IBM’s Watson supercomputer strives to be jack of all trades
Watson already has won a major TV game show, is looking for a cure for cancer and has ambitious gastronomy ambitions including devising a recipe for chocolate-beef burritos.
“The applicability of the technology is unlimited, anywhere where large amounts of information exist, the technology can be applied,” said Mike Rhodin, senior vice president of IBM’s Watson division.
“We are at a point in human history where we generate more data than we can consume.”
He was speaking at a New York event to encourage new applications for the supercomputer.
http://phys.org/news/2015-05-ibm-watson-supercomputer-jack.html#jCp
Scientists achieve critical steps to building first practical quantum computer
IBM scientists today unveiled two critical advances towards the realization of a practical quantum computer. For the first time, they showed the ability to detect and measure both kinds of quantum errors simultaneously, as well as demonstrated a new, square quantum bit circuit design that is the only physical architecture that could successfully scale to larger dimensions.
http://phys.org/news/2015-04-scientists-critical-quantum.html#jCp
Moose – the router worm with an appetite for social networks
ESET researchers have issued a technical paper today, analysing a new worm that is infecting routers in order to commit social networking fraud, hijacking victims’ internet connections in order to “like” posts and pages, “view” videos and “follow” other accounts.
The malware, dubbed Linux/Moose by researchers Olivier Bilodeau and Thomas Dupuy, infects Linux-based routers and other Linux-based devices, eradicating existing malware infections it might find competing for the router’s limited resources, and automatically finding other routers to infect.
However, the Moose worm does not rely upon amy underlying vulnerability in the routers – it is simply taking advantage of devices that have been weakly configured with poorly chosen login credentials.
Unfortunately, this means that devices other than routers can be impacted by the worm in the form of accidental collateral damage. ESET’s team believes that even medical devices, such as the Hospira drug infusion pump, could be infected by the Linux/Moose worm.
But the principal victims are likely to be routers – with devices from Actiontec, Hik Vision, Netgear, Synology, TP-Link, ZyXEL, and Zhone already identified as vulnerable.
http://www.welivesecurity.com/2015/05/26/moose-router-worm/
Hyundai now offers an Android car, even for current owners
Android Auto, a product that up until now was only talked about by industry insiders and journalists, just shipped this week.
Well, it didn’t really ship, because it is being released as a software update to the 2015 Hyundai Sonata that existing owners can download. It will also be factory-installed on new models. Android Auto is an attempt to incorporate the convenience and safety of pairing a smartphone to a car without the distraction. It also points out that the car has become a software-driven mobile device, not unlike computers and smartphones.
Once consumers see Android Auto in use, they’ll want a car with a compatible head-unit. Many older head-unit designs have some level of integration with smartphones, such as hands-free Bluetooth calls or playing music from the smartphone using Bluetooth on the car stereo. The added integration with Google navigation, contacts, places, and search, and a broad selection of Android Auto apps, make Android Auto a better and more comprehensive infotainment product.
And it’s not alone – Hyundai spokesman Miles Johnson said a similar update will be available for Apple Car Play in a few months.
MIT cheetah robot lands the running jump
In a leap for robot development, the MIT researchers who built a robotic cheetah have now trained it to see and jump over hurdles as it runs — making this the first four-legged robot to run and jump over obstacles autonomously.
To get a running jump, the robot plans out its path, much like a human runner: As it detects an approaching obstacle, it estimates that object’s height and distance. The robot gauges the best position from which to jump, and adjusts its stride to land just short of the obstacle, before exerting enough force to push up and over. Based on the obstacle’s height, the robot then applies a certain amount of force to land safely, before resuming its initial pace.
In experiments on a treadmill and an indoor track, the cheetah robot successfully cleared obstacles up to 18 inches tall — more than half of the robot’s own height — while maintaining an average running speed of 5 miles per hour.
http://newsoffice.mit.edu/2015/cheetah-robot-lands-running-jump-0529
Iris scanners can now identify us from 40 feet away
Biometric technologies are on the rise. By electronically recording data about individual’s physical attributes such as fingerprints or iris patterns, security and law enforcement services can quickly identify people with a high degree of accuracy.
The latest development in this field is the scanning of irises from a distance of up to 40 feet (12 metres) away. Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University in the US demonstrated they were able to use their iris recognition technology to identify drivers from an image of their eye captured from their vehicle’s side mirror.
The developers of this technology envisage that, as well as improving security, it will be more convenient for the individuals being identified. By using measurements of physiological characteristics, people no longer
