News

Trendnet security cam flaw exposes video feeds on net

Feeds from thousands of Trendnet home security cameras have been breached, allowing any web user to access live footage without needing a password.

Internet addresses which link to the video streams have been posted to a variety of popular messageboard sites.

Users have expressed concern after finding they could view children’s bedrooms, among other locations.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16919664

Video Gallery: The Most Amazing Movies of the Minuscule World

The winners of the Nikon Small World microvideography contest.

Every year we’re enthralled by the smallest things among us, as scientists capture stunningly beautiful and bizarre images under the microscope. For the first time, the people who bring us the annual Small World Microphotography Competition have caught the world of the tiny on tape.

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2012-02/video-gallery-most-amazing-movies-minuscule-world

AA to launch sat-nav tech tracking insurance policy

The AA is set to launch a new insurance policy which uses sat-nav technology to track driver performance.

The firm said the system would allow its better drivers to receive cheaper premiums.

It follows similar efforts by smaller insurers. Larger rival Direct Line has told the BBC it is also piloting its own “black box” scheme.

Critics of the technology said that data should not be used as a reliable measure of a driver’s ability.

The system involves the installation of a small black box into the driver’s car which records how they drive.

The measures include monitoring speed, braking severity, cornering and the types of roads used during certain times of day.

This information is transmitted remotely to the insurers, and can also be accessed by users via a website which gives information on overall performance, warning them if they are likely to be moved to a higher premium.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16969509

Hydrogen from acidic water: Researchers develop potential low cost alternative to platinum for splitting water

A technique for creating a new molecule that structurally and chemically replicates the active part of the widely used industrial catalyst molybdenite has been developed by researchers with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). This technique holds promise for the creation of catalytic materials that can serve as effective low-cost alternatives to platinum for generating hydrogen gas from water that is acidic.

http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-02-hydrogen-acidic-potential-alternative-platinum.html

Spacecraft Computer Issue Resolved

Mars Science Laboratory Mission Status Report

PASADENA, Calif. — Engineers have found the root cause of a computer reset that occurred two months ago on NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory and have determined how to correct it.

The fix involves changing how certain unused data-holding locations, called registers, are configured in the memory management of the type of computer chip used on the spacecraft. Billions of runs on a test computer with the modified register configuration yielded no repeat of the reset behavior. The mission team made this software change on the spacecraft’s computer last week and confirmed this week that the update is successful.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/news/msl20120209.html

Navy to begin tests on electromagnetic railgun prototype launcher

The Office of Naval Research (ONR)’s Electromagnetic (EM) Railgun program will take an important step forward in the coming weeks when the first industry railgun prototype launcher is tested at a facility in Dahlgren, Va., officials said Feb. 6.

The EM Railgun launcher is a long-range weapon that fires projectiles using electricity instead of chemical propellants. Magnetic fields created by high electrical currents accelerate a sliding metal conductor, or armature, between two rails to launch projectiles at 4,500 mph to 5,600 mph.

With its increased velocity and extended range, the EM Railgun will give Sailors a multi-mission capability, allowing them to conduct precise naval surface fire support, or land strikes; cruise missile and ballistic missile defense; and surface warfare to deter enemy vessels. Navy planners are targeting a 50- to 100-nautical mile initial capability with expansion up to 220 nautical miles.

http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-02-navy-electromagnetic-railgun-prototype-launcher.html

Explained: Sigma

It’s a question that arises with virtually every major new finding in science or medicine: What makes a result reliable enough to be taken seriously? The answer has to do with statistical significance — but also with judgments about what standards make sense in a given situation.

http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-02-sigma.html