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Submission + - Healthcare Giant UHS Hit By Ransomware Attack, Sources Say (techcrunch.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Universal Health Services, one of the largest healthcare providers in the U.S., has been hit by a ransomware attack. The attack hit UHS systems early on Sunday morning, according to two people with direct knowledge of the incident, locking computers and phone systems at several UHS facilities across the country, including in California and Florida. One of the people said the computer screens changed with text that referenced the “shadow universe,” consistent with the Ryuk ransomware. “Everyone was told to turn off all the computers and not to turn them on again,” the person said. “We were told it will be days before the computers are up again.”

It’s not immediately known what impact the ransomware attack is having on patient care, or how widespread the issue is. UHS published a statement on Monday, saying its IT network “is currently offline, due to an IT security issue.” "We implement extensive IT security protocols and are working diligently with our IT security partners to restore IT operations as quickly as possible. In the meantime, our facilities are using their established back-up processes including offline documentation methods. Patient care continues to be delivered safely and effectively,” the statement said. “No patient or employee data appears to have been accessed, copied or otherwise compromised,” it added.

Submission + - Researchers Suggest Paradox-Free Time Travel is Mathematically Possible (npr.org)

Submitted by werepants
werepants writes: Countless science fiction tales have explored the paradox of what would happen if you do something in the past that endangers the future. Perhaps one of the most famous pop culture examples is Back to the Future, when Marty McFly went back in time and accidentally stopped his parents from meeting, putting his own existence in jeopardy.

But maybe McFly wasn't in much danger after all. According a new paper from researchers at the University of Queensland, even if time travel were possible, the paradox couldn't actually exist.

Researchers ran the numbers, and determined that even if you make a change in the past, the timeline would essentially self-correct, ensuring that whatever happened to send you back in time would still happen.

Submission + - A Black Hole at the Center of Peer Review? 3

Submitted by worldofsimulacra
worldofsimulacra writes: From Popular Mechanics:"Scientists have uncovered a bizarre, indefensible paper that squeaked through peer review at what appears at first pass to be a legitimate medical journal."

The journal article can be found here: A Black Hole at the Center of Earth Plays the Role of the Biggest System of Telecommunication for Connecting DNAs, Dark DNAs and Molecules of Water on 4+N- Dimensional Manifold

Submission + - Slashdot Cowardly Disables Anonymous Coward (slashdot.org) 8

Submitted by dark.nebulae
dark.nebulae writes: Apparently Slashdot has disabled Anonymous Coward postings, but they have been cowards about it by not informing anyone about it.

Perhaps one of the Slashdot Editors can grow a backbone and actually tell us wtf is going on...

Submission + - SPAM: Silicon Valley's Psychopath Problem 2

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: According to the Hare Psychopathy Checklist — the universally accepted diagnostic tool used to assess this disorder — a psychopathic personality includes traits such as a grandiose sense of self-worth, a lack of remorse or guilt, poor behavioral controls, pathological lying and a lack of empathy.

These attributes aren’t just present “but celebrated in Silicon Valley,” says Gavet, who once held the position of executive vice-president of global operations for Priceline Group, among other roles.

Research by the FBI found that companies managed by psychopaths tend to have decreased productivity and low employee morale. In fact, Silicon Valley’s psychopathic traits “trickle down through entire organizations,” says Gavet. “In effect creating psychopathic companies.”

WeWork co-founder Adam Neumann is being probed by the New York state attorney general over allegations of self-dealing.NY Post composite/Mike Guillen
This is enabled by an “infantilized culture” at many start-up companies, where employees become accustomed to working in “hyper-privileged bubbles where their every whim is catered to and every need anticipated,” she writes.

The patron saint of Big Tech douches, the one who inspired an entire generation of start-up entrepreneurs to put their worst face forward, was late Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs. He disliked wearing shoes (or showering), preferred parking in handicapped parking spots and once motivated employees by calling them “f–king d–kless assholes.”

“His legacy has cultivated an indelible association between being a jerk and a genius,” writes Gavet. “Which has ballooned to the point where many people believe that a founder-CEO, in particular, actually has to be a jerk to be a genius.”

She calls it the Steve Jobs Syndrome, and she’s witnessed both powerful and up-and-coming tech exes believing in the myth like it’s doctrine. Theranos CEO Holmes ruthlessly copied Jobs — not just by wearing black turtlenecks — but also by following his example of persuading people “to believe he was a prophet even when he was wrong,” Gavet writes.
Link to Original Source

Submission + - SPAM: Metal wires of carbon complete toolbox for carbon-based computers

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Transistors based on carbon rather than silicon could potentially boost computers’ speed and cut their power consumption more than a thousandfold — think of a mobile phone that holds its charge for months — but the set of tools needed to build working carbon circuits has remained incomplete until now.

A team of chemists and physicists at the University of California, Berkeley, has finally created the last tool in the toolbox, a metallic wire made entirely of carbon, setting the stage for a ramp-up in research to build carbon-based transistors and, ultimately, computers.

“Staying within the same material, within the realm of carbon-based materials, is what brings this technology together now,” said Felix Fischer, UC Berkeley professor of chemistry, noting that the ability to make all circuit elements from the same material makes fabrication easier. “That has been one of the key things that has been missing in the big picture of an all-carbon-based integrated circuit architecture.”
Link to Original Source

Submission + - SPAM: International Day Of The World's Indigenous Peoples

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Every year on August 9, International Day of World’s Indigenous People is observed to support and protect the rights of indigenous peoples worldwide. The festival also acknowledges the accomplishments and sacrifices made by aboriginal people in addressing problems around the world, such as environmental conservation.
Link to Original Source

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