Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the plain-old-as-it-is-lunar-dust department: In a study published Wednesday in PLOS Climate, a group of astrophysicists proposes shooting lunar dust into space to help partially shield sunlight to Earth. The Washington Post reports: The team used computer simulations to model various scenarios where massive quantities of dust (and we mean a lot of dust) in space can reduce the amount of Earthbound sunlight by 1 to 2 percent, or up to about six days of an obscured sun in a year. Their cheapest and most efficient idea is to launch dust from the moon, which would land into orbit between the sun and Earth and create a sunshade. Yes, the idea sounds like science fiction. Yes, it would require (a lot of) new engineering. Yes, there are more feasible climate mitigation tactics that can be employed now and in the near future. But the researchers view this rigorous physics experiment as a backup option that could aid -- not replace -- existing strategies to help humankind live on a more comfortable Earth. [...]
In the new study, the authors concede their idea isn't perfect but say it addresses some problems with previous concepts. For instance, the amount of material needed to actually shade the sun exceeds 10 billion kilograms (22 billion pounds), which is about 100 times more mass than humans have ever sent into space. Bromley says dust is very efficient at scattering sunlight relative to its size. The team considered different types of dust, scattering properties and size. The team found that aggregates of fluffy and highly porous particles scattered light the best, but they opted for a particle perhaps more easily accessible in space: moon dust. "We really do focus on lunar dust, just plain old, as-it-is lunar dust, without any indication of changing its shape," said Bromley, who said future moon mining could excavate the dust needed. Perhaps the greatest challenge is getting the right material exactly where you need it, Bromley said.
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Posted by from MMO Champion
WoW Hotfixes - February 8, 2023
Originally Posted by Blizzard
(
Blue Tracker /
Official Forums)
Dungeons and Raids
Brackenhide Hollow
Hackclaw’s War-Band
Fixed an issue where Rogues would be knocked out of stealth before combat.
Items and Rewards
Vendors have amassed enough Serevite Skeleton Keys to lockpick for years to come and are now offering a lower price for them.
Mounts
Jade, Bright Foreseer has removed its unnecessary horseshoes and now just leaves water splashes behind it.
Wrath of the Lich King Classic
Items and Rewards
Updated the Platinum Disks of Swiftness trinket’s on-use effect to no longer be able to be dispelled, bringing it in parity with the other Platinum Disks trinkets.
Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the behind-the-scenes department: Seymour Hersh is a former New York Times and New Yorker reporter who won numerous awards for his investigative journalism, including a 1970 Pulitzer Prize for exposing the My Lai Massacre and its cover-up during the Vietnam War. In his first post to Substack, Hersh details the covert operation the United States conducted last year to blow up the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
"In the immediate aftermath of the pipeline bombing, the American media treated it like an unsolved mystery," writes Hersh. "Russia was repeatedly cited as a likely culprit, spurred on by calculated leaks from the White House -- but without ever establishing a clear motive for such an act of self-sabotage, beyond simple retribution." We covered the news last October from an environmental standpoint as it led to what became the biggest single release of climate-damaging methane ever recorded.
In a lengthy and detailed post, citing a source with direct knowledge of the operation, Hersh describes the planning involved, operation itself, and fallout. Slashdot reader r1348 shares an excerpt from Hersh's report: Last June, the Navy divers, operating under the cover of a widely publicized mid-summer NATO exercise known as BALTOPS 22, planted the remotely triggered explosives that, three months later, destroyed three of the four Nord Stream pipelines, according to a source with direct knowledge of the operational planning.
Two of the pipelines, which were known collectively as Nord Stream 1, had been providing Germany and much of Western Europe with cheap Russian natural gas for more than a decade. A second pair of pipelines, called Nord Stream 2, had been built but were not yet operational. Now, with Russian troops massing on the Ukrainian border and the bloodiest war in Europe since 1945 looming, President Joseph Biden saw the pipelines as a vehicle for Vladimir Putin to weaponize natural gas for his political and territorial ambitions.
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Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the searching-for-profit department: Bob Iger, in his first earnings call since returning to the company, announced Walt Disney Co. will shed 7,000 jobs as part of a broader effort to save $5.5 billion in costs. Disney is facing pressure to control costs and boost profits as it continues to lose money from its key streaming business, which includes Disney+. The Los Angeles Times reports: The company's marquee streaming service Disney+ lost 2.4 million subscribers during the first quarter, bringing its total count to 161.8 million, mainly stemming from declines in its Disney+Hotstar product in India. The service gained subscribers elsewhere, adding 1.4 million subscribers in the U.S. and internationally, not including Hotstar. Overall, Disney's streaming apps -- Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ -- have 235 million subscribers.
Disney's streaming business continued to bleed cash, losing more than $1 billion during the three months that ended in December. Nonetheless, Disney reported earnings and revenues that beat Wall Street estimates. The company generated sales of $23.5 billion, up 8% from the same quarter a year ago. Analysts on average had been expecting $23.4 billion in revenue. Disney's profit was $1.28 billion, up 11%. The Burbank entertainment giant's earnings of 99 cents a share exceeded projections of 78 cents. "After a solid first quarter, we are embarking on a significant transformation, one that will maximize the potential of our world-class creative teams and our unparalleled brands and franchises," Iger said in a statement. "We believe the work we are doing to reshape our company around creativity, while reducing expenses, will lead to sustained growth and profitability for our streaming business, better position us to weather future disruption and global economic challenges, and deliver value for our shareholders."
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Posted by from MMO Champion
Community Council Live Chat - The Trading Post
Today, several members of the WoW Community Council met with the World of Warcraft Trading Post developers Jeremy Feasel, Jen Hauer, Crystal Tam, Tyler Neuhaus, and Kenny McBride.
The discussion covered details on the development of the Trading Post as a new WoW feature as well as thoughts and suggestions about what items and cosmetics could be included in future updates.
Blizzard Turns 32 Years Old
Blizzard turned 32 today!
Feedback: Onyx Annulet Ring and Primordial Stones
Originally Posted by Blizzard
(
Blue Tracker /
Official Forums)
Greetings!
We’d like to shed some light on the specifics of the feature surrounding Primordial Stones and how they work.
By questing in 10.0.7, you’ll unlock the Zskera Vaults, which is a solo instanced dungeon with some fun puzzles to solve. As you venture through, you’ll acquire the Onyx Annulet ring and a bunch of Primordial Stones that can be socketed into it. These stones have trinket-like effects, and some also work together to create some spicy combinations.
When it comes to acquiring these:
The Zskera Vaults are where you get Primordial Stones, and can be accessed with keys that you’ll receive from rares and chests across the Forbidden Reach.
The keys will be Bind On Account, so you can get your alts into the Zskera Vaults easily.
You can crush your Primordial Stones into fragments which can be repurposed into an item to upgrade your favorite stones (through your local Jewelcrafter).
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Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the we-have-a-winner department: The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced that ASCON is the winning bid for the "lightweight cryptography" program to find the best algorithm to protect small IoT (Internet of Things) devices with limited hardware resources. BleepingComputer reports: ASCON was selected as the best of the 57 proposals submitted to NIST, several rounds of security analysis by leading cryptographers, implementation and benchmarking results, and feedback received during workshops. The whole program lasted for four years, having started in 2019. NIST says all ten finalists exhibited exceptional performance that surpassed the set standards without raising security concerns, making the final selection very hard.
ASCON was eventually picked as the winner for being flexible, encompassing seven families, energy efficient, speedy on weak hardware, and having low overhead for short messages. NIST also considered that the algorithm had withstood the test of time, having been developed in 2014 by a team of cryptographers from Graz University of Technology, Infineon Technologies, Lamarr Security Research, and Radboud University, and winning the CAESAR cryptographic competition's "lightweight encryption" category in 2019.
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Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the killing-its-golden-goose department: An anonymous reader quotes a report from Insider: Hasbro continues to dilute the brand value of its popular Magic: The Gathering card game, according to a Tuesday note from Bank of America, which said that the company faces a steep decline in its share price if it continues to "destroy customer goodwill." The bank reiterated its "Underperform" rating for Hasbro and its $42 price target, which represents potential downside of 29% from current levels. According to BofA, Hasbro continues to over-monetize the brands within its Wizards segment, which includes Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons. "Within its Wizards segment, Hasbro continues to destroy customer goodwill by trying to over-monetize its brands," Bank of America said. The bank said that while it preannounced negative earnings, the stock is still not de-risked "given a host of outstanding issues." Mainly, Hasbro is attempting to squeeze out as much profit as possible from its Wizards products in the short-term without any thought as to the long-term durability of its brands. And the over monetization is irking customers, according to BofA.
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Sometimes, the games announced or showcased on a Nintendo Direct are the same in the West as they are in Japan. Other times it’s not until you circle back around and check out the Japanese video that you realise it contained news of a new Summer Vacation game.
Samba de Amigo, a game first released in arcades in the 20th century but most well-known for its Dreamcast version, is over twenty years old. So now, in the year 2023, it is time for it to once again return, and once again return on a Nintendo console that has motion controls.
I had wondered if the Nintendo Switch Game Vouchers would apply to The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom when they were rolled out of retirement last week. It turns out they do, and with it being Nintendo’s first $70 game, the timing couldn’t be better.
Nintendo always likes to sneak up on us with its Nintendo Direct upcoming product showcases. After only a day’s warning, tonight we found ourselves bombarded by news of the Japanese giant’s gaming plans for 2023. Here is everything we saw.
During today’s Nintendo Direct, the company announced the next batch of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe DLC, which will bring Birdo to the long-running kart racer this spring.
While The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom is one of the most hotly-anticipated video game sequels of all time, that’s not the only reason it’s notable this week. It is also, sadly, the first Nintendo game to hit the $70 threshold.
Update: 2/8/2023 5:58 p.m. ET: Twitter appears to be working normally again.
