IFTTT – Page 15 – Peter's Quasi-Daily Blah-g

In 2025, you can buy a Toyota Prius, skip the gas station for days, and still complain about the ride quality on potholes. That’s the hybrid life: part monk, part commuter ninja. And with gas prices moonwalking toward $4 again, it’s a lifestyle many Americans are still buying into—over 1.2 million hybrid sales last year alone.

But the EV crowd is yelling louder every year: “Just go all electric!” So let’s settle it — does the hybrid still make financial sense? Or is it a stepping stone past its prime?

We did the math. Real numbers. Real assumptions. No "green halo" pricing fluff.

Figure 1: 10-Year Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

Over a 10-year period, electric vehicles (EVs) can be the most cost-effective option—but only under ideal conditions like access to home charging and sufficient annual mileage. According to DOE and Argonne National Lab, hybrids remain the lowest total cost of ownership for the average American, especially for those without dedicated charging infrastructure.

Assumptions:

ICE: $28K purchase, $1,500/year fuel, $600/year maintenance
Hybrid: $30K purchase, $1,200/year fuel, $700/year maintenance
EV: $35K purchase, $400/year electricity, $300/year maintenance

1. The Hybrid Middle Ground Is Still Solid

The hybrid buyer still spends a little more upfront than the gas car buyer, but makes it back over time. You’re saving around $300 a year at the pump, and while maintenance isn’t zero (hello, regenerative braking sensors), it’s generally lower than ICE over the long haul. Add in federal tax credits or state perks, and hybrids remain one of the best deals on the road, especially if you’re putting in 15,000+ miles per year.

Clarification: While EVs offer lower operational costs, hybrids remain the cheapest total cost option for many average-use cases, per Argonne.

2. EVs Win on Running Costs — But Only If You Have a Garage

Here’s the truth: EVs are significantly cheaper to run — when you can charge at home. Charging at home averages $400/year in electricity, compared to $1,200 in gas for a hybrid. Plus, there’s no oil to change, no spark plugs to replace, and your brake pads last longer thanks to regen braking.

But that advantage flips quickly if you rely on public fast-charging, which can be 3x to 5x more expensive than home charging. According to DOE/Argonne, EVs relying heavily on public charging often end up more expensive than hybrids or ICE cars over 10 years.

EVs can save you about $7,000 over 10 years — but only if you charge smart and often at home.

3. Maintenance Isn’t Scary—For Any of Them

The myth that hybrids are more expensive to maintain because of “two powertrains” doesn’t hold up. Most hybrid systems are built like tanks. Inverters or battery packs rarely fail under warranty, and regenerative brakes reduce wear. Meanwhile, ICE cars need regular oil changes, timing belt swaps, and eventually, catalytic converter work.

EVs? Lowest upkeep by far. Scheduled EV maintenance at 6 cents per mile, compared to 10 cents for gas cars. However, battery replacement costs remain a wildcard for EVs beyond the warranty period, usually past year 8 or 10. That risk keeps hybrids competitive.

The Last Word

So, here’s what the numbers and studies actually tell us:

The hybrid still offers the lowest total cost of ownership for the average driver, especially those without home charging or lower annual mileage.
EVs can be more affordable, but only with access to home chargingand consistent use.
ICE vehicles remain the costliest long-term, due to fuel and maintenance costs.

So no, hybrids aren’t a “marketing mirage.” They’re still the smartest move for the gas-averse, chargerless majority. And EVs? They’re the future, but not everyone’s present.

The real question is this: Will the hybrid stay a stepping stone or become the sensible forever car?

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July 5, 2025 at 05:54PM

July 2, 2025

Mexican Drug Cartel Hacker Used Surveillance Tech to Target FBI Informants for Execution

https://gizmodo.com/mexican-drug-cartel-hacker-used-surveillance-tech-to-target-fbi-informants-for-execution-2000622199

Sometimes the surveillance state gets turned against itself. That seems to be what resulted in the unfortunate demise of a number of FBI informants, who were tracked by a hacker working for the Sinaloa cartel in Mexico, according to a recent report published by the U.S. Justice Department.

According to the 47-page report issued by the Justice Department Inspector General, titled “Audit of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Efforts to Mitigate the Effects of Ubiquitous Technical Surveillance,” a hacker associated with Juaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s crime ring used phone data and surveillance cameras located around Mexico City to identify people connected to the FBI. That information was ultimately used to intimidate and sometimes kill people who were believed to be sharing information or cooperating with law enforcement, according to the report.

The hacker, who was not named in the report, used several tactics to sniff out potential snitches. First, the hacker reportedly observed people as they entered and exited the United States Embassy in Mexico City. That surveillance helped to identify “people of interest,” and eventually helped him and the cartel identify an FBI assistant legal attaché. Without providing details as to how the hacker did it, the report indicates that he was able to obtain the attaché’s phone number and used that to access calls made and received from that number, as well as geolocation data associated with that phone.

In addition to snatching the data from the victim’s phone, the hacker also reportedly tapped into surveillance cameras around Mexico City to track the person as they moved through the city and identified people that they met with. Mexcio City has installed a robust network of security cameras in recent years. There were over 18,000 across the city in 2018, around the time that the report focuses on. Earlier this year, it was announced that an additional 40,000 will be installed in the coming years.

The Justice Department’s report was less about the specifics of the case in Mexico City and more about the general difficulty of protecting sources in the modern surveillance state. “Advances in data mining and analysis, facial recognition, and computer network exploitation have made it easier than ever for nation state adversaries, terrorist organizations and criminal networks to identify FBI personnel and operations,” the audit said. It concluded with a recommendation that FBI audit its operations to figure out where it is most vulnerable.

It’s at least a little ironic that the surveillance state that it helped create is now making life more difficult for the three-letter agencies.

via Gizmodo https://gizmodo.com/

June 30, 2025 at 03:51PM

July 2, 2025

Robo-Soccer is Now Real, and It’s Gloriously Weird

https://www.geeksaresexy.net/2025/07/02/robo-soccer-is-now-real-and-its-gloriously-weird/

On June 28th, Beijing hosted its first Robotic Soccer Tournament, and yes, it was everything you hoped it would be: awkward running, dramatic falls, and robots giving 110%… processing power.

In the semi-finals, Team Vulcan from Tsinghua University took on Team Blaze Light from Beijing Info & Sci-Tech U. Picture this: six humanoid bots on a soccer field, moving like toddlers in cosplay armor, kicking with the precision of a cat wearing socks.

And this is only the beginning. It’s all leading up to the World Humanoid Robot Games this August, where teams will battle for glory, honor, and maybe a firmware update. Check it out!

Click This Link for the Full Post > Robo-Soccer is Now Real, and It’s Gloriously Weird

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July 2, 2025 at 08:15AM

June 26, 2025

Uranium enrichment: A chemist explains how the surprisingly common element is processed to power reactors and weapons

https://www.geeksaresexy.net/2025/06/26/uranium-enrichment-a-chemist-explains-how-the-surprisingly-common-element-is-processed-to-power-reactors-and-weapons/

Yellowcake is a concentrated form of mined and processed uranium. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, CC BY

André O. Hudson, *Rochester Institute of Technology*

When most people hear the word uranium, they think of mushroom clouds, Cold War standoffs or the glowing green rods from science fiction. But uranium isn’t just fuel for apocalyptic fears. It’s also a surprisingly common element that plays a crucial role in modern energy, medicine and geopolitics.

Uranium reentered the global spotlight in June 2025, when the U.S. launched military strikes on sites in Iran believed to be housing highly enriched uranium, a move that reignited urgent conversations around nuclear proliferation. Many headlines have mentioned Iran’s 60% enrichment of uranium, but what does that really mean?

As a biochemist, I’m interested in demystifying this often misunderstood element.

What is uranium?

Uranium holds the 92nd position on the periodic table, and it is a radioactive, metallic element. Radioactivity is a natural process where some atoms – like uranium, thorium and radium – break down on their own, releasing energy.

The German chemist Martin Heinrich Klaproth initially identified uranium in 1789, and he named it after the newly discovered planet Uranus. However, its power was not unlocked until the 20th century, when scientists discovered that uranium atoms could split via a process known as nuclear fission. In fission, the nucleus of the atom splits into two or more nuclei, which releases large amounts of energy.

Uranium is found almost everywhere. It is in rocks, soil and water. There are even traces of uranium in plants and animals – albeit tiny amounts. Most of it is found in the Earth’s crust, where it is mined and concentrated to increase the amount of its most useful radioactive form, uranium-235.

The enrichment dilemma

Uranium-235 is an isotope of uranium, which is a version of an element that has the same basic identity but weighs a little more or less. Think about apples from the same tree. Some are big and some are small, but they are all apples – even though they have slightly different weights. Basically, an isotope is the same element but with a different mass.

Unprocessed uranium is mostly uranium-238. It only contains approximately 0.7% uranium-235, the isotope that allows the most nuclear fission to occur. So, the enrichment process concentrates uranium-235.

Enrichment can make uranium more useful for the development of nuclear weapons, since natural uranium doesn’t have enough uranium-235 to work well in reactors or weapons. The process usually contains three steps.

Centrifuges spin the uranium to separate out its isotopes.

The first step is to convert the uranium into a gas, called uranium hexafluoride. In the second step, the gas gets funneled into a machine called a centrifuge that spins very fast. Because uranium-235 is a little lighter than uranium-238, it moves outward more slowly when spun, and the two isotopes separate.

It’s sort of like how a salad spinner separates water from lettuce. One spin doesn’t make much of a difference, so the gas is spun through many centrifuges in a row until the uranium-235 is concentrated.

Uranium can typically power nuclear plants and generate electricity when it is 3%-5% enriched, meaning 3%-5% of the uranium is uranium-235. At 20% enriched, uranium-235 is considered highly enriched uranium, and 90% or higher is known as weapons-grade uranium.

The enrichment level depends on the proportion of uranium-235 to uranium-238. Wikimedia Commons

This high grade works in nuclear weapons because it can sustain a fast, uncontrolled chain reaction, which releases a large amount of energy compared with the other isotopes.

Uranium’s varied powers

While many headlines focus on uranium’s military potential, this element also plays a vital role in modern life. At low enrichment levels, uranium powers nearly 10% of the world’s electricity.

In the U.S., many nuclear power plants run on uranium fuel, producing carbon-free energy. In addition, some cancer therapies and diagnostic imaging technologies harness uranium to treat diseases.

Enriched uranium is used for nuclear power. Raimond Spekking/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

In naval technology, nuclear-powered submarines and aircraft carriers rely on enriched uranium to operate silently and efficiently for years.

Uranium is a story of duality. It is a mineral pulled from ancient rocks that can light up a city or wipe one off the map. It’s not just a relic of the Cold War or science fiction. It’s real, it’s powerful, and it’s shaping our world – from global conflicts to cancer clinics, from the energy grid to international diplomacy.

In the end, the real power is not just in the energy released from the element. It is in how people choose to use it.

André O. Hudson, Dean of the College of Science, Professor of Biochemistry, *Rochester Institute of Technology*

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Click This Link for the Full Post > Uranium enrichment: A chemist explains how the surprisingly common element is processed to power reactors and weapons

Three pie charts showing the proportion of isotopes in each type of uranium. Natural uranium is almost all U238, low-enriched uranium is 3%-20% U235, highly enriched uranium is mostly U235 — Yellowcake is a concentrated form of mined and processed uranium. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, CC BY

André O. Hudson, *Rochester Institute of Technology*

When most people hear the word uranium, they think of mushroom clouds, Cold War standoffs or the glowing green rods from science fiction. But uranium isn’t just fuel for apocalyptic fears. It’s also a surprisingly common element that plays a crucial role in modern energy, medicine and geopolitics.

Uranium reentered the global spotlight in June 2025, when the U.S. launched military strikes on sites in Iran believed to be housing highly enriched uranium, a move that reignited urgent conversations around nuclear proliferation. Many headlines have mentioned Iran’s 60% enrichment of uranium, but what does that really mean?

As a biochemist, I’m interested in demystifying this often misunderstood element.

What is uranium?

Uranium holds the 92nd position on the periodic table, and it is a radioactive, metallic element. Radioactivity is a natural process where some atoms – like uranium, thorium and radium – break down on their own, releasing energy.

The German chemist Martin Heinrich Klaproth initially identified uranium in 1789, and he named it after the newly discovered planet Uranus. However, its power was not unlocked until the 20th century, when scientists discovered that uranium atoms could split via a process known as nuclear fission. In fission, the nucleus of the atom splits into two or more nuclei, which releases large amounts of energy.

Uranium is found almost everywhere. It is in rocks, soil and water. There are even traces of uranium in plants and animals – albeit tiny amounts. Most of it is found in the Earth’s crust, where it is mined and concentrated to increase the amount of its most useful radioactive form, uranium-235.

The enrichment dilemma

Uranium-235 is an isotope of uranium, which is a version of an element that has the same basic identity but weighs a little more or less. Think about apples from the same tree. Some are big and some are small, but they are all apples – even though they have slightly different weights. Basically, an isotope is the same element but with a different mass.

Unprocessed uranium is mostly uranium-238. It only contains approximately 0.7% uranium-235, the isotope that allows the most nuclear fission to occur. So, the enrichment process concentrates uranium-235.

Enrichment can make uranium more useful for the development of nuclear weapons, since natural uranium doesn’t have enough uranium-235 to work well in reactors or weapons. The process usually contains three steps.

Centrifuges spin the uranium to separate out its isotopes.

The first step is to convert the uranium into a gas, called uranium hexafluoride. In the second step, the gas gets funneled into a machine called a centrifuge that spins very fast. Because uranium-235 is a little lighter than uranium-238, it moves outward more slowly when spun, and the two isotopes separate.

It’s sort of like how a salad spinner separates water from lettuce. One spin doesn’t make much of a difference, so the gas is spun through many centrifuges in a row until the uranium-235 is concentrated.

Uranium can typically power nuclear plants and generate electricity when it is 3%-5% enriched, meaning 3%-5% of the uranium is uranium-235. At 20% enriched, uranium-235 is considered highly enriched uranium, and 90% or higher is known as weapons-grade uranium.

The enrichment level depends on the proportion of uranium-235 to uranium-238. Wikimedia Commons

This high grade works in nuclear weapons because it can sustain a fast, uncontrolled chain reaction, which releases a large amount of energy compared with the other isotopes.

Uranium’s varied powers

While many headlines focus on uranium’s military potential, this element also plays a vital role in modern life. At low enrichment levels, uranium powers nearly 10% of the world’s electricity.

In the U.S., many nuclear power plants run on uranium fuel, producing carbon-free energy. In addition, some cancer therapies and diagnostic imaging technologies harness uranium to treat diseases.

Enriched uranium is used for nuclear power. Raimond Spekking/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

In naval technology, nuclear-powered submarines and aircraft carriers rely on enriched uranium to operate silently and efficiently for years.

Uranium is a story of duality. It is a mineral pulled from ancient rocks that can light up a city or wipe one off the map. It’s not just a relic of the Cold War or science fiction. It’s real, it’s powerful, and it’s shaping our world – from global conflicts to cancer clinics, from the energy grid to international diplomacy.

In the end, the real power is not just in the energy released from the element. It is in how people choose to use it.

André O. Hudson, Dean of the College of Science, Professor of Biochemistry, *Rochester Institute of Technology*

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Click This Link for the Full Post > Uranium enrichment: A chemist explains how the surprisingly common element is processed to power reactors and weapons

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June 26, 2025 at 09:51AM

June 23, 2025

Tesla Isn’t Going to Like Its Robotaxi Rival’s Newest Announcement

https://www.autoblog.com/news/tesla-isnt-going-to-like-its-robotaxi-rivals-newest-announcement

Zoox takes a significant step toward mass production

Tesla is days away from its June 22 robotaxi launch in Austin, Texas, but autonomous rideshare company Zoox, backed by Amazon, has bigger news. Zoox has opened its first large-scale robotaxi production facility in Hayward, California—a 220,000-square-foot site equivalent to 3 ½ American football fields capable of assembling more than 10,000 vehicles per year at full capacity. While Waymo is the undisputed leader in self-driving rideshare service, Zoox is considered its top competitor. The company is currently testing in multiple U.S. cities with more than 20 vehicles and plans to launch commercial operations later this year in Las Vegas and San Francisco. Zoox also expects to begin onboarding public riders soon for its testing in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood.

Zoox self-driving vehicle in San Francisco

Zoox

The Amazon-backed rideshare service’s autonomous fleet uses purpose-built, box-like vehicles designed purely for riders without a steering wheel or pedals. In perfect timing, the NHTSA just announced that it is streamlining reviews of self-driving car manufacturers’ requests for exemptions from safety rules requiring steering wheels or pedals. The application, which previously took years if companies received an answer at all, is now expected to take months.

Zoox will use its new Hayward, California, manufacturing facility for robotaxi engineering and software/hardware integration, robotaxi assembly, storage of robotaxi components, shipping and receiving, and end-of-line testing preceding deployment. Vehicles undergoing manufacturing at Zoox have robots perform specific tasks like applying precision-based adhesive for glass installation and moving cars down the line while humans complete remaining duties. Zoox expects its new facility’s scaling to provide hundreds of jobs for the San Francisco Bay Area.

Tesla’s newest production announcement raises questions about demand

Tesla also had a production announcement this week, but it received mixed feedback, causing the company’s stock to decline almost 4% from Tuesday’s market closing to the end of Wednesday’s trading. The electric automaker is halting Model Y and Cybertruck production for a week at its Texas Gigafactory plant for the second time in two months, starting June 30. Tesla states the temporary shutdown is for factory line maintenance and other improvements aimed at boosting production, but a recent report from Electrek highlighted how there is an increasing number of Tesla vehicles parked in lots not linked to the company’s retail, delivery, or service locations, indicating excess inventory.

The now-shutdown Chesterfield Mall in Westchester, Missouri, is currently holding hundreds of unsold Teslas in its parking lot located about three miles from one of the automaker’s dealerships. Tim Lowe, senior vice president of leasing and development for The Staenberg Group, told Fox 2: “Tesla has a short-term lease to park Tesla cars at Chesterfield Mall. We relocated them to the Dillard’s parcel when we started mall demolition.” Lowe added that Tesla is six months into its 16-month lease for the lot, which has held anywhere from 200-400 cars at a time. Tesla will launch its robotaxi service in Austin using its Model Y SUV, with the company’s Cybercab purpose-built for autonomous ridesharing scheduled to launch full-scale production next year.

Final thoughts

Zoox’s latest production announcement for its purpose-built robotaxi places it well ahead of Tesla’s Cybercab manufacturing, increasing its likelihood of being Waymo’s most significant competitor. The Amazon-backed autonomous rideshare company’s other assembly facility in Fremont, California, is a site for its retrofitted test fleet and sensor pod configuration. Instead of specifying initial production targets, Zoox said in a release that it plans to grow its robotaxi production to match commercial demand.

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June 23, 2025 at 08:24AM

June 21, 2025

‘Godfather’ Malware Is Now Hijacking Banking Apps on Android

https://lifehacker.com/tech/godfather-malware-banking-apps-android

As malware evolves to be more sophisticated, seeing should not always equal believing. A new iteration of the "Godfather" malware found on Android is hijacking legitimate banking apps, making it increasingly difficult for users (and on-device protections) to detect.

An early version of Godfather utilized screen overlay attacks, which placed fraudulent HTML login screens on top of legitimate banking and crypto exchange apps, tricking users into entering credentials for their financial accounts. It was first detected on Android in 2021 and was estimated to target several hundred apps across more than a dozen countries.

The new threat, uncovered by security firm Zimperium, is Godfather’s virtualization, which allows the malware to create a complete virtual environment on your device rather than simply spoofing a login screen. It does so by installing a malicious "host" application, which scans for targeted financial apps and then downloads copies that can run in its virtual sandbox.

If you open one of those targeted apps, Godfather redirects you to the virtual version. You’ll see the real banking interface, but everything that happens within it can be intercepted and manipulated in real time. As Bleeping Computer notes, this includes harvesting account credentials, passwords, PINs, and capture responses from the bank’s back end. Further, the malware can control your device remotely, including initiating transfers and payments inside the banking or crypto app, even when you’re not using it.

This threat is severe not only because it is difficult for users to detect visually, but also because it can evade on-device security checks like root detection. Android protections see only the host app’s activity while the malware’s remains hidden.

How to protect your device from Godfather

According to Zimperium, while the current campaign affects nearly 500 apps, it has primarily focused on banks in Turkey. That said, it could easily spread to other countries, as the previous version did.

To protect against Godfather and any other malware targeting your Android device, download and install apps only from trusted sources, like the Google Play Store. You can change permission settings for unknown sources under Settings > Apps > Special app access > Install unknown apps. You should ensure Google Play Protect, which scans apps for malware, is enabled, and that your device and apps are kept up to date. Now would also be a good time to audit the apps you have on your device and delete any you don’t use or don’t need.

Since Godfather’s attack mechanism is so sophisticated, you should also follow other basic best practices for avoiding malware in the first place. Never open attachments or click links in emails, texts, or social media posts, and avoid clicking ads, which are used to spread malware.

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June 20, 2025 at 03:14PM

June 17, 2025

Scientists Discover the Key to Axolotls’ Ability to Regenerate Limbs

https://www.wired.com/story/scientists-discover-the-key-to-axolotls-ability-to-regenerate-limbs/

The axolotl seems like something out of science fiction. This perpetually youthful-looking Mexican salamander possesses a superpower that defies biology as we know it: the ability to regenerate entire limbs, parts of its heart, and even its spinal cord. But how does an amputated limb know whether to regenerate an entire arm from the shoulder down or just a hand from the wrist? This mystery of “positional identity” has fascinated scientists for decades.

via Wired Top Stories https://www.wired.com

June 17, 2025 at 04:04AM

Tag: IFTTT

Hybrid vs EV vs Gas: Which Actually Saves You the Most Money?