Month: January 2023

Enlarge / Scientists used neutron tomography to peer inside a medieval pendant, revealing five reliquary packages. (credit: Sabine Steidl, RGZM/Burkhard Schillinger, MLZ)

In 2008, archaeologists excavating a medieval refuse pit in Mainz, Germany, discovered a heavily corroded pendant likely made in the late 12th century. But they were loath to open the pendant to find out what might be inside, lest they damage an already fragile artifact. Now technology has come to the rescue. Researchers from the Technical University of Munich scanned the pendant using neutron tomography, among other methods, and discovered it contained bone splinters—likely religious relics, i.e., the purported bones of saints. The findings were published in the interim meeting of the International Council of Museums-Committee for Conservation (ICOM-CC) Metals Working Group.

Neutron tomography, works much the same way as X-ray and gamma ray imaging methods, except it uses a neutron beam. One shoots a beam of radiation at the target object, and some parts interact with the sample while others pass through. The latter collides with an imaging target to create what's known as an attenuation pattern—essentially an image of the interior of the sample. Neutron tomography is not as sensitive to the density of materials as X-ray and gamma ray imaging, and unlike those methods, neutrons interact strongly with very light elements like hydrogen. So some things easily visible with neutron imaging may be challenging or impossible to see with X-ray imaging (and vice versa).

The techniques can be complementary and are especially useful for imaging archaeological or paleontological artifacts because they don't damage or destroy the original object. For instance, in December 2021, researchers combined X-ray microtomography—which involves using X-rays to make cross-sections of a physical object—and neutron tomography to create a highly detailed 3D model of a 365-million-year-old ammonite fossil from the Jurassic period, revealing internal muscles that have never been previously observed. Among other findings, they observed paired muscles extending from the ammonite's body, which they surmise the animal likely used to retract itself further into its shell to avoid predators.

Enlarge / Scientists used neutron tomography to peer inside a medieval pendant, revealing five reliquary packages. (credit: Sabine Steidl, RGZM/Burkhard Schillinger, MLZ)

In 2008, archaeologists excavating a medieval refuse pit in Mainz, Germany, discovered a heavily corroded pendant likely made in the late 12th century. But they were loath to open the pendant to find out what might be inside, lest they damage an already fragile artifact. Now technology has come to the rescue. Researchers from the Technical University of Munich scanned the pendant using neutron tomography, among other methods, and discovered it contained bone splinters—likely religious relics, i.e., the purported bones of saints. The findings were published in the interim meeting of the International Council of Museums-Committee for Conservation (ICOM-CC) Metals Working Group.

Neutron tomography, works much the same way as X-ray and gamma ray imaging methods, except it uses a neutron beam. One shoots a beam of radiation at the target object, and some parts interact with the sample while others pass through. The latter collides with an imaging target to create what's known as an attenuation pattern—essentially an image of the interior of the sample. Neutron tomography is not as sensitive to the density of materials as X-ray and gamma ray imaging, and unlike those methods, neutrons interact strongly with very light elements like hydrogen. So some things easily visible with neutron imaging may be challenging or impossible to see with X-ray imaging (and vice versa).

The techniques can be complementary and are especially useful for imaging archaeological or paleontological artifacts because they don't damage or destroy the original object. For instance, in December 2021, researchers combined X-ray microtomography—which involves using X-rays to make cross-sections of a physical object—and neutron tomography to create a highly detailed 3D model of a 365-million-year-old ammonite fossil from the Jurassic period, revealing internal muscles that have never been previously observed. Among other findings, they observed paired muscles extending from the ammonite's body, which they surmise the animal likely used to retract itself further into its shell to avoid predators.

Enlarge / A screenshot from the upcoming game Starfield.

Today, Microsoft announced an upcoming livestream called "Developer_Direct" that will include looks at several upcoming games from the company's now-numerous development studios.

Set for January 25 at 3 pm ET, the company promises glimpses at Redfall, the latest game from Dishonored and Prey developer Arkane—whose pedigree actually goes all the way back to influential PC classics like System Shock and Ultima Underworld. It will also include glimpses at games from other studios, including Minecraft Legends, Forza Motorsport, and The Elder Scrolls Online.

Notably absent from that list is the game that most people probably want to see: Starfield, the science-fiction epic from The Elder Scrolls and Fallout developer Bethesda Game Studios. If that's your interest, though, don't worry—Microsoft also announced that Starfield would get a standalone event for a "deep dive" in the near future.

Enlarge / A screenshot from the upcoming game Starfield.

Today, Microsoft announced an upcoming livestream called "Developer_Direct" that will include looks at several upcoming games from the company's now-numerous development studios.

Set for January 25 at 3 pm ET, the company promises glimpses at Redfall, the latest game from Dishonored and Prey developer Arkane—whose pedigree actually goes all the way back to influential PC classics like System Shock and Ultima Underworld. It will also include glimpses at games from other studios, including Minecraft Legends, Forza Motorsport, and The Elder Scrolls Online.

Notably absent from that list is the game that most people probably want to see: Starfield, the science-fiction epic from The Elder Scrolls and Fallout developer Bethesda Game Studios. If that's your interest, though, don't worry—Microsoft also announced that Starfield would get a standalone event for a "deep dive" in the near future.

Enlarge / A CDC COVID-19 variant testing site inside Tom Bradley International Terminal at Los Angeles International Airport on Monday. The airport testing is part of the government's early warning system for detecting new variants, which began expanding recently in the wake of a COVID-19 surge in China. (credit: Getty | Jill Connelly/Bloomberg )

Amid a winter wave of COVID-19 in the US, the latest coronavirus omicron subvariant, XBB.1.5, has grabbed headlines due to its swift rise, raising fears of another towering spike in the disease. But the spotlight is revealing more questions than answers in the early days of the subvariant, which has ominously been described as one of the most immune-evasive omicron subvariants to date.

Last week, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention quietly downgraded estimates of its prevalence. As Ars and other outlets reported, the CDC previously estimated that XBB.1.5 accounted for 40.5 percent of COVID-19 cases throughout the country in the week ending on December 31, with the highest prevalence in the Northeast. But last Friday, the agency updated the estimates with a backlog of sequencing data from over the holidays, which indicated XBB.1.5 accounted for 18 percent of cases nationwide that week—not 40.5 percent. Currently, the CDC estimates that XBB.1.5 accounted for 27.6 percent of cases nationwide in the week ending on January 7. But the 95 percent prediction interval is wide, spanning 14 percent to 46.5 percent).

The updated estimate still indicates that the variant, first detected in New York in October, is on the rise. But the uncertainty throws a wrench in estimates of its transmission advantage over other omicron subvarianty, BQ.1.1 is still the most prevalent omicron subvariant, accounting for an estimated 34 percent of cases in the US.

Enlarge / Microsoft is all but demanding Xbox owners give the drastically more energy-efficient "Shutdown" setting a try. (credit: Microsoft)

Microsoft is rolling out an update to Xbox consoles starting today that will automatically switch them to a power-saving Shutdown mode, instead of the usual energy-hungry Sleep mode. It's part of a broader effort by Microsoft to make Xbox the "first carbon aware console."

Blaine Hauglie, technical program manager at Xbox, writes in a blog post announcing the change that the update "will create opportunities for our collective community of gamers to make choices to reduce environmental impact while gaming." Xbox Series X, Series S, and One consoles will now default to "Shutdown (energy saving)" instead of "Sleep (Instant On)." Xboxes will also now schedule downloads during times when lower-carbon grid energy is available.

These changes are rolling out starting today to those enrolled in the beta-tester-like Xbox Insiders program but will eventually ship to all units. Xbox owners who want to switch back to Sleep mode will have to manually do so via the system settings. Microsoft did not specify how it would notify Xbox Series X and S console users about the switch but noted that it would, for Xbox One consoles, "be testing multiple messaging options to determine the best way to inform players of the change."

Enlarge

For the past two weeks, hackers have been exploiting a critical vulnerability in the SugarCRM (customer relationship management) system to infect users with malware that gives them full control of their servers.

The vulnerability began as a zero-day when the exploit code was posted online in late December. The person posting the exploit described it as an authentication bypass with remote code execution, meaning an attacker could use it to run malicious code on vulnerable servers with no credentials required. SugarCRM has since published an advisory that confirms that description. The exploit post also included various “dorks,” which are simple web searches people can do to locate vulnerable servers on the Internet.

Network monitoring service Censys said that as of January 5, it had detected 291 SugarCRM servers infected using the zero-day. That’s close to 10 percent of the total 3,066 SugarCRM servers Censys detected. Infections were highest in the US, with 90, followed by Germany, Australia, and France. In an update on Tuesday, Censys said the number of infections hasn’t ticked up much since the original post.