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Your WIRED daily briefing. Today, government publications misrepresented the findings of a study into whether drones could damage airliners, the ozone layer is repairing itself, coral reefs aren't getting enough time to recover from bleaching events and more.
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Drones may present significantly less of a threat to commercial aircraft than the British government claimed when it proposed new legal restrictions and licensing requirements The Register has obtained a heavily redacted copy of a suppressed government-commissioned study, the apparent contents of which disagree significantly with official conclusions published in July 2017. Most significantly, the full study reveals that, contrary to government claims, hobbyist drones were not shown to be capable of penetrating airliner windows. Images showing window penetration were in fact created by firing bundles of drone-like "components" at scrap windows "loosely supported at representative angles with laboratory clamps".
Data from Nasa's long-term Aura atmospheric monitoring satellite has revealed that our collective efforts to prevent further damage to the Earth's ozone layer are paying off (Ars Technica). Since 1989, when the Montreal Protocol against the production of chemicals causing ozone depletion came into effect, it's been hard to relate changes in the size of the ozone hole to human activity. The new findings confirm that it's slowly being filled back in and show not only a link between its recovery and the elimination of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), but also humanity's ability to collectively cease damaging activities before it's too late.
A new study into coral bleaching has found that, around the world, coral reefs are being damaged at a faster rate than they can recover (BBC News). Coral bleaching is caused by warm water events, which stress the corals and cause them to eject the colourful symbiotic algae that are essential to their long-term survival. It typically takes years of exposure to cooler waters to allow corals to recover. Dr Mark Eakin of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said: "The acceleration in the return rate of bleaching events matches up very well with what the climate models have been telling us - that predict that by mid-century most of the world's coral reefs will be suffering yearly, or near yearly, heat stress."
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has this year resolved to "fix" the social media giant, with concerns including "abuse and hate" and "interference by nation states" (The Verge). Although he acknowledges issues with the relationship between current technology and the centralisation of power into the hands of a few powerful companies (such as Facebook), it's unlikely that we'll be seeing a facility to allow users to run their own discrete Facebook servers anytime soon. Instead, Zuckerberg focusses on "important counter-trends" such as encryption and – perhaps less accurately – cryptocurrency and says he will investigate their potential implementation into the social network's services.
In 2018, we'll see more machines communicate the way humans do, with the potential for technology to become more ingrained into our lives than ever (WIRED). We're at the beginning of a voice-fuelled technology transformation where new types of devices and services, such as the Echo and Alexa, allow us to communicate more naturally. They are being embedded into everything from cars to home automation services to the factory floor.
Microsoft has released its patch to protect Windows 10 systems from the Meltdown vulnerability affecting Intel CPUs, but you won't be able to install it until your antivirus software gives Windows the go-ahead (The Register). This is because the patch can interact with antivirus software to cause system crashes; an unofficial list of antivirus support is being maintained and companies are moving quickly to update their software. Windows Server administrators will have to manually enable Meltdown patching. Meanwhile, Google has deployed the standard Kernel Page Table Isolation (KPTI) fix for Linux across its data centres, and reports that the operating system patch has a "negligible impact on performance."
Outfitted with a 3D tracker and motorized capsules, the $15,000 CyberTouch Glove vibrated as you handled virtual objects onscreen (WIRED). That was in 2000. Today such haptic technology – vibrating actuators and electrical impulses that stimulate your skin receptors and nerve endings – has become both cheaper and increasingly advanced, allowing VR gamers to feel real-world discomfort. Greg Burdea, a haptics researcher at Rutgers University, says: "By introducing sensorial overload – sound, sight, touch, even pain – you addict the user."
HBO has confirmed that Game of Thrones fans will have to wait until 2019 to watch the series' eighth – and last – season (The Guardian). The final six episodes are currently in production, and filming is expected to wrap up in mid-2018. A precise release date has not been announced.
The Centre For The Study Of Existential Risk at the University of Cambridge has released a mod for Civilization V that allows the venerable strategy game to model the potential threats and benefits of future AI technologies (Rock, Paper, Shotgun). The Superintelligence mod allows you to research artificial intelligence to boost your civ but warns that "if too much artificial intelligence research goes uncontrolled, rogue superintelligence can destroy humanity and bring an instant loss of the game." It's free to download from Steam in versions for both vanilla Civ 5 and versions running newer DLC such as Gods and Kings.
The creators of laid-back cat-luring hit Neko Atsume have released Tabi Kaeru – which translates as Travel Frog – for Android and iOS (Kotaku). The game centres around a small, green frog who goes off on adventures; it's your job to lovingly pack the frog's backpack with food and lucky tokens to ensure they have a long, enjoyable trip and bring you back cool photos and souvenirs. It's currently only available in Japanese, but clear icons and remarkably cute graphics mean that it's playable for non-Japanese speakers, too.
Since the Iranian government has such a tight grip on the country’s internet access, adding new sites and services to the blocked list is surprisingly easy. "All of their internet goes through internet exchanges controlled by the government, so it generally makes it a lot more straightforward to block things," says Oliver Farnan, a cybersecurity doctoral student, at the University of Oxford in the UK.
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This article was originally published by WIRED UK
