concept in semiconductor devices," says Jena, of the Nagoya device. The next step, he adds, is fabricating a diode that has a layer of pure AlN at the junction, rather than 95 percent AlN. A layer of AlN just 2 micrometers thick would suffice to block 3 kilovolts, according to his calculations. "This is exactly where this will go in the very near future," he says.At Georgia Tech, Doolittle agrees that there is still room for enormous improvement by incorporating higher levels of pure AlN in future devices. For example, the breakdown electric field of the Nagoya diode, 7.3 MV/cm, is impressive, but the theoretical maximum for an AlN device is about 15. Thermal conductivity, too, would be greatly improved with more AlN. The ability to conduct heat is vitally important for a power device, and the thermal conductivity of the AlGaN alloy is mediocre-below 50 watts per meter-kelvin. Pure aluminum nitride, on the other hand, is very respectable at 320, in between GaN, at 250, and SiC, at 490.Original SubmissionRead more of this story at SoylentNews.

Freeman writes:https://www.pcmag.com/news/starlinks-laser-system-is-beaming-42-million-gb-of-data-per-day

In order to create a new company it is necessary to provide bylaws which state how that company will be governed. Draft 8 of the bylaws received one suggested change when it was presented to the community. However, there were a few problems that have been identified since Draft 8 was published in a Meta. One was the waiving of anonymity by anyone who wished to serve on the board. As the idea behind all seats on the board was that they should be elected by the community from volunteers in the community, and would periodically be replaced by subsequent volunteers and election, over time many of our community would have had their anonymity compromised. This was unpopular and made it difficult to envisage the long-term support of the community for such roles.The board has, as a minimum, three members. The President, a Secretary and an Accountant. These posts must waive anonymity as their identities have to be declared at incorporation and periodically thereafter. There is no escaping this requirement. However, the Governance Committee was also formed from community members and they have not had to waive their right to anonymity. The solution to the problem is relatively straight forward. The board will be established to fill the 3 necessary posts by volunteers, and will be responsible for fulfilling the legal requirements that such posts require. The operational control will be vested in a new group (or committee if you insist) which will comprise of a board member, the Team Leaders and the 5 Community Representatives, and others with specialist knowledge where necessary, thus removing the need for these people to be identified. They can use their regular usernames. The Management Group will provide operational guidance to the board. The community will be represented by their chosen representatives who will be looking after their interests and they will have direct access to the board during all discussions and communications. The Management Group will not hold regular meetings as issues that need resolving occur frequently and irregularly. They will use email and IRC as we have always done, thus removing the burden of meetings that, no matter when they were scheduled, proved to inconvenient to many members to say the least and have taken lot of man hours that could have been more usefully spent.To see us over the transition we need to have a set of bylaws (Draft 9) approved by the community. We have volunteers who will create a temporary board and community representatives, while we sort out policy and prepare for the election process so that the community can be involved in the election of all posts. This will be a temporary arrangement and the bylaws below - which are very heavily based upon Draft 8 which was provided by k0lie/replic8tor - can and will be changed over the next few months to reflect whatever is deemed to be the best arrangement for the long term.Please remember that the bylaws are only concerned with the board and site governance. Policy matters, management of the site on a daily basis, etc are not part of the bylaws and you will all have your chance to give your views once the transition has taken place. I welcome your comments but I will repeat - these bylaws are temporary and can be changed over the coming months as people see fit. I am more concerned at the moment with getting something that will work and allow us to move forward rather than reflecting each and every nuance of our future operation.Time is of the essence. Please make your comments promptly because as soon as we know that we have something that will work we would like to move on to incorporation.I gratefully acknowledge and thank k0lie/replic8tor for Draft 8. To ease the problem of assessing the bylaws I can identify the following sections as having been edited to reflect what is possible rather than what might have been ideal under other circumstances.

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Freeman writes:https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2024/02/deepfake-scammer-walks-off-with-25-million-in-first-of-its-kind-ai-heist/

canopic jug writes:Exotic Silicon has a detailed exploration of how and why to make long term backups.

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An Anonymous Coward writes:- Homepage: https://www.hirensbootcd.org/

Freeman writes:https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2024/02/after-14-5m-judgments-console-hacker-paid-nintendo-25-a-month-from-prison/

Many of you will have experienced the problems with the expired certificates. Unfortunately, our one remaining sysadmin is away from home until 1400 Monday (US time - tz unknown) and he has been away for a while.We have requested NCommander and k0lie to assist. They have declined.We all have real jobs and lives to live too and this is just one of those things.Unfortunately it seems that the problem will continue for another 36 hours.UPDATE:Audioguy has fixed the site. Thank you ag!JanRead more of this story at SoylentNews.

Freeman writes:https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/02/cops-arrest-17-year-old-suspected-of-hundreds-of-swattings-nationwide/

fliptop writes:The theoretical promise of AI is as hopeful as the promise of social media once was, and as dazzling as its most partisan architects project. AI really could cure numerous diseases. It really could transform scholarship and unearth lost knowledge. Except that Silicon Valley, under the sway of its worst technocratic impulses, is following the playbook established in the mass scaling and monopolization of the social web:

Freeman writes:https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/01/study-closing-toilet-lid-while-flushing-doesnt-stop-spread-of-airborne-bacteria/

fliptop writes:Apparently the bad guys can now use a device's ambient light sensor:

taylorvich writes:https://physicsworld.com/a/nuclear-powered-spacecraft-why-dreams-of-atomic-rockets-are-back-on/

upstart writes:Red Hat's new source code policy and the intense pushback, explained:

fliptop writes:A former CIA programmer was sentenced to 40 years in prison on Thursday for leaking the US spy agency's most valuable hacking tools to WikiLeaks: