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martyb writes:Summary:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Runaway1956_:Tunguska the ternary computer emulator:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Runaway1956_:Composite Fuselages: How They Changed The Airline Industry:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for FatPhil:Current spacesuits won't cut it on the moon. So NASA made new ones.:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:Google's Wing warns new drone laws 'may have unintended consequences' for privacy:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for runaway1957:Facebook ad integrity chief suddenly departs after controversies:

aristarchus writes:Revealing article in The Atlantic on the, um, shortcomings of the app-fueled gig economy.

t-3 writes:https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/dec/20/early-humans-may-have-survived-the-harsh-winters-by-hibernating

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:DOE and MIT Are Working on a Nuclear Fusion Reactor:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for runaway1957:SolarWinds hackers accessed Microsoft source code, the company says:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:A new mandate highlights costs, benefits of making all scientific articles free to read:

looorg writes:Brexit deal mentions Netscape browser and Mozilla Mail:

canopic jug writes:Works from 1925 are now open to all! The Center for the Study of the Public Domain at Duke Law School's blog covers the famous works which rise to the public domain on January 1, 2021.

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Runaway1956_:Desalination breakthrough could lead to cheaper water filtration:

[2021-01-01 20:46:45 UTC; updated with estimated totals for the second half of the year 2020 and for the entire year.]martyb writes:Happy New Year!The end of the year 2020 is fast upon us. There are many, I'm sure, who will be glad to see it go. And for good reason, too.I am inviting the editorial team to take a long holiday weekend; we will have reduced story coverage Friday through Sunday.There's no need to go into a recap of the world's events over this past year — plenty of other sites will do that and I see no need to waste people's time.Here's a milestone that happened a couple weeks ago that escaped my notice at the time: SoylentNews has been here, for the community, for over 2,500 days! It's amazing what can happen when people pull together in a common effort!Finances:

takyon writes:Can AI Lead to Pregnancy? Sometimes yes, if a couple struggling to conceive turn to machine learning to pick the right embryo for implantation

takyon writes:Activist hedge fund advises Intel to outsource CPU manufacturing

An Anonymous Coward writes:YouTube Class Action: Same IP Address Used to Upload 'Pirate' Movies & File DMCA Notices

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Runaway1956_:13 Linux security tutorials:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:Entire Boston Dynamics robot line-up dances in the new year:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Bytram:General anesthesia and normal sleep affect brain in an amazingly similar way as consciousness fades:

China clamps down in hidden hunt for coronavirus originsAn Anonymous Coward writes:China clamps down in hidden hunt for coronavirus origins

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:The surface of the moon is a galactic time capsule:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:Apple and TikTok remove app used to arrange parties during Covid:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:Here's How We'll Keep Time on Mars - Nerdist:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:New Views of Quantum Jumps Challenge Core Tenets of Physics:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:Star Trek: James Doohan's Ashes Were Smuggled on to the International Space Station - IGN:

An Anonymous Coward writes:More than 1.5 billion masks believed to have entered oceans in 2020:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:Researchers develop new way to break reciprocity law:

fliptop writes:Bruce Schneier has done an analysis of Russia's (alleged) recent attack on U.S. government agencies:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Runaway1956:Elon Musk will run into trouble setting up a Martian government, lawyers say:

An Anonymous Coward writes:https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=AES-NI-XTS-Retpolines-Regress

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for c0lo:Dozens sue Amazon's Ring after camera hack leads to threats and racial slurs:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:Leonardo da Vinci's drawings have unique microbiomes, study finds:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:The Lasting Lessons of John Conway’s Game of Life:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:U.S. to allow small drones to fly over people and at night:

Insecure wheels: Police turn to car data to destroy suspects' alibis:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Runaway1956:Himalayas act like an 'aerosol factory': Study - Times of India:

An Anonymous Coward writes:https://joemorrison.substack.com/p/openstreetmap-is-having-a-moment-dcc7eef1bb01

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Runaway1956:New drug inhibits the growth of cancer cells:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:Nikola sinks further and further.Nikola stock craters after cancellation of major garbage truck order:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Runaway1956:World's first wooden satellite to be launched by Japan in 2023:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Runaway1956:White House Launches Plan for a Nuclear Power System on the Moon:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:Study suggests link between word choices and extraverts:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Runaway1956:Why you're hounded by pop-ups about cookies, and how they could go away:

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:Discovery boosts theory that life on Earth arose from RNA-DNA mix: Newly described chemical reaction could have assembled DNA building blocks before life forms and their enzymes existed.:

McGruber writes:Edmund M. Clarke, the FORE Systems Professor of Computer Science Emeritus at Carnegie Mellon University, has died of Covid-19.Obituary: Edmund M. Clarke, CMU professor who won computer science's Nobel Prize equivalent:

AnonTechie writes:The Turing Test is obsolete. It's time to build a new barometer for AI

cafebabe writes:Last week, I compared Tesla design to Apple. Since then, it has become widely known that Elon Musk tried to sell Tesla to Apple in 2013. This has created considerable interest in Apple's autonomous vehicle project and Apple's progress with lithium batteries. However, it has not created considerable interest in Jony Ive's possible work for Ferrari nor in the progress of power transistors. I wrote about gallium LEDs and transistors in Dec 2017 and, specifically, GaNFET (Gallium Nitride Field Effect Transistor). I thought that it would be a good idea to check progress. Well, holy cr*p.On Mon 9 Nov 2020, a Texas Instruments press release announced power transistors which can switch 4kW (more than 600V, more than 6A) at 2.2MHz and, due to the 30mΩ resistance, do this with 99% efficiency. Indeed, cables may warm more than the 12mm×12mm transistors which require, at most, 40W heatsink. My calculations may be wrong but a homebrew, all wheel drive, six wheel vehicle, with 16 phase electric motors and these 4kW GaNFETs, can do a standing start quarter mile (400m) in less than 10 seconds. By 1980s standards, this is supercar performance. And from 2021 Q1, it is now possible to make this at home or a local makerspace.Read more of this story at SoylentNews.

An Anonymous Coward writes:Many sources are reporting that Trump finally signed the pandemic relief bill: