Tech Nuggets with the Technology

Sunday, April 5, 2020

How to refuel a nuclear power plant during a pandemic

The Palo Verde Nuclear generating plant, the nation's largest nuclear power plant.

Each spring, nearly 1,000 highly specialized technicians from around the US descend on the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station near Phoenix, Arizona, to refuel one of the plant’s three nuclear reactors. As America’s largest power plant—nuclear or otherwise—Palo Verde provides around-the-clock power to 4 million people in the Southwest. Even under normal circumstances, refueling one of its reactors is a laborious, month-long process. But now that the US is in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, the plant operators have had to adapt their refueling plans.

Palo Verde is expected to begin refueling one of its reactors in early April—a spokesperson for Arizona Public Service, the utility that operates the plant, declined to give an exact start date—but the preparations began months in advance. The uranium fuel started arriving at the plant last autumn, delivered in the cargo bay of an unmarked semi truck. The fuel arrives ready for the reactor as 1,000-pound rectangular bundles of uranium rods that are 12 feet tall and about 6 inches on each side.
The latest shipment of fuel arrived at the plant well before the coronavirus pandemicbrought the world to a standstill, says Greg Cameron, the nuclear communications director at Palo Verde. The biggest change with this refueling cycle, he says, is the scope of the operation. “We’ve tried to trim down the amount of work to just what is necessary to ensure that we run for the next 18 months without impacting the reliability of the plant,” Cameron says.

Each of Palo Verde’s three nuclear reactors are ensconced in their own bulbous concrete sarcophagus and operate almost entirely independent of one another. This allows plant operators to periodically take one of the reactors offline for refueling and maintenance without totally disrupting the flow of energy to the grid. Each reactor is partially refueled every year and a half, with about one-third of the fuel in the reactor core being swapped out for a fresh batch.

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https://arstechnica.com

Some independent movie theaters are launching "virtual cinemas" to let patrons stream first-tier films from home as a temporary revenue source amid the pandemic (Rebecca Rubin/Variety)

Rebecca Rubin / Variety:
Some independent movie theaters are launching “virtual cinemas” to let patrons stream first-tier films from home as a temporary revenue source amid the pandemic — Greg Laemmle never thought he'd recommend anyone to stream a movie at home. The best way to watch a film …

Quibi launching Hollywood 'on the go' streaming amid lockdown

Industry legends and stars from Steven Spielberg and Guillermo del Toro to Jennifer Lopez and Reese Witherspoon have lined up to make movies and shows for the youth-focused, smartphone-only service. https://ift.tt/2wfWPP1 https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

How teachers took the classroom online

Teachers and professors across the country are having to adapt to a whole new mode of teaching. They give lessons on Hangouts, correct homework on WhatsApp, turn iPads into whiteboards https://ift.tt/2UKwdig https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Apple rewards ethical hacker 75,000 for discovering major flaws with Safari

Finding flaws in upcoming devices or software always comes with some kind of rewards. As such, a hacker who discovered a number of security flaws in Safari was rewarded handsomely for his work. These flaws ould have led to the iPhone camera actually being hacked. Once the flaws were discovered, Apple reward the hacker, Ryan Pickren about $75,000 (Rs 57.3 lakh approx) for figuring out the security flaws. As reported by Forbes, Ryan Pickern is an ethical hacker who broke down Safari and actually discovered around seven issues with the device on Apple’s very own browser. In fact, three of those seven problems could have actually led to the iPhone camera being hacked.

These flaws could have been broken into by hackers who could access the device’s camera and microphone permissions. Ryan Pickren was responsible for finding these issues back in December 2019 and promptly reported the issues to Apple. The San Cupertino company then fixed the issues with the January Safari update and then further patched out further flaws with the 13.0.5 update on Safari and then further improved upon with the March 2020, 13.1 Safari update.

Pickren said, “I really enjoyed working with the Apple product security team when reporting these issues. The new bounty program is absolutely going to help secure products and protect customers. I’m really excited that Apple embraced the help of the security research community.”

So, if you’re some mad genius who breaks down devices, then you should definitely try giving it a shot. Who knows? You could win $75,000 from Apple for your effort.

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Indian jugaad to help patients breathe

Improvise, not import. That seems to be the mantra for some docs and engineers who are coming up with cheap homegrown ventilators and Ambu bags. Here's a look at four such innovators https://ift.tt/2V0QcZi https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Redmi Band with heart rate tracking, colour display launched in China

Xiaomi has unveiled a new wearable under its Redmi brand. Called the Redmi Band, the device is currently priced at CNY 95 (approximately Rs 1,000), but that is only an introductory price and will change to CNY 99.

The Redmi Band packs a relatively large 1.08-inch colour OLED display, which is larger than the 0.95-inch display found on the Mi Band 4. Further, the new band does not come with a charging cradle. It uses a standard USB Type-A port to charge. This a system similar to the one used by other fitness trackers like the Lenovo HX03F Spectra. It should be noted that while the Mi band 4 has a slight curve, the Redmi Band is completely flat. The company claims that the device takes about two hours to completely charge, and can be used for 14 days at a stretch,

As far as tracking goes, the device packs an optical heart rate sensor for tracking heart rate. The company notes that the device can track up to five different sports. It also offers sleep tracking. Another notable feature of the device is that it is waterproof up to five ATM, so users can take it swimming with them. The Redmi Band can show notifications and weather forecast. It also supports Alipay offline scanning. It is not yet known if or when the Redmi Band will make its way to India. However, if the company does launch the fitness tracker in India, it should be priced less than the Mi Band 4.

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India's Unified Payments Interface eliminated most of the fees apps like Paytm charged for transactions, forcing them to search for other sources of income (Manish Singh/TechCrunch)

Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
India's Unified Payments Interface eliminated most of the fees apps like Paytm charged for transactions, forcing them to search for other sources of income — After signing up hundreds of millions of users, startups switch to lending and lean on merchants in search of revenues

Fake PM CARES Links Being Used to Dupe People, Cyber Police Officials Say

Fraudsters are using fake links to dupe people in the name of online coronavirus donations to the Prime Minister''s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund, also known as PM CARES... https://ift.tt/3aK9dFH

How Covid-19 has made data experts the new-age social media influencers

From Peter Kolchinsky and Michael Shellenberger to Scott Gottlieb and Anna Podolanczuk, data scientists and healthcare experts - well-known in their fields - have gained overnight popularity among regular folk. https://ift.tt/2RspB6v https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Disney Delays Marvel Blockbusters but Hopes for Summer 'Mulan' Launch

Disney delayed the releases of more than a dozen major films Friday, but has not given up on a summer blockbuster with Mulan now pencilled in for a July launch despite the coronavirus pandemic. https://ift.tt/2JHNq5T

Quibi Launching Hollywood 'On the Go' Streaming in the US Amid Lockdown

Quibi, the multi-billion-dollar streaming platform launching Monday, is betting it can transform entertainment with short, Hollywood-quality clips to watch "on the go" -- even as much of the world is... https://ift.tt/2yAoeMk

Coronavirus effect: Google Maps now shows you Takeout and Delivery options near your location

As the country is turned inside out because of the Coronavirus pandemic, it’s clear that life has been affected by the spread of the disease. With the 21-day lockdown entering its final week, most people are still stuck at home without any real access to food or essential services. As we previously reported, companies like Reliance and Uber have extended a helping hand to people who are in need. There are even websites that will tell you which grocery store is open nearby. Well, you can now count Google in that list. The tech giant has now included a feature on Google Maps wherein a user can enter his or her location and restaurants that offer takeout or delivery will appear nearby.

As soon as you open up Google Maps, you’ll see an individual Takeout and Delivery button on the top. Clicking either one of these will reveal all the restaurants that either offer Takeout or Delivery nearby. The service also allows you to view the restaurant's menu, what time they’re serving food and even customer reviews for each restaurant. This service is mighty helpful for people who are home alone and do not have the necessary skill to cook their own food. In this day and age, it’s not feasible to be cooking every day either.

As of right now, there is no integration with food delivery services like Swiggy or Zomato or even Uber Eats, but this will make it easier for you to narrow down what exactly you want to eat.

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