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Dec 10, 2019

Google built its own tiny HDMI 2.1 box to jump-start “the next generation of Android TV”

Posted by in categories: computing, mobile phones, security

Today, Google is announcing that Android 10 is arriving on Android TV, and it’s about as bland of an update as they come. Primarily, it’s just the performance and security benefits of Android 10, without a single new user-facing feature. But at the bottom of Google’s blog post, the company hints at why: Google’s busy prepping for the “next-generation of Android TV,” starting with the miniature box above.

Google says this new ADT-3 dongle is a full-fledged Android TV platform, with a quad-core ARM Cortex A53 CPU, 2GB of DDR3 memory, and the ability to output 4K HDR content at 60 frames per second over its HDMI 2.1 port.

Dec 10, 2019

ISS Sees Thunderstorm Beaming Electromagnetic Pulse Into Space, Producing Gamma Rays and ‘Elves’

Posted by in categories: climatology, space

O…O.


At 8:01 p.m. on October 10, 2018, a bolt of lightning flashed inside of a storm cloud just east of the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. The International Space Station was passing overhead at the time, and a suite of instruments observed as the bolt produced a flash of gamma radiation—and, simultaneously, emitted a glowing ring of ultraviolet and visible light in the topmost layer of the atmosphere.

Scientists today are presenting the results of this observation, the first to capture both a terrestrial gamma ray flash, or TGF, and the visible-light component of an Elve, a dim disk of ionospheric radiation. This observation provides more evidence for the connection between lightning, the radiation produced by storms, and electromagnetic phenomena at the top of the atmosphere, while illustrating more of the wild radioactive curiosities that weather can generate.

Dec 10, 2019

Drugs in Our Water Can Leave Even More Toxic By-Products

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

The chemicals in our pharmaceuticals and personal care products quickly transform into different compounds when they enter the environment. Their toxic effects are relatively unknown.

Dec 10, 2019

New laser technique images quantum world in a trillionth of a second

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, quantum physics

For the first time, researchers have been able to record, frame-by-frame, how an electron interacts with certain atomic vibrations in a solid. The technique captures a process that commonly causes electrical resistance in materials while, in others, can cause the exact opposite—the absence of resistance, or superconductivity.

“The way electrons interact with each other and their microscopic environment determines the properties of all solids,” said MengXing Na, a University of British Columbia (UBC) Ph.D. student and co-lead author of the study, published last week in Science. “Once we identify the dominant microscopic interactions that define a material’s properties, we can find ways to ‘turn up’ or ‘down’ the interaction to elicit useful electronic properties.”

Controlling these interactions is important for the technological exploitation of quantum materials, including superconductors, which are used in MRI machines, high-speed magnetic levitation trains, and could one day revolutionize how energy is transported.

Dec 10, 2019

After Transplant Procedure, Man’s Semen Contains Only Donor’s DNA

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, futurism

Chris Long is an IT worker in the Washoe County Sheriff’s Department in Reno, Nevada. But all the DNA in his semen belongs to a German man he’s never met.

That’s because Long received a bone marrow transplant from the European stranger four years ago — and the unexpected impact it has had on his biology could affect the future of forensic science.

According to a newly published New York Times story, the purpose of the transplant was to treat Long’s acute myeloid leukemia, a type of cancer that prevents the body from producing blood normally.

Dec 10, 2019

Dinosaur tail found preserved in amber

Posted by in category: biological

The tail of a feathered dinosaur has been found perfectly preserved in amber from Myanmar.

The one-of-a-kind discovery helps put flesh on the bones of these extinct creatures, opening a new window on the biology of a group that dominated Earth for more than 160 million years.

Examination of the specimen suggests the tail was chestnut brown on top and white on its underside.

Dec 10, 2019

Mysterious lights hovering over Mesa skies puzzle residents

Posted by in category: futurism

MESA, AZ — Mysterious lights hovering above the east Valley have many wondering if we’ve had a close encounter.

“It was pretty bright, it was about straight up over here, and it went straight that way, stopped, and it didn’t seem like it was too far,” said DJ Maier and Kerri Burnett, describing what they saw.

The couple says they spotted the phenomenon outside their Mesa home on Sunday around nine that night.

Dec 10, 2019

Red Angel

Posted by in categories: space, time travel

O.,o.


The Red Angel was an entity sought by both Starfleet and Section 31 in relation to a series of mysterious red bursts that occurred in the late 2250s. The crew of the USS Discovery adopted the term “Red Angel” from Spock, who had encountered her during his youth. ( DIS : “ Point of Light ”, ” An Obol for Charon ”)

While Starfleet could not link its appearance to any known winged or avian lifeforms in the Federation, it became gradually clear that the Red Angel was a time traveler operating a suit developed under the Daedalus Project by Section 31. It was ultimately discovered that the Angel was in fact two separate entities wearing different time-travel suits, and their identities were later determined to be Gabrielle Burnham and a future version of her daughter Michael. The former had attempted to prevent Control from taking over the galaxy, while the latter set the red bursts in order to guide Discovery’s mission in a way conducive to defeating Control. ( DIS : ” An Obol for Charon ”, ” The Red Angel ”, ” Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2 ”)

Dec 10, 2019

Mystery of why magic mushrooms go blue solved

Posted by in category: futurism

Exactly why magic mushrooms go blue when cut was something of a chemical puzzle.

Why do magic mushrooms turn blue when they are cut? Chemists have now unravelled this decade-old mystery, in the process revealing that the dark blue pigments at the centre of the mystery are similar to indigo, the dye used to produce blue jeans.

Dec 10, 2019

Man who had transplant finds out months later his DNA has changed to that of donor 5,000 miles away

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Chris Long’s sheriff’s office colleagues have been using him as a human guinea pig, writes Heather Murphy.