Gizmodo: proteus

Proteus Motor Swims Through Bloodstream, Looks Pretty Much Like a Sperm

Dan Nosowitz — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 09:30:00 EST

The tiny Proteus motor, at only 2.5 times the width of a human hair, is small enough to enter the bloodstream and perform duties previously requiring some surgical slice-and-dice.

Researchers at Australia's Monash University developed the tiny motor to minimalize the risk of certain, more invasive surgeries. After being injected into the bloodstream, it can carry a camera and other sensors to monitor a patient without the danger that cutting and sewing presents. To move, it uses a spinning tail that spirals at 1295 RPM, and uses piezoelectricity (which uses mechanical stress to create electrical potential) for energy.

Oh, and here's my required Fantastic Voyage reference: This bloodstream sperm motor is named for that movie I never saw! [GizMag]

New Intel Security Can Tell You and Malicious Attacker Apart

Wilson Rothman — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 08:48:14 EDT

Intel's Proteus security software starts out by getting to know you better—understanding your habits and network demands—using those statistical guidelines to clamp down on stuff that, let's face it, doesn't really sound like You. At least, not the You that Proteus has grown to love. This kind of learning really helps when trying to protect company-owned portables: Not surprisingly, typical behavior at work and typical behavior at home turn out to be two very different things.

Many security programs simply trigger an alarm when bandwidth demands exceed a certain point. They can be dumb, and might not know that it was you who wanted to download four movies at once, or send picture e-mail to 100,000 of your closest friends. This thing sees what you're doing and how you're doing it, and can safely say more frequently that some bizarre behavior is acceptable—though maybe not to your boss.

The software also watches for regular pings to computers across the net. By seeing not just the location but determining the intervals of the calls "home," Proteus can even figure out which malware is in use.

The reason this is so effective is that it differentiates systems that otherwise look identical. Corporate laptops all look the same, software wise, right? If someone can crack one, they can crack them all. If Proteus gets deployed, hackers have a much harder time with the old virtual B&E. Even when, say, a spambot was in place, it would have to know when each user would typically be in the mood for more bandwidth in order to fool Proteus.

Since this comes from Intel, word is that the company is trying to figure out a way to hardwire this stuff right into the chips, rather than let it be some subscription program that pops up every so often to scare you with over-the-top allegations of your system's vulnerability. [Technology Review]

Proteus: Spider-Like Go-Fast Boat Zips Around the Bay in Dazzling Demo

Charlie White — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 10:31:43 EST

We've been enamoured of boats named "Proteus" ever since that movie Fantastic Voyage decades ago. Now this Proteus is real, scooting around San Francisco Bay last week like some kind of water bug. The 100-foot catamaran was built by Silicon Valley big wigs, and has inflatable hulls that draft just a foot of water.

Powered by two 355hp diesel engines, it has a range of 5000 miles, and it qualifies as a go-fast boat with its top speed of 70mph. It's a smooth ride, too, where its cabin is suspended beneath titanium spring-loaded struts leading from hulls, absorbing the shock. Details, plus two more pics:

Proteus owners say the prototype cost less than $5 million to build, but much of the raw materials were donated. No word on retail price or when the boat might be available for the rest of us, although the Coast Guard was seen sniffing around the demo last Thursday. – Charlie White

A Geek's Wet Dream [Valleywag]