A growing number of “cryptic species” hiding in plain sight have been unmasked in the past year, driven in part by the rise of DNA barcoding, a technique that can identify and differentiate between animal and plant species using their genetic divergence. From a report: The discovery of new species of aloe, African leaf-nosed bats and chameleons that appear similar to…
Tag: cryptic
Conspiracy Theorists Who’d First Popularized QAnon Now Accused of Financial Motives
QAnon “was first championed by a handful of people who worked together to stir discussion of the ‘Q’ posts, eventually pushing the theory on to bigger platforms and gaining followers — a strategy that proved to be the key to Qanon’s spread and the originators’ financial gain…” reports NBC News, in an article shared by long-time Slashdot reader AmiMoJo . “NBC…
Folding@Home Exascale Supercomputer Finds Potential Targets For COVID-19 Cure
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Network World: The Folding@home project has shared new results of its efforts to simulate proteins from the SARS-CoV-2 virus to better understand how they function and how to stop them. Folding@home is a distributed computing effort that uses small clients to run simulations for biomedical research when users’ PCs are idle. The clients operate…
Sudoku as Spectator Sport is Unlikely Lockdown Hit
It may not be as hair-raising as Formula 1, nor as dramatic as Premier League football, but Sudoku solving is acquiring a niche following as a spectator sport. From a report: It’s surprisingly thrilling, believe me. Just ask fans of the puzzle-solving YouTube channel Cracking the Cryptic, which has seen its viewing figures shoot up over the last two months. Its…
How to solve the New Scientist cryptic crossword
Anyone can learn to solve cryptic crosswords. For beginners, we’ve put together a handy guide to how cryptic clues work and the types of wordplay that might be involved Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2243120-how-to-solve-the-new-scientist-cryptic-crossword/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Court Finds Algorithm Bias Studies Don’t Violate US Anti-Hacking Law
“A federal court in D.C. has ruled in a lawsuit against Attorney General William Barr that studies aimed at detecting discrimination in online algorithms don’t violate the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act,” reports Engadget:
The government argued that the Act made it illegal to violate a site’s terms of service through some investigative methods (such as submitting false info for research), but…