Category: Science and Technology

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Georgia Tech Climatologist Judith Curry Resigns over ‘the CRAZINESS in the field of climate science.’

Georgia Tech Climatologist Judith Curry

She is a prominent critic of the “consensus” that man-made climate change is an impending catastrophe

Ronald Bailey|Jan. 4, 2017 12:05 pm

Wikimedia CommonsClimatologist and former chair of the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology Judith Curry has announced her resignation effective immediately on her blog, Climate, Etc. I have long found Curry to be an honest researcher and a fair-minded disputant in the ongoing debates over man-made climate change. She excelled at pointing out the uncertainties and deficiencies of climate modeling. Given the thoroughly politicized nature of climate science her efforts to clarify what is known and unknown by climate science caused her to be pilloried as “anti-science” by other researchers who are convinced that man-made global warming is leading toward catastrophe. In her blog annoucement Curry explains her resignation:

A deciding factor was that I no longer know what to say to students and postdocs regarding how to navigate the CRAZINESS in the field of climate science. Research and other professional activities are professionally rewarded only if they are channeled in certain directions approved by a politicized academic establishment — funding, ease of getting your papers published, getting hired in prestigious positions, appointments to prestigious committees and boards, professional recognition, etc.

How young scientists are to navigate all this is beyond me, and it often becomes a battle of scientific integrity versus career suicide (I have worked through these issues with a number of skeptical young scientists).

Let me relate an interaction that I had with a postdoc about a month ago. She wanted to meet me, as an avid reader of my blog. She works in a field that is certainly relevant to climate science, but she doesn’t identify as a climate scientist. She says she gets questioned all the time about global warming issues, and doesn’t know what to say, since topics like attribution, etc. are not topics that she explores as a scientist. WOW, a scientist that knows the difference! I advised her to keep her head down and keep doing the research that she thinks interesting and important, and to stay out of the climate debate UNLESS she decides to dig in and pursue it intellectually. Personal opinions about the science and political opinions about policies that are sort of related to your research expertise are just that – personal and political opinions. Selling such opinions as contributing to a scientific consensus is very much worse than a joke.

https://reason.com/blog/2017/01/04/georgia-tech-climatologist-judith-curry

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Anti-surveillance clothing aims to hide wearers from facial recognition

social-media-spying

Hyperface project involves printing patterns on to clothing or textiles that computers interpret as a face, in fightback against intrusive technology.

Alex Hern

@alexhern

Wednesday 4 January 2017 02.00 ESTLast modified on Wednesday 4 January 2017 02.02 EST

The use of facial recognition software for commercial purposes is becoming more common, but, as Amazon scans faces in its physical shop and Facebook searches photos of users to add tags to, those concerned about their privacy are fighting back.

Berlin-based artist and technologist Adam Harvey aims to overwhelm and confuse these systems by presenting them with thousands of false hits so they can’t tell which faces are real.

The Hyperface project involves printing patterns on to clothing or textiles, which then appear to have eyes, mouths and other features that a computer can interpret as a face.

This is not the first time Harvey has tried to confuse facial recognition software. During a previous project, CV Dazzle, he attempted to create an aesthetic of makeup and hairstyling that would cause machines to be unable to detect a face.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jan/04/anti-surveillance-clothing-facial-recognition-hyperface

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Fridges and washing machines could be vital witnesses in murder plots

Fridges and washing machines could be vital witnesses in murder plots

Sarah Knapton, science editor

2 JANUARY 2017 • 9:04AM

High-tech washing machines and fridges will soon be used by detectives gathering evidence from crime scenes, experts have forecast.

The advent of ‘the internet of things’ in which more devices are connected together in a world of ‘smart working’ could in future provide important clues for the police.

Detectives are currently being trained to look for gadgets and white goods which could provide a ‘digital footprint’ of victims or criminals.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2017/01/02/fridges-washing-machines-could-vital-witnesses-murder-plots/

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Could your high-tech gadgets send you to jail?

Amazon’s Echo device

The Amazon Echo hands-free voice-activated speaker could figure in an Arkansas murder investigation — and remind people that their internet-connected gadgets constantly collect information about their private lives. TNS .

BY SCOTT CANON

scanon@kcstar.com

Feel like no one ever really listens to you?

Your gadgets do. That may not always be a good thing.

Most recently, an Arkansas death investigation highlighted how the magic of Amazon’s Echo device — its ability to act on your voice commands — means it might have overheard conversations critical to a murder investigation.

That case could ultimately lasso Amazon’s cloud of remote computer storage into court fights. The results hold implications for the many ways technology’s romp toward ubiquity poses a growing threat to privacy.

It also acts as a reminder that buying a so-called smart speaker such as the Echo — or its chief competitor, Google Home — is like plugging Big Brother into your living room.

Those computerized sound systems are just the latest listeners to the party.

Your smartphone already mines mountains of personalized data (note how many apps seek access to your contacts, location, camera and microphone). The resulting cache of information creates a defining dilemma of the Digital Age.

The more bits about your life you share with your gadgets, the better help you’ll get from Siri, from your Fitbit, from your Google searches.

Read more here: https://www.kansascity.com/news/business/technology/article123652339.html#storylink=cpy

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THE DARK SIDE OF VR

o-THE-MATRIX-AND-HINDUISM-facebook

Virtual Reality Allows the Most Detailed, Intimate Digital Surveillance Yet

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was on stage wearing a virtual reality headset, feigning surprise at an expressive cartoon simulacrum that seemed to perfectly follow his every gesture.

The audience laughed. Zuckerberg was in the middle of what he described as the first live demo inside VR, manipulating his digital avatar to show off the new social features of the Rift headset from Facebook subsidiary Oculus. The venue was an Oculus developer conference convened earlier this fall in San Jose. Moments later, Zuckerberg and two Oculus employees were transported to his glass-enclosed office at Facebook, and then to his infamously sequestered home in Palo Alto. Using the Rift and its newly revealed Touch hand controllers, their avatars gestured and emoted in real time, waving to Zuckerberg’s Puli sheepdog, dynamically changing facial expressions to match their owner’s voice, and taking photos with a virtual selfie stick — to post on Facebook, of course.

https://theintercept.com/2016/12/23/virtual-reality-allows-the-most-detailed-intimate-digital-surveillance-yet/

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5,000-Year-Old Nativity Scene Found in Egypt

5000-Year-Old Nativity Scene

Ancient cave art in the Egyptian Sahara desert depicts two parents, a baby and a star in the east.

Marco Morelli

Italian researchers have discovered what might be the oldest nativity scene ever found — 5,000-year-old rock art that depicts a star in the east, a newborn between parents and two animals.

The scene, painted in reddish-brown ochre, was found on the ceiling of a small cavity in the Egyptian Sahara desert, during an expedition to sites between the Nile valley and the Gilf Kebir Plateau.

“It’s a very evocative scene which indeed resembles the Christmas nativity. But it predates it by some 3,000 years,” geologist Marco Morelli, director of the Museum of Planetary Sciences in Prato, near Florence, Italy, told Seeker.

Morelli found the cave drawing in 2005, but only now his team has decided to reveal the amazing find.

“The discovery has several implications as it raises new questions on the iconography of one of the more powerful Christian symbols,” Morelli said.

https://www.seeker.com/5000-year-old-nativity-scene-found-2161058490.html

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Ridgewood blog readership Called it ; The World Health Organization (WHO) has recently downgraded its assessment of the risks posed by Zika

mosquito-blood

Subject:  Zika Virus Update

December 4,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, While the media said that the mosquito-borne Zika virus is likely causing microcephaly as well as dozens of other illnesses. They also claimed that insecticides were not related to the development disorder. They seem to have been wrong on both cases.

Since December 2015 U.S. media ran a panic campaign around the Zika virus. That virus was said to cause many bad things including microcephaly, a development distortion of the head  of unborn babies if the mother was infected with Zika during pregnancy.

The World Health Organization  (WHO) has recently downgraded its assessment of the risks posed by Zika now that so many knowledgeable scientists are concluding that it doesn’t, and never did, cause microcephaly.  The Ridgewood blog readership was quick to be skeptical and predicted this outcome from the beginning.

Brazil Admits Zika Doesn’t Cause Microcephaly

I hate to mention the dreaded “Z-word” after all my railing against fearmongering, but I can’t let this pass without comment. Because once again we’re being lied to. Once again some very important information is being glossed over. Once again, the American media just isn’t reporting the facts because they don’t align with what CDC and the WHO want us to believe. So no matter how much I hate to bring it up, we need to talk about Zika yet again.

What I’m going to tell you today isn’t going to make it to the mainstream news. The Zika industry is well and truly established, with toxic chemicals being sprayed across the south, a vaccine “trial” underway, and genetically modified mosquitos on the loose. There’s probably no stopping this train now. Too much money is already being made by way too many people. So any evidence that conflicts with the “official” story will be suppressed. Any resistance to the “solution” from here on out is likely to be met with draconian “public health” measures.

https://constitutionalhealth.com/healthy-living-lifestyle/brazil-admits-zika-doesnt-cause-microcephaly.stml

 

https://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/statements/2016/zika-fifth-ec/en/

 

https://www.medpagetoday.com/InfectiousDisease/ZikaVirus/61577

 

 

 

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Armageddon : Because every day could be “asteroid day” for NASA’s planetary defense officer

346_lost-in-space_cast

by
Eric Roston
November 30, 2016 — 3:17 PM EST

Lindley Johnson spent 23 years in the U.S. Air Force keeping his eyes above the skies. He helped identify and tackle a growing risk to human space activity—the sheer volume of stuff orbiting the planet—in addition to helping manage and monitor military assets in orbit. In 1982, the Air Force set up a space command to coordinate its activities, not the least of which was making sure the then-new Space Shuttle fleet wouldn’t have a tragic encounter with spacefaring material.

In the early 1990s, Johnson’s focus turned to natural threats to the planet from near-Earth asteroids, now a large and growing class of rocks that scientists track both for their potential impact risk and to study the solar system. About 1,500 new objects are discovered every year. Since retiring as a lieutenant colonel several years ago, he’s become the founding head of NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office, overseeing a network of ground-based telescope surveys for new asteroids and working with other agencies to prepare for the unlikely event of a direct hit. His job title—no pressure—is Planetary Defense Officer.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-30/the-man-who-stands-between-earth-and-asteroid-armageddon?cmpid=BBD120116_BIZ

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KANSAS JUDGE RULES CRAIGSLIST SPERM DONOR NOT ON HOOK FOR CHILD SUPPORT

all-you-need-is-love-mr-brainwash-on-la-brea-16

BY JOHN HANNA
ASSOCIATED PRESS

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Topeka man who answered a Craigslist ad to donate sperm so two women could have a baby together is not legally the child’s father and isn’t required to provide financial support, a Kansas judge has ruled.

The state Department for Children and Families had not decided as of Tuesday whether it would appeal last week’s ruling by Shawnee County District Judge Mary Mattivi. The department sought to force William Marotta to pay child support for the girl born in December 2009.

Mattivi last year required Marotta to submit a DNA sample to confirm that he was the girl’s biological father and declared he was not “a mere donor of sperm.” But the judge’s Nov. 22 ruling concluded that birth mother’s former partner should be considered the child’s second parent rather than Marotta, in part because he has had minimal contact with the girl.

https://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SPERM_DONOR_CHILD_SUPPORT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-11-29-18-14-08

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MORE NOAA “TEMP” ADJUSTMENTS

abominable-snowman-520169

NOAA Adjustments Correlate Exactly To Their Confirmation Bias

Posted on November 21, 2016 by tonyheller

Thermometers show the US cooling since about 1920, but NOAA massively cools the past to create the appearance of a warming trend.

https://realclimatescience.com/2016/11/noaa-adjustments-correlate-exactly-to-their-confirmation-bias/

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Updated NASA Data: Global Warming Not Causing Any Polar Ice Retreat

abominable-snowman-520169

James Taylor ,

CONTRIBUTOR

I am president of the Spark of Freedom Foundation.

Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

Updated data from NASA satellite instruments reveal the Earth’s polar ice caps have not receded at all since the satellite instruments began measuring the ice caps in 1979. Since the end of 2012, moreover, total polar ice extent has largely remained above the post-1979 average. The updated data contradict one of the most frequently asserted global warming claims – that global warming is causing the polar ice caps to recede.

The timing of the 1979 NASA satellite instrument launch could not have been better for global warming alarmists. The late 1970s marked the end of a 30-year cooling trend. As a result, the polar ice caps were quite likely more extensive than they had been since at least the 1920s. Nevertheless, this abnormally extensive 1979 polar ice extent would appear to be the “normal” baseline when comparing post-1979 polar ice extent.

Updated NASA satellite data show the polar ice caps remained at approximately their 1979 extent until the middle of the last decade. Beginning in 2005, however, polar ice modestly receded for several years. By 2012, polar sea ice had receded by approximately 10 percent from 1979 measurements. (Total polar ice area – factoring in both sea and land ice – had receded by much less than 10 percent, but alarmists focused on the sea ice loss as “proof” of a global warming crisis.)

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamestaylor/2015/05/19/updated-nasa-data-polar-ice-not-receding-after-all/#2680b67332da

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Researchers have found a surprisingly powerful effect of sleeping more

AP I RUS RUSSIA ALCOHOL DEATHS

We all know sleep matters for job performance. After a week of vacation, you may find your work better than ever. But rack up a week of sleepless nights — say, following a polarizing presidential election — and you may find yourself struggling.

It wouldn’t surprise anyone that sleep affects attention, memory and cognition — important factors in the workplace. But striking new research suggests the effect of additional sleep has a high monetary value. Apaper — from Matthew Gibson of Williams College and Jeffrey Shrader of the University of California at San Diego, based on data from Jawbone, the fitness- and sleep-tracker company — says that additional time sleeping can translate into thousands of dollars in wages.

In fact, they calculate that a one-hour increase in weekly sleep raises wages by about half as much as an additional year of education.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/11/13/the-more-you-sleep-the-more-money-you-might-make/

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Night delight: ‘supermoon’ to grace Earth’s skies

wolfman

By Irene Klotz
Reuters November 11, 2016

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) – The largest, brightest full moon in nearly seven decades will be on display in the coming days, promising Earth-bound sky-watchers a celestial “supermoon” spectacle.

The full moon will come nearer to Earth than at any time since 1948, astronomers said. At closest approach, which occurs at 6:23 a.m. EST on Monday, the moon will pass within 216,486 miles (348,400 km) of Earth’s surface, about 22,000 miles (35,400 km) closer than average, they added.

The moon’s distance from Earth varies because it is in an egg-shaped, not circular, orbit around the planet.

If skies are clear, the upcoming full moon will appear up to 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than usual, making it what is called a supermoon, according to NASA. A supermoon occurs when the timing of a full moon overlaps with the point in the moon’s 28-day orbit that is closest to Earth. About every 14th full moon is a supermoon, said University of Wisconsin astronomer Jim Lattis.

The next time a full moon comes as close to Earth will be in 2034.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/night-delight-supermoon-grace-earths-skies-130411554.html

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Apple demolished by Microsoft at their respective PC events

Bill gates

Published: Oct 29, 2016 3:50 p.m. ET

Who would have thought that at back-to-back hardware events in the year 2016, Microsoft Corp.’s would prove the much more innovative and exciting one over Apple Inc.? Times are a-changing.

On Wednesday, Microsoft MSFT, -0.38% unveiled the Windows 10 Creators Update that includes 3D imaging tools; new virtual-reality headsets that can be used through a HoloLens platform on Windows PCs; live broadcasting for Xbox; a $2,999 enterprise-grade desktop called Surface Studio that essentially folds into a table-sized tablet; the Surface Dial, which is an input device for Surface products that lets users toggle between different menu items by twisting it like a doorknob; and the Surface Book i7.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/apple-demolished-by-microsoft-at-their-respective-pc-events-2016-10-27

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WikiLeaks Supporters Stage Massive Cyber Attack on US

Wikileaks_founder_Julian_Assange_theridgewoodblog

October 22,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ , The NYT reported yesterday that major websites were inaccessible to people across many parts of the United States on Friday after a company that manages crucial parts of the internet’s infrastructure said it was under attack.

Waves of cyber attacks brought down many popular websites Friday, leaving millions of users without access and the Department of Homeland Security investigating the precise cause.

Users reported problems reaching several websites, including Twitter, Netflix, Spotify, Airbnb, Reddit, Etsy, SoundCloud and The New York Times.This just a little over a month after the US Internet Giveaway to the U.N. and days after the Obama administration attempted  to take Julian Assange founder of WikiLeaks off the internet.

This just a little over a month after the US Internet giveaway to the U.N. and days after the Obama administration attempted  to take Julian Assange founder of WikiLeaks off the internet.

The attack, which is believed to be a coordinated effort, targeted a single Domain Name Server provider called Dyn. Dyn’s servers monitor and reroute internet traffic. The attack started just around 7am and is known as a distributed denial of service attack, or DDoS. No information is obtained with DDoS attacks, they create major frustration. The DDoS attack affected Dyn’s infrastructure that supports internet connections, meaning the attack did not affect websites themselves. Instead, it blocked or slowed users from gaining access to sites.

According to the NYT , the attack appears to have relied on hundreds of thousands of internet-connected devices like cameras, baby monitors and home routers that have been infected — without their owners’ knowledge — with software that allows hackers to command them to flood a target with overwhelming traffic.

WikiLeaks believes its supporters were responsible and it urged its supporters to ‘stop taking down the US internet’, saying ‘Mr Assange is still alive and WikiLeaks is still publishing’.

It then tweeted: ‘The Obama administration should not have attempted to misuse its instruments of state to stop criticism of its ruling party candidate.’

The Ridgewood Blog remained largely unaffected which was a great relief to both the staff and our IT department . Giving past attempts to take down the site by some politicians , local and otherwise and foreign governments ,founder James Foytlin aka PJ blogger said ,”it’s nice to be left out of the fray” . Other staff members postulated that perhaps a more open posture to Wikileaks had left the (Ridgewood)blog unscathed.