49005463
submission
Velcroman1 writes:
The world’s GPS system is vulnerable to hackers or terrorists who could use it to hijack ships – even commercial airliners. Todd Humphreys, a GPS expert at the University of Texas just completed a frightening real-time, real-life experiment that has exposed a huge potential hole in national security. Using a laptop, a small antenna and an electronic GPS “spoofer” built for $3,000, Humphreys and his team took control of the sophisticated navigation system aboard an $80 million, 210-foot super-yacht in the Mediterranean Sea. “We injected our spoofing signals into its GPS antennas and we’re basically able to control its navigation system with our spoofing signals,” Humphreys told Fox News.
48997791
submission
jfruh writes:
Practically since OpenStack was started there has been discussion about whether it should fully support Amazon Web Services’ APIs. Doing so would make it easy to port applications between an OpenStack cloud and AWS. It would also let businesses easily build hybrid apps that run internally on an OpenStack cloud and on AWS. Cloudscaling’s Randy Bias has been vocal about his support of fidelity with AWS. He argues that there’s no hope for OpenStack in the public cloud market so it would do well to support interoperability with AWS and Google Compute Engine if it wants to hold on to the private cloud market. It’s true that interoperability with AWS would be good for OpenStack in the private cloud market. But it’s easier said than done.
48997183
submission
Rebecka writes:
The freezing tundra that was the North Pole is now home to a lake. A picture, obtained by the North Pole Environmental Observatory this week, shows a shocking wide-angled photograph of the location’s newest lake, possible evidence of global warming.
The photograph, taken by the observatory’s weather buoy-attached camera Monday, is reportedly a result of the longtime decline of sea ice in the region due to global warming and the more recent increase in land temperature. "Major changes in recent years are widespread, sustained and occurring faster than anticipated,” the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in a statement. “The minimum artic sea ice extent in 2012 was nearly half the values seen at the end of the last century The large environmental shifts in 2012 provide evidence of sustained arctic change."
48940819
submission
Laxori666 writes:
Armin Ronacher writes a lengthy and informative post on the state of software licensing today, and why GitHub's policy of requiring users to pick a license from a license selector might not improve matters in the long run.
48936121
submission
Gunkerty Jeb writes:
Next week at the Black Hat Briefings in Las Vegas, Fran Brown will release a modified RFID reader that can capture data from 125KHz low frequency RFID badges from up to three feet away. Previous RFID hacking tools must be within centimeters of a victim to work properly; Brown’s tool would allow an attacker or pen-tester to store the device inside a backpack and it would silently grab card data from anyone walking close enough to it.
48913285
submission
sciencehabit writes:
The CO2-ridden plumes rising from industrial smokestacks and power plants may be warming the planet, but they could also be a new source of electrical power. Researchers have developed a two-stage process to harvest some of the chemical energy in carbon dioxide emissions, using a device called a capacitive electrochemical cell. Built roughly like a battery, the cell has two electrodes—one surrounded by a membrane that allows hydrogen ions to flow in and out, and the other that does the same with bicarbonate ions, produced when carbon dioxide is bubbled through water. By tapping into existing carbon dioxide emissions from coal- and gas-fired power plants, industrial smokestacks, and residential heating worldwide, the new process could generate about 1570 terawatt-hours of power each year—about 400 times that produced by Hoover Dam, all without adding to global carbon dioxide emissions.
48912041
submission
cold fjord writes:
I wish it was always this easy. From Business Insider: "Iodized salt is so ubiquitous that we barely notice it. Few people know why it even exists. Iodine deficiency remains the world's leading cause of preventable mental retardation. According to a new study, its introduction in America in 1924 had an effect so profound that it raised the country's IQ. A new NBER working paper from James Feyrer, Dimitra Politi, and David N. Weil finds that the population in iodine-deficient areas saw IQs rise by a full standard deviation, which is 15 points, after iodized salt was introduced.... The mental impacts were unknown, the program was started to fight goiter, so these effects were an extremely fortunate unintended side effect." — The Nation Bureau of Economic Research paper (Restricted / Paywall )
48906685
submission
Daniel_Stuckey writes:
Scientists tested the snakes in the Zwentendorf nuclear power plant in Austria, and the results were postively described in a CMU press release. The 37-inch long mechanical creatures are made up of 16 modules with joint-like features, allowing the androids to have kinetic freedom while imitating the movement of snakes (of course, these prototypes can also move in manners foreign to serpents). They can climb pipes, wriggle, and roll—and even lift their "heads" much like a cobra, a feature it uses for camera visibility.
23174010
submission
chrb writes:
Two English men have been sentenced to 4 years jail for creating a Facebook "riot" event. The "Smash d[o]wn in Northwich Town" event specified a time and place to meet and riot. The long sentence has led some to question whether the punishments are too severe.
21360872
submission
Trailrunner7 writes:
Researchers have identified a second large batch of apps in the Android Market that have been infected with the DroidDream malware, estimating that upwards of 30,000 users have downloaded at least one of the more than 30 infected apps. Google has removed the apps from the market.
There are at least 34 applications that researchers have found in the Android Market in the last few days that had a version of the DroidDream malware dropped into them. Once a user installs one of the infected applications, the malicious component, which researchers have dubbed DroidDream Light, will kick in once the user receives an incoming call. The malware then gathers some identifying information from the phone, including its IMEI number, IMSI number, packages installed and other data, and then sends it off to a pre-configured remote server.
21172266
submission
1sockchuck writes:
Google has released a video of its newest data center in Finland, a former paper mill that uses cold sea water to cool its servers. The water enters the facility through large tunnels carved out of granite by the previous owner. Google used a small submarine to explore the tunnels to ensure that they were clear of blockages that could impede the flow of water.
21082930
submission
recoiledsnake writes:
What would be your first guess about what an app store sells? Don't be fooled, Apple warns, the phrase "app store" is not generic and can only be used to describe Cupertino's ... um, app store? "Apple denies that, based on their common meaning, the words 'app store' together denote a store for apps," Apple said in a Thursday filing with a California district court. All this notwithstanding that Jobs himself used the phrase generically while referring to Android app stores. Previous coverage here and here.
