Russia Blocks Signal Messaging App

Russia has blocked access to the encrypted Signal messaging app to “prevent the messenger’s use of terrorist and extremist purposes.” YouTube is also facing mass outages following repeated slowdowns in recent weeks. The Associated Press reports: Russian authorities expanded their crackdown on dissent and free media after Russian President Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. They have blocked multiple independent Russian-language media outlets critical of the Kremlin, and cut access to Twitter, which later became X, as well as Meta’s Facebook and Instagram.

In the latest blow to the freedom of information, YouTube faced mass outages on Thursday following repeated slowdowns in recent weeks. Russian authorities have blamed the slowdowns on Google’s failure to upgrade its equipment in Russia, but many experts have challenged the claim, arguing that the likely reason for the slowdowns and the latest outage was the Kremlin’s desire to shut public access to a major platform that carries opposition views.

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FDA Rejects MDMA-Assisted Therapy For PTSD

The FDA has rejected a first-of-its-kind proposal to use the psychedelic drug MDMA as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to drugmaker Lykos Therapeutics. NBC News reports: There had been intense political pressure on the FDA to approve the drug. Friday’s decision was the first time the agency had considered a Schedule 1 psychedelic for medical use. If approved, it would have been the first new treatment for PTSD in more than two decades. Lykos Therapeutics had asked the FDA to approve the drug as part of a treatment regimen, given alongside talk therapy. The agency’s decision came after an independent advisory committee in June declined to recommend approval of the drug, saying there was not enough evidence that the therapy was safe and effective.

The committee cited a myriad of concerns, including poorly designed studies, allegations of sexual misconduct during a midstage clinical trial and the potential for serious health risks after taking the drug, including heart problems and abuse. A review by FDA scientists, published ahead of the June meeting, also raised concerns about how the trials were carried out, including that a number of patients and therapists likely were able to guess who was given the medication and who got the placebo. Despite the rejection, experts say they expect that psychedelic therapies are still on their way to FDA approval. There are around four dozen MDMA trials in various stages of clinical development, according to ClinicalTrials.gov. “I think it will be a temporary setback,” said Holly Fernandez Lynch, an associate professor of medical ethics at the University of Pennsylvania. “The advisory committee and FDA gave very clear indications of what they’re looking for in terms of study design and adverse event reporting, so Lykos and other companies should know pretty clearly how to proceed going forward if they want to get psychedelics approved.”

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Japan Issues First Ever ‘Megaquake’ Warning

After a 7.1 tremor struck southwestern Japan on Thursday, the country’s meteorological agency issued its first-ever alert for a possible “megaquake.” It marks the first time the warning has been issued under new rules drawn up after a 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster killed almost 20,000 people. Phys.org reports: The JMA’s “megaquake advisory” warns that “if a major earthquake were to occur in the future, strong shaking and large tsunamis would be generated.” “The likelihood of a new major earthquake is higher than normal, but this is not an indication that a major earthquake will definitely occur during a specific period of time,” it added. The advisory concerns the Nankai Trough “subduction zone” between two tectonic plates in the Pacific Ocean, where massive earthquakes have hit in the past. […]

Japan’s government has previously said the next magnitude 8-9 megaquake along the Nankai Trough has a roughly 70 percent probability of striking within the next 30 years. In the worst-case scenario 300,000 lives could be lost, experts estimate, with some engineers saying the damage could reach $13 trillion with infrastructure wiped out. “The history of great earthquakes at Nankai is convincingly scary,” geologists Kyle Bradley and Judith A Hubbard wrote in their Earthquake Insights newsletter. And “while earthquake prediction is impossible, the occurrence of one earthquake usually does raise the likelihood of another”, they explained. “A future great Nankai earthquake is surely the most long-anticipated earthquake in history — it is the original definition of the ‘Big One’.”

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Cloud Growth Puts Hyperscalers On Track To 60% of Data Capacity By 2029

Dan Robinson writes via The Register: Hyperscalers are forecast to account for more than 60 percent of datacenter space by 2029, a stark reversal on just seven years ago when the majority of capacity was made up of on-premises facilities. This trend is the result of demand for cloud services and consumer-oriented digital services such as social networking, e-commerce and online gaming pushing growth in hyperscale bit barns, those operated by megacorps including Amazon, Microsoft and Meta. The figures were published by Synergy Research Group, which says they are drawn from several detailed quarterly tracking research services to build an analysis of datacenter volume and trends.

As of last year’s data, those hyperscale companies accounted for 41 percent of the entire global data dormitory capacity, but their share is growing fast. Just over half of the hyperscaler capacity is comprised of own-build facilities, with the rest made up of leased server farms, operated by providers such as Digital Realty or Equinix. On-premises datacenters run by enterprises themselves now account for 37 percent of the total, a drop from when they made up 60 percent a few years ago. The remainder (22 percent) is accounted for by non-hyperscale colocation datacenters.

What the figures appear to show is that hyperscale volume is growing faster than colocation or on-prem capacity — by an average of 22 percent each year. Hence Synergy believes that while colocation’s share of the total will slowly decrease over time, actual colo capacity will continue to rise steadily. Likewise, the proportion of overall bit barn space represented by on-premise facilities is forecast by Synergy to decline by almost three percentage points each year, although the analyst thinks the actual total capacity represented by on-premises datacenters is set to remain relatively stable. It’s a case of on-prem essentially standing still in an expanding market.

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FTX Ordered To Pay $12.7 Billion To Customers, US CFTC Says

FTX has been ordered to pay $12.7 billion in relief to its customers, according to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). In a statement, CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam said the crypto exchange drew customers in with “an illusion that it was a safe and secure place to access crypto markets,” then misappropriated their customer deposits to make its own risky investments. Reuters reports: The repayment order implements a settlement between the CFTC and the bankrupt crypto exchange, which has committed to a bankruptcy liquidation that will repay customers whose deposits were locked during its late 2022 collapse. FTX has said that its customers will receive 100% recovery on their claims against the company, based on the value of their accounts at the time it filed for bankruptcy. The CFTC agreement resolves a potential roadblock to that repayment, ensuring that the government’s lawsuit against FTX will not reduce the funds available to its customers. The CFTC agreed not to collect any payment from FTX until all its customers are repaid, with interest.

The CFTC settlement requires FTX to pay $8.7 billion in restitution and $4 billion in disgorgement, which will be used to further compensate victims for losses suffered during the exchange’s collapse. […] FTX is currently soliciting votes on its bankruptcy proposal but faces opposition from some customers who feel short-changed by the decision to repay them based on much-lower cryptocurrency prices from November 2022. Votes are due on Aug. 16, and FTX intends to seek final approval of its wind-down plan on Oct. 7.

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M4 Mac Mini To Become Apple’s Smallest Ever Computer With Complete Redesign

According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman (paywalled), Apple plans to launch a completely redesigned Mac mini with M4 and M4 Pro chips later this year. MacRumors reports: The new Mac mini will be the first major design change to the machine since 2010, making it Apple’s smallest ever desktop computer. The new Mac mini will apparently approach the size of an Apple TV, but it may be slightly taller than the current model, which is 1.4 inches high. It will continue to feature an aluminum shell. Individuals working on the new device apparently say that it is “essentially an iPad Pro in a small box.”

Apple is said to have tested Mac mini models with at least three USB-C ports on the back, as well as an area for the power cable and an HDMI port. There will continue to be two versions of the Mac mini: one with the standard M4 chip, similar to the iPad Pro, and one with an M4 Pro chip. The base model is set to begin shipping from suppliers this month ahead of release later in the year, while the high-end model will not be ready until October.

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Crunchyroll Passes 15 Million Monthly Paid Subscribers

Sony’s Crunchyroll streaming service dedicated to anime has passed 15 million monthly paid subscribers. “Today marks an exciting milestone not only for Crunchyroll, but for the entire anime industry,” Rahul Purini, president of Crunchyroll, said in a press release. “It is proof that the rich stories, characters and experiences that our partners create are resonating deeply with fans at record numbers all over the world. As the number of people excited about anime continues to explode and the breadth of content continues to widen, we believe it has never been a better time to be an anime fan.” TheWrap reports: Currently, the streamer has the world’s largest streaming library dedicated to anime, including 50,000 episodes and more than 25,000 hours of anime series, music and films. Every season, the streamer brings in between 45 and 60 new and returning series to its service. Those include series such as “Demon Slayer Kimetsu no Yaiba,” “JUJUTSU KAISEN,” “One Piece,” “Chainsaw Man” and “Solo Leveling.” Last year, the streamer also partnered with SMEJ (Sony Music Entertainment Japan) to bring anime-related music to the platform, a collaboration that has resulted in 3,300 music videos and concerts so far.

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