Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
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A security investigator has discovered three new code execution flaws in the Linux kernel that might be exploited by a local or external adversary to take control of the vulnerable computers and run arbitrary code. The roccat_report_event function in drivers/hid/hid-roccat.c has a use-after-free vulnerability identified as CVE-2022–41850 (CVSS score: 8.4). A local attacker might exploit this flaw to run malicious script on the system by submitting a report while copying a report->value. Patch has be released to addresses the Linux Kernel 5.19.12 vulnerability CVE-2022–41850.

The second flaw tracked as CVE-2022–41848 (CVSS score: 6.8), is also a use-after-free flaw due to a race condition between mgslpc_ioctl and mgslpc_detach in drivers/char/pcmcia/synclink_cs.c. By removing a PCMCIA device while calling ioctl, an attacker could exploit this vulnerability to execute arbitrary code on the system. The bug affects Linux Kernel 5.19.12 and was fixed via this patch.

Due to a compatibility issues between mgslpc ioctl and mgslpc detach in drivers/char/pcmcia/synclink cs.c, the second vulnerability, tagged as CVE-2022–41848 (CVSS score: 6.8), is likewise a use-after-free vulnerability. An adversary might use this flaw to run malicious script on the computer by deleting a PCMCIA device while executing ioctl. There is a patch that corrects this flaw that was present in the Linux Kernel 5.19.12.

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Summary: A newly discovered second stem cell population in the mouse brain is responsible for the production of new neurons in the olfactory bulb of adult mice.

Source: Heidelburg University.

In the brain of adult mammals, neural stem cells ensure that new nerve cells, i.e. neurons, are constantly formed. This process, known as adult neurogenesis, helps mice maintain their sense of smell.

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Summary: Boosting omega-3 fatty acid intake helps to preserve brain health and improve cognition in middle age, a new study reports. For those with the Alzheimer’s associated APOE4 gene, omega-3 fatty acid intake was associated with greater hippocampal volume and less small vessel disease.

Source: UT San Antonio.

Eating cold-water fish and other sources of omega-3 fatty acids may preserve brain health and enhance cognition in middle age, new evidence indicates.

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A multidisciplinary team from two Johns Hopkins University institutions, including neurotoxicologists and virologists from the Bloomberg School of Public Health and infectious disease specialists from the school of medicine, has found that organoids (tiny tissue cultures made from human cells that simulate whole organs) known as “mini-brains” can be infected by the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19.

The results, which suggest that the virus can infect human cells, were published online June 26, 2020, in the journal ALTEX: Alternatives to Animal Experimentation.

Early reports from Wuhan, China, the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic, have suggested that 36% of patients with the disease show , but it has been unclear whether or not the virus infects human brain cells. In their study, the Johns Hopkins researchers demonstrated that certain human neurons express a receptor, ACE2, which is the same one that the SARS-CoV-2 virus uses to enter the lungs. Therefore, they surmised, ACE2 also might provide access to the brain.

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That’s because as a white dwarf draws material away from its hydrogen-burning partner, the stolen gas follows the star’s magnetic field lines in a big, curving arc toward its new home. And in the process, it drains energy from the stars’ whirling dance (so do the gravitational waves produced by their rotation). When that happens, both stars fall toward the shared center of gravity they’re orbiting. Closer orbits also mean shorter orbits, so it takes the stars less time to complete a single lap.

And the closer the stars get, the stronger the gravitational waves they produce, which drains away more energy, so they fall even closer together. By the time they’re close enough to complete an orbit in just a handful of minutes, the donor star has usually run out of hydrogen. That’s why the really close, fast-orbiting cataclysmic binaries tend to be a white dwarf and a helium-burning star.

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