Archive for July, 2018
Pentagon Working on Neural Interface
July 18th, 2018Via: NextGov: The idea of humans controlling machines with their minds has spun off sci-fi blockbusters like “Pacific Rim” and entire subgenres of foreign film, but while today skyscraper-sized fighting robots exist only on the big screen, the Pentagon is building technology that could one day make them a reality. Today, the Defense Advanced Research […]
Japan’s Increasing Stockpile of Plutonium
July 17th, 2018Via: Channel News Asia: Japan has amassed enough plutonium to make 6,000 atomic bombs as part of a programme to fuel its nuclear plants, but concern is growing that the stockpile is vulnerable to terrorists and natural disasters. Japan has long been the world’s only non-nuclear-armed country with a programme to reprocess spent nuclear fuel […]
Potential DNA Damage from CRISPR Has Been ‘Seriously Underestimated’
July 17th, 2018Via: STAT News: From the earliest days of the CRISPR-Cas9 era, scientists have known that the first step in how it edits genomes — snipping DNA — creates an unholy mess: Cellular repairmen frantically try to fix the cuts by throwing random chunks of DNA into the breach and deleting other random bits. Research published […]
Researchers Mount Successful GPS Spoofing Attack Against Road Navigation Systems
July 17th, 2018Via: Bleeping Computer: Academics say they’ve mounted a successful GPS spoofing attack against road navigation systems that can trick humans into driving to incorrect locations. The research is of note because previous GPS spoofing attacks have been unable to trick humans, who, in past experiments, often received malicious driving instructions that didn’t make sense or […]
14,400-Year-Old Flatbread Remains That Predate Agriculture
July 17th, 2018Via: Atlas Obscura: BREAD-MAKING AROUND THE WORLD HAS evolved from a similar, ancient approach of combining flour, water, and sometimes yeast. But for prehistoric societies with limited tools, making bread wasn’t so simple. Given how laborious it was to make bread thousands of years ago, it’s long been associated with settled Neolithic societies—and only after […]
Digital Ads Are Starting to Feel Psychic
July 17th, 2018Via: The Outline: Earlier this year, my friend Max gave me a knife from Japan as a gift. That evening, as I was lying in bed looking at Instagram, I scrolled passed an ad of what looked like exactly the same knife. I did a double take, got out of bed, retrieved the knife from […]
The Twitch Streamers Who Spend Years Broadcasting to No One
July 16th, 2018Via: The Verge: When John Hopstead first descended into the virtual world of Dark Souls in 2013, his mission was to save a decaying world. Famed for its brutal and exacting gameplay, Dark Souls is a popular game to live stream: if you’re going to die hundreds of times, you might as well perish with […]
1981: ‘Notes On NSA ESP Concerns/Guidelines’
July 15th, 2018URL of source at CIA: https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/document/nsa-rdp96x00790r000100030037-5 Local copy on Cryptogon (avoids a visit to CIA, in case you care). Via: U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Electronic Reading Room: The number of NSA persons with operating ESP capabilities should be isolated by type and quality.
Trump: “I Think the European Union Is a Foe”
July 15th, 2018Via: CBS: Coming off a contentious NATO summit and a trip to the U.K. in which he seemed to undercut the government of America’s closest ally, President Trump took aim at another Western institution just days before his high-stakes meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. In an interview with “CBS Evening News” anchor Jeff Glor […]
All Ears: Always-On Listening Devices Could Soon Be Everywhere
July 13th, 2018Via: Wall Street Journal: If every tree falling in every forest might soon be heard by an internet-connected microphone, what hope is there for our privacy? Already when you’re sitting in a room with an iPhone, an Apple Watch and a smart assistant like Amazon Echo or Google Home, you’re surrounded by a dozen microphones. […]
