If you have mastered the popping of corn , chances are you’re ready to add other crunchy, delicious, whole grains to your snack repertoire. It turns out that this is very easy to do, as most whole grains pop and puff in a manner very similar to popcorn. Read more…
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You Can Cook Almost Any Grain Like Popcorn
According to a cybersecurity notice from the Food and Drug Administration, certain pacemakers and cardiac devices are currently vulnerable to hacking. Although security researchers have warned about the security risks to medical devices for years now , this is the first time we’ve seen the government publicly acknowledge a specific threat. The vulnerable devices included under the FDA’s warning are not the pacemakers themselves, but rather the Merlin@home Transmitters made by St. Jude Medical. The transmitters are part of a home monitor that connects to pacemakers and other implanted cardiac devices using a wireless RF signal. The Merlin is designed to read the data stored on a pacemaker and then upload that data to its own cloud on the Merlin.net Patient Care Network, where a physician can access and monitor the device and the patient’s health. Although it doesn’t mention specifics of the threat, the government acknowledges that Merlin monitors could be hacked to send modified commands to a patient’s pacemaker or other device. With the right access, a hacker could do anything from deplete a pacemaker’s battery to shocking a patient or throwing off their heartbeat. On the bright side, the FDA says there have been no reported hacks and no patients have been harmed so far. To fix the problem, a software patch will be automatically applied over-the-air to affected Merlin@home devices starting today. Patients or their caregivers only need to ensure the devices are online and connected to get the fix. Source: FDA , St. Jude Medical
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FDA warns that certain pacemakers are vulnerable to hacking
CES is most known as a show for computers , cars and seriously strange stuff , but there’s no shortage of people here trying to solve big problems the rest of us have never heard of. Take Amber Agriculture for instance: run by students at the University of Illinois, the startup as developed a finger-sized sensor meant to be stuck inside silos to help farmers monitor the quality of their stored grain. What’s more, Amber’s approach falls in line with other big trends at the show. You’ve heard of the smart home — the Amber team is trying to help build the smart farm. The idea is simple enough — these sensors monitor temperature and humidity, along with the volatile compounds that signal how moist a farmer’s grain is. Since this is 2017, those farmers will be able to monitor that key data from their smartphones, and that sort of easy access should help them figure out the ideal time to sell and ship their crop. Here’s the thing, though: there’s more to this idea than just helping the world’s farmers demand the best possible prices. Amber co-founder Lucas Frye also believes that some serious long-term good could be possible if the company could work with farmers in countries where grain spoilage has been a pressing issue. Frye, a competent, low-key pitchman, said the startup’s vision is on some level about protecting our food supply. That said, smart moisture management won’t be able to fix every grain spoilage problem around the world. Consider India: spoilage and grain rot is a recurring problem there, but that’s thanks in large part to logistical issues like finding places to actually store those huge crop hauls. For now, though, global problems are taking a back seat while Amber makes sure everything works the way it’s supposed to. There’s no firm word on pricing yet, but that’s to be expected — after finalizing some design elements and striking some deals, the startup’s leaders are gearing up for its first set of field trials in early 2017. Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2017.
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Amber’s sensors aim to save farmers’ grain from spoilage
If there wasn’t already a reason to develop a solution to drug-resistant “superbugs, ” there is now. Scientists have found bacteria on an American pig farm that resists carbapenems, a variety of antibiotics used only against germs that resist normal antibiotics. There was a similar incident with cattle earlier in 2016, but that bacteria couldn’t transmit its resistance to anything but its offspring — this strain could jump between bacteria without much trouble. Thankfully, the scientists didn’t find evidence of the bacteria reaching the pigs or their food supply. And while the bacteria would pose a threat to people who are already sick, it’s not normally dangerous to humans. That’s not exactly reassuring in the long term, though, and the team tells Popular Science that it wants to find methods of preventing this sort of contamination in the future. The group is also worried about the resistant bacteria’s origins. It’s unlikely that the resistance developed at the farm given the lack of antibiotics, so there’s a good chance that it came from something outside. Plenty of research is underway to develop both more sophisticated antibiotics and treatments that avoid antibiotics altogether. However, this discovery reinforces the need for short-term steps to prevent particularly stubborn bacteria from spreading, such as better procedures and preventative technology . Ideally, the medical community would buy enough time to have a true answer to superbugs before the best available options prove ineffective. Via: Popular Science Source: American Society for Microbiology
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Scientists find bacteria resistant to last-ditch drug treatments
According to the USDA, food prices have dropped 1.6% since last year. The USDA rounded up a few food items that are expected to continue to drop in price in 2016, but fair warning: these same items will probably be more expensive next year. Read more…
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The Grocery Store Items That Will Be More Expensive in 2017
Slashdot reader Paul Fernhout writes: FarmBot is an open-source gantry-crane-style outdoor robot for tending a garden bed. The project is crowdfunding a first production run and has raised US$561, 486 of their US$100, 000 goal — with one day left to go… The onboard control system is based around a Raspberry Pi 3 computer and an Arduino Mega 2560 Microcontroller. Many of the parts are 3D printable. Two years ago Slashdot covered the genesis of this project, describing its goal as simply “to increase food production by automating as much of it as possible.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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Open Source Gardening Robot ‘FarmBot’ Raises $560,000
An anonymous reader writes from a report via ABC News: The fast food giant Wendy’s has reported today that hackers were able to steal customers’ credit and debit card information at 1, 025 of its U.S. restaurants. The company said Thursday hackers were able to obtain card numbers, names, expiration dates and codes on the card, beginning in late fall. Some customers’ cards were used to make fraudulent purchases at other stores. Wendy’s first announced it was investigating a possible hack in January. In May, it found malware in fewer than 300 restaurants; two types of malware were found two months later and the number of restaurants affected was “considerably higher.” There are more than 5, 700 Wendy’s restaurants in the U.S. Customers can check to see which locations were affected via Wendy’s website. The company said it is offering free one-year credit monitoring to people who paid with a card at any of those restaurants. In May, Wendy’s announced plans to start automating all of its restaurants with self-service ordering kiosks. Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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Wendy’s Says More Than 1,000 Restaurants Affected By Hack
Meet Russel Hawkins. He loves to vape. He grows chilis, and has a freshly ground bag of Carolina Reapers. Do you see where this is going? Read more…
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Watch This Guy Vape the World’s Hottest Chili Pepper
A 2, 000-year-old orb of butter weighing 22-pounds was recently discovered in Co Meath, Ireland. Ancient butter experts believe that it was once offering to the gods. It’s also “theoretically… still edible” according to Andy Halpin, one of the Irish National Museums’ assistant keepers. Not a chance, Andy! Read more…
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Some Guy Found a Huge Chunk of 2,000-Year-Old Butter in a Bog and It’s Still Edible
An anonymous reader shares an article on Fox Business: As fast-food workers across the country vie for $15 per hour wages, many business owners have already begun to take humans out of the picture. “I was at the National Restaurant Show yesterday and if you look at the robotic devices that are coming into the restaurant industry — it’s cheaper to buy a $35, 000 robotic arm than it is to hire an employee who’s inefficient making $15 an hour (warning: autoplaying video) bagging French fries — it’s nonsense and it’s very destructive and it’s inflationary and it’s going to cause a job loss across this country like you’re not going to believe, ” said former McDonald’s USA CEO Ed Rensi during an interview on the FOX Business Network’s Mornings with Maria. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1.3 million people earned the current minimum wage of $7.25 per hour with about 1.7 million having wages below the federal minimum in 2014. These three million workers combined made up 3.9 percent of all hourly paid workers. Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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Former McDonald’s USA CEO: $35K Robots Cheaper Than Hiring at $15 Per Hour