SoylentNews

janrinok writes:

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Qualcomm has confirmed its processors have the same security vulnerabilities disclosed this week in Intel, Arm and AMD CPU cores this week.

The California tech giant picked the favored Friday US West Coast afternoon "news dump" slot to admit at least some of its billions of Arm-compatible Snapdragon system-on-chips and newly released Centriq server-grade processors are subject to the Meltdown and/or Spectre data-theft bugs.

[...] Qualcomm declined to comment further on precisely which of the three CVE-listed vulnerabilities its chips were subject to, or give any details on which of its CPU models may be vulnerable. The paper describing the Spectre data-snooping attacks mentions that Qualcomm's CPUs are affected, while the Meltdown paper doesn't conclude either way.

[...] Apple, which too bases its iOS A-series processors on Arm's instruction set, said earlier this week that its mobile CPUs were vulnerable to Spectre and Meltdown – patches are available or incoming for iOS. The iGiant's Intel-based Macs also need the latest macOS, version 10.13.2 or greater, to kill off Meltdown attacks.

[Update: The launch of the secret payload was reportedly a success. The Stage 1 booster returned to the LZ-1 landing pad at Cape Canaveral and landed successfully. If you missed the launch, SpaceX usually posts a recorded copy a few hours after launch at the same YouTube location as the live stream.]

SpaceX's Mysterious Zuma Mission May Finally Take Flight Sunday

Fnord666 writes:

Originally planned for a November launch, the mysterious Zuma mission may finally go to space on Sunday evening. SpaceX has confirmed that its rocket, and the undisclosed national security payload, are ready for launch, and weather conditions appear to be generally favorable. The two-hour launch window opens at 8pm ET.

An undisclosed issue with the Falcon 9 rocket's fairing caused SpaceX to delay the launch for several weeks in November and eventually move the date forward to January 4. Earlier this week additional propellant loading tests contributed to further delays, as did "extreme weather" at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida—mostly gusty winds.

But now conditions for the mysterious mission are 80-percent go, weather-wise, in Florida. This is SpaceX's third classified mission, and arguably its most secretive flight for the US military. All that is publicly known about the Zuma payload is that it is a satellite manufactured for the US government by Northrop Grumman, and it is bound for low-Earth orbit.

Source: https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/01/watch-live-spacexs-zuma-mission-may-finally-be-ready-to-zoom-into-space/

SpaceX to Launch Classified Zuma Mission: 0100-0300 UTC on 8th (8:00-10:00 p.m. EST on 7th)

martyb writes:

takyon writes:

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) researchers have used sensitive optically pumped magnetometers to detect low frequency magnetic signals while ignoring noise, effectively boosting their range:

The NIST team is experimenting with low-frequency magnetic radio—very low frequency (VLF) digitally modulated magnetic signals—which can travel farther through building materials, water and soil than conventional electromagnetic communications signals at higher frequencies.

VLF electromagnetic fields are already used underwater in submarine communications. But there's not enough data-carrying capacity for audio or video, just one-way texts. Submarines also must tow cumbersome antenna cables, slow down and rise to periscope depth (18 meters, or about 60 feet, below the surface) to communicate. "The big issues with very low-frequency communications, including magnetic radio, is poor receiver sensitivity and extremely limited bandwidth of existing transmitters and receivers. This means the data rate is zilch," NIST project leader Dave Howe said. "The best magnetic field sensitivity is obtained using quantum sensors. The increased sensitivity leads in principle to longer communications range. The quantum approach also offers the possibility to get high bandwidth communications like a cellphone has. We need bandwidth to communicate with audio underwater and in other forbidding environments," he said.

As a step toward that goal, the NIST researchers demonstrated detection of digitally modulated magnetic signals, that is, messages consisting of digital bits 0 and 1, by a magnetic-field sensor that relies on the quantum properties of rubidium atoms. The NIST technique varies magnetic fields to modulate or control the frequency—specifically, the horizontal and vertical positions of the signal's waveform—produced by the atoms. "Atoms offer very fast response plus very high sensitivity," Howe said. "Classical communications involves a tradeoff between bandwidth and sensitivity. We can now get both with quantum sensors."

Traditionally, such atomic magnetometers are used to measure naturally occurring magnetic fields, but in this NIST project, they are being used to receive coded communications signals. In the future, the NIST team plans to develop improved transmitters. The researchers have published their results [open, DOI: 10.1063/1.5003821] [DX] in the Review of Scientific Instruments.

"MrPlow" writes:

Submitted via IRC for TheMightyBuzzard

AMD has fixed, but not yet released BIOS/UEFI/firmware updates for the general public for a security flaw affecting the AMD Secure Processor.

[...] Cfir Cohen, a security researcher with the Google Cloud Security Team, says he discovered a vulnerability in the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) of the AMD Secure Processor. The TPM is a component to store critical system data such as passwords, certificates, and encryption keys, in a secure environment and outside of the more easily accessible AMD cores.

"Through manual static analysis, we've found a stack-based overflow in the function EkCheckCurrentCert," Cohen says. The researcher claims that an attacker could use specially-crafted EK certificates to get remote code execution rights on the AMD Secure Processor, allowing him to compromise its security.

Cohen said that some basic mitigation techniques such as "stack cookies, NX stack, ASLR" were not implemented in AMD's Secure Processor, making exploitation trivial.

takyon: This bug is unrelated to Meltdown and Spectre. And you might be interested in this:

Coincidentally, on Reddit [1, 2], some users reported seeing a new option to disable AMD PSP support, but it's unclear if this new option is related to the patches AMD was preparing to roll out for Cohen's findings.

Source: Security Flaw in AMD's Secure Chip-On-Chip Processor Disclosed Online

Original Submission

janrinok writes:

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Thanks to the ridiculous valuation of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, cryptomining code has become a common mechanism for converting authorized and stolen computing cycles into potential cash.

Antivirus and ad-blocker makers have responded by trying to halt crafty coin-crafting code from hijacking CPU time, particularly in browsers.

For those interested in violating computer laws – please, don't – and those interested in computer security research projects, a developer named Arnau, based in Spain, has published a proof-of-concept walkthrough for hacking public Wi-Fi networks to inject crypto-mining code in connected browsing sessions.

[...] As Arnau explained, the attack – demonstrated on a VirtualBox set up rather than in the wild – can be automated. The published version doesn't work with requests for HTTPS webpages, though the addition of sslstrip could solve that.

The code, mostly Python, is available on GitHub. ®

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

The UK smashed 13 clean energy records last year in the 'greenest year ever' for electricity production in the country, according to WWF analysis of National Grid data.

The sweep of new records was powered by the rise of green energy on the system, WWF said last week, with highlights including the first full day since the Industrial Revolution with no coal power, record spikes in solar and offshore wind generation, and record low prices for offshore wind.

The year's performance continues a trend of falling power sector emissions in recent years, as wind and solar replace coal power on the grid. Since 2012 Britain has halved carbon emissions in the electricity sector, and now ranks as the seventh cleanest power system in the world.

Also reported at:

• http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/uk-clean-energy-records-green-britain-2017-climate-change-global-warming-a8130151.html
• http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-42495883

The "green" mix includes nuclear power.

Original Submission

A not-very-Anonymous Coward writes:

Many Twitter users have reported threats of genocide and the use of weapons of mass destruction by one Twitterati in particular, but Twitter does not think these violate the terms of usage at Twitter. Tweet, at Mashable.

The President of the United States possibly made another threat of nuclear war on Twitter, but the company doesn't seem to think the post breaks any of its rules. Donald Trump boasted on Twitter about how his nuclear button was bigger than North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's, and people are calling (again) for the president to be banned from the platform.

Folks on Twitter are asking the platform whether this violates its policy against violent threats. So far the response from Twitter has been in the form of an automated response in which Twitter says Trump's message represents "no violation of the Twitter Rules against abusive behavior."

Mashable checked, just in case:

Twitter confirmed to Mashable that "this Tweet did not violate our terms of service," referencing the Twitter Rules against violent threats and glorification of violence.

"You may not make specific threats of violence or wish for the serious physical harm, death, or disease of an individual or group of people," the rules state.

So it seems that if you are going to threaten serious "physical harm, death or disease" on Twitter, be sure to include everyone by using nukes, instead of just one individual or group.

Original Submission

mrpg writes:

A North Korean missile reportedly crashed into one of its own cities after it failed just minutes following its launch.

US officials said the Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) was initially thought to have disintegrated mid-flight after it was fired on 28 April last year.

However, new data suggests it landed in the city of Tokchon, around 90 miles north of the secretive communist country’s capital, Pyongyang. Tokchon has a population of around 200,000.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/north-korea-missile-hit-city-accident-nuclear-war-ballistic-tests-chonsin-dong-tokchon-a8141481.html

Original Submission

An Anonymous Coward writes:

Fred Reed's mathematical analysis of Trump's Wall proves that Trump is insincere, proves that Trump is mathematically incompetent, and earns Fred Reed an honorary nerd card:

https://fredoneverything.org/the-wall-the-sound-and-the-fury-and-not-much-else/

More math!

~childo

Original Submission

takyon writes:

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is holding a "public health grand round" at its Roybal campus in Atlanta, Georgia. The topic is "Public Health Response to a Nuclear Detonation":

The CDC is holding a session January 16 to discuss personal safety measures and the training of response teams "on a federal, state, and local level to prepare for nuclear detonation."

The meeting, part of the agency's monthly Public Health Grand Rounds, will include presentations like "Preparing for the Unthinkable" and "Roadmap to Radiation Preparedness," and it will be held at the CDC's headquarters in Atlanta. "Grand rounds" are a type of meeting or symposium in which members of a public health community come together to discuss topics of interest or public importance.

This isn't the first time in recent months that official entities have informed the public about the consequences of a possible nuclear strike. In August, amid escalating nuclear rhetoric from North Korea, Guam's Homeland Security and Office of Civil Defense released a two-page fact sheet about what to do in the case of a nuclear event. And in December, Hawaii started monthly testing of a nuclear warning siren system -- the first such tests since the end of the Cold War.

It had been planned in April and has nothing at all to do with any particular statements or tweets.

Also at Time.

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

The Nintendo Switch has been named America's fastest-selling home games console.

A total of 4.8 million units were sold in the US during the 10 months following the Switch's launch there on 3 March last year.

The Switch breaks tradition with the firm's previous home consoles in allowing owners to use it as a portable console for game-playing on the move.

One analyst said Nintendo had completely turned its business around.

The previous record for the fastest-selling console in the US was Nintendo's Wii, launched in 2006, which went on to be one of the top-selling consoles in history worldwide.

However, the company's next offering - the Wii U - fared much more poorly.

As a consequence, Nintendo had been under considerable pressure to deliver a popular device this time around.

What if you don't like Mario or Zelda?

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Researchers at the University of Colorado in Boulder have combined aspects of pneumatic actuators and dielectric elastomer actuators to create "soft muscles" for robots:

Two soft muscle technologies have jumped to the fore: pneumatic actuators, which pump gases or liquids into soft pouches to create particular movements, and devices called dielectric elastomer actuators, which apply an electric field across an insulating flexible plastic to make it deform with a particular movement. Pneumatic actuators are both powerful and easy to make, but pumps can be bulky and moving gases and fluids around can be slow. Dielectric elastomer actuators are fast and energy efficient. But they often fail catastrophically when a bolt of electricity blasts through the plastic.

Now, researchers led by Christoph Keplinger, a physicist at the University of Colorado in Boulder, have married the best of both technologies, creating soft musclelike actuators that use electricity to drive the movement of liquids inside small pouches. The design is simple. The actuators start with small plastic pouches that contain an insulating liquid, such as regular canola oil from the supermarket. When researchers apply a voltage between electrodes placed on both sides of the pouch, they are drawn together, squeezing the liquid and causing it to flow to nearby regions. The upshot is that the actuator changes shape, and whatever is connected to it moves.

Keplinger and his colleagues report today in a pair of papers in Science and Science Robotics that they created three soft muscle designs that contract with the precision and force of mammalian skeletal muscles. In their Science paper, Keplinger's team showed that a series of doughnut-shaped actuators had the dexterity to enable a robotic gripper to pick up and hold a raspberry [DOI: 10.1126/science.aao6139] [DX]. They also showed that if a bolt of electricity did arc through the insulating liquid between the electrodes, any "damage" was instantly repaired when the arcing stopped, and new liquid flowed into the region. And in Science Robotics, Keplinger's team reports creating two other muscle designs that contract linearly, much like a human bicep, enabling them to lift far more than their own weight at a rapid repetition rate [open, DOI: 10.1126/scirobotics.aar3276] [DX].

Also at Boulder Daily Camera.

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

ArsTechnica looks ahead to 2018 space news:

Last year offered a mixed bag for spaceflight aficionados. The highs were very high, with SpaceX flying, landing, and reflying rockets at an unprecedented rate while finally beginning to deliver on its considerable promise. But the lows were pronounced, too, with the loss of the Cassini spacecraft in the outer Solar System and NASA's continued lack (for nearly a full year) of an administrator.

There were also delays upon delays. The ultra-expensive James Webb Space Telescope saw its launch date slip from 2018 into some time in 2019. NASA's Space Launch System rocket saw its maiden launch slip from late 2018 into 2019 and then again into 2020. The Falcon Heavy also moved to the right on the calendar, from November, then December, and finally into early 2018.

But all of those delays mean that the last couple of years of the 2010s should feature a lot of spaceflight action, and a good chunk of that will occur in the next 12 months. Looking ahead at what is to come, here are the key spaceflight milestones we're most eager to see in 2018, grouped by the approximate quarter of the year in which they might happen.

Falcon Heavy, Solar Sails, Chinese Land on the Moon, and more.

[The 'loss' of the Cassini spacecraft was a planned event. Having nearly exhausted the fuel available for orbit corrections, it was sent on a trajectory to disintegrate in Saturn's atmosphere. This, instead of running the risk of possibly landing on, and contaminating, one of Saturn's potentially habitable moons (e.g. Enceladus) --martyb].

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Encrypt and lock your electronic devices, because the border agents want to touch them:

Customs officers stationed at the American border and at airports searched an estimated 30,200 cellphones, computers and other electronic devices of people entering and leaving the United States last year — an almost 60 percent increase from 2016, according to Homeland Security Department data released on Friday.

Despite the surge, Customs and Border Protection officials said the searches affected fewer than 1 percent of the more than 300 million travelers who arrived in the United States last year.

Homeland Security officials say border searches are an important investigative tool and are used sparingly by its agents. "In this digital age, border searches of electronic devices are essential to enforcing the law at the U.S. border and to protecting the American people," said John Wagner, the deputy executive assistant commissioner at Customs and Border Protection. Mr. Wagner said the agency was committed to preserving the rights and civil liberties of travelers whose devices are searched.

Also at ABC.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

The interstellar asteroid 'Oumuamua's likely movements have been tracked based on the relative positions of nearby stars. Observations of 'Oumuamua indicate that it has only been subjected to interstellar conditions (cosmic rays, gas, dust) for hundreds of millions of years rather than billions. There are likely to be around 46 million such interstellar objects entering the solar system every year, most of which are too far away to be seen with current telescopes, and are quickly ejected:

[My (Fabo Feng)] latest study gives us a glimpse of exactly where 'Oumuamua may have come from. Reconstructing the object's motion, my research suggests it probably came from the nearby "Pleiades moving group" of young stars, also known as the "Local Association". It was likely ejected from its home solar system and sent out to travel interstellar space.

Based on 'Oumuamua's trajectory, I simulated how it has probably travelled through the galaxy and compared this to the motions of nearby stars. I found the object passed 109 stars within a distance of 16 light years. It went by five of these stars from in the Local Association (a group of young stars likely to have formed together), at a very slow speed relative to their movement.

It's likely that when 'Oumuamua was first ejected into space, it was travelling at just enough speed to break away from the gravity of its planet or star of origin, rather than at a much faster speed that would require even more energy. This means we'd expect the object to move relatively slowly at the start of its interstellar journey, and so its slow encounters with these five stars suggests it was ejected from one of the group.

Pleiades star cluster. "Code and results" for the arXiv paper.

We should capture as many interstellar asteroids as possible and smash them together to create a new dwarf planet near the Earth.

Previously: Possible Interstellar Asteroid/Comet Enters Solar System
Interstellar Asteroid Named: Oumuamua
ESO Observations Show First Interstellar Asteroid is Like Nothing Seen Before
Breakthrough Listen to Observe Interstellar Asteroid 'Oumuamua for Radio Emissions (none were found)

Original Submission