Sunday, July 11, 2021

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Autonomous drones learn to find 'hidden' meteorite impact sites

Posted: 10 Jul 2021 02:55 PM PDT

It's easy to find large meteorites (or their craters) once they've reached Earth, but the smaller ones often go neglected — scientists recover fewer than 2 percent of them. Soon, however, it might just be a question of sending a robot to do the job. Universe Todayreports that researchers have developed a system that has autonomous drones use machine learning to find the smaller meteorites in impact sites that are either 'hidden' (even if observers traced the fall) or simply inaccessible.

The technology uses a mix of convolutional neural networks to recognize meteorites based on training images, both from online images as well as staged shots from the team's collection. This helps the AI distinguish between space rocks and ordinary stones, even with a variety of shapes and terrain conditions.

The results aren't flawless. While a test drone did correctly spot planted meteorites, there were also some false positives. It could be a while before robotic aircraft are trustworthy enough to provide accurate results all on their own.

The implications for space science are significant if the technology proves accurate, though. It would help scientists spot and potentially recover meteorites that are either too small to find or too remote. That, in turn, could help pinpoint meteorite sources and identify the rocks' compositions. Simply put, drones could fill gaps in humanity's understanding of the cosmic debris that lands at our doorstep.

Kaseya was warned about security flaws years ahead of ransomware attack

Posted: 10 Jul 2021 02:02 PM PDT

The giant ransomware attack against Kaseya might have been entirely avoidable. Former staff talking to Bloomberg claim they warned executives of "critical" security flaws in Kaseya's products several times between 2017 and 2020, but that the company didn't truly address them. Multiple staff either quit or said they were fired over inaction.

Employees reportedly complained that Kaseya was using old code, implemented poor encryption and even failed to routinely patch software. The company's Virtual System Administrator (VSA), the remote maintenance tool that fell prey to ransomware, was supposedly rife with enough problems that workers wanted the software replaced.

One employee claimed he was fired two weeks after sending executives a 40-page briefing on security problems. Others simply left in frustration with a seeming focus on new features and releases instead of fixing basic issues. Kaseya also laid off some employees in 2018 in favor of outsourcing work to Belarus, which some staff considered a security risk given local leaders' partnerships with the Russian government.

Kaseya has declined to comment.

The company has showed signs of wanting to mend issues. It fixed some problems after Dutch researchers pointed out vulnerabilities. It didn't fix everything, however, and it didn't take long before analyst firms like Truesec found glaring flaws in Kaseya's platform. This wasn't the first time Kaseya faced security issues, either. The company's software was reportedly used to launch ransomware at least twice between 2018 and 2019, and it didn't significantly rethink its security strategy.

However accurate the reports may be, Kaseya's situation wouldn't be unique. Staff at SolarWinds, Twitter and others have described security lapses that weren't fixed in time. That just makes the situation worse, mind you. It suggests that key parts of American online infrastructure have been vulnerable due to neglect, and that these basic missteps are all too common.

The FTC is reportedly investigating Amazon's purchase of MGM

Posted: 10 Jul 2021 12:57 PM PDT

Amazon's buyout of MGM might take much longer than planned. The Informationsources say the Federal Trade Commission has launched an "in-depth" investigation into Amazon's MGM purchase over the potential for antitrust abuse. Officials are concerned about the potential for the acquisition to "illegally boost" Amazon's clout in offering goods and services, not just the content it produces.

MGM has declined to comment. We've asked Amazon for comment.

A probe wouldn't be completely unexpected. The FTC and the Justice Department agreed to a review of the deal when frequent Big Tech critic Lina Khan was named as FTC chair. Amazon has been expecting a crackdown, and went so far as to ask for Khan's recusal in upcoming cases. She's not expected to bow out of the MGM investigation.

This won't necessarily result in the FTC blocking the deal. It might impose conditions on the purchase, though, and could easily delay a finalized deal by several months. It took more than a year for Google to finish acquiring Fitbit — Amazon may have to wait a similar amount of time to own MGM, and that's provided there are no major obstacles.

The FBI's phone for criminals included a custom version of Android

Posted: 10 Jul 2021 11:05 AM PDT

The phones the FBI sold to crooks for a sting operation weren't just running a custom app — it appears the operating system was also tweaked for those goals. Motherboard has obtained one of the "Anom" phones (really, a modified Pixel 4a), and its mysterious "ArcaneOS" has a number of customizations that you wouldn't necessarily expect, even for a privacy-oriented phone.

For one, there are no app stores. You also can't toggle location tracking. And don't think you can simply flash the device with third-party firmware to make it behave more like normal phones — the bootloader is locked even though the startup screen tells you the device has been modified.

Some user said Anom was based on the existing GrapheneOS, but Anom may have lied to buyers about the software to instill a false sense of trust.

The interface does include some security features that would appeal to the criminal target audience, including a hidden chat app (accessed through the "calculator" when it worked) and PIN scrambling. A wipe code feature that lets you erase a phone from the lock screen is also present, although the Justice Department clearly didn't like that feature when it charged some Anom developers with alleged obstruction of law enforcement.

At least one second-hand Anom phone owner say they got a Pixel 3a, suggesting the FBI transitioned to different devices as the sting unfolded.

You wouldn't want to buy one of these devices, then, even for curiosity's sake. However, it's now clear just how far the FBI went to bust criminals. The agency wanted to give unsuspecting drug dealers the impression they were using a true encrypted phone, right down to the OS, even as the device quietly exposed messages to law enforcement agents.

Tesla starts rolling out its long-delayed Full Self Driving version 9 beta

Posted: 10 Jul 2021 10:09 AM PDT

Tesla just delivered one of the biggest upgrades to its Full Self Driving software in a long while. The Vergereports that Tesla is rolling out FSD beta version 9 to Early Access Program users, and it's a sizeable upgrade. It's not full autonomy, despite the long-standing name, but it enables numerous Autopilot driver assists off-highway (such as lane changes and turns) while delivering many fixes. You'll also see revamped visualizations that offer "additional surrounding information" and otherwise give a better sense of what the car sees.

The update simultaneously references a recently-activated feature that uses the cabin camera to make sure you're paying attention while Autopilot is engaged. Regardless of improvements, Musk urged beta testers to "please be paranoid" and be ready to take the wheel at a moment's notice.

Version 9 has been a long while in coming, as The Verge noted. Tesla first promised to begin activating FSD features in August 2018, and Elon Musk vowed to have "over a million" cars driving themselves in 2020. Clearly, that didn't pan out — even a small beta from October of that year didn't come close to letting you keep your hands off the wheel. This latest release suggests there's some progress, even if it's unlikely that true autonomous driving will be ready in the near future.

Amazon hopes to track your sleep habits with radar

Posted: 10 Jul 2021 09:10 AM PDT

Google's latest Nest Hub might not be the only device to track your sleep using radar. Bloombergreports that Amazon has received an FCC waiver to let it use 60GHz radar for sleep tracking. As with Google's tech, you could check for sleep issues without having to wear a device like the Halo band.

The technology could also be used for gesture navigation, particularly for people with mobility or speech impairments that would prevent them from using conventional commands. Amazon wasn't shy about drawing comparisons to Google — the company cited the Pixel 4's radar when asking for the waiver.

Amazon didn't provide many clues about the products that would use radar tracking, but it described the devices as "non-mobile." In other words, they're more likely to be Echo devices that monitor your rest from your nightstand.

It's not certain when Amazon might ship radar-equipped hardware, although the recent Echo Show launches without that equipment suggests you could be waiting a while.

Amazon has strong incentives to update its device line, though. On top of competition with Google, the internet giant is making a big push into health between Halo and services like Amazon Pharmacy. Radar-based sleep tracking could make the Echo a valuable health tool, not just a handy companion for playing music or controlling your smart home.

ICYMI: We spend some time with Apple's iOS 15 beta

Posted: 10 Jul 2021 09:00 AM PDT

Apple's iOS 15 is slated for release this fall, and this week we've got a hands-on with its public beta. According to Cherlynn Low, iPhone users have a lot to look forward to later this year. Meanwhile, Nicole Lee set up both the 8- and 5-inch Echo Shows in her house to check out Amazon's updates, and she says the Echo Show 8 is now much improved for video calls. Also, Daniel Cooper found a lot to like about the Lenovo Legion 5, but he admits the laptop comes with some compromises.

There's a lot to explore in the public beta of iOS 15

iOS 15 beta
Apple

After spending a few weeks testing the latest iOS 15 features, including SharePlay and Focus modes, Cherlynn Low concluded that Apple lovers will have a bunch of new things to try out this fall. As most of the changes are already available, it's perhaps not surprising that the beta is fairly complete. While testing SharePlay, Cherlynn encountered a few minor glitches. It was difficult to figure out how to access the feature initially because the options only show up when a compatible media app is open during a chat. And both parties will need a subscription to stream together on Apple TV+ or Apple Music.

Cherlynn particularly liked the Focus modes, which let users create customized profiles that only allow notifications from selected apps or people to come through. You can also pick a Home screen that will only show the apps you want. In this mode, you won't see any other pages — just the apps drawer and the Today screen — keeping distractions to a minimum.

Other upgrades include Live Text, which scans photos for usable text like foreign words on a menu to translate; richer and more detailed Maps; better Spotlight search and Share With You, which consolidates media your friends send you. Cherlynn said there's much more to explore in the Weather, Safari and Wallet apps that should give fans a taste of the full release. She also spent time with the new watchOS 8 beta, which brings more health and fitness tools, improved communication and better integration with connected appliances to the Apple Watch.

Amazon's latest Echo Shows are pretty familiar, and that's ok 

Amazon Echo Show 8 and Show 5
Nicole Lee/Engadget

Amazon didn't change much on the new $129 Echo Show 8 and $85 Show 5, and Nicole Lee says that's just fine. The two devices eschew the swiveling screen found in the Echo Show 10 and keep much of what worked in previous models: the minimalist design, an ambient light sensor to adjust brightness and color temperature and a camera shutter for privacy. The Echo Show 8 has a 1,280 x 800 resolution display while the Show 5 features a 960 x 480 screen, and the latter is clearly intended as more of a nightstand device. Nicole was particularly pleased by the sound quality on the Echo Show 8, which delivered powerful bass and impressive volume.

And because it now features an octa-core processor and a 13-megapixel wide-angle camera, the Echo Show 8 is now more useful for video calls. The camera also has digital panning and zooming technology so it can follow you during video calls, although in Nicole's experience, this took a few seconds to kick in. But the Show 8 won't be best for all your video needs as it lacks native YouTube as well as streaming support for Disney+, Paramount+ and HBO Max. If you're already in the Amazon ecosystem, she says the Echo Show 8 delivers the most value for the money — but if you're looking for something akin to an alarm clock, the Show 5 is a better choice.

Lenovo's Legion 5 Pro is an affordable gaming laptop with great graphics

Review image of the new Lenovo Legion 5 Pro (2021)
Daniel Cooper

Though Lenovo isn't best known for its gaming laptops, Daniel Cooper points out that the new Legion 5 Pro laptop is clearly trying to capture more of that attention. With AMD's Ryzen 7 5800H and NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 3070 graphics, the machine is powerful — and at $1,530, it's relatively affordable as well. Daniel points out that the 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD are underwhelming, but they can be upgraded, and the 16-inch, 165Hz QHD IPS display holds its own in bright light and reduces glare.

When it comes to design, users get a solid aluminum chassis with a professional looking matte grey paint job, plus a plethora of ports including four USB-A, two USB-C, HDMI, Ethernet and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Daniel said that typing on Lenovo's TrueStrike keyboard is a unique experience: the "soft landing" switches makes each actuation feel a bit deeper than the keys 1.5mm depth. He was less fond of the 720p webcam, which produces fuzzy images with light blooms, and the heat produced by the fan system was noticeable. However, the big compromise on the Legion 5 is the battery life — the machine lasted only 4 hours and 43 minutes during testing, which makes it most useful when near an outlet.

The Fitbit Luxe is an impressively small fitness tracker

Fitbit Luxe
Cherlynn Low/Engadget

Cherlynn Low acknowledges that designing a stylish fitness tracker is difficult. Fitbit has tried it a few times before but their most recent attempt, the Luxe, is indeed chic — but Cherlynn says its size is actually the most impressive thing about it. Measuring 0.4 x 1.43 inches, the Luxe manages to include a heart rate sensor, oxygen saturation monitoring, sleep tracking, water resistance and basic phone syncing all in its tiny frame.

However, the downside is that small footprint results in a tiny screen as well. The 0.76-inch AMOLED panel, which runs at a 124 x 206 resolution, is hard to read. Cherlynn said that the text showing workout stats, cardio zone information and notifications might be frustratingly small for some. That aside, she had no problem using the Luxe to track workouts and sleep data; it works as promised and the UI is similar to other Fitbit devices without physical buttons. The touchscreen was responsive and she was able to get seven days of battery life — and that was even with connected GPS turned on for a bit. Overall, Cherlynn calls the Luxe well-made and capable, but best for those looking for a petite tracker.

Hitting the Books: How NASA selected the first Lunar Rover to scoot across the moon

Posted: 10 Jul 2021 08:30 AM PDT

The concept of space travel was so new to us that when President Kennedy issued his famous moonshot speech, not even NASA's top scientists were completely sure we could actually land on the lunar surface. Some thought any craft that set down there would simply sink into the moon's regolith like it was a massive, airless pit of quicksand! In his latest book, Across the Airless Wilds: The Lunar Rover and the Triumph of the Final Moon Landings, journalist and former Fulbright fellow, Earl Swift, examines the oft ignored Apollo 15, 16, and 17 missions, our last trips to the Moon's surface (at least until the Artemis project takes place). In the excerpt below, Swift takes the reader on a tour of the JPL's hyper-rigorous, tread-shredding lunar test course and the battle for rover supremacy waged there between GM and Bendix.

Across the Airless Wilds
Custom House

From the book ACROSS THE AIRLESS WILDS: The Lunar Rover and the Triumph of the Final Moon Landings by Earl Swift. Copyright © 2021 by Earl Swift. From Custom House, a line of books from William Morrow/HarperCollins Publishers. Reprinted by permission.

All through 1962 and into 1963, both GM and Bendix kept an eye on the Surveyor program. Sure enough, come summer, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory laid out its requirements for a hundred-pound, remote-controlled rover that it wanted to stash aboard the landers. The vehicle would explore the lurrain up to a mile from the Surveyors, while its drivers back on Earth steered it with television eyes. The laboratory alerted companies planning to bid on the phase 1 design study—the normal first stage of any new hardware program—that they'd be expected to supply engineering models of their concepts. Proposals were due in seven weeks.

The short deadline weeded out the dilettantes. In October the two companies left standing—GM and Bendix—started work under contract. GM was ready with its six-wheeled design. Its Surveyor lunar roving vehicle was six feet long on eighteen-inch wheels and weighed ninety pounds—half the size and half again as heavy as its test bed, with a sure-footedness that was no less jaw-dropping. On Pavlics's "lunarium" of rocks, craters, and slopes outside the Santa Barbara lab, it climbed forty-five-degree inclines, leapt twenty-inch crevasses, and bent its way up and over thirty-inch steps.

Bekker and Pavlics had been working on the idea for more than three years by then. Their main advancement this time: the wheels. Again, they were made of wire, but it was knotted into a wide mesh that resembled chain-link, and shaped into fat doughnuts. Like the team's earlier wire tires, they deflected when they hit an obstacle and absorbed some of the bumps of cross-country travel. They worked with or without a fabric covering.

"We had a big program to try to come up with the wire material that would survive the vacuum environment on the moon," John Calandro recalled. "Frank had devised a testing device that created the vacuum environment we needed."

When fully geared up for a mission, the rover would be an electronic wonder, with subsystems supplied by RCA Astro-Electronics and by AC Electronics, a GM division in Milwaukee: it would have a stereo TV imaging rig, sophisticated navigation and control, and silver-zinc batteries recharged by solar panel. But Santa Barbara's part of the job, the vehicle itself, was a study in doing more with less. The hardware was constantly "assessed to see if something simpler might be able to do the same job," designer Norman J. James would remember. "'The part that's left off never breaks' was an often-repeated phrase."

Bendix took a radically different approach. Its SLRV was a squarish, two-part, articulated robot, with curving, shock-absorbing legs at its corners that ended in small caterpillar track assemblies. The tracks pitched independently to follow uneven ground. Its handlers steered it with commands to slow, speed up, or reverse the tracks on one side or the other, and the pivot linking the two halves did the rest. On the moon, it would be powered by a radioisotope thermal generator—a small nuclear device—hanging off the back, and bristle with scientific instruments and antennas. It weighed one hundred pounds.

Side by side with the GM model, the Bendix machine looked bulky and awkward, and those tiny tracks didn't seem much of a match for Pavlics's nearly spherical wire wheels. But Bendix was bullish on its design right up to the day in May 1964 when a panel from the U.S. Geological Survey, Caltech, and NASA took the two models to a volcanic field north of Flagstaff, Arizona, and turned them loose on the rugged Bonito Lava Flow. "We had one little section where they could really get into some pretty rough stuff," the Geological Survey's Jack McCauley recalled years later. "The GM vehicle was perfect. It got from point A to point B without any mishaps or turning over.

"The poor Bendix vehicle had tanklike treads that were made of some kind of rubber-type thing," McCauley said. "The vehicle just started shredding the treads. In fact, when they finished halfway down the course, it had no treads left. So, the GM thing obviously got our blessing."

General Motors had scored a decisive victory. Unfortunately, it didn't add up to a rover on the moon. The "Rover Boys," as that panel of testers came to be known, were mightily impressed with the six-wheeler, but its capabilities didn't square with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's requirements: namely, to "go around and take pictures every ten meters, and also to use a penetrometer to see what the strength of the lunar soil was—and to do it in a preordained manner," McCauley said. "Basically, just do a grid survey." Bendix had produced too little rover for the mission; GM had produced too much. The Rover Boys reluctantly reported that neither rover matched the Surveyor program's stated needs, and that was among the reasons that NASA scrubbed the rover component not long after.

By that time, JPL's Ranger program had finally given NASA its first close looks at the moon. By design, they were fleeting glimpses: Ranger probes crashed into the lunar surface while taking high-resolution photos right up to the moment of impact. Conceived in 1959, the program had, at times, seemed another exercise in frustration. After Rangers 1 and 2 made two development test voyages in 1961, along came Rangers 3 through 6, all of which were busts. It wasn't until July 1964, and Ranger 7, that the program literally hit pay dirt. As the spacecraft fell toward the moon, its cameras kicked on, and, for some seventeen minutes, it took and transmitted photographs of the approaching surface—4,316 images in all, some of them at a resolution hundreds of times greater than the best taken from Earth. The photos didn't put to rest the fears inspired by Thomas Gold's writings and lectures, but they did establish that the maria were smooth enough for a landing.

Recommended Reading: How ESPN called Euro 2020 matches from the US

Posted: 10 Jul 2021 07:00 AM PDT

Inside ESPN's pandemic-era Euro 2020 coverage

Tom Kludt, The Guardian

It's no easy feat to cover a major international soccer tournament. Combine the usual logistical challenges with a global pandemic and you're presented with a whole other set of roadblocks. The Guardian spoke with Jon Champion and Derek Rae, two of ESPN's commentators with UK roots, about the process of calling games remotely this summer. 

Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg's partnership did not survive Trump

Sheera Frenkel and Cecilia Kang, The New York Times

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg built Facebook into a global powerhouse with the help of COO Sheryl Sandberg. However, the partnership the two had built over more than a decade faced unique challenges during the Trump administration — from foreign election meddling to the social platform being used to coordinate the January 6th attack on the Capitol.

'We make mistakes': Twitter's embrace of the extreme far right

Michael Edison Hayden, Southern Poverty Law Center

It's not only Facebook that was used in the lead up to January 6th. Far-right adherents also leveraged Twitter to amplify their ideals while the platform struggled with its moderation and verification processes. SPLC has published a detailed analysis of the matter, including why there's a real possibility the platform could play a role in "politically motivated violence" again. 

Blue Origin throws shade at Virgin Galactic before Richard Branson's flight

Posted: 10 Jul 2021 06:33 AM PDT

On July 11th, Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson, could fly to space aboard the SpaceShipTwo to assess the company's private astronaut experience. If you ask rival company Blue Origin, though, Branson won't really be reaching space when he does. In a couple of tweets, the Jeff Bezos-owned space corporation compared what its own New Shepard suborbital vehicle can do with SpaceShipTwo's capabilities. First in the list? The company says New Shepard was designed to fly above the Kármán line, whereas its competitor's vehicle was not. 

The Kármán line is the boundary between the Earth's atmosphere and outer space as set by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale. It's defined as 100 kilometers or 62 miles above sea level, and according to Blue Origin, it's what "96 percent of the world's population" recognizes as the beginning of outer space. Blue Origin plans to offer customers 10 minutes of flight with an altitude that reaches the Kármán line. Meanwhile, Virgin Galactic's website says its flights will soar at "nearly" 300,000 feet (57 miles) in altitude. That doesn't quite reach the Kármán line, though that's still higher than what NASA and the US government defines as the beginning of space (50 miles above sea level).

Aside from comparing their vehicles' maximum altitudes, Blue Origin also made it a point to mention that the New Shepard has the largest windows in space. Also, the New Shepard is a rocket, but SpaceShipTwo, according to Blue Origin, is just a high-altitude plane. The company published the comparison after Virgin Galactic scheduled Branson's trip to space before Jeff Bezos' — the multi-billionaire and his brother will join Blue Origin's first suborbital tourist flight that's scheduled for a July 20th launch. 
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