The Internet War -- A Commentary

Countries armed with "cyberweapons," according to McAfee.
(Credit: McAfee)

The Internet War -- An Editorial From The Washington Post

THE INTERNET has produced a vast expansion of free speech and access to information around the world. But for China and Russia, it has also become a means for waging a covert war against other nations, including the United States -- a brazen effort to steal secrets and plant malware. For those countries and for a host of other authoritarian regimes, Internet freedom is a threat, to be countered by censorship, the imprisonment of bloggers and domestic spying.

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Update: China Ups the Ante in Internet Row With U.S. -- Wall Street Journal editorial

My Comment: Two must read editorials on how both Russia and China are now using the world wide web to target us.

Are Bing And WolframAlpha Catching Up With Google In Search Engine Battle?

From The Guardian:

Panel hears how Google's competitors are looking at different ways of searching the internet.

The front of the pack isn't always the best place to be. In a panel of search engine representatives at the Munich DLD conference, Google's Ben Gomes was the most reluctant to give anything away. Alsio on the panel were Conrad Alpha, of WolframAlpha, Blaise Aguera y Arcas, the architect of Microsoft Visual Earth, and Ilya Segalovich, of Yandex – Russia's largest search engine.

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The Digital Revolution Is Making Earth Harder To Detect by Inquisitive Aliens, World's Leading ET Hunter Says

Out of reach? E.T. touches his friend Elliot in the film 'E.T The Extra Terrestrial'. Dr Frank Drake believes the digital revolution is making us harder for other life forms to detect

From The Daily Mail:

Satellite TV and the digital revolution is making humanity more and more invisible to inquisitive aliens on other planets, the world's leading ET hunter said today.

That might be good news for anyone who fears an 'Independence Day' - style invasion by little green men.

But it is also likely to make the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence by Earthly scientists harder, Dr Frank Drake believes.

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More Cyber Attacks From China?

Iraq's Rumaila oil field: A key target of 2008 cyberattacks on US oil and gas companies ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips, and Marathon was exploration 'bid data' that provides critical details about new energy discoveries. Atef Hassan/Reuters

US Oil Industry Hit By Cyberattacks: Was China Involved? -- Christian Science Monitor

MONITOR EXCLUSIVE: Breaches show how sophisticated industrial espionage is becoming. The big question: Who’s behind them?

At least three US oil companies were the target of a series of previously undisclosed cyberattacks that may have originated in China and that experts say highlight a new level of sophistication in the growing global war of Internet espionage.

The oil and gas industry breaches, the mere existence of which has been a closely guarded secret of oil companies and federal authorities, were focused on one of the crown jewels of the industry: valuable “bid data” detailing the quantity, value, and location of oil discoveries worldwide, sources familiar with the attacks say and documents obtained by the Monitor show.

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More News On China And Cyber Attacks

Google cyberattacks stoke fears of stealth hackers -- Seattle Times/New York Times
Hack Attacks Test Google's Link to China -- CBS News
Chinese Government Denies Involvement In Google Attack -- The Atlantic
Google negotiating ways to keep presence in China -- Washington Post
Google: China Dispute Could Be Resolved in Weeks -- ABC News
Chinese Sites Report Cyber Attacks -- Wall Street Journal
China rights groups hit by cyberattacks: activists -- AFP
Microsoft beefs up security due to China hack -- National Business Review
Internet Explorer 'hit with new set of security flaws' -- The Telegraph
China Hacks Inspire Copycats -- PC World
Cybercriminals use China attacks on Google as lure -- Computer Weekly
The top 10 Chinese cyber attacks (that we know of) -- The Cable/Foreign Policy
What's really at stake in Google vs. China -- Fareed Zakaria, CNN opinion

Stroke's 'Death Signal' Can Be Blocked; Discovery May Aid Drug Development

Dr. Sic Chan is an assistant professor at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. (Credit: UCF/Jacque Brund)

From Science Daily:

Science Daily (Jan. 25, 2010) — Biomedical scientists from the University of Central Florida and Louisiana State University have identified a way to block a "cell death signal" that they believe triggers brain damage during strokes.

Strokes, also known as cerebral ischemia, are caused by inadequate blood flow to the brain and are the third-leading cause of death in the United States.

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Breeding Has Made Dogs' Heads Incredibly Diverse

A cocker spaniel mix puppy. Credit: stock.xchng

From Live Science:

To get a sense of the not-so-subtle ways humans have influenced the course evolution, one wouldn't need to look further than Fido.

A new study reveals that the variety of skull shapes among domestic dogs has become just as diverse as the variety between other mammal species, such as bears, weasels, and seals. In fact some dog breeds’ heads vary in shape by more than the variation between cats and walruses.

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Dino Extinction Brought Birds Back To Earth

Flightless birds owe their success to the demise of the dinosaurs. Credit: Wikimedia

From Cosmos:

SYDNEY: Large, flightless birds such as ostriches and emus, originated in the northern hemisphere, according to an Australian study that suggests they became grounded after dinosaurs went extinct.

Reconstructed migration patterns have raised questions about whether flightless birds could have their evolutionary origins in the planet's north.

Until now, most scientists thought these birds originated in the southern behemoth Gondwanaland, according to the study published in Systematic Biology.

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Rivals Will Vie With Apple For Tablet Spotlight

Intel demonstrates OpenPeak tablet at 2010 CES.
(Credit: Intel)

From CNET:

Technology from Intel, Marvell, and Nvidia is powering some intriguing alternatives to the imminent Apple tablet.

News about the Apple tablet, when it emerges, will likely blanket the Internet for some time after the device is announced, obscuring tablet efforts from rivals. Nevertheless, there will be at least a few designs that should warrant some attention. Here are some potential high-profile alternatives:

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Scientists Create Model of Monster 'Frankenstorm'

A high-storm surf pounds the beach in front of an oil rig at Seal Beach, Calif.
AP Photo/Nick Ut

From Discovery News:

The recent California storms left the state battered and bruised, but that could just be a taster of things to come.

Think the recent wild weather that hammered California was bad? Experts are imagining far worse.

As torrential rains pelted wildfire-stripped hillsides and flooded highways, a team of scientists hunkered down at the California Institute of Technology to work on a "Frankenstorm" scenario -- a mother lode wintry blast that could potentially sock the Golden State.

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China Rejects Claims Of Cyber Attacks On Google

From The BBC:

China has denied any state involvement in alleged cyber attacks on Google and accused the US of double standards.

A Chinese industry ministry spokesman told the state-run Xinhua news agency that claims that Beijing was behind recent cyber attacks were "groundless".

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has asked China to investigate claims by Google that it had been targeted by China-based hackers.

The US search giant has threatened to withdraw from China.

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Is This The Apple Tablet In Action? (Video)

Video is from Zideo.

A Cannon For Shooting Supplies Into Space

How the Space Cannon Works John MacNeill

From Popular Science:

John Hunter wants to shoot stuff into space with a 3,600-foot gun. And he’s dead serious—he’s done the math. Making deliveries to an orbital outpost on a rocket costs $5,000 per pound, but using a space gun would cost just $250 per pound.

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Comet Storm Split Destiny Of Jupiter's Twin Moons

Comet strikes may have warmed Ganymede enough for its
ice and rock to fully separate (Image: NASA/JPL)

From New Scientist:

Heavy pummelling by icy comets could explain why Jupiter's two biggest moons – apparently close kin – look so different inside.

At first glance, Ganymede and Callisto are virtually twins. The colossal moons are similar in size and mass, and are a roughly 50:50 mixture of ice and rock.

However, visits by the Galileo spacecraft beginning in 1996 tell a different story. Ganymede's interior boasts a solid rock core surrounded by a thick layer of ice, while ice and rock are still mingled in parts of Callisto. That suggests Callisto was never warm enough for its ice to melt and allow all of its rock to fall to the centre and form a core.

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If Your Password Is 123456, Just Make It HackMe

From New York Times:

Back at the dawn of the Web, the most popular account password was “12345.”

Today, it’s one digit longer but hardly safer: “123456.”

Despite all the reports of Internet security breaches over the years, including the recent attacks on Google’s e-mail service, many people have reacted to the break-ins with a shrug.

According to a new analysis, one out of five Web users still decides to leave the digital equivalent of a key under the doormat: they choose a simple, easily guessed password like “abc123,” “iloveyou” or even “password” to protect their data.

“I guess it’s just a genetic flaw in humans,” said Amichai Shulman, the chief technology officer at Imperva, which makes software for blocking hackers. “We’ve been following the same patterns since the 1990s.”

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Neurons Developed From Stem Cells Successfully Wired With Other Brain Regions In Animals

This is a single stem cell-derived neuron that has migrated away from the transplantation site in the cortex and grown into a mature neuron. The blue stain shows the nuclei of the endogenous neural cells in this part of the brain. (Credit: Courtesy, with permission: Weimann et al. The Journal of Neuroscience 2010.)

From Science Daily:

Science Daily (Jan. 24, 2010) — Transplanted neurons grown from embryonic stem cells can fully integrate into the brains of young animals, according to new research in the Jan. 20 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience.

Healthy brains have stable and precise connections between cells that are necessary for normal behavior. This new finding is the first to show that stem cells can be directed not only to become specific brain cells, but to link correctly.

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Why Human Blood Drives Mosquitoes Wild

Image of the Culex quinquefasciatus mosquito, an insect that is attracted to the sent of human blood. Credit: Kathy Keatley Garvey, UC Davis Department of Entomology 

From Live Science:

When the time came for chemical ecologist Walter Leal to test whether humans make a natural odor that attracts mosquitoes, Leal himself was the first to volunteer.

"I measured my own levels," Leal said. "I thought I would set a good example. If you do it first, then others won't be scared."

In truth, there was little if any reason to be frightened. The scientists were looking only for the substance itself, not trying to find out whether the compound would lure the insects into a blood meal. And they found it — nonanal, a substance made by humans and birds that creates a powerful scent that Culex mosquitoes find irresistible.

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For £17.7m ($28.2 million), Shuttle Is A Gift That's Out Of This World

The price of Nasa's Space Shuttle fleet has just been slashed from £25.8m. Getty

From The Independent:

It flew faster and higher than any machine in history and was the was the ultimate boy's toy, but at $42 million (£25.8 m) it was beyond most budgets. But now the price of Nasa's soon-to-be redundant space shuttles has plummeted to something more down-to-earth: a new analysis of the costs of hauling the monster from the Kennedy Space Centre to a major US airport has led the space agency to slash the price to $28.2 m (£17.7m) .

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My Technology Predictions For 2010

I'm not forecasting flying cars this year - but will we have them by 2015?

From The Guardian:

It's prediction time again! Yes, I know that January is half-over already, but that gives me less time to make it all happen, doesn't it?

And remember, fully two-thirds of these should be correct, going by past performance. Although please remember that your home may be at risk if you bet it on any single one of these things happening.

So without further ado, let's get under way …

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Scientists Announce The End Of The Mid-Life Crisis: Life Really Does Begin At 40, They Say

Life's a beach: Over-40s are 'free to enjoy life' according to a psychologist

From The Daily Telegraph:

Life really can begin at 40, an expert claimed yesterday.

Improvements in healthcare, education and life expectancy have made the mid-life crisis a thing of the past, according to psychologist Dr Carlo Strenger.

'Somehow this line has been drawn around the mid and late 40s as a time for a mid-life crisis in our society,' he said.

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Prairie Dogs Most 'Chatty'

Prairie dogs are highly social and live in large colonies that can span hundreds of acres of the grasslands of North America Photo: ALAMY

From The Telegraph:

On first appearances they seem to be little more than a kind of nervous ground squirrel with a loud squeak, but new research is revealing that prairie dogs are in fact some of nature's most talkative creatures.

Biologists studying the burrowing rodents have found that they have one of the most sophisticated languages in the animal kingdom – second only to humans.

The findings have surprised many wildlife experts as it was assumed that mankind's closest relatives, primates, or intelligent mammals such as dolphins were likely to be the most talkative species after humans.

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