If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties‚ subscribe to Reclaim The Net. US smart TV and streaming devices and TV operating systems maker Roku has changed its terms of service related to dispute resolution process – and has reportedly decided to lock out devices until their owners consent to the new rules. Judging by reports‚ based on information users have been posting on forums and social media‚ Roku is not above playing some long-since established “user interface” games to get customers to do what they want. Customers still have some ownership and control over their hardware – but the company is making them jump through a lot of hoops to exercise it. What this is about is some user reporting that after a recent Roku update‚ their restarted device popped up a “welcome screen” informing of the updated ToS‚ allowing people to read them‚ but also apparently – only to “agree.” Many angry users are saying that there was no option to refuse and in any case there seems to be instances of those who fail to “agree” having their devices locked. Perhaps because Roku is known for being inexpensive‚ the mainstream tech press is quoting one user who “threatened” to send back all the devices they own – indignant that this kind of behavior suggests people don’t‚ after all‚ own the hardware they pay for. (But it would be interesting to see how many are willing to “send back” their Apple devices when the giants pull tricks in the same vein.) It now turns out that it’s possible to disagree with the updated ToS – but only once you have pressed the “agree” button. And‚ the “opt-out” has to come in writing. Specifically‚ in the form of an actual mailed letter to Roku General Counsel over in California. However‚ that apparently still doesn’t mean that customers will be able to continue using the product. Roku is also making sure the deadlines are short before users become “opted-in” possibly without knowing it‚ and certainly automatically. The new ToS gives them 30 days after “first becoming subject” (reports say that would have been Feb. 20) to the new arbitration rules to disagree. In any case‚ it seems to be Roku’s way or the highway. The post Roku Is Locking Users out of Their Smart TVs Until They Agree to New Terms That Change the Dispute Resolution Process appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

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Lorain County Emergency Management (EMA) in Ohio have issued a warning to eclipse watchers and locals to the path of totality to stock up on food‚ water‚ and fuel ahead of the total eclipse on April 8‚ with an influx of visitors to the area expected.The last total solar eclipse over the US was pretty spectacular‚ as anyone who saw it will attest. Looking at the photos‚ it's hard to imagine how the sight could have been improved upon in the eclipse taking place next month.But if we are lucky and the weather is fine‚ we could be in for something special‚ as the eclipse coincides with the solar maximum."In 2017‚ the Sun was nearing solar minimum. Viewers of the total eclipse could see the breathtaking corona – but since the Sun was quiet‚ streamers flowing into the solar atmosphere were restricted to just the equatorial regions of the star. The Sun is more magnetically symmetrical during solar minimum‚ causing this simpler appearance‚" NASA explains. "During the 2024 eclipse‚ the Sun will be in or near solar maximum‚ when the magnetic field is more like a tangled hairball. Streamers will likely be visible throughout the corona. In addition to that‚ viewers will have a better chance to see prominences – which appear as bright‚ pink curls or loops coming off the Sun."The eclipse should be visible from Mexico to Canada. The path of totality – the area where people will see a total solar eclipse – is wider than in 2017 too‚ as the Moon is closer to Earth due to where it is in its orbit‚ meaning more people will see the Sun's corona."With lucky timing‚ there could even be a chance to see a coronal mass ejection – a large eruption of solar material – during the eclipse‚" NASA added.As always with eclipses though‚ there are safety concerns. Last time‚ there was a concerning spike in Google searches related to what happens if you look directly at the Sun‚ shortly after the eclipse took place. There are logistical problems too in the form of a huge influx of tourists hoping to see the celestial event‚ which areas along the path of totality are currently getting ready for. Lorain County officials‚ for example‚ have put out a warning that as people arrive ahead of the eclipse there could be increased traffic‚ increased wait time for services such as hospitals and gas stations‚ as well as difficulty accessing food and other supplies. “What we could have is crowds here that we’re not used to‚” said Dave Freeman‚ Lorain County EMA director‚ in a statement seen by USA Today. “We’re not set up infrastructure-wise for that‚ we don’t have the roads.”“A lot of the roads here are two lanes‚” Freeman added‚ per Yahoo News. “This is not Chicago‚ this is not Cleveland‚ where we have a bunch of four-lane‚ six-lane roads coming in so the traffic could be pretty extreme here if we get crowds more than we expect."The EMA is also warning that cell phone signal could be lost due to the increase in cell phone activity in the area overloading the system. The team is warning residents that in the weekend ahead of the eclipse‚ they should fill their vehicles with gas‚ stock up on food‚ and avoid other travel where possible.More importantly‚ you should look up and enjoy the eclipse‚ of course minimizing the risk of damage to your eyes by checking out our handy guide to viewing eclipses safely first.

Just once in a while‚ zoologists like to combine the names of animals – something like the parrotfish or the dragonfly. This time‚ they’ve done it for good reason. Meet the owl monkey‚ also known as the night monkey‚ the world’s only nocturnal primate species.What is an owl monkey and where do they live?The owl monkeys are a group of 10 species in the genus Aotus‚ split into two groups. Previously the genus just contained one species with several subspecies‚ but all have since been elevated to species level; however‚ there remains some discussion around the taxonomy. The two groups are the gray-necked‚ which are found north of the Amazon River‚ and the red-necked that are found south of the Amazon‚ according to the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center.All the owl monkey species live in South America with the species having different distributions and sometimes occurring in very different tree-based habitats. Azara’s night monkey (Aotus azarae) lives in the Gran Chaco region of South America‚ according to the New England Primate Conservancy. The Colombian night monkey (Aotus lemurinus) is known by a host of other common names and is found in the countries of Colombia‚ Ecuador‚ and Venezuela. Owl monkeys have incredibly tight social bonds and have never been found to cheat on their partners.Image credit: Nowaczyk/Shutterstock.comOwl monkeys weigh roughly 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) and have thick gray fur across most of their bodies with orange fur over their chests and bellies‚ depending on the species. The standout feature of these owl monkeys is their unusually large eyes‚ which evolved in response to a nocturnal lifestyle – they are the only new world monkeys to be active at night. The lens of the eyes is more spherical than in monkey species that are active during the day‚ a chapter on nonhuman primates in the third edition of Laboratory Animal Medicine suggests. Most species of owl monkey live in pairs or in small family groups. “Male and female owl monkeys establish pairs‚ forming very emotionally strong and enduring relationships. Our research indicates that they are also genetically monogamous‚ they only reproduce with each other‚” said biological anthropologist Professor Eduardo Fernandez-Duque in an interview for Yale News.  Owl monkey fathers are heavily involved in the raising of the offspring‚ and actively guard their females against other males mating with them‚ according to a 2010 study. "Owl monkeys are one of the few mammals where we have absolutely no evidence of unfaithfulness; there’s not a single genetic data point that suggests that males and females in pair relationships – who sleep together‚ feed together‚ move together – are not exclusively mating with each other‚" continued Fernandez-Duque.Data is limited for some areas of owl monkey ecology‚ but it is suggested that the male and female monkeys are the same size and have a lifespan of around 20 years in captivity‚ and one observed individual was found to be 11 years old in the wild. What does an owl monkey eat?The gray-handed night monkey (Aotus griseimembra) lives in family groups that forage at night. They eat fruit‚ flowers‚ seeds‚ and insects‚ occasionally also eating bird eggs and small birds according to the New England Primate Conservancy. A note on biomedical researchOwl monkeys have been studied as animal models for use in vaccine research for malaria‚ since they are susceptible to the parasite that causes this disease in humans. They've even been used for research and then returned to the wild. Sometimes their nests are destroyed in the trapping process‚ which could damage owl monkey populations long term‚ writes the IUCN. "After subjecting them to research procedures‚ the monkeys are released back into the wild without follow-up‚ which is possibly causing the displacement or hybridization of resident populations as well as risking zoonotic transmission‚" said Angela Maldonado‚ primatologist and director of Fundación Entropika‚ in an interview with Forbes. As well as being the best dads in the primate world‚ helping scientists fight diseases‚ and showing us all what a model relationship should look like‚ they also have a call befitting their name. “They produce relatively loud‚ low-frequency calls that sound a bit like the hoot of an owl‚ hence the name‚” says Fernandez-Duque. This is in contrast to the barred owl‚ whose call sounds a bit like a monkey. 

Subterranean salamanders‚ once thought to dwell exclusively in their underwater caverns‚ spend a surprising amount of time aboveground‚ new research has revealed. The blind beasties‚ called olms‚ have been spotted venturing out of their underground caves in northern Italy and scoping things out at the surface.The olm (Proteus anguinus) are bizarre creatures‚ once thought to be baby dragons. After millions of years spent (largely) in darkness‚ it is effectively blind‚ has a ghostly pale complexion‚ a sharp sense of smell and hearing‚ and navigates using electric fields. But despite these cave-dwelling specializations‚ known as troglomorphisms‚ it seems olms are not strictly bound to life below the ground.“To date‚ very limited observations of olms outside caves are available‚” the researchers write in their paper. And those that have been spotted elsewhere are considered to have been flukes.However‚ in 2020‚ the team stumbled across one swimming in an aboveground spring‚ much to their surprise. Investigating further‚ they realized this was not such a rare occurrence as first suspected.“Unexpectedly‚ olms were repeatedly detected even during the daytime‚ when conditions of surface habitats (light‚ visual predator occurrence) are assumed to be particularly unsuitable for cave specialists‚” they write.Olms were observed in 15 springs in northeastern Italy‚ and in one instance‚ a larva was found – an “exceptional finding” the team say. “To our knowledge‚ it represents the smallest individual ever found in the field and the only larva found outside caves.” As it was discovered during a period when no flooding could explain its presence there‚ this could suggest that olms can breed in aboveground springs‚ although this is expected to be a rarity (if the case at all).Even if they aren't breeding at the surface‚ the researchers suspect the species may be feeding there. They handled 12 olms‚ five of which regurgitated recently eaten earthworms. None of the worms belonged to species living in underground environments such as caves‚ so the olms must have gorged themselves on earthworms found during an excursion to the surface.Despite the huge amount of energy required for an olm to zip between cave and spring‚ they don’t seem to be faring too badly‚ study author Dr Raoul Manenti told The New York Times. While they tend to be on the skinny side at the best of times‚ some of the olms found at the surface were “downright plump”.These strange salamanders really are full of surprises.The study is published in the journal Ecology.

We are used to space missions ending due to the challenging environments of exploration. They run out of fuel or coolant‚ they are covered in dust and lose power‚ or they are killed by the cold lunar night. But it feels almost sadder or‚ at least‚ less inevitable when the decision to end the mission is due to monetary constraints.NASA has submitted its budget for 2025 and it is $25‚383‚700‚000 – the same it has been in 2023 and 2024. Twenty-five billion dollars might seem like a huge number‚ but it is less than 0.4 percent of what the United States will spend next year. For every $100 spent by the U.S. government‚ NASA gets 34 cents. The Defense budget would be equivalent to $12.26.NASA’s budget plan also includes the proposed request for budgets up to 2029‚ which provide some insights into the future. An important one that will be felt in high-energy astronomy departments is the slow wind-down of the operation of the Chandra X-ray Observatory. The proposed forecast cuts Chandra's budget by almost half‚ from $41.1 million in 2025 to $26.6 million in 2026.Chandra will be 25 years old in July and the investment in it has been more than repaid as it was expected to work for just five years. It continues to provide high-resolution observations of the universe in X-rays‚ outcompeting some of the newer high-energy observatories. NASA’s view for 2029 is that the telescope would require just $5.2 million.“The Chandra spacecraft has been degrading over its mission lifetime to the extent that several systems require active management to keep temperatures within acceptable ranges for spacecraft operations. This makes scheduling and the post-processing of data more complex‚ increasing mission management costs beyond what NASA can currently afford. The reduction to Chandra will start orderly mission drawdown to minimal operations‚” NASA writes in justification of the budget.Chandra‚ together with Hubble‚ Compton Gamma Ray Observatory‚ and Spitzer‚ were the Great Observatories. Spitzer and Compton have been retired‚ and even Hubble’s budget is looking gloomier. Next year‚ it will be cut by 5 percent. And it will drop even further in the subsequent years‚ with some of its operations being merged with JWST.Not all the veteran missions face cuts. Voyager 1 and 2 will see a small increase next year (from $6.5 to $7 million) and a bit more in 2029. Voyager 1 is currently experiencing problems so it is unclear how set in stone the future budget is.There are several other interesting tidbits from the budget. For example‚ the Mars Sample Return mission‚ which has been in trouble for some time‚ hasn’t got a budget request. NASA is most likely waiting on the final assessment of the mission feasibility.Closer to Earth‚ the Lunar Gateway‚ the orbiting space station that will go around the Moon‚ is getting a big budget increase this year as the first module is expected to launch in November 2025. Follow-up modules are expected to be sent up with the crewed Artemis mission‚ which continues across the budget with little alteration‚ although Artemis V has now been moved from September 2029 to March 2030.The full budget request can be read here.

Frank Herbert’s Dune is epic sci-fi storytelling with an environmental message at its heart. The novels and movies are set on the desert planet of Arrakis‚ which various characters dream of transforming into a greener world – much like some envision for Mars today.We investigated Arrakis using a climate model‚ a computer program similar to those used to give weather forecasts. We found the world that Herbert had created‚ well before climate models even existed‚ was remarkably accurate – and would be habitable‚ if not hospitable.However‚ Arrakis wasn’t always a desert. In Dune lore‚ 91 percent of the planet was once covered by oceans‚ until some ancient catastrophe led to its desertification. What water remained was further removed by sand trout‚ an invasive species brought to Arrakis. These proliferated and carried liquid into cavities deep underground‚ leading to the planet becoming more and more arid.To see what a large ocean would mean for the planet’s climate and habitability‚ we have now used the same climate model – putting in an ocean while changing no other factors.When most of Arrakis is flooded‚ we calculate that the global average temperature would be reduced by 4°C (7.2°F). This is mostly because oceans add moisture to the atmosphere‚ which leads to more snow and certain types of cloud‚ both of which reflect the sun’s energy back into space. But it’s also because oceans on Earth and (we assume) on Arrakis emit “halogens” that cool the planet by depleting ozone‚ a potent greenhouse gas which Arrakis would have significantly more of than Earth.The authors gathered information from the books and the Dune Encyclopedia to build their original model. Then they added an ocean with 1‚000 meters (3‚280 feet) average depth.Image Credit: Farnsworth et al‚ CC BY-SAUnsurprisingly‚ the ocean world is a whopping 86 times wetter‚ as so much water evaporates from the oceans. This means plants can grow as water is no longer a finite resource‚ as it is on desert Arrakis.A wetter world would be more stableOceans also reduce temperature extremes‚ as water heats and cools more slowly than land. (This is one reason Britain‚ surrounded by oceans‚ has relatively mild winters and summers‚ while places far inland tend to be hotter in summer and very cold in winter). The climate of an ocean planet is therefore more stable than a desert world.In desert Arrakis‚ temperatures would reach 70°C (158°F) or more‚ while in its ocean state‚ we put the highest recorded temperatures at about 45°C (113°F). That means the ocean Arrakis would be liveable even in summer. Forests and arable crops could grow outside of the (still cold and snowy) poles.There is one downside‚ however. Tropical regions would be buffeted by large cyclones since the huge‚ warm oceans would contain lots of the energy and moisture required to drive hurricanes.The search for habitable planetsAll this isn’t an entirely abstract exercise‚ as scientists searching for habitable “exoplanets” in distant galaxies are looking for these sorts of things too. At the moment‚ we can only detect such planets using huge telescopes in space to search for those that are similar to Earth in size‚ temperature‚ available energy‚ ability to host water‚ and other factors.Both desert and ocean Arrakis are considerably more habitable than any other planet we have discovered.Image Credit: Farnsworth et al‚ CC BY-SAWe know that desert worlds are probably more common than Earth-like planets in the universe. Planets with potentially life-sustaining oceans will usually be found in the so-called “Goldilocks zone”: far enough from the Sun to avoid being too hot (so further away than boiling hot Venus)‚ but close enough to avoid everything being frozen (so nearer than Jupiter’s icy moon Ganymede).Research has found this habitable zone is particularly small for planets with large oceans. Their water is at risk of either completely freezing‚ therefore making the planet even colder‚ or of evaporating as part of a runaway greenhouse effect in which a layer of water vapor prevents heat from escaping and the planet gets hotter and hotter.The habitable zone is therefore much larger for desert planets‚ since at the outer edge they will have less snow and ice cover and will absorb more of their sun’s heat‚ while at the inner edge there is less water vapor and so less risk of a runaway greenhouse effect.It’s also important to note that‚ though distance from their local star can give a general average temperature for a planet‚ such an average can be misleading. For instance‚ both desert and ocean Arrakis have a habitable average temperature‚ but the day-to-day temperature extremes on the ocean planet are much more hospitable.Currently‚ even the most powerful telescopes cannot sense temperatures at this detail. They also cannot see in detail how the continents are arranged on distant planets. This again could mean the averages are misleading. For instance‚ while the ocean Arrakis we modeled would be very habitable‚ most of the land is in the polar regions which are under snow year-round – so the actual amount of inhabitable land is much less.Such considerations could be important in our own far-future‚ when the Earth is projected to form a supercontinent centred on the equator. That continent would make the planet far too hot for mammals and other life to survive‚ potentially leading to mass extinction.If the most likely liveable planets in the universe are deserts‚ they may well be very extreme environments that require significant technological solutions and resources to enable life – desert worlds will probably not have an oxygen-rich atmosphere‚ for instance.But that won’t stop humans from trying. For instance‚ Elon Musk and SpaceX have grand ambitions to create a colony on our closest desert world‚ Mars. But the many challenges they will face only emphasizes how important our own Earth is as the cradle of civilization – especially as ocean-rich worlds may not be as plentiful as we’d hope. If humans eventually colonize other worlds‚ they’re likely to have to deal with many of the same problems as the characters in Dune.Alex Farnsworth‚ Senior Research Associate in Meteorology‚ University of Bristol; Michael Farnsworth‚ Research Lead Future Electrical Machines Manufacturing Hub‚ University of Sheffield‚ and Sebastian Steinig‚ Research Associate in Paleoclimate Modelling‚ University of BristolThis article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.