(Mirror Daily, United States) – On Tuesday, Uber told authorities that it had kept secret a major data breach that affected 57 million customers and drivers for more than a year. What’s more, the firm paid hackers $100 million to remain silent and delete the stolen info instead of immediately brief authorities.

The negotiations with hackers were headed by the company’s chief security officer, who was recently sacked, with the direct knowledge of the company’s founder Travis Kalanick, who learned the data was stolen one month after the attack. Hackers managed to break into Uber’s network on Oct. 26, 2017.

The company declined to unveil the hackers’ identities, but there were two attackers. They got access to names, phone numbers, addresses, and e-mails of more than 50 million people worldwide.

Private data of 7 million drivers was also leaked. Hackers demanded $100,000 ransom to discard the data. Uber assured driver that their social security numbers were not exposed. But 600,000 driver’s license numbers were leaked.

The company agreed and asked hackers to sign non-disclosure deals first. The $100,000 sum disguised as a payout for the hackers’ work to detect bugs within the system.

Authorities learned about the hack Tuesday. New York Attorney General announced an investigation into the issue on the same day.

Uber Embroiled in Scandals

Uber is not the first U.S. company that was affected by a massive data breach and kept in under wraps. In 2016, Yahoo was hit by two massive data breaches, while in September 2017, Equifax unveiled a hacking that affected 145.5 million people.

However, Uber’s executives kept the breach secret even at the price of losing riders’ trust and violating state and federal laws. The company’s new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said he was first informed about the issue ‘recently’.

He apologized for the incident and promised to bring some changes.

The recent revelations can only add fuel to the general disgruntlement over Kalanick’s style of management. He had to step down amid a scandal concerning the company’s workplace culture. Plus, the company is under scrutiny for an ultra-secretive program dubbed Greyball which enabled Uber employees to track police officers in order to evade them.
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New research suggests a link between owning a dog and a lower risk of heart disease and early death. Swedish researchers published their findings in the journal Scientific Reports.

For their study, researchers sifted through health data on 3.4 million Swedes aged 40 to 80. Participants were tracked for 12 years starting 2001. At the beginning of the study, none of them had been diagnosed with heart disease.

In Sweden, pet owners are required to register their docs since 2001. As of 2012, more than 80 percent of dogs in Sweden appeared in the national register.

The new research found a statistically significant link between owning a dog and lower heart disease risk. Study authors believe that this is mainly due to factors that can boost cardiovascular risks such as depression and social isolation. What’s more, having a dog required staying physically active and going outdoors more than people who don’t own a dog.

People Living Alone Greatly Helped by Dogs

The analysis revealed that single people benefit the most from dog ownership when it comes to the health of their hearts. Moreover, hunting breeds lowered their owners’ cardiovascular disease risk the most.

People living alone have the highest risk of developing a heart disease or having a stroke. Dogs helped this group of people the most as people then to perceive them as a family member. The risk of heart disease dropped 11% and the risk of early death 33% in single households.

Researchers conceded that they haven’t found a causal relationship between owning a dog and lower risk of heart disease, but the association is telling. Other researchers acknowledged that dog owners tend to be more active, which also lowers the heart disease risk. Other factors that may contribute to the health benefits of owning a dog are the social contacts spurred by having a dog and the influence of a dog on its owner’s microbiome.
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(Mirror Daily, United States) – A long-range study of the evolution of hominid body types has yielded some interesting discoveries about how height and weight development of our ancient ancestors.

The Weight and Height Growth Process Parted Ways

Published in the Royal Society Open Science journal, the research covered four million years’ worth of the fossils of hominids, of which humans are the last remaining species. The study range involved 311 specimens, the oldest being 4.4 million years old and the newer ones being anatomically modern humans from the end of the most recent Ice Age.

One interesting find is that our current height and weight developed at different moments in our history. After evolving “in concert” for a long period, about one and a half million years ago, humans suddenly grew about 10 cm without adding any significant bulk.

Dr. Manuel Will, the lead author of the study and a member of the Cambridge Department of Archaeology and a Gonville and Caius College Research Fellow, offered details on the matter. According to him, the resulting tall, lean physique was probably an evolutionary advantage. This might have appeared as our ancestors started moving out of forests and began living in the African savannas.

Humans became experts at endurance hunting, stalking prey animals for hours. Their higher surface-to-volume ratio would have helped with that. In contrast, when humanity began moving into higher latitudes with their cooler climates, they would have had to become bulkier to compensate.

However, Dr. Will also notes that these are just theories. He also points out that their ability to draw information from the remains can be quite limited. Aside from gaps in the fossil records, at times they had to estimate a specimen’s entire body type from something as small as one toe bone.

Another interesting find is that the hominid change in both height and weight was not uniform. Instead, it probably happened in “growth spurts” (or shrinking spurts, sometimes) that might have been separated even by as much as millennia.

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(Mirror Daily, United States) – According to a new report, a microlensing event has allowed scientists to detect a massive exoplanet in the central core of the Milky Way galaxy.

The planet was discovered by the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, which based its findings on observations from the Spitzer Space Telescope and Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE) used by NASA. A study paper with their findings was published on October 27, 2017.

The Massive Exoplanet and its Location

Dubbed OGLE-2016-BLG-1190Lb, the new planet is 13.4 times the size of Jupiter. This is considered the largest that a planet can get before becoming a star. Because of this, one of the emerging theories is that OGLE-2016-BLG-1190Lb may actually be a brown dwarf with low mass. It orbits a G dwarf star that is about 0.89 times the size of our planet’s Sun, at a distance of about 2.0 AU (twice as far as the Earth is from the sun).

The massive exoplanet is located in the central core, a bulge in the center of the Milky Way that is mostly filled with stars. This is a chaotic region where it is difficult to detect any planets through conventional means. However, this massive exoplanet was detected thanks to a microlensing event.

Such an event occurs when one star passes in front of another. The gravity of the star closer to the Earth then bends the light of the other star, magnifying it. In this case, OGLE-2016-BLG-1190Lb was orbiting the closer star, and thus blocked the light of the more distant star. Thus, scientists were able to calculate its properties based on how much light was blocked and for how long.

Because it relies on stars moving in front of each other, microlensing is a very slow process.

The central core region which includes this planet is located about 22,000 light years away from the Earth.

Image Source: Exoplanets.NASA.gov

(Mirror Daily, United States) – Thanks to modern technology, the scientific world records one major discovery after another. Recent entries to the body of knowledge humans accumulated make today an interesting period of time to live in. The most recent finding concerns an ancient spiral galaxy that is 11 billion years old. The system of gravitational lensing is now capturing an early cosmos where the Big Bang happened only 2. 6 billion years ago.

The Newly Discovered Ancient Spiral Galaxy Is 11 Billion-Years-Old

The newly discovered universe received the code name of A1689B11. Using Near-infrared Integral Field Spectrograph, researchers managed to turn the gravity of the galaxies into a huge lens and find an ancient spiral galaxy., scientists managed to spear the universe back in time and experience historic times. The new technique enabled scientists to employ the gravity of galaxies as a lens and look even further into space than it was ever possible before.

The galaxy is almost 1 billion years older than Andromeda, our neighboring cosmos which is also a spiral galaxy. It is an 11 billion-year-old galactic system that sports numerous fascinating features.

The most interesting fact about this corner of the universe is the speed at which it creates new cosmic bodies. This medium promotes star formations at a 20 times quicker rate than any other galaxy.

Data from a New Entry in the Small List of Spiral Galaxies Can Help Scientists Confirm the Hubble Sequence

Dr. Tiantian Yuan, part of the Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia, claimed that this represents a unique system. No other galaxy has been expanding in the universe with such a dazzling speed when they were as young as A1689B11. On top of that, the galaxy managed to form an ideal equilibrium for its rotating disc. This ancient spiral galaxy encounters little turbulence in its evolution.

“Spiral galaxies are exceptionally rare in the early Universe, and this discovery opens the door to investigating how galaxies transition from highly chaotic, turbulent discs to tranquil, thin discs.”

Such a novel discovery can clear out further dilemma about our universe. Studying A1689B11 might constitute further evidence to support the Hubble sequence. Edwin Hubble drew a classification scheme for galaxies in 1926 with three main categories. These are spiral, irregular, and elliptical. This diagram withstood the test of time, and it is still the most common system used for classifying galaxies.

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(Mirror Daily, United States) – Archaeologists and researchers have been unendingly searching the chambers of the Great Pyramid of Giza, hoping they might find some secret corners hidden inside it. Now, after observing a series of mysterious subatomic particles, a team of scientists spotted the presence of a new structure within the pyramid. The discovery is major, as it might provide some answers to the great mystery of how an ancient civilization managed to build such an imposing structure.

The Great Pyramid of Giza is hiding a gaping void beneath its walls

The Great Pyramid of Giza is 4,500 years old, but its interiors still remain a mystery. However, researchers managed to find a sophisticated technique which allowed them to take a peek inside its vaults. This technology could measure the strange particles called muons, and discovered a void gaping open within the pyramid walls.

Researchers nicknamed this hole the Big Void, and it spreads over 100 feet right in the center of the pyramid. The void lays above the Grand Gallery, a passage which links the two main chambers of the structure, the Queen’s and the King’s room.

What are muons?

These mysterious muons are created with the breaking down of cosmic rays. They can easily float into the air, but have a hard time escaping from behind materials like stone. Researchers discovered that, by measuring how many muons can get through the stone, they could detect the presence of gaps and voids. This technique is really similar to X-ray monitoring.

Unfortunately, they cannot create a clear image of how this void should look like. They cannot tell if it is horizontal, if it’s made up of several empty spaces gathered together, or if it’s just a big hall. More importantly, they cannot tell why it hides beneath the walls of the Great Pyramid of Giza.

To find out more, researchers are now planning to design a robot which can enter the pyramid and better explore the void. This way, they might find out how such an ancient civilization, with less sophisticated technology, could erect such a formation like the Great Pyramid of Giza.

The study on the mysterious structure has been published in the journal Nature.
Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

(Mirror Daily, United States) – Sixty years ago, Laika became both the first dog and the first living creature to go out into space. The main purpose of its launching was to see how a living being would react in zero gravity, so that we would know how a human astronaut would react. Nowadays, scientists still send animals into the orbit, as they have a lot of things to learn from them.

Laika inspired researchers to send more animals into space

Before sending Laika into space, scientists thought mammals couldn’t survive in an environment with no gravity. Such a prospect put future astronauts in a lot of danger, so they decided to test their hypothesis by sending a non-human creature out there on the orbit.

The experiment showed mammals can survive in space, and other observations helped the researchers prepare the astronauts for space travel. However, there’s still a lot to learn about this, so they haven’t stopped sending animals on the orbit. This time, they opt for smaller creatures which are less likely to create an emotional bond with humans, so dogs like Laika are now out of the question.

These test animals show what changes the organism undergoes in zero gravity

Therefore, the purpose of animals in space is research, so scientists use the same test creatures as they use on Earth. These include flies, rodents, fish, and any kinds of small critters. Snails might be next on the list, and big rats should follow them soon enough.

It’s interesting to see how the animals behave before the launching, and how they cope when they first time have to deal with microgravity. Studies so far showed how they were able to adapt pretty quickly to the new environment, and what changes they suffered. This way, researchers know what treatments they should develop for astronauts, and how to reduce the risks they are exposed to in microgravity.
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(Mirror Daily, United States) – A team of researchers has recently stumbled upon the remnants of a huge flying creature which preyed upon smaller creatures about 70 million years ago. The fossils have been spotted in Mongolia, and likely belong to one of the largest animals of the kind which lived during that period.

The fossils belonged to a pterosaur

After a close analysis of the remains, researchers could tell they belonged to a pterosaur. This represented a group of reptiles which were able to fly, and lived during the same period as dinosaurs. Given their age, these reptiles were probably the first to fly among the vertebrates, and probably the biggest winged creatures which could also fly.

As soon as the Mongolian pterosaur was discovered, researchers were amazed by the impressive size of its neck bones. Therefore, judging from how big the remnants were, they could immediately tell the specimen belonged to this group of animals. The site of the discovery was the Nemegt Formation, a region in the Gobi Desert where many other dinosaur finds had occurred.

However, this was the first time when researchers discovered a pterosaur in the area. They had stumbled upon fossils of the animal in many other places, indicating its wide distribution over an extensive area 70 million years ago, during the Cretaceous period.

How big was this pterosaur?

The most remarkable and well-preserved parts of the fossil were the neck bones. This means it’s quite hard to estimate the exact dimensions of the creature. However, thanks to its footprint, researchers assumed the specimen must have been close in size to the biggest species which belonged to the pterosaur group.

The species in question, Hatzegopteryx and Quetzalcoatlus, reached about 36 feet when they spread their wings. Therefore, the Mongolian pterosaur must have been as big as a small plane, which is remarkable for a flying animal. However, researchers say that the animal could have actually been smaller, and the neck bones could have reached an abnormal size.

The study on the unusual pterosaur has been published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
Image Source: Pixabay

(Mirror Daily, United States) – A team of researchers made an encouraging discovery which left them rejoicing. While exploring the Cuchumatanes Mountains in Guatemala, they stumbled upon a Jackson’s climbing salamander. This finding matters a lot, as this is the first time in 40 years when they spot the species, and many thought it had already gone extinct.

The Jackson’s climbing salamander is back from the dead

The Jackson’s climbing salamander can be easily spotted thanks to its striking yellow color, which also led to it being called the golden wonder. This species was spotted for the first time in 1975, in a jungle in Guatemala. However, this month, a guard looking after the Finca San Isidro Amphibian Reserve spotted a baby salamander belonging to the same species. This was the third specimen ever spotted.

This attracted the attention of the Global Wildlife Conservation group, who have dedicated their time to look for species which people regarded as extinct. They were extremely excited by the discovery, and said endangered species still have a chance. Since such a species was spotted again within a protected area, this means there’s still hope.

An expert confirm that the specimen belonged to the long-lost salamander species

The conservation group decided to check if the mysterious salamander really belonged to the Jackson’s climbing species. Therefore, they snapped a quick photo of the specimen, and sent it to an expert. This was the curator of herpetology at the University of San Carlos in Guatemala, Carlos Vasquez, who has been on an avid quest to find the salamander since 2005.

He confirmed its origin, and was happy to see that the species didn’t disappear, after all. However, the discovery isn’t valuable only for the species alone, but for the entire area. This highlights the ideal conditions for different species to thrive, and promises a bright future for the creatures which populate it.
Image Source: Pixabay

(Mirror Daily, United States) – Microsoft was aiming to reach new records in their cloud business field, and its attempt were marked by a huge success. The company has just declared it can easily project an annual revenue of more than $20 billion. This is an important achievement, which will definitely help the company step forward.

Microsoft reached its $20 billion target

In 2015, Satya Nadella became the company’s CEO. At that moment, Microsoft earned about $6.3 billion revenue, and the new CEO wanted to hit the $20 billion milestone in 2018. Given the fact that the 2018 fiscal year started in July, then the revenue increase arrived just when it should have, or maybe even a bit earlier.

Microsoft has just announced the figures for this year, marking the reaching of their target. More precisely, the annual revenue was of $24.5 billion, with a profit of $6.6 billion. The increase can be observed even when comparing the reports with the earnings of last year. Back then, the revenue was of $20.4 billion, and the profit $4.7 billion.

The revenue increase was given by the prolific cloud business

The biggest contribution to this fruitful increase is given by the cloud business, as it brought $6.9 billion of the entire earnings. When assessing cloud’s contribution over more years, it accounts for about 14 percent of the increase, which is quite important. Microsoft is currently at the top of the cloud market, but many other companies are rapidly coming from behind.

However, cloud is the business of tomorrow, while the business of today is still represented by PC. Unfortunately, this field could have been better for Microsoft. Their revenue from gaming and Windows was a bit static, while the mobile business went off, as the company no longer produces smartphones. Even so, we can say this has been a prolific year for Microsoft, and good days are ahead of it.
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