The charismatic and familiar monarch butterfly serves as a flagship species for pollinator conservation, and gives rights-of-way entities opportunities to engage a diverse array of stakeholders who are invested in not only restoring monarch numbers to sustainable levels, but also mitigating many other environmental and economic issues. This pre-publication draft of the TRB National Cooperative Highway Research Program's NCHRP Research Report 942 Pre-Pub: Evaluating the Suitability of Roadway Corridors fo...

Now available to order from the TRB Bookstore, the Highway Capacity Manual, Sixth Edition: A Guide for Multimodal Mobility Analysis (HCM) provides methods for quantifying highway capacity. In its current form, it serves as a fundamental reference on concepts, performance measures, and analysis techniques for evaluating the multimodal operation of streets, highways, freeways, and off-street pathways. The Sixth Edition incorporates the latest research on highway capacity, quality of service, Active Traffic...

The Federal Highway Administration's “Buy America Act” requires federally funded highway projects to use only steel, iron, and manufactured products produced in the United States. The TRB National Cooperative Highway Research Program's NCHRP LRD 80: Buy America Requirements for Federal Highway Projects summarizes the intent and application of the provision. It also summarizes the procedure that FHWA has implemented for granting waivers and the impact that court interpretation of such waivers has had on t...

The National Cooperative Highway Research Program's NCHRP Web-Only Document 272: Existing and Emerging Highway Infrastructure Preservation, Maintenance, and Renewal Definitions, Practices, and Scenarios provides appendices to NCHRP Report 750, Volume 7: Preservation, Maintenance, andRenewal of Highway Infrastructure .

Exploring Crowdsourced Monitoring Data for Safety , released by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute

As a reliever airport for the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, Phoenix–Mesa Gateway Airport must keep track of information for nearly 300,000 aircraft operations and 1.4 million passengers a year. To meet this challenge, the airport developed an innovative, digitally connected solution with the help of ACRP Research Report 182: Guidancefor Planning, Design, and Operationsof Airport Communications Centers . The TRB Airport Cooperartive Research Program's ACRP Impacts on Practice 182: Redesigning ...

University of California Pavement Research and National Center for Sustainable Transport have postponed the International Symposium on Pavement Life Cycle Assessment from June 3-6, 2020 to January 13-15, 2021 in Sacramento, CA. TRB is pleased to cosponsor this event. The symposium will focus on the implementation of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for pavements. The workshop address the implementation of LCA in pavement operations at the network and project levels.

Fast radio bursts last for such a short time that it is difficult to track down the source. Now astronomers have found one in our own back yard.

The post A Fast Radio Burst Has Been Detected From Inside The Milky Way appeared first on Universe Today.

A new study indicates that, contrary to what has been previously argued, galaxies like our own may be the most likely place to find intelligent life

The post Galaxies Like the Milky Way are the Best for Life appeared first on Universe Today.

The September 2015 issue of TRB’s Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) Impacts on Practice explores how Philadelphia International Airport, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, and Changi Airport in Singapore applied guidance from ACRP Report 52 : Wayfinding and Signing Guidelines for Airport Terminals and Landside to help passengers find their way in and around an airport.

The Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced that it will establish Quantum Information Science Centers to help lay the foundation for these technologies. As Congress put forth in the National Quantum Initiative Act, the DOE's Office of Science will make awards for at least two and up to five centers.

I'm lucky enough to own a decades old Nintendo 64 and a handful of games, including the classic Mario 64. My kids love that game. Still, the first thing they asked when I showed it to them the first time is why the screen was letterboxed, why the characters looked like they were made of lego blocks, and why I needed weird cords to plug it all into the flat screen television. The answer to these spoiled monsters' questions, of course, is that the game is super old and wasn't meant to be played on modern televisions. It's the story of a lot of older games, though many PC games at least have a healthy modding community that will take classics and get them working on present day hardware. Consoles don't have that luxury.

Well, usually, that is. It turns out that enough folks were interested in modernizing Mario 64 that a group of fans managed to pull off porting it to PC. And, because this is a port and not emulation, they managed to update it to run in 4k graphics and added a ton of modern visual effects.

Last year, Super Mario 64's N64 code was reverse-engineered by fans, allowing for all kinds of new and exciting things to be done with Nintendo’s 1996 classic. Like building a completely new PC port of the game, which can run in 4K and ultra-wide resolutions.

This is a very new and cool thing! Previously, if you were playing Super Mario 64 on PC, you were playing via emulation, as your PC ran code pretending to be an N64. This game is made specifically for the PC, built from the ground up, meaning it not only runs like a dream, but even supports mod stuff like ReShade, allowing for graphical tweaks (like the distance blur seen here).

As you'll see, the video the Kotaku post is referencing can't be embedded here because Nintendo already took it down. Instead, I'll use another video that hasn't been taken down at the time of this writing, so you can see just how great this looks.

In addition to videos of the project, Nintendo has also been busy firing off legal salvos to get download links for the PC port of the game taken down from wherever it can find them. Now, while Nintendo's reputation for IP protectionism is such that it would almost certainly take this fan project down under virtually any circumstances, it is also worth noting that the company has a planned re-release of Mario 64 for its latest Nintendo console. That likely only supercharged the speed with which it is trying to disappear this labor of love from fans of an antiquated game that have since moved on to gaming on their PCs.

But why should the company do this? Nintendo consoles are known for many things, including user-friendly gaming and colorful games geared generally towards younger audiences. You know, exactly not the people who would take it on themselves to get an old Mario game working on their PC instead of a Nintendo console. What threat does this PC port from fans represent to Nintendo revenue? It's hard to imagine that threat is anything substantial.

And, yet, here we are anyway. Nintendo, after all, doesn't seem to be able to help itself.

For well over a decade we've talked about the many problems that arise when copyright is compared to "property" -- and people try to simply move over concepts from physical, tangible property into the world of digital. A key aspect of this: when you "purchase" something digital online, is it really a "purchase" or is it a "license" (especially a license that could be revoked)? If it was a true "purchase" then you should own it and the seller shouldn't be able to take it back. But in practice, over and over and over again, we've seen stories of people having things they supposedly "bought" disappear. The situation is so crazy that we've referred to it as Schrödinger's Download, in that many copyright holders and retailers would like the very same thing to be a "sale" some of the time, and a "license" some of the time (the "times" for each tend to be when it hurts the consumers the most). This has, at times, seeped into physical goods, where they've tried to add "license agreements" to physical products. Or, worse, when some copyright folks claimed that buying a DVD means you don't actually own what you bought, but rather are merely "purchasing access" to the content, and that could be revoked.

Anyway, I'm amazed that we don't see more lawsuits about this kind of thing -- but one was recently filed in California. Someone named Amanda Caudel is suing Amazon for saying that you've "purchased" a video download, which Amazon might disappear from your library whenever it wants. As the lawsuit makes clear, Amazon directly says that you are buying the movie (as opposed to renting it). From the lawsuit filing itself:

And, they point out, in your account there's a listing of "Your Video Purchases & Rentals." But, the lawsuit claims, what you purchase doesn't seem to behave like a real purchase:

Reasonable consumers will expect that the use of a “Buy” button and the representation that their Video Content is a “Purchase” means that the consumer has paid for full access to the Video Content and, like any bought product, that access cannot be revoked.

Unfortunately for consumers who chose the “Buy” option, this is deceptive and untrue. Rather, the ugly truth is that Defendant secretly reserves the right to terminate the consumers’ access and use of the Video Content at any time, and has done so on numerous occasions, leaving the consumer without the ability to enjoy their already-bought Video Content.

Defendant’s representations are misleading because they give the impression that the Video Content is purchased – i.e. the person owns it - when in fact that is not true because Defendant or others may revoke access to the Video Content at any time and for any reason.

In so representing the “Purchase” of Video Content as true ownership of the content, Defendant took advantage of the (1) cognitive shortcuts made at the point-of-sale, e.g. Rent v. Buy and (2) price of the Video Content, which is akin to an outright purchase versus a rental.

Though some consumers may get lucky and never lose access to any of their paid-for media, others may one day find that their Video Content is now completely inaccessible. Regardless, all consumers have overpaid for the Video Content because they are not in fact owners of the Video Content, despite have paid extra money to “Buy” the product.

The plaintiff (or rather, her lawyers) are trying to make this a class action lawsuit, and are arguing that (among other things) this is false advertising. I am, not surprisingly, sympathetic to the plaintiff -- and remain disappointed at how copyright and similar restrictions are being used to chip away at ownership and actual property rights. That said... I'm not that optimistic the case will get very far. In the past, companies have been able to wiggle out of similar claims, and I'm pretty sure that Amazon tries to push disputes like this to binding arbitration, meaning that the lawsuit may be dead on arrival.

Still, it's yet another reminder of how copyright is chipping away at real property.

Politicos watered down earlier efforts, so data defenders will fight to the end

The small group of policy wonks that forced California’s legislature to rush through privacy legislation two years ago are back – and this time they want a ballot.…

Lee Jae-yong ends dynastic control and will even let staff join a union

Samsung's heir has said that he will not pass down management of the South Korean conglomerate to his children, ending three generations dynastic rule.…

We all need to tighten our belts

For the first time in over three decades, BT has suspended its dividend scheme as the former state-owned teleco grapples with the fallout from the novel coronavirus pandemic, and the financial uncertainty that'll inevitably ensue.…

Even Exchange’s marketing bod reckons tests of new Reply-All-stopper could be a career-defining moment

Microsoft may just have made Reply All storms a thing of the past, by adding a suitable blocker to Exchange in Office 365 environments.…

Apparently. But we’re so incredulous, we’re gonna test those claims on live internet TV…

Webcast “The journey to cloud” echoes through all organisations. It’s a Bildungsroman – a story of empowerment and betterment. A shiny, towering cityscape of gleaming edifices and elegant spires. It’s like an ascension into the actual clouds. Like dying and waking up in heaven.…

Parents, kids: Fear not the silica gel pack. Sure it says DO NOT EAT and THROW AWAY. But you should only follow one of those rules.    Instead, save the packs and use them a whole lot of ways: Place them on the car dashboard by the windshield to keep it from fogging up.   […]

Organ shortage continues to limit the lives of patients who require liver transplantation. While extending criteria for liver organs provides a needed resource, tissue damage from prolonged ischemic injury can result in early allograft dysfunction and consequent rejection. In this issue of the JCI, Nakamura et al. used a mouse transplantation model with prolonged ex vivo cold storage to explore liver graft protection. The authors found that liver grafts with absent carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule 1 (CEACAM1) exhibited increased ischemia-reperfusion injury inflammation and decreased function in wild-type recipients. The authors went on to correlate CEACAM1 levels with postreperfusion damage in human liver transplant recipients. Notably, this study identified a potential biomarker for liver transplant donor graft quality.

An in-depth understanding of immune escape mechanisms in cancer is likely to lead to innovative advances in immunotherapeutic strategies. However, much remains unknown regarding these mechanisms and how they impact immunotherapy resistance. Using several preclinical tumor models as well as clinical specimens, we identified a mechanism whereby CD8+ T cell activation in response to programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) blockade induced a programmed death ligand 1/NOD-, LRR-, and pyrin domain–containing protein 3 (PD-L1/NLRP3) inflammasome signaling cascade that ultimately led to the recruitment of granulocytic myeloid-derived suppressor cells (PMN-MDSCs) into tumor tissues, thereby dampening the resulting antitumor immune response. The genetic and pharmacologic inhibition of NLRP3 suppressed PMN-MDSC tumor infiltration and significantly augmented the efficacy of anti–PD-1 antibody immunotherapy. This pathway therefore represents a tumor-intrinsic mechanism of adaptive resistance to anti–PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy and is a promising target for future translational research.

For this week's giveaway, we've once again teamed up with Throwboy to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win one of Throwboy's plushes modeled after classic Apple products and icons.


Throwboy makes a whole range of different plush pillow options priced at $30 to $40, with each one designed to look like an Apple product of some kind, including classic Macs, the iPod, the iPhone, and more. Each pillow features detailed embroidery and careful construction to highlight each component and to accurately represent Apple's designs.

The 1998 pillow, for example, is modeled after Apple's original iMac with its bright Bondi Blue design, while the 2001 pillow modeled after the original iPod comes complete with a screen and click wheel embroidery.


The 2007 pillow looks like the original ‌iPhone‌ with black bezels and a silver backing, and the Icon Pillow looks like Apple's classic happy Finder icon.


There's even a rainbow-colored Spinning Wheel Pillow that's designed to look like the dreaded spinning pinwheel that the cursor morphs into when an application is busy.


All of Throwboy's plushes are soft, squishy, huggable, and the perfect accent piece for an Apple fan. Each pillow is the ideal size to be used as a comfortable throw pillow for a couch or a chair. Photos of the pillows in action can be seen on Throwboy's Instagram account.


We have 10 of Throwboy's pillows to give away to MacRumors readers, and each winner will be able to pick their favorite pillow: ‌iMac‌, iPod, classic ‌iPhone‌, Finder Icon, or Spinning Wheel.

To enter to win our ‌giveaway‌, use the Gleam.io widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winners and send the prizes. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, following us on Instagram, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page.

Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years or older and Canadian residents (excluding Quebec) who have reached the age of majority in their province or territory are eligible to enter. To offer feedback or get more information on the ‌giveaway‌ restrictions, please refer to our Site Feedback section, as that is where discussion of the rules will be redirected.

Real heroes deserve their own comics/Los héroes reales merecen sus propios comics

The post Heroes always come home in David Rubín’s free COVID-19 SUPERMAN story (version en español incluída) appeared first on The Beat.

Pity the salesman who doesn't have some device to steer people into his booth.

North Queensland capital Townsville is among the first cities globally to use a new United Nations&rsquo; Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) disaster resilience scorecard developed jointly by global fully integrated infrastructure firm AECOM and IBM.</p>

I was greatly saddened to learn that John Conway died yesterday from COVID-19, aged 82. My own mathematical areas of expertise are somewhat far from Conway’s; I have played for instance with finite simple groups on occasion, but have not studied his work on moonshine and the monster group.  But I have certainly encountered his […]