Matt Willemsen @Nonog@fedibird.com

Eating fossils
The rock lying by the roadside did not look like much of interest at first: a rather nondescript limestone, with little more to show to casual observation than a few vague blotches. Anyway, old habits die hard, so I picked it up, licked the surface and put it, and my hand lens, to my eye. The memory of the shock, and the thrill of minor discovery, is still fresh.
https://www.palass.org/publications/newsletter/eating-fossils #geologists #lick #rocks #fossils #clay #sand

Meet the winners of the 2023 Ig Nobel Prizes
The award ceremony features miniature operas, scientific demos, and the 24/7 lectures.
Curious about why geologists lick rocks or how many nose hairs there are on a human cadaver? Perhaps you'd like a snazzy dead wolf spider to use as a biodegradable robotic gripper? How about a "smart toilet" that analyzes your urine stream and fecal deposits while taking a picture of your anus for good measure?
https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/09/meet-the-winners-of-the-2023-ig-nobel-prizes/ #IgNobel #prize #lick #rocks #spider #gripper #SmartToilet

Mozilla, CISA urge users to patch Firefox security flaw
Mozilla released an advisory this week warning users of a vulnerability affecting its popular web browser and email client.
Exploitation of the bug would allow a hacker to take control of an affected system, officials at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) said in their own notice.
https://therecord.media/mozilla-cisa-urge-users-to-patch-firefox-vulnerability #Mozilla #CISA #patch #Firefox #SecurityFlaw

No one 'expected to find what we did': 4,000-year-old Canaanite arch in Israel may have been used by cult
Archeologists discovered the mysterious arch at the end of a narrow, underground passageway that was sealed with sediment shortly after it was built in the Middle Bronze Age.
https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/no-one-expected-to-find-what-we-did-4000-year-old-canaanite-arch-in-israel-may-have-been-used-by-cult #canaanite #israel #archaeology #arch #BronzeAge #passageway

Gibberish or Genius? Verbal Nonsense Reveals Limitations of AI Chatbots
In a new study, researchers tracked how current language models, such as ChatGPT, mistake nonsense sentences as meaningful. Can these AI flaws open new windows on the brain?
https://scitechdaily.com/gibberish-or-genius-verbal-nonsense-reveals-limitations-of-ai-chatbots/ #ArtificialIntelligence #Language #Neuroscience #Chatbots #nonsense

Startling Findings – New Study Indicates That Brain Hemorrhage Risk Can Be Transmitted Through Blood Transfusions
A new study indicates that factors causing spontaneous brain hemorrhages might be transmitted through blood transfusions, but the risk is very low. The research further supports the hypothesis that cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) could be spread between individuals.
https://scitechdaily.com/startling-findings-new-study-indicates-that-brain-hemorrhage-risk-can-be-transmitted-through-blood-transfusions/ #Brain #Hemorrhage #Risk #Transmitted #Blood #Transfusions #cerebral #amyloid #angiopathy

First global survey reveals who is doing ‘gain of function’ research on pathogens and why
An analysis of the controversial work indicates that a one-size-fits-all regulation strategy will have consequences.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-02873-2 #biology #pathology #GainOfFunction #GOF #pathogens #biosafety #LossOfFunction

Space Delivery: OSIRIS-REx’s Asteroid Sample Touchdown
Here’s How the September 24 Asteroid Sample Delivery Will Work
Early morning on Sunday, September 24, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft’s sample capsule will come face-to-face with Earth’s atmosphere for the first time since the mission’s 2016 launch. On board are an estimated 8.8 ounces, or 250 grams, of rocky material collected from the surface of Bennu in 2020 – NASA’s first asteroid sample and the largest ever collected in space.
https://scitechdaily.com/space-delivery-osiris-rexs-asteroid-sample-touchdown/ #Asteroid #NASA #OSIRISーREx #sample #return #Bennu

Evolution of the nervous system
COMIC: When, why and how did neurons first evolve? Scientists are piecing together the ancient story.
https://knowablemagazine.org/article/living-world/2023/what-is-a-neuron-when-did-it-evolve #comic #evolution #nervous #system

@Joyoussinger I have a pile of those under my bed.

“I Could Not Believe What I Was Seeing” – Missing Evolution Puzzle Piece Discovered in 130-Million-Year-Old Rocks
Despite vertebrates being a dominant element in contemporary deep-sea ecosystems, there has been no fossil evidence of deep-sea fishes older than 50 million years. Now, the recent unearthing of exceptionally rare fossils provides the earliest known evidence of deep-sea fishes. This pushes back the timeline of deep-sea colonization by a staggering 80 million years.
https://scitechdaily.com/i-could-not-believe-what-i-was-seeing-missing-evolution-puzzle-piece-discovered-in-130-million-year-old-rocks/ #fossils #fish #evolution

Watch out, this LastPass email with "Important information about your account" is a phish
The consequences of last year's LastPass breach continue to be felt, with the latest insult to users coming in the form of a highly convincing phishing email.
https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/2023/09/nasty-lastpass-phish #LastPass #phishing #email

Unearthing 39,000-Year-Old Secrets: The Invisible Plant Technology of the Prehistoric Philippines
Stone tools bear tell-tale markings of fiber technology dating back 39,000 years.
https://scitechdaily.com/unearthing-39000-year-old-secrets-the-invisible-plant-technology-of-the-prehistoric-philippines/ #philippines #plant #technology #fibers #archaeology #StoneTools

From the article:
Also, unless you really know what you’re doing, please don’t download and install pirated software. Sure, the cracked program might do exactly what you expect it to do, but the chances are good that it is also laced with something nasty. And when all of your passwords are stolen and your important accounts have been hijacked or sold, you will wish you had simply paid for the real thing.

FBI Hacker Dropped Stolen Airbus Data on 9/11
USDoD didn’t say why they decided to leak the data on the 22nd anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, but there was definitely an aircraft theme to the message that accompanied the leak, which concluded with the words, “Lockheed martin, Raytheon and the entire defense contractos [sic], I’m coming for you [expletive].”
https://krebsonsecurity.com/2023/09/fbi-hacker-dropped-stolen-airbus-data-on-9-11/ #krebs #FBI #USDoD #hacker #Airbus #data

Medical Cannabis Use Linked to Significant Improvements in Fatigue, Anxiety, Depression, and Pain
A new study found that Australian chronic health patients using medical cannabis experienced improvements in health quality, fatigue, anxiety, depression, and pain over three months. However, no sleep quality enhancements were noted. Further research is suggested, especially for insomnia treatments.
https://scitechdaily.com/medical-cannabis-use-linked-to-significant-improvements-in-fatigue-anxiety-depression-and-pain/ #Medical #Cannabis #Linked #Improvements #Fatigue #Anxiety #Depression # Pain

EFF to Michigan Court: Governments Shouldn’t Be Allowed to Use a Drone to Spy on You Without a Warrant
Should the government have to get a warrant before using a drone to spy on your home and backyard? We think so, and in an amicus brief filed last Friday in Long Lake Township v. Maxon, we urged the Michigan Supreme Court to find that warrantless drone surveillance of a home violates the Fourth Amendment.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/09/eff-michigan-court-governments-shouldnt-be-allowed-use-drone-spy-you-without #EFF #police #warrantless #drone #spy #home #4thAmmendment