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upstart writes:Chamberlain packed its app with ads while disabling third-party access:

taylorvich writes:https://newatlas.com/space/outsize-black-hole-supermassive-james-webb/Astronomers have discovered evidence of a theorized type of black hole lurking in the distant universe. Known as an "Outsize Black Hole," this object could help explain some fundamental cosmic mysteries, including how supermassive monsters form.Black holes as we know them tend to fall into two categories: there's the stellar mass black holes, which as the name suggests have masses equivalent to a few stars. They form when large stars die in a supernova. Up the other end of the scale sits supermassive black holes, which contain the mass of millions or even billions of stars. These are found at the center of many galaxies, including our own.It was long thought that supermassive black holes form by growing out of stellar mass black holes as they slurp up matter over billions of years. This hypothesis was seemingly bolstered by recent observations of intermediate mass black holes, rare objects that slot in the middle of the mass range.But as astronomers peer farther away in space and time, they've increasingly spotted signs that the story isn't that simple. In 2017, a black hole with a mass of 800 million Suns was discovered in a distant corner of space that meant it grew that big just a few hundred million years after the Big Bang - a growth rate that should be impossible according to our models. And it's far from alone, with over 100 contemporary giants found since then.One possible explanation is that some black holes may form through other methods, giving them a larger starting mass than a regular old supernova would allow. If massive clouds of gas collapse, the hypothesis goes, they could form black holes with masses between about 10,000 and 100,000 Suns."There are physical limits on how quickly black holes can grow once they've formed, but ones that are born more massive have a head start," said Andy Goulding, co-author of the study. "It's like planting a sapling, which takes less time to grow into a full-size tree than if you started with only a seed."Now astronomers claim to have discovered the first evidence for just such an object, which they call an Outsize Black Hole. It's located in a galaxy called UHZ1, at the incredible distance of 13.2 billion light-years from Earth - which also means we're seeing it as it was 13.2 billion years ago, or less than 500 million years after the Big Bang.Original SubmissionRead more of this story at SoylentNews.

looorg writes:Letters confiscated by Britain's Royal Navy before they reached French sailors during the Seven Years' War [(1756-1763)] have been opened for the first time.

upstart writes:Researchers worry the controversy is damaging the field's reputation:

canopic jug writes:Last week, Professor Eugene "spaf" Spafford published an article, Reflecting on the Internet Worm at 35, on the Morris Internet worm which hit the net back on November 2, 1988 back when there were likely fewer than 100k systems connected to the Internet, though maybe even as few as 60k. Some estimates suggest that around 1 out of 10 of those systems were infected, due to several holes in the target systems. Those which were infected ground to a halt due to a mistake in the worm itself.

taylorvich writes:https://phys.org/news/2023-11-willow-bark-broad-spectrum-antiviral-effect.htmlFrom a seasonal cold to a stomach bug, nobody likes catching a virus-and epidemics can be devastating. We need safe, sustainable antiviral options to treat the outbreaks of the future. Scientists in Finland have now shown that an extract of willow bark-a plant that has already provided several medicines, including the precursor to modern aspirin-has a broad-spectrum antiviral effect in cell sample experiments.The extract worked both on enveloped coronaviruses, which cause colds as well as COVID-19, and non-enveloped enteroviruses, which cause infections such as flu and meningitis. There are no clinically approved drugs that work against enteroviruses directly, so this extract could be a future game-changer."We need broadly acting and efficient tools to combat the virus load in our everyday life," said Prof Varpu Marjomaki of the University of Jyvaskyla, senior author of the study in Frontiers in Microbiology. "Vaccinations are important, but they cannot deal with many of the newly emerging serotypes early enough to be effective on their own."The scientists had previously tested willow bark extract on enteroviruses, and found it was highly successful. In this new study, they expanded the remit of their research to look at additional kinds of virus and to try to understand the mechanism of the extract's action.To make the extract, they harvested commercially grown willow branches. The bark was cut into pieces, frozen, ground, and then extracted using hot water. This produced the extract samples that the scientists tested against enteroviruses-strains of Coxsackievirus A and B-and coronaviruses-a seasonal coronavirus and COVID-19.More information: Willow (Salix spp.) bark hot extracts inhibit both enveloped and nonenveloped viruses: study on its anti-coronavirus and anti-enterovirus activities, Frontiers in Microbiology (2023). DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1249794Original SubmissionRead more of this story at SoylentNews.

Freeman writes:https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/11/data-brokers-staggering-sale-of-sensitive-info-exposed-in-unsealed-ftc-filing/

looorg writes:So much for the temporary delay or ban on AI. Musk named his AI Grok. I'm surprised by the lack of X:es in the name. Perhaps it would have looked odd considering the name of the Musk AI Company is xAI.Somewhat unclear if the Grok is referring to Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy Grok or to Heinleins Stranger in a Strange Land. If you take inspiration from Hitchhikers then it shouldn't be that hard to program. If all else fails, the answer to a query is always 42. So I guess we'll know what it will default to when it starts looping hallucinations.Also Grok should apparently be really into sarcasm, so that will end well and not lead to any kind of misunderstandings or interpretations. None.https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/nov/05/elon-musk-unveils-grok-an-ai-chatbot-with-a-rebellious-streakhttps://grok.x.ai/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GrokOriginal SubmissionRead more of this story at SoylentNews.

hubie writes:Attempting to catch up on sleep over the weekend is insufficient to return cardiovascular health measures to normal:

canopic jug writes:In part 5 of his "Keropunk" series, blogger Russell Graves, covers mantle lanterns.

owl writes:https://blog.jgc.org/2023/11/my-1976-kim-1.html

Meeting Announcement: The next meeting of the SoylentNews governance committee is scheduled for Today, Wednesday, November 8th, 2023 at 21:00 UTC (4pm Eastern) in #governance on SoylentNews IRC. Logs of the meeting will be available afterwards for review, and minutes will be published when complete. Note that due to the time change back to standard tine, this will be 4pm eastern time where it previously fell at 5pm eastern.The agenda for the upcoming meeting will also be published when available. Minutes and agenda, and other governance committee information are to be found on the SoylentNews Wiki at: https://wiki.staging.soylentnews.org/wiki/GovernanceThe community is welcome to observe and participate, and is invited to the meeting.Read more of this story at SoylentNews.

takyon writes:Ariane 6 cost and delays bring European launch industry to a breaking point

SomeGuy writes: Australia's news.com.au reports:

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YouTube is Taking its Fight Against Ad Blockers GlobalViewers have to enable ads if they don't want to pay for the $14-a-month YouTube Premium:

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taylorvich writes:https://phys.org/news/2023-10-sunflowers-sun-mechanism.htmlSunflowers famously turn their faces to follow the sun as it crosses the sky. But how do sunflowers "see" the sun to follow it? New work from plant biologists at the University of California, Davis, published Oct. 31 in PLOS Biology, shows that they use a different, novel mechanism from that previously thought."This was a total surprise for us," said Stacey Harmer, professor of plant biology at UC Davis and senior author on the paper.Most plants show phototropism-the ability to grow toward a light source. Plant scientists had assumed that sunflowers' heliotropism, the ability to follow the sun, would be based on the same basic mechanism, which is governed by molecule called phototropin and responds to light at the blue end of the spectrum.Sunflowers swing their heads by growing a little more on the east side of the stem-pushing the head west-during the day and a little more on the west side at night, so the head swings back toward the east. Harmer's lab at the UC Davis College of Biological Sciences has previously shown how sunflowers use their internal circadian clock to anticipate the sunrise, and to coordinate the opening of florets with the appearance of pollinating insects in the morning.Original SubmissionRead more of this story at SoylentNews.

AnonTechie writes:[Source]: IEEE Spectrum

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looorg writes:According to an observational study cats are found to have at least 276 different facial expressions combinations. That humans can identify and distinguish between, maybe or sort of ...https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/67273692

upstart writes:Bcachefs Merged Into The Linux 6.7 Kernel:

Freeman writes:https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/11/major-critic-of-x-sues-after-being-banned-from-platform/

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looorg writes:Coding with the pope: Catholic school children are going to be tempted to learn to code with the Pope. Or the pope is going to tell them to learn to code, cause that is what God wants? One imagines it will be a bigger draw in catholic countries, not so much in the rest of the world. Unless the program is really good and can be used by heathens and heretics to.Apparently the Pope, or God or some other earthly minion picked Python. What does that tell us ...

taylorvich writes:https://phys.org/news/2023-11-presumed-starfish.html

upstart writes:The companies still have to settle on Hulu's worth:

DannyB writes:High mobile phone use may impact sperm count, study says

Our certificates expire in a few hours time and there is nobody available to update them. You may see warnings in your browser. Please accept our apology.UPDATE: We think that we have succesfully renewed the certificates - but if anyone encounters anything unusual please let us know either here or on IRC.Read more of this story at SoylentNews.

upstart writes:Wrong deductions "withheld hard-earned pay from drivers," NY AG says:

DannyB writes:Wild Experiment Reveals What Would Happen if You Touched a Quantum Superfluid

upstart writes:The company pumps out trash-tier AI content, then waits until it's called out publicly to quietly delete it and move onto the next trainwreck:

taylorvich writes:https://techxplore.com/news/2023-10-evaporate-enable-approaches-desalination.html

Freeman writes:https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/10/a-wee-spider-needed-a-safe-place-to-molt-it-chose-a-womans-ear-canal/

upstart writes:48 Malicious npm Packages Found Deploying Reverse Shells on Developer Systems:

hubie writes:A rare window into the early American monetary history - thanks to techniques from physics:

hubie writes:Satisfaction with online dating app depends on what you're looking for:

hubie writes:Cross-selling can help retailers avoid lost revenue from returns:

takyon writes:Arm Acquires Minority Stake in Raspberry Pi

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upstart writes:Sam Bankman-Fried found guilty in FTX crypto fraud case:

DannyB writes:FAA wraps up safety review of SpaceX's huge Starship rocket

hubie writes:New study says relaxing paywall access does help increase subscriber counts long-term:

canopic jug writes:The Mozilla Corporation, known for applications like the Thunderbird e-mail client and the Firefox web browser, has issued a warning statement about some EU legislation sneaking its way through the back rooms. The text of the legislation is slated for approval in a non-public meeting in Brussels on November 8.

Freeman writes:https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/10/google-paid-26b-for-default-contracts-in-2021-google-exec-testified/

DannyB writes:Can humans reproduce in space? Mouse breakthrough on ISS a promising signThis is the first-ever study that shows mammals may be able to thrive in space.

hubie writes:Robots, AI programs may undermine credibility of religious groups, study finds:

Meta's AI research head wants open source licensing to change:

Freeman writes:https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2023/10/people-are-speaking-with-chatgpt-for-hours-bringing-2013s-her-closer-to-reality/

hubie writes:Why Computer Security Advice Is More Confusing Than It Should Be: