Nov 19
This might look like the result of some wild nuclear accident, but in fact this worm is perfectly healthy. It just happens to glow bright green when exposed to certain wavelengths of light.
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Nov 26
After the US and Israel cooked up Stuxnet—a potent cyber weapon aimed at Iran’s nuclear facilities—whenever a virus targets Iran, it could be something major. This time around, the web threat wants to erase Iranian banks. More »
Sep 29
Alt-week 9.29.12: 3D pictures of the moon, 4D clocks and laser-controlled worms
Posted in: Today's ChiliAlt-week peels back the covers on some of the more curious sci-tech stories from the last seven days.
Dimensions, they’re like buses. You wait for ages, and then three come along at once. And then another one right after that. While that might be about where the analogy ends, this week sees us off to the moon, where we then leap from the third, right into the fourth. Once there, we’ll learn how we could eventually be controlled by lasers, before getting up close and personal with a 300 million-year old bug. Sound like some sort of psychedelic dream? Better than that, this is alt-week.
Continue reading Alt-week 9.29.12: 3D pictures of the moon, 4D clocks and laser-controlled worms
Filed under: Misc, Science, Alt
Alt-week 9.29.12: 3D pictures of the moon, 4D clocks and laser-controlled worms originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 29 Sep 2012 18:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Aug 10
Meshworm is the latest robotic creation from researchers at MIT, Harvard University and Seoul National University. You can try beating this earthworm-like robot with a mallet, but the thing just won’t die.
This robot is made from “artificial muscle” made from a flexible mesh tube segmented by loops of nickel/titanium wire. The wire is there to contract and squeeze the tube when it is heated by a flowing current. When you cut the power, it returns to its original shape, creating propulsion just like a worm.
Not using traditional moving parts makes it pretty tough. Big surprise, DARPA has their hands in this project too, not that this worm would be good for gathering intel or helping soldiers.
It does however have potential medical applications, like making them into next-gen endoscopes or something.
While hitting it with a mallet or stepping on it didn’t kill the thing, blowing it up, setting it on fire or drowning it just might do the trick.
[via Engadget]
Aug 10
We’ve seen a number of options for controlling real worms, but never a worm robot, until now. Enter Meshworm, the latest creation from researchers at MIT, Harvard University and Seoul National University. The bot is made from “artificial muscle” composed of a flexible mesh tube segmented by loops of nickel / titanium wire. The wire contracts and squeezes the tube when heated by a flowing current, but cut the power and it returns to its original shape, creating propulsion in a similar way to its living kin. Taking traditional moving parts out of the equation also makes it pretty hardy, as proven by extensive testing (read: hitting it with a hammer). DARPA is known for getting its fingers in all sorts of strange pies, and it also supported this project. We can’t see it being the fastest way of gathering intel, but the potential medical applications, such as next-gen endoscopes, sound plausible enough. Full impact tests in the video after the break.
Continue reading Researchers create Meshworm robot, beat it up (video)
Researchers create Meshworm robot, beat it up (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Aug 2012 06:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Jul 25
Iranian nuclear facility playing AC/DC’s Thunderstruck at night, says report
Posted in: Today's Chili
F-Secure, an anti-virus and computer security software company, reportedly received an unsolicited email over the weekend from a purported scientist working at the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI). The scientist told F-Secure that their Iranian nuclear systems were struck once again by another cyber attack. F-Secure notes that they cannot confirm the veracity of the email, although they can confirm that the email was sent from within the AEOI. The malware reportedly attacked and brought down the AEOI’s automation network and its Siemens hardware systems. Interestingly, the scientist also said that, for some reason, some of the AEOI’s workstations were playing AC/DC’s Thunderstruck during night time with the volume maxed out. Check out the statement sent to F-Secure after the break. (more…)
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Flame cyber weapon was jointly developed by U.S. and Israel, report says, OSX/flashback.A malware discovered for Mac,
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