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Physician Burnout Has Reached Distressing Levels, New Research Finds (msmash)
'); document.write('2022-09-29 20:41:00
'); document.write('Ten years of data from a nationwide survey of physicians confirm another trend that\'s worsened through the pandemic: Burnout rates among doctors in the United States, which were already high a decade ago, have risen to alarming levels. From a report: Results released this month and published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, a peer-reviewed journal, show that 63 percent of physicians surveyed reported at least one symptom of burnout at the end of 2021 and the beginning of 2022, an increase from 44 percent in 2017 and 46 percent in 2011. Only 30 percent felt satisfied with their work-life balance, compared with 43 percent five years earlier. \"This is the biggest increase of emotional exhaustion that I\'ve ever seen, anywhere in the literature,\" said Bryan Sexton, the director of Duke University\'s Center for Healthcare Safety and Quality, who was not involved in the survey efforts. The most recent numbers also compare starkly with data from 2020, when the survey was run during the early stages of the pandemic. Then, 38 percent of doctors surveyed reported one or more symptoms of burnout while 46 percent were satisfied with their work-life balance. Read more of this story at Slashdot.'); document.write('
The CIA Just Invested in Woolly Mammoth Resurrection Technology (msmash)
'); document.write('2022-09-29 20:02:00
'); document.write('As a rapidly advancing climate emergency turns the planet ever hotter, the Dallas-based biotechnology company Colossal Biosciences has a vision: \"To see the Woolly Mammoth thunder upon the tundra once again.\" Founders George Church and Ben Lamm have already racked up an impressive list of high-profile funders and investors, including Peter Thiel, Tony Robbins, Paris Hilton, Winklevoss Capital -- and, according to the public portfolio its venture capital arm released this month, the CIA. From a report: Colossal says it hopes to use advanced genetic sequencing to resurrect two extinct mammals -- not just the giant, ice age mammoth, but also a mid-sized marsupial known as the thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger, that died out less than a century ago. On its website, the company vows: \"Combining the science of genetics with the business of discovery, we endeavor to jumpstart nature\'s ancestral heartbeat.\" In-Q-Tel, its new investor, is registered as a nonprofit venture capital firm funded by the CIA. On its surface, the group funds technology startups with the potential to safeguard national security. In addition to its long-standing pursuit of intelligence and weapons technologies, the CIA outfit has lately displayed an increased interest in biotechnology and particularly DNA sequencing. Read more of this story at Slashdot.'); document.write('
Mystery Hackers Are \'Hyperjacking\' Targets for Insidious Spying (msmash)
'); document.write('2022-09-29 19:25:00
'); document.write('For decades, security researchers warned about techniques for hijacking virtualization software. Now one group has put them into practice. From a report: For decades, virtualization software has offered a way to vastly multiply computers\' efficiency, hosting entire collections of computers as \"virtual machines\" on just one physical machine. And for almost as long, security researchers have warned about the potential dark side of that technology: theoretical \"hyperjacking\" and \"Blue Pill\" attacks, where hackers hijack virtualization to spy on and manipulate virtual machines, with potentially no way for a targeted computer to detect the intrusion. That insidious spying has finally jumped from research papers to reality with warnings that one mysterious team of hackers has carried out a spree of \"hyperjacking\" attacks in the wild. Today, Google-owned security firm Mandiant and virtualization firm VMware jointly published warnings that a sophisticated hacker group has been installing backdoors in VMware\'s virtualization software on multiple targets\' networks as part of an apparent espionage campaign. By planting their own code in victims\' so-called hypervisors --VMware software that runs on a physical computer to manage all the virtual machines it hosts -- the hackers were able to invisibly watch and run commands on the computers those hypervisors oversee. And because the malicious code targets the hypervisor on the physical machine rather than the victim\'s virtual machines, the hackers\' trick multiplies their access and evades nearly all traditional security measures designed to monitor those target machines for signs of foul play. \"The idea that you can compromise one machine and from there have the ability to control virtual machines en masse is huge,\" says Mandiant consultant Alex Marvi. And even closely watching the processes of a target virtual machine, he says, an observer would in many cases see only \"side effects\" of the intrusion, given that the malware carrying out that spying had infected a part of the system entirely outside its operating system. Mandiant discovered the hackers earlier this year and brought their techniques to VMware\'s attention. Researchers say they\'ve seen the group carry out their virtualization hacking -- a technique historically dubbed hyperjacking in a reference to \"hypervisor hijacking\" -- in fewer than 10 victims\' networks across North America and Asia. Mandiant notes that the hackers, which haven\'t been identified as any known group, appear to be tied to China. Read more of this story at Slashdot.'); document.write('
Meta Announces Hiring Freeze, Warns Employees of Restructuring (msmash)
'); document.write('2022-09-29 18:47:00
'); document.write('Meta Platforms, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, said it will freeze hiring and restructure some teams in an effort to cut costs and shift priorities. From a report: Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg announced the social networking company\'s freeze during a weekly Q&A session with employees, according to a person in attendance. He added that the company would reduce budgets across most teams, even teams that are growing, and that individual teams will sort out how to handle headcount changes -- whether that means not filling roles that employees depart, shifting people to other teams, or working to \"manage out people who aren\'t succeeding,\" according to remarks reviewed by Bloomberg. \"I had hoped the economy would have more clearly stabilized by now, but from what we\'re seeing it doesn\'t yet seem like it has, so we want to plan somewhat conservatively,\" Zuckerberg said. Read more of this story at Slashdot.'); document.write('
New York To Mandate Zero-Emission Vehicles in 2035 (msmash)
'); document.write('2022-09-29 18:06:00
'); document.write('All new vehicles purchased in New York will need to be zero-emission models beginning in 2035, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) announced on Thursday. From a report: \"We\'re really putting our foot down on the accelerator and revving up our efforts to make sure we have this transition -- not someday in the future, but on a specific date, a specific year -- by the year 2035,\" Hochul said at a press conference in White Plains, N.Y. After careening into the Chester-Maple Parking Lot in a white Chevy Bolt, Hochul announced a series of new electric vehicle (EV) initiatives for the state, beginning with the zero-emission requirement for 2035. To reach this target, she said that 35 percent of new cars will need to be zero-emission by 2026 and 68 percent by 2030. All new school buses purchased will have to be zero-emission by 2027, with the entire fleet meeting these standards by 2035, according to the governor. \"We actually have benchmarks to achieve, to show we\'re on the path to get there,\" Hochul said, stressing that the changes would not occur suddenly. New York is following in the footsteps of California in mandating zero-emissions vehicles by the year 2035. \"We had to wait for California to take a step because there\'s some federal requirements that California had to go first -- that\'s the only time we\'re letting them go first,\" the governor said. Read more of this story at Slashdot.'); document.write('
NASA Spacecraft Buzzes Jupiter Moon Europa, Closest in Years (msmash)
'); document.write('2022-09-29 17:00:00
'); document.write('NASA\'s Juno spacecraft has made the closest approach to Jupiter\'s tantalizing, icy moon Europa in more than 20 years. From a report: Juno on Thursday zipped within 222 miles (357 kilometers) of Europa, thought to have an ocean flowing beneath its thick frozen crust, raising the possibility of underwater life. Scientists hope to get lucky and observe possible water plumes shooting from the surface of Europa, close in size to Earth\'s moon. \"We have to be at the right place at just the right time, but if we are so fortunate, it\'s a home run for sure,\" Juno\'s chief scientist, Scott Bolton of Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, said in a statement. John Bordi, deputy mission manager at NASA\'s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, expected the spacecraft to go \"screaming by pretty fast,\" with a relative velocity of almost 15 miles per second (23.6 kilometers per second). Pictures should be available by Friday, NASA said. The latest observations will help NASA plan for its Europa Clipper mission, due to launch in 2024. The European Space Agency also plans close encounters with its Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, or Juice, lifting off next year. Read more of this story at Slashdot.'); document.write('
Google is Shutting Down Stadia (msmash)
'); document.write('2022-09-29 16:25:00
'); document.write('Google is shutting down Stadia, its cloud gaming service. From a report: The service will remain live for players until January 18th, 2023. Google will be refunding all Stadia hardware purchased through the Google Store as well as all the games and add-on content purchased from the Stadia store. Google expects those refunds will be completed in mid-January. \"A few years ago, we also launched a consumer gaming service, Stadia,\" Stadia vice president and GM Phil Harrison said in a blog post. \"And while Stadia\'s approach to streaming games for consumers was built on a strong technology foundation, it hasn\'t gained the traction with users that we expected so we\'ve made the difficult decision to begin winding down our Stadia streaming service.\" Employees on the Stadia team will be distributed to other parts of the company. Harrison says Google sees opportunities to apply Stadia\'s technology to other parts of Google, like YouTube, Google Play, and its AR efforts, and the company also plans to \"make it available to our industry partners, which aligns with where we see the future of gaming headed,\" he wrote. Read more of this story at Slashdot.'); document.write('
Saudi Arabia To Invest $37 Billion in Gaming (msmash)
'); document.write('2022-09-29 16:04:00
'); document.write('Saudi Arabia\'s government-funded gaming conglomerate The Savvy Gaming Group will invest $37.8 billion in gaming as part of a controversial effort to expand the kingdom\'s role in the sector. From a report: Savvy is primed to buy up a lot of gaming companies and start many of its own. Savvy has earmarked more than $13 billion \"for the acquisition and development of a leading game publisher to become a strategic development partner,\" according to the kingdom\'s press agency. Another $18 billion is pegged for minority investments. Savvy\'s efforts are expected to establish 250 game companies and create 39,000 jobs, the press agency noted. The investments are announced by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Read more of this story at Slashdot.'); document.write('
Microsoft is Phasing Out SwiftKey for iOS (msmash)
'); document.write('2022-09-29 15:34:00
'); document.write('An anonymous reader shares a report: Questions about what\'s going on with Microsoft\'s support of the predictive SwifKey keyboard app for iOS have been bubbling up over the past few weeks. A Reddit thread from a month ago highlighted the lack of updates to the app for more than a year. When a reader asked recently for an update on the situation, I asked Microsoft. The official word is in. On September 28, a spokesperson emailed the following statement, attributable to Chris Wolfe, Director Product Management at SwiftKey: \"As of October 5, support for SwiftKey iOS will end and it will be delisted from the Apple App Store. Microsoft will continue support for SwiftKey Android as well as the underlying technology that powers the Windows touch keyboard. For those customers who have SwiftKey installed on iOS, it will continue to work until it is manually uninstalled or a user gets a new device. Please visit Support.SwiftKey.com for more information.\" I asked for the official reason why Microsoft had made this decision and was told officials had nothing more to say. Read more of this story at Slashdot.'); document.write('
Japan Should Consider Allowing Medical Cannabis, Health Panel Says (msmash)
'); document.write('2022-09-29 14:49:00
'); document.write('Japan -- which has strict laws against the use of marijuana -- should consider approving the import, manufacture and use of medicines derived from cannabis, subject to the same approval process as pharmaceuticals, a health ministry panel said. From a report: At the same time, the country should do more to discourage recreational use of the plant, the committee said in its findings following a meeting Thursday. Possession of cannabis is illegal but not its use; the panel recommended that unsanctioned use should also be made a criminal offense. While Canada, several US states and some European countries have decriminalized the recreational use of marijuana, penalties for possession, cultivation and sales of the substance in Japan can carry prison sentences of as long as 10 years. Just 1.4% of the population have ever tried cannabis, according to one study with 2017 data. Celebrities caught for possession often become front-page news. Read more of this story at Slashdot.'); document.write('
Meta Cracks Down on Ad-Free Instagram Client a Day After It Launched (msmash)
'); document.write('2022-09-29 14:00:00
'); document.write('A third-party Instagram app, called \"The OG App,\" which promised an ad-free feed more like the original Instagram experience, has been pulled from Apple\'s App Store just one day after it officially launched. It\'s not clear if Apple pulled the app at the request of Meta, but the social network confirmed it had taken \"enforcement actions\" against the service. From a report: \"This app violates our policies and we\'re taking all appropriate enforcement actions,\" a Meta spokesperson said in a statement. The spokesperson declined to elaborate on what those actions were, or if it had been in contact with Apple, but pointed to a blog post outlining Meta\'s policies barring clone sites. \"A clone site is a third-party site that duplicates, in whole or in part, the content of an existing site,\" Meta explains. On Twitter, the developers of The OG App said their entire team had been permanently banned from Facebook and Instagram as a result of their ties to the service. Read more of this story at Slashdot.'); document.write('
ARM Founder: UK Has \'No Chance In Hell\' of Making Its Own Tech Champs (BeauHD)
'); document.write('2022-09-29 13:00:00
'); document.write('An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: The UK has \"no chance in hell\" of becoming technologically sovereign, Hermann Hauser, the co-founder of Amadeus Capital Partners and Acorn Computers, said at Bloomberg\'s Technology Summit in London. Hauser emphasized the need for Europe and the UK to have access to critical technologies so it is not dependent on countries like the US. He mentioned former US President Donald Trump, who he said used semiconductor design software as \"a weapon to force other countries including Britain to do what he wants.\" \"These dependencies are as severe now as military occupation was in the past,\" Hauser said. \"And we just have to find our own independent access to critical technologies.\" One question countries have to ask themselves if whether they have all the critical technologies needed to run a country and its economy. \"The answer for Britain\" is \"absolutely no, there is no chance in hell that Britain could ever become technologically sovereign,\" he said. Hauser added that Europe is clearly in a recession that could last a year or two. \"It\'s difficult to know for how long with so many imponderables.\" \"The UK in particular is in this very stormy period of having a financially undereducated chancellor, who goes by neoliberal ideology rather than rational decision making so that doesn\'t help,\" he added. \"The UK has struggled to keep its tech firms owned by local investors,\" notes Bloomberg. \"Arm, one of the most significant global tech companies, is currently being prepped to be floated in the US by its Japanese owner SoftBank.\" \"French firm Schneider Electric SE has recently agreed to buy out minority shareholders in Aveva Group Plc, currently the UK\'s largest listed tech firm, in a deal that values the industrial software company at $10.8 billion.\" Read more of this story at Slashdot.'); document.write('
Google Is Making It Easier To Find Search Results From Reddit and Other Forums (BeauHD)
'); document.write('2022-09-29 10:00:00
'); document.write('Google is making it easier to find search results from Reddit and other forum sites. Engadget reports: The search engine is adding a new module that will surface discussions happening on forums across the web for queries that may benefit from crowd-sourced answers. The \"discussions and forums\" module will surface relevant posts from sites like Reddit and Quora alongside more traditional search results. It\'s not clear exactly how Google is determining what types of searches are best suited to forum posts. The company says the new \"forum\" results will \"appear when you search for something that might benefit from the diverse personal experiences found in online discussions.\" Google is also adding a new feature to news-related searches that will make it easier to browse international headlines that are published in languages other than English. With the change, news-related searches will also turn up relevant local coverage translated by Google. In other Google Search-related news, the company announced that starting today people in the U.S. will be able to use their new \"Results About You\" feature, \"which aims to provide a simpler way for people to get their sensitive personal information out of the company\'s search results,\" reports Gizmodo. \"Next year, Results About You will become proactive and allow users to opt in to alerts when new personal information related to them appears in search results, enabling users to request removal more quickly.\" Read more of this story at Slashdot.'); document.write('
An All-Electric Passenger Plane Completed Its First Test Flight (BeauHD)
'); document.write('2022-09-29 07:00:00
'); document.write('A prototype all-electric passenger plane took off for the first time yesterday in a test flight that marks a significant milestone for carbon pollution-free aviation. The Verge reports: The nine-passenger commuter aircraft called Alice took off at 7:10AM yesterday from Washington state\'s Grant County International Airport. Alice is ahead of much of the pack when it comes to all-electric aircraft under development. It could become the \"first all-new, all-electric commercial airplane\" if the Federal Aviation Administration certifies it to carry passengers, The Seattle Times reports. Alice\'s maker, Washington state-based company Eviation, is targeting commuter and cargo flights between 150 and 250 miles. That\'s like flying from New York City to Boston or from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. Yesterday\'s test flight lasted just eight minutes, though, with the aircraft reaching an altitude of 3,500 feet. The purpose of the flight was to gather data to improve the design of the plane, which still has a long way to go before it can take off with passengers on board. Alice will eventually come in three configurations: a nine-passenger commuter plane, a six-passenger luxury plane, and an e-cargo version. The limited size has to do with battery capacity. Read more of this story at Slashdot.'); document.write('
Scientists Create AI-Powered Laser Turret That Kills Cockroaches (BeauHD)
'); document.write('2022-09-29 03:30:00
'); document.write('An anonymous reader quotes a report from Motherboard: Everyone wants to be able to just zap a bug and have it go away. But now, thanks to a recent development from Ildar Rakhmatulin, a research associate at Heriot-Watt University interested in machine learning and engineering, this dream is now a reality. In the study -- which was conducted last year but published in Oriental Insects last week -- Rakhmatulin and his co-authors used a laser insect control device automated with machine vision to perform a series of experiments on domiciliary cockroaches. They were able to not only detect cockroaches at high accuracy but also neutralize and deter individual insects at a distance up to 1.2 meters. This is a follow-up of sorts to earlier projects, in which he used a Raspberry Pi and lasers to zap mosquitoes. However, for this project, Rakhmatulin used a different kind of computer which allowed for more precision in detecting the bug. \"I started using a Jetson Nano that allowed me to use deep learning technologies with higher accuracy to detect an object,\" Rakhmatulin explained. The Jetson Nano is a small computer that can run machine learning algorithms. The computer processes a digital signal from two cameras to determine the cockroach\'s position. It transmits that information to a galvanometer (a machine that measures electric current), which changes the direction of the laser to shoot the target. According to the paper, Rakhmatulin tried this configuration at different power levels for the laser. At a lower power level, he found that he could influence the behavior of roaches by simply triggering their flight response with a laser; this way, they could potentially be trained to not shelter in a particular dark area. At a higher power level, the cockroaches were effectively \"neutralized,\" in the paper\'s language -- in other words, killed. \"I use very cheap hardware and cheap technology and it\'s open source,\" Rakhmatulin said. \"All sources are uploaded in my GitHub and see how to do it and use it. If it can damage cockroaches, it can also damage other pests in agriculture.\" It\'s not quite ready for household use though. \"It\'s not recommended because it\'s a little dangerous,\" Rakhmatulin said. \"Lasers can damage not only cockroaches but your eyes.\" You can view a video of the device in action here. Read more of this story at Slashdot.'); document.write('