Category: Technology

They Are Using Lab-Grown Human Brains Called “Organoids” To Run Computers

Posted on by esimantiras

They Are Using Lab-Grown Human Brains Called “Organoids” To Run Computers

source: zerohedge.com (contributed by FAN, Robert Keach)  |  image: pixabay.com

 

When I first started researching this, I could hardly believe that it was true. A company in Switzerland known as “Final Spark” has constructed a bizarre hybrid biocomputer that combines lab-grown miniature human brains with conventional electronic circuits.  This approach saves an extraordinary amount of energy compared to normal computers, but there is a big problem.  The lab-grown miniature human brains keep wearing out and dying, and so scientists have to keep growing new ones to replace them. 

Stem cells that are derived from human skin tissue are used to create the 16 spherical brain “organoids” that the system depends upon.  I realize that this sounds like something straight out of a really bad science fiction movie, but it is actually happening.

Continue reading “They Are Using Lab-Grown Human Brains Called “Organoids” To Run Computers” →

Listening is so last year — Meta’s new tech wants to feel your voice

Posted on by esimantiras

Listening is so last year — Meta’s new tech wants to feel your voice

source: media.hubspot.com (contributed by Artemus founder, Bob Wallace)  |  image: pixabay.com

 

Great news for the vocal fry community: Your vocal cord vibrations could soon be put to good use protecting your data.

Seriously. Meta filed a patent application for user authentication using a “combination of vocalization and skin vibration,” per Patent Drop.

That title is a mouthful, so let’s break it down:
  • Meta wants to replace the need for passwords or fingerprint scanning with voice authentication for accessing systems like its AR headset or smart glasses.
  • But AI has made impersonating someone’s voice really easy, with convincing voice cloning and deep fakes already swirling.
  • So Meta is taking voice authentication one step further by scanning the “vibration of tissue” during speech in addition to one’s voice.
  • When a user says a wake word, a “vibration measurement assembly” picks up the vibrations of their skin and the acoustic waves of their voice to authenticate them.

The combined dataset would create a unique audio fingerprint and, when built into headsets and glasses, would let users access their systems with a single word.

And while no one likes their password getting hacked, the stakes are getting a hell of a lot higher, with new tech poised to start harvesting data directly from our brains.

Sounds interesting

This patent is just the latest of Meta’s voice authentication tech. A separate “user identification with voice prints” patent application would see voice prints integrated into the two-factor authentication process for the company’s social media apps.

And Meta is far from the only company thinking about voice biometrics — the market is projected to hit 11.1B by 2032.

It will only become more important as AI companies crank out new voice generation tools, like OpenAI’s Voice Engine, which can clone someone’s voice using only a 15-second clip of them speaking, or ElevenLabs’ Reader App, which can clone celebrity voices.

 

 

Diving Drones

Posted on by esimantiras

Diving Drones

source: axios.com (contributed by FAN, Bill Amshey)  |  image: pixabay.com

 

An animal-like uncrewed underwater vehicle dubbed Manta Ray can be seen maneuvering off the Southern California coast in new footage captured during testing, Axios’ Colin Demarest reports.

  • Why it matters: Sea drones are reshaping naval combat — especially in Eastern Europe, where Ukrainian forces are sinking prized Russian ships using far smaller and cheaper tech.

The Manta Ray’s almond-shaped body, rounded nose, horizontal fins and vertical tail can be spotted in the 360-degree video shared by maker Northrop Grumman.

  • While its dimensions aren’t publicly discussed, the UUV (uncrewed underwater vehicle) looks gigantic next to people and boats.
  • The vessel glides through the water, dips below the waves and resurfaces in the clip. Little wake is seen.

The big picture: The U.S. Navy is banking on uncrewed systems to reduce logistical demands, boost surveillance and augment firepower for sailors and Marines.

VIDEO:  Take a dive with Manta Ray.  Click here to watch the video

Space: The Final Frontier for Cyberattacks

Posted on by esimantiras

Space: The Final Frontier for Cyberattacks

 

source: darkreading.com  |  image: pixabay.com

 

A failure to imagine — and prepare for — threats to outer-space related assets could be a huge mistake at a time when nation-states and private companies are rushing to deploy devices in a frantic new space race.

A distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack this week disabled electronic door locks across a major lunar settlement, trapping dozens of people indoors and locking out many more in lethal cold. The threat actor behind the attack is believed responsible for also commandeering a swarm of decades-old CubeSats last year and attempting to use them to trigger a chain reaction of potentially devastating satellite crashes.

Neither “incident” has happened, of course. Yet. But they well could, sometime in the not-too-distant future, and now is the time to start thinking about and planning for them. Continue reading “Space: The Final Frontier for Cyberattacks” →

Have we hit peak Apple?

Posted on by esimantiras

Have we hit peak Apple?

source: fastcompany.com  |  image: pixabay.com

 

Apple used a recent keynote at the annual WWDC event to unveil a roster of new software developments, product upgrades, and most importantly—their long-awaited AI play. Fast Company’s own Yasmin Gagne discusses Apple’s new high-stakes partnership with OpenAI, implications for app-based businesses, and investors’ reactions to the week’s news. Gagne also reads the tea leaves on Tim Cook’s future successor, explores whether we’ve reached “peak Apple,” and more. 

t was not short. I’m gonna be honest. I got a little bored, and then we hit the AI stuff, and I was fully back in.

A lot of the buzz coming in was about how Apple would enter the AI craze, which it’s been slow to do. And in classic Apple style, they rebranded AI itself, calling their offerings, “Apple Intelligence.” Continue reading “Have we hit peak Apple?” →

Swimming microrobots deliver cancer-fighting drugs…

Posted on by esimantiras

Swimming microrobots deliver cancer-fighting drugs to metastatic lung tumors in mice

 

source: sciencedaily.com  |  image: pixabay.com

 

Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed microscopic robots, known as microrobots, capable of swimming through the lungs to deliver cancer-fighting medication directly to metastatic tumors. This approach has shown promise in mice, where it inhibited the growth and spread of tumors that had metastasized to the lungs, thereby boosting survival rates compared to control treatments.

The findings are detailed in a paper published on June 12 in Science Advances.The microrobots are an ingenious combination of biology and nanotechnology. They are a joint effort between the labs of Joseph Wang and Liangfang Zhang, both professors in the Aiiso Yufeng Li Family Department of Chemical and Nano Engineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering.

To create the microrobots, researchers chemically attached drug-filled nanoparticles to the surface of green algae cells. The algae, which provide the microrobots with their movement, enable the nanoparticles to efficiently swim around in the lungs and deliver their therapeutic payload to tumors. Continue reading “Swimming microrobots deliver cancer-fighting drugs…” →

Mysterious Hack Destroyed 600,000 Internet Routers

Posted on by esimantiras

Mysterious Hack Destroyed 600,000 Internet Routers

source: wired.com  |  image: pixabay.com

 

If you have a crypto wallet containing a fortune but forgot the password, all may not be lost. This week, a pair of researchers revealed how they cracked an 11-year-old password to a crypto wallet containing roughly $3 million in bitcoins. With a lot of skill and a bit of luck, the researchers uncovered a flaw in how a previous version of the RoboForm password manager generates passwords that allowed them to accurately figure out the missing login and access the buried treasure.

Police in Western countries are using a new tactic to go after cybercriminals who remain physically out of reach of US law enforcement: trolling. The recent takedowns of ransomware groups like LockBit go beyond the traditional disruption of online infrastructure to include messages on seized websites meant to mess with the minds of criminal hackers. Experts say these trollish tactics help sow distrust between cybercriminals—who already have ample reason to distrust one another.

Continue reading “Mysterious Hack Destroyed 600,000 Internet Routers” →

Apple’s iPhone Spyware Problem Is Getting Worse

Posted on by esimantiras

Apple’s iPhone Spyware Problem Is Getting Worse. Here’s What You Should Know

source: wired.com | image: pexels.com

 

The iPhone maker has detected spyware attacks against people in more than 150 countries. Knowing if your device is infected can be tricky—but there are a few steps you can take to protect yourself.

 

In April, Apple sent notifications to iPhone users in 92 countries, warning them they’d been targeted with spyware. “Apple detected that you are being targeted by a mercenary spyware attack that is trying to remotely compromise the iPhone associated with your Apple ID,” the notification reads.

Users quickly took to social media sites including X, trying to work out what the notification meant. Many of those targeted were based in India, but others in Europe also reported receiving Apple’s warning.

Weeks later, little is still known about the latest iPhone attacks. Former smartphone giant Blackberry, now a security firm, has released research indicating they are linked to a Chinese spyware campaign dubbed “LightSpy,” but Apple spokesperson Shane Bauer says this is inaccurate, and researchers at security firm Huntress say the variant Blackberry analyzed was a macOS version, not iOS. Continue reading “Apple’s iPhone Spyware Problem Is Getting Worse” →

Is the ‘Dead Internet’ theory suddenly coming true?

Posted on by esimantiras

Is the ‘Dead Internet’ theory suddenly coming true?

This could be a sign

source: fastcompany.com  |  image: pexels.com

No, not shrimp Jesus—though that’s noteworthy, too. We’re talking about what TikTok could be planning with AI influencers.

 

There’s been a popular theory floating around conspiracy circles for about seven or eight years now. It’s called the “Dead Internet” theory, and its main argument is that the organic, human-created content that powered the early web in the 1990s and 2000s has been usurped by artificially created content, which now dominates what people see online. Hence, the internet is “dead” because the content most of us consume is no longer created by living beings (humans).

But there’s another component to the theory—and this is where the conspiracy part comes into play. The Dead Internet theory states that this move from human-created content to artificially generated content was purposeful, spearheaded by governments and corporations in order to exploit control over the public’s perception. 

Continue reading “Is the ‘Dead Internet’ theory suddenly coming true?” →

How to Protect Yourself (and Your Loved Ones) From AI Scam Calls

Posted on by esimantiras

How to Protect Yourself (and Your Loved Ones) From AI Scam Calls

 

source: wired.com  |  image: pexels.com

 
AI tools are getting better at cloning people’s voices, and scammers are using these new capabilities to commit fraud. Avoid getting swindled by following these expert tips.

YOU ANSWER A random call from a family member, and they breathlessly explain how there’s been a horrible car accident. They need you to send money right now, or they’ll go to jail. You can hear the desperation in their voice as they plead for an immediate cash transfer. While it sure sounds like them, and the call came from their number, you feel like something’s off. So, you decide to hang up and call them right back. When your family member picks up your call, they say there hasn’t been a car crash, and that they have no idea what you’re talking about.

Congratulations, you just successfully avoided an artificial intelligence scam call. Continue reading “How to Protect Yourself (and Your Loved Ones) From AI Scam Calls” →