An Anonymous Coward writes:OK, so you've air-gapped that PC. Cut the speakers. Covered the LEDs. Disconnected the monitor. Now, about the data-leaking power supply unit...
Kitsune008 writes:One of the issues involving nuclear power has been what to do with the waste materials. What if there was a way to not only convert the problematic materials into a safer storage form, but also enable that same storage form to be used as fuel in newer nuclear power generators? Sounds too good to be true, doesn't it?
hubie writes:Thunderstorms produce quick bursts of energetic gamma rays. These Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes (TGFs) were first discovered in 1992 by NASA's Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory. These bursts are unpredictable and last less than a millisecond and as such it is very hard to locate them with any decent precision. They are some of the highest energy photons produced in nature, but how they are produced is not known. Some models assume they result from charged particle acceleration in the high electric field region concentrated at the tips of lightning leaders, while other models assume particle acceleration occurs in large-scale thundercloud electric fields.Fairly recently it was noticed that TGFs were often associated with Electro-Magnetic Pulses (EMPs) in the Very Low Frequency (VLF) region. However, it isn't known whether the EMPs are signatures of the lightning that "triggers" the TGFs, or whether they are the RF signatures of the TGFs themselves. Figuring that out requires being able to pinpoint where in the thunderstorm the TGFs originate.A collaborative group of researchers analyzed a five-year data set where TGF signatures were simultaneously measured using space- and ground-based detectors. They were able to show in a paper published in Scientific Reports that the EMPs and TGFs are produced by the same phenomenon, rather than the EMPs being from "regular" lightning in TGF-producing thunderstorms. A popular explanation for the TGF source is the Relativistic Runaway Electron Avalanche (RREA) process where high electric fields accelerate electrons, which collide and knock out more electrons that are accelerated resulting in an avalanche of runaway electrons. When the electrons finally decelerate in the thunderstorm electric field, they produce bremsstrahlung photons, which is what gets detected.Reference:
martyb writes:2020-05-03 Roundup of COVID-19 (SARS-CoV2, Coronavirus) Storiestotal_count3,565,120total_deaths248,245total_recovered1,153,956active_count2,162,919active_mild_count2,112,878(98%)active_serious_count50,041(2%)closed_outcome1,402,201closed_deaths_count248,245(18%)closed_recovered_count1,153,956(82%)Read more of this story at SoylentNews.
hubie writes:In face-to-face communication the speaker's meaning is conveyed not only with the words that are used, but also with the assistance of visual and verbal cues. If you asked someone what they thought of your new hairstyle, their reply of "I think it looks great" has a lot different meaning if it is delivered with a broad smile and enthusiasm, or with eye-darting after some hemming and hawing. What is more challenging is when communication is performed only through the message without these cues. A sarcastic comments takes on a whole different negative tone without these cues.Over the years various conventions arose to add contextual meaning to a message. Long before people were LOL-ing, amateur radio operators would send "HIHI" over morse code. In the early 80s emoticons were created to add additional meaning to the various interchanges happening on Usenet. And of course, these have evolved into the ubiquitous emoji that we all know and love.Read more of this story at SoylentNews.
upstart writes in with an IRC submission for nutherguy:Florida sheriff refuses to stop Americans from witnessing historic manned space launch as NASA urges everyone to watch it online:
takyon writes:SpaceX's next Falcon Heavy launch could expend (destroy) the first stage center core, while landing the two side boosters on separate drone ships. This configuration could carry almost as much mass as a launch using a fully expendable Falcon Heavy:
upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Bytram:Gravitational waves could prove the existence of the quark-gluon plasma: Computer models of merging neutron stars predicts how to tell when this happens:
stormwyrm writes:With a major pandemic sweeping the world, the standard process of clinical trials for drug approval has come under criticism as a needless source of bureaucracy and delay. Drug discovery chemist Derek Lowe in a blog post explains how clinical trials for drug approval work and the reasons behind the various requirements that the FDA and equivalent organisations around the world generally put in place before approving a new drug. He explains how most of these apparently pointless bureaucratic hurdles are actually there to help protect the integrity of the scientific process and ensure that the human subjects undergoing the trials are treated ethically. While a case can be made for relaxing some of these safeguards, especially in this time of pandemic, it is probably not a good idea to do so without at least understanding what these safeguards are for.Determining how much of a pharmaceutical is needed to prepare for the trial. Ensuring your are actually preparing just that drug and not a polymorph. Proper laboratory and manufacturing practices to ensure the desired drug is actually prepared without impurities and contaminants. Preparing a plan for a drug trial. Demographics — age, gender, weight, current medications being taken. Getting a representative distribution of these as participants. And there's much more.Original SubmissionRead more of this story at SoylentNews.
martyb writes:Hangovers (aka veisalgia) are nothing new — they were well-known even in biblical times. (See Proverbs 23:29-35.) Countless ideas have been offered over the millennia on how to avoid them or on how to lessen the effect. This colorful discussion offers (conflicting) rhymes to help remember the order one should consume beer, wine, and whiskey.An online search offersnumerousfolkremediesbut there is scant science to support these.Now, just in time for weekend, comes new research that offers hope to the sufferer. The research is published under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license and is available on-line for free (PDF link) and seems robust.Are they really on to something? What, if anything, did they miss?What follows is an extract from the BMJ summary. Plant extract combo may relieve hangover symptoms: