Month: December 2016

Enlarge / The announcement of the Creators Update in October 2016.

For consumers, next spring's Windows 10 Creators Update is going to bring integrated virtual reality and 3D creativity. Today, Microsoft described what it will have to offer to enterprise customers.

The Anniversary Update added Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) that extended the Defender anti-malware to include cloud-based intelligence to detect anomalous behavior. Microsoft gave us a real-world example of this: a previously unknown (and hence, able to bypass antivirus software) cryptolocker variant was noticed to be deleting System Restore points prior to encrypting user data. This is an unusual thing for a piece of software to do, so much so that it was flagged, enabling the infected system to be isolated and the malware dealt with.

This ATP has also been integrated with Office 365 so that, for example, a malicious file can be correlated with the e-mail it was sent in.

Enlarge / The Progress MS-04 cargo spaceship lifts off from Baikonur last week. (credit: TASS/Oleg Urusov)

On December 1 a Soyuz rocket carrying an uncrewed Progress spacecraft laden with 2.6 tons of food, fuel, and other supplies lifted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Following a normal launch, first-, and second-stage firings, things started to go wrong for Progress MS-04 at about six minutes into the flight.

The details are a bit sketchy, but according to Russian space journalist Anatoly Zak, the third stage was supposed to fire from five minutes after launch until almost nine minutes into the ascent. Instead of a nominal ride to orbit, however, mission controllers lost telemetry from the vehicle at about six minutes, and there was no confirmation of the Progress spacecraft separating from the rocket's third stage. Around that time, a large explosion was observed in the sky over the Tuva Region of Russia, a remote area of southern Siberia, followed by reports of falling debris. Tanks and other debris associated with the rocket and spacecraft were later found on the ground.

The Progress spacecraft launched on an older Soyuz-U rocket, which is being phased out. Crewed launches now take place on a more modern Soyuz-FG rocket, but the two rockets share a common third stage. So it is conceivable that such an incident could occur with a human launch. Had this happened last week, would the crew have survived? The answer is maybe—with some luck.

Enlarge / Sushi, anyone? (credit: myke lyons)

Pollution can seem like a vague, general problem, but sometimes it is specific and personal. People with asthma living in some major cities know to keep tabs on the ozone report in the weather forecast, for example. And frequent anglers should be keenly aware of how much of their catch they put on the dinner table because of mercury contamination in fish. Mercury is a problem for marine fish, as well—particularly the ever-popular tuna.

Mercury emitted by burning coal finds its way from the atmosphere into seawater, but an additional step is necessary to weaponize the heavy metal. Bacteria convert mercury into methylmercury by attaching a carbon atom and three hydrogens, making a molecule that freely wanders into biological tissue and hangs around.

Since predators are made up of all the many critters they eat, this mercury accumulates to greater and greater levels at each step in the food chain. The meaty tuna sits at the top of its food chain, and that means it can contain a lot of accumulated mercury. Because of how much tuna is consumed in the US, the fish actually accounts for about 40 percent of the mercury ingested from fish.

Enlarge / The current Air Force One fleet has been in service for 26 years. The new ones won't arrive until 2024—if a Trump administration doesn't cancel them entirely. (credit: US AIr Force)

This morning in a post to Twitter, President-elect Donald Trump lambasted the ongoing program to build a new presidential aircraft, calling for its cancellation:

Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 6, 2016

The Air Force One replacement contract, awarded in February 2016 to Boeing, is for two 747-8 aircraft equipped for the chief executive's travel and communications. The current pair of VC-25A aircraft that serve as Air Force One—two heavily modified Boeing 747-200B jetliners—are the last of their kind and have been in service since 1990. There are no 747-200 aircraft in commercial service anywhere in the world, making logistic support for them expensive. "Parts obsolescence, diminishing manufacturing sources, and increased down times for maintenance are existing challenges that will increase until a new aircraft is fielded,” Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James said of the existing aircraft when the Boeing contract was announced.

The 747-8 has a longer range, greater maximum take-off weight, and higher top airspeed than the 747-200 that it is intended to replace, as well as better fuel efficiency and lower carbon dioxide emissions. Capable of Mach 0.855, according to Boeing, the 747-8 is the fastest commercial jet in the world. However, the modifications required for a presidential aircraft are extensive. The VC-25A version of the 747-200 is capable of in-flight refueling, carries a full communications suite, and is "self-sufficient" at airports (having its own self-deploying "air stairs" and baggage handling equipment).

(credit: Getty Images | Jonathan Nackstrand)

Netflix has big plans for 2017. After recently announcing it plans to have half of its content consist of original programming over the next few years, the company also stated it would come out with 20 unscripted shows in 2017. First reported by Variety, Netflix plans to double its amount of original content in 2017 to 1,000 hours, and will include new unscripted series like the global competition show Ultimate Beastmaster, produced by Sylvester Stallone and The Biggest Loser executive producer Dave Broome.

Netflix Chief content officer Ted Sarandos spoke about his company's plans at Monday's UBS Global Media & Communications Conference in New York. Sarandos said unscripted content is a "very interesting business," and Netflix will focus on shows that have the potential to reach an international audience. A specific example is the planned show Ultimate Beastmaster, which will feature athletes and announcers from the US, Brazil, South Korea, Mexico, Germany, and Japan. Each country will record its part of the show, in its own native languages, and follow athletes competing across an obstacle course called "The Beast." At the end of the 10-episode series, one athlete will be crowned Ultimate Beastmaster.

Sarandos cited the company's hit show Stranger Things as a milestone in Netflix's original programming journey. It was the first series Netflix produced and developed in-house, and thanks to its popularity, the company is already working on season two. However, Netflix doesn't want to be an all-originals streaming company. While the company continues to develop unique show and movie ideas, it still only plans to have 50 percent of its content be totally original programming. Sarandos mentioned the recent reboot of Gilmore Girls as an example where licensing and collaboration made for the best result. “Warner Bros. owned the IP. There was no model I could do that myself," Sarandos said, according to Variety. "We had a unique ability to do it."