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Hot Weather Hobbles Britain, a Nation Unaccustomed To Extreme Heat
https://news.slashdot.org/story/22/07/18/1659222/hot-weather-hobbles-britain-a-nation-unaccustomed-to-extreme-heat?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed
Trains slowed to a crawl. Schools and doctors' offices shut their doors. The British Museum closed off its upper galleries, then the entire museum. The government urged people to work from home. Much of Britain took an involuntary siesta on Monday as merciless heat scorched the country, driving temperatures close to triple digits Fahrenheit by midafternoon and threatening to smash records. From a report: By midafternoon, Wales had provisionally recorded the hottest day in its history, with the thermometer in Hawarden hitting 98.8 degrees Fahrenheit (37.1 Celsius). The current record for England of 101.7 degrees Fahrenheit (38.7 Celsius) was set in 2019, according to the Met Office, Britain's national weather service. At 3 p.m., the mercury in Kew Gardens in London hovered just under 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
For Americans in states that regularly sizzle, those numbers might seem underwhelming, but this is happening in a country unprepared for such extremes. In a nation known for its scudding clouds, frequent showers and temperate weather, the blazing heat was enough to hobble much of the country.<p><div class="share_submission" style="position:relative;">
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https://news.slashdot.org/story/22/07/18/160211/microsoft-president-sees-new-era-of-stagnating-labor-pool?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed
U.S. companies are facing a "new era" in which fewer people are entering the workforce and pressure to pay higher salaries may become permanent, Microsoft's President Brad Smith told Reuters in an interview. From a report: At the software maker's Redmond, Washington, headquarters, Smith highlighted one source of what he called today's "greater economic turbulence." In his office, he walked over to a wall-sized touchscreen device and pulled up a series of charts, showing how population growth has tumbled in the United States, Europe, China and Japan. The trend of around 5 million people expanding the U.S. working age population every five years since 1950 has shifted, starting in the period between 2016 and 2020 when growth slowed to 2 million, and is now slowing further, said Smith late last week, citing United Nations data. Major markets overseas have seen outright labor force declines. "That helps explain part of why you can have low growth and a labor shortage at the height at the same time. There just aren't as many people entering the workforce," said Smith, who oversees the nearly $2 trillion company selling cloud-computing services to major businesses.<p><div class="share_submission" style="position:relative;">
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https://science.slashdot.org/story/22/07/18/1556258/ghana-reports-first-cases-of-deadly-ebola-like-marburg-virus?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed
Two cases of the deadly Marburg virus have been identified in Ghana, the first time the Ebola-like disease has been found in the west African nation. From a report: Earlier in the month, blood samples taken from two people in the southern Ashanti region suggested they had the Marburg virus. The samples were sent to the Pasteur Institute in Senegal, which confirmed the diagnosis, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) said. "This is the first time Ghana has confirmed Marburg virus disease," said the GHS head, Patrick Kuma-Aboagye. No treatment or vaccine exists for Marburg, which is almost as deadly as Ebola. Its symptoms include high fever as well as internal and external bleeding. Ninety-eight people identified as contact cases were under quarantine, the GHS statement said, noting that no other cases of Marburg had yet been detected in Ghana. The World Health Organization declared Ghana's first outbreak. "Health authorities have responded swiftly, getting a headstart preparing for a possible outbreak," said the WHO regional director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti.<p><div class="share_submission" style="position:relative;">
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</div></p><p><a href="https://science.slashdot.org/story/22/07/18/1556258/ghana-reports-first-cases-of-deadly-ebola-like-marburg-virus?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p><iframe src="https://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?op=discuss&id=21735432&smallembed=1" style="height: 300px; width: 100%; border: none;"></iframe>msmash2022-07-18T16:05:00+00:00medicinePSAscience1515,11,5,4,0,0,0US Chip Industry Split Over CHIPS Act Benefits To Intel
https://news.slashdot.org/story/22/07/18/1530233/us-chip-industry-split-over-chips-act-benefits-to-intel?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed
Several U.S. semiconductor firms are deliberating whether to oppose a package of chip industry subsidies if the final language of the legislation awaiting a vote in the Senate disproportionately benefits manufacturers like Intel, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. From the report: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has told lawmakers that a vote could come as early as Tuesday on a slimmed-down set of bills to bolster the U.S. computer chip industry, after Democratic lawmakers cleaved them from a larger, more contentious bill. The bills are aimed at making the U.S. more competitive against a rising China, whose chip industry has grown rapidly over the last five years to account for almost 10% of global sales. The measures include $52 billion in subsidies and an investment tax credit to boost U.S. manufacturing. The bills have bipartisan support, though Republicans may vote against the chip measures unless Democrats give up plans to try to push through unrelated spending bills that Republicans oppose. But a rift is emerging within the chip industry itself, with some players concerned the final language of the legislation could provide disproportionate support to manufacturers like Intel while doing little to support other chip makers like Advanced Micro Devices, Qualcomm and Nvidia.<p><div class="share_submission" style="position:relative;">
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https://news.slashdot.org/story/22/07/18/1447205/half-a-trillion-dollars-wiped-from-once-high-flying-fintechs?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed
Almost half a trillion dollars has been wiped from the valuation of once high-flying financial technology companies that took advantage of the boom in initial public offerings earlier in the pandemic. Financial Times: More than 30 fintechs have listed in the US since the start of 2020, according to CB Insights data, as investors flocked to companies they believed could benefit from a long-term shift toward digitisation accelerated by the pandemic. However, concerns about rising interest rates, lack of profits and untested business models as the economy heads towards a potential recession have put them at the sharp end of this year's sell-off.
Shares in recently listed fintechs have fallen an average of more than 50 per cent since the start of the year, according to a Financial Times analysis, compared with a 29 per cent drop in the Nasdaq Composite. Their cumulative market capitalisation has fallen $156bn in 2022. If each stock is measured from its all-time high, around $460bn has been lost. A second-quarter update from online lender Upstart last week typified the challenges facing many fintechs. The company, which says it uses artificial intelligence to make consumer loan decisions, blamed the "tumultuous economy" for slowing down revenue growth and driving up losses.<p><div class="share_submission" style="position:relative;">
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</div></p><p><a href="https://news.slashdot.org/story/22/07/18/1447205/half-a-trillion-dollars-wiped-from-once-high-flying-fintechs?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p><iframe src="https://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?op=discuss&id=21735170&smallembed=1" style="height: 300px; width: 100%; border: none;"></iframe>msmash2022-07-18T14:46:00+00:00moneytough-lucknews2727,27,24,21,6,1,1India's Central Bank Wants To Ban Cryptocurrencies, Government Says
https://slashdot.org/story/22/07/18/1344257/indias-central-bank-wants-to-ban-cryptocurrencies-government-says?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed
India'a central bank wants to ban cryptocurrencies, the government told the parliament on Monday, raising more uncertainty about the future of the nascent virtual digital asset in the world's second largest internet market. From a report: Nirmala Sitharaman, the minister of finance in India, said the Reserve Bank of India has expressed concerns about the "destabilising effect of cryptocurrencies on the monetary and fiscal stability of a country" and has recommended "for framing of legislation on this sector," she said. "RBI is of the view that cryptocurrencies should be prohibited," she added. Formulating any legislation for regulation or banning of crypto will require "significant international collaboration," she added.<p><div class="share_submission" style="position:relative;">
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https://tech.slashdot.org/story/22/07/18/0433238/report-facebook-has-started-encrypting-links-to-counter-browsers-anti-tracking-measures?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed
"Facebook has started to use a different URL scheme for site links," writes the technology blog Ghacks, "to combat URL stripping technologies that browsers such as Firefox or Brave use to improve privacy and prevent user tracking."
Some sites, including Facebook, add parameters to the web address for tracking purposes. These parameters have no functionality that is relevant to the user, but sites rely on them to track users across pages and properties. Mozilla introduced support for URL stripping in Firefox 102, which it launched in June 2022. Firefox removes tracking parameters from web addresses automatically, but only in private browsing mode or when the browser's Tracking Protection feature is set to strict. Firefox users may enable URL stripping in all Firefox modes, but this requires manual configuration. Brave Browser strips known tracking parameters from web addresses as well....
It is no longer possible to remove the tracking part of the URL, as Facebook merged it with part of the required web address.<p><div class="share_submission" style="position:relative;">
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https://it.slashdot.org/story/22/07/18/034237/hybrid-work-makes-amazon-meta-others-reevaluate-office-expansion-plans?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed
Reuters reports:
Amazon.com Inc is pausing the construction of six new office buildings in Bellevue and Nashville to reevaluate the designs to suit hybrid work, the tech giant said on Friday... "The pandemic has significantly changed the way people work ... Our offices are long-term investments and we want to make sure that we design them in a way that meets our employees' needs in the future," said John Schoettler, vice president of Global Real Estate and Facilities at Amazon.
Separately, Bloomberg News reported on Friday that Facebook parent Meta Platforms and Amazon have pulled back on their office expansion plans in New York City.... "The past few years have brought new possibilities around the ways we connect and work," a Meta spokesperson told Reuters without confirming or denying the report.
Various news sites seems to have different pieces of the story. On Hawaii's most populous island Oahu, the office vacancy rate is now 14% — the highest level ever recorded.
And this week a tech founder admitted in Fast Company that after converting to a hybrid company, "we're just as productive as we were before the pandemic (if not more so). Our engineering team's engagement has remained strong, and we've actually seen a boost in retention since the transition to hybrid work....
"Our transition from in-person, to remote, and now to hybrid work has reinforced the value of staying open-minded to innovation not just in our products, but also in how we work."<p><div class="share_submission" style="position:relative;">
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</div></p><p><a href="https://it.slashdot.org/story/22/07/18/034237/hybrid-work-makes-amazon-meta-others-reevaluate-office-expansion-plans?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p><iframe src="https://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?op=discuss&id=21729624&smallembed=1" style="height: 300px; width: 100%; border: none;"></iframe>EditorDavid2022-07-18T07:34:00+00:00businessmaybe-notit4242,42,40,38,13,6,4The Most Bizarre Effects of a Megadrought
https://news.slashdot.org/story/22/07/18/0344228/the-most-bizarre-effects-of-a-megadrought?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed
Gizmodo writes that "The western and southwestern U.S. is wilting under the biggest drought in 1,200 years — a megadrought..."
"But the longer the West's dry spell goes on, the more bizarre the drought-related stories get." Some examples?
Long-sunken history and even evidence of past crimes are emerging from the receding waters. First, a barrel containing a body showed up in Lake Mead. Less than a week later, separate skeletal remains surfaced. Elsewhere where droughts are occurring, similar stories are popping up. As the drought progresses, police forecast that more human remains and other lost items are likely to continue to show up.
And last month the New York Times warned that Utah's Great Salt Lake had already shrunk by two-thirds, and now faced "an environmental nuclear bomb." Now Gizmodo reports that state's legislators are "considering a truly wacky idea to keep the body of water going."
Utah lawmakers floated the idea of a pipeline from the Pacific Ocean to the landlocked state during a meeting in May. "There's a lot of water in the ocean, and we have very little in the Great Salt Lake," Sen. David Hinkins (R), the commission's co-chair, said during the meeting.
The Pacific Ocean is, at minimum, about 966 km [600 miles] and a mountain range away from the Great Salt Lake. Though, experts previously told Gizmodo that the idea of a pipeline wasn't totally surprising or out of the question. The saline lake supports lots of Utah industries, including tourism, brine shrimp harvesting, and mineral extraction. So there are strong financial incentives for the state to try to preserve the lake.<p><div class="share_submission" style="position:relative;">
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</div></p><p><a href="https://news.slashdot.org/story/22/07/18/0344228/the-most-bizarre-effects-of-a-megadrought?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p><iframe src="https://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?op=discuss&id=21729712&smallembed=1" style="height: 300px; width: 100%; border: none;"></iframe>EditorDavid2022-07-18T04:34:00+00:00earthdry-humornews186186,184,171,155,33,16,9As US Crypto Mining Surges, Lawmakers Demand Disclosure of Emissions and Energy Data
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/22/07/18/0131250/as-us-crypto-mining-surges-lawmakers-demand-disclosure-of-emissions-and-energy-data?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed
The world has changed since China banned cryptomining, the Guardian reports. And now "more than a third of the global computing power dedicated to mining bitcoin comes from the US, Senator Elizabeth Warren and five other Democrats reported in a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency..."
But the Guardian also notes there's two problems with this:
- The largest US cryptomining companies have the capacity to use as much electricity as nearly every home in Houston, Texas; energy use that is contributing to rising utility bills, according to an investigation by Democratic lawmakers...
- "The results of our investigation ... are disturbing ... revealing that cryptominers are large energy users that account for a significant — and rapidly growing — amount of carbon emissions," the letter states.
"It is imperative that your agencies work together to address the lack of information about cryptomining's energy use and environmental impacts." The congressional Democrats have asked the EPA and the Department of Energy to require cryptominers to disclose emissions and energy use, noting that regulators know little about the full environmental impact of the industry....
The power demands of the industry are also coming at a cost to consumers, the letter states, citing a study that found cryptomining operations in upstate New York led to a rise in electric bills by roughly $165m for small businesses and $79m for individuals.
The main operator of Texas's grid admitted this week to the Verge that by 2026 crypto mining is set to increase demand on the state's power grid by a whopping 27 gigawatts — or nearly a third of the grid's current maximum capacity.
And an associate professor at Rochester Institute of Technology with a background in electricity system policy warns the site that "The more crypto mining that comes into the state, the higher the residents should expect the electricity prices to become."<p><div class="share_submission" style="position:relative;">
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</div></p><p><a href="https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/22/07/18/0131250/as-us-crypto-mining-surges-lawmakers-demand-disclosure-of-emissions-and-energy-data?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p><iframe src="https://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?op=discuss&id=21729506&smallembed=1" style="height: 300px; width: 100%; border: none;"></iframe>EditorDavid2022-07-18T01:35:00+00:00bitcoinproof-of-workinghardware112112,108,91,80,18,8,7Are Lock Screens About to Change?
https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/22/07/17/2259224/are-lock-screens-about-to-change?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed
"The lock screen is about to change," writes CNET — both for iOS and Android devices.
Apple's iOS 16 update, which launched in public beta on Monday, will bring more customization options and new widgets to the iPhone's lock screen when it arrives this fall. You'll be able to see more information quickly and apply stylistic effects to lock screen photos similar to the iPhone's Portrait Mode photography feature.... Like the Apple Watch, the new lock screen should make it easier to see crucial pieces of information without having to dig into apps or even unlock your phone.
And for Android phones:
Glance, a Google-backed subsidiary of mobile ad tech company InMobi, also reiterated its plans to bring its lock screen platform to the U.S. [though the company also says there's "no definitive timeline."] And Google is reportedly planning to incorporate more bits of information into its own lock screen widget for Pixel phones.... Glance's lock screen will appear in the form of what it calls "spaces," which are essentially curated lock screens designed to fit specific themes. A fitness-oriented lock screen, for example, would show statistics such as calories burned and exercise goals alongside a music player. A news "space" would show headlines and the weather, while a music version could surface live concerts....
The TechCrunch report about Glance's US arrival sparked concerns that advertisements would be coming to the lock screen, too. Glance's business page shows examples of advertisers that have used its platform to reach potential customers on the very first screen they see when picking up their phone. Intel, Zomato and Garnier are among the listed case studies. But Rohan Choudhary, vice president and general manager of the Glance feed, told CNET the US version would be ad-free. "We are very clear that in the US, we will not have ads on the lock screen at all," he said....
The company says it plans to monetize its service through news subscriptions and commerce links from shopping platforms that are surfaced through Glance.
Glance's motto? "Transforming lock screens into smart surfaces."<p><div class="share_submission" style="position:relative;">
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https://slashdot.org/story/22/07/17/210227/amazon-installs-sign-in-warehouse-urging-workers-not-to-sign-union-cards?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed
Engadget reports that Amazon has installed a slick, high-tech sign in its warehouse in upstate New York with a message for employees: don't sign a union card:
The carousel of anti-union posters went up Friday and cycles between approximately seven different slides, each actively discouraging workers from signing a union card. "It's on a constant loop while people punch in and punch out of their shifts," [one employee] said, "[when] they go on their breaks, or they go on their lunch. Any time that we're going to be up towards the front."
Amazon has been known to post signage meant to discourage unionization at other facilities. As Vice reported in March, workers at JFK8 in Staten Island, New York were treated to an array of posters with circumspect slogans like "Is union life for me?" and "Will the [Amazon Labor Union]'s voice replace mine?" The signage at ALB1 appears to represent the most forceful tack the company has taken in expressing its disdain for an organized workforce. The company also has a track record of breaking labor laws and frustrating organizing efforts: firing or otherwise retaliating against workers, preventing workers from handing out pamphlets, and interfering with a union election. Behind closed doors, the company also planned a smear campaign against a prominent organizer.<p><div class="share_submission" style="position:relative;">
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https://science.slashdot.org/story/22/07/17/2043256/was-the-pentagons-ufo-study-led-by-a-crackpot?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed
Black Parrot (Slashdot reader #19,622) shared this report from ScienceInsider:
When the U.S. government released a much-anticipated report on UFOs a year ago, many were perplexed that it couldn't explain 143 of the 144 sightings it examined. (In the single closed case, the report concluded the mystery object was a large, deflating balloon.) "Where are the aliens?" cracked one headline.
The truth was still out there. So was any sense of who had conducted the analysis, because the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which released the study, provided no details about who had investigated the cases. Last week, however, a former Department of Defense astrophysicist and reality TV personality named Travis Taylor asserted that he was the 'chief scientist' for the congressionally mandated study. The revelation shocked UFO skeptics in the science community. They note that Taylor has made extraordinary claims during TV appearances, including to have "seen more UFOs than I can count," and that he's been tracked by supernatural entities that caused his car and appliances to malfunction....
In fact, Taylor did serve in a lead role with the government's Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) Task Force, which produced 2021's fuzzy UFO report, Pentagon spokesperson Susan Gough confirmed to ScienceInsider. But Taylor was "informally referred to ... as the chief scientist as efforts to assemble a larger team were underway," and it was not a full-time position. (Taylor did not respond to requests for comment....)
Taylor's critics are simply astonished by what they call his antiscientific embrace of the supernatural — and the Pentagon's willingness to work with him. "I'm starting to see why [the government's] task force was so unsuccessful in identifying its Unidentified Aerial Phenomena!" wrote Robert Sheaffer, a UFO skeptic and author, on his blog.<p><div class="share_submission" style="position:relative;">
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https://yro.slashdot.org/story/22/07/17/2025207/two-us-lawmakers-urge-immediate-action-curtailing-deceptive-data-practices-in-vpn-industry?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed
Two members of the U.S. Congress urged America's Federal Trade Commission "to address deceptive practices in the Virtual Private Network industry," reports the Verge:
With abortion becoming illegal or restricted in several states, more people are looking to conceal their messages and search history, as police can use this information to prosecute someone seeking the procedure. In their letter, Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Senator Ron Wyden ask the FTC to clamp down on VPN providers that engage in deceptive advertising, or make false assertions about the range of their service's privacy. The lawmakers cite research from Consumer Reports that indicate 75 percent of the most popular VPNs "misrepresented their products" or made misleading claims that could give "abortion-seekers a false sense of security." Eshoo and Wyden also call attention to reports accusing various VPN services of misusing user data, as well as "a lack of practical tools or independent research to audit VPN providers' security claims...."
"We urge the Federal Trade Commission to take immediate action... to curtail abusive and deceptive data practices in companies providing VPN services to protect internet users seeking abortions." Eshoo and Wyden also ask that the FTC develop a brochure that informs anyone seeking an abortion about online privacy, as well as outlines the risks and benefits of using a VPN.<p><div class="share_submission" style="position:relative;">
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https://science.slashdot.org/story/22/07/17/198238/mit-scientists-invent-a-better-way-to-boil-water?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed
MIT News has an announcement:
The boiling of water or other fluids is an energy-intensive step at the heart of a wide range of industrial processes, including most electricity generating plants, many chemical production systems, and even cooling systems for electronics. Improving the efficiency of systems that heat and evaporate water could significantly reduce their energy use. Now, researchers at MIT have found a way to do just that, with a specially tailored surface treatment for the materials used in these systems.
The improved efficiency comes from a combination of three different kinds of surface modifications, at different size scales. The new findings are described in the journal Advanced Materials in a paper by recent MIT graduate Youngsup Song PhD '21, Ford Professor of Engineering Evelyn Wang, and four others at MIT..... "If we have lots of bubbles on the boiling surface, that means boiling is very efficient, but if we have too many bubbles on the surface, they can coalesce together, which can form a vapor film over the boiling surface," Song says. That film introduces resistance to the heat transfer from the hot surface to the water. "If we have vapor in between the surface and water, that prevents the heat transfer efficiency and lowers the critical heat flux value," he says....
Adding a series of microscale cavities, or dents, to a surface is a way of controlling the way bubbles form on that surface, keeping them effectively pinned to the locations of the dents and preventing them from spreading out into a heat-resisting film... In these experiments, the cavities were made in the centers of a series of pillars on the material's surface. These pillars, combined with nanostructures, promote wicking of liquid from the base to their tops, and this enhances the boiling process by providing more surface area exposed to the water. In combination, the three "tiers" of the surface texture — the cavity separation, the posts, and the nanoscale texturing — provide a greatly enhanced efficiency for the boiling process, Song says... The nanostructures promote evaporation under the bubbles, and the capillary action induced by the pillars supplies liquid to the bubble base. That maintains a layer of liquid water between the boiling surface and the bubbles of vapor, which enhances the maximum heat flux.
While the article stresses it's still a laboratory-scale process (needing more work to become a practical "industry-scale" process), "There may be some significant small-scale applications that could use this process in its present form, such as the thermal management of electronic devices, an area that is becoming more important as semiconductor devices get smaller and managing their heat output becomes ever more important." Wang says in the announcement, "There's definitely a space there where this is really important."
The article includes a bizarre-looking video showing how water now boils on their specially treated surface.
Thanks to Slashdot reader joshuark for sharing the link!<p><div class="share_submission" style="position:relative;">
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