Month: May 2019

Enlarge / Detail from a 16th century drawing depicting an elderly Leonardo da Vinci's damaged right hand. A new study concludes he suffered from "claw hand." (credit: Museum of Gallerie Dell’Accademia, Venice)

Famed artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci suffered from a crippled right hand late in life, usually attributed to a stroke. In a new paper in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, two Italian researchers argue that Leonardo more likely suffered from a condition colloquially known as "claw hand." They base their argument on analysis of a 16th century portrait of en elderly Leonardo.

The quintessential Renaissance man was the illegitimate son of a Florentine notary named Piero Frusino di Antonio da Vinci. (His mother, Caterina, was a peasant.) Much of what we know about Leonardo's life comes from the writing of the 16th century painter and historian Giorgio Vasari, in Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects.

Historians have also studied Leonardo's drawings and his use of "mirror writing" in his journals, concluding he was almost certainly predominantly left-handed, although he was ambidextrous to come extent. For instance, he wrote and drew with his left hand, but never painted with it. Vasari noted that Leonardo in his prime "was physically so strong that ... with his right hand he could bend the ring of an iron door knocker or a horseshoe as if they were lead."

Enlarge / The Kessel Run version of the Millenium Falcon. (credit: Valentina Palladino)

Greetings, Arsians! The Dealmaster is back with a special weekend edition of his usual deals roundup.

Today is May the 4th, which means it's once again time for Star Wars lovers around the globe to celebrate their favorite multimedia behemoth. Yes, the fan-made holiday known as "Star Wars Day" may have derived from a silly pun—"May the Fourth be with you"—but it's sustained by the unparalleled (and occasionally unhealthy) enthusiasm and adoration Star Wars fans have for George Lucas' creation. You can expect Wookiee and Bantha milk enthusiasts around the world to celebrate with special film screenings and costume-heavy festivities.

And because this franchise has essentially been a license to print money for 40 years, you can also expect retailers to take advantage of the fanfare with deals on Star Wars goods and paraphernalia. That's where the Dealmaster comes in—we've rounded up the most noteworthy deals we could find on Star Wars-related games, gadgets, and general geekery.

Enlarge (credit: Lino Mirgeler/picture alliance via Getty Images)

A software supply-chain attack represents one of the most insidious forms of hacking. By breaking into a developer's network and hiding malicious code within apps and software updates that users trust, supply-chain hijackers can smuggle their malware onto hundreds of thousands—or millions—of computers in a single operation, without the slightest sign of foul play. Now what appears to be a single group of hackers has managed that trick repeatedly, going on a devastating supply-chain hacking spree—and the hackers have become more advanced and stealthy as they go.

Over the past three years, supply-chain attacks that exploited the software distribution channels of at least six different companies have now all been tied to a single group of likely Chinese-speaking hackers. The group is known as Barium, or sometimes ShadowHammer, ShadowPad, or Wicked Panda, depending on which security firm you ask. More than perhaps any other known hacker team, Barium appears to use supply-chain attacks as its core tool. Its attacks all follow a similar pattern: seed out infections to a massive collection of victims, then sort through them to find espionage targets.

Enlarge (credit: Valentina Palladino)

AMD wants in on the Chromebook craze. A few OEMs, including HP, Acer, and Lenovo, announced AMD-powered Chromebooks at CES this year, and those devices are just starting to become available. Intel processors power most Chromebooks available today, but now individual customers and businesses will be able to choose from a small, but growing, pool of AMD-powered devices.

Unsurprisingly, HP's Chromebook 14 with AMD processors and integrated Radeon graphics appeals to the largest group in the Chromebook market—those who want a low-powered Chrome OS device for home or school use. Starting at $269, this Chromebook is not meant to compete with Google's Pixelbook or the fancier Chromebooks toward which professionals gravitate. Since the new Chromebook 14 borrows a lot from previous models, we tested it out to see the gains (if any) an AMD-powered Chromebook provides over Intel-powered devices.

Look and feel

Manufacturers have been elevating the look and feel of their Chrome OS devices for the past couple of years as the stripped-down operating system gained popularity outside of the education system. However, HP's Chromebook 14 is one of the most traditionally "Chromebook-y" Chromebooks I've ever used. It's a not-too-big, not-too-small plastic hunk that will fit into most family living rooms well enough. At about 3.5 pounds, it's not the lightest Chromebook ever, but it feels similar to other low-cost Chromebooks in thickness and weight. I do appreciate that HP made this machine fanless, allowing it to remain quiet even when running our most challenging benchmark tests.

Enlarge (credit: Britta Pedersen/picture alliance via Getty Image)

There are plenty of good reasons that people should cycle more. People who exercise more are healthier and can score higher on cognitive tests, for one thing. And replacing short car trips with journeys by bike (or on foot) is probably a good thing if we want to try to deal with this whole climate change thing. But that will only work if people feel safe swapping their two-ton deathmobiles for a pair of pedals. And it may well mean providing cyclists with bike lanes protected from vehicle traffic with more than a coat of paint. In fact, a study from Monash University in Australia suggests that merely painting bike lanes onto the roads may be counterproductive.

The researchers conducted an observational study, gathering data from 60 cyclists in Melbourne, Australia. For a week or two, the cyclists were equipped with sensors and cameras to capture data over the course of their riding. GNSS satellite navigation was used for location, ultrasonic sensors measured the passing distances of objects as the cyclists rode, and cameras allowed the researchers to classify passing events—was the bicycle passed by a vehicle, did the pass happen while the cyclist was in a bike lane, and so on. Over the study period (between April and August 2017) there were 422 trips covering a total of 3,294 miles (5,302km), 91 percent of which were on-road.

Across the entire data set, the researchers identified 18,527 instances where a vehicle overtook a cyclist. Of these, 1,085 happened with less than 39 inches' (100cm) passing distance between bike and vehicle, a distance that's considered "close" under Australian law. The majority of passes occurred in areas with 37mph speed limits (60km/h), with an average passing distance of 75 inches (190cm). But those distances were much closer in areas with lower limits (66 inches/168cm in 40km/h zones, 67 inches/170cm in 50km/h zones). Somewhat worryingly, drivers were also more likely to get closer (60 inches/154cm) to cyclists when passing in 100km/h (62mph) zones.

Enlarge / The Device Assembly Facility at the Nevada National Security Site. (credit: Nevada National Security Site )

This week, Energy Department Secretary Rick Perry sent a letter to Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto saying that the Department would move a half-ton load of plutonium waste out of Nevada between 2021 and 2026.

Last year, the federal government said it would move plutonium from South Carolina to the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) for temporary storage before moving it on to its final destination. The state of Nevada sued the federal government in the hopes of stopping the planned shipment, but months into the legal action, the federal government told the court that the plutonium had already been secretly delivered to the NNSS.

Nevada politicians were incensed, and Cortez Masto, who holds a seat on the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, placed holds on any pending Trump administration nominations to the Department of Energy.