ICT news

• Analyzing 30 Years of Brain Research Finds No Meaningful Differences Between Male and Female Brains

  15-05-2021 23:34 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  "As a neuroscientist long experienced in the field, I recently completed a painstaking analysis of 30 years of research on human brain sex differences..." reports Lise Eliot in a recent article on The Conversation. "[T]here's no denying the decades of actual data, which show that brain sex differences are tiny and swamped by the much greater variance in individuals' brain measures across the population."
  Bloomberg follows up:In 2005, Harvard's then president Lawrence Summers theorized that so fe
  
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• Pipeline Attacked by Ransomware Has Now Resumed Normal Operations

  15-05-2021 22:34 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  Though halted last week by ransomware, America's largest gasoline pipeline announced Saturday that it's resumed normal operations, reports the Associated Press, "delivering fuel to its markets, including a large swath of the East Coast."Georgia-based Colonial Pipeline had begun the process of restarting the pipeline's operations on Wednesday evening, warning it could take several days for the supply chain to return to normal.
  "Since that time, we have returned the system to normal operations, de
  
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• Report: 65% of Social Media Anti-vax Propaganda Comes From Just 12 People

  15-05-2021 21:34 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  Long-time Slashdot reader jhylkema writes:Just 12 people account for the lion's share of anti-vaccination propaganda posted to three of the leading social media outlets, according to a study from a London-based group opposed to online hate and disinformation. A study (PDF file) conducted by the Centre for the Countering of Digital Hate identified the "Disinformation Dozen" people, including RFK Jr., Joseph Mercola, and Sherri Tenpenny... In its study, the group blasts the social media companies
  
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• University Cancels $700,000 in Student Debt for 220 Graduates Affected by the Pandemic

  15-05-2021 20:34 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  Delaware State University -- also known as DSU -- "is cancelling more than $700,000 in student loans for recent graduates hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic," reports CNN:DSU will cancel $730,655 for more than 220 people, the school announced this week...
  "Too many graduates across the country will leave their schools burdened by debt, making it difficult for them to rent an apartment, cover moving costs, or otherwise prepare for their new careers or graduate school," said Antonio Boyle, DSU's Vi
  
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• Is Computer History Also a History of Physical Pains?

  15-05-2021 19:34 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  "Decades before "Zoom fatigue" broke our spirits, the so-called computer revolution brought with it a world of pain previously unknown to humankind," argues Laine Nooney (in a condensed version of a chapter in the 2022 book Abstractions and Embodiments: New Histories of Computing and Society.)
  Slashdot reader em1ly shares its observation that "There was really no precedent in our history of media interaction for what the combination of sitting and looking at a computer monitor did to the human b
  
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• Russia Races to Beat Tom Cruise and NASA With First Movie Filmed in Space

  15-05-2021 18:34 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  Which country will shoot the first movie in outer space? Russia is now "in a race with the United States to claim the achievement," reports NBC News.
  36-year-old actress Yulia Peresild and 37-year-old director Klim Shepenko will complete Russia's cosmonaut-training program, ultimately taking two of the three seats aboard the October launch of Russia's Soyuz mission to the International Space Station:The Russian space agency, Roscosmos, announced Thursday that it had selected its crew to headline
  
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• Three Students Sue Lambda School Alleging False Advertising

  15-05-2021 17:34 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  Lambda School -- incubated at Y Combinator -- raised $130 million in venture funding from several investors including Google Ventures. Its original business model involved six-month virtual computer science courses for $30,000, remembers TechCrunch, "with the option of paying for the courses in installments based on a sliding scale that only kicks in after you land a job that makes at least $50,000."
  But this week three former students "filed lawsuits against the company in California, claiming
  
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• 'How Lies on Social Media Are Inflaming the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict'

  15-05-2021 16:34 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  The New York Times reports on misinformation that's further inflaming the Israeli-Palestinian conflict:
  In a 28-second video, which was posted to Twitter this week by a spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip appeared to launch rocket attacks at Israelis from densely populated civilian areas.
  At least that is what Mr. Netanyahu's spokesman, Ofir Gendelman, said the video portrayed. But his tweet with the footage, which was shared hundred
  
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• Cloudflare Wants To Kill the CAPTCHA

  15-05-2021 15:00 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from ZDNet: Cloudflare is testing out the possibility of security keys replacing one of the most irritating aspects of web browsing: the CAPTCHA. CAPTCHAs are used to catch out bots that are trawling websites and are often implemented to prevent online services from being abused. "CAPTCHAs are effectively businesses putting friction in front of their users, and as anyone who has managed a high-performing online business will tell you, it's not something you wa
  
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• AI Tool Writes Real Estate Descriptions Without Ever Stepping Inside a Home

  15-05-2021 12:00 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  A Canadian startup called Listing AI is using AI to quickly churn out computer-generated descriptions of real estate. All users need to do is give it some details about the home, and the AI does the rest. CNN reports: "L O V E L Y Oakland!" the house description began. It went on to give a slew of details about the 1,484 square-foot home -- light-filled, charming, Mediterranean-style, with a yard that "boasts lush front landscaping" -- and finished by describing the "cozy fireplace" and "rustic-
  
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• Australia Breaks Major Record For New Solar Panel Roof Installations

  15-05-2021 09:00 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  Solar panel installations in 2020 were up nearly 30 percent from the year before, breaking its own record for the number of solar panels installed in a year. ScienceAlert reports: The data, compiled by energy efficiency experts and reported in a CSIRO statement, come from Australia's Clean Energy Regulator, a national body tasked with reducing the country's carbon emissions and accelerating its use of clean energy. "Sustained low technology costs, increased work from home arrangements and a shif
  
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• China Lands Its First Rover On Mars

  15-05-2021 07:14 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  China just successfully landed its first rover on Mars, becoming only the second nation to do so. Space.com reports: The Tianwen-1 mission, China's first interplanetary endeavor, reached the surface of the Red Planet Friday (May 14) at approximately 7:11 p.m. EDT (2311 GMT), though Chinese space officials have not yet confirmed the exact time and location of touchdown. Tianwen-1 (which translates to "Heavenly Questions") arrived in Mars' orbit in February after launching to the Red Planet on a L
  
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• Climate Emissions Shrinking the Stratosphere, Scientists Reveal

  15-05-2021 05:30 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: Humanity's enormous emissions of greenhouse gases are shrinking the stratosphere, a new study has revealed. The thickness of the atmospheric layer has contracted by 400 meters since the 1980s, the researchers found, and will thin by about another kilometer by 2080 without major cuts in emissions. The changes have the potential to affect satellite operations, the GPS navigation system and radio communications.The stratosphere extends from abo
  
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• Mammals Can Breathe Through Their Intestines

  15-05-2021 04:02 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  fahrbot-bot shares a report from Gizmodo: When pressed for oxygen, some fish and sea cucumbers will use their lower intestines to get a little extra out of their environment. Now, a team of Japanese researchers say that mammals are also capable of respirating through their rectal cavity, at least in a lab setting. The team's research is published today in the journal Med and describes the capacity for mice, rats, and pigs to survive longer and have more strength in low-oxygen circumstances when
  
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• Apple Patents a Way To Deliver 3D Content Without 3D Glasses

  15-05-2021 03:25 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  Apple has patented the ability to deliver 3D content to devices like the iPhone, iPad and Macs without requiring 3D glasses. From a report: The company recently filed a patent with the heading of "Split-screen driving of electronic device displays." And the tech it describes means that flat screens on smartphones and tablets will be able to show an image in 3D without the viewer having to wear any glasses or VR headset. The idea is that iPhone and iPad screen will be able to display two differen
  
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• A Toshiba Business Unit Says It Has Been Attacked By Hacking Group DarkSide

  15-05-2021 03:03 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  A division of Toshiba said in a statement on Friday that its European business has been hit by a cyberattack by cyber criminal group DarkSide, which is the same group that the U.S. FBI blamed for the Colonial Pipeline attack. According to a Toshiba spokesperson, the attack occurred the evening of May 4. CNBC reports: The Toshiba unit, which sells self-checkout technology and point-of-sale systems to retailers, told CNBC that it has not paid a ransom. "They required money, but we didn't contact t
  
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• TSMC Is Considering a 3nm Foundry In Arizona

  15-05-2021 02:45 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Reuters reports that TSMC -- Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, the chip foundry making advanced processors for Apple, AMD, and Qualcomm -- is beefing up its plans to build factories in Arizona while turning away from an advanced plant in Europe. Last year, TSMC announced that it would invest $10-$12 billion to build a new 5 nm capable foundry near Phoenix, Arizona. According to Reuters' sources, TSMC officials are considering trebl
  
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• 'I Made Doge In Like Two Hours': Dogecoin Creator Says He 'Didn't Consider' Environmental Impact

  15-05-2021 02:02 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  One of the creators of dogecoin has noted that he "didn't consider" the environmental impact of the cryptocurrency, which was initially created as a joke. The Independent reports: The comments from Billy Markus, one of the people who helped create dogecoin in the first place, when it was intended partly as a joke, came in response to a tweet from Elon Musk. Mr Musk had been attempting to clarify his position on cryptocurrency generally, in the wake of his statement about Tesla. "To be clear, I s
  
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• 'Scheme Flooding' Technique May Be Used To Deanonymize You

  15-05-2021 01:25 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  sandbagger shares a report from The Register: FingerprintJS, maker of a browser-fingerprinting library for fraud prevention, on Thursday said it has identified a more dubious fingerprinting technique capable of generating a consistent identifier across different desktop browsers, including the Tor Browser. Konstantin Darutkin, senior software engineer at FingerprintJS, said in a blog post that the company has dubbed the privacy vulnerability "scheme flooding." The name refers to abusing custom U
  
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• Confronting Disinformation Spreaders on Twitter Only Makes It Worse, MIT Scientists Say

  15-05-2021 00:45 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  According to a new study conducted by researchers at MIT, being corrected online just makes the original posters more toxic and obnoxious. From a report: Basically, the new thinking is that correcting fake news, disinformation, and horrible tweets at all is bad and makes everything worse. This is a "perverse downstream consequence for debunking," and is the exact title of MIT research published in the '2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.' The core takeaway is that "being c
  
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• 'Black Fungus' Complication Adds To India's COVID Woes

  15-05-2021 00:05 via rss.slashdot.org
  
  The Indian government has told doctors to look out for signs of mucormycosis or "black fungus" in COVID-19 patients as hospitals report a rise in cases of the rare but potentially fatal infection. From a report: The state-run Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said at the weekend that doctors treating COVID-19 patients, diabetics and those with compromised immune systems should watch for early symptoms including sinus pain or nasal blockage on one side of the face, one-sided headache, swe
  
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