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The Military

Submission + - Targeting the President's DNA 2

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens writes
Hugh Pickens writes writes: "The Atlantic reports that experts in genetics and microbiology are convinced we may be only a few years away from the development of advanced, genetic bio-weapons able to target a single human being based on their DNA. The authors paint a scenario of the development of a virus that causes only mild flu in the general population but when the virus crosses paths with cells containing a very specific DNA sequence, the sequence would act as a molecular key to unlock secondary functions that would trigger a fast-acting neuro-destructive disease that produces memory loss and, eventually, death. The requisite equipment including gene sequencers, micro-array scanners, and mass spectrometers now cost over $1 million but on eBay, it can be had for as little as $10,000. According to Ronald Kessler, the author of the 2009 book In the President’s Secret Service, Navy stewards gather bedsheets, drinking glasses, and other objects the president has touched—they are later sanitized or destroyed—in an effort to keep would-be malefactors from obtaining his genetic material. However no amount of Secret Service vigilance can ever fully secure the president’s DNA, because an entire genetic blueprint can now be produced from the information within just a single cell. How to protect the President? The authors propose open-sourcing the president’s genetic information to a select group of security-cleared researchers who could follow in the footsteps of the computer sciences, where “red-team exercises,” are extremely common practices so a similar testing environment could be developed for biological war games. "Advances in biotechnology are radically changing the scientific landscape. We are entering a world where imagination is the only brake on biology," write the authors. "In light of this coming synbio revolution, a wider-ranging relationship between scientists and security organizations—one defined by open exchange, continual collaboration, and crowd-sourced defenses—may prove the only way to protect the president.""

Comment Cognitive Dissonance (Score 4, Interesting) 1142

Is it possible to fully comprehend the world scientifically, and foster a mechanistic perception of the universe, and still foster a faith at the same time? If this it isn't possible, and it is argued that faith will cloud our otherwise pristine judgement, how can we trust the observations or arguments produced by scientists of faith?
Science

Submission + - Complex Logic Circuit Made from Bacterial Genes (wustl.edu)

Submitted by another random user
another random user writes: Just as electronic circuits are made from resistors, capacitors and transistors, biological circuits can be made from genes and regulatory proteins. Engineer Tae Seok Moon’s dream is to design modular “genetic parts” that can be used to build logic controllers inside microbes that will program them to make fuel, clean up pollutants, or kill infectious bacteria or cancerous cells.

The circuit Moon eventually built consisted of four sensors for four different molecules that fed into three two-input AND gates. If all four molecules were present, all three AND gates turned on and the last one produced a reporter protein that fluoresced red, so that the operation of the circuit could be easily monitored.

Comment Complex Subject (Score 1) 333

by BiophysicalLOVE (#40602765) Attached to: Trying to Untangle Anarchist Attacks On Scientists
This subject was covered most exhaustively earlier in the year by nature: http://www.nature.com/news/anarchists-attack-science-1.10729. I think that both articles miss a point. Although these attacks may seemed linked, or claimed to be linked, I doubt it. This violence may be carried out by as few as two people - a motorcyclist and a gunman, yet both articles paint this as a huge sideswipe by an organised Anarchist (paradox alert) movement. For all we know these attacks may be carried out by a handful disgruntled ex-employees claiming an antiscientist rhetoric to intimidate their former employer, or, in a fit of self-delusion, jump on the anarchist bandwagon to give some sort of paper-thin reasoning for their violence tendencies. "The Olga Cell", "sorcerer of the atom" "LONG LIVE THE CONSPIRACY OF CELLS OF FIRE"? Surely anyone who has a few Anarchist cliches and stereotypes to call upon could write this stuff?
Patents

Submission + - UN Wades Into Patent War Mess (bbc.com)

Submitted by Rambo Tribble
Rambo Tribble writes: The BBC is reporting that the worldwide, tangled mess of IP litigation has come to the attention of the UN's International Telecommunication Union. The agency has announced it will be holding talks aimed at reducing this massive drag on the digital economy. Good luck.
Firefox

Submission + - Firefox remarkably improved in latest browser showdown (tomshardware.com) 2

Submitted by Billly Gates
Billly Gates writes: Tomshardware did another benchmark showdown since several releases of both Firefox and Chrome came out since the last one. Did Mozilla clean up its act and listen to its users? The test results are listed here. Firefox 13.01 uses the least amount of ram with 40 tabs opened while Chrome uses the highest surprisingly. Overall it scored medium with memory efficiency which measures ram released after tabs are closed. What is also surprising is IE 9 still is king of the lowest ram usage for just 1 tab. Bear in mind in the comments below is that these tests were benchmarked in Windows 7. Windows XP and Linux users will have different results due to differences in memory management. It is too bad IE 10 which is almost finished wasn't available to benchmark.
EU

Submission + - EU:Microsoft fined $1 billion for antitrust violation (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by a_n_d_e_r_s
a_n_d_e_r_s writes: The ongoing sage since 2004 about Microsoft then misuse of dominant position in the EU marketplace to block competitors may be finally over and the fine has been set to 860 million euro (just over 1 billion dollars). In 2004 Microsoft was ordered to provide certain information to competitors but failed to do so and was given an hefty fine. Now the EU General Court in Luxemburg has upheld the EU Commission decision and ruled against Microsoft.

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