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A new research methodology has allowed specialists to track active vendors in several dark web platformsbased solely on how they write their ads and posts. Using stylometry, the experts were able to analyze thousands of identities of various suppliers in black markets and identify if these profiles correspond to specific people.

This study involved the collection of nodes of information extracted from vendor profiles on four now-shutdown cybercriminal platforms, including Valhalla, Dream Market, Evolution, and Silk Road 2.

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Unity acquires Ziva Dynamics, leader in sophisticated simulation and deformation, machine learning, and real-time character creation.

At Unity, we are laser-focused on democratizing tools for creators, so that the industry’s most brilliant gems are available to all, not just a select few. And we are continuously focused on helping artists make their dreams a reality.

We recently acquired Weta Digital’s tools, technology, and engineering talent to deliver on this vision. Today, we’re proud to announce that we’re doubling down on our commitment to artists with the acquisition of Ziva Dynamics.

Read more on the Unity Blog: https://on.unity.com/3GXz4Kp

Continue reading “Welcome, Ziva Dynamics!” | >

A new set of molecular building blocks aims to make complex chemistry as simple and accessible as a toy construction kit.

Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and collaborators at Revolution Medicines Inc. developed a new class of chemical building blocks that simply snap together to form 3D with complex twists and turns, and an automated machine to assemble the blocks like a 3D printer for molecules.

This automation could allow chemists and nonchemists alike to develop new pharmaceuticals, materials, diagnostic probes, catalysts, perfumes, sweeteners and more, said study leader Dr. Martin D. Burke, a professor of chemistry at Illinois and a member of the Carle Illinois College of Medicine, as well as a medical doctor. The researchers reported their findings in the journal Nature.

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The latest on some space debris…

The Falcon 9 DSCOVR’s booster: 7 Feb. 2022.

The animation above comes from 268, single, 4-second exposures, remotely taken with the “Elena” (PlaneWave 17″+Paramount ME+SBIG STL-6303E) robotic unit available at Virtual Telescope. The telescope tracked the apparent motion of the booster, so it looks like a sharp dot, with surrounding stars moving on the background. East is up, South on the left.

There was a VERY strong Moon interference, the booster was in the same spot of the sky as our natural satellite and grabbing it was quite hard. As we can see, the booster is blinking, as it is tumbling with a period of about 90 seconds.

Continue reading “The Falcon 9 DSCOVR’s booster going to hit the Moon: a video — 7 Feb. 2022” | >

Autonomous, electric vehicles are driving around Yellowstone National Park in a new test program that could become a permanent mode of transportation.

Last week, the park debuted its new “TEDDY” program — or The Electronic Driverless Demonstration in Yellowstone.

“As visitation continues increasing in Yellowstone, we are looking at a range of visitor management actions that focus on protecting resources, improving the visitor experience, and reducing congestion, noise, and pollution,” Superintendent Cam Sholly said in a statement. “Shuttles will unquestionably play a key role in helping achieve these goals in many of the busiest areas of the park.”

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Swedish power company Vattenfall has announced plans to embark on further research into whether painting one of the three blades on a wind turbine black can help to reduce the number of bird collisions, with a new three-year study.

Despite stories spread by some media outlets and across social media platforms, wind turbines have been shown to be much less likely to kill birds compared to other man-made obstacles and threats, including coal-fired power plants, as one prime example.

Nevertheless, Vattenfall is seeking to mitigate the impact wind turbines can have on bird populations through a new study in the Dutch seaport of Eemshaven.

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This graph shows the progress in telecommunications bit rates over the last two centuries, and a future extrapolation to the 22nd century.

A primitive form of telecommunications emerged in the late 18th century, when French inventor Claude Chappe demonstrated a practical semaphore system that delivered messages between Paris and Lille. Known as the optical telegraph, it had a transmission rate of two to three symbols (196 different types) each minute, or about 0.4 b/s.

The electrical telegraph, popularised in the 1840s, used a coding system developed by American inventor Samuel Morse, which encoded text characters as sequences of two different signal durations, called dots and dashes. It achieved a rate of approximately 100 b/s.

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