Jamie Condliffe

Thousands of Medical Devices Are Open to Hacking Over the Internet

Security researchers claim that at least 68,000 medical systems — like MRI scanners and infusion systems — from a “large, unnamed US health group” are accessible online for hackers to attack. Researchers Scott Erven and Mark Collao explained at hacking conference Derbyco that they were able to access the interfaces of many medical devices using…

2 Computer Science Profs + 1 Room + 30 Minutes of Conversation = Geek Gold

Professor Brian Kernighan is computing heavyweight: he worked at Bell Labs, helped develop Unix and was one of two authors of the C programming language. Here, he talks with one of the UK’s foremost computer science professors, Professor David Brailsford. Time to geek out. Yes, it’s 30 minutes long. Yes, Brailsford isn’t quite a chat…

Disappearing Graphene Circuits Could Make Temporary Electrical Devices

Imagine electrical circuits that you could print off and use for a few hours before they melted away and stop functioning or changed their function. A spy’s best friend, they could become reality thanks to a new kind of electric circuitry printed on graphene. The idea of electrical components that self-destruct is nothing new. We’ve…

These Are the Year’s Best Examples of Art in a Petri Dish

Who says scientists can’t be creative? The American Society for Microbiology organizes an Agar Art competition, where researchers battle it out by creating artwork in a Petri dish—and these are this year’s winners. The image above, called Neurons, snatched first place. Mehmet Berkmen, the researcher from New England Biolabs who submitted the entry, explains what…

This Map Helps Predict Which Homes Need a Fire Alarm

The lack of a working fire alarm can very literally be the difference between life and death. This map uses data visualization to highlight regions where there may be a lack of smoke detectors, to help cities ensure their citizens remain safe. The project builds on an earlier project that from 2014, which tried to…

This 3D Printer Creates Structures in Gel and Could Help Build Organs

3D printing is changing the way we build things—but what if the end-product can’t support its own weight until it’s finished? Scientists have developed a way to overcome that problem, by surrounding the whole thing with gel. This new 3D printing technique, developed by researchers from University of Florida in Gainesville, prints objects in an…

A New Botnet Hits Servers With 150 Gbps DDoS Attacks

Just yesterday, Akamai’s Security Intelligence Response Team announced that it’s discovered a new botnet that uses a 150 Gbps onslaught to bring servers and websites to their knees. The Linux-based botnet spreads aboard a Trojan that’s called XOR DDoS. That wriggles its way into Linux systems by attacking embedded devices — things like routers —…

This Trippy Image Could Help Us Treat Meningitis Better

It may look like a sci-fi space scene or a Fear and Loathing out-take, but this image, which shows a a zebrafish larva infected with meningitis, could help researchers develop new treatments for the disease. In the image, you can see the Cryptococcal meningitis organism as red dots in the brain of the zebrafish larva,…

This Art Installation Tests How Much You Value Your Personal Data

This art installation, Sensible Data by Martin Hertig, is a test: a test of how much you might be willing to give away about yourself in exchange for a little fun. On the surface it seems harmless enough. You can exchange a photograph of yourself for a line drawing portrait; an email for an assessment…

The latest version of Skype now supports Android Wear, allowing you to respond to messages —using pre-written responses or by dictating some text — as well as giving you the option to accept or decline calls.

The First Ever Optical Rectenna Turns Light Directly Into DC Current

This fancy-looking slab is the world’s first optical rectenna, a small device that’s part antenna, part rectifier diode — and it’s able to convert light directly into DC current. Developed by researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology, the device uses carbon nanotubes that act as tiny antennas and capture light. The light creates a…

Technology Has Always Been a Distraction, Really

It’s just that we’ve forgotten how magical glowing embers are since we discovered glowing black rectangles of metal and glass. [Joy of Tech]

Conan Imagines Other Creative Technologies Volkswagen May Have Employed

Volkswagen has demonstrated that it takes a… creative approach to interpreting rules and regulations — so what else might it have done? In this video, Conan imagines some of the other technologies that may have found their out of the car manufacturer’s workshops. Smart speed gun technology, automated fake disability sticker deployment and all kinds…

Samsung’s Milk Video streaming service is shuttering on November 20th. The free service is less than a year old… and clearly not very successful.

This Tiny 4-Gram Robot Jumps and Walks Using Memory Alloy Springs

Not all robots needs to be big and clever — those that are small and simple could prove just as useful. Like this little thing created by researchers at EPFL, which folds, flips, jumps and walks, while only weighing four grams. Created by the Reconfigurable Robotics Laboratory — which has strong robot form — it…

London Underground Is Trialling Regenerative Braking to Help Power Trains

London Underground has been experimenting with a new system which recovers energy lost by braking trains, and it could save the subway system an impressive 5 percent on its energy bills. The new ‘inverter’ system was installed at the Cloudesley Road substation on the network’s Victoria line and used for a five-week trial. During one…

This $75 Kit Makes It Easy to Run Windows 10 on a Raspberry Pi

Earlier this year, Microsoft announced that a free version of Windows 10 would be available for Raspberry Pi devices. Now it’s here, and this $75 kit aims to make the process of using it as straightforward as possible. Microsoft has teamed up with Adafruit to create a kit that’s designed to “get you started quickly…

Hilton Investigating Claims of Hotel Sale Register Hacks

If you’ve stayed at a Hilton hotel this year, you may want to check your bank records. The hotel chain admitted on Saturday that it was investigating claims that hackers have compromised sales registers in Hilton Hotels and a number of its franchises. The first public suggestion of the breach came on Friday in the…

Here Are the Best Images of Last Night’s Supermoon Eclipse

Last night the world was lucky enough to see a supermoon lunar eclipse. Hopefully you got to see it in person—but if not, here are some of the best pictures so far of the stellar spectacle. As Ria at io9 explained yesterday, a supermoon eclipse is a simple yet rare event: A “Supermoon” is simply…

Inside the Engineering of the World’s First 1,000mph Car

Yesterday, a team of British engineers unveiled Bloodhound SSC: the world’s most powerful car, intended to reach speeds of over 1,000mph. Standing beside what looks like a rocket-on-wheels, it’s obvious what a marvel of engineering it is. We spoke to the team’s Lead Mechanical Engineer to find out how the vehicle was built. Measuring 13.5…