Toggle light / dark theme

Cybersecurity researchers have taken the wraps off a previously undocumented ransomware strain called Rorschach that’s both sophisticated and fast.

“What makes Rorschach stand out from other ransomware strains is its high level of customization and its technically unique features that have not been seen before in ransomware,” Check Point Research said in a new report. “In fact, Rorschach is one of the fastest ransomware strains ever observed, in terms of the speed of its encryption.”

The cybersecurity firm said it observed the ransomware deployed against an unnamed U.S.-based company, adding it found no branding or overlaps that connect it to any previously known ransomware actors.

Antibiotic resistance is a major public health threat, ranked as one of the top 10 by the World Health Organization. Every year, in the United States alone, nearly 3 million people are infected by drug-resistant bacteria and fungi, resulting in the death of around 35,000. While antibiotics are crucial in treating infections, overuse has led to the development of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria. These infections pose a significant challenge to treatment.

Now, Professor John E. Moses of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) has developed a new weapon to combat drug-resistant superbugs – an innovative antibiotic that has the ability to shape-shift by rearranging its atoms.

Moses came up with the idea of shape-shifting antibiotics while observing tanks in military training exercises. With rotating turrets and nimble movements, the tanks could respond quickly to possible threats.

The World Health Organization confirmed an outbreak of the deadly Marburg virus disease in the central African country of Equatorial Guinea on February 13, 2023. To date, there have been 11 deaths suspected to be caused by the virus, with one case confirmed. Authorities are currently monitoring 48 contacts, four of whom have developed symptoms and three of whom are hospitalized as of publication. The WHO and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are assisting Equatorial Guinea in its efforts to stop the spread of the outbreak.

Marburg virus and the closely related Ebola virus belong to the filovirus family and are structurally similar. Both viruses cause severe disease and death in people, with fatality rates ranging from 22% to 90% depending on the outbreak. Patients infected by these viruses exhibit a wide range of similar symptoms, including fever, body aches, severe gastrointestinal symptoms like diarrhea and vomiting, lethargy and sometimes bleeding.

We are virologists who study Marburg, Ebola, and related viruses. Our laboratory has a long-standing interest in researching the underlying mechanisms of how these viruses cause disease in people. Learning more about how Marburg virus is transmitted from animals to humans and how it spreads between people is essential to preventing and limiting future outbreaks.

Lead author Yurii Victorovich Kovtun, despite being forced to evacuate the Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology amid the current Russia-Ukraine war, has continued to work with Kyoto University to create stable plasmas using microwaves.

Getting plasma just right is one of the hurdles to harnessing the massive amounts of energy promised by nuclear fusion.

Plasmas — soups of ions and electrons — must be held at the right density, temperature, and duration for atomic nuclei to fuse together to achieve the desired release of energy.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=A-On5P61sRQ&feature=share

The matter of the Chinese spy balloon that flew across the United States in February this year refuses to die down. A media house has reported that the balloon gathered intelligence from several US military sites and transmitted it back to Beijing in real-time. Beijing had said at the time that the balloon was a weather ship blown astray and entered the US airspace by mistake.

#spyballoon #china #us.

About Channel:

WION The World is One News examines global issues with in-depth analysis. We provide much more than the news of the day. Our aim is to empower people to explore their world. With our Global headquarters in New Delhi, we bring you news on the hour, by the hour. We deliver information that is not biased. We are journalists who are neutral to the core and non-partisan when it comes to world politics. People are tired of biased reportage and we stand for a globalized united world. So for us, the World is truly One.

There is no stable microbial community residing in the bloodstream of healthy humans, according to a new study led by a UCL researcher.

The new Nature Microbiology paper makes an important confirmation as are a crucial part of medical practice. Understanding what types of microbes may be found in blood may allow the development of better microbial tests in blood donations, which would minimize the risk of transfusion-related infections.

Lead author, Ph.D. student Cedric Tan (UCL Genetics Institute and Francis Crick Institute) said, Human blood is generally considered sterile. While sometimes microorganisms will enter the bloodstream such as via a wound or after tooth-brushing, mostly this is quickly resolved by the immune system.