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New ChocoPoC malware targets researchers via trojanized PoC exploits

Multiple weaponized proof-of-concept (PoC) exploits on GitHub were found delivering a Python-based remote access trojan (RAT) named ChocoPoC that can execute commands and steal sensitive data in a campaign believed to target cybersecurity researchers.

Hiding malware in PoC exploits for various vulnerabilities is not new, as there are examples of threat actors posing as real security researchers and taking advantage of trending vulnerabilities to target vulnerability and penetration testers or low-skilled hackers.

However, ChocoPoC stands out for not embedding the malware directly in the exploit file but for adding malicious Python packages to the PoC’s dependency list.

Consciousness likely not unique to earthlings, paper says

Does consciousness depend on flesh and blood?

The answer is almost certainly no, according to Eric Schwitzgebel, a distinguished professor of philosophy at the University of California, Riverside.

In a new working paper, Schwitzgebel and Jeremy Pober, a former UCR graduate student who is now a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Lisbon, assert that consciousness is likely possible in life forms made of much different stuff. Think of the five-limbed alien with a rock-like exterior in the recent blockbuster movie “Project Hail Mary.”

Why AI fiction still feels flat: New test shows characters lack mystery and complexity

Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have found that while artificial intelligence can spin increasingly convincing stories, its characters may still lack one of the qualities that make human-written fiction memorable: mystery.

As AI writing tools become more common in publishing and entertainment, Carolina researchers wanted to understand whether the characters created by these systems are as varied and nuanced as those crafted by human authors. Their findings suggest that, despite advances in technology, AI still tends to rely on familiar patterns.

The study examined how characters in stories generated by AI compare with those written by people. Drawing on ideas from literary theory, the researchers analyzed eight different aspects of character portrayal, including whether characters seem realistic or exaggerated, whether they evolve over time, and whether they remain mysterious or fully understood by the end of a story.

AI-human relationships are real and come with risks, researchers find

Human-AI relationships are no longer confined to the domain of science fiction. As the technology has developed, AI chatbots have evolved from playing a role in search engines and image-generation tools into confidants, therapists and even romantic partners. It’s a radical evolution of human-AI interactions that brings with it new risks in how it is reshaping the way we think and talk about relationships, including with ourselves, finds new research published in the journal Nature Machine Intelligence.

Prolonged interaction with AI chatbots can lead people to develop an emotional dependence on the technology, potentially alienating them from human relationships, said Andreia Sofia Teixeira, an associate professor at Northeastern University London in the Network Science Institute who co-authored the recent work. As a growing number of lawsuits claim chatbots’ role in people’s deaths, the new research underscores how being caught in an echo chamber with a sycophantic tool can potentially spell disaster for the most vulnerable.

“The problem is less about AI performance and much more about the impact of these sustained interactions on ourselves … and how, over time, this may impact society at large,” Teixeira said.

RNA Folding Energy of Long-Range Genomic Interactions Regulates Discontinuous Transcription in SARS-CoV-2

Coronaviruses use discontinuous transcription to generate subgenomic RNAs (sgRNAs) that encode structural and accessory proteins. However, the factors regulating sgRNA abundance in SARS-CoV-2 remain unclear. Here, we combined strand-specific RNA sequencing, RNA–RNA interaction mapping, prediction of RNA folding energies, and targeted mutagenesis to define the regulation of (–) sgRNA synthesis in SARS-CoV-2 infection. We demonstrated that the relative (–) sgRNA abundance across viral genes is stable throughout infection and largely correlates with corresponding (+) sgmRNA levels. Through meta-analysis of published SPLASH data, we found that the frequency of long-range interactions between the 5′ genomic transcription regulatory sequence TRS-Leader and downstream TRS-Body sequences correlates with sgRNA abundance.

Study finds early-onset Parkinson’s burden has more than doubled worldwide

When standardizing for age, the study found that incidence increased from 1.46 to 2.35 (EAPC = 1.42%), prevalence from 10.03 to 14.00 (EAPC = 1.09%), and YLD from 1.65 to 2.27 (EAPC = 1.05%) per 100,000 individuals globally.

The study further revealed a marked sex difference in PD’s demographic burden, finding that men were approximately 1.5 times more likely to develop EOPD than their female counterparts. Specifically, the study analyses estimated male prevalence at 16.74 per 100,000 versus 11.23 for females.

Geographically, middle and high-middle SDI zones were observed to experience the fastest EOPD growth rate, led by East Asia and Andean Latin America. At the national level, Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador logged the highest age-standardized rates, while China and Norway showed some of the fastest national upward trends; China’s incidence EAPC was 2.55%.

Electrochemical research takes major strides towards harvesting a vital battery material

The supply of lithium—the battery material that keeps digital devices humming, EVs racing and renewable energy on the grid— will not meet even half the expected demand by 2040.

Ramping up production using old methods will create new problems, including environmental damage, pollution, cost and water scarcity. Unconventional ways must be found to fill this lithium gap.

One promising solution is electrochemical intercalation. Common in the world of batteries and supercapacitors, it’s when researchers apply electricity to insert ions between the layers of a different material.

Custom prosthetic hand adapts to each user, decoding 19 gestures in real time

Most prosthetic hands today still struggle with a fundamental problem: No two amputees are the same, yet most devices are designed as if they are. That mismatch makes natural, intuitive control difficult, often turning what should feel like a seamless extension of the body into something that requires constant learning and adjustment.

Even with advanced technology, users are frequently left to interpret faint muscle signals that can shift with sweat, skin changes or everyday movement—creating a gap between intention and control that can be frustrating and, in some cases, lead people to abandon the device altogether.

Researchers have made progress by improving how muscle signals are interpreted, but the core challenge remains: The signals are often unstable and hard to translate into natural movement.

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