Posted by EditorDavid from Slashdot
From the gold-records department: Slashdot reader sciencehabit shares this excerpt from a new article in Science magazine:
At first, astronomers knew of only one cosmic scenario that fit the bill for the violent formation of "jewelry shop" elements [gold and sliver]: the collision of two ultra-dense stellar corpses called neutron stars.
Now, a second has stepped onto the scene.
As they report this week in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, researchers have discovered signatures of this heavy element formation — called the r-process — in a giant flare first detected from a highly magnetic neutron star in 2004. The flare, which released more energy than our Sun does in a million years as it spewed electrically charged material, has remained shrouded in mystery since its discovery 20 years ago. Researchers quickly traced the outburst to a nearby magnetar, a special breed of neutron star whose magnetic fields are trillions times stronger than Earth's. But ten minutes after the massive flare, a second, fainter signal inexplicably came from the same star.
More r-process sources may still be looming in the dark. The new study accounts for about 10% of the Milky Way's heavy elements, suggesting that astronomers will have to scour the cosmos for even more places where the r-process is hiding. One potential spot is a rare type of supernova that births rapidly rotating neutron stars, says says Anirudh Patel, the new study's lead author and an astronomer at Columbia University. He hopes that with more observations, astronomers will be able to sharpen that picture.... "It's humbling to realize that these were made in such extreme astrophysical environments."
Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the was-it-worth-it? department: A 25-year-old from Santa Clarita has pleaded guilty to hacking a Disney employee's computer using malware disguised as an AI art tool, stealing over 1 terabyte of confidential Disney data and threatening to leak it under the guise of a fake Russian hacktivist group. Variety reports: Santa Clarita resident Ryan Mitchell Kramer, 25, pleaded guilty to two felony charges, including one count of accessing a computer and obtaining information and one count of threatening to damage a protected computer. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison. According to the plea agreement, in early 2024 Kramer posted a computer program on various online platforms that appeared to be used to create AI-generated art, when it really contained a malicious file to gain access to victims' computers.
Between April and May 2024, a Disney employee downloaded the program, and Kramer gained access to the victim's personal and work accounts, including a non-public Disney Slack channel. Kramer dowloaded approximately 1.1 terabytes of confidential data from thousands of Disney Slack channels. In July, Kramer contacted the victim by pretending to be a member of a fake Russian hacktivist group called "Nullbulge" and threatened to leak their personal information and Disney Slack data. On July 12, Kramer publicly released the data, including the victim's bank, medical, and personal information on multiple online platforms.
Posted by from MMO Champion
New Battle for Azeroth Timewalking Rewards in Patch 11.1.7
The Turbulent Timeways world event returns in
Patch 11.1.7 with a new Infinite Dragon Pirate mount and Battle for Azeroth Timewalking!
New Dungeons
Atal'Dazar
Freehold
Kings' Rest
Shrine of the Storm
Temple of Sethraliss
Waycrest Manor
New Mounts
Chrono Corsair - Reward for completing
Master of the Turbulent Timeways III
Reins of the Ivory Savagemane - Purchased for 5000 Timewarped Badges from the Timewalking vendor in Zuldazar and Boralus
Reins of the Moonlit Nightsaber - Purchased for 5000 Timewarped Badges from the Timewalking vendor in Zuldazar and Boralus
New Pets
< This article continues on their website >
Posted by from MMO Champion
WoW Hotfixes - May 2, 2025
Originally Posted by Blizzard
(
Blue Tracker /
Official Forums)
Achievements
Fixed a bug preventing completion of Gilded of the Undermine. If you have attained item level 675 but have not yet received the achievement, log out in a zone from The War Within (such as Dornogal) and then log back in.
Classes
Warrior
Protection
Fixed a bug causing Shield Charge to deal damage extra times or to targets near their starting position.
Dungeons
Priory of the Sacred Flame
Resolved a Captain Dailcry issue where Hurl Spear could damage players that were not in the indicated path of his spear.
Items
Carved Blazikon Wax bonus Versatility increased by 150%.
Entropic Skardyn Core Intellect increased by 15% and fragments will attempt to return to the core.
Soulletting Ruby Critical Strike increased by 10%.
Mounts
Fixed a bug that caused Ground Skimming during Skyriding to recover less vigor than intended.
Nightfall Event
Increased all Flame’s Radiance reputation gains by 100%, including first time completion, Quest, and Weekly Quest reputation rewards.
Nightfall Item vendors now offer all Arathi Abbot’s, Arathi Cleric’s, Arathi Crusader’s, and Arathi Zealot’s weapons and shields.
Transmogrification
Fixed an issue where the Mythic and Elite variants of the Shaman Liberation of Undermine class set gloves were missing additional lightning visual effects.
Season of Discovery
Elemental Invasions now spawn every 1-2 hours (was every 24-48 hours).
The Grand Arcanist and Grand Sorcerer enchants now additionally grant Healing Power equal to the same amount of spell power.
< This article continues on their website >
Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the after-decades-of-hype department: An anonymous reader quotes a report from CNN: Driverless trucks are officially running their first regular long-haul routes, making roundtrips between Dallas and Houston. On Thursday, autonomous trucking firm Aurora announced it launched commercial service in Texas under its first customers, Uber Freight and Hirschbach Motor Lines, which delivers time- and temperature-sensitive freight. Both companies conducted test runs with Aurora, including safety drivers to monitor the self-driving technology dubbed "Aurora Driver." Aurora's new commercial service will no longer have safety drivers.
"We founded Aurora to deliver the benefits of self-driving technology safely, quickly, and broadly, said Chris Urmson, CEO and co-founder of Aurora, in a release on Thursday. "Now, we are the first company to successfully and safely operate a commercial driverless trucking service on public roads." The trucks are equipped with computers and sensors that can see the length of over four football fields. In four years of practice hauls the trucks' technology has delivered over 10,000 customer loads. As of Thursday, the company's self-driving tech has completed over 1,200 miles without a human in the truck. Aurora is starting with a single self-driving truck and plans to add more by the end of 2025.
Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the next-on-the-list department: The U.S. government is seeking to break up Google's advertising technology business after a judge ruled the company holds an illegal monopoly over ad tools for publishers, marking the second such antitrust case following a similar request to divest Chrome. The Guardian reports: "We have a defendant who has found ways to defy" the law, US government lawyer Julia Tarver Wood told a federal court in Virginia, as she urged the judge to dismiss Google's assurance that it would change its behavior. "Leaving a recidivist monopolist" intact was not appropriate to solve the issue, she added. [...] The US government specifically alleged that Google controls the market for publishing banner ads on websites, including those of many creators and small news providers.
The hearing in a Virginia courtroom was scheduled to plan out the second phase of the trial, set for September, in which the parties will argue over how to fix the ad market to satisfy the judge's ruling. The plaintiffs argued in the first phase of the trial last year that the vast majority of websites use Google ad software products which, combined, leave no way for publishers to escape Google's advertising technology and pricing.
The district court judge Leonie Brinkema agreed with most of that reasoning, ruling last month that Google built an illegal monopoly over ad software and tools used by publishers, but partially dismissed the argument related to tools used by advertisers. The US government said it would use the trial to recommend that Google should spin off its ad publisher and exchange operations, as Google could not be trusted to change its ways. "Behavioral remedies are not sufficient because you can't prevent Google from finding a new way to dominate," Tarver Wood said.
< This article continues on their website >
Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the cease-and-desist department: An anonymous reader quotes a report from the BBC: Temu has said it will stop selling goods imported from China in the US directly to customers from its platform. The online marketplace said sales would now be handled by "locally based sellers," with orders fulfilled from within the country. The move comes as a duty-free rule for low-value packages is closed.
Temu, and rival Chinese retail giant Shein, had previously relied on the so-called "de minimis" exemption to sell and ship low-value items directly to the US without having to pay duties or import taxes. Temu said it had been actively recruiting US firms to join the platform. "All sales in the US are now handled by locally based sellers, with orders fulfilled from within the country. "The move is designed to help local merchants reach more customers and grow their businesses," it added.
Supporters of the de minimis loophole, which applied to parcels worth less than $800, argue it helped streamline the customs process. But both Trump and his predecessor, Joe Biden, said it damaged American businesses and was used to smuggle illegal goods, including drugs. In February, Trump briefly closed the loophole but the suspension was quickly paused as delivery services and customs agencies struggled to adjust. During the pause, the U.S. Postal Service even stopped accepting parcels from mainland China and Hong Kong.
Posted by from MMO Champion
Upcoming Class Tuning With Weekly Maintenance - May 6
Originally Posted by Blizzard
(
Blue Tracker /
Official Forums)
As the Season 2 continues, we’re monitoring class balance and making adjustments to specializations that become outliers in group content and in PvP. With scheduled weekly maintenance in each region, we’ll make the following changes.
Classes
Death Knight
Unholy
San’layn: Pact of the San’layn now stores 25% of all Shadow damage dealt into Blood Beast (was 50%).
Raise Abomination melee attack damage increased by 30%.
Army of the Damned Magus Frostbolt damage increased by 40%.
Demon Hunter
Havoc
All ability damage increased by 4%.
Aldrachi Reaver: Reaver’s Mark debuff application can no longer be parried.
Vengeance
Aldrachi Reaver: Reaver’s Mark debuff application can no longer be parried.
Druid
Guardian
All ability damage increased by 5%.
Feral
All ability and auto attack damage increased by 3%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
Evoker
Augmentation
Damage of all spells and abilities increased by 15%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
Mage
Frost
Spellslinger: Splinter damage increased by 10%.
Spellslinger: Controlled Instincts damage increased to 40% of Splinter damage (was 30%).
Spellslinger: Volatile Magic damage increased by 25%.
Paladin
Retribution
Blade of Justice damage increased by 80%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
Divine Arbiter damage increased by 50%. Does not apply to PvP combat
Final Verdict damage increased by 10%. Does not apply to PvP combat
Priest
Holy
All healing done increased by 4%. Not applied to PvP combat.
Warrior
Arms
Bladestorm damage increased by 30%. Does not apply to PvP combat
< This article continues on their website >
This week saw gaming website Polygon sold to Valnet, the company that owns Screen Rant and Game Rant among other sites, and many of its staffers laid off. Meanwhile publication at another gaming site, Giant Bomb, is currently on hold as owner Fandom engages in what it calls a “strategic reset and realignment of our…
Evidence of Controversial Planet 9 Uncovered In Sky Surveys Taken 23 Years Apart 2025-05-03 00:55:02
Unstoppable force-carrying particles can't interact with immovable matter by definition. 
