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Microsoft links Medusa ransomware affiliate to zero-day attacks

Microsoft says that Storm-1175, a China-based financially motivated cybercriminal group known for deploying Medusa ransomware payloads, has been deploying n-day and zero-day exploits in high-velocity attacks.

This cybercrime gang quickly shifts to targeting new security vulnerabilities to gain access to its victims’ networks, weaponizing some of them within a day and, in some cases, exploiting them a week before patches are released.

“Storm-1175 rapidly moves from initial access to data exfiltration and deployment of Medusa ransomware, often within a few days and, in some cases, within 24 hours,” Microsoft said.

New mouse model of virus-driven liver cancer may boost diagnosis and treatments

Liver cancer is one of the world’s deadliest cancers, and most cases are linked to chronic viral hepatitis. Yet scientists have lacked an animal model that faithfully recapitulates how the disease unfolds in people, from initial infection with a virus to liver inflammation, scarring, and cancer. Now, researchers at The Rockefeller University have developed that model, as described in the Journal of Hepatology.

By infecting ordinary laboratory mice with an engineered version of Norway rat hepacivirus (NrHV)—a close relative of hepatitis C virus (HCV)—and tracking the animals over 18 months, the team documented the progression from chronic viral hepatitis to spontaneous liver cancer.

“This model fills a critical gap that has long existed in the field,” says Charles M. Rice, whose Laboratory of Virology and Infectious Disease helmed the study. “For the first time, we have a system in which natural chronic viral infection drives liver cancer in an immunologically healthy animal, opening the door to studies and preclinical trials that simply weren’t possible before.”

Cellular and molecular mechanisms of astrocyte plasticity in learning and memory

Astrocyte plasticity in learning and memory.

Neuronal hallmark features of learning and memory, such as activity dependent plasticity, circuit-level modulation, and gene regulatory mechanisms, are also observed in astrocytes.

Astrocytic calcium displays plastic, activity-dependent recruitment and refinement (akin to neuronal activity) across neuronal subtypes, brain regions, and behavioral paradigms, and Designer Receptors Exclusively Activated by Designer Drugs (DREADDs)-mediated manipulations highlight astrocytic recruitment of circuit-specific neurons.

Astrocyte peripheral processes display activity-dependent plasticity and are able to discriminate between neuronal subtypes, circuits, and even individual synapses.

Single-cell RNA sequencing reveals molecularly defined subtypes of astrocytes that display unique transcriptional responses to learning and memory and implicates potential ‘ensemble’-like networks of astrocytes. sciencenewshighlights ScienceMission https://sciencemission.com/astrocyte-plasticity

Learning and memory arise from coordinated activity-dependent plasticity across neural circuits and brain regions. Astrocytes are increasingly recognized as active contributors to learning and memory via their roles in sensing, integrating, and responding to contextual information. Astrocytes modulate synaptic transmission, engage in circuit-specific signaling, and display context-dependent calcium dynamics that influence behavior. In this review, we focus on astrocyte functions across rodent models that display plasticity traditionally ascribed to neurons, including activity-dependent molecular and structural plasticity, circuit-level modulation, ensemble-like networks, and transcriptional, translational, proteomic, and epigenetic plasticity.

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First-in-class molecules dial down inflammation without compromising immunity

Scripps Research scientists have developed a new class of drug compounds that reduce harmful inflammation while leaving the body’s ability to fight infections intact—a long-sought goal in treating autoimmune diseases. The compounds, called ENDOtollins, work by interrupting a “molecular handshake” between two proteins inside immune cells. The research, published in Nature Chemical Biology, could lead to more targeted treatments for conditions like lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and juvenile arthritis, which together affect more than 15 million Americans.

“A key component of our approach is to begin by understanding the biological mechanisms at play,” says Sergio D. Catz, professor at Scripps Research and senior author. “By accomplishing this first, we can more easily target the pathway driving inflammation without affecting other important processes.”

New Advances Bring the Era of Quantum Computers Closer Than Ever

From the article:

” home new advances bring the era of quantum computers closer than ever

Quantum computing New Advances Bring the Era of Quantum Computers Closer Than Ever By Charlie Wood April 3, 2026

Two research groups say they have significantly reduced the amount of qubits and time required to crack common online security technologies.

Kristina Armitage/Quanta Magazine Introduction Some 30 years ago, the mathematician Peter Shor(opens a new tab) took a niche physics project — the dream of building a computer based on the counterintuitive rules of quantum mechanics — and shook the world.

Shor worked out a way for quantum computers to swiftly solve a couple of math problems that classical computers could complete only after many billions of years. Those two math problems happened to be the ones that secured the then-emerging digital world. The trustworthiness of nearly every website, inbox, and bank account rests on the assumption that these two problems are impossible to solve. Shor’s algorithm proved that assumption wrong.

For 30 years, Shor’s algorithm has been a security threat in theory only. Physicists initially estimated that they would need a colossal quantum machine with billions of qubits — the elements used in quantum calculations — to run it. That estimate has come down drastically over the years, falling recently to a million qubits. But it has still always sat comfortably beyond the modest capabilities of existing quantum computers, which typically have just hundreds of qubits.

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Artemis II kisses the Moon! — Space Renaissance with Artemis 2 on lunar farside!

This is the preliminary webinar #16 of the IV SRI World Congress (SRIC4)
Abstract:
The expansion of the commercial spaceflight sector and democratization of space is creating new opportunities for artists to engage directly with the environment of space. For a new generation of space artists, space presents new physical and philosophic questions. This webinar explores how space artists are redefining their practice through direct engagement with space, using case-studies of work that has been deployed on board the ISS, sub-orbital flights, and zeroG flights. Through these, the webinar will explore how artists are revising traditional art methods and materials through interactions with microgravity; the relationships between artists, astronauts and audiences; and the disciplinary and hierarchy challenges faced by artists operating in the space sector.

An essential Bio:
Dr Barbara Brownie is an Associate Dean (Education) at the Royal College of Art. Barbara’s research explores space as a site for art and design, with a particular focus on effects of weightlessness. Her book, Spacewear: Weightlessness and the Final Frontier of Fashion (Bloomsbury, 2019), considers the challenges and opportunities that the commercial space age presents to fashion designers, and how weightlessness necessitates new approaches to clothing and the dressed body. Her most recent book, Art in Orbit (Bloomsbury 2025), explores the relationship between the arts and space sectors, and the spaceworks that demonstrate art’s value in space exploration. In 2026 and 2027 she will be sending writing and artworks to space on three separate flights: one sub-orbital, one orbital, and one lunar. She co-leads the _Space research group at the RCA, a group of artists and researchers operating at the intersection of art and aerospace.

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