Month: November 2022

Fast Fashion Waste Is Choking Developing Countries With Mountains of Trash

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Less than 1% of used clothing gets recycled into new garments, overwhelming countries like Ghana with discards. From a report: It’s a disaster decades in the making, as clothing has become cheaper, plentiful and ever more disposable. Each year the fashion industry produces more than 100 billion apparel items, roughly 14 for every person on Read more about Fast Fashion Waste Is Choking Developing Countries With Mountains of Trash[…]

For the First Time Ever, People Are Getting Transfusions of Lab-Grown Blood Cells

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…]An important clinical trial is now underway in the UK. The study is the first to transfuse red blood cells grown in the lab from donated stem cells into humans. Should this research pay off, these blood cells would be incredibly valuable for people with rare blood types, though they wouldn’t replace the need for Read more about For the First Time Ever, People Are Getting Transfusions of Lab-Grown Blood Cells[…]

Scientists zap clouds with electricity to make them rain

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A new experiment has shown that zapping clouds with electrical charge can alter droplet sizes in fog or, potentially, help a constipated cloud to rain. Last year Giles Harrison, from the University of Reading, and colleagues from the University of Bath, spent many early mornings chasing fogs in the Somerset Levels, flying uncrewed aircraft into Read more about Scientists zap clouds with electricity to make them rain[…]

The world’s first offshore floating wind-solar pilot just came online in China

Posted on by Robin Edgar

China’s government-owned utility State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC) has launched the world’s first commercial offshore floating solar that’s paired with an offshore wind turbine.   SPIC is one of five major electrical utility companies in China, and the world’s largest photovoltaic power generation enterprise. The pilot is located off the coast of Haiyang, a city in Read more about The world’s first offshore floating wind-solar pilot just came online in China[…]

Multi-factor authentication bombing fatigue can blow open security

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The September cyberattack on ride-hailing service Uber began when a criminal bought the stolen credentials of a company contractor on the dark web. The miscreant then repeatedly tried to log into the contractor’s Uber account, triggering the two-factor login approval request that the contractor initially denied, blocking access. However, eventually the contractor accepted one of Read more about Multi-factor authentication bombing fatigue can blow open security[…]

Finally: Countries Start To Rebel Against Corporate Sovereignty, But Ten Years Too Late

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Back in 2013, Techdirt wrote about “the monster lurking inside free trade agreements”. Formally, the monster is known as Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS), but here on Techdirt we call it “corporate sovereignty“, because that is what it is: a system of secret courts that effectively places companies above a government, by allowing them to sue Read more about Finally: Countries Start To Rebel Against Corporate Sovereignty, But Ten Years Too Late[…]

Science Has a Nasty Photoshopping Problem

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Dr. Bik is a microbiologist who has worked at Stanford University and for the Dutch National Institute for Health who is “blessed” with “what I’m told is a better-than-average ability to spot repeating patterns,” according to their new Op-Ed in the New York Times. In 2014 they’d spotted the same photo “being used in two Read more about Science Has a Nasty Photoshopping Problem[…]

Behavior of star clusters challenge Newton’s laws of gravity, point at MOND theory

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Certain star clusters do not seem to be following current understandings of Isaac Newton’s laws of gravity, according to new research published on Wednesday. The study, published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, analyzed open star clusters which are formed when thousands of stars are born in a short time period in Read more about Behavior of star clusters challenge Newton’s laws of gravity, point at MOND theory[…]

Whoops! Amazon Left Prime Video DB with viewing habits (Named ‘Sauron’) Unprotected – yup Elasticsearch

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Amazon didn’t protect one of its internal servers, allowing anyone to view a database named “Sauron” which was full of Prime Video viewing habits. As TechCrunch reports(Opens in a new window), the unprotected Elasticsearch database was discovered by security researcher Anurag Sen(Opens in a new window). Contained within the database, which anyone who knew the Read more about Whoops! Amazon Left Prime Video DB with viewing habits (Named ‘Sauron’) Unprotected – yup Elasticsearch[…]