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Flowing salt water over graphene generates electricity

An image of graphene, showing defects in its single-atom thickness. UC Berkeley Hydroelectricity is one of the oldest techniques for generating electrical power, with over 150 countries using it as a source for renewable energy. Hydroelectric generators only work efficiently at large scales, though—scales large enough to interrupt river flow and possibly harm local ecosystems. And getting this sort of generation down to where it can power small devices isn’t realistic. In recent years, scientists have investigated generating electrical power using nano-structures. In particular, they have looked at generating electricity when ionic fluids—a liquid with charged ions in it—are pushed through a system with a pressure gradient. However, the ability to harvest the generated electricity has been limited because it requires a pressure gradient to drive ionic fluid through a small tube. But scientists have now found that dragging small droplets of salt water on strips of graphene generates electricity without the need for pressure gradients. In their study, published in Nature Nanotechnology , researchers from China grew a layer of graphene and placed a droplet of salt water on it. They then dragged the droplet across the graphene layer at different velocities and found that the process generated a small voltage difference. Read 6 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Flowing salt water over graphene generates electricity

Appeals court reverses hacker/troll “weev” conviction and sentence [Updated]

Self-portrait by Weev A federal appeals court Friday reversed and vacated the conviction and sentence of hacker and Internet troll Andrew “weev” Auernheimer. The case against Auernheimer, who has often been in solitary confinement for obtaining and disclosing personal data of about 140,000 iPad owners from a publicly available AT&T website, was seen as a test case on how far the authorities could go under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the same law that federal prosecutors were invoking against Aaron Swartz. But, in the end, the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals didn’t squarely address the controversial fraud law and instead said Aeurnheimer was charged in the wrong federal court. Read 4 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Appeals court reverses hacker/troll “weev” conviction and sentence [Updated]

DNA-based logic gates operate inside cockroach cells

DNA robots crawl across a surface made of DNA. Harvard DNA-based nanotechnology has been around for more than 30 years, but it really took off in 2006, when DNA origami was featured on the cover of Nature . This form of origami, the folding of DNA into 2D and 3D shapes, was more of an art form back then, but scientists are now using the approach to construct nanoscale robots. The basic principle of DNA origami is that a long, single-stranded DNA molecule will fold into a predefined shape through the base-pairing of short segments called staples. All that’s required is to ensure that each staple can find a complementary match to base-pair with at the right location elsewhere in the molecule. This approach can be used to create both 2D and 3D structures. The idea behind the new work is that a DNA origami robot can be programmed to have a specific function based on a key, which can be a protein, a drug, or even another robot. Once the right key and the right robot find each other, the key drives a conformational (structural) change in the robot. The new shape causes the robot to perform a programmed function, such as releasing a drug. Read 7 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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DNA-based logic gates operate inside cockroach cells

Windows 8.1 Update halted to some enterprise users amid WSUS issues

Distribution of the Windows 8.1 Update, Microsoft’s hefty patch for Windows 8.1 that updates the user interface for desktop and mouse users , has been temporarily suspended for some enterprise users after the company  discovered  that patched systems are no longer able to receive future updates from Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) servers. The problem occurs when clients connect to WSUS  with HTTPS enabled, but without TLS 1.2. Windows 8.1 machines with the KB 2919355 update installed will no longer be able to receive future updates from those servers. Microsoft describes it primarily as an issue for WSUS  3.0 Service Pack 2, also known as WSUS 3.2, when run on Windows Server 2003, 2003 R2, 2008, and 2008 R2; this version does not have HTTPS or TLS 1.2 enabled by default, but HTTPS is part of the recommended configuration. WSUS 4 on Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2 is also technically affected, as the bug is client-side, but Windows Server enables TLS 1.2 by default, so issues are unlikely to arise in practice. Read 2 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Windows 8.1 Update halted to some enterprise users amid WSUS issues

Critical crypto bug exposes Yahoo Mail passwords Russian roulette-style

Mascamon at lb.wikipedia Lest readers think “catastrophic” is too exaggerated a description for the critical defect affecting an estimated two-thirds of the Internet’s Web servers , consider this: at the moment this article was being prepared, the so-called Heartbleed bug was exposing end-user passwords, the contents of confidential e-mails, and other sensitive data belonging to Yahoo Mail and almost certainly countless other services. The two-year-old bug is the result of a mundane coding error in OpenSSL , the world’s most popular code library for implementing HTTPS encryption in websites, e-mail servers, and applications. The result of a missing bounds check in the source code, Heartbleed allows attackers to recover large chunks of private computer memory that handle OpenSSL processes. The leak is the digital equivalent of a grab bag that hackers can blindly reach into over and over simply by sending a series of commands to vulnerable servers. The returned contents could include something as banal as a time stamp, or it could return far more valuable assets such as authentication credentials or even the private key at the heart of a website’s entire cryptographic certificate. Underscoring the urgency of the problem, a conservatively estimated two-thirds of the Internet’s Web servers use OpenSSL to cryptographically prove their legitimacy and to protect passwords and other sensitive data from eavesdropping. Many more e-mail servers and end-user computers rely on OpenSSL to encrypt passwords, e-mail, instant messages, and other sensitive data. OpenSSL developers have released version 1.0.1g that readers should install immediately on any vulnerable machines they maintain. But given the stakes and the time it takes to update millions of servers, the risks remain high. Read 6 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Critical crypto bug exposes Yahoo Mail passwords Russian roulette-style

Intel expands 10Gbps “Thunderbolt Ethernet” capability to Windows

Thunderbolt 2 is picking up another feature. Chris Foresman If standard gigabit Ethernet isn’t cutting it for you, Intel will soon give you another option: this week at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) show in Las Vegas, the company announced a new feature called ” Thunderbolt Networking ” that will soon be available to all PCs with Thunderbolt 2 controllers. The feature, which will be enabled by an upcoming Windows driver update, will “emulat[e] an Ethernet connection environment” and provide a 10Gbps two-way link between two computers connected with a Thunderbolt cable. Since you’ll need to connect the two computers directly to each other, this solution obviously won’t scale as well as real 10Gbps networking equipment. But for now, that hardware remains relatively uncommon and expensive—well outside the price range of individuals and smaller businesses. Thunderbolt Networking is apparently not being enabled for older computers with first-generation Thunderbolt controllers. While the feature will be new to the Windows operating system, the ability to network two Thunderbolt Macs together was introduced back in Mavericks. It doesn’t appear to require Thunderbolt 2 on that platform, though as we experienced , configuring a Thunderbolt Bridge can make for fast but occasionally choppy transfer speeds. That test connected one Thunderbolt 2 Mac to an older model with a first-generation Thunderbolt controller, though—it’s possible that connecting Thunderbolt 2 Macs to each other results in a more stable connection however. This new Windows driver update will enable any two Thunderbolt 2 PCs and Macs to be connected, though to date the Windows laptops, workstations, and motherboards with integrated Thunderbolt 2 controllers have been few and far between. Read on Ars Technica | Comments

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Intel expands 10Gbps “Thunderbolt Ethernet” capability to Windows

Microsoft looking into Xbox 360 emulation through Xbox One

Mark Derricutt When the Xbox One was announced last year, many Xbox 360 owners were upset that the system wouldn’t be backward compatible with 360 games . Now, there’s some indication that Microsoft is looking to remedy this situation through emulation, though the specific timing or form that the emulation will take is still unclear. Microsoft’s still-nebulous plans for Xbox 360 emulation via the Xbox One come from a Q&A session at last week’s Build developers conference , as reported by Kotaku AU . When an audience member asked if there were “plans for an Xbox 360 emulator on Xbox One,” Microsoft Partner Development Lead Frank Savage responded: There are, but we’re not done thinking them through yet, unfortunately. It turns out to be hard to emulate the PowerPC stuff on the X86 stuff. So there’s nothing to announce, but I would love to see it myself. The change in architecture between the Xbox 360’s PowerPC processor and Xbox One’s x86 chip has  long been  suspected as the main reason that the newer system can’t natively play games from its predecessor. The PS4 saw a similar architecture change from the PS3 and also lacks native backward compatibility. Read 2 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Microsoft looking into Xbox 360 emulation through Xbox One

Creepshots: Microsoft discovers an on-campus peeping tom

Microsoft’s lush RedWest campus. Microsoft On July 24, 2013, a Microsoft vendor employee working at the company’s RedWest campus in Redmond had a piece of good fortune—he found a Muvi USB video camera just lying in the footpath between buildings. He picked up the camera, only later taking a look at the footage on the device, which revealed that his good fortune was actually evidence of a crime. The Muvi camera contained “upskirt” video footage of women climbing stairs or escalators—or sometimes just standing in checkout lines—and some of it had been shot on Microsoft’s campus. The vendor employee reported the incident to Microsoft Global Security, who took possession of the camera on July 26. To find the camera’s owner, two Global Security investigators pulled up Microsoft’s internal security camera footage covering the RedWest footpath. They began by locating the moment when the vendor employee walked into the frame, paused, and bent down to retrieve the camera off the ground. Investigators then rewound the footage to see who had dropped it. At the 11:24am mark, they saw a man in a collared shirt and reddish pants walk out of a RedWest building and walk along the footpath. Then, at 11:25am, the vendor employee appeared and picked up the camera. At 11:26am, the man in the reddish pants suddenly returned to the picture. According to a later report from the Redmond Police Department, he was “rushing” back to the RedWest building he had just left and appeared “nervous, frantically looking around.” He eventually used a keycard to re-enter the RedWest building. Read 6 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Creepshots: Microsoft discovers an on-campus peeping tom

Cassini points to a hidden ocean on Saturn’s icy moon

I carry an ocean in my womb. NASA/JPL/SSI/J Major Finding liquid water on a body within the Solar System is exciting. The only thing that is probably more exciting is finding an ocean full of it. Today such news comes via Cassini, which has made measurements that show that Saturn’s moon Enceladus has a hidden ocean beneath its icy surface. While orbiting Saturn in 2005, Cassini found jets of salty water spewing from the south polar region of Enceladus. According to Luciano Iess of Sapienza University of Rome, lead author of the new study published in Science , “The discovery of the jets was unexpected.” Geysers require liquid water, and we wouldn’t expect Enceladus to have any. It is too far from the Sun to absorb much energy and too small (just 500km in diameter) to have trapped enough internal energy to keep its core molten. The answer to how the water got there might lie in the details of the moon’s internal structure. Read 13 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Cassini points to a hidden ocean on Saturn’s icy moon

Google Wireless: Google Fiber cities could get mobile service, but to what end?

Through Google Fiber, Google is already an Internet service provider, piping Gigabit Internet to homes and businesses in a handful of cities across the US. According to a report from The Information (paywall)  Google has been considering supplementing Google Fiber’s home Internet access with a wireless cellular service. Google’s plan wasn’t to build towers, but to become a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO)—basically a middle man who buys service from one of the “big four” carriers at wholesale prices and resells that to consumers under its own brand. According to the report, Google spoke to Sprint and then Verizon about reselling their networks to customers, with the Verizon talks happening earlier this year. The service would be available to users in Google Fiber cities, and it would be supplemented with free Wi-Fi hotspots. What would Google hope to  accomplish  with a move like this?  Google built Google Fiber from the ground up by putting fiber on poles, running connections to each house, and providing self-built hardware. Complete control over every part of the network allows Google to differentiate Google Fiber in several ways, like service location, speed, and pricing. Google’s plan for its wireless service appears to be much less ambitious, though. A s an MVNO, Google would be using someone else’s network, so the only thing Google would really have control over is the resale price. The whole point of Google Fiber is to “shame” other ISPs into increasing their speeds and lowering their prices. Google doesn’t plan on covering the entire country in fiber, but one look at Google’s 1,000Mbps service for $70 and the traditional ISP plan of 5 to 15Mbps for about the same price looks like a huge ripoff. This ” halo effect ” puts pressure on ISPs to speed up their service, and that makes Google products like search and YouTube run faster. The strategy seems to be working, with companies like AT&T rolling out fiber in response . As an MVNO, Google can’t do anything like the Google Fiber strategy, since it isn’t running the network. It won’t have control over speed or reception, meaning the best it can do to stand out is resell the service very cheaply. Unfairly competing with wireless carriers by pricing to only break even doesn’t seem like it would put much pressure on other carriers, because they would realize Google isn’t trying to turn a profit. Read 5 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Google Wireless: Google Fiber cities could get mobile service, but to what end?