1. Chandrayaan-3 Soft-landing [video]
Total comment counts : 90
Summary
error
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses the recent mission by ISRO and their approach to software development. In the past, their missions were designed to select a precise spot or trajectory and make necessary corrections to reach it. This time, however, they prioritized safety by focusing on maintaining altitude, speed, and heading within normal limits while descending towards the target. They also decided not to make any corrections if they were too far off the target and it exceeded safety limits. This approach traded off accuracy for safety.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article highlights the impressive achievement of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in successfully landing a spacecraft on the moon. It mentions that ISRO had faced challenges in achieving a soft landing with the Chandrayaan-2 mission four years ago. However, they made important changes with the recent lander, including increasing the landing zone and adding more sensors and cameras to assist in finding a suitable landing site. The article also mentions a hover phase during the descent before the final commitment to landing.
2. Eye scans detect signs of Parkinson’s disease up to seven years before diagnosis
Total comment counts : 19
Summary
A team of researchers led by Siegfried Wagner and Pearse Keane of Moorfields Eye Hospital and UCL Institute of Ophthalmology have identified markers that indicate the presence of Parkinson’s disease in patients an average of seven years before clinical presentation. This is the first time these findings have been shown several years before diagnosis, and they were made possible through the largest study to date on retinal imaging in Parkinson’s disease. The study used artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze eye scans and identified markers of Parkinson’s. The findings were replicated in the wider UK Biobank database. The use of large datasets enabled the identification of subtle markers, even though Parkinson’s has a relatively low prevalence. Previous research has also used eye scans to reveal signs of other neurodegenerative conditions. High-resolution images of the retina, obtained through scans such as optical coherence tomography (OCT), have become routine in eye care and can provide insight into overall health. Researchers have used machine learning to analyze these images and uncover hidden information about the whole body, a field referred to as oculomics. The collaboration between various institutions and the use of eye data has the potential to detect early signs of Parkinson’s and open up new possibilities for treatment. The researchers hope that this method could become a pre-screening tool for individuals at risk of disease, allowing for early intervention and prevention of neurodegenerative disorders.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses a research paper that examines the overlap between prodromal Parkinson’s patients and control patients. It suggests that although there are some measures that can be almost conclusive in identifying Parkinson’s, there are also ranges where the overlap is significant, making it less useful as a sole measure without a high false positive rate. The article suggests that while the research shows promise in early detection of Parkinson’s, it may not be able to achieve both a good false positive and false negative rate. It also mentions that the article is a press release summarizing a more conservative publication.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article mentions two companies, RightEye and Neuralight, that are developing portable eye-tracking tests. RightEye’s test can detect concussions and reading problems in five minutes, while Neuralight aims to track conditions like ALS and Parkinson’s using an ordinary webcam. The data collected by these tests is helpful in indicating the need for further medical evaluation, as they can detect certain early symptoms before they become more prominent.
3. Skiff – Privacy-first end-to-end encrypted email
Total comment counts : 31
Summary
The website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. It triggered a security solution due to certain actions, such as submitting a specific word or phrase, a SQL command, or incorrect data. Users who are blocked can email the site owner with details of what they were doing and the Cloudflare Ray ID provided on the page. The website’s security is managed by Cloudflare.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses a website that claims to be open source, but the linked repository is actually licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, which is not considered open source but rather “source available”. The author of the article has informed the website about this discrepancy. It is unclear whether only the front-end parts of their apps are source available, or if the server-side parts also have published sources.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author of the article was dissatisfied with ProtonMail and sought out an alternative. They found Skiff but discovered it lacks an exporting feature and SMTP support, making it difficult to switch to another email provider. While ProtonMail does offer importing/exporting and SMTP bridge for paid users, it has issues with manipulating email content and headers. As a solution, the author opted to self-host their email address, receiving incoming emails in their office with TLS enforcement, and using either a Hetzner box or Mailgun to send emails. They have not encountered any problems so far with this setup.
4. I only lost 10 minutes of data, thanks to ZFS
Total comment counts : 29
Summary
error
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses the frequent failures of SanDisk portable SSDs and Western Digital SSDs. Users have experienced issues such as data corruption and deleted files. The failures have been reported by multiple sources and have led to recommendations to avoid these SSDs. However, one user claims to be better prepared for these failures due to their use of the ZFS file system.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author reflects on their experience with the btrfs file system in the Linux world. They find it interesting and see potential for revolutionizing backups and disk organization. The article mentions that btrfs is not as extensive as ZFS, but it offers similar features and is more reasonable to run on certain operating systems. The author shares a personal anecdote about being encouraged to use ZFS after mentioning a reboot using the power cord on a Raspberry Pi.
5. Writing a Package Manager
Total comment counts : 16
Summary
This article discusses the process of building a package manager for SQLite extensions. The author explains the design choices and implementation details necessary to create a working package manager. The article covers topics such as package spec file, folder structure, scope, registry, versioning, dependencies, install and update processes, and the use of a lockfile. The author also provides insights into handling package assets, checksums, and managing conflicts between different sources of package information. The package manager is written in Go and utilizes the standard library without any additional dependencies. The article concludes with a package diagram and encourages readers to explore the provided source code.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The author of the article added a lockfile without understanding why it is necessary. A lockfile is used to freeze the resolution of dependency versions when packages depend on different versions of the same package. However, in this case, the author did not handle package dependencies and did not use version ranges, so it is unclear why they added a lockfile.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses the unusual approach of creating a package manager for sqlite that uses directories and json files instead of the typical sqlite database.
6. Zrepl – ZFS replication
Total comment counts : 11
Summary
The article is about zrepl, a solution for ZFS replication. The article mentions that zrepl is still under active development and there is no stability guarantee on the RPC protocol or configuration format. It encourages readers to provide help and feedback. The article also provides information on the development workflow, including the GitHub repository and how to contribute. The article concludes with copyright information.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The author expresses their strong affinity for the ZFS file system, which they started using a few years ago. They believe that ZFS has revolutionized the concept of file systems and considers it to be superior to NTFS and ext4.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses the use of zrepl, a tool for syncing ZFS filesystems, to incrementally send only the changes of an encrypted filesystem to a target server. This allows for sharing backup space with friends without exposing each other’s data. The author and their friends push/pull encrypted snapshot differences every hour, and in case of an emergency, the author can recover their data from their friends’ systems using their encryption key.
7. Ask HN: Where to find open-source house plans?
Total comment counts : 58
Summary
The article discusses the concept of open source house plans and the challenges of designing and building a house. It mentions various organizations and websites that promote open source house plans, but points out that many plans are not actually free. The complexity of designing and building a house is highlighted, including the need to consider different building codes and geographic factors. The article also mentions the limitations of pre-existing plans and emphasizes the importance of customization to suit individual needs and site conditions.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article provides several links to open-source house plans. These include Wikihouse, Earthships (although not free), Open Source Home by Studiolada (in French), Open Source Ecology’s house build, and the configurable house by Open Building Institute.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article emphasizes the importance of considering the site when planning a house. It suggests that a pre-existing plan may not account for factors such as sun exposure, weather conditions, views, neighboring structures, moisture, fires, access roads, and personal preferences. The article encourages individuals who want to design their own houses to research materials based on A Pattern Language and then customize the plan to suit their specific plot and needs.
8. Add dir=“auto” to your inputs and textareas
Total comment counts : 23
Summary
The author of this article discusses the struggle of adding right-to-left (RTL) language support in the app Standard Notes. They explain that they had previously received requests for RTL support, but found the suggested solutions to be manual or complex. After searching for a solution, they found that simply adding dir=“auto” to the textarea element provided the desired RTL functionality. The author concludes by stating that adding RTL support is easier than people may think, and that Google’s search results may not always provide the best solutions.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses a simple solution for fixing text rendering in inputs and textareas. However, it mentions that similar fixes are required for elements that render submitted text. The article also highlights the complications that arise when dealing with bidirectional text, such as English words within Arabic paragraphs. Additionally, it mentions a regression in Chrome that affects the rendering of right-to-left (RTL) text in inputs with the “dir=‘auto’” attribute, but a fix has been shipped for this issue.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article titled “MDN always comes to the rescue” provides information about the global attribute “dir” in HTML. The article is hosted on the Mozilla Developer Network (MDN) website, which is known for providing comprehensive and reliable documentation for web developers. For a detailed understanding of the global attribute “dir,” you can visit the provided link.
9. Growing scientific interest in vagus nerve stimulation
Total comment counts : 27
Summary
The article discusses the potential benefits of stimulating the vagus nerve, which is responsible for controlling various bodily functions. It explores the growing interest in vagus nerve stimulation as a treatment option for conditions such as depression, obesity, and autoimmune diseases. The article also highlights different methods of stimulating the vagus nerve, including surgical implants and non-invasive devices. While there is scientific evidence supporting some of the benefits of vagus nerve stimulation, there is skepticism about certain claims made by mind-body practitioners. Ongoing research is being conducted to further understand the therapeutic potential of vagus nerve stimulation in various medical conditions.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The Vagus nerve can be stimulated by conscious breathing, which has a direct impact on our psychology and physiology. This is why practices like yoga and Buddhism emphasize the importance of breathing. Two books that delve into this topic are “Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art” and “Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Brain.”
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses the use of a Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS) device called Sentiva 1000 in the treatment of severe epilepsy. The device has been implanted in a child who previously experienced seizures and has greatly helped in reducing their frequency. The settings of the device were gradually adjusted over a nine-month period. While the child still had seizures at night, they were addressed with a different treatment. The Sentiva 1000 sends regular soft pulses and can react to sudden increases in heart rate, potentially indicating a seizure, by increasing pulses automatically. A strong magnet can be used to manually activate the device during a seizure, causing it to send stronger pulses. The batteries of the device last about eight years and can be checked using an iPad and a wand-like device. When the battery needs to be changed, it will require another operation, but it is less complicated than the initial implantation. Overall, the use of the Sentiva 1000 device has been effective in managing the child’s epilepsy.
10. PostgreSQL Lock Conflicts
Total comment counts : 7
Summary
error
Top 1 Comment Summary
The author is expressing admiration for a specific article that is detailed and specialized. They then ask if anyone knows of similar projects.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses the author’s work on a tool for database migrations. The author compares their tool to existing tools that parse SQL and highlight “dangerous” locks but lack context and don’t account for changes or schema-specific information. The author questions the need to interpret the Postgres source code and convert it into human-readable form in order to understand the locks or rewrites a DDL statement will perform, suggesting instead to directly obtain this information from Postgres. The author wonders if they are missing something.