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Archive for the ‘government’ category: Page 56

Apr 14, 2022

Engineer born with one hand makes a prosthetic one out of plastic bottles for $800

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, cyborgs, entertainment, government, media & arts

The Force was strong in him. One of Enzo Romero’s favorite activities is playing the guitar, which he effortlessly does with his bright blue hand. Initially, it used to hurt, as he used his handless right arm to press down on chords. But now, with fingers on the end, he can play music painlessly.


Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back, marketed as simply The Empire Strikes Back, is a 1980 film directed by Irvin Kershner and written by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan from a story by George Lucas. It is the second part of the Star Wars original trilogy.

Continue reading “Engineer born with one hand makes a prosthetic one out of plastic bottles for $800” »

Apr 14, 2022

Feds Uncover a ‘Swiss Army Knife’ for Hacking Industrial Systems

Posted by in categories: cybercrime/malcode, government

“This is the most expansive industrial control system attack tool that anyone has ever documented,” says Sergio Caltagirone, the vice president of threat intelligence at industrial-focused cybersecurity firm Dragos, which contributed research to the advisory and published its own report about the malware. Researchers at Mandiant, Palo Alto Networks, Microsoft, and Schneider Electric also contributed to the advisory. “It’s like a Swiss Army knife with a huge number of pieces to it.”

Dragos says the malware has the ability to hijack target devices, disrupt or prevent operators from accessing them, permanently brick them, or even use them as a foothold to give hackers access to other parts of an industrial control system network. He notes that while the toolkit, which Dragos calls “Pipedream,” appears to specifically target Schneider Electric and OMRON PLCs, it does so by exploiting underlying software in those PLCs known as Codesys, which is used far more broadly across hundreds of other types of PLCs. This means that the malware could easily be adapted to work in almost any industrial environment. “This toolset is so big that it’s basically a free-for-all,” Caltagirone says. “There’s enough in here for everyone to worry about.”

The CISA advisory refers to an unnamed “APT actor” that developed the malware toolkit, using the common acronym APT to mean advanced persistent threat, a term for state-sponsored hacker groups. It’s far from clear where the government agencies found the malware, or which country’s hackers created it—though the timing of the advisory follows warnings from the Biden administration about the Russian government making preparatory moves to carry out disruptive cyberattacks in the midst of its invasion of Ukraine.

Apr 13, 2022

Maxar eager to launch new satellites amid soaring demand for imagery over Ukraine

Posted by in categories: government, satellites

WASHINGTON – As Maxar Technologies’ satellites continue to collect images of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the company is working with customers so it can allocate more capacity to meet U.S. government needs, said Maxar’s CEO Daniel Jablonsky.

With four satellites in orbit, “a lot of times we don’t have a lot of spare capacity,” Jablonsky said in an interview last week at the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs.

“But we made accommodations with some of our other customers to be able to surge capacity for the U.S. and allies,” he said. The company also gets about 200 requests a day for imagery from news media organizations.

Apr 8, 2022

New Federal Government Tax Credit for Carbon Capture Offered to Fossil Fuel Companies

Posted by in categories: energy, government

This represents a $2.6 billion government giveaway to an industry that made $22 billion in profit in 2021.

Apr 8, 2022

China uses AI software to improve its surveillance capabilities

Posted by in categories: government, robotics/AI, surveillance

Dozens of Chinese firms have built software that uses artificial intelligence to sort data collected on residents, amid high demand from authorities seeking to upgrade their surveillance tools, a Reuters review of government documents shows.

Apr 7, 2022

Canada’s Environment Ministry Approves Offshore Oil Project While Touting 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan

Posted by in categories: climatology, government, neuroscience, sustainability

Cognitive dissonance in the government’s decision to approve Bay-du-Nord while professing to fight fossil fuel emissions responsible for climate change.


The decision to approve Bay-du-Nord is based on the low emissions intensity of the oil that will be produced with no accounting for end-use.

Apr 6, 2022

Taiwan’s New Solar Panel ‘Sun Rock’ Will Deliver 1 Million kWh Per Year

Posted by in categories: government, solar power, sustainability

Get in, we’re going to the threshold. Solar power is undoubtfully one of the most preferred renewable energy sources of the day. As the need for energy rises with the improving technology and the rising population, companies try to come up with the most efficient solutions that promise to meet the energy demand of the world.


Taiwan’s forthcoming Sun Rock could supply excess energy to the power grid

Taiwan’s government-owned power company, called Taipower, commissioned Sun Rock, with plans to use it as a visitor facility, in addition to a storage and maintenance center for renewable energy devices. But the most obvious and impressive feature of the forthcoming project is the facade, which will be almost totally smothered in solar panels (don’t worry, there will also be vents and windows to promote the natural exchange of light and air). But 1 million kWh is a lot — the U.S. government has found that an average household uses roughly 11,000 kWh annually, which will rise (because of course it will) before the Sun Rock is finished.

Continue reading “Taiwan’s New Solar Panel ‘Sun Rock’ Will Deliver 1 Million kWh Per Year” »

Mar 29, 2022

Taking Definitive Action on Your Sustainability Goals

Posted by in categories: climatology, government, policy, sustainability

This doesn’t mean you need to don an ushanka and start marching. You can start taking collective action by focusing on community groups and connecting with climate leaders. This will likely help you solve other issues, too, like waste disposal, recycling, and community clean-up projects in your locale.

Conclusion

Combating climate change requires all of us to reconsider our individual and collective climate responsibility. As an individual, you can do your part and let others know what you are doing. It has never been easier to connect with the world and share than it is today. You can join others in writing letters to the editor of your local newspaper, or your local and national government representatives. You can join groups like Citizens’ Climate Lobby and learn how to engage policy decision-makers. And in your daily routines, you can lead by example.

Mar 25, 2022

China to spend $150 billion to boost chip manufacturing

Posted by in categories: computing, government

Mar 22, 2022

Australia launches Space Command to counter China

Posted by in categories: government, military, space

Australia gets its own space force.


The Australian government yesterday launched the Space Command, a new defense agency with echoes of the US’ Space Force that has been tasked with securing the country’s place in an “already contested” cosmos.

Australian Minister for Defence Peter Dutton said the new defense arm would be modest to start with, although he gave no detailed staffing or budget figures.

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