Study blames Earth’s magnetic field flip for climate change, extinctions

Study suggests that one magnetic event caused everything from extinctions to art.

Image of a large tree

Enlarge / The massive trunk of a kauri tree can remain intact for tens of thousands of years. (credit: W. Bulach / Wikimedia)

The Earth's magnetic field helps protect life from energetic particles that would otherwise arrive from space. Mars now lacks a strong magnetic field, and the conditions on its surface are considered so damaging to life that any microbes that might inhabit the planet are thought to be safely beneath the surface. On Earth, the magnetic field ensures that life can flourish on the surface.

Except that's not always true. The Earth's magnetic field varies, with the poles moving and sometimes swapping places and the field sometimes weakening or effectively vanishing. Yet a look at these events has revealed nothing especially interesting—no obvious connections to extinctions, no major ecological upsets.

A paper published yesterday in Science provides an impressively precise dating for a past magnetic field flip by using rings of trees that have been dead for tens of thousands of years. And it shows the flip was associated with changes in climate. But the paper then goes on to attempt to tie the flip to everything from a minor extinction event to the explosion of cave art by our ancestors. In the end, the work is a mix of solid science, provocative hypothesizing, and unconstrained speculation.

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Bitcoin’s value just passed $1 trillion

Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto may have mined 1M bitcoins worth $55 billion.

Bitcoin’s value just passed $1 trillion

Enlarge

Bitcoin's price soared past $56,000 on Friday, pushing the combined value of all bitcoins past the $1 trillion mark—at least in theory. That's more than the market capitalization of Facebook, though Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, and Microsoft are worth more. Bitcoin's value has almost doubled from $29,000 since the start of the year.

I say "in theory" because not all bitcoins are actually available for use. Each bitcoin (or fraction of a bitcoin) is secured by one or more cryptographic signatures. To transfer a bitcoin, you need to know its corresponding private key. And some of those keys have been lost—and it's impossible to know how many.

For example, a British man says he threw away a hard drive in 2013 that contained the keys to 7,500 bitcoins—worth around $400 million at today's price. He sought permission to excavate the dump containing the hard drive, but the request was denied.

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Lilbits: More Android 12 details emerge, that 7-screen laptop is even pricier than you thought, and Samsung’s next watch could run Android

Google released the first Android 12 Developer Preview this week but, as usual, the company only really focused on the new features and behavior changes that would affect developers. But the folks at xda-developers, Android Police, 9to5Google, Droid L…

Google released the first Android 12 Developer Preview this week but, as usual, the company only really focused on the new features and behavior changes that would affect developers. But the folks at xda-developers, Android Police, 9to5Google, Droid Life, and other blogs have been poking and prodding Android 12 Developer Preview 1 to see what […]

The post Lilbits: More Android 12 details emerge, that 7-screen laptop is even pricier than you thought, and Samsung’s next watch could run Android appeared first on Liliputing.

Lilbits: More Android 12 details emerge, that 7-screen laptop is even pricier than you thought, and Samsung’s next watch could run Android

Google released the first Android 12 Developer Preview this week but, as usual, the company only really focused on the new features and behavior changes that would affect developers. But the folks at xda-developers, Android Police, 9to5Google, Droid L…

Google released the first Android 12 Developer Preview this week but, as usual, the company only really focused on the new features and behavior changes that would affect developers. But the folks at xda-developers, Android Police, 9to5Google, Droid Life, and other blogs have been poking and prodding Android 12 Developer Preview 1 to see what […]

The post Lilbits: More Android 12 details emerge, that 7-screen laptop is even pricier than you thought, and Samsung’s next watch could run Android appeared first on Liliputing.

Pfizer vaccine doesn’t need ultra-cold storage after all, company says

The pharma giant and partner BioNTech have asked FDA to revise the vaccine’s label.

A picture taken on January 15, 2021 shows a pharmacist holding with gloved hands a vial of the undiluted Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for COVID-19.

Enlarge / A picture taken on January 15, 2021 shows a pharmacist holding with gloved hands a vial of the undiluted Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for COVID-19. (credit: Getty | JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER)

In a bit of good news, Pfizer and BioNTech announced today that their highly effective COVID-19 vaccine does not require ultra-cold storage conditions after all and can be kept stable at standard freezer temperatures for two weeks.

The companies have submitted data to the US Food and Drug Administration demonstrating the warmer stability in a bid for regulatory approval to relax storage requirements and labeling for the vaccine.

If the FDA greenlights the change, the warmer storage conditions could dramatically ease vaccine distribution, allowing doses to be sent to non-specialized vaccine administration sites. The change would also make it much easier to distribute the vaccine to low-income countries.

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5 laptop docks that let you use a smartphone like a notebook

A few weeks ago I mentioned a crowdfunding campaign for a new gadget called LEEF that looks like a laptop, but which is actually a smartphone accessory that lets you interact with your smartphone apps with a keyboard, touchpad, and bigger screen. And …

A few weeks ago I mentioned a crowdfunding campaign for a new gadget called LEEF that looks like a laptop, but which is actually a smartphone accessory that lets you interact with your smartphone apps with a keyboard, touchpad, and bigger screen. And in that article, I noted that this was hardly a new idea, […]

The post 5 laptop docks that let you use a smartphone like a notebook appeared first on Liliputing.

5 laptop docks that let you use a smartphone like a notebook

A few weeks ago I mentioned a crowdfunding campaign for a new gadget called LEEF that looks like a laptop, but which is actually a smartphone accessory that lets you interact with your smartphone apps with a keyboard, touchpad, and bigger screen. And …

A few weeks ago I mentioned a crowdfunding campaign for a new gadget called LEEF that looks like a laptop, but which is actually a smartphone accessory that lets you interact with your smartphone apps with a keyboard, touchpad, and bigger screen. And in that article, I noted that this was hardly a new idea, […]

The post 5 laptop docks that let you use a smartphone like a notebook appeared first on Liliputing.

Bulgaria Asks United States to Help Shut Down Torrent Tracker Zamunda

After being called out by the US, Bulgaria has intensified its copyright enforcement in recent years. The Eastern European country is determined to shut down Zamunda.net, which is the most popular piracy site in the country by far. To achieve this goal the local prosecutor has asked the US Department of Justice for help, as several of Zamunda’s servers are presumably located in America.

From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

zamundaThe US Trade Representative (USTR) placed Bulgaria on the ‘Special 301 Watch List’ between 2013 until 2017, because its copyright policies and enforcement were reportedly lagging behind.

The USTR uses this annual report to motivate foreign countries to take action, which can often pay off.

This also appears to be the case in Bulgaria, where law enforcement agencies have actively pursued various piracy cases in recent years. This hasn’t gone unnoticed by the USTR, which removed Bulgaria from its watch list in 2018, leading to both countries sharing their progress and goals ever since.

For example, last year Bulgaria mentioned that it planned to criminally prosecute torrent tracker Zamunda.net, the country’s most-visited pirate site. In addition, criminal prosecutions of other high-profile torrent sites such as ArenaBG.com, Zelka.org and RARBG.to were in the works as well.

When we highlighted these developments last year they were still in the planning phase. However, a new report sent by Bulgarian authorities to the USTR this week shows that progress has been made.

The report notes that the various recommendations from the US Government are being taken very seriously. This includes the explicit request to fight online piracy and take local torrent trackers offline.

Bulgaria writes that, last summer, Sofia Regional Prosecutor’s Office started four separate pre-trial proceedings against Zamunda.net, ArenaBG.com, Zelka.org and RARBG.to. All sites stand accused of criminal copyright infringement.

Last November the matter was discussed on the highest diplomatic level. In a telephone call, a high-level representative from the US State Department informed Bulgaria’s Ambassador to the United States that prosecuting Zamunda.net and Arenabg remains a key issue.

In the progress report, Bulgaria stresses that it takes these concerns very seriously. It mentions the pre-trial proceedings that were launched, and highlights several steps that have been taken thus far.

“Numerous investigative actions were carried out – interrogation of witnesses, website inspections, preparing and sending requests for legal aid to the competent authorities in the USA, Australia, Sweden, Switzerland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a request for information and termination of users’ access to the specified sites,” the report reads.

Despite these actions, Zamunda, ArenaBG, and the other torrent sites remain online today. However, law enforcement hasn’t given up.

In a separate message, Bulgaria’s Government notes that US law enforcement also has a role to play. Apparently, Zamunda.net has servers located in the US, and the Department of Justice was recently asked to help shut these down.

“[A]n important event we need to highlight is the submission on January 27th, 2021, of a Request for Mutual Legal Assistance from the Bulgarian Supreme Prosecutor Office to the DOJ for the seizure of illicit servers hosting vast amounts of entertainment and software content with breached IP on US territory, operated by the Bulgarian piracy torrent tracker entity Zamunda.

“The act follows the execution of a mutually agreed Action plan for the improvement of IP enforcement on Bulgarian territory presented by our partners at the USTR,” a representative from the Bulgarian Government adds.

While it’s uncertain if the prosecutions will turn out to be successful, Bulgaria hopes that these efforts will prove sufficient to keep the country off the ‘Special 301 Watch List’ in the coming year.

All in all, it is fascinating to see how these law enforcement actions are orchestrated at the highest political levels. This is not new by any means, however. We previously uncovered how similar tactics triggered Sweden’s criminal prosecution of The Pirate Bay.

A copy of the status report the Government of Bulgaria sent to the US Trade Representative is available here (pdf)

From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

NASA releases “exhilarating” image of Mars rover just above the planet

“It is exhilarating. It is absolutely exhilarating.”

This is a high-resolution still image, part of a video taken by several cameras as NASA’s Perseverance rover touched down on Mars.

Enlarge / This is a high-resolution still image, part of a video taken by several cameras as NASA’s Perseverance rover touched down on Mars. (credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

NASA on Friday released new images of its Perseverance spacecraft approaching the surface of Mars and safely settling upon the red planet.

The new photos included an arresting image of the Jeep-sized rover nearing Mars, seemingly dangling from the sky crane that was lowering it to the surface about 7 meters below. This image was pulled from footage of the rover's landing, captured by on-board cameras. A complete video of the dramatic landing sequence may be released as early as Monday after NASA engineers receive more data from Mars.

"It is exhilarating. It is absolutely exhilarating," said Adam Steltzner, the chief engineer for the Perseverance mission, which successfully landed on Mars on Thursday. These kinds of dramatic images, he said, help bring the world along for the ride on missions of exploration.

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Daily Deals (2-19-2021)

Best Buy is running a 3-day sale on Microsoft products including Surface laptops and tablets, although many of the best deals are also matched by the Microsoft Store. Meanwhile there are two good deals on 14 inch laptops with Intel Tiger Lake chips &#…

Best Buy is running a 3-day sale on Microsoft products including Surface laptops and tablets, although many of the best deals are also matched by the Microsoft Store. Meanwhile there are two good deals on 14 inch laptops with Intel Tiger Lake chips – Walmart is selling an HP Pavilion 14 with a Core i5-1135G7 […]

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