canopic jug writes:The presentations from FOSDEM 2020 are online. FOSDEM is an annual, non-commercial conference for Free and Open Source software developers and takes place for two days every year in Brussels, Belgium. This year it was the first weekend in February, Saturday the 1 and Sunday the 2. It is organized by volunteers and aims to promote the use of free and open source software. One beneficial aspect is the many developer rooms where various projects can meet and exchange ideas, plan, discuss, and hack. Participation is free of charge.Original SubmissionRead more of this story at SoylentNews.
upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Bytram:Who would have thought that providing good service at a reasonable price could be good for business?T-Mobile continues to rack up customers:
RandomFactor writes:The sheer expense of blasting things to orbit necessitates that we learn to do automated manufacture and assembly in space if humanity wants to truly become a space faring species. NASA is planning to show it can be done.
kreuzfeld writes:Readers here include many avid JRR Tolkien fans. Now, coming not long after the death of Christopher Tolkien (JRR's prolific son) comes a new fatality, Orson Bean:
hubie writes:Fingerprints contain a variety of substances that originate from both within the body and from what is on the surface of the skin, and as such they have the potential to convey a lot more information than just their ridge details. Forensic research has looked into fingerprint residue to determine whether illicit drugs were handled, and other research has investigated changes in fingerprint chemistry after drugs were ingested. Although it is possible to detect the primary metabolite of cocaine, benzoylecgonine (BZE), in fingerprints, it hasn't been possible to determine whether the presence of BZE residue was the result of handling or using the drug.Researchers from the UK and Republic of Ireland investigated the levels of cocaine and BZE found in fingerprints at various time intervals after contact with cocaine powder and with street cocaine. They compared them with fingerprints taken from a variety of patients attending a drug rehabilitation clinic, as well as non-drug users. In a paper in the open access journal Scientific Reports they showed that it is possible to distinguish between contact and ingestion of cocaine from a fingerprint, if (and only if) the fingerprints were obtained after the person had washed their hands.Paper Abstract:The finding that drugs and metabolites can be detected from fingerprints is of potential relevance to forensic science and as well as toxicology and clinical testing. However, discriminating between dermal contact and ingestion of drugs has never been verified experimentally. The inability to interpret the result of finding a drug or metabolite in a fingerprint has prevented widespread adoption of fingerprints in drug testing and limits the probative value of detecting drugs in fingermarks. A commonly held belief is that the detection of metabolites of drugs of abuse in fingerprints can be used to confirm a drug has been ingested. However, we show here that cocaine and its primary metabolite, benzoylecgonine, can be detected in fingerprints of non-drug users after contact with cocaine. Additionally, cocaine was found to persist above environmental levels for up to 48 hours after contact. Therefore the detection of cocaine and benzoylecgonine (BZE) in fingermarks can be forensically significant, but do not demonstrate that a person has ingested the substance. In contrast, the data here shows that a drug test from a fingerprint (where hands can be washed prior to donating a sample) CAN distinguish between contact and ingestion of cocaine. If hands were washed prior to giving a fingerprint, BZE was detected only after the administration of cocaine. Therefore BZE can be used to distinguish cocaine contact from cocaine ingestion, provided donors wash their hands prior to sampling. A test based on the detection of BZE in at least one of two donated fingerprint samples has accuracy 95%, sensitivity 90% and specificity of 100% (n = 86).Jang, M., Costa, C., Bunch, J. et al. On the relevance of cocaine detection in a fingerprint. Sci Rep 10, 1974 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-58856-0Original SubmissionRead more of this story at SoylentNews.
RandomFactor writes:Common wisdom is that mosquitoes use multiple methods to home in on their prey, including Carbon Dioxide in respiration and detection of body heat. Now, in a paper published in the journal Science, researchers describe the underlying temperature detection mechanism used, and interestingly it isn't a heat-seeking mechanism, but rather a cold-avoiding one.
canopic jug writes:Mac Bowley at the Raspberry Pi blog asks about ending hardware upgrades for the sake of upgrades as well as ending planned obsolescence. The softwre for the Raspberry Pi, he notes, still runs on the first models even if the newer models are faster. In fact the old models are still being produced and bought. Fully exploiting the natural life spans of hardware would have a lot of advantages, not the least of which would be reduction of the enviornmental impact.
RandomFactor writes:The recently discovered galaxy XMM-2599 is three times the size of any other galaxy ever imaged. And models indicate it should have continued forming stars for well over a paltry billion years, but according to new research the supermassive galaxy only did so for about 800 Million years.
DeathMonkey writes:[Note: The announcement of these records just occurred; the highs actually occurred in the years: 1982, 1989, and 2015. --martyb]Highest Recorded Temperatures In Antarctica Announced And They May Surprise You:
Editor's Comment: The figures and statistics regarding the novel coronavirus outbreak are changing daily and there are differences between reports from different sources. The latest figures, which we believe to be from a reputable source and which are being regularly updated, can be found at the worldometers. If you have a favourite site for updated information please leave a link in the comments.Chinese Whistleblower Doctor Dies Due to Coronavirustakyon writes:Li Wenliang: Coronavirus kills Chinese whistleblower doctor
upstart writes in with an IRC submission for carny:Oh ****... Sudo has a 'make anyone root' bug that needs to be patched – if you're unlucky enough to enable pwfeedback:
upstart writes in with an IRC submission for carny:Sketchy behavior? Wacom tablet drivers phone home with names, times of every app opened on your computer:
An Anonymous Coward writes:Swiss federal government organisations and agencies will soon be free to share the source code of their software solutions as open source. In addition, software developers working for the federal government should be able to be part of open source communities. The government wants to anchor this in federal law, according to new Guidelines on Open Source in the Federal Government, made public last Friday.
upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Bytram:Newest solar telescope produces first images: Preeminent telescope to play critical role in better understanding sun, space weather:
SoylentNews