The city of Baltimore is under attack, but not by someone armed with guns or bombs.

Two weeks ago, cybercriminals used ransomware known as RobinHood to seize control of about 10,000 of the city’s computers, saying they won’t relinquish access unless Baltimore hands over about $100,000 worth of bitcoin.

Baltimore is refusing the meet the ransom demand. However, it also isn’t equipped to crack the ransomware, meaning it’s been forced to go largely offline — another disturbing example of modern government’s inability to keep up with the evolving threat of cybercrime.

Scientists have unearthed fossilised fungi dating back up to one billion years, in a discovery that could reshape our understanding of how life on land evolved, research showed Wednesday.

Read more

A cache of microscopic fossils from the Arctic hints that fungi reached land long before plants.

Read more

More than 130 years after its discovery, scientists just got their first high-tech peek at the unexpected crystal structure inside the Ram’s Horn.

Read more

Nature asked nine leading Europeans to pick their top priority for science at this pivotal point. Love, money, and trust got most votes.

Read more

Scientists have used an X-ray laser to create the loudest possible underwater sound on Earth.

Read more

Russia’s neighbor has developed a plan for countering misinformation. Can it be exported to the rest of the world?

Read more

It’s long been known that cannabis plants are indigenous to Central Asia, but a new study provides a fresh focus on where exactly this genus may have first evolved millions of years ago.

Documents dating back to the middle ages show humans have been hypothesising about the geographical origins of cannabis for over a thousand years now, with the famed Arab polymath Ibn Wahshiyya suggesting India or perhaps China as far back as 930 CE.

But the rarity of print fossils (impressions of leaves made on other objects) in the historical record has made it difficult for the research community to identify anything more specific than Central Asia, even with the booming popularity of cannabis currently ongoing in many fields of academic and scientific enquiry.

Read more

Being an entrepreneur means being willing to take some risks. But Richard Browning doesn’t just put money on the line for his company — he risks his own life.

In 2017, Browning founded Gravity Industries. And since then, he’s served as the chief test pilot for the company’s flagship product, an Iron Man-style jet suit.

In a newly released video, Browning dons the latest version of the suit to fly over a lush green landscape — demonstrating how a concept once relegated to sci-fi is now an incredible reality.

Read more

Sony has been generously revealing details about its next-gen console, and here’s what we know so far.

Read more