Thursday 6 June 2019

Maestro: a new attack that orchestrates malicious flows with BGP

Researchers at the University of Tennessee have recently identified the Maestro attack, a new link flooding attack (LFA) that leverages plane traffic control engineering techniques to concentrate botnet-sourced distributed denial of service (DDos) flows on transit links. In their paper, recently published on arXiv, the researchers outlined this type attack, tried to understand its scope and presented effective mitigations for network operators who wish to insulate themselves from it.

* This article was originally published here

Scientists edge closer to root causes of multiple sclerosis

An international team of researchers led by the University of British Columbia has made a scientific advance they hope will lead to the development of preventative treatments for multiple sclerosis (MS).

* This article was originally published here

Few oncologists refer patients to weight management programs

(HealthDay)—While oncology providers are aware of the link between obesity and cancer, few provide referrals to support patients' lifestyle changes, according to a study published online May 16 in the Journal of Oncology Practice.

* This article was originally published here

Earthquake, flood, hurricane: Google Maps adds tools to help you navigate a crisis

Google is adding tools to Google Maps and search to help you survive a natural disaster.

* This article was originally published here

How to speed up the discovery of new solar cell materials

A broad class of materials called perovskites is considered one of the most promising avenues for developing new, more efficient solar cells. But the virtually limitless number of possible combinations of these materials' constituent elements makes the search for promising new perovskites slow and painstaking.

* This article was originally published here

Survey indicates physician misconduct is underreported

(HealthDay)—Physician misconduct is being underreported and most Americans do not know where to file a complaint, according to a report published by the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB).

* This article was originally published here

Decoding Beethoven's music style using data science

EPFL researchers are investigating Beethoven's composition style using statistical techniques to quantify and explore the patterns that characterize musical structures in the Western classical tradition. They confirm what is expected against the backdrop of music theory for the classical music era, but go beyond a music theoretical approach by statistically characterizing the musical language of Beethoven for the first time. Their study is based on the set of compositions known as the Beethoven String Quartets, and the results are published in PLOS ONE.

* This article was originally published here

Tacoma-based Snopes, debunker of fake news, is locked in a nasty legal dispute

After more than two decades battling internet hoaxes, retouched photos, and other fake news, David Mikkelson, co-founder of Snopes, faces a much larger and more existential adversary.

* This article was originally published here

The universal beauty of the mountains can be seen in graphs

Mountains have character. The continuous gentle, wavy hills and wide valleys of the Carpathians, Appalachians or lower parts of the Alps contrast strongly with the soaring peaks, ragged ridges and deep ravines of the high Tatra mountains and Pyrenees, which are, in turn, different from the inaccessible, snow-covered Himalayan or Andean giants, along whose slopes flow long tongues of glaciers instead of water. Beneath this great diversity, however, lies a surprisingly similar structure.

* This article was originally published here

Video: Could you fail a drug test by taking CBD?

Cannabidiol, or CBD, is a non-psychoactive compound produced by the marijuana plant that seems to be everywhere these days. Maybe you've even been asked if you'd like it added to your morning cup of joe! Interestingly, the chemical structure of CBD is very similar to THC, which is the marijuana-derived compound responsible for getting people high and the one screened for by drug tests.

* This article was originally published here

Canada's food guide is easy to follow if you're wealthy or middle class

Canada's new 2019 food guide uses nutritional science to define what a wholesome diet looks like. This is a great improvement over previous versions, but it raises important questions about the accessibility of healthy food resources for low-income households.

* This article was originally published here

Evolving neural networks with a linear growth in their behavior complexity

Evolutionary algorithms (EAs) are designed to replicate the behavior and evolution of biological organisms while solving computing problems. In recent years, many researchers have developed EAs and used them to tackle a variety of optimization tasks.

* This article was originally published here

Vegans and vegetarians: the history of how plant-based diets grew out of left-wing ideology

The rise of the vegetarian and, more recently, the vegan diet is generally perceived to be a new phenomenon. So, too, is their association with contemporary progressive ideas, politics and lifestyles. But plant-based diets have deep historical roots, and a longstanding connection with the political left.

* This article was originally published here

New gene segment discovery has potential against cancer, autoimmune disorders

A small segment of a human gene STING, stimulator of interferon genes, could hold the key to treating autoimmune diseases and cancer, according to a study by Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientists.

* This article was originally published here

New computer attack mimics user's keystroke characteristics and evades detection

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) cyber security researchers have developed a new attack called Malboard. Malboard evades several detection products that are intended to continuously verify the user's identity based on personalized keystroke characteristics.

* This article was originally published here

Shared control allows a robot to use two hands working together to complete tasks

A team of researchers from the University of Wisconsin and the Naval Research Laboratory has designed and built a robotic system that allows for bimanual robot manipulation through shared control. In their paper published in the journal Science Robotics, the group explains the ideas behind their work and how well they worked in practice.

* This article was originally published here

Security and privacy rarely considered before buying IoT devices

In today's often-precarious security and privacy landscape, you'd think consumers would be taking security and privacy risks into serious consideration when purchasing new IoT devices. And you'd be wrong.

* This article was originally published here