Hackers spent 2+ years looting secrets of chipmaker NXP before being detected
Chipmaker claims breach had no "material adverse effect." Enlarge (credit: Getty Images) A prolific espionage hacking group with ties to China spent over two years looting the corporate network of NXP, the Netherlands-ba.....»»
Wildfires in wet African forests have doubled in recent decades, large-scale analysis finds
A new study presents the first large-scale analysis of fire patterns in West and Central Africa's wet, tropical forests. The number of active fires there typically doubled over 18 years, particularly in the Congo Basin. The increases are primarily du.....»»
Human activity is causing toxic thallium to enter the Baltic Sea, finds new study
Human activities account for a substantial amount—anywhere from 20% to more than 60%—of toxic thallium that has entered the Baltic Sea over the past 80 years, according to new research by scientists affiliated with the Woods Hole Oceanographic In.....»»
Wear OS’s big comeback continues; might hit half of Apple Watch sales
Counterpoint Research projects 27 percent market share this year to Apple's 49. Enlarge / The Samsung Watch 6 classic. (credit: Samsung) Wear OS was nearly dead a few years ago but is now on a remarkable comeback traject.....»»
Maximum-severity GitLab flaw allowing account hijacking under active exploitation
The threat is potentially grave because it could be used in supply-chain attacks. Enlarge A maximum severity vulnerability that allows hackers to hijack GitLab accounts with no user interaction required is now under act.....»»
For the ancient Maya, cracked mirrors were a path to the world beyond
Some people fear that breaking a mirror can lead to seven years of misfortune. The history of this superstition may go back to the ancient Greeks and Romans, who ascribed mysterious powers to reflected images......»»
International team cracks genomic code for earliest forms of terrestrial plant life
Plant life first emerged on land about 550 million years ago, and an international research team co-led by University of Nebraska–Lincoln computational biologist Yanbin Yin has cracked the genomic code of its humble beginnings, which made possible.....»»
Systematic testing of natural oils on in vitro skin models
For some years now, the trend in the cosmetics and skincare sector has been toward transparency and natural, sustainable ingredients. A growing number of consumers are rejecting cosmetics that contain petroleum-derived mineral oils and silicone oils......»»
Passkey support comes to Word, Excel, and more for all consumer Microsoft accounts
We’re getting closer every day to a password-free future. Less than two years after Apple launched passkeys with iOS 16 and macOS 13, more and more companies continue adding support. Following in the footsteps of Amazon and Nintendo, among others,.....»»
A look at the past suggests atmospheric rivers inundating California could get worse
A team of paleoclimatologists with the U.S. Geological Survey, NASA Ames Research Park, has found that atmospheric rivers in the past have dumped far more rain on California than those that have occurred over the past two years......»»
Weak magnetic field may have supported diversification of life on Earth
An unusual reduction in the strength of Earth's magnetic field between 591 and 565 million years ago coincided with a significant increase in the oxygen levels in the atmosphere and oceans, according to a paper published in Communications Earth & Env.....»»
Great white sharks off South Africa"s coast are protected by law, but not in practice—this needs to change
In less than eight years, white sharks in South Africa have all but disappeared from their historical hotspots in False Bay and Gansbaai, on the Western Cape coast. These areas were once known as the "white shark capital of the world" and were home t.....»»
Two years later, over-the-counter hearing aids are still finding their groove
Americans have been able to buy over-the-counter hearing aids for almost two years. Have they made a difference? We ask the experts......»»
New SOHO router malware aims for cloud accounts, internal company resources
Cuttlefish, a new malware family that targets enterprise-grade small office/home office (SOHO) routers, is used by criminals to steal account credentials / secrets for AWS, CloudFlare, Docker, BitBucket, Alibaba Cloud and other cloud-based services......»»
Historical data suggest hard knocks to human societies build long-term resilience
Frequent disturbances to human societies boost the ability of populations to resist and recover from subsequent downturns, a Nature paper indicates. The study, which analyzes 30,000 years of human history, has implications for future population growt.....»»
Securing your organization’s supply chain: Reducing the risks of third parties
When Stephen Hawking said that “we are all now connected by the internet, like neurons in a giant brain”, very few people understood the gravity of his statement. But ten years on from his famous interview with USA Today, it’s safe to say Hawki.....»»
Cadillac could keep selling gas vehicles past 2030 all-EV goal
GM's luxury brand has said it aims to have an all-EV portfolio by the end of the decade, but Cadillac's global vice president said electric and gasoline models "will coexist for a number of years.".....»»
Hacker free-for-all fights for control of home and office routers everywhere
How and why nation-state hackers and cybercriminals coexist in the same router botnet. Enlarge (credit: Aurich Lawson / Ars Technica) Cybercriminals and spies working for nation-states are surreptitiously coexisting insi.....»»
Some communities are more vulnerable to weather-related power outages in New York State
Weather-related power outages in the United States have become nearly twice as common in the last 10 years compared to the previous decade. These outages, which can last most of a day, are more than an inconvenience: lack of power and related indoor.....»»
CERN gives green light to build new experiment to search for unknown particles
After many years of preparations, CERN has approved a new experiment: the Search for Hidden Particles (SHiP). Physicist Alexey Boyarsky was involved from the start. "We know there is physics that's missing and we aim to find it.".....»»
25 years ago, The Matrix led a mini movement of sci-fi simulation thrillers
From The Matrix to eXistenZ to The Thirteenth Floor, 1999 was an unusually robust year for sci-fi movies that put the world inside a computer......»»