Author: esimantiras

Riddle solved: Why was Roman concrete so durable?

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Riddle solved: Why was Roman concrete so durable?

 

source: sciencedaily.com  |  image: pixabay.com

The ancient Romans were masters of engineering, constructing vast networks of roads, aqueducts, ports, and massive buildings, whose remains have survived for two millennia. Many of these structures were built with concrete: Rome’s famed Pantheon, which has the world’s largest unreinforced concrete dome and was dedicated in A.D. 128, is still intact, and some ancient Roman aqueducts still deliver water to Rome today. Meanwhile, many modern concrete structures have crumbled after a few decades.

Researchers have spent decades trying to figure out the secret of this ultradurable ancient construction material, particularly in structures that endured especially harsh conditions, such as docks, sewers, and seawalls, or those constructed in seismically active locations.

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Cybersecurity trends in 2023 that will directly impact everyday life

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Cybersecurity trends in 2023 that will directly impact everyday life

source: cybersecuritydive.com  |  image: Pixabay.com

 

The scale of cyberthreats are growing, spilling into the mainstream. In 2023, expect the spotlight to add pressure to businesses that have underinvested in security.

 

There are a few certainties in cybersecurity: ransomware will cause headaches for companies; third parties will spark cyber incidents; and every December, cybersecurity analysts will put together lists of their predictions and trends they believe will have an impact in the coming year. 

Most of the predictions are designed to help organizations build out their security programs, but every so often a trend will build slowly over time until its impact is clear.

Sometimes these trends will reach far beyond an individual company and impact society at large. 

Here are some of the biggest trends Cybersecurity Dive is watching this year. Are there any security patterns you are watching closely? Email us at cybersecurity.dive.editors@industrydive.com.

The global impact of state-sponsored activities

State-sponsored threats trend every year, but as we begin 2023, those threats have a different, more menacing, feel to them. The countries responsible for much of the state-sponsored activity — Russia, China and Iran — are embroiled in conflict. 

“In the past year, we’ve seen [Russia’s] invasion of Ukraine; a worsening of the relationship between China and the West combined with tightening control by Xi Jinping and further pressure on Taiwan; and a growing concern in Iran about dissident activity and pressures on the regime both internally and abroad,” said Mike McLellan, director of intelligence for the Secureworks Counter Threat Unit. 

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Divided in the Face of Defeat: The Schism Forming in the Russian Elite

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Divided in the Face of Defeat: The Schism Forming in the Russian Elite

source: indiandefencereview.com, contributed by FAN Bill Amshey  |  image: pexels.com

 

Russia is heading toward a final battle between the radicals, for whom escalation is a way of life, and the realists, who understand that continuing to up the ante could lead to their country’s collapse.

 

There was already talk of a possible split within the Russian elite two months ago, after Russia’s hurried retreat from Ukraine’s Kharkiv region. Since then, Russian troops have also been forced to withdraw from the key city of Kherson, and the predicted schism is taking shape. Members of the elite are dividing into relative realists who are calling for a tactical pause in the fighting in order to rethink Russia’s goals, and those who advocate remorseless escalation at any price. 

Never before have Putin’s strategic decisions—generally seen as the price of stability—pushed the Russian elites to the brink of a divide. They put up little resistance to the evisceration of the oligarchs, the rise of the siloviki (security services), and the 2008 Georgian war, while the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 was positively welcomed by many.

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5 scientific breakthroughs in 2022…

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5 scientific breakthroughs in 2022 that should give you hope for the future

 

source: fastcompany.com  |  image: Pixabay.com

 

It’s been a challenging year on many fronts, but where science is concerned, the future is brighter than it is bleak.

While there was no shortage of upsetting news in 2022, researchers and science enthusiasts can point to a number of uplifting advancements and discoveries to revive hope in humanity. This year, the brightest minds in STEMs brought us steps closer to a revolutionary future, with breakthroughs in energy production, space exploration, and planet protection. Here are five scientific breakthroughs from 2022 to reflect on how far we’ve come. 

WE HIT A NUCLEAR-FUSION MILESTONE

It took 70 years, but physicists at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) finally had more output than energy input. Although commercial production of fusion energy is still a pipe dream, researchers at NIF in California have done what a similar project in France has yet to do. The hope for the future is more energy gains from nuclear fusion, which can provide an infinite source of clean energy that’s carbon-free and doesn’t emit radioactive waste. 

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You’ll Soon Be Able To Run Holograms On Your Smartphone

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You’ll Soon Be Able To Run Holograms

On Your Smartphone

 

source: iflscience.com, contributed by FAN Steve Page  |  image: Pixabay.com

 

In 1943, Thomas Watson, the president of IBM, famously predicted the world market for computers would top out at “maybe five” of the machines. He was wrong – you likely have more than that in your own house, let’s face it – but at the time, it made sense. After all, if computers were still gigantic, vacuum-tube-powered addition machines, you probably wouldn’t want more than about five either.

It’s a similar story with holograms. Even back in the 1990s, more than 40 years after Dennis Gabor first came up with the idea of using wavefront interference to reconstruct images in three dimensions, science fiction was still assuming the need for entire decks and suites to power our holographic adventures.

In fact, they can run on a smartphone.

Almost two years ago, researchers at MIT made a breakthrough – a technology they dubbed “tensor holography”. Since then, the project has continued to improve, and today, the team are working with a system they say is “fully automatic, robust to rendered and misaligned real-world inputs, produces realistic depth boundaries, and corrects vision aberrations.”

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The Ukrainian War is Destabilizing Central Asia and Expanding Beijing’s Influence

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The Ukrainian War is Destabilizing Central Asia and Expanding Beijing’s Influence

by Joe Micallef  |  image:  Pexels.com

The war in Ukraine is precipitating far-reaching changes around the world. In addition to the devastation it has wrought on the Ukrainian people and their homeland, it has caused significant increases in the price of energy, food, and fertilizers, among other things, aggravated inflation in the world’s major economies, and roiled Europe’s energy market. It is also destabilizing Central Asia, facilitating the expansion of Beijing’s financial and diplomatic influence there and laying the foundation for an expanded Chinese military role in the region.

Historically, Central Asia has been defined as the region north of the Hindu Kush and east of the Black Sea to the Himalayas and the Gobi Desert. It encompasses the five major “stans,” the Central Asian Republics (CARs): Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan.

Mongolia sits at the very edge of Central Asia, separated from Kazakhstan by a narrow corridor of Russian and Chinese territory.

The Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia) are on the opposite side, along the western flank of the Caspian Sea. On the periphery of Central Asia are Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Russia, Pakistan, and China. All the countries of Central Asia, with the exclusion of the periphery, except for Russia, were constituent republics of the former Soviet Union.

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You have reached your destination: Google elegantly says goodbye to Waze

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You have reached your destination: Google elegantly says goodbye to Waze

source: calcalistech.com |  contributed by Steve Page  |  image: pexels.com

The technology giant purchased the Israeli navigation app in 2013 to serve as an incubator for innovation and ideas. But Google never invested in the promotion of the app, preferring to attract users to Google Maps, and now, after being folded into the Geo group, it is living on borrowed time.

In some ways, Waze has always been something of a stepchild within Google. A separate unit among the services and applications of the technology giant, both structurally and in branding. Since Google completed its acquisition of the navigation app in 2013, in a deal worth $1.3 billion, Waze has maintained some independence from Google, particularly its Geo division, and has operated as a separate unit. The application itself also provided a different experience: it did not speak Google’s design language and did not highlight the connection to Google in any way – separate worlds.

Your Home Security Cameras Are in the Wrong Spots. Here’s Where to Put Them

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Your Home Security Cameras Are in the Wrong Spots. Here’s Where to Put Them

source: cnet.com  |  contributed by Steve Page  |  image: pixabay.com

If you have a home security camera (or are you thinking about finding a Black Friday deal on one), you may have wondered about the best places to put them to deter bad actors and give you the best view of your property — and where not to put them. 

Your home and yard layout, budget and home security priorities are different from your neighbor’s, so there is no one-size-fits-all rule for security camera placement. But this guide will help you consider all the aspects of your home security setup and identify which ones are absolute musts based on the vulnerabilities in your home.

For more home security tips, check out how to prevent your home security cameras from being hacked, and the best cheap home security systems you can buy.

Where you should consider installing a home security camera

1. Exterior: Front door

You might assume that intruders always sneak into side entrances, but statistics from the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors show that 34% of burglars use the front door. It’s also where package thieves are likely to strike. A camera at your main entrance keeps tabs on everybody going in and out of your home, from family members and babysitters to maintenance people, delivery people and more. (Pro tip: Video doorbells are great picks for the front door. You can use them as the primary camera or in conjunction with another outdoor camera aimed at the yard or garage.)

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Water-activated paper battery named among world’s best inventions

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Water-activated paper battery named among

world’s best inventions

source: swissinfo.ch  |  contributed by Bob Wallace  |  image: pexels.com

 

A water-activated biodegradable battery made of paper and powered by salt and inks features among the 200 best inventions of the year in TIME Magazine. It was created by researchers at the Swiss Federal Laboratory for Materials Testing and Research (EMPA),

“It sounds impossible: Just add water to a piece of paper and get energy,” saidExternal link TIME Magazine, who chose the Swiss-made battery as one the winners in this year’s “Experimental” invention category.

The battery is poweredExternal link by salt (dispersed in the paper) and inks containing graphite, zinc, and carbon.

AnalysisExternal link of the performance of a one-cell paper battery revealed that after two drops of water were added, the battery activated within 20 seconds and, when not connected to an energy-consuming device, reached a stable voltage of 1.2 volts. The voltage of a standard AA alkaline battery is 1.5 volts.

After one hour, the one-cell battery’s performance dropped significantly as the paper dried out. But after the researchers added two extra drops of water, the battery maintained a stable operating voltage of 0.5 volts for another hour.

Within two to five years, the technology could be used in low-power single-use electronics such as medical diagnostic devices and smart packaging, EMPA’s Gustav Nyström, the inventor, told TIME magazine. “I see a new role for paper… that could also be an answer to the growing environmental concern over electronic waste,” he said.

Each year TIME Magazine lists a selection of best inventions that “change how we live”, based on their originality, creativity, efficiency, impact and other criteria.

 

Apple Tracks You More Than You Think

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Apple Tracks You More Than You Think

source: wired.com  |  image: pexels.com

CYBERSECURITY STARTUP CORELLIUM offered or sold its software to spyware and hacking-tool creators in multiple repressive countries, a WIRED investigation revealed this week. A previously unreported 507-page document, believed to have been prepared by Apple, details how Corellium offered a trial of its products to the controversial spyware firm NSO Group, to a cybersecurity company with ties to the UAE government, and to a firm in China that also has government links. In response, Corellium, which makes phone-virtualization software that can help find security bugs in iOS and Android, published a blog post detailing how it now vets potential customers.

As millions of people across the US celebrated Thanksgiving and attended parades, we looked at the US shortage of bomb-sniffing dogs. Experts say the pandemic has led to a drop in the supply of dogs in the country—85 to 90 percent of them come from overseas—and that the lack of trainer animals is fueling national security concerns.

Apple Tracks You More Than You Think

Apple’s privacy policy for analytics services on its devices, which gather data about how you use its products, claims the information collected isn’t used to identify you. However, a new analysis of the tools, reported by Gizmodo, claims a permanent ID number within the service is “tied to your full name, phone number, birth date, email address and more.” This ID number is sent to Apple alongside the analytics data about how you use your device, researchers from the software company Mysk told the publication. 

The findings appear to contradict the company’s privacy promises. Apple did not answer Gizmodo’s questions on the report. In recent years, Apple has pushed a pro-privacy stance, using it as an advantage over competitors, and it has run ads saying the data on people’s iPhones stays on their devices. However, experts have increasingly questioned some of Apple’s practices. (At the same time, Apple has been growing its advertising business.) In separate research published earlier in November, Mysk researchers claimed that Apple collects detailed information on people using its products through its own apps, even when they turn tracking off.