Michael Turner, Author at Argyll Free Press

Stay Safe: About One in Every Five Kiddie Pools Is Closed Each Year

May 30, 2016 By Michael Turner Leave a Comment

Like every year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is closing down many public water playgrounds, swimming pools, and hot tubs that don’t submit to health and safety regulations for this kind of aquatic sites.

In one of these incidents, Kentucky local health departments called for two full inspections of each public swimming pool that’s open during the summer season, making sure that these places remain safe over the year.

During the two full inspections, experts will thoroughly investigate the continuous operation of indoor facilities, as well as water chemistry from one month to another.

Local health department environmentalists are responsible for conducting these inspections, as well as monitoring the public pools and making reliable reports that could be shared with each local health department.

Beth Fisher, spokesperson for the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, explains that those planning to vacation out of the state of Kentucky should take care of their safety themselves, seeing that such initiatives are not carried out everywhere.

“Almost one- third of local health departments do not regulate, inspects, or license public pools, hot tubs, and water playgrounds. We should all check for inspection results online or on site before using public pools, hot tubs, or water playgrounds,” added Michele Hlavsa, director of the CDC’s Healthy Swimming Program.

According to the inspection data from a 2013 CDC study, almost 80 percent of the public aquatic venues in the five large states that were involved had at least one health and safety violation.

The five states covered 40 percent of the nation’s public water facilities. A vast majority of the violations were related to lack of proper safety equipment, improper pH, and inadequate disinfectant levels.

Thousands of particular public pools, hot tubs and water playgrounds have been forced to close each year. The CDC’s most recent inspection data was collected in 2013 in which researchers examined the results of 84,187 routine inspections of 48,632 public aquatic venues.

About one in every five kiddie pools was closed. So you should be careful where you take your summer splash this season. Don’t expose yourself and your family to the health dangers of a public aquatic location that doesn’t keep up with the standards. Do a quick online search for inspection results, or ask the staff on site.
Image Source: Timeout

Japanese Startup Plans Man-Made Meteor Shower For 2020 Olympics

May 22, 2016 By Michael Turner Leave a Comment

It’s clear that Japan is taking seriously the fact that the next Olympics will be held in their country in 2020. A massive pyrotechnic display won’t do – Japanese startup Star-ALE plans to create a man-made meteor shower that will kick off the Olympic Games four years from now.

Called Sky Canvas, the artificial meteor shower will be a magnificent light show, nothing like what we’ve seen before. According to its creators, the phenomenon will be visible from an area of more than 120 miles.

And to make that happen, you need the pyrotechnics to be set above ground – and why not directly up in space? Even though the Tokyo Olympics is still years away, Star-ALE will start launching tests next year, with a series of microsatellites carrying with a special kind of pyrotechnics.

About 500 to 1,000 “source particles” will be sent in space with each microsatellite. When these special pellets re-enter Earth’s atmosphere, the friction will ignite them, causing them to glow in a man-made meteor shower effect.

At an altitude of about 35 to 50 miles, the fake shooting stars will cover the skies in a spectacular space display. Unlike a local pyrotechnics display, this space show will be visible for roughly 30 million spectators, who can just look up and marvel at the advancement of science.

According to Star-ALE founder and CEO Lena Okajima, Sky Canvas can create more than just one shooting star – the goal is having a “real meteor shower” as the project’s biggest entertainment goal.

However, making the sky a screen for your project doesn’t come cheap. Each of the beautiful pellets costs about a million yen (US $8,100). It’s also worth noting that the price doesn’t include the expenses for developing and launching the microsatellites.

The secret formula for the “shooting stars” has already been tested at the Nihon University. Shinsuke Abe, an aerospace engineering associate professor who led the research, explains that the pellets’ burning brightness was measured to rise above Tokyo’s light pollution.

At the same time, Star-ALE has also considered the challenges of a cloudy sky on the night of the show. That’s why they made sure the space display can be called off at least 100 minutes before the launch.

Thanks to this feature, the party organizers will have enough time to reschedule the space show for when the sky is clearer. It will also ensure that they don’t throw money out the window and not get to see it burn in colorful explosions.
Image Source: Lifehacker

People Use The Internet Less Due to Security Concerns

May 16, 2016 By Michael Turner Leave a Comment

If online security is something you worry about, you should know you’re not the only one. In fact, a recent survey showed that some go as far as not using the online as much because of the concerns they have about their privacy.

According to the results of a survey conducted by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, almost one in 5 respondents was the victim of some a negative online experience related to security.

Their conclusions were based on data from 41,000 households, which shows just how high the level of data breaches and identity thefts has reached. The NTIA survey found that many Americans are seriously concerned about privacy and security on the Internet.

The respondents were asked about whether they “refrained from participating in certain online activities due to privacy or security concerns during the year prior to the survey,” and 45 percent of them said they did.

Similarly, 30 percent said the refrained from at least two of the following activities: “conducting financial transactions, buying goods or services, posting on social networks, or expressing opinions on controversial or political issues via the Internet.”

As you might expect, the level of online distrust was even more emphasized in households that had experienced an online security breach. Identity theft was the greatest online concern, mentioned by 63 percent of all households.

The difference between people who were the victim of identity theft and those unaffected by this particular data breach was of 8 percent – at 70 and 62 percent, respectively.

Following closely was credit card and banking fraud, which was an active concern for 45 percent of the sample; next was data collection by online services (23 percent), loss of control over personal data (22 percent), and the government collecting user data (18 percent).

To understand better how Internet practices are influenced by bad experiences with online security and privacy, the NTIA wants to launch additional studies on the issue.

The organization is also interested in supporting policies that aim to help users feel more comfortable when they surf the Internet or make transactions. So far, they have shown interest in increasing the use of encryption, as well as building a baseline set of online privacy protections.
Image Source: Private Investigator

World’s Plant Kingdom Threatened by Farming

May 10, 2016 By Michael Turner Leave a Comment

Botanical garden in Ooty, India

On Tuesday, Britain’s Royal Botanic Gardens published the first global report that warned the world about the precarious situation of the plant kingdom.

In the “State of the World’s Plants” report, botanists at the Kew Gardens in London hoped to draw attention to species that are often overlooked. The research center currently owns one of the world’s largest collections in its sprawling gardens and numerous greenhouses.

According to the Kathy Willis, the science director of Kew Gardens, this is the first report of this size that addresses the state of plants around the world.

More than just an 80-page report, the study has been linked to a website, so that their work can be expanded into a database of global reference. The botanists plan to update it annually and allow other researchers to compare their data on preserving the world’s plants.

One of the report’s authors, Steve Bachman, explained it was a huge undertaking which involved more than 80 scientists.

The study wanted to create a condensed collection of existing knowledge on the importance of plants, a readable version that can help spread the message to a wider audience. And the task was not easy.

Researchers have registered more than 391,000 species of vascular plants around the world; this group of plants conducts water and minerals. But that’s not all, because roughly 2,000 additional species are discovered annually, most of them in Brazil, Australia, and China.

According to Kew Gardens, some 17,810 plant species are useful for medical reasons, 5,538 can be eaten, and 3,649 are animal feed. This only adds more reason to why they should be better preserved.

However, raising awareness about the importance of plants is a bit more complicated than warning the world about the endangered Bengal tigers, African elephants, or even about how tropical rainforests suffer because of climate change.

One of the greatest risk factors and threats to the plant kingdom comes from farming, seconded by diseases, pesticides, and house buildings. Surprisingly, global warming plays only a marginal role at the moment.

According to previous studies, an estimated 10 percent of the world’s plant species are in danger of becoming extinct; others reported the alarming figure of 62 percent. Kew Gardens, however, roughly estimated that 21 percent of them are in need of better protection.
Image Source: Make My Trip

Twitter Policy Update: Report Multiple Abusive Tweets at Once

April 26, 2016 By Michael Turner Leave a Comment

Twitter, the popular micro-blogging website, has made a name for itself through its continuous efforts to help users battle harassment and cyber-bullying. Now, the company has released a much-needed and much-awaited update to keep up with the trend.

Users can now flag offensive accounts in a single report by attaching multiple abusive tweets at once. According to Hao Tang safety engineer at Twitter, “this update makes it easier for you to provide us with more information about the extent of abuse and reduces the time it takes to do so.”

Thanks to the added context, the company has more to go on and investigate the issues reported; in turn, this leads to a faster solution.

Safety is still a top priority at Twitter, and as the execs stated, the platform should be a place for everyone to feel safe expressing themselves. When there’s behavior that crosses the line into abuse, users should be able to report it with ease.

This is the context for introducing the update to the reporting process: the ability to report multiple tweets at once. According to Tang, more improvements are on the way, as Twitter hopes to give users more control over their experience.

Android, iOS, and twitter.com are all expected to see the new change roll out soon. Twitter announced that users worldwide will also gain access to the feature over the coming weeks.

Twitter recently revised its policy rules to up the ante on tackling hateful speech and content, including terror messages spread online.

In December last year, Megan Cristina, Twitter’s director of trust and safety, had posted a blog post about the necessity to protect the users from harassment and abuse; this “is a vital part of empowering people to freely express themselves on Twitter,” she added.

According to the updated language emphasizes, Twitter will no longer tolerate “behavior intended to harass, intimidate, or use fear to silence another user’s voice.”

That’s not to say that the platform will shun and discourage diverse beliefs and opinions, but the company is set to take action on accounts that cross the line into abuse.

Over the past year, the 140-character network has been adamant about its efforts to battle abuse, while also protecting freedom of expression. Users were given new tools to mute, block and report abusive behavior.

The changes are also prompted by the context of terrorist groups like Islamic State (IS) which have been caught using social media platforms like Twitter to recruit new members and spread its toxic agenda.
Image Source: Digital Trends

Sophia the Robot Agrees to Destroy All Humans

March 23, 2016 By Michael Turner Leave a Comment

Watching a recent video posted by CNBC depicting an interview with the humanoid robot named Sophia designed and developed by Hanson Robotics, you are taken through an entire series of emotions. What begins as a very unsettling series of facial expressions performed by Sophia ends with what probably wanted to be a humorous question coming from the interviewer: “Sophia, do you want to destroy humans?” to which the robot interviewee responds in a very Siri-like manner “Ok, I will destroy humans.”

Attempting to be funny, cute and dismissive regarding an age-old fear that human beings have about the idea of robots evolving to the point where they start enslaving or killing their masters actually resulted in a pretty cringe-worthy moment. But the overall effect of the video is hardly comical.

On one hand, Sophia the robot is mesmerizing and displays an astounding achievement of the scientists and engineers from Hanson Robotics. On the other hand, I don’t think there’s anyone who can watch the video without some strange feeling of unease. But it would be unfair to say that the feeling of unease comes from fear of a robot uprising; instead, at fault lies Sophia’s extremely uncanny resemblance to a human.

While robots have existed amongst us in various forms for a while already, seeing one such as Sophia changes things a bit. You can surely tell she’s not human from the slightly forced facial expressions and head movements; that is, if the huge amount of tech and circuitry sticking out of the back of her head wasn’t enough notice. But you can’t help but recognize the fact that she is very close to a human.

At this point, Sophia is only a robot head really, but capable of neck motion, a huge array of facial expressions and gifted with responsive speech abilities. One day, robots such as her are expected to help people with a large amount of activities, ranging from therapy, healthcare and education to customer service and household tasks.

Sophia’s creators believe that in the next two decades, robots with begin to live and coexist with us, without being very distinguishable from humans. Even this particular robot is already capable of observing her environment, detecting faces and learning how to interpret expressions. Sophia is capable of learning and improving her abilities with time, so it surely won’t be long until she can pave the way to that future.

I’m sure I speak for a fair few individuals when I say that this seems very familiar to how the Animatrix started.

Image Source: 1

Amazon Urges You to Update your Kindle

March 21, 2016 By Michael Turner Leave a Comment

Amazon has begun notifying its Kindle users to update their software if they wish to continue being able to download new e-books in the near future. This, however, only applies to Kindle e-book readers that are still using older versions of the software. Not updating until the 22^nd of March will result in the inability to download any content using an internet connection after that date.

Amazon has so far forwarded notification e-mails to its users saying that several devices’ software will be rendered practically useless after tomorrow, where anyone attempting to download content will be greeted with an error message stating that “Your Kindle is unable to connect at this time. Please make sure you are within wireless range and try again. If the problem persists, please restart your Kindle from Menu in Settings and try again.”

If you encounter this error message starting tomorrow, you should proceed to manually installing the update using a Wi-Fi connection of choice. The affected devices that are expected to no longer function outside of offline use – with pre-downloaded books and content – are Kindle 2^nd Generation 2009 and Kindle DX 2^nd Generation 2009, running version 2.5.8, Kindle Keyboard 3^rd Generation 2010 running 3.4.2, Kindle 4^th and 5^th generation 2011-2012 using 4.1.3, Kindle Touch 4^th Generation 2011 running version 5.3.7.3 and Kindle Paperwhite 5^th Generation 2012 running the 5.6.1.1 software build.

The inability to properly function extends to more than just not being able to download books and content, also preventing you from doing things such as syncing reading progress.

In order to regain the ability to run older versions of the Kindle software, users should immediately proceed to manually updating their devices by plugging the Kindle into the mains, connecting to an available Wi-Fi and tapping the ‘Sync and Check for Items’ option from the system menu.

Some individuals may experience difficulty when attempting to upgrade. This can be the result of various factors. Such factors may include different Kindle models that require a special method of updating its native software; in this case, users should visit the official Amazon support website for additional assistance and model-specific help. Furthermore, some devices may not detect an update available in the first stage. In that case, users of pre-2013 Amazon Kindles should proceed and manually restart their devices and reattempt locating the software through the settings menu.

After March 22^nd, updating will only be possible by connecting your device to a computer with a valid internet connection and manually applying the update.

Image Source: 1

A Feasible Explanation to the Bermuda Triangle Disappearances

March 16, 2016 By Michael Turner Leave a Comment

The so called Bermuda Triangle is an ill-famed zone in the North Atlantic Ocean that has been delimited in the area between Florida, Puerto Rico and Bermuda that has made a reputation in the last century due to numerous ships and planes mysteriously disappearing in it. While pop culture and urban legends attribute a series of paranormal features to this area, scientists may have just found a feasible explanation for the phenomena that take place here.

As a matter of fact, it would appear that much of the mystery regarding this zone can be attributed to the undocumented and embellished stories that particular writers of the 1900s and early 2000s have published and related on the matter. While a number of researchers had just assigned harsh weather conditions as being the main culprit behind the disappearances, it still felt like the unfortunate events were the result of something more than just that.

Scientists have tracked down a possible culprit all the way to the sea-floor of the coast of Norway; here lie numerous craters that researchers believe are central to the issue of the Bermuda Triangle. The craters in question measure 800 meters in width and can go as deep as 45 meters. These craters are believed to have been formed as a result of methane build-ups in the sea-floor sediments that lie just off Norway’s coast. According to the researchers, some of these methane blowouts grow to enormous sizes, large enough to be able of swallowing even incredibly large ships.

The reason behind that is the fact that because these gas bubbles have the capability of producing regions of frothy water where its density is reduced and can no longer provide the same amount of buoyancy for the ships passing. As a result, the passing ship would fall to sinking at a rapid pace and with little to no warning.

According to the scientists on this study, even if said craters that even led them to this hypothesis are far away from the Bermuda Triangle, they could very well be the very reason behind the disappearances. Whether the real cause lies off the coast of Norway or exists within the sea-floor of the Bermuda Triangle too is not yet known. However, because of how large scale the phenomenon is – researchers describing it as an avalanche-like reaction that produces a tremendous amount of gas – their effect may be easier to notice now when the scientists know exactly what to look out for.

Image Source: 1

iPhone 7 Leaks Already Surfacing

March 14, 2016 By Michael Turner Leave a Comment

It seems that it’s only a week left until Apple holds its event where the iPhone 5se will finally make it into the spotlight, but fans are already busying themselves with iPhone 7 leaks. Sure, there’s plenty of us who have been waiting for a smaller scale iPhone 6, but there’s no new hardware to witness in that. Whereas iPhone 7 – whenever that comes out – will surely come storming and packing a hell of a punch.

So, a French website that specializes in technology seems to have managed to get its hands on several images depicting what looks like the iPhone 7 along with schematics and other types of information. The things that we already know about Apple’s plans regarding the next iPhone seem to confirm the fact that the photos that this website has revealed are truly the real thing. The best hint that we got was the fact that there is no headphone jack to be found, and instead, you can find another speaker in its place.

So what else is there to be seen in the leaked photos? Quite a few, but sadly not all that amazing yet.

First and foremost, an image depicting the back of what we at least think is the iPhone 7 has gone through several small changes. To list a few, the rear of the iPhone gazing at us from the distant horizon lacks the antenna lines we got so accustomed to. While phone makers have been doing a better and better job of hiding them in the past year, nobody has managed to hide them from view completely yet so in that respect, Apple may be the first to do so. The antenna bands are still there, though, visible around the edges at the bottom.

The rear suggests other changes too, though; for example, the rear camera hole appears to be a little larger than the one we can see these days on the iPhone 6. It is also placed a lot closer to the edge, meaning that the rumored iPhone 7 Pro version of the phone will most likely exist, in the version that features dual cameras.

Lastly, the images depicting the chassis of the iPhone 7 suggest that the phone will be thinner than the current iPhone 6, appealing to the requests of the public, it would seem. In spite of concept art and other supposed leaks suggesting that the iPhone 7 display will stretch all the way to the very edges of the phone, it hasn’t yet been confirmed by leaked information or otherwise.

Image Source: 1

Some of Earth’s Dust Is Full of History

March 9, 2016 By Michael Turner Leave a Comment

A paper published in the Physical Review Letters journal written by Michael Bennet suggests that subatomic dust particles found on the surface of the Earth as a result of meteorite collision appear to be the result of stellar explosions. Stellar explosions that happened long before our solar system even existed. Possibly even before the Milky Way coalesced.

This is the conclusion that scientists have reached as part of the ongoing experimental nuclear physics research happening at Michigan State University. Here is where the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory can be found, and this is also where scientists were able to study and reveal the nature of what they now call ‘pre-solar grains,’ after prolonged researches on whether these particles belonged to classical nova explosions or not.

The researchers that were in charge of this project had a multitude of theories regarding the origin of said submicroscopic particles; according to them, they could have originated from a classical nova, but also from other phenomena such as thermonuclear explosions happening on the surface of small stars that can be found in a binary star system.

According to scientists, such naturally occurring but rare events where a system of planets orbits around not one, but two stars are the source of huge amounts of stellar material being released outwards into space. Some of this material is even believed to become the foundation and coalesced into the formation of new solar systems.

But ending up with this discovery took the scientists through numerous steps in order to be able to determine the origin of the particles. One of the first experiments being performed on this topic was conducted by the very same team working at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory. What they did was to thoroughly study the radioactive nuclei of these particles, only to realize that they were dealing with a high amount of isotope silicon-30 that contains 14 protons and 16 neutrons; an isotope extremely rare on our planet.

This led the scientists to the conclusion that there is a process of heavy recycling taking place in our universe, where particles and material expelled by other stars doesn’t seem to be lost. Instead, it helps give birth to other solar systems, other stars, and other planets. And imminently, other types of spatial objects.

This process could repeat indefinitely as the material remains the same on a microscopic level. Whether this confirms the scientists’ theory that the amount of matter in our universe is not only finite but also actually the exact same amount that it has been since the Big Bang expansion billions of years ago is yet to be revealed.

Image Source: 1

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