Monthly Archives: November 2019

Pet Cloning – Cute or Creepy?

Reading Time: 2 minutes

I believe we’ve all heard about first-ever cloned mammal: Dolly the sheep and the controversy it generated back in the day. Less than a decade later, a Californian company by the name of “Genetic Savings and Clone” was already offering commercial cloning services for peoples’ deceased pets, an extravagant endeavor with a price tag to match. So if you’ve recently lost a beloved pet (mainly a cat or a dog) and have around 50,000$ (per attempt) to spare; this might be the article for you.

Pet cloning is nowadays more readily available and cheaper than ever and naturally, a number of celebrities started taking advantages of those services including Barbara Streisand and her two clones of her late dog Samantha and Simon Cowell who is spending a whopping 180,000£ on pet cloning so he never has to live a day without his Yorkshire terriers by his side.

 

This unusual procedure basically consists of an embryo being cultivated from the cell of the animal (particularly cells from its mouth and stomach), before being implanted into the surrogate mother’s uterus. Each attempt takes about two months and this process is not fool-proof. It’s actually estimated to be successful about a third of the time, which makes the price tag all the more unsettling. It also comes with some negative side effects which are the main reason some people might consider pet cloning inhumane. According to Alan Beck, an animal ecology professor at Purdue University:

“All cloned animals have shorter life spans and many more health problems than non-cloned animals. Many, many animals are used [in the cloning process]. So you have this big population of unrecognized industry of a dog population that are surgically manipulated and kept in cages, like any kind of commercial or research area, but it’s not inspected and there’s no guarantee they’re well taken care of.”

Another side effect that seems to be the most bothersome to people who go through getting their pets cloned is that the clone, although it’s a carbon copy of the original, is not guaranteed to behave the same way or have the same memories. Which is why a Chinese company, the Sinogene Biotechnology Company, is considering taking this procedure a step further and using artificial intelligence to transfer the memories of a pet to its clone.  According to Sinogene’s general manager: “To make the cloned animal share the same memories with the original, the company is considering the use of artificial intelligence or man-machine interface technology to store them or even pass the memories to cloned animals.”

Only time can tell whether or not that is a realistically possible endeavor, but it’s a definite sign that the market for pet clones is set to expand significantly. This is outrageous in my opinion, considering how many people are willing to spend so much money and resources on recreating their dead pets while equally loveable and very much still alive pets waste away in shelters.

This also makes human cloning seem somewhat more plausible, which raises a whole other set of ethical dilemmas that I believe humanity is not ready to face yet.

References:

1-https://futurism.com/cloned-pets-memories-china-cat

2-https://futurism.com/the-byte/pet-cloning-cheaper-appalling

3-http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1161960.shtml

 

Tagged , ,

How to hack a house using a laser

Reading Time: 2 minutes

If you use the software, such as voice assistants of the largest companies, you should be aware, as scientists discovered a new type of hacker attack!
The attack exploits the sensitivity of microphones using micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS). Microscopic MEMS elements react to light as if it were sound. Although researchers have tested the possibility of hacking only Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant, Facebook and a limited number of tablets and phones, they believe that all devices using MEMS microphones are vulnerable to this threat.

Below you can find a video showing how exactly this procedure works:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=29&v=iK2PtdQs77c&feature=emb_title

The attack is based on the idea of exchanging the sound with a low-power laser beam directed at the device. Basically the lasers trick the microphones into making electrical signals as if they’re hearing someone’s voice. It works even from the distance of 110m and can be executed from another building, through glass windows or doors. It can be really dangerous as some people do not use the required authorization feature for certain commands so that hackers are able to open smart garage doors, order stuff from Amazon on your cost or even start your vehicle. 

Researchers who discovered this dangerous feature claim that the cost of producing a device that could hack any voice assistant, based on MEMS microphone, is about $400 including $340 laser driver, a $20 laser pointer and a $25 sound amplifier. The low costs and simplicity of using it, in this case, are not an advantage, as it makes it possible for almost anyone to make such a device at home, unfortunately for criminals as well.  

To protect your smart household I would highly recommend setting as many passwords as possible when it comes to the security of your voice assistant, moreover to place it in a part of your house which is not visible from outdoors. 

If you would like to find out more details on how exactly this hacker attack works, you can visit the website devoted to this solution:
https://lightcommands.com

sources:
https://lightcommands.com
https://www.cnet.com/news/lasers-can-seemingly-hack-alexa-google-home-and-siri
https://mlodytechnik.pl/news/29884-badacze-hakuja-siri-alexe-i-google-home-za-pomoca-wiazek-laserowych

Tagged , , ,

MIT Engineers has develop a carbon-capture to remove carbon-dioxide from air

Reading Time: 2 minutes

MIT Engineers has develop a carbon-capture to remove carbon-dioxide from air

MIT has develop the new technology to catch up Carbon-dioxide( CO2 )in the atmosphere by the super huge Air purifier, This will be a new hope to prevent future disasters and may reduce the Carbon-dioxide in our atmosphere as well. 

CO2  is well-know as a gas which is harmful to humans. Also, it trap a heat and not allow them to flow up to the atmosphere, Which make the global having higher temperature rapidly ( Global-warming ).

CO2  can occur by so many reason. But the direct action are from humans. Such as deforestation, Burn the fossil fuel, release by factories, Car, etc.

Therefore, CO2  is a main factor that cause global warming. Refer to the statistic in 2019, The Earth has intenseness of Carbon-dioxide more than 415.70 part per million. Which is the highest recorded in the history ,that mean it is really hazard.

 

 

Because of this MIT Engineers are gather and create the company, specially to solve the environment problem. The team has demonstrate about the operation of air purifier system work. Basically, the specialized battery that absorb Carbon-dioxide from the air passing over electrodes as a charge up and then when it release the gas as discharge. The interesting things is that, it can catch up Co2  which have  intensity more than 400 parts per million.

 

What about CO2  that they catch up?

 In the present their are a lot companies that need pure Co2  to produce their product. such as soft drink factory, Soda factory, Beer factory, etc.

While some industries use CO2 as a raw material for the production of other chemicals. Such as polyethylene and polypropylene Which is used to produce as a medical device Including car parts And bulletproof vests.

I think this idea is really needed for the global right now, as we know about global warming, temperature change, season doesn’t come properly. If this machine have risen then I think it will be one of the useful machine we ever have. Unfortunately, I also think that it cannot carries out all the carbon-dioxide which is already appear and It will not be easy to move it, I mean it size maybe too big. Anyway, I think it is a good idea.

 

reference: https://www.zmescience.com/ecology/climate/atmospheric-co2-reaches-record-415ppm-the-highest-its-been-in-millions-of-years/

http://news.mit.edu/2019/mit-engineers-develop-new-way-remove-carbon-dioxide-air-1025

 

How Coca Cola uses AI

Reading Time: 4 minutes

If you sell hundreds of different products across multiple countries, perceptions and customer behaviour can vary greatly from market to market. Understanding these differences helps tailor specific messages for different markets, rather than relying on a one-size-fits-all approach.When you’re dealing with global brands, user data from social media or generated through your own systems (such as vending machines) is vast and messy. AI provides a viable method of structuring this data and drawing out insights.Computer vision technology such as image recognition tools can analyse millions of social media images to help a brand understand when, how and by whom its products are enjoyed.As well as making marketing decisions, brands that are fully invested in AI are beginning to use it for designing new products and services

As the world’s largest beverage company, Coca-Cola serves more than 1.9 billion drinks every day, across over 500 brands, including Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Fanta, Sprite, Dasani, Powerade, Schweppes and Minute Maid.Big data and artificial intelligence (AI) power everything that the business does.

The Coca Cola company is a shining example of a business which has re-ordered itself based on data and intelligence. It has long shown an appreciation of the fact that today’s technology offers unprecedented opportunity to reassess just about every aspect of how business is conducted. Rethinking itself as a technology driven company with a focus on strategic implementation of data and AI means it is likely to retain its place at the head of the pack for the foreseeable future.Artificial intelligence is driving many of the digital initiatives being pushed forward in today’s
industries, and Coca-Cola is using the technology to drive its own unique purchasing experiences.

The original Coca-Cola recipe was developed by John Pemberton as a medical solution to treat his own morphine addiction. Initially branded as French Wine Coca in 1885, the non-alcoholic version, Coca-Cola, was developed the following year. Originally sold as a patent medicine, Pemberton marketed Coca-Cola with claims it could cure ailments as wide-ranging as indigestion, nerve disorders, headaches, and impotence. From there, the brand grew exponentially – eventually dropping the medical pretensions and being marketed as a pure soft drink instead.
Today, Coca-Cola is one of the world’s largest most recognizable brands. The company employs over 100,000 people and has revenues of $41,863 million, placing it at #64 on the Fortune 500.

Marketing soft drinks around the world is not a “one-size-fits-all affair”. Coca-Cola products are marketed and sold in over 200 countries.In each of these markets there are local differences concerning flavours, sugar and calorie contents, marketing preferences and competitors faced by the brand.This means that to stay on top of the game in every territory, it must collect and analyse huge amounts of data from disparate sources to determine which of its 500 brands are likely to be well received. The taste of their most well-known brands will even differ from country to country, and understanding these local preferences is a hugely complex task.

Coca-Cola collects data on local drink preferences through the interfaces on its touch-screen vending machines – over 1 million of them are installed in Japan alone.To understand how its products are discussed and shared on social media, the company has set up 37 “social centers” to collect data and analyse it for insights using the Salesforce platform. The aim is to create more of the content that is shown to be effective at generating positive engagement. In the past, the process of creating this content was carried out by humans; however, the company has been actively looking at developing automated systems that will create adverts and social content informed by social data.It also uses image recognition technology to target users who share pictures on social media inferring that they could be potential customers.

In one example of this strategy in action, Coca-Cola targeted adverts for its Gold Peak brand of iced tea at those who posted images that suggested they enjoy iced tea, or in which the image recognition algorithms spotted logos of competing brands. Once the algorithms determined that specific individuals were likely to be fans of iced tea, and active social media users who shared images with their friends, the company knows that targeting these users with adverts is likely to be an efficient use of their advertising revenue.For purchase verification, off-the-shelf image recognition technology proved to be insufficient for reading the low-resolution dot matrix printing used to stamp product codes onto packaging. So, Coca-Cola worked to develop its own image recognition solution using Google’s TensorFlow technology.

Analysis of the data from vending machines by AI algorithms allows Coca-Cola to more accurately understand how the buying habits of its billions of customers varies across the globe.Computer vision analysis and natural language processing of social media posts, as well as deep learning-driven analysis of social engagement metrics, allows Coca-Cola to produce social advertising that is more likely to resonate with customers and drive sales of its products.
Applying TensorFlow to create convolutional neural networks enabled scanners to recognise product codes from a simple photograph, increasing customer engagement with Coca-Cola’s different loyalty programs around the world.The famous soft drink has been around for a long time, but one of the ways in which Coca-Cola is driving innovation today is by incorporating advanced artificial intelligence technology into its worldwide network of branded vending machines.Artificial intelligence is going to be at the forefront of all digital and omnichannel marketing in the future, and we can surely expect to see many more innovations like Coca-Cola’s vending machines moving forwards.

References:
1. https://artificialintelligence-news.com/2019/05/07/how-coca-cola-is-using-ai-to-stay-at-the-top-of-the-soft-drinks-market/
2.https://foodandbeverage.wbresearch.com/blog/coca-cola-artificial-intelligence-ai-omnichannel-strategy
3.https://bernardmarr.com/default.asp?contentID=1171
4.https://www.warc.com/newsandopinion/news/how_cocacola_does_ai/41582

How Coca Cola is Leveraging Machine Learning in the Hyper-competitive CPG Industry

Unclear future of transportation

Reading Time: 3 minutes

The trend of automakers introducing electric vehicles is going viral at the moment. It is believed that car manufacturers are planning to invest approximately up to $90 billion in the development of EVs [6]. The main reasons why people go “electric” is because they think electric cars are 100% environmentally-friendly, cheaper to maintain and refuel. Moreover, many countries are planning to ban the sales and manufacturing of new, gas-powered cars. India plans to ban new conventional cars by 2030, the UK by 2050 and France by 2040 [4]. However, are electric cars are the answer to fighting climate change? Are they 100% “clean” as most of the consumers think? Let’s find out.

 

Electric vehicles are seen as an eco-friendly solution for fighting global warming. Last year over 3 million electric autos were sold and this is figure predicted to rise in the future [2]. Although, EVs do not generate any pollution while being driven the way they are produced should not be forgotten. The batteries of electric cars are dependent on the following raw-materials: cobalt, lithium, aluminum, manganese and many more [5]. To extract these metals companies are using extensive amounts of clean water, which further promotes harm to the environment [2]. Besides, bringing the harm to the environment the extraction of the mentioned above metals is done in the third-world countries. There were several instances when the extraction included illegal child labor and non-compliance to the work safety regulations when operating with these bio-hazardous metals [2]. Moreover, these resources are scarce as well as oil and no safe way was found in recycling the lithium-ion batteries [3]. A recent investigation in China has shown that an average fossil-powered vehicle would result in 10.5 tonnes of CO2 emissions. On the other hand, single electric vehicle results in the 13 tonnes of CO2 emissions, including battery production [5]. However, of course, if we are talking about the long-term perspective, for example, 150,000 km of mileage electric cars would produce around 20% fewer emissions than the conventional car [5]. Alongside, with the battle between electric cars and conventional ones, there has been a player that hasn’t still received wide recognition, them being hydrogen-powered or fuel-cell vehicles. These cars use hydrogen gas to generate electricity and convert it into movement. These cars are 100% emission-free releasing only pure water from their exhaust pipe [1]. However, as with electric cars, hydrogen-fueled autos cannot find a clean development solution, as today the technology depends on fossil fuels to produce the wanted fuel cell [1].

Summing up, the future of transportation is pretty vague at the moment. Although, to some extent electric cars allow us to reduce the amount of CO2 produced it does not resolve the problem completely. As of today, we cannot find a 100% pure-clean way to the CO2 issue. Currently, it can be said that the best way to reduce the number of greenhouse gases escaping to the atmosphere is by taking public transport or car-sharing [7]. Although sometimes these ways of transportation do not seem like the best options to take, I strongly believe that technology will help us to discover a fully eco-friendly way of commuting in the near upcoming future.

 

 

Work Cited

  1. Baxter, E. (2011, April 25). 10 Possible Transportation Pollution Solutions. Retrieved November 24, 2019, from https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/10-transportation-pollution-solutions1.htm.
  2. Broom, D. (2019, March 27). The dirty secret of electric vehicles. Retrieved November 24, 2019, from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/03/the-dirty-secret-of-electric-vehicles/.
  3. Brueckner, M. (2018, April 17). Not so fast: why the electric vehicle revolution will bring problems of its own. Retrieved November 24, 2019, from https://theconversation.com/not-so-fast-why-the-electric-vehicle-revolution-will-bring-problems-of-its-own-94980.
  4. Coren, M. J. (2018, August 7). Nine countries say they’ll ban internal combustion engines. So far, it’s just words. Retrieved November 24, 2019, from https://qz.com/1341155/nine-countries-say-they-will-ban-internal-combustion-engines-none-have-a-law-to-do-so/.
  5. Hasan, A., & Chapman, R. B. (2019, October 15). Climate explained: the environmental footprint of electric versus fossil cars. Retrieved November 24, 2019, from https://theconversation.com/climate-explained-the-environmental-footprint-of-electric-versus-fossil-cars-124762.
  6. Lienert, P. (2018, January 15). Global carmakers to invest at least $90 billion in electric vehicles. Retrieved November 24, 2019, from https://www.reuters.com/article/us-autoshow-detroit-electric/global-carmakers-to-invest-at-least-90-billion-in-electric-vehicles-idUSKBN1F42NW.
  7. Transport emissions. (n.d.). Retrieved November 24, 2019, from https://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/transport_en.

 

 

SMART DUST

Reading Time: 3 minutes

 


Dust that creates from particles of soil, pollution, or volcano eruption is not an innovation. It is actually a very unpleasant component of wind that makes you cough. Also, you can think of it as the thing that gathers all over that thick book you got for your 8th birthday from some aunt who was hoping for your bright education. Nevertheless, at the turn of the 21st century came a revolution to dust. With many futuristic ideas set out in novels of such authors like Stanisław Lem or Neal T. Stephenson, one agency of the US Department of Defence started to ponder whether we can apply them in real life. This action sparked an interest of UCLA, and the project of smart dust emerged.

 

So, what is smart dust?

 

The best way to think about smart dust is as a tiny microelectromechanical system (MEMS). The other name for these systems is motes. They can be found in many shapes, but usually, smart dust devices are tiny sensors or robots. What is worth pointing out is that these nano-structured mechanisms come with numerous remarkable abilities. This seemingly crazy technological innovation straight from the future combines computing, sensing, and wireless communication in a small autonomous powered device. As smart dust is typically not more than a few millimeters, it can be brought into the environment just like a particle of dust. This feature enables it to enter any small space and for example, check its humidity. Despite smart dust small size, it can store an actually significant amount of data and wirelessly connect to other MEMS. It can also detect everything from light to vibrations and report the features of a particular region in a matter of seconds. Moreover, these devices are connected to the onboard computer with which they can process collected data.

 

For what we can use it?

 

This kind of Internet of Things (IoT) technology first emerged with hopes to apply it in the military dimension. Smart dust can be used in warfare to determine the traits of the battlefield, which is very important for creating a good strategy. As it is almost invisible, its abilities give the opportunity to drag the victory of smart dust’s user side. With this also comes its application in security departments, as MEMS can keep an eye on people and products. Furthermore, the knowledge of the environment is a matter of utmost importance not only for the military but also for agriculture. Because of that, smart dust devices pathed its way into farming as it can monitor particular crops to ascertain the amount of water, fertilizer, and pest control needs. The most extraordinary application can be found in a paper written by a couple of researchers at UC Berkeley as they devised neural dust which could be implanted on the human brain in order to measure its functioning. As this technology might sound way too futuristic for you to have it, you can actually print it in a 3D printer. There are a few commercially available schemes and projects which you can deploy with not so enormous budget.

 

 

To sum up, smart dust is undoubtedly revolutionizing in many industries. The most promising applications can be found in healthcare and security. It disrupts mundane solutions with cutting-edge technology. But there is also a dark side. As this technology is targeted into supervising and is barely traceable, it raises questions about privacy. How can we be sure anybody doesn’t spy on us? With that question in mind and knowledge that anybody can create smart dust and use it anywhere, the reflection elevates data protection to a whole new level.

 

Resources:

  • https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2018/09/16/smart-dust-is-coming-are-you-ready/
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnnWrLt_RCo
  • https://www.forbes.com/sites/eliseackerman/2013/07/19/how-smart-dust-could-be-used-to-monitor-human-thought/#4027a3197ebf
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufr7ZT1CNwA
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smartdust

Tesla announces its Cybertruck

Reading Time: 4 minutes


Today, Tesla announced that they will be releasing their electrically-powered truck that is called Cybertruck. They claim that while being fully electric, it provides more features than other trucks on the market. Let’s dive into this and discuss the Cybertrucks capabilities!

Tesla claims that Cybertruck has better utility than a truck with more performance than a sports car. Well, it is true, and we will compare it later.


It is claimed to be built for passengers’ safety. It is durable and secure. Its body is made of Ultra-Hard 30X Cold-Rolled stainless steel and reinforced with Tesla’s armor glass. While being sturdy, the body still possesses the best aerodynamic properties out of any truck available on the market as of now. Its body material provides great protection against dents, scratches, long-term corrosion, and any potential damage. Interestingly enough, it is quite rare nowadays to have a car made of stainless steel. Mostly, manufacturers use stainless steel for chassis and aluminum for a car’s body. Therefore, you can expect ultimately safest driving possible with Cybertruck. The glass, while not dimming the light that passes through it, is made of polymer-layered composite that can absorb impact force. True, it would probably not save you from a bullet, but it will at least try to.

As mentionned, Tesla wants its creation to be both versatile and full of utility. They claim that Cybertruck can withhold up to a ton and a half kilograms of payload capacity. It has lockable storage and 2,8 cubic meters of exterior space. Cybertruck’s towing ability is over 6,3 tons. It also helps that it has an adaptive air suspension that would help you to tackle the roads and hills. Cybertruck is a six-seater with additional storage under the second seat row. Tesla learned a lot from its Tesla Model 3 launch and they are featuring their brand new 17 inches horizontally-oriented touchscreen, as they think that it is a better fit for the truck. Moreover, Cybertruck’s roof and trunk hood can be utilized in many ways starting from a tent and ending with anything that you can come up with. It is super flexible and multifunctional.


While possessing a big amount of cool features, Tesla still wants us to understand how quick Cyberstuck is on the road. There are three specs versions when it comes to motors: Single motor rear-wheel drive, dual-motor all-wheel drive, and tri-motor all-wheel drive. The single motor version would get you to 100 km/h in just 6,6 seconds, the dual-motor version would get you there in 4,7 seconds, and last but not least, the tri-motor version will get you there in just under 3 seconds! It is fast! Comparing it to Bugatti Veyron that gets to 100 kilometers in 2,6 seconds, like, come on, it is a TRUCK, not a super sportscar! There is no truck that can go that fast. What it truly means for people who would like to get Cybertrcuk for utility and work, that it has a huge torque that will help you get out of sticky situations.


It is important to acknowledge the bizarre design of the truck. It is true that Tesla went for a futuristic look with this one, and only time will tell if it is well-received. Now, people are making jokes about the design and ridiculing it on Twitter. However, Tesla does have a supportive argument that explains why would they go for such a design. Tesla officials say, that, in general, trucks are not that pretty nor stylish, and, because they are not, they lack good aerodynamic properties. Therefore, this style is achieving what normal gas-fueled trucks can’t achieve – speed, torque, and, well, style!


Let’s dive into the tech specs:

Specs Single RWD Dual AWD Triple AWD
Range 400 km 480 km 800 km
Storage 2,8 sq. m 2,8 sq. m 2,8 sq. m
Vault Length 2 m 2 m 2 m
Towing Cap 3,4 tons 4,5 tons 6,3 tons
Clearance 40 cm 40 cm 40 cm
Apprch. Angle 35 degrees 35 degrees 35 degrees
Dep. Angle 28 degrees 28 degrees 28 degrees
Starting Price ($) 39,900 49,900 69,900 (nice)

Ultimately, Tesla Cybertruck looks like a promising entry to the truck market and according to the 22nd of November, 2019, Tesla has reported that it has already received above 60,000 pre-orders in the U.S. alone. Thank you for reading, and I will see you in an upcoming blog post!


Souces:

  • https://tech.onliner.by/2019/11/22/cybertruck
  • https://www.tesla.com/cybertruck/design?redirect=no#battery
  • https://www.tesla.com/en_gb/cybertruck
  • https://edition.cnn.com/2019/11/22/cars/tesla-cybertruck-electric-pickup-truck/index.html
  • https://e.autokult.pl/35702,tesla-cybertruck-czyli-najdziwniejszy-pickup-swiata
  • https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-tesla-cybertruck-roasted-twitter-2019-11?IR=T

Best Chinese hackers successfully hack Safari, Chrome and Office 365

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Less than one week ago there was a hacking competition in the city of Chengdu, China. Many fine Chinese hackers gathered to compete in the Tianfu Cup event.

Ethical hackers from China have a long history of success. However, since 2018 it is forbidden for Chinese experts to attend any events like this one abroad. Because of that, the Tianfu Cup competition took place last year for the first time and ended with great success. Best hackers earned more than $1 million in total for their achievements.

This year, during the two-day contest on 16 and 17 November, hackers try to find flaws in different software and use them to take over the given app using vulnerabilities that nobody has ever seen before.

During the first day, there have been 32 hacking attempts done by 11 different teams. Thirteen of them ended with success,  seven failed and 12 were abandoned because of different reasons.

In 13 successful  results, we can find software such as:

  • Safari (1 successful exploit)

  • Microsoft Edge (3 successful exploits)

  • Office 365 (1 successful exploit)

  • qemu-kvm + Ubuntu (1 successful exploit)

  • Adobe PDF Reader (2 successful exploits)

  • D-Link DIR-878 Router (3 successful exploits)

The second day was not as busy as the first one. There were 16 hacking sessions scheduled, half of them actually took place and only one ended with failure. Security experts had to give up on eight of them due to different circumstances as in the previous day.

The seven successful attempts were as following:

  • Adobe PDF Reader (2 successful exploits)

  • D-Link DIR-878 (4 successful exploits)

  • VMWare Workstation (1 successful exploit)

In the failed exploits security experts did not manage to hack things such as iPhone 11 Pro or Windows Server 2019. The winning Team 360Vulcan gave up hacking the iPhone 11 Pro that was scheduled for the end of the tournament. However, they still manage to win the competition and earn $ 382,500 for their achievements.

In cybersecurity, this kind of competition plays a big role in improving safety. After white hat hackers successfully hack anything,  companies owning these devices or software are informed about the situation in order to be able to fix it and develop their products in the future.

 

 

References:

https://www.zdnet.com/article/chrome-edge-safari-hacked-at-elite-chinese-hacking-contest/

https://adware.guru/tianfu-cup-hackers-competition/

https://threatpost.com/tianfu-cup-round-up-safari-chrome-d-link-routers-and-office-365-successfully-hacked/150335/

http://www.tianfucup.com/

 

The world’s first flying passenger drone

Reading Time: 2 minutes

‘’NASA unveils its first electric airplane’’ was exactly the first thing I heard on today’s morning newscast . Aircraft industry is now one of the most dynamic and exciting field. So not surprisingly that new explorations and discoveries occur on a daily basis, allowing to uncover new means of  transportation and also to improve that ones which are not impeccable enough.

I am convinced that almost everyone is familiar with drone as a flying robot that can be remotely controlled. But have you ever thought that it can become a competitive mode of transport?

Today it is our reality with a startup, founded by Alexander Zosel and Stephan Wolf, called Volocopter.

The ‘Volocopter’ looks like a helicopter and can be piloted remotely or on board. The drone is designed primarily for stable and safe flight, and to be used to nip around the skies above the world’s largest cities. One of the key ideas behind it is that it’s built with lots of redundancy – meaning that even if multiple things go wrong, it can still stay airborne.

The Volocopter took its first manned flight in Southern Germany on March 30th  in 2016. With e-volo’s managing director Alexander Zosel in the cockpit, the truly strange-looking aircraft took to the skies above an airfield, hovered for several minutes, and then landed.

The Volocopter already has a permit to fly in Germany and has conducted numerous test flights (without passengers) in Dubai. The company said their dream is of a future where every human being can personally fly their own drone, and help major cities ease their traffic woes. Powered entirely by electricity, the Volocopter at the moment can fly for around 30 minutes and with a range of seventeen miles.

References:

https://www.volocopter.com/en/company/

https://www.theverge.com/2016/4/7/11388406/volocopter-18-rotors-manned-flight-evolo-germany

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/articles/volocopter-the-worlds-first-flying-passenger-drone

 

 

Future of Education

Reading Time: 3 minutes

We are in the place, that we have no idea what’s going to happen in the future”- Sir Ken Robinson.

Nowadays it is hard to follow the changes in a developing world. Due to new technologies, appearing every year, we have to go through a process of constant learning. Not only we have to adapt and change our habits to fit in, but also it is necessary to keep trying to understand how to follow trends effectively. It gives us the comfort of being familiar with new ideas. What’s more – we won’t be shocked in case we wake up in the world we do not understand.

Let’s turn our thinking in another, new direction. Leave behind all this constant and monotonous knowledge insertion. Who does need books in these days? We all have internet access, stop wrapping your thoughts just around hard facts. Learning and teaching how to adapt to new tasks is more valuable. Soft skills are a fundament to switch our brains from school desks lifestyle to tech-aware, new path. “One unifying factor of these trends is the focus on the direct impact technology will have on people.” It has been 50 years of internet development and just next 5 will bring the same amount of impact. ”

Hyperautomatization– combination of ML and automation tools in work. Multi experience– online users perspective will drastically change how users perceive the digital world. Human augmentation– how technology should be used to deliver cognitive and physical improvements in our lives. Transparency– a variety of attitudes and actions we need to undertake to raise awareness of new tech. (Those are only few of Gartner’s new top 10 strategic technologies, link in sources).

What is most important to achieve those goals is to be open-minded and keep the ability of constant learning. If we are talking about learning, we can’t go around the topic of education. The purpose of education is not only to give knowledge. It’s also about teaching how to be able to gain knowledge through the whole life. What this follows- the creativity aspect. It is commonly known that children are creative in every way. Guess what? We all were children one day. We all are born with the potential in inventing new things, having great ideas and fascinatingly connecting things. That’s why the new challenge for education is NOT to kill our creativity throughout the process of learning. Using new technologies innovatively and carefully is the key to success!

Education is meant to take us in the future we can’t grasp. Impredictibility is insane, even in a short period of 5 years. We can’t foresee the future, so be prepared for it! Don’t be afraid to invest in yourself to develop your skills. It especially concerns young students.

Here are some honourable mentions, how new technologies try to develop our education system already:

FUNTRONIC

What is better for children than having some fun, and motion included? What if we can compare those two things with class?

Take a look at this product. „Magic carpet” is nothing more than a projector and a camera which detects the movement. It is forcing students to jump off the desks and teamwork to achieve various goals in plenty of educational games. What’s the better approach, than through something that kids love within seconds? Brilliant!

MINECRAFT

Sounds strange? Yes, indeed, but it works!

Millennials are, softly spoken, professors in playing Minecraft. It’s one of the most successful projects of the 21st century. Let switch the roles! Let children educate a teacher something! Kids with pleasure will play and even explain everything to the tutor without being asked. The amount of things they can do in this game is insane. Using creativity mixed with interesting topics makes great improvement compared to normal learning. It’s also a good case to observe how many ways kids can develop their own paths of understandings. And it works in almost every subject. There’s just one more thing left: direct their effort in the virtual world in a proper way to lead the lesson!

PHOTON

Just another clear example. Photon Robot allows seeing how your code works. By simple steps solve tasks from teaching him movements to not complicated labyrinths. Learn the basics of coding languages and analytical thinking through playing with programmable robots.

 

 

 

 

Sources:

https://www.networkworld.com/article/3447401/gartner-top-10-strategic-technology-trends-for-2020.html?page=2

https://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity?language=pl

https://funtronic.eu/en/home/

https://www.spidersweb.pl/2019/01/magiczny-dywan-funtronic.html

https://www.microsoft.com/pl-pl/education/minecraft

https://edu.photonrobot.com/