With 47m global users Strava has the potential to generate big data for public development [Editor’s note: the link may be paywalled]. From a report: When the UK capital built a “cycle superhighway” in 2016, Strava indicated where people had changed their route and showed that the number of cyclists increased by 60 per cent when a bike-only lane was built…
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Internal FAA Review Saw High Risk of 737 MAX Crashes
U.S. regulators decided to allow Boeing’s 737 MAX jet to keep flying after its first fatal crash last fall even after their own analysis indicated it could become one of the most accident-prone airliners in decades without design changes [Editor’s link: the link may be paywalled], the Wall Street Journal reports. From the report: The November 2018 internal Federal Aviation Administration…
Oculus Quest Becomes First VR Set With Native Hand Tracking
The Oculus Quest VR headset is about to receive an update that adds support for native hand tracking. “VR users will be able to put down their controllers and use their fingers to manipulate VR worlds, as tracked by Quest’s array of built-in cameras,” reports Ars Technica. From the report: The feature received a tease at October’s Oculus Connect 6 conference…
African Countries Are Struggling To Build Robust Identity Systems
The first thing that visitors to the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg see is a wall of identity cards– the pieces of paper that determined where people could live and work and whom they could love. From the outset, the apartheid regime’s ability to discriminate against “nie-blankes” (non-whites) depended on having a robust system of identifying people. The opposite problem confronts most…
Cretaceous fossils are missing link in mammal ear evolution
Newly discovered mammal fossils reveal the crucial evolutionary step when the bones for hearing and chewing finally separated Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2226330-cretaceous-fossils-are-missing-link-in-mammal-ear-evolution/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
A Bug In Microsoft’s Login System Put Users At Risk of Account Hijacks
Microsoft has fixed a vulnerability in its login system that could have been used to trick unsuspecting victims into giving over complete access to their online accounts. TechCrunch reports: The bug allowed attackers to quietly steal account tokens, which websites and apps use to grant users access to their accounts without requiring them to constantly re-enter their passwords. These tokens are…
The Rise and Fall of the PlayStation Supercomputers
“On the 25th anniversary of the original Sony PlayStation, The Verge shares the story of the PlayStation supercomputers,” writes Slashdot reader jimminy_cricket. From the report: Dozens of PlayStation 3s sit in a refrigerated shipping container on the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s campus, sucking up energy and investigating astrophysics. It’s a popular stop for tours trying to sell the school to prospective…