Monthly Archives: January 2022

Good luck with that!Fire in the Hole

After fifty years of continuous burning, Turkmenistan officials are finally trying to close up a 230-feet wide fiery sinkhole in the Karakum Desert known hyperbolically but only somewhat as the Gates of Hell.

No one is entirely sure how the hellish pit, located about 150 miles north of the Central Asian countrys capital, started burning, according to Metro. But one theory is the Soviet Union set it on fire in the 70sin a bid for resource extraction.

The rumor is that Soviet operatives went looking for natural gas deposits and found the sinkhole, which would have been filled with dangerous gas. As the theory goes, they set it on fire, thinking it would burn out pretty quickly but couldnt have been more wrong.

In the past, Turkmenistans President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov had declared the pit a tourist destination after unsuccessfully trying to stop the burning in 2010, with Metro reporting that thousands of people visit it every year. Apparently, Berdimuhamedov even did donuts in a rally car outside the crater to dispel a rumor that hed died.Heres the video:

If Turkmenistan can actually figure out how to put out the half-century old fire, the US might actually be able to learn a thing or two. Turns out we have some long-term fires here, including the Centralia fire in Pennsylvania. According to History.com, Centralia was a booming coal town about a century ago. But it was mostly abandoned after the town accidentally set an underground coal seam on fire in 1962, and its been burning ever since a ghastly phenomenon that reportedly inspired the Silent Hill horror franchise.

According to the US Department of Environmental Protection, the Centralia fire could continue burning for another century and is one of about 38 such coal fires in the state. Although coal and natural gas deposits are different, perhaps the US could benefit from whatever wild plan Berdimuhamedov comes up with to stop his own raging flames.

More on fiery pits: Oil Company That Caught Ocean on Fire Has Staggeringly Long History of Death, Accidents

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Authorities Attempting to Close Fiery "Gates of Hell" - Futurism

"Yes, I potentially could unlock the doors and start driving the affected Teslas."Assuming Control

A teen hacker named David Colombo claims to have uncovered a software vulnerability that allowed him to take control of numerous Teslavehicles around the world.

The researcher tweeted earlier this week that he gained full remote control of over 20 Teslas in ten countries and there seems to be no way to find the owners and report it to them.

Tesla neither confirmed nor denied the hack toBloomberg, but Colombo told the publication that he was in touch with the carmaker about the security flaw.

Colombo was quick to clarify in a followup tweet that this is not a vulnerability in Teslas infrastructure. Its the ownersfaults.

Colombo says he figured out how to disable Sentry Mode, a security feature that uses the vehicles many cameras to keep an eye out for intruders, as well as opening the doors and windows.

He also claimed he was able to start Keyless Driving. Yes, I potentially could unlock the doors and start driving the affected Teslas, he wrote in a tweet.

But taking them for a longer ride, fortunately, seemed to be impossible.

No I cannot intervene with someone driving (other than starting music at max volume or flashing lights) and I also cannot drive these Teslas remotely, he wrote.

Tesla is on the case, according to Colombo, and will issue an update. Hopefully well learn more about the vulnerability soon.

This will be described more in detail in my writeup, he told Bloomberg. But glad to see Tesla taking action now.

READ MORE: Teen Hacker Claims Ability to Control 25 Teslas Worldwide [Bloomberg]

More on Tesla: Tesla FSD Appears to Ask Drivers Whether It Should Break the Law

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Hacker Claims to Have Seized Control of Teslas Around the World - Futurism

Researchers are thinking outside the box to fight the opioid epidemic and it might even result in a vaccination to treat addiction.

Scientists are developing a vaccine that targets oxycodone addiction, CBS News reports. The team is currently testing the experimental drugs on volunteers with substance abuse disorders.

The way the vaccine works in theory is simple: it prevents the oxycodone from stimulating the pleasure centers of the brain. If users dont feel better after taking a drug,the idea goes, theyre less likely to use it.

The idea behind the vaccine is that after a while, the body will produce an antibody to that particular chemical structure, Sandra Comer, professor of neurobiology at Columbia University, told the broadcaster. If somebody uses oxycodone, the antibody will bind to that molecule and it wont allow it to get into the brain.

Comer and her research partner Marco Pravetoni, an associate professor of pharmacology and medicine at the University of Minnesota, hope that the drug will cut down the relapse rate from medically-assisted addiction treatments.

Currently, the relapse rate for such treatments is roughly 50 percent, according to Comer.

If they relapse, the vaccine hopefully will provide still some level of protection, at least against overdose, she told CBS. And maybe an opportunity for us to re-engage them in treatment.

The team hopes to build off of the research in potential future treatments for other opioids such as heroin and fentanyl.

While not a cure per se, the experimental vaccine does offer some hope as the US continues to reckon with a grim opioid crisis. More than 800,000 Americans have died from drug overdoses in the past two decades, with 73 percent percent of those deaths caused by opioids, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Its still in its early stages, but a vaccine that could help treat addictions while cutting overdoses down would be gamechanging and could end up saving a lot of lives.

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Scientists Are Testing a Vaccine to Treat Opioid Addiction - Futurism

"Theres a lot of parallels between whats going on with NFTs now versus Beanie mania in the 90s."Beanie Craze

Remember the Beanie Babies craze of the 90s, when people thought their plushstuffed animals would appreciate in value and make them millionaires?

As it turns out, collectors are still going nuts over the little animals, but this time, some are hoping to turn them into NFTs.

Its history repeating itself, in other words: a flourishing market of gimmicky toys maturing into,well,its logical 21st century conclusion.

The parallels between the two phenomena hasnt gone over the heads of collectors.

Theres a lot of parallels between whats going on with NFTs now versus Beanie mania in the 90s, Beanie Babies collector Arthur Suszko, who is trying to create Beanie Babies NFTs, told Vox.

With that amazing insight, Suszko is in the process of setting up a company that would allow people to buy the ownership rights over physical Beanie Babies in the form of an NFT.

Its a merger of my childhood dreams and modern passions coming together, he told the publication.

The 90s Beanie Babies craze may still be alive today, but its a mere shadow of what it once was. While some stuffed toys that used to retail for $5 are still being bought for over $1,000 according to Vox, the plushies are simply not changing hands very much these days.

Worse yet, Beanie Babies scams are around every corner on the internet. To anybody following the NFT saga, that should sound pretty familiar.

Will Suszkos NFT marketplace experience the same fate? Even he isnt exactly convinced theres a bright future ahead for the digital tokens.

Nobodys going to care about random jpegs that might be selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars right now, he told Vox.

READ MORE: After the Beanie Baby bubble burst [Vox]

More on NFTs: Startup Will Store Precious Artifacts in Vault Aboard the International Space Station

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In Proof That Irony Is Dead, People are Trying to Make Beanie Babies NFTs - Futurism

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One adaption astronauts bodies make during trips into space is giving them space anemia when they return to Earth, a new study in the journal Nature found. Essentially, astronauts bodies are destroying their own blood at higher rates, and dont seem to stop once they get back home, which could have major implications for longer-term space travel in the future.

As humankind plans extraterrestrial travel, understanding the health implications of living in space will be critical to planning safe journeys, wrote the studys authors from the University of Ottawa. Anemia in astronauts has been noted since the first space missions, but the mechanisms contributing to anemia in space flight have remained unclear.

Space anemia is one of a suite of issues astronauts face, and NASA even has a name for it: RIDGE stands for Space Radiation, Isolation and Confinement, Distancefrom Earth,Gravityfields, and Hostile/Closed Environments,and describes the most common physical and mental problems explorers run into off world.

Lower gravity in space also causes a loss in bone density, and authors of the study think this may be connected to space anemia as well.

Hemolysis, according to Britannica, is the breakdown or destruction of red blood cells so that the contained oxygen-carrying hemoglobin is freed. According to the study, hemolysis happens in four parts of the body: bone marrow, blood vessels, liver, or spleen. Of these four, researcher Guy Trudel, a specialist in physical medicine and rehabilitation at the Ottawa Hospital and a researcher at the University of Ottawa, thinks that bone marrow or the spleen are probably the problem areas, and wants his team to continue researching.

What causes the anemia is the hemolysis, but what causes the hemolysis is the next step, Trudel told Ars Technica. Theres a knowledge gap for longer missions, for one-year missions, or missions to the Moon or Mars or other bodies.

More on astronaut problems: NASA Says Its Running Out of Astronauts

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Space Is Wreaking Havoc on Astronauts' Blood - Futurism

Image by Marco Verch via Flickr/Futurism

A chain of Chicago-based COVID-19 testing site chain with the official-sounding name ofthe Center for COVID Control has reportedly told every single customer that they are negative for the coronavirus,according to local news publication Block Club Chicago.

Federal agencies, including the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Illinois Department of Public Health, are now investigating the company, which operates 300 locations nationwide forcing it to shut its doors temporarily under the pressure.

The Better Business Bureau is also looking into complaints, and has given the company its lowest possible rating: an F.

If the allegations hold up, its an incredibly troubling example of individuals taking advantage of a huge amount of federal funds being poured into COVID testing nationwide.

Regrettably, due to our rapid growth and the unprecedented recent demand for testing, we havent been able to meet all our commitments, CEO Aleya Siyaj said in a remarkable understatement obtained by Block Club Chicago.

Weve made this difficult decision to temporarily pause all operations, until we are confident that all collection sites are meeting our high standards for quality, she continued.

According to Block Club Chicago, people going to the companys various sites have reported that they tested negative only to find out they were positive through a different test elsewhere. Others said they got their results far too late to be useful.

Many customers were emailed a QR code that took them to a website that appeared to tell every single visitor that they had tested negative.

Meanwhile, Siyajs husband Akbar Syed,who before the pandemic had been an entrepreneur of we kid you not axe throwing facilities,started posting on social media about his brand new luxury sports car, paid for using what he called COVID money, the publication reports.

My axe throwing lounges were forced shut by the gov due to COVID, Syed wrote in a comment of an August 17 post on TikTok. The account has since been taken down.

About three weeks ago, we decided we were gonna stop PCR testing because of just the overwhelming amount of tests that were coming in, Syed said in a January 6 YouTube video.

Again, the video was taken down, according to Block Club Chicago.

The Center for COVID Control evidently didnt have enough resources to deal with the onslaught of testing. Inspectors found that many tubes of samples were not labeled at all or were missing entirely.

Was it all a massive government reimbursement scam, absorbing federal funds to carry out testing? Thats looking increasingly likely in light of this report.

READ MORE: COVID-19 Testing Chain Opened Pop-Ups Across The US. Now, Its Temporarily Closing Amid Federal Investigation And Mounting Complaints [Block Club Chicago]

More on COVID-19: A Disastrous Collision Between COVID and HIV May Have Caused the Omicron Variant

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COVID Test Startup Accused of Telling Every Single Person They Were Negative - Futurism

"To be blunt, the nations commerce will grind to a halt."Grinding to a Halt

US airlines are warning that cutting edge 5G technologies could force the industry to its knees, The Guardian reports and it has nothing to do with bogus 5G conspiracy theories.

The reasoning: the C-Band 5G techthat the telecom industry is eager to push out to airports could interfere with various airplane instruments including radio altimeters, equipment that tells the airplane how high its flying in low-visibility conditions.

This means that on a day like yesterday, more than 1,100 flights and 100,000 passengers would be subjected to cancellations, diversions or delays, reads a public letter, sent to the White House and signed by a number of US airline CEOs as well as UPS and FedEx.

To be blunt, the nations commerce will grind to a halt, they warned.

The White House recently reached an agreement with AT&T and Verizon to roll out the technology at a select number of airports as part of a test.

It was a highly contentious issue that had more than just airline execs worried. Less than a day after the letter went out, the two carriers announced that theyll delay the rollout over to the concerns, The New York Times is now reporting.

Thats on top of delays that had already pushed the rollout from December to early this month.

To be very clear, were incredibly disappointed that we are at this point, that the entire US airline industry is facing major disruption as new wireless technology is activated, American Airlines CEO David Seymour wrote in a letter to staff, as obtained by the Times. The two should be able to coexist, but that only comes with better understanding of potential impacts.

Telecom industry players have downplayed concerns, arguing the technology was already being safely used in parts of Europe. But opponents were quick to point out that 5G networks were implemented differently there.

READ MORE: AT&T and Verizon will change their 5G plans after airlines warn of flight chaos. [The New York Times]

More on 5G: Experts: Stop Wearing Radioactive Anti-5G Necklaces, Idiots

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Airlines Warn That New 5G Tech Could Mess Up Planes' Ability to Fly Safely - Futurism

"I realize I crossed a line."Crossed a Line

Wordle, a beloved word-guessing game that skyrocketed in popularity this month, was almost immediately ripped off for profit by a different developer named Zach Shakked.

But huge backlash led to Apple removing the clone from its App Store. And now, Shakked has issued a public apology.

I realize I crossed a line, he wrote in a lengthy tweet thread today. And I surely, surely will never do anything remotely close to this again. I fucked up.

The original game, a web-based game created by Josh Wardle, saw an explosion in new users after it went viral on social media earlier this month. Wardles game even got its own writeup in The New York Times.

Shakkeds ripoff was more or less the exact same game but unlike Wordle, which is only accessible via an ad-free web app, the clone was made available via Apples App Store.

Worse yet, the developer charged an optional annual subscription plan to play an unlimited number of games, for an egregious $30.

Unsurprisingly, the clone saw an exponential rise in popularity by exploiting the app store model.

Were going to the fucking Moon, Shakked shamelessly boasted in a Tuesday tweet.

Later that evening, though, Apple yanked Shakkeds app from the App Store.

Out of context I look like Im gloating but I promise you, I was excited, Shakked wrote in todays apology. When youve been making apps since high school like me and you launch something that overnight is hitting like this was, you get excited.

Whether the apology will be enough is anyones guess. Shakked clearly regrets going there, and says hes getting harassed from every which direction.

Ill go back to creating apps based on my completely, evergreen, original ideas and never fuck with anything remotely like this again, he concluded.

Thats probably a good idea.

READ MORE: Wordle copycat creator apologies for ripping off the popular free word game [The Verge]

More on games: Parents Alarmed by Children Slicing Off Enemies Limbs in VR

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Guy Who Shamelessly Ripped Off Beloved Word Game Issues Apology - Futurism

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After celebrating a hallmark heart transplant in which a human patient received a genetically modified pig heart, news outlets have since turned to reporting on the mans troubled past.

Patient in Groundbreaking Heart Transplant Has a Violent Criminal Record, blared a headline in the New York Times yesterday about an incident decades ago in which the patient stabbed a man, leading to the victim becoming paralyzed.

Sure, its a grabby headline. But is it really the most responsible way to cover the issue? Every doctor the Timesinterviewed said criminal history shouldnt be used to determine the worthiness of a patient who needs healthcare, so why did the headline place sensationalism over the actual conclusions?

It is the solemn obligation of any hospital or health care organization to provide lifesaving care to every patient who comes through their doors based on their medical needs, University of Maryland Medical Center, where the transplant operation was performed, said in a statement. Any other standard of care would set a dangerous precedent and would violate the ethical and moral values that underpin the obligation physicians and caregivers have to all patients in their care.

Youre not alone if the incident calls to minda 2011 episode of Greys Anatomy in which fictional Dr. Cristina Yang realizes shes operating on a mass shooter. She gives the other nurses a chance to walk away and many do, but she stays to complete the surgery and save his life. Its partially about saving the patient, but more about being the kind of doctor who saves lives, period.

Considering that many lawmakers are looking to pass additional anti-LGBTQ and anti-trans healthcare bills this year after passing a handful that made severely limited youth healthcare or even made it illegal, its not hard to imagine the slippery slope created by doctors getting to pick and choose who they care for based on their opinions or personal desires.

Others could, for example, follow the lead of those who gave fake COVID-19 vaccines because they believe conspiracy theory and not fact.

Its also worth noting that because the patient in the transplant received a pig heart, no human organ donations were used according to the Times. In addition, the operation was part of a plan to perfect using modified organs in other surgeries to overcome the current shortage in organ donations. The organ waiting list can be a death sentence for the more than 100,000 patients on the organ donation waiting list if they wait too long.

Yes, one patient may have had a violent past, but we cant allow doctors to choose who does and doesnt deserve healthcare, especially if it comes at the expense of life-saving scientific advancements.

More on the patients surgery: Doctors Transplant Gene-Hacked Pig Heart Into Living Human Patient

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Newspapers Criticized for Reporting That Patient With Gene-Hacked Pig Heart Stabbed Someone Decades Ago - Futurism