AmbiguousProps

Washington was under a state of emergency Thursday from a barrage of torrential rain that has sent rivers flowing over their banks, caused mudslides to crash down on highways and trapped people in floodwaters. Tens of thousands of residents were under evacuation orders.

Heavy rain continued to fall over parts of the state, prompting rising rivers, road closures, water rescues and suspension of Amtrak trains between Seattle and Vancouver. Rainfall intensity increased in several counties in Washington’s Cascade Mountains, which had seen up to 6 inches (15.2 centimeters) of rain in 24 hours. One area, Snoqualmie Pass, picked up an additional 1.7 inches (4.3 centimeters) of rain in six hours, the National Weather Service said.

After days of unrelenting heavy rain, Gov. Bob Ferguson declared a statewide emergency Wednesday, warning “lives will be at stake in the coming days.” Some residents have already been told to get to higher ground, with Skagit County, in a major agricultural region north of Seattle, ordering everyone within the Skagit River’s floodplain to evacuate.

Along the river in the city of Mount Vernon, teams were set to knock on doors in low-lying areas Thursday to inform them of evacuation notices, authorities said. Further north near the U.S.-Canada border, firefighters rescued several people from their homes, Sumas Mayor Bruce Bosch said.

Nearly 16,000 customers in Washington were without electricity by midday Thursday, according to PowerOutage.us. A mountainous section of U.S. 2 remained closed due to rocks, trees and mud, with no detour or estimated time for reopening, according to the state transportation department. Flooding rivers could break records

According to updated projections, the Skagit River was expected to crest at roughly 42 feet (13 meters) in the mountain town of Concrete on Thursday, and roughly 39 feet (12 meters) in Mount Vernon on Friday.

While those projections are lower than previous estimates, Mount Vernon officials were nonetheless urging residents in the floodplain to evacuate.

“That’s still a record flood, and so we’re preparing for that,” Mayor Peter Donovan said. “Today we’re going to be visiting low-lying neighborhoods, residential areas, and getting the word out the best that we can for folks who haven’t responded yet to evacuation notices.”

More in the article.

“Catastrophic” flooding is expected to hit parts of Skagit, Snohomish and King counties Thursday as rivers swell and the region is drenched in rain.

Authorities have ordered evacuation for parts of Orting in Pierce County, parts of Skagit County, including Mount Vernon, and Ebey Island east of Everett. An estimated 100,000 Washingtonians could face evacuation orders as floodwaters continue to rise, Gov. Bob Ferguson’s office said Wednesday afternoon.

Ferguson already declared a state of emergency, and Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said she’s working to get federal assistance for those impacted.

In Grays Harbor County, a nearly century old dam in Lake Sylvia State Park is showing signs of stress. Although it hasn’t failed yet, it could get worse if these weather conditions continue.

The Carbon River near Fairfax; Cedar River near Renton; Puyallup River near Orting; Elwha River near Port Angeles; Snohomish River at Snohomish; Stillaguamish River at Arlington; and the Skagit River at Concrete and Mount Vernon were all expected to either swell above their record height or come within inches of the record.

The Skagit is expected to rise aggressively until a peak around 4 a.m. Thursday in the Concrete area.

Archive link

More articles about the flooding:

• Mount Vernon braces for potentially historic flood - Seattle Times [archive link]
• Floods may force 100K to evacuate near Skagit, Snohomish, other WA rivers - Seattle Times [archive link]
• ‘Catastrophic’ flooding expected in King, Snohomish, Skagit counties - Seattle Times [archive link]
• Governor Ferguson declares statewide emergency responding to major flooding - The Office of the Governor of Washington State [archive link]
• ‘Historic’ flooding prompts WA governor to declare emergency [archive link]
• Pacific Northwest under flood alerts as atmospheric river brings heavy rain - NBC News [archive link]
• Tens of thousands in Washington could face evacuations as rain continues to pound the region - AP News [archive link]

Map:

“Catastrophic” flooding is expected to hit parts of Skagit, Snohomish and King counties Thursday as rivers swell and the region is drenched in rain.

Authorities have ordered evacuation for parts of Orting in Pierce County, parts of Skagit County, including Mount Vernon, and Ebey Island east of Everett. An estimated 100,000 Washingtonians could face evacuation orders as floodwaters continue to rise, Gov. Bob Ferguson’s office said Wednesday afternoon.

Ferguson already declared a state of emergency, and Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said she’s working to get federal assistance for those impacted.

In Grays Harbor County, a nearly century old dam in Lake Sylvia State Park is showing signs of stress. Although it hasn’t failed yet, it could get worse if these weather conditions continue.

The Carbon River near Fairfax; Cedar River near Renton; Puyallup River near Orting; Elwha River near Port Angeles; Snohomish River at Snohomish; Stillaguamish River at Arlington; and the Skagit River at Concrete and Mount Vernon were all expected to either swell above their record height or come within inches of the record.

The Skagit is expected to rise aggressively until a peak around 4 a.m. Thursday in the Concrete area.

Archive link

More articles about the flooding:

• Mount Vernon braces for potentially historic flood - Seattle Times [archive link]
• Floods may force 100K to evacuate near Skagit, Snohomish, other WA rivers - Seattle Times [archive link]
• ‘Catastrophic’ flooding expected in King, Snohomish, Skagit counties - Seattle Times [archive link]
• Governor Ferguson declares statewide emergency responding to major flooding - The Office of the Governor of Washington State [archive link]
• ‘Historic’ flooding prompts WA governor to declare emergency [archive link]
• Pacific Northwest under flood alerts as atmospheric river brings heavy rain - NBC News [archive link]
• Tens of thousands in Washington could face evacuations as rain continues to pound the region - AP News [archive link]

Map:

“Catastrophic” flooding is expected to hit parts of Skagit, Snohomish and King counties Thursday as rivers swell and the region is drenched in rain.

Authorities have ordered evacuation for parts of Orting in Pierce County, parts of Skagit County, including Mount Vernon, and Ebey Island east of Everett. An estimated 100,000 Washingtonians could face evacuation orders as floodwaters continue to rise, Gov. Bob Ferguson’s office said Wednesday afternoon.

Ferguson already declared a state of emergency, and Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said she’s working to get federal assistance for those impacted.

In Grays Harbor County, a nearly century old dam in Lake Sylvia State Park is showing signs of stress. Although it hasn’t failed yet, it could get worse if these weather conditions continue.

The Carbon River near Fairfax; Cedar River near Renton; Puyallup River near Orting; Elwha River near Port Angeles; Snohomish River at Snohomish; Stillaguamish River at Arlington; and the Skagit River at Concrete and Mount Vernon were all expected to either swell above their record height or come within inches of the record.

The Skagit is expected to rise aggressively until a peak around 4 a.m. Thursday in the Concrete area.

Archive link

More articles about the flooding:

• Mount Vernon braces for potentially historic flood - Seattle Times [archive link]
• Floods may force 100K to evacuate near Skagit, Snohomish, other WA rivers - Seattle Times [archive link]
• ‘Catastrophic’ flooding expected in King, Snohomish, Skagit counties - Seattle Times [archive link]
• Governor Ferguson declares statewide emergency responding to major flooding - The Office of the Governor of Washington State [archive link]
• ‘Historic’ flooding prompts WA governor to declare emergency [archive link]
• Pacific Northwest under flood alerts as atmospheric river brings heavy rain - NBC News [archive link]
• Tens of thousands in Washington could face evacuations as rain continues to pound the region - AP News [archive link]

Map:

Honda is moving forward with its Fastport delivery quadcycle, and we got a chance to see it up close and take it for a quick spin.

We told you about Honda’s 4-wheeled delivery vehicle back in June, and we were excited about the idea of right-sizing delivery vehicles in urban centers that are often clogged with car traffic.

To catch you up, it’s a four-wheeled electric cargo vehicle that Honda has been working on for short-range, intra-city deliveries. It has 650lb capacity and a 12mph top speed, with 23 miles of range.

That’s not a huge range number, but we’re talking about cities here – Manhattan is 13×2 miles, San Francisco is 7×7 miles, for example. Also, the 2 x 1.3kWh batteries are 22lbs each and easily swappable if you need a little more juice.

The main concept here is that the vehicle is small, built to fit within the width of a bike lane, and to be treated as one in vehicle regulations. This means you can get cargo around in a smaller package than big delivery trucks, causing less traffic, congestion, road wear, and pollution.

Its presence in the bike lane is the reason for some of those limitations above – EU regulations mean the motor can only go up to 250W continuous draw, which also leads to a 12mph top speed for a vehicle that could be laden with ~1,700lbs of bike, cargo and rider (there is also a “small” version which is narrower and shorter, with 320lb capacity, for smaller roads).

But all that is nice on paper, what’s it like in person?

More in the article.

Archive link

US-based safety and certification organization UL Solutions has expanded its battery-powered vehicle certification services to electric motorcycles and scooters, as well as construction, agriculture and mining vehicles.

These new services will test whether vehicle electrical systems meet the requirements of UL 2850, the Outline of Investigation for Vehicle Systems of Electric Scooters and Motorcycles, or UL 2701, the Outline of Investigation for Electrical Systems for Construction, Agriculture and Mining (CAM) Vehicles.

The two certifications cover battery management systems and thermal runaway risks, as well as tests for critical safety circuits used to help power the vehicles, functional safety, component reliability, and electrical, mechanical and environmental testing that emulates real-world weather conditions.

More in the article.

Archive link

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.today/post/43040924

NASA's next big eye on the cosmos is now fully assembled. On Nov. 25, technicians joined the inner and outer portions of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope in the largest clean room at the agency's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

"Completing the Roman observatory brings us to a defining moment for the agency," said NASA Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya. "Transformative science depends on disciplined engineering, and this team has delivered—piece by piece, test by test—an observatory that will expand our understanding of the universe. As Roman moves into its final stage of testing following integration, we are focused on executing with precision and preparing for a successful launch on behalf of the global scientific community."

After final testing, Roman will move to the launch site at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for launch preparations in summer 2026. Roman is slated to launch by May 2027, but the team is on track for launch as early as fall 2026. A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket will send the observatory to its final destination a million miles from Earth.

"With Roman's construction complete, we are poised at the brink of unfathomable scientific discovery," said Julie McEnery, Roman's senior project scientist at NASA Goddard. "In the mission's first five years, it's expected to unveil more than 100,000 distant worlds, hundreds of millions of stars, and billions of galaxies. We stand to learn a tremendous amount of new information about the universe very rapidly after Roman launches."

Observing from space will make Roman very sensitive to infrared light—light with a longer wavelength than our eyes can see—from far across the cosmos. Pairing its crisp infrared vision with a sweeping view of space will allow astronomers to explore myriad cosmic topics, from dark matter and dark energy to distant worlds and solitary black holes, and conduct research that would take hundreds of years using other telescopes.

"Within our lifetimes, a great mystery has arisen about the cosmos: why the expansion of the universe seems to be accelerating. There is something fundamental about space and time we don't yet understand, and Roman was built to discover what it is," said Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters in Washington.

"With Roman now standing as a complete observatory, which keeps the mission on track for a potentially early launch, we are a major step closer to understanding the universe as never before. I couldn't be prouder of the teams that have gotten us to this point."

More in the article.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.today/post/43040924

NASA's next big eye on the cosmos is now fully assembled. On Nov. 25, technicians joined the inner and outer portions of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope in the largest clean room at the agency's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

"Completing the Roman observatory brings us to a defining moment for the agency," said NASA Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya. "Transformative science depends on disciplined engineering, and this team has delivered—piece by piece, test by test—an observatory that will expand our understanding of the universe. As Roman moves into its final stage of testing following integration, we are focused on executing with precision and preparing for a successful launch on behalf of the global scientific community."

After final testing, Roman will move to the launch site at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for launch preparations in summer 2026. Roman is slated to launch by May 2027, but the team is on track for launch as early as fall 2026. A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket will send the observatory to its final destination a million miles from Earth.

"With Roman's construction complete, we are poised at the brink of unfathomable scientific discovery," said Julie McEnery, Roman's senior project scientist at NASA Goddard. "In the mission's first five years, it's expected to unveil more than 100,000 distant worlds, hundreds of millions of stars, and billions of galaxies. We stand to learn a tremendous amount of new information about the universe very rapidly after Roman launches."

Observing from space will make Roman very sensitive to infrared light—light with a longer wavelength than our eyes can see—from far across the cosmos. Pairing its crisp infrared vision with a sweeping view of space will allow astronomers to explore myriad cosmic topics, from dark matter and dark energy to distant worlds and solitary black holes, and conduct research that would take hundreds of years using other telescopes.

"Within our lifetimes, a great mystery has arisen about the cosmos: why the expansion of the universe seems to be accelerating. There is something fundamental about space and time we don't yet understand, and Roman was built to discover what it is," said Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters in Washington.

"With Roman now standing as a complete observatory, which keeps the mission on track for a potentially early launch, we are a major step closer to understanding the universe as never before. I couldn't be prouder of the teams that have gotten us to this point."

More in the article.

NASA's next big eye on the cosmos is now fully assembled. On Nov. 25, technicians joined the inner and outer portions of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope in the largest clean room at the agency's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

"Completing the Roman observatory brings us to a defining moment for the agency," said NASA Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya. "Transformative science depends on disciplined engineering, and this team has delivered—piece by piece, test by test—an observatory that will expand our understanding of the universe. As Roman moves into its final stage of testing following integration, we are focused on executing with precision and preparing for a successful launch on behalf of the global scientific community."

After final testing, Roman will move to the launch site at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for launch preparations in summer 2026. Roman is slated to launch by May 2027, but the team is on track for launch as early as fall 2026. A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket will send the observatory to its final destination a million miles from Earth.

"With Roman's construction complete, we are poised at the brink of unfathomable scientific discovery," said Julie McEnery, Roman's senior project scientist at NASA Goddard. "In the mission's first five years, it's expected to unveil more than 100,000 distant worlds, hundreds of millions of stars, and billions of galaxies. We stand to learn a tremendous amount of new information about the universe very rapidly after Roman launches."

Observing from space will make Roman very sensitive to infrared light—light with a longer wavelength than our eyes can see—from far across the cosmos. Pairing its crisp infrared vision with a sweeping view of space will allow astronomers to explore myriad cosmic topics, from dark matter and dark energy to distant worlds and solitary black holes, and conduct research that would take hundreds of years using other telescopes.

"Within our lifetimes, a great mystery has arisen about the cosmos: why the expansion of the universe seems to be accelerating. There is something fundamental about space and time we don't yet understand, and Roman was built to discover what it is," said Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters in Washington.

"With Roman now standing as a complete observatory, which keeps the mission on track for a potentially early launch, we are a major step closer to understanding the universe as never before. I couldn't be prouder of the teams that have gotten us to this point."

More in the article.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.today/post/43040811

Of the seven Earth-sized worlds orbiting the red dwarf star TRAPPIST-1, one planet in particular has attracted the attention of scientists. This planet orbits the star within the "Goldilocks zone"—a distance where water on its surface is theoretically possible, but only if the planet has an atmosphere. And where there is water, there might be life.

Two recent scientific papers detail initial observations of the TRAPPIST-1 system obtained by a research group using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. In these publications, the authors, including Sukrit Ranjan with the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, present a careful analysis of the results so far and offer several potential scenarios for what the planet's atmosphere and surface may be like.

While these reports are intriguing and show progress toward characterizing the nearest potentially earth-like exoplanet, Ranjan urges caution in a third paper, also appearing in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, arguing that more rigorous studies are needed to determine whether TRAPPIST-1e has an atmosphere at all and whether preliminary hints of methane detected by James Webb are indeed signs of an atmosphere or have their origin with its host star.

The TRAPPIST system, so named after the survey that discovered it—"Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope project"—is located about 39 light-years from Earth. It resembles a miniature version of our solar system. The star and all its planets would comfortably fit inside the orbit of planet Mercury. A "year" for any given TRAPPIST planet lasts mere days by Earth standards.

More in the article.

Of the seven Earth-sized worlds orbiting the red dwarf star TRAPPIST-1, one planet in particular has attracted the attention of scientists. This planet orbits the star within the "Goldilocks zone"—a distance where water on its surface is theoretically possible, but only if the planet has an atmosphere. And where there is water, there might be life.

Two recent scientific papers detail initial observations of the TRAPPIST-1 system obtained by a research group using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. In these publications, the authors, including Sukrit Ranjan with the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, present a careful analysis of the results so far and offer several potential scenarios for what the planet's atmosphere and surface may be like.

While these reports are intriguing and show progress toward characterizing the nearest potentially earth-like exoplanet, Ranjan urges caution in a third paper, also appearing in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, arguing that more rigorous studies are needed to determine whether TRAPPIST-1e has an atmosphere at all and whether preliminary hints of methane detected by James Webb are indeed signs of an atmosphere or have their origin with its host star.

The TRAPPIST system, so named after the survey that discovered it—"Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope project"—is located about 39 light-years from Earth. It resembles a miniature version of our solar system. The star and all its planets would comfortably fit inside the orbit of planet Mercury. A "year" for any given TRAPPIST planet lasts mere days by Earth standards.

More in the article.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.today/post/42851505

Slightly more detail in this GitHub issue, however much is still unknown, even after three or so days. The dev hasn't revealed any further details. Some articles on this incident:

• https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/smarttube-youtube-app-for-android-tv-breached-to-push-malicious-update/
• https://www.aftvnews.com/smarttubes-official-apk-was-compromised-with-malware-what-you-should-do-if-you-use-it/

Note that the articles provide little detail on what's happened, mostly just detail that a malicious library was found and Play Protect started removing the app if affected. It's unclear which versions are specifically affected, how the dev got breached, and what the malware actually does. According to a user (who may or may not be using some sort of LLM, their comment sounds like one at least) in a separate, related issue, the malware may collect device info and send to a command & control server. It could (in theory) receive new instructions at any point if it's a C2 server. Again, it does appear that they had an LLM of some sort generate their comment, so take it with a grain of salt.

I'm going to uninstall the app and revoke access on my Google account page. I see little reason to need to reset my password as of right now, since the app uses an API key and not my actual password. In my opinion, it's possibly related to YT viewbotting and commenting, or to add your device to a botnet. It's unclear to me how this botnet would work in practice, since even Android TV sandboxes apps (for the most part).

Update: it appears that this may be related to the Vo1d botnet: DrWeb: Android.Vo1d.14.origin. If this is indeed the case, then the goal was to add devices to the botnet. It's my understanding that previous versions of this botnet typically required cheap, pre-rooted Android TV boxes, in order to install other apps. I'm not sure if that means that you're safe if your device is not rooted. It might be worth checking your installed apps for oddities.