On May 11th 2017, the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits announced that it was ending its licensing program for the MP3 audio codec. In the wake of their decision, more modern codecs such as AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) and MPEG-H will become the de facto standards for music downloads and mobile video streaming. Fraunhofer also figured prominently in the development of the ACC file type which is used today by iTunes, YouTube, Nokia, and others.
Fraunhofer began developing the MP3 technology in the late 1980's, but by 1995 licensing of the codec was minimal. At that point the company began giving away the software that consumers needed to turn CDs into MP3s. After that, the MP3 format became widely popular. In 2001 Apple released the iPod which lead to even more success of the MP3, as it allowed consumers to buy music downloads and not only store them but also play them right from the device.
It's already being said that the MP3 is not dead, as many believe that just as the CD ROM didn't cause the floppy disc to completely disappear, the MP3 will no doubt take it's time fading from the spotlight. In the meantime newer more advance codecs such as FLAC and OGG Vorbis, as well as high resolution 24bit 192kHz files will undoubtedly have no trouble filling in the void left by the MP3's departure.
Wednesday, May 17, 2017
Wednesday, May 10, 2017
Early Man May Have Had An Ancient Cousin
On May 9th 2017, the scientists who discovered the species Homo Naledi announced in the journal eLife two new findings. They say that they have determined a younger age for their original find, and that they have found a second cave full of skeletal remains. The Naledi remains were first discovered in 2013 in a cave near Johannesburg, South Africa, by a team of researchers led by paleoanthropologist Lee Berger of University of Witwatersrand.
Dr. Berger and his team believe the bones from the earlier find in what's been called the Rising Star Cave, are from between 236,000 and 335,00 years ago. If this is true, then Naledi roamed Africa at the same time as Homo Sapiens. This means that while modern humans were evolving from large brained ancestors, a smaller brained version had managed to survive from a much earlier period, that may extend back some 2 million years.
The fossils' age range overlaps the early Middle Stone Age. Dr. Berger and his team speculate that it's possible that the stone-tool record from South Africa may not be just from modern humans. The team also discovered skeletal remains in a second chamber at the cave site that they are calling the Lesedi Chamber. As many as 130 specimens were recovered that are believed to represent two adults and one child. One of the male skeletons is preserved in a state comparable to the Lucy skeleton.
Dr. Berger and his team believe the bones from the earlier find in what's been called the Rising Star Cave, are from between 236,000 and 335,00 years ago. If this is true, then Naledi roamed Africa at the same time as Homo Sapiens. This means that while modern humans were evolving from large brained ancestors, a smaller brained version had managed to survive from a much earlier period, that may extend back some 2 million years.
The fossils' age range overlaps the early Middle Stone Age. Dr. Berger and his team speculate that it's possible that the stone-tool record from South Africa may not be just from modern humans. The team also discovered skeletal remains in a second chamber at the cave site that they are calling the Lesedi Chamber. As many as 130 specimens were recovered that are believed to represent two adults and one child. One of the male skeletons is preserved in a state comparable to the Lucy skeleton.
Wednesday, May 3, 2017
Humans May Have Lived In North America 130,000 Years Ago
On April 26th 2017, archaeologists announced that they had found evidence that humans may have lived in North America 130,000 years ago. A study posted in the journal Nature stated that the recovery of mastodon bones discovered in southern California showed signs that humans may have attacked the animal near the time of its demise. The study has sparked a debate about humans living on the continent 115,400 years before humans were believed to be in North America.
The fossils were first discovered near a freeway construction site in San Diego in 1992. The location of the mastodon's remains has been named the Cerutii Mastodon Site, after Richard Cerutii, the paleontologist who made the discovery. The animal bones, tusks, and molars were found buried along with stone tools which included hammers and anvils believed to have been used in either extraction of bone marrow, or raw materials for making such tools.
Thomas Demere, Steven Holen, and a team of researchers from the San Diego Natural History Museum, examined the mastodon remains using a technique called, "uranium-thorium dating. This process allowed them to arrive at a date of 130,000 years. Further study of the bones and teeth revealed that some of the remains had a pattern of breakage called "spiral fracturing." The team says that this occurs when the bones are fresh.
They also say that some of the bones show signs of being smashed with very hard objects. Other researchers, such as John McNabb of the University of South Hampton, say that, "Until we actually find a skeleton at this site, or at a site of a comparable age in the Americas, it's all an open speculation and we just don't know."
The fossils were first discovered near a freeway construction site in San Diego in 1992. The location of the mastodon's remains has been named the Cerutii Mastodon Site, after Richard Cerutii, the paleontologist who made the discovery. The animal bones, tusks, and molars were found buried along with stone tools which included hammers and anvils believed to have been used in either extraction of bone marrow, or raw materials for making such tools.
Thomas Demere, Steven Holen, and a team of researchers from the San Diego Natural History Museum, examined the mastodon remains using a technique called, "uranium-thorium dating. This process allowed them to arrive at a date of 130,000 years. Further study of the bones and teeth revealed that some of the remains had a pattern of breakage called "spiral fracturing." The team says that this occurs when the bones are fresh.
They also say that some of the bones show signs of being smashed with very hard objects. Other researchers, such as John McNabb of the University of South Hampton, say that, "Until we actually find a skeleton at this site, or at a site of a comparable age in the Americas, it's all an open speculation and we just don't know."
Wednesday, April 26, 2017
Neil Young's New High Resolution Streaming Service
On April 22nd 2017, music legend, Neil Young announced that he will be starting a new music streaming service called, Xstream. The move comes as a result of the shut down of his of his Pono Music store in the summer of 2016. Pono is the high resolution music player that Mr Young introduced to the world in 2015. Mr. Young's goal is to create a streaming service that will deliver 24bit 192kHz sound quality at what he calls, "a normal price."
Mr. Young says that Xstream will not be like most of the other streaming music services. Xtream won't use a single low resolution file. Instead, Xstream will stream the highest quality sound based on your internet connection. The file that is streamed will also adapt to any changes in your network. This is done by using a single high resolution, bit perfect file that is compressed as it is needed so that it will never stop playing.
The adaptive stream technology was created by Orastream, a small tech company in Singapore that Mr. Young worked with to conceptualize Xstream. Xstream will not be compatible with the existing Pono players because they don't have a Wi-Fi adapter and only play downloads. Currently, Mr. Young is in talks with the major record companies, so only his music is being listed as available for streaming. No launch date has been given at this time.
Mr. Young says that Xstream will not be like most of the other streaming music services. Xtream won't use a single low resolution file. Instead, Xstream will stream the highest quality sound based on your internet connection. The file that is streamed will also adapt to any changes in your network. This is done by using a single high resolution, bit perfect file that is compressed as it is needed so that it will never stop playing.
The adaptive stream technology was created by Orastream, a small tech company in Singapore that Mr. Young worked with to conceptualize Xstream. Xstream will not be compatible with the existing Pono players because they don't have a Wi-Fi adapter and only play downloads. Currently, Mr. Young is in talks with the major record companies, so only his music is being listed as available for streaming. No launch date has been given at this time.
Wednesday, April 19, 2017
NASA Probes Find Elements For Life
On April 13th 2017, NASA announced that two of its space science missions had detected needed elements for the creation of life. Using the Cassini Spacecraft and the Hubble Space Telescope, NASA has determined that Jupiter's moon Europa and Saturn's moon Enceladus are both ocean worlds. Cassini's mission to Enceladus has detected hydrogen gas, which could be a chemical energy source for life, while Hubble has detected more evidence of possible plumes of water vapor spewing from Europa.
The hydrogen gas on Enceladus was discovered in 2015 when the Cassini Spacecraft made its deepest dive through a plume of gas and icy material, that was rising from the moon's surface. Scientists back on Earth were later able to determine that the plume contained 98% water and 1% hydrogen. The other 1% contained a mixture of carbon dioxide, ammonia, and methane. While this is not proof of life it self, it is, however, evidence that the necessary ingredients for life exists on Saturn's moon.
The possible plume of water spewing from Jupiter's moon Europa was discovered with the Hubble Space Telescope in early 2016. It was measured at 62 miles high. An earlier plume candidate was detected in March of 2014. That particular siting was measured at 30 miles high. While the suspected plumes appear to be coming from a warm region of Europa, where there are cracks in its icy surface, NASA is still not ready to say that these are actual plumes just yet.
The hydrogen gas on Enceladus was discovered in 2015 when the Cassini Spacecraft made its deepest dive through a plume of gas and icy material, that was rising from the moon's surface. Scientists back on Earth were later able to determine that the plume contained 98% water and 1% hydrogen. The other 1% contained a mixture of carbon dioxide, ammonia, and methane. While this is not proof of life it self, it is, however, evidence that the necessary ingredients for life exists on Saturn's moon.
The possible plume of water spewing from Jupiter's moon Europa was discovered with the Hubble Space Telescope in early 2016. It was measured at 62 miles high. An earlier plume candidate was detected in March of 2014. That particular siting was measured at 30 miles high. While the suspected plumes appear to be coming from a warm region of Europa, where there are cracks in its icy surface, NASA is still not ready to say that these are actual plumes just yet.
Wednesday, April 12, 2017
Streaming Becomes Music Industry's Number One Delivery System
On March 30th 2016, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) announced that streaming music platforms have become the music industry's number one source for revenue. The news came as the RIAA released its annual report that stated that music sales were up by 11.4% in 2016 to $7.7 billion. The report further stated that streaming led the charge by accounting for more than half, or 51.4% of all reported revenue.
Music industry revenue had been hovering around $7 billion a year, without showing much in the way of growth since 2010. But, that has now changed, due to the rise of on demand streaming services such as YouTube, Apple Music, Spotify, and TIDAL. Online radio streaming services such as Pandora and iHeartRadio followed as the second source of revenue, showing a 10% increase in growth of $883.9 million.
Sales of music downloads were down in 2016 by 21.6% bringing in about $1.6 billion. But, while the sale of both single tracks and albums was down, the report found that more people who chose to buy downloads are now buying full albums more than ever before. In fact, albums made up 49% of all music downloads. Meanwhile, CD sales have fallen sharply. Only 99.4 million full length CDs were sold in 2016, marking the first time since 1986 that fewer than 100 million were sold.
Music industry revenue had been hovering around $7 billion a year, without showing much in the way of growth since 2010. But, that has now changed, due to the rise of on demand streaming services such as YouTube, Apple Music, Spotify, and TIDAL. Online radio streaming services such as Pandora and iHeartRadio followed as the second source of revenue, showing a 10% increase in growth of $883.9 million.
Sales of music downloads were down in 2016 by 21.6% bringing in about $1.6 billion. But, while the sale of both single tracks and albums was down, the report found that more people who chose to buy downloads are now buying full albums more than ever before. In fact, albums made up 49% of all music downloads. Meanwhile, CD sales have fallen sharply. Only 99.4 million full length CDs were sold in 2016, marking the first time since 1986 that fewer than 100 million were sold.
Wednesday, April 5, 2017
SpaceX Relaunches And Lands Falcon 9
On March 30th 2017, SpaceX made history by successfully launching the world's first reused rocket booster, with the lift off of its Falcon 9. The launch took place at 6:27pm EDT, and was this booster's second flight since launching in April of 2016, and the second SpaceX launch within a two week period. With a new upper stage, a half an hour later, the Falcon 9 successfully placed it's SES 10 Communications payload into orbit.
After making history, the rocket booster was then successfully returned from space to make a perfect landing at sea on one of SpaceX's drone ships. While the turn around time took about a year, the successful relaunch and the landing is a solid proof of concept for the reusable rocket approach for future space flight missions. The rocket that flew the historic flight was the second Falcon 9 that was ever recovered, and was first used to on a cargo resupply mission to the ISS.
The Falcon 9 first stage which houses the main engine and contains most of the fuel needed for lift off, represents 70% of the cost of a single mission. The ability to refly their rockets would serve as a cost saving measure for SpaceX. It took four months to get this historic booster ready for relaunch. SpaceX is looking forward to meeting the challenge of getting the inspection and refurbishing time down to 24 hours.
After making history, the rocket booster was then successfully returned from space to make a perfect landing at sea on one of SpaceX's drone ships. While the turn around time took about a year, the successful relaunch and the landing is a solid proof of concept for the reusable rocket approach for future space flight missions. The rocket that flew the historic flight was the second Falcon 9 that was ever recovered, and was first used to on a cargo resupply mission to the ISS.
The Falcon 9 first stage which houses the main engine and contains most of the fuel needed for lift off, represents 70% of the cost of a single mission. The ability to refly their rockets would serve as a cost saving measure for SpaceX. It took four months to get this historic booster ready for relaunch. SpaceX is looking forward to meeting the challenge of getting the inspection and refurbishing time down to 24 hours.
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