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Air Force Grounds $400 Billion F-35s Because of ‘Peeling and Crumbling’ Insulation

An anonymous Slashdot reader quotes the Washington Post: Less than two months after declaring the controversial F-35 Joint Strike Fighter ready for combat, the Air Force on Friday announced that it was temporarily grounding 15 of the jets after it discovered that insulation was “peeling and crumbling” inside the fuel tanks. The setback is the latest for the $400 billion system, the most expensive in the history of the Pentagon. The problem comes as the program, which for years faced billions of dollars in cost overruns and significant schedule delays, had begun to make strides. The insulation problem affects a total of 57 aircraft, the Air Force said, 42 of which are still in production… In a statement, Lockheed Martin said that “the issue is confined to one supplier source and one batch of parts.” It emphasized that “this is not a technical or design issue; it is a supply chain manufacturing quality issue…” It is unclear how long the aircraft would be grounded, how long the problem would take to fix or what the larger affect on the program would be. âoeWhile nearing completion, the F-35 is still in development, and challenges are to be expected, ” said an Air Force spokeswoman, adding “The F-35 program has a proven track record of solving issues as they arise, and we’re confident we’ll continue to do so.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Air Force Grounds $400 Billion F-35s Because of ‘Peeling and Crumbling’ Insulation

Virgin Atlantic turned industrial waste into greener jet fuel

Illinois-based LanzaTech and Virgin Atlantic have been working on an alternative fuel source for Sir Richard Branson’s flagship airline since 2011. This week, the two companies announced a breakthrough that could drastically reduce the airline industry’s carbon emissions. LanzaTech has produced 1, 500 US gallons of jet fuel derived from the industrial gases given off by steel mills. The LanzaTech fuel was created by capturing these gases, which would have otherwise been dispersed into the atmosphere, and converting them to a low-carbon ethanol called “Lanzanol” through a fermentation process. As the New Zealand Herald reports , the Lanzanol was produced in China at the Roundtable of Sustainable Biomaterials-certified demonstration center in Shougang and then converted to jet fuel using a process developed alongside the Pacific Northwest National Lab and the US Department of Energy. While initial tests show the Lanzanol fuel could result is as much as 65 percent less carbon emission than conventional jet fuel, it will need to pass a few more tests before it can be used in an commercial setting. Still, Branson believes Virgin Atlantic could make a Lanzanol-powered “proving flight” as early as 2017. According to LanzaTech, the company could implement their technology at 65 percent of the world’s steel mills, allowing the company to produce 30 billion gallons of Lanzanol annually. That’s enough to create 15 billion gallons of cleaner-burning jet fuel and replace about one-fifth of all the aviation fuel used yearly worldwide. Source: Virgin , New Zealand Herald

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Virgin Atlantic turned industrial waste into greener jet fuel

GM Commits To 100% Renewable Energy By 2050

We’ve seen a number of entities announce plans to operate with 100% renewable energy over the years. Costa Rica, for example, has gone 76 straight days using 100% renewable electricity. General Motors is the latest company to release a roadmap to achieving 100% renewable energy. The catch? It won’t be until 2050. CleanTechnica reports: American multinational General Motors, or GM, has committed to generating or sourcing 100% of the electricity for its operations across 59 countries from 100% renewable energy by 2050. GM made the announcement on Wednesday, revealing that it planned to generate or source all its electrical power needs for its 350 operations in 59 countries with 100% renewable energy such as wind, solar, and landfill gas, by 2050. In turn, the company has joined the 100% renewable energy campaign RE100, lending its considerable global business weight to an already important and successful campaign. “Establishing a 100% renewable energy goal helps us better serve society by reducing environmental impact, ” said Mary Barra, GM Chairman and CEO. “This pursuit of renewable energy benefits our customers and communities through cleaner air while strengthening our business through lower and more stable energy costs.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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GM Commits To 100% Renewable Energy By 2050

After 23 years, the Apple II gets another OS update

Hello, old friend Yesterday, software developer John Brooks released what is clearly a work of pure love: the first update to an operating system for the Apple II computer family since 1993. ProDOS 2.4, released on the 30 th anniversary of the introduction of the Apple II GS, brings the enhanced operating system to even older Apple II systems, including the original Apple ][ and ][+. Which is pretty remarkable, considering the Apple ][ and ][+ don’t even support lower-case characters. You can test-drive ProDOS 2.4 in a Web-based emulator set up by computer historian Jason Scott on the Internet Archive. The release includes Bitsy Bye, a menu-driven program launcher that allows for navigation through files on multiple floppy (or hacked USB) drives. Bitsy Bye is an example of highly efficient code: it runs in less than 1 kilobyte of RAM. There’s also a boot utility that is under 400 bytes—taking up a single block of storage on a disk. Read 2 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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After 23 years, the Apple II gets another OS update

SCiO, the pocket-sized molecular analyzer, is making everyone angry

We were all pretty excited when Consumer Physics showed us their hand-held molecular scanner at TechCrunch Disrupt two years ago. They garnered much praise here and all over the web for creating a hand-held product that could scan and identify food, medicine, and vitamins. Now, two years later, people are pissed. The project raised $2.7 million from 130, 000 backers and it looked, at least on… Read More

Xiaomi phones are pre-backdoored; your apps can be silently overwritten

Thijs Broenink audited the AnalyticsCore.apk app that ships pre-installed on all Xiaomi phones (Xiaomi has their own Android fork with a different set of preinstalled apps) and discovered that the app, which seemingly serves no useful purpose, allows the manufacturer to silently install other code on your phone, with unlimited privileges and access. (more…)

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Xiaomi phones are pre-backdoored; your apps can be silently overwritten

Who stole the DNA of 14,000 long-lived Italians?

Italian authorities are investigating a biotechnology heist that saw around 14, 000 DNA samples allegedly stolen from a lab in Sardinia. This may not be a simple case of grand larceny, as the samples in question were taken from Italians with exceptionally long lives. Sardinia is one of a handful of “blue zones” with a higher-than-usual proportion of men over the age of 100. The material was gathered as part of a decades-long research investigation into a genetic secret for longevity that was unrelated to diet or environmental factors. The DNA was originally harvested by a publicly-owned lab, Pardo Genetico, which was recently sold off to a Sardinian called Piergiorgio Lorrai. According to the Guardian , Lorrai is a local who wanted to ensure that the genetic information of his countrymen and women weren’t exploited for commercial gain. But it’s not that simple, because through a convoluted series of corporate shenanigans, another company believes it’s the repository’s rightful owner. Of course, that’s less relevant now since the samples have disappeared, and prosecutor Biagio Mazzeo is implying that it might have been an inside job. Analysis of the crime scene reveals that there was no forced entry, although it’s not clear when exactly the alleged theft took place. Perhaps someone’s planning to develop a theme park around clones of centenarians on a Pacific island, John Hammond-style. Or maybe the stuff was grabbed by a sinister billionaire with an interest in living forever, not that we could name any. Via: The Verge Source: Guardian

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Who stole the DNA of 14,000 long-lived Italians?

Over 500K People Have Installed a Pokemon Go-Related App That Roots and Hijacks Android Devices

An anonymous reader writes: Over 500, 000 people have downloaded an Android app called “Guide for Pokemon Go” that roots the devices in order to deliver ads and installs apps without the user’s knowledge. Researchers that analyzed the malware said it contained multiple defenses that made reverse-engineering very difficult — some of the most advanced they’ve seen — which explains why it managed to fool Google’s security scanner and end up on the official Play Store. The exploits contained in the app’s rooting functions were able to root any Android released between 2012 and 2015. The trojan found inside the app was also found in nine other apps, affecting another 100, 000 users. The crook behind this trojan was obviously riding various popularity waves, packing his malware in clones for whatever app or game is popular at one particular point in time. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Police IT staff checked wrong box, deleted 25% of body cam footage

Enlarge (credit: Justin Sullivan / Getty Images News) One quarter of all body-worn camera footage from the Oakland, Calif. police was accidentally deleted in October 2014, according to the head of the relevant unit. As per the San Francisco Chronicle , Sgt. Dave Burke testified on Tuesday at a murder trial that this was, in fact, a mistake. This incident marks yet another setback in the efforts to roll out body-worn cameras to police agencies nationwide. Read 7 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Tesla Is Suing An Oil-Company Executive For Impersonating Elon Musk

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Business Insider: Tesla is suing an oil executive under suspicion of impersonating Elon Musk to dig up confidential financial information from the company, Forbes reported on Wednesday. The lawsuit, reportedly filed Wednesday in the Superior Court of Santa Clara County, claimed that Todd Katz, the chief financial officer for Quest Integrity Group, emailed Tesla’s chief financial officer using a similar email address as Musk’s looking to gain information that wasn’t disclosed in an earnings call with investors. Quest Integrity Group has partnerships with BP, Chevron, and ExxonMobil, the Forbes report said. According to the lawsuit, Katz used “elontesla@yahoo.com” to send an email to Tesla CFO Jason Wheeler asking about the company’s sales and financial projections. The email named in the suit reads: “why you so cautious w Q3/4 gm guidance on call? also what are your thoughts on disclosing M3 res#? Pros/cons from ir pov? what is your best guess as to where we actually come in on q3/4 deliverables. honest guess? no bs. thx 4 hard work prepping 4 today. em.” Tesla is seeking “undisclosed financial compensation, ” as well as compensation for the cost of the investigation and legal fees, according to Forbes. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Tesla Is Suing An Oil-Company Executive For Impersonating Elon Musk

Ken May

Author: kenmay