Synaptic Seepage

Writer Evan Ratliff Tried to Vanish: Here’s What Happened

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 13:18:32 -0500

Writer Evan Ratliff Tried to Vanish: Here’s What Happened

Optogenetics: optical stimulation plus genetic engineering

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:44:13 -0500

Optogenetics: optical stimulation plus genetic engineering:

In the summer of 2007, a team of Stanford graduate students dropped a mouse into a plastic basin. The mouse sniffed the floor curiously. It didn’t seem to care that a fiber-optic cable was threaded through its skull. Nor did it seem to mind that the right half of its motor cortex had been reprogrammed.

One of the students flipped a switch and intense blue light shone through the cable into the mouse’s brain, illuminating it with an eerie glow. Instantly, the mouse began running in counterclockwise circles as though hell-bent on winning a murine Olympics.

Then the light went off, and the mouse stopped. Sniffed. Stood up on its hind legs and looked directly at the students as if to ask, “Why the hell did I just do that?” And the students whooped and cheered like this was the most important thing they’d ever seen.

Because it was the most important thing they’d ever seen. They’d shown that a beam of light could control brain activity with great precision. The mouse didn’t lose its memory, have a seizure, or die. It ran in a circle. Specifically, a counterclockwise circle…

iRobot’s Soft Morphing Blob Bot Takes Its First Steps

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 09:55:58 -0500

iRobot’s Soft Morphing Blob Bot Takes Its First Steps

Oops: Backscatter x-ray machines "tear apart DNA"

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 06:09:00 -0500

Oops: Backscatter x-ray machines "tear apart DNA":

Though touted as completely safe because the level of radiation is so low, travelers have been nervous about the devices — and not just because it shows off a nice outline of their privates to the people manning the machines — but because they remain scared of the health problems they might propose.

Looks like a little healthy paranoia might have been a good thing. While the conventional wisdom has held that so-called “terahertz radiation,” upon which backscatter x-ray machines are based, is harmless because it doesn’t carry enough energy to do cellular or genetic damage, new research suggests that may be completely wrong.

Specifically, researchers have found that terahertz radiation may interfere directly with DNA. Although the force generated is small, the waves have been found to “unzip double-stranded DNA, creating bubbles in the double strand that could significantly interfere with processes such as gene expression and DNA replication.”

WXHMD is a Gumstix Overo Fire computer-on-module driving a Vuzix...

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:56:36 -0400

WXHMD is a Gumstix Overo Fire computer-on-module driving a Vuzix VR920 head-mounted display:

Stereoscopic 640x480, audio in/out, 3D tilt sensor, 3D magnetic compass, TI OMAP3530 @ 600 MHz, Linux, WiFi, Bluetooth, 1 amp @ 3.7 volts, 180 grams.

Potential applications include secure telepresence over WiFi, and “head-mounted computing” with Bluetooth peripherals. (via WXHMD - A Wireless Head-Mounted Display with embedded Linux

)

Universal credit card in the palm of your hand A magnetic card...

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 13:01:06 -0400

Universal credit card in the palm of your hand

A magnetic card spoofer that is button programmable so you can theoretically get into places you don’t belong and cause all kinds of mischief.

"In Morgan’s novel, set in the 25th Century, human memories are backed up and stored in cortical..."

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 16:49:07 -0400

“In Morgan’s novel, set in the 25th Century, human memories are backed up and stored in cortical stacks, data storage systems implanted in the human body. If the body dies, the stack can be “resleeved” in another body, enabling human beings to become essentially immortal. But only the very rich can afford to be resleeved frequently, and when one such very wealthy, very long-lived individual, Laurens Bancroft, dies, his stack is shockingly destroyed as well. Thanks to a remote backup, Bancroft is able to be resleeved again, but finds he’s missing the memories from the 48 hours prior to his death. While the police rule Bancroft’s death a suicide, Bancroft himself believes he was murdered.”

- James McTeigue, on an adaptation of Richard K. Morgan’s Altered Carbon (via urbanbuddha)

The Real Story of Trading Software Espionage

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 15:25:56 -0400

The Real Story of Trading Software Espionage :

Much has been made of the 32MB of Goldman Sachs’ proprietary algorithmic trading code (“trading secrets”) allegedly stolen by Sergey Aleynikov, now portrayed in the financial media as the new Julius Rosenberg, Aldrich Ames, Robert Hanssen and John Walker all rolled into one. That may prove to be true; but while it makes for a great news story at this point in time, it highlights the new significance of high frequency trading—which is built on this technology—in the marketplace.

Snooping through the power socket

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 17:41:16 -0400

Snooping through the power socket:

Security researchers found that poor shielding on some keyboard cables means useful data can be leaked about each character typed.

By analysing the information leaking onto power circuits, the researchers could see what a target was typing.

The end is nigh.

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 23:50:18 -0400

The end is nigh.

Federal Web sites knocked out by cyber attack

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 23:33:01 -0400

Federal Web sites knocked out by cyber attack

A Drug That Could Give You Perfect Visual Memory

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 14:14:06 -0400

A Drug That Could Give You Perfect Visual Memory:

A group of Spanish researchers reported today in Science that they may have stumbled upon a substance that could become the ultimate memory-enhancer. The group was studying a poorly-understood region of the visual cortex. They found that if they boosted production of a protein called RGS-14 (pictured) in that area of the visual cortex in mice, it dramatically affected the animals’ ability to remember objects they had seen.
Mice with the RGS-14 boost could remember objects they had seen for up to two months. Ordinarily the same mice would only be able to remember these objects for about an hour.

Cash to become extinct as chips take off

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 15:11:38 -0400

Cash to become extinct as chips take off:

Cash is accelerating down the path to extinction as new technologies threaten to mark the end of loose change within a decade.

Bank and credit union bosses say cash won’t be alone, with wallets and credit cards also likely to disappear too.

They told The Advertiser’s round table forum that cash and cards will be replaced by computer chips embedded in mobile phones, watches or other portable devices.

Clones of 9/11 hero dog unveiled in Los Angeles

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 12:51:05 -0400

Clones of 9/11 hero dog unveiled in Los Angeles:

Symington was presented with Trakr’s offspring after winning a competition organized by California firm BioArts International — the “Golden Clone Giveaway” — to find the world’s most “cloneworthy” dog.

Slowloris HTTP DoS

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 22:17:15 -0400

Slowloris HTTP DoS:

Typical flooding attacks require tons and tons of packets and end up denying service to other applications as a result. By creating a flood of TCP requests, sure you can take down an upstream router, or a web server, but it’s overkill if you really just want to take down a single website. Slowloris does this without sending an overabundance of TCP or HTTP traffic, and it does so without increasing the load significantly, or in any other way hurting the box (assuming other things aren’t tied to the HTTP processes - like a database for instance). This appears to only affect certain types of webservers (generally those that thread processes, like Apache, but not like IIS).

Pentagon Wants Cyborg Insects to Sniff WMD, Offer Free Wi-Fi

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 11:02:10 -0400

Pentagon Wants Cyborg Insects to Sniff WMD, Offer Free Wi-Fi:

The Pentagon is looking for better ways to prevent chemical weapon attacks. So military researchers are implanting insect larvae with WMD-detectors - turning them into cyborg-critters that specialize in tracking down mustard gas.

Experts Say Houston Dome May Help Environment

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 12:24:55 -0400

Experts Say Houston Dome May Help Environment:

One solution to counter the almost overwhelming environmental challenges facing Houston is to cover it with a giant geodesic dome.

WILLIAM GIBSON

Sun, 14 Jun 2009 08:43:06 -0400

WILLIAM GIBSON

Get your own portion of viral terror via SMS

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 10:39:43 -0400

Get your own portion of viral terror via SMS:

Sounds very similar to that scene in Live Free Or Die Hard.

'Robocop' gadget developed for police

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 16:16:30 -0400

'Robocop' gadget developed for police:

A police scanner reminscent of the hi-tech gadgets in films such as Robocop which can detect weapons hidden beneath a criminal’s clothing has been developed.