Researchers develop new ways of visualizing ancient small objects by combining technologies

by University of Exeter

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Experts have developed new ways of visually representing ancient objects such as stone tools and fossils developing technologies currently only used in video games and computer graphics.

The techniques will allow anyone to produce high-quality images and models with minimal effort and cost. The ability to visually represent artifacts, whether inorganics like stone, ceramic and metal, or organics such as bone and plant material, has always been of great importance to the field of anthropology and archaeology. For researchers, educators, students and the public, the ability to see the past, not only read about it, offers invaluable insights into the production of cultural materials and the populations who made and used them.

Digital photography is the most used method of visual representation, but despite its speed and efficiency, it often fails to faithfully represent the artifact being studied. In recent years, 3D scanning has emerged as an alternative source of high-quality visualizations, but the cost of the equipment and the time needed to produce a model are often prohibitive.

Experts have developed two new methods for producing high-resolution visualizations of small artifacts, each achievable with basic software and equipment, described in a new paper published in PLOS ONE. The first method, Small Object and Artifact Photography or SOAP, deals with the photographic application of modern digital techniques. The protocol guides users through small object and artifact photography from the initial set up of the equipment to the best methods for camera handling and functionality and the application of post-processing software.

The second method, High Resolution Photogrammetry or HRP, is used for the photographic capturing, digital reconstruction and three-dimensional modeling of small objects. This method aims to give a comprehensive guide for the development of high-resolution 3D models, merging well-known techniques used in academic and computer graphic fields, allowing anyone to independently produce high resolution and quantifiable models

"These new protocols combine detailed, concise, and user-friendly workflows covering photographic acquisition and processing, thereby contributing to the replicability and reproducibility of high-quality visualizations," said Jacopo Niccolò Cerasoni, lead author of the paper from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Germany. "By clearly explaining every step of the process, including theoretical and practical considerations, these methods will allow users to produce high-quality, publishable two- and three-dimensional visualizations of their archaeological artifacts independently."

The SOAP and HRP protocols were developed using Adobe Camera Raw, Adobe Photoshop, RawDigger, DxO Photolab, and RealityCapture and take advantage of native functions and tools that make image capture and processing easier and faster. Although most of this software is readily available in academic environments, SOAP and HRP can be applied to any other non-subscription based software with similar features. This enables researchers to use free or open-access software as well, albeit with minor changes to some of the presented steps.

Both the SOAP protocol and the HRP protocol are published openly on protocols.io.

"Because visual communication is so important to understanding past behavior, technology and culture, the ability to faithfully represent artifacts is vital for the field of archaeology," says co-author Felipe do Nascimento Rodrigues, from the University of Exeter.

Even as new technologies revolutionize the field of archaeology, practical instruction on archaeological photography and three-dimensional reconstructions are lacking. The authors of the new paper hope to fill this gap, providing researchers, educators and enthusiasts with step-by-step instructions for creating high quality visualizations of artifact.

DIY digital archaeology: New methods for visualizing small objects and artifacts

More information: Jacopo Niccolò Cerasoni et al, Do-It-Yourself digital archaeology: Introduction and practical applications of photography and photogrammetry for the 2D and 3D representation of small objects and artefacts, PLOS ONE (2022). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0267168

Journal information: PLoS ONE 

Provided by University of Exeter 

The answer to keeping moose populations healthy? Wolves

by Frontiers

Osteoarthritis in a moose's hip joint. Credit: Rolf Peterson

Predators may keep prey populations healthy by acting as a selective force against genetic diseases. A new study found that wolves select adult moose based on age and osteoarthritis, a chronic disease that can be influenced by genetics. Wolves also showed a strong preference for elderly moose over prime-aged adults. The results indicate that wolves play an important role in keeping prey populations healthy and have considerable implications for the conservation management of predator and prey populations.

Over the last decade, wolves have been at the center stage of conservation news. They were once one of the most widely distributed wild mammals on Earth. But after decades of habitat destruction and human persecution, wolves now only occupy about two thirds of their former range.

Wolves as biodiversity managers

Now, the wolf is making a comeback. The US has seen an increase in their wolf populations across the country, and extensive conservation efforts have led to a comeback across Europe. Yet their return has not been well-received by everyone. Predators may lead to human-wildlife conflicts, as wolves can pose a threat to livestock and pets.

Even so, multiple case studies, such as the reintroduction of wolves in Yellowstone, have shown that the presence of wolves favors ecosystem health. Wolves keep prey populations, such as deer, elk, and moose, in check, which benefits vegetation. Carcasses left behind by wolves provide food for other animals such as scavengers and redistribute nutrients.

A new study published in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution found another way in which wolves may be beneficial for biodiversity: selective predation. Wolves preyed more on prime-aged adult moose with osteoarthritis than healthy prime-aged individuals. Wolves also showed a strong preference for elderly moose over prime-aged adults.

Selective predation

Selective predation means that a particular type of prey occurs more frequently in a predator's diet than what is expected based on the prey type's frequency in an environment. Predators tend to select individuals that are easier or less risky to hunt.

Selective predation can have important impacts on prey population dynamics. Prey population growth rates are less impacted by predation when predators go for juveniles or elderly adults, as these individuals have lower reproductive values.

Less well understood is the impact of predation of sick individuals on prey population health.

"Wolf biologists have in the past assumed that wolves play an important role in regulating the health of prey populations by selectively removing old or diseased animals," said Dr. Sarah Hoy, of Michigan Technological University. "However, a rigorous assessment of that idea has not been tested until now."

Healthy moose populations

Hoy and her colleague assessed the extent that wolves select adult moose on the basis of age-class and osteoarthritis.

"Osteoarthritis is a progressively crippling disease caused by deterioration of cartilage on the surfaces of moveable joints (for example, knees and hip joints)," explained Hoy. "As individuals get older, they are more likely to develop osteoarthritis and develop more severe forms of the disease."

They also examined how temporal variation in kill rates were associated with the subsequent incidence of osteoarthritis in the moose population over a 33-year period.

"When it comes to wolves and moose, it makes a lot of sense that wolves would preferentially target moose that are in poorer condition because adult moose weigh between 800 and 900lbs which is between eight and 10 times as heavy as a wolf," said Hoy.

They found that wolves showed strong selection for elderly moose and avoided prime-aged adults. The presence of severe osteoarthritis, but not mild or moderate, increased the vulnerability of prime-aged moose to predation.

"But the situation is different for older moose. While older moose are more vulnerable to predation, that vulnerability does not strongly depend on whether an old moose has osteoarthritis," explained Hoy.

They also found that the incidence of osteoarthritis in the moose population declined following years with higher kill rates.

"The decline in osteoarthritis following years with more predation is—we think—because wolves preferentially removed moose with osteoarthritis from the population," said Hoy.

Wolf conservation

The results have important implications for wolf management and conservation. Hoy explained: "The management and conservation of wolves is controversial among the public. Yet our results suggest wolves might be an effective, natural, and more ethical way of regulating the health of deer and moose populations—as opposed to using culls or recreational hunting to reduce the incidence of diseases or parasites of concern."

"The results are also relevant for policy-related arguments about reasons to refrain from intensively hunting wolf populations," continued Hoy.

"When deciding whether to hunt wolves it is important to not only consider issues that may be caused by wolves (ie, occasional predation of livestock) but to also consider the important ecological benefits that wolves may provide by removing old and diseased animals from the populations."Research indicates that wolves might help moose avoid acquiring a deadly deer parasite

More information: Sarah R. Hoy et al, The Role of Wolves in Regulating a Chronic Non-communicable Disease, Osteoarthritis, in Prey Populations, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution (2022). DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.819137

Journal information: Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 

Provided by Frontiers 

Capturing Solar Energy and Converting It to Electricity When Needed – Up to 18 Years Later

By CHALMERS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY APRIL 18, 2022

Researchers have taken a step forward in developing an energy system that makes it possible to capture solar energy, store it for up to 18 years, and release it when and where it is needed. They have now succeeded in getting the system to produce electricity by connecting it to a thermoelectric generator, after previously demonstrating how the energy can be retrieved as heat. Credit: Chalmers University of Technology | Daniel Spacek, neuroncollective.com

The researchers behind an energy system that makes it possible to capture solar energy, store it for up to eighteen years, and release it when and where it is needed have now taken the system a step further. After previously demonstrating how the energy can be extracted as heat, they have now succeeded in getting the system to produce electricity, by connecting it to a thermoelectric generator. Eventually, the research – developed at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden – could lead to self-charging electronic gadgets that use stored solar energy on demand.

“This is a radically new way of generating electricity from solar energy. It means that we can use solar energy to produce electricity regardless of weather, time of day, season, or geographical location. It is a closed system that can operate without causing carbon dioxide emissions,” says research leader Kasper Moth-Poulsen, Professor at the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Chalmers.

The researchers behind the solar energy system MOST, which makes it possible to capture solar energy, store it for up to 18 years, and release it when and where it is needed, have now taken the system a step further. After previously demonstrating how the energy can be extracted as heat, they have now succeeded in getting the system to produce electricity, by connecting it to a compact thermoelectric generator. The research, which was carried out at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, could eventually lead to self-charging gadgets that are powered on-demand by stored solar energy. Credit: Chalmers University of Technology

The new technology is based on the solar energy system MOST – Molecular Solar Thermal Energy Storage Systems, developed at Chalmers University of Technology. Very simply, the technology is based on a specially designed molecule that changes shape when it comes into contact with sunlight. The research has already attracted great interest worldwide when it has been presented at earlier stages.

The new study, published in Cell Reports Physical Science in March 2022 and carried out in collaboration with researchers in Shanghai, takes the solar energy system a step further, detailing how it can be combined with a compact thermoelectric generator to convert solar energy into electricity.

Molecular Solar Thermal Energy Storage Systems, Most, is a closed energy system based on a specially designed molecule of carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen, which when hit by sunlight changes shape into an energy-rich isomer – a molecule made up of the same atoms but arranged together in a different way. The isomer can then be stored in liquid form for up to 18 years for later use when needed, such as at night or in winter. Credit: Chalmers University of Technology, Per Erséus, Språng kommunikation

Ultra-thin chip converts heat into electricity

The Swedish researchers sent their specially designed molecule, loaded with solar energy, to colleagues Tao Li and Zhiyu Hu at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, where the energy was released and converted into electricity using the generator they developed there. Essentially, Swedish sunshine was sent to the other side of the world and converted into electricity in China.

“The generator is an ultra-thin chip that could be integrated into electronics such as headphones, smartwatches, and telephones. So far, we have only generated small amounts of electricity, but the new results show that the concept really works. It looks very promising,” says researcher Zhihang Wang from Chalmers University of Technology.

In combination with a micrometer-thin thermoelectric generator, the Most energy system can also generate electricity to order. Credit: Chalmers University of Technology | Per Erséus, Språng kommunikation

Fossil free, emissions free

The research has great potential for renewable and emissions-free energy production. But a lot of research and development remains before we will be able to charge our technical gadgets or heat our homes with the system’s stored solar energy.

“Together with the various research groups included in the project, we are now working to streamline the system. The amount of electricity or heat it can extract needs to be increased. Even if the energy system is based on simple basic materials, it needs to be adapted to be sufficiently cost-effective to produce, and thus possible to launch more broadly,” says Kasper Moth-Poulsen.

Researchers Maria Quant and Zhihang Wang working in the lab at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden. Credit: Chalmers University of Technology, Per Erséus, Språng kommunikation

More about the Most technology

Molecular Solar Thermal Energy Storage Systems, Most, is a closed energy system based on a specially designed molecule of carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen, which when hit by sunlight changes shape into an energy-rich isomer – a molecule made up of the same atoms but arranged together in a different way. The isomer can then be stored in liquid form for later use when needed, such as at night or in winter. The researchers have refined the system to the point that it is now possible to store the energy for up to 18 years. A specially designed catalyst releases the saved energy as heat while returning the molecule to its original shape, so it can then be reused in the heating system. Now, in combination with a micrometer-thin thermoelectric generator, the energy system can also generate electricity to order.

Post Doc Zhihang Wang , Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden. Credit: Chalmers University of Technology, Sandra Nayeri

Reference: “Chip-scale solar thermal electrical power generation” by Zhihang Wang, Zhenhua Wu, Zhiyu Hu, Jessica Orrego-Hernández, Erzhen Mu, Zhao-Yang Zhang, Martyn Jevric, Yang Liu, Xuecheng Fu, Fengdan Wang, Tao Li and Kasper Moth-Poulsen, 2 March 2022, Cell Reports Physical Science.
DOI: 10.1016/j.xcrp.2022.100789

Professor Kasper Moth-Poulsen, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden. Credit: Chalmers University of Technology, Oscar Mattsson

More about the research and the scientific article

The study Chip-scale solar thermal electrical power generation is published in Cell Reports Physical Science. The article is written by Zhihang Wang, Zhenhua Wu, Zhiyu Hu, Jessica Orrego-Hernández, Erzhen Mu, Zhao-Yang Zhang, Martyn Jevric, Yang Liu, Xuecheng Fu, Fengdan Wang, Tao Li and Kasper Moth-Poulsen. The researchers are active at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and Henan Polytechnic University in China, as well as at the Institute of Materials Science in Barcelona and the Catalan Department of Research and Advanced Studies, ICREA, in Spain.

The research has been funded by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research, the Swedish Research Council Formas, the Swedish Energy Agency, the European Research Council (ERC) under grant agreement CoG, PHOTHERM – 101002131, the Catalan Institute of Advanced Studies (ICREA), and the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme under grant agreement no. 951801.

All-sky cameras capture bright fireball event

by Jeff Renaud, University of Western Ontario

Meteorite fall zone. Credit: University of Western Ontario

A bright fireball was observed by a network of all-sky cameras across southern Ontario at 11:37pm on Sunday, April 17, 2022. Analysis of the video data suggests that fragments of the meteor are likely to have made it to the ground near the eastern shore of Lake Simcoe, just north of the town of Argyle.

Western University's physics and astronomy department runs an all-sky camera network that constantly monitors the sky for meteors. Denis Vida, who specializes in the study of meteors, confirmed that more than a dozen all-sky cameras of Western's Southern Ontario Meteor Network (SOMN) captured the event north of Toronto late Sunday evening as did a number of citizen scientist-operated cameras from the Global Meteor Network (GMN).

"This fireball was particularly significant because it was moving slowly, was on an asteroidal orbit and ended very low in the atmosphere. These are all good indicators that material survived," says Vida, an astronomy postdoctoral associate.

In fact, the fireball was still producing light at just 29 km altitude. Another factor which strongly favors survival of meteorites, includes the very steep entry angle (about 30 degrees from the vertical).

"Taken together, these factors suggest many small meteorites have made it to the ground," says Vida.

This event is equally important because Western's meteor research group has good-quality video data of its passage through the atmosphere so they can calculate rock's origin in our solar system. Preliminary results indicate that the fireball first became visible at an altitude of 90km and traveled almost due north.

"The initial mass is believed to have been around 10 kilograms and we would expect tens to hundreds of grams of material on the ground," says Vida. "Meteorites are of great interest to researchers as studying them helps us to understand the formation and evolution of the solar system," says Vida.

Meteorites can be recognized by their dark, often scalloped exterior. Usually they will be denser than a "normal" rock and will often be attracted to a magnet due to their metal content. Meteorites are not dangerous, but if recovered, it is best to place them in a clean plastic bag or wrap them in aluminum foil. They should also be handled as little as possible to help preserve their scientific value. In Canada, meteorites belong to the owner of the land upon which they are found. If individuals plan to search, they should always obtain permission of the land-owner before venturing onto private land.

Grand Bend fireball may have dropped meteorites

More information: Researchers at Western and the Royal Ontario Museum are interested to hear from anyone in the area of the potential fall who may have heard anything unusual, or who may have found possible meteorites. If you believe you have found a suspicious rock from this event, please contact the Royal Ontario Museum at naturalhistory@rom.on.ca

Provided by University of Western Ontario 

Stopping 'them' from spying on you: New AI can block rogue microphones

by Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Ever noticed online ads following you that are eerily close to something you've recently talked about with your friends and family? Microphones are embedded into nearly everything today, from our phones, watches, and televisions to voice assistants, and they are always listening to you. Computers are constantly using neural networks and AI to process your speech, in order to gain information about you. If you wanted to prevent this from happening, how could you go about it?

Back in the day, as portrayed in the hit TV show "The Americans," you would play music with the volume way up or turn on the water in the bathroom. But what if you didn't want to constantly scream over the music to communicate? Columbia Engineering researchers have developed a new system that generates whisper-quiet sounds that you can play in any room, in any situation, to block smart devices from spying on you. And it's easy to implement on hardware like computers and smartphones, giving people agency over protecting the privacy of their voice.

"A key technical challenge to achieving this was to make it all work fast enough," said Carl Vondrick, assistant professor of computer science. "Our algorithm, which manages to block a rogue microphone from correctly hearing your words 80% of the time, is the fastest and the most accurate on our testbed. It works even when we don't know anything about the rogue microphone, such as the location of it, or even the computer software running on it. It basically camouflages a person's voice over-the-air, hiding it from these listening systems, and without inconveniencing the conversation between people in the room."

Staying ahead of conversations

While the team's results in corrupting automatic speech recognition systems have been theoretically known to be possible in AI for a while, achieving them fast enough to use in practical applications has remained a major bottleneck. The problem has been that a sound that breaks a person's speech now—at this specific moment—isn't a sound that will break speech a second later. As people talk, their voices constantly change as they say different words and speak very fast. These alterations make it almost impossible for a machine to keep up with the fast pace of a person's speech.

"Our algorithm is able to keep up by predicting the characteristics of what a person will say next, giving it enough time to generate the right whisper to make," said Mia Chiquier, lead author of the study and a Ph.D. student in Vondrick's lab. "So far our method works for the majority of the English language vocabulary, and we plan to apply the algorithm on more languages, as well as eventually make the whisper sound completely imperceptible.

Launching 'predictive attacks'

The researchers needed to design an algorithm that could break neural networks in real time, that could be generated continuously as speech is spoken, and applicable to the majority of vocabulary in a language. While earlier work had successfully tackled at least one of these three requirements, none have achieved all three. Chiquier's new algorithm uses what she calls "predictive attacks"—a signal that can disrupt any word that automatic speech recognition models are trained to transcribe. In addition, when attack sounds are played over-the-air, they need to be loud enough to disrupt any rogue "listening-in" microphone that could be far away. The attack sound needs to carry the same distance as the voice.

The researchers' approach achieves real-time performance by forecasting an attack on the future of the signal, or word, conditioned on two seconds of input speech. The team optimized the attack so it has a volume similar to normal background noise, allowing people in a room to converse naturally and without being successfully monitored by an automatic speech recognition system. The group successfully demonstrated that their method works inside real-world rooms with natural ambient noise and complex scene geometries.

Ethical AI

"For many of us in the research community, ethical concerns of AI technology are an essential issue, but it seems to belong to a separate thought process. It is like we are so happy that we finally made a driving car but forgot to design a steering wheel and a brake," says Jianbo Shi, professor of computer and information science at the University of Pennsylvania and a leading researcher in machine learning. "As a community, we need to 'consciously' think about the human and societal impact of the AI technology we develop from the earliest research design phase. Mia Chiquier and Carl Vondrick's study poses the question 'How to use AI to protect us against unintended AI usages?' Their work makes many of us think in the following direction: Ask not what ethical AI can do for us, but what we can do for ethical AI? Once we believe in this direction, ethical AI research is just as fun and creative."

Chiquier will present her paper on April 25, 2022, at the International Conference for Learning Representations.Machine learning improves human speech recognition

More information: Mia Chiquier et al, Real-Time Neural Voice Camouflage (2022). Available as a PDF at arXiv:2112.07076 [cs.SD] arxiv.org/abs/2112.07076

Provided by Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science 

A model that can help inexperienced users identify phishing emails

by Ingrid Fadelli , Tech Xplore

Overview of the system’s design. Credit: Kashapov et al.

Phishing attacks are cyber-attacks through which criminals trick users into sending them money and sensitive information, or into installing malware on their computer, by sending them deceptive emails or messages. As these attacks have become increasingly widespread, developers have been trying to develop more advanced tools to detect them and protect potential victims.

Researchers at Monash University and CSIRO's Data61 in Australia have recently developed a machine learning-based approach that could help users to identify phishing emails, so that they don't inadvertently install malware or send sensitive data to cyber-criminals. This model was introduced in a paper pre-published on arXiv and set to be presented at AsiaCCS 2022, a cyber-security conference.

"We have identified a gap in current phishing research, namely realizing that existing literature focuses on rigorous 'black and white' methods to classify whether something is a phishing email or not," Tingmin (Tina) Wu, one of the researchers who carried out the study, told TechXplore.

Researchers have recently tried to develop models that can automatically analyze emails in people's inbox and detect phishing messages. Most of these methods, however, were found to only identify a limited number of patterns, thus missing many malicious emails.

"In contrast with other 'black and white' methods, we hand the power to decide whether something is suspicious over to the users, by equipping them with easily understandable machine results and conversions," Wu explained. "The reasoning behind this is that recent phishing attacks might not have obvious malicious patterns but instead can leverage human psychology to persuade users to hand over their personal information."

After realizing that automated phishing email detection methods did not achieve satisfactory results, researchers started shifting their focus on the introduction of detection support tools, such as security warnings, which allow users to make the final decision about whether to delete emails or not. These warnings, however, also proved to be ineffective, as they can be too technical for non-expert users.

Wu and her colleagues thus set out to develop an alternative tool for helping non-expert email users to determine what emails are safe and which are potentially malicious. The model they developed was designed to produce a more "digestible" summary of emails, which highlights emotional triggers, key content of the text, and the result of an intent analysis

"Our system summarizes phishing emails from three different angles to users to make informed decisions," Wu said. "Firstly, we summarize the emails using a variety of machine learning models to create an accurate, short summary so that users can quickly be aware of the most important content in the email."

The system in action. Credit: Kashapov et al.

After it creates a digestible summary of the content of emails, the tool developed by Wu and her colleagues tries to identify the possible intent of phishing emails, so that users can make more informed decisions about what to do with the email. For instance, it shows them if an email from an unknown contact is asking them to click on a link. Finally, the approach created by the researchers also tries to identify emotional triggers.

"We derive a model to extract the cognitive triggers based on the language used in the emails," Wu said. "One example of a psychological weakness used by attackers is that users might tend to obey the request when it comes to punishment if not complying with it. The information from these three branches is merged to support users to make the final decision."

Instead of automatically detecting and filtering potentially malicious emails, the approach devised by Wu and her colleagues prepares a summary of emails that users can then use to decide what to do with different emails in their inbox. By using the tool regularly, therefore, non-expert users can learn to identify common patterns in phishing by themselves.

The model introduced by the researchers combines a variety of state-of-the-art phishing detection methods into a single, concise "informational package." In contrast with other previously proposed approaches, therefore, it presents users with probabilities, instead of "hard truths," preventing errors that might result in the loss of important messages.

"Our system is designed to address the challenges of improving the readability and effectiveness of generated information on phishing emails," Wu said. "While most of the current warnings are generated based on the URL, our method focuses on generating useful information around the intention of the emails. That is, to help users identify the phishing attempts by better leveraging their contextual knowledge and aim at the latest trending tactics, e.g., using phishing emails that can easily bypass URL-based detection."

The recent work by this team of researchers introduces an alternative approach for decreasing the impact of phishing attack, which does not rely on error-prone automated systems or on pop-up windows that users typically ignore. So far, the team created an elementary proof-of-concept of their system, but they now plan to develop it further.

"We now plan to continue improving our system," Wu added. "We will keep collecting the new datasets and make sure the model can extract the useful contents from the emails no matter how the attacking tactic evolves. We will also conduct a large-scale user study to ensure the system is user-friendly and effective."

In the future, the system developed by Wu and her colleagues could open new possibilities for tackling phishing attacks. In addition, it could help email providers to teach non-expert users to independently detect these malicious messages, thus potentially reducing their impact.

"Human-centric systems are the first step toward leveraging the complementary intelligence of humans and machines," Wu added. "Some future studies are still needed, e.g., to investigate the impact of the human factors on the final decision, to understand users' habituation in long-time interacting with the warnings and implementing the system in a broad area in cybersecurity, not only phishing."A new model to automatically detect and filter spam emails

More information: Amir Kashapov, Tingmin Wu, Alsharif Abuadbba, Carsten Rudolph, Email summarization to assist users in phishing identification. arXiv:2203.13380v1 [cs.CR], arxiv.org/abs/2203.13380

© 2022 Science X Network

Rare overhaul of powerful US nuclear test reactor completed

by Keith Ridler

This photo released by Idaho National Laboratory shows its Advanced Test 

Reactor at Sunrise at Idaho National Laboratory's desert site about 50 miles

 west of Idaho Falls, Idaho, on Jan. 31, 2007. Scientists in Idaho have

 completed a rare overhaul of one of the world's most powerful nuclear test 

reactors. Officials at the Idaho National Laboratory said Monday, April 18, 2022,

 that normal operations are expected to resume later this spring at the Advanced 

Test Reactor following low-power system checks to make sure the reactor is in 

working order. Credit: Idaho National Laboratory via AP, File

Scientists at the Idaho National Laboratory have completed a rare overhaul of one of the world's most powerful nuclear test reactors and normal operations are expected to resume later this spring, officials said Monday.

The 11-month outage at the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Test Reactor, or ATR, in eastern Idaho allowed a core overhaul that's done, on average, about every 10 years. The changeout was the sixth since the reactor started operating in 1967 and the first in 17 years.

"Overall, I'm very pleased with the ATR workforce and teamwork they demonstrated during the longest and most complex outage in our history," said Sean O'Kelly, associate lab director for the Idaho National Laboratory's Advanced Test Reactor Complex.

He said the coronavirus pandemic and supply chain issues caused some delays beyond the best-case scenario of completing the work in nine months.

Experiments at the reactor help the U.S. Navy's nuclear-powered war fleet stay at sea longer, bolster NASA's space exploration, and advance life-saving medical treatments. The reactor also plays a key role in the effort to keep commercial nuclear power plants running longer and creating new and safer reactors to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The latest overhaul was completed last month and the reactor is now going through readiness assessments, instrument calibrations and low-power system checks. Those assessments are expected to be finished in May or June.

"Nuclear testing is needed to build an extensive set of baseline data for operating the reactor with new core components and new fuel, which is something we haven't done since after our last overhaul was completed in 2005," O'Kelly said. "We're working to complete the first set of low-power tests by late spring, when we will shut down again to install the first set of experiments."

The reactor is configured so it can run multiple tests simultaneously. Some of the best testing slots face a decade-long wait for room to run experiments, and other slots are booked years in advance.

The ATR is unique because unlike commercial nuclear reactors that produce heat that's turned into energy, the ATR produces neutrons so that new materials and fuels can be tested to see how they react in high-radiation environments. The test reactor's unique cloverleaf design includes a core that's surrounded by beryllium metal to reflect the neutrons.

But all those neutrons put wear on the internal parts of the test reactor, meaning it would lose the ability to conduct experiments if it is not refurbished.

The reactor's designers foresaw that problem and created a reactor with internal components that can be periodically replaced.

Idaho National Laboratory's Advanced Test Reactor overhaul complete

© 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Hydropower supply chain deep dive assessment: Report

by Mimi McHale, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

A large generator is installed at the Meldahl hydropower plant in Kentucky. 

The energy sector anticipates longer lead times in procuring such large 

components for increasing construction and modernization of U.S. hydropower 

plants. Credit: American Municipal Power

A new Department of Energy report produced by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) identifies several supply chain must-haves in maintaining the pivotal role hydropower will play in decarbonizing the nation's grid.

The "Hydropower Supply Chain Deep Dive Assessment" is part of a series of reports on energy sector readiness that spotlights the impacts of a burdened supply chain—from an aging workforce to a lack of domestic sourcing for components such as microchips and large steel castings for turbines.

While the supply chain adequately supports the existing U.S. hydropower fleet, the sector is preparing for longer lead times in procuring components for new construction and modernization efforts in response to growing demand for hydropower.

"It was illuminating to see how little public data are available to trace hydropower supply chains," said ORNL's Rocio Uria-Martinez. "But this analysis has brought all parties together to better inform policy and develop workable solutions."ORNL scientists generate landmark DOE hydropower report

More information: Hydropower Supply Chain Deep Dive Assessment

Provided by Oak Ridge National Laboratory