Month: September 2021

Enlarge / Sony's latest PS4 system update fixes a problem with the internal battery which would have eventually caused all consoles to be bricked. (credit: Aurich Lawson | Getty Images)

PlayStation owners looking to preserve their PS4 libraries well into the future can breathe a sigh of relief, as the system's latest firmware update reportedly fixes a time bomb found inside every console.

Recently confirmed via tests by Modern Vintage Gamer, an unforeseen perk of the PS4's system software update version 9.00 appears to have nullified an authentication communication between the system's internal clock and the PlayStation Network. This had been a security measure that, when failed on both sides, prevented any PS4 software, digital or physical, from playing at all. For anyone concerned about being able to play PS4 games (like, say, Hideo Kojima's terrifying P.T., a delisted proof-of-concept demo for the cancelled Silent Hills) long after PSN support for the system has been shuttered, this is great news.

Connection problems

The problem is the PS4's CMOS battery, which fits into the hardware's motherboard and is used to internally track the date and time, even when there's no power. If that battery is removed for replacement or just dies, the system can't properly track the real-world calendar. This forces the PS4 to reconnect to PSN to establish the correct time—a routine check that happens every time you try to play a digital or physical game. So what happened, preupdate, if you had a dead-battery PS4 that isn't connected to the Internet? That time check with PSN couldn't be completed, meaning any games wouldn't play.

Enlarge / A healthcare worker treats a patient inside a negative pressure room in the COVID-19 intensive care unit at Freeman Hospital West in Joplin, Missouri, on Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021. (credit: Getty | Bloomberg)

Hospitals in several states are ramping up security and even providing wearable panic buttons to staff amid a wave of violent attacks sparked by COVID-related misinformation, denialists, and conspiracy theorists.

In a hospital in Branson, Missouri, as many as 400 staff members will have panic buttons added to their identification badges after assaults on staff members tripled amid the pandemic. Assaults rose from 40 in 2019 to 123 in 2020, the Associated Press reported. The numbers for 2021 have not been released. When pressed, the panic buttons will immediately alert hospital security and trigger a tracking system to locate the endangered worker.

Jackie Gatz, vice president of safety and preparedness for the Missouri Hospital Association, told the AP that, in addition to panic buttons, hospitals are also adding extra security cameras and having security personnel wear body cameras. A hospital in Springfield, Missouri, added security dogs, as well as panic buttons. Gatz noted that staff are also receiving training on de-escalation and physical protection tactics, such as keeping a hospital bed between a nurse and an agitated person.

Enlarge / Researchers tested medieval gunpowder recipes in this replica of an early 15th-century stone-throwing cannon. (credit: T.S. Ritchie et al., ACS Omega 2021)

Gunpowder—as opposed to modern smokeless powder—isn't used much these days in current weaponry, although it's still useful for historical weapons and remains popular for fireworks and other pyrotechnics. An interdisciplinary team of chemists and historians wanted to learn more about how various recipes for gunpowder evolved over the centuries as master gunners tweaked the basic components to achieve better results. The researchers described their findings in a recent paper published in the journal ACS Omega. They even tested a few of the recipes by firing a replica of a 15th-century stone-throwing cannon at a West Point firing range—you know, for science.

Also known as black powder, gunpowder is simple enough, chemically speaking. It's a mix of sulfur and charcoal (carbon), which serve as fuels, and potassium nitrate (KNO₃), an oxidizer also known as saltpeter. First used for warfare around 904 CE in China, its use had spread throughout Europe and Asia by the late 13th century. Modern black powder recipes call for 75 percent saltpeter, 15 percent charcoal, and 10 percent sulfur. But medieval master gunners experimented with many different recipes over the centuries, many of which included additives such as camphor, varnish, or brandy—the purpose of which is still unknown.

By the late 14th century, manufacturers had discovered that one could improve the performance of gunpowder through a wet-grinding process called "corning." Some kind of liquid (often distilled spirits) would be added as the other ingredients were being ground together, producing a moist paste. The paste would be rolled into balls and then dried, and those balls would be crushed in a mortar by a gunner in the field right before it was used.

Enlarge / A COVID-19 vaccine. (credit: Getty Images | Morsa Images)

YouTube is banning a wide range of anti-vaccine misinformation, saying it will remove videos that falsely claim vaccines cause diseases, that vaccines are used to track people, or that vaccines "are part of a depopulation agenda."

"Specifically, content that falsely alleges that approved vaccines are dangerous and cause chronic health effects, claims that vaccines do not reduce transmission or contraction of disease, or contains misinformation on the substances contained in vaccines will be removed," the Google-owned YouTube said in today's announcement. "This would include content that falsely says that approved vaccines cause autism, cancer or infertility, or that substances in vaccines can track those who receive them. Our policies not only cover specific routine immunizations like for measles or Hepatitis B, but also apply to general statements about vaccines."

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was among the first purveyors of anti-vaccine misinformation to have a channel removed from YouTube today.