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Fasting Triggers Stem Cell Regeneration of Damaged, Old Immune System

schwit1 sends word of research showing that cycles of prolonged fasting can both protect the immune system from harm and also induce regeneration by causing stem cells to start renewing themselves. ‘In both mice and a Phase 1 human clinical trial (abstract), long periods of not eating significantly lowered white blood cell counts. In mice, fasting cycles then “flipped a regenerative switch, ” changing the signaling pathways for hematopoietic stem cells, which are responsible for the generation of blood and immune systems, the research showed. “PKA is the key gene that needs to shut down in order for these stem cells to switch into regenerative mode. It gives the OK for stem cells to go ahead and begin proliferating and rebuild the entire system, ” explained [study author Valter Longo], noting the potential of clinical applications that mimic the effects of prolonged fasting to rejuvenate the immune system. “And the good news is that the body got rid of the parts of the system that might be damaged or old, the inefficient parts, during the fasting. Now, if you start with a system heavily damaged by chemotherapy or aging, fasting cycles can generate, literally, a new immune system.”‘ Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Fasting Triggers Stem Cell Regeneration of Damaged, Old Immune System

Soviet Doctors Cured Infections With Viruses, and Soon Yours Might Too

In the days of the Soviet Union, western antibiotics couldn’t make it past the Iron Curtain. So Eastern Bloc doctors figured out how to use viruses to kill the bacteria infecting their patients. Now, with antibiotic-resistant bacteria vexing modern medicine, that eerie yet effective method might come our way. In post-antibiotic world, infection is cure! Read more…

We “will be paying no ransom,” vows town hit by Cryptowall ransom malware

Cisco Systems The town manager of a hamlet in south eastern New Hampshire has defied demands that he pay a ransom to recover police department computer files taken hostage by Cryptowall, a newer piece of malware that encrypts hard drive contents of infected machines until victims pay for them to be decrypted. “Make no mistake, the Town of Durham will be paying no ransom,” Town Manager Todd Selig was quoted as saying by CBS Boston news. Police department computers for the town of almost 15,000 residents were reportedly infected Thursday after an officer opened what appeared to be a legitimate file attachment to an e-mail. By Friday morning, widespread “issues” were hitting the department computer network . It was shut down by noon that day to prevent the infection from spreading to other systems. The game may be RIGged The department was reportedly hit by Cryptowall, a newer form of crypto malware that rivals the better known CryptoLocker . According to a blog post published Thursday by researchers from Cisco Systems, Cryptowall has been gaining ground since April, when it was folded into the RIG exploit kit, which is software sold in underground forums that automates computer scams and malware attacks for less technically knowledgeable criminals. Cisco’s Cloud Web Security service has been blocking requests tied to more than 90 infected Internet domains pushing Cryptowall scams to more than 17 percent of service customers. Read 6 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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We “will be paying no ransom,” vows town hit by Cryptowall ransom malware

Intel Core i7-4790K Devil’s Canyon Increases Clocks By 500 MHz, Lowers Temps

Vigile (99919) writes “Since the introduction of Intel’s Ivy Bridge processors there was a subset of users that complained about the company’s change of thermal interface material between the die and the heat spreader. With the release of the Core i7-4790K, Intel is moving to a polymer thermal interface material that claims to improve cooling on the Haswell architecture, along with the help of some added capacitors on the back of the CPU. Code named Devil’s Canyon, this processor boosts stock clocks by 500 MHz over the i7-4770K all for the same price ($339) and lowers load temperatures as well. Unfortunately, in this first review at PC Perspective, overclocking doesn’t appear to be improved much.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Intel Core i7-4790K Devil’s Canyon Increases Clocks By 500 MHz, Lowers Temps

NASA’s Using Space Laser to Download Video From Orbit at Gigabit Speeds

NASA’s latest data download just covered way more distance, and contained way more awesome , than any earthbound file transfer: the agency beamed a high-def video down from the International Space Station this week using a high-powered laser . Go ahead and give your WiFi router a good stern look. Read more…

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NASA’s Using Space Laser to Download Video From Orbit at Gigabit Speeds

Xanadu Software Released After 54 Years In the Making

redletterdave writes: “‘Project Xanadu, ‘ designed by hypertext inventor Ted Nelson to let users build documents that automatically embed the sources they’re linking back to and show the visible connections between parallel webpages, was released in late April at a Chapman University event. Thing is, development on Xanadu began in 1960 — that’s 54 years ago — making it the most delayed software in history. ‘At its simplest, Xanadu lets users build documents that seamlessly embed the sources which they are linking back to, creating, in Nelson’s words, “an entire form of literature where links do not break as versions change; where documents may be closely compared side by side and closely annotated; where it is possible to see the origins of every quotation; and in which there is a valid copyright system – a literary, legal and business arrangement – for frictionless, non-negotiated quotation at any time and in any amount.” The version released on the internet, named OpenXanadu, is a simple document created using quoted sections from eight other works, including the King James Bible and the Wikipedia page on Steady State Theory.'” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Xanadu Software Released After 54 Years In the Making

Handbook to figure out what’s in the public domain

Jennifer Urban sez, “I’m happy to say that the Samuelson Clinic at Berkeley has just released a handbook to help folks research whether older items (pre-1978) are still under copyright in the U.S., or are in the public domain.” This is probably the most esoteric question that normal people from all walks of life have to answer routinely; the Samuelson Clinic has really done an important public service here. Interestingly the project originated with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Legacy Project, “a nonprofit organization run by civil rights movement veterans that is creating a digital archive of historical materials.” Read the rest

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Handbook to figure out what’s in the public domain

“WARNING Your phone is locked!” Crypto ransomware makes its debut on Android

Eset Security researchers have documented another first in the annals of Android malware: a trojan that encrypts photos, videos, and documents stored on a device and demands a ransom for them to be restored. The crudeness of Android/Simplocker, as the malicious app has been dubbed, suggests it’s still in the proof-of-concept phase, Robert Lipovsky, a malware researcher for antivirus provider Eset, said in a recent blog post . The malware also addresses users in Russian and demands that payments be made in Ukrainian hryvnias, an indication that it targets only people in Eastern Europe. Still, the trojan—with its combination of social engineering, strong encryption, and robust Internet architecture—could be a harbinger of more serious and widespread threats to come. After all, the first Android trojans to make hefty SMS charges also debuted in the same region. Once installed on a device, the app delivers the following message: Read 3 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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“WARNING Your phone is locked!” Crypto ransomware makes its debut on Android

Here’s the world’s ‘most powerful and lightest’ 13-inch gaming laptop

Following the impressive Razer Blade we reviewed last month, Gigabyte also wants a piece of the portable gaming laptop action with its new Aorus X3 line, a sub-14-inch Windows 8.1 device that claims to be the world’s “most powerful and lightest” in its class. In terms of weight, it starts from 4.12 pounds (1.87kg) which is more attractive than the new Blade’s 4.47 pounds (2.03kg). The smaller X3 has an impressive 13.3-inch QHD (2, 560 x 1, 440) LCD, whereas the larger 13.9-inch X3 Plus lets you choose between a QHD panel and a sweeter QHD+ (3, 200 x 1, 800) version. Both variants of the gaming beast come with Intel’s Core i7-4710HQ (2.5-3.5GHz), 8GB of DDR3L-1600 RAM (with a spare slot for another 8GB) and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 870M with 6GB of GDDR5 memory. You can have a pair of 256GB or 512GB SSDs configured in RAID 0, meaning you get super fast access to a maximum of 1TB space. Together with the macro keys plus Gigabit LAN connection or 802.11ac WiFi, online gamers should have no problem entertaining themselves with these machines — at least until the 74Wh battery has been drained while gaming on the go. As you can imagine, these gaming laptops don’t come cheap: Both the X3 and the X3 Plus will go from $2, 099 when they launch in Q3 this year, with one-year global warranty plus one-year local warranty included. Filed under: Gaming , Laptops Comments

Scientists Made an Unbreakable Smartphone Screen From Clear Electrodes

The truly shatterproof screen is a little bit like the flying car : It’s been promised for years, but never arrives. Scientists at University of Akron claim they’ve cracked the code, so to speak, by creating a super-tough screen out of transparent electrodes. Read more…

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Scientists Made an Unbreakable Smartphone Screen From Clear Electrodes

Ken May

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