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Early Data from NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory Reveals Over 11,000 New Asteroids
Scientists at NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory, jointly funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science, have submitted an unprecedented set of asteroid detections to the IAU Minor Planet Center, including hundreds of distant worlds beyond Neptune and 33 previously unknown near-Earth asteroids.
Using preliminary data from NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory, scientists have discovered over 11,000 new asteroids [1]. The data were confirmed by the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center (MPC), making this the largest single batch of asteroid discoveries submitted in the past year. The discoveries were made using data from Rubin’s early optimization surveys and offer a powerful preview of the observatory’s transformative impact on Solar System science.
Rubin Observatory is a joint program of NSF NOIRLab and DOE’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, who cooperatively operate Rubin. NOIRLab is managed by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA).
Psychological traits of scientists predict their theories and research methods
The research team also wanted to see if survey responses translated to actual scientific output. They received permission from a portion of the participants to securely link their survey answers with their professional publication records.
The team utilized machine learning technology to analyze the text of the scientists’ published abstracts and article titles. The computer algorithms measured how closely the words and phrasing matched among different authors. They also built algorithms to map out who these scientists collaborated with and which older papers they cited as foundational literature.
The algorithms revealed that cognitive traits are associated with differences in real-world publishing activity. This remained true even when controlling for a researcher’s specific subfield and preferred tools. Two psychologists who study the exact same topic using identical methods are still more likely to cite the same reference materials if they happen to share similar internal thinking styles.
New GPUBreach attack enables system takeover via GPU rowhammer
A new attack, dubbed GPUBreach, can induce Rowhammer bit-flips on GPU GDDR6 memories to escalate privileges and lead to a full system compromise.
GPUBreach was developed by a team of researchers at the University of Toronto, and full details will be presented at the upcoming IEEE Symposium on Security & Privacy on April 13 in Oakland.
The researchers demonstrated that Rowhammer-induced bit flips in GDDR6 can corrupt GPU page tables (PTEs) and grant arbitrary GPU memory read/write access to an unprivileged CUDA kernel.
Disgruntled researcher leaks “BlueHammer” Windows zero-day exploit
Exploit code has been released for an unpatched Windows privilege escalation flaw reported privately to Microsoft, allowing attackers to gain SYSTEM or elevated administrator permissions.
Dubbed BlueHammer, the vulnerability was published by a security researcher discontent with how Microsoft’s Security Response Center (MSRC) handled the disclosure process.
Since, the security issue has no official patch and there is no update to address it, the flaw is considered a zero-day by Microsoft’s definition.