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Jan 11, 2024

New report identifies types of cyberattacks that manipulate behavior of AI systems

Posted by in categories: cybercrime/malcode, government, robotics/AI

Adversaries can deliberately confuse or even “poison” artificial intelligence (AI) systems to make them malfunction—and there’s no foolproof defense that their developers can employ. Computer scientists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and their collaborators identify these and other vulnerabilities of AI and machine learning (ML) in a new publication.

Their work, titled Adversarial Machine Learning: A Taxonomy and Terminology of Attacks and Mitigations, is part of NIST’s broader effort to support the development of trustworthy AI, and it can help put NIST’s AI Risk Management Framework into practice. The publication, a collaboration among government, academia, and industry, is intended to help AI developers and users get a handle on the types of attacks they might expect along with approaches to mitigate them—with the understanding that there is no silver bullet.

“We are providing an overview of attack techniques and methodologies that consider all types of AI systems,” said NIST computer scientist Apostol Vassilev, one of the publication’s authors. “We also describe current mitigation strategies reported in the literature, but these available defenses currently lack robust assurances that they fully mitigate the risks. We are encouraging the community to come up with better defenses.”

Jan 11, 2024

How To Use the Emacs Editor in Linux

Posted by in category: computing

Emacs is one of the oldest and most versatile text editors. The GNU Emacs version was originally written in 1984 and is well known for its powerful and rich editing features. It can be customized and extended with different modes, enabling it to be used like an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for programming languages such as Java, C, and Python.

For those who have used both the Vi and the user-friendly nano text editors, Emacs presents itself as an in-between. Its strengths and features resemble those of Vi, while its menus, help files, and command-keys compare with nano.

In this article, you’ll learn how to install Emacs on an Ubuntu 22.04 server and use it for basic text editing.

Jan 11, 2024

Biomimetic, knittable aerogel fiber for thermal insulation textile

Posted by in category: futurism

Inspired by the structure of polar bear fur, researchers in Science present a knittable aerogel fiber with exceptional thermal and mechanical properties. The fibers are washable, dyeable, durable, and well-suited to be used in advanced textiles.


A scalable synthetic fiber that mimics the structure of polar bear fur has excellent thermal and mechanical properties.

Jan 11, 2024

Scientists just witnessed a supernova turn into a black hole for the first time

Posted by in category: cosmology

How is a black hole formed? In the simplest language, a black hole is born when a star dies. Now, astronomers have claimed that they might have just witnessed the birth of such a black hole in a major first. This is huge for the scientific community worldwide as it directly links the death of a star to the formation of a black hole-like compact object.

“Our research is like solving a puzzle by gathering all possible evidence,” Ping Chen, a researcher at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, and lead author of a study published in Nature, was quoted as saying by Cosomos Magazine.

It started with the discovery of a super bright object in space, called SN 2022jli. The object, located some 76 million years away, was discovered by a South African amateur astronomer, Berto Monard. Soon it was confirmed that they had their eyes set on a supernova. A supernova occurs just as a star is breathing its last, or when a black hole is about to form.

Jan 11, 2024

Large study supports use of whole genome sequencing in standard cancer care

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics, health

In the largest study of its kind, scientists report how combining health data with whole genome sequence (WGS) data in patients with cancer can help doctors provide more tailored care for their patients.

The research, published in Nature Medicine, shows that linking WGS data to real-world clinical data can identify changes in cancer DNA that may be relevant for an individual patient’s care, for example by helping identify what treatment might work best for them based on their cancer.

The study, led by Genomics England, NHS England, Queen Mary University of London, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Westminster, analyzed data covering over 30 types of solid tumors collected from more than 13,000 participants with cancer in the 100,000 Genomes Project. By looking at the alongside routine clinical data collected from participants over a 5-year period, such as hospital visits and the type of treatment they received, scientists were able to find specific genetic changes in the cancer associated with better or worse survival rates and improved patient outcomes.

Jan 11, 2024

IRobot shares plunge 19% on report Amazon won’t offer concessions to resolve EU probe

Posted by in category: futurism

Shares of Amazon closed up 1.5% on Wednesday.

Last November, the European Commission warned the planned acquisition raises competition concerns, saying it found Amazon may have the ability to prevent or degrade iRobot rivals’ access to its online site by delisting or reducing the visibility of their products in search results and other areas.

The European Commission opened an in-depth probe into the purchase last July and is expected to rule on the deal by Feb. 14.

Jan 10, 2024

Kim Jong Un threatens South Korea with ‘annihilation’

Posted by in category: futurism

The North Korean dictator was also quoted as saying he had ‘no intention of avoiding war’ with his country’s southern neighbor as he toured the major weapons factory, cigarette in hand.

Jan 10, 2024

Putin may be about to launch an apocalyptic assault

Posted by in category: futurism

I cannot completely confirm if this true as the nuclear threats are a constant thing now.

Jan 10, 2024

How a mutation in microglia elevates Alzheimer’s risk

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience

A study finds that microglia with mutant TREM2 protein reduce brain circuit connections, promote inflammation, and contribute to Alzheimer’s.

Jan 10, 2024

Need for speed: How hummingbirds switch mental gears in flight

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

Hummingbirds use two distinct sensory strategies to control their flight, depending on whether they’re hovering or in forward motion, according to new research by University of British Columbia (UBC) zoologists.

“When in forward fight, hummingbirds rely on what we call an ‘internal forward model’—almost an ingrained, intuitive autopilot—to gauge speed,” says Dr. Vikram B. Baliga, lead author of a new study on hummingbird locomotion published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B. “There’s just too much information coming in to rely directly on every from your surroundings.”

“But when hovering or dealing with cues that might require a change in altitude, we found they rely much more on , direct visual feedback from their environment.”