This is the type of hijacking that the US DHS has been worried about. And, now we’re looking at self-driving Big Rigs and commercial jets.; as I stated last year I would hesitate in allowing autonomous planes and Big Rigs until we have a breech proof connected infrastructure in place.
As researchers demonstrate digital attacks on a 33,000 pound truck, car hacking is moving beyond consumer vehicles.
It reminds of the medieval knight armor.
Power Armor. A powered exoskeleton with a tough outer shell, coupled with twice the mobility of a normal soldier and the strength of an elephant.
For decades, media has emulated what scientists have been struggling to create for millennia. Armor strong enough to both protect the wearer, and strengthen them through mechanical support.
In recent years, researchers have nearly achieved this kind of technology, with body armor reaching durability tougher than steel, and hobbyists making exoskeletons which can lift hundreds of pounds.
Could this help on the whole IoT security challenge — TBD.
A $9.4 million grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) could lead to development of a new technique for wirelessly monitoring Internet of Things (IoT) devices for malicious software – without affecting the operation of the ubiquitous but low-power equipment.
The technique will rely on receiving and analyzing side-channel signals, electromagnetic emissions that are produced unintentionally by the electronic devices as they execute programs. These signals are produced by semiconductors, capacitors, power supplies and other components, and can currently be measured up to a half-meter away from operating IoT devices.
By comparing these unintended side-channel emissions to a database of what the devices should be doing when they are operating normally, researchers can tell if malicious software has been installed.
Where is PETA when you need them.
When we think of drones, we still often think primarily of their military uses, despite the fact that they’re increasingly becoming a part of our everyday lives. Drones serve an impressive range of roles in the military, commercial, public, and civilian sectors. They’re also becoming more and more affordable and accessible. If you’ve been to an open-air event with a decent crowd lately, there was probably at least one person there flying their personal drone around, taking aerial footage to upload to social media.
As something becomes more common, we tend to find more creative purposes for it. And there are definitely some people out there getting creative with drones, for better or for worse.
We saw the animated video; now check out the real thing.
What was once a crazy bus/train-hybrid idea has turned into reality, as China’s elevated bus has just undergone its first test run in Qinhuangdao. The Transit Elevated Bus (TEB) was first touted in 2010 as a solution to the traffic woes in the country, and was revealed in miniature form during the 19th China Beijing International High-Tech Expo in May this year.
This time however, the real-life test unit (TEB-1) you see here measures 22 meters in length, 7.8 meters in width and stands at 4.8 meters tall. For testing purposes, the bus is limited to a 300-meter long track, and isn’t subjected to demanding traffic challenges or excessive turns.
Interesting and true on many situations; and will only expand as we progress in areas of AI, QC, and Singularity as well.
The use of algorithms to filter and present information online is increasingly shaping our everyday experience of the real world, a study published by Information, Communication & Society argues.
Associate Professor Michele Willson of Curtin University, Perth, Australia looked at particular examples of computer algorithms and the questions they raise about personal agency, changing world views and our complex relationship with technologies.
Algorithms are central to how information and communication are located, retrieved and presented online, for example in Twitter follow recommendations, Facebook newsfeeds and suggested Google map directions. However, they are not objective instructions but assume certain parameters and values, and are in constant flux, with changes made by both humans and machines.
Southern US is having a bad summer. Zika in FL and Brain eating amoebas in SC.
CHARLESTON COUNTY, S.C. — A patient in South Carolina has tested positive for Naegleria fowleri, the so-called “brain-eating amoeba,” The Centers for Disease Control confirmed in a statement.
Health officials think the patient may have been exposed during a July 24 swim at Martin’s Landing in the Edisto River, which runs through the southeast portion of the state through the Ernest F. Hollings Ace Basin National Wildlife park.
The amoeba occurs naturally and is “all around us and is present in many warm water lakes, rivers and streams, but infection in humans is very rare,” Linda Bell, M.D. and state epidemiologist told WISTV.
The findings showed that the shrinking of the hippocampus — brain region associated with learning and memory — actually precedes the onset of a change in behaviour — namely the loss of memory. “Until now, no one knew the evolution of these changes. Does the hippocampus shrink before or after memory loss? Or do the two happen handin- hand,” said Sumantra Chattarji, Professor at National Centre for Biological Sciences in Bengaluru, Karnataka, in a statement.
Using rats as a model system which reacts to stress much as humans do, the team studied how the brain changes in structure during stress. The results showed that when under stress, rats develop anxiety-related behaviours and their ability to form memories are affected. In the study, rats were subjected to stress for two hours every day over 10 days. The brains were examined with MRI scans on several days over the course of the study, and their ability to form memories were assessed repeatedly.
After just three days of stress, the hippocampus of every stressed rat had shrunk. “Normally structural changes are seen in the brain after a long time — say 10 to 20 days. Three days doesn’t even count as chronic stress,” Chattarji added. Five days after stress exposure, the rats’ hippocampus-based ability to make memories was tested again. The stressed rats were found to perform almost as well as unstressed rats, the researchers said. “Volume loss and shrinkage has happened, yet spatial memory is still holding up,” Chattarji said.
I see many uses for this such as provider services including front office & hospital admissions, security in assessing people in line or trying to gain entry, etc.
Machines are taking over more and more tasks. Ideally, they should also be capable to support the human in case of poor performance. To intervene appropriately, the machine should understand what is going on with the human. Fraunhofer scientists have developed a diagnostic tool that recognizes user states in real time and communicates them to the machine.
The camera firmly focuses on the driver’s eyes. If they are closed for more than one second, an alarm is triggered. This technique prevents the dangerous micro-sleep at the wheel. “It is not always as easy for a machine to detect what state the human is in, as it is in this case,” says Jessica Schwarz from the Fraunhofer Institute for Communication, Information Processing and Ergonomics FKIE in Wachtberg, just south of Bonn.
Holistic model feeds real-time diagnosis
