For many of us, our smartphones are an integral part of our being, containing not just everything we need to communicate but depths of personal information, from our daily schedules to our finances. While last summer the Supreme Court ruled cell phone information is private and therefore protected, that's irrelevant to anyone trying to steal the sensitive bits stored on one. As Rose Eveleth reports for BBC Future, Seth Wahle, an engineer and biohacker, demonstrated that it's possible to steal information off of a phone with a microchip embedded in his hand.
It appears the stars have not yet aligned for the Thirty Meter Telescope project, which saw its main website targeted by an alleged cyberattack this weekend. The site was unavailable for several hours, a project spokesperson confirmed, and a group known as Operation Green Rights--associated with the popular Anonymous movement--has claimed responsibility.
War takes a toll. And in Washington, former warships may take a toll as well--from drivers and motorists. As part of the state highway budget passed yesterday, Washington is funding a study on the feasibility of turning old Vietnam-era warships into a unique, destination toll bridge that spans the Sinclair Inlet. In the words of Washington State Representative Jesse Young, the bridge will serve as "a testimony and a legacy memorial to our greatest generation."
Spending long summer evenings outside comes with a big nuisance: bug bites. Mosquitos and other insects are drawn to the lights illuminating your dinner party, which helps them hone in on their human prey. While that might mean a few days of itchy welts for some of us, the implications are much more dire in other countries where bug bites can mean infection of some nasty diseases such as leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, and malaria. Now, a team of researchers is experimenting with LED lights that can ward off insects but still appear as functional white light for humans. They published their findings in the May issue of the journal Philosophical Transactions B.
A group holding red cups full of beer converged around a kitchen table littered with petri dishes, pipettes, and other basic laboratory equipment. Our host/lab director, Justin Pahara, explained how we were all going to take a custom snippet of DNA and stick it into some unsuspecting Escherichia coli bacteria. In essence, we were about to reprogram a living cell in an Austin, Texas kitchen.
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