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‘Warm Neptune’ Exoplanets May Have Lots of Helium

An anonymous reader writes: Phil Plait reports on new research into exoplanets that came to an unexpected and non-obvious conclusion. Throughout the galaxy, astronomers have been finding exoplanets they call “warm Neptunes” — bodies about the size of Neptune, but which orbit their parent star more closely than Mercury orbits the Sun. When astronomers looked at spectra for these planets, they found something surprising: no methane signature (PDF). Methane is made of carbon and hydrogen, and it’s generally assumed that most large, gaseous planets will have a lot of hydrogen. But this class of exoplanet, being significantly smaller than, say, Jupiter, may not have the mass (and thus the gravity) to hold on to its hydrogen when it’s heated by the close proximity to the star. The result is that the atmosphere may be largely made up of helium instead. If so, the planet would look oddly colorless to our eyes, very unlike the planets in our solar system. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Surface Pro 3 Handily Outperforms iPad Air 2 and Nexus 9

An anonymous reader points to an interesting comparison of current tablets’ peformance, as measured with the Geekbench benchmarking tool, which boils down various aspects of performance to produce a single number. The clear winner from the models fielded wasn’t from Apple of Samsung (Samsung’s entrants came much lower down, in fact), but from Microsoft: the i5-equipped Surface Pro 3, with a Geekbench score of 5069.; second place goes to the Apple iPad Air 2, with 4046. The Nexus 9 rated third, with 3537. One model on the list that U.S. buyers may not be familiar with is the Tesco Hudl 2, a bargain tablet which Trusted Reviews seems quite taken by. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Surface Pro 3 Handily Outperforms iPad Air 2 and Nexus 9

Fake Mobile Phone Towers Found To Be "Actively Listening In" On Calls In UK

New submitter nickweller writes: More than 20 Stingray fake phone towers which can collect data from passing devices and listen in on calls have been discovered operating in the UK. The Metropolitan Police have refused to say who is controlling the IMSI catchers, also known as Stingrays, or what is being done with the information they are gathering. Met Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said: “If people imagine that we’ve got the resources to do as much intrusion as they worry about, I would reassure them that it’s impossible.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Fake Mobile Phone Towers Found To Be "Actively Listening In" On Calls In UK

Signs of Ancient Cells and Proteins Found In Dinosaur Fossils

sciencehabit writes: The cupboards of the Natural History Museum in London hold spectacular dinosaur fossils, from 15-centimeter, serrated Tyrannosaurus rex teeth to a 4-meter-long hadrosaur tail. Now, researchers are reporting another spectacular find, buried in eight nondescript fossils from the same collection: what appear to be ancient red blood cells and fibers of ancient protein. Using new methods to peer deep inside fossils, the study in this week’s issue of Nature Communications backs up previous, controversial reports of such structures in dinosaur bones. It also suggests that soft tissue preservation may be more common than anyone had guessed. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Signs of Ancient Cells and Proteins Found In Dinosaur Fossils

Why So Many Robots Struggled With the DARPA Challenge

stowie writes: The DARPA Robots Challenge concluded recently, and three teams were given prizes for completing all the tasks. The other robots in the competition struggled — not only were they unable to complete the required tasks, many of them were unable to even stay standing the entire time. So why did these robots have such a hard time? “DARPA deliberately degraded communications (low bandwidth, high latency, intermittent connection) during the challenge to truly see how a human-robot team could collaborate in a Fukushima-type disaster. And there was no standard set for how a human-robot interface would work. So, some worked better than others. The winning DRC-Hubo robot used custom software designed by Team KAIST that was engineered to perform in an environment with low bandwidth. It also used the Xenomai real-time operating system for Linux and a customized motion control framework. The second-place finisher, Team IHMC, used a sliding scale of autonomy that allowed a human operator to take control when the robot seemed stumped or if the robot knew it would run into problems.” If nothing else, the competition’s true legacy may lie in educating the public on the realistic capabilities of high-tech robots. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Why So Many Robots Struggled With the DARPA Challenge

Apple Just Turned The iPad Into A Real Computer With QuickType

It’s just a keyboard, and so it should be limited to keys. But with the new version of iOS 9 for iPad, announced at WWDC, the touch-sensitive QuickType keyboard now has the ability to transform into a trackpad whenever you set down two fingers on the keyboard portion of the screen. Simply move those fingers to the left and the cursor moves with them. This allows you to move the cursor… Read More

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Apple Just Turned The iPad Into A Real Computer With QuickType

G7 Vows To Phase Out Fossil Fuels By 2100

Taco Cowboy writes: The G7 group of countries has issued a pledge that they will phase out fossil fuels by the end of this century. The announcement was warmly welcomed by environmental groups. “Angela Merkel took the G7 by the scruff of the neck, ” said Ruth Davis a political advisor to Greenpeace and a senior associate at E3G. “Politically, the most important shift is that chancellor Merkel is back on climate change. This was not an easy negotiation. She did not have to put climate change on the agenda here. But she did, ” Davis said. The G7 plege includes a goal proposed by the EU to cut emissions 60% on 2010 levels by 2050, with full decarbonisation by 2100. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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G7 Vows To Phase Out Fossil Fuels By 2100

Technology Won’t Fix America’s Neediest Schools — It Makes Bad Education Worse

theodp writes: In an adapted excerpt from Geek Heresy: Rescuing Social Change from the Cult of Technology, Univ. of Michigan prof Kentaro Toyama begins: “‘Technology is a game-changer in the field of education, ‘” Education Secretary Arne Duncan once said, and there was a time when I would have agreed. Over the last decade, I’ve built, used, and studied educational technology in countries around the world. As a computer scientist and former Microsoft employee, I wanted nothing more than to see innovation triumph in the classroom. But no matter how good the design, and despite rigorous tests of impact, I have never seen technology systematically overcome the socio-economic divides that exist in education. Children who are behind need high-quality adult guidance more than anything else. Many people believe that technology ‘levels the playing field’ of learning, but what I’ve discovered is that it does no such thing.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

NAND Flash Shrinks To 15/16nm Process, Further Driving Prices Down

Lucas123 writes: Both Micron and Toshiba are producing NAND flash memory based on 15 and 16 nanometer process technology, which reduces die area over a 16GB MLC chip by 28% compared with previous die technology. Additionally, Micron announced its upcoming consumer USB flash drives and internal SSDs will also use triple-level cell NAND flash (a technology expected to soon dominate the market) storing three bits instead of two for the first time and further reducing production cost. The advancement in NAND flash density has been driving SSD pricing down dramatically over the past few years. In fact, over the last year, the average price for 128GB and 256GB SSDs have dropped to $50 and $90, respectively, for system manufacturers, according to DRAMeXchange. And prices for consumers have dropped to an average of $91.55 for a 128GB SSD and $164.34 for a 256GB SSD. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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NAND Flash Shrinks To 15/16nm Process, Further Driving Prices Down

FBI Is Behind Mysterious Flights Over US Cities

New submitter kaizendojo sends a report from the Associated Press indicating the FBI has a small fleet of planes that fly across the U.S. carrying surveillance equipment. The planes are registered with fictitious companies to hide their association with the U.S. government. The FBI says they’re only used for investigations that are “specific” and “ongoing, ” but they’re often used without getting permission from a judge beforehand. “Some of the aircraft can also be equipped with technology that can identify thousands of people below through the cellphones they carry, even if they’re not making a call or in public. Officials said that practice, which mimics cell towers and gets phones to reveal basic subscriber information, is rare.” The AP identified at least 50 FBI-controlled planes, which have done over 100 flights since late April. The AP adds that they’ve seen the planes “orbiting large, enclosed buildings for extended periods where aerial photography would be less effective than electronic signals collection.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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FBI Is Behind Mysterious Flights Over US Cities

Ken May

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