Security researchers have refined a long-theoretical profiling technique into a highly practical attack that poses a threat to Tor users and anyone else who wants to shield their identity online.

The technique collects user keystrokes as an individual enters usernames, passwords, and other data into a website. After a training session that typically takes less than 10 minutes, the website—or any other site connected to the website—can then determine with a … Read More → "How the way you type can shatter anonymity—even on Tor"

The subject of this paper grew up with a normal cognitive and social life, and didn’t discover his hydrocephalus — which had all but obliterated his brain — until he went to the doctor for an unrelated complaint.

via Boing Boing

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Portable test kits represent an advance in disease diagnosis, as their ready availability increases chances of earlier detection and treatment. This type of technology is constantly evolving, and sometimes inspiration can come from surprising sources. Such is the case with research carried out by a Swiss team, which has borrowed from the mechanics behind the firefly’s glow to develop a sensitive molecule detector.

via Gizmag</ … Read More → "Firefly enzyme inspires Swiss team to create portable disease test kit"

Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking, along with hundreds of artificial intelligence researchers and experts, are calling for a worldwide ban on so-called autonomous weapons, warning that they could set off a revolution in weaponry comparable to gunpowder and nuclear arms.

In a letter& … Read More → "Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking among hundreds to urge ban on military robots"

China is finally scrapping its 15-year ban on video game consoles. According to a statement from the country’s Ministry of Culture, companies like Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft — among others — will now be allowed to manufacture and sell video game consoles anywhere in the country. The Wall Street Journal first reported the news earlier today.

via Read More → "China officially ends ban on video game consoles"

Joe Heron, the owner of the Copper and Kings distillery, calls it the “sonic aging process.” All day and every day, music blasts out of speakers in the distillery’s aging room. Sometimes it’s David Bowie. At other times, it’s Bruce Springsteen, Jimi Hendrix, or Lenny Kravitz.

It is never Katy Perry, though. Heron is firm about that.

Cooper and King’ … Read More → "This Kentucky distillery blasts music to flavor its brandy"

There’s a new reason to go to bed on time: late nights, in addition to a multitude of health effects, may lead to obesity and diabetes.

Countless studies have shown the negative effects of sleep loss and sleep deprivation, but a new one from a Swedish team suggests that even one night of missed snoozing can have long-lasting effects on your genes.

Read More → "Just one all-nighter can alter your genes,possibly for years to come"

Researchers in the US have developed a new drug that can be delivered directly into the eye via an eye dropper to shrink down and dissolve cataracts – the leading cause of blindness in humans. 

While the effects have yet to be tested on humans, the team from the University of California, San Diego hopes to replicate the findings in clinical trials and offer an alternative to the only treatment that’s currently available to cataract … Read More → "Scientists have developed an eye drop that can dissolve cataracts"

NASA’s planet-hunting Kepler Telescope has spotted the first roughly Earth-sized world orbiting in the “Goldilocks zone” of another star – offering perhaps the best bet so far for life elsewhere in the universe.

A year on Kepler-452b, which is about 1,400 light years from us in the constellation Cygnus, is 385 days, meaning its … Read More → "Kepler telescope introduces Earth to a very distant cousin"

A garage is a natural place to store tools and equipment, but that doesn’t mean it’s the ideal place to build your next project. Here’s how to transform your garage into a safe and productive DIY workspace you can be proud of.
via Lifehacker

Read More → "How to transform your garage into the ultimate DIY workshop"