Lifeboat Foundation

A new malware strain that can survive operating system reinstalls was spotted last year secretly hiding on a computer, according to the antivirus provider Kaspersky.

The company discovered the Windows-based malware last spring running on a single computer. How the malicious code infected the system remains unclear. But the malware was designed to operate on the computer’s UEFI firmware, which helps boot up the system.

The malware, dubbed MoonBounce, is especially scary because it installs itself on the motherboard’s SPI flash memory, instead of the computer’s storage drive. Hence, the malware can persist even if you reinstall the computer’s OS or swap out the storage.

Developed at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, it combines solar panels and a hydrogel underlayer.

Hydrogen made using electricity generated from wind or solar power could provide a clean and carbon-neutral source of energy. Europe is leading the way.

When cities lack the paths pedestrians need, people vote with their feet.

Officials and engineers at Kawasaki have unveiled Bex, a quadruped robot that can walk, roll around and even carry a human passenger on its back—at this year’s 2022 International Robot Exhibition in Tokyo. At the exhibition, Bex was configured to look like an Ibex, a type of wild goat, which is where it gets its name.

Bex was created as part of an effort at Kawasaki the company calls a “robust humanoid platform” with a project called Kaleido. Most such efforts from the project have involved robots that are halfway between human-like robots and wheeled bots. Bex appears to be an aberration—it is a quadruped with wheels on its knees. The robot can walk around, similar in many respects to a quadruped from Boston Dynamics, though much slower. But it also squats down to its knees, locks its joints and fires up a motor that drives the robot around like a car. Bex can also carry cargo (up to 100 kilograms) such as crops or humans. At the exhibition, Bex was mounted by an engineer and ridden in circles like a pony. The team at Kawasaki has also made the robot a little glitzier than many of its competitors—it has flashing lights that run up and down its neck and antlers.

Continue reading “Bex: A walking, rolling quadruped robot that can carry a person around” »

Circa 2020

Astrophysicist Katie Mack’s book explores all the ways the cosmos could destroy itself.

Circa 2021

This story comes from our special January 2021 issue, “The Beginning and the End of the Universe.” Click here to purchase the full issue.

But even the black holes will one day die. And when they do, these monsters won’t go gently into the night. A burst of fireworks will light up the universe in the final moments of each black hole, heralding the end of the era.

Continue reading “The Beginning to the End of the Universe: How black holes die” »

The Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport had two solar power systems installed onsite and made them live in February. Over the course of their electricity-generating life spans, they will offset thousands of tons of CO₂ emissions and potentially save millions of dollars.

Sonoma County has been hit particularly hard by wildfires in the last several years. These natural disasters occur with some regularity on their own, but many believe the latest ones are connected to the effects of climate change. The county has been experiencing higher temperatures and droughts as well. As a result of these challenges, Sonoma County’s government set a goal for the county to be carbon neutral by 2030. The airport solar power installations fit within the carbon-free plan. (The California state government has a goal for California to be operating on clean, carbon-free electricity by 2045.)

Jon Stout, the Sonoma Airport Manager, and Rachel McLaughlin, ForeFront Power’s Vice President of Sales & Marketing, provided some insights to CleanTechnica about the new solar power systems. (The last three answers are from ForeFront.)

Finland is building a nuclear waste disposal site deep under the tiny city of Eurajoki. Called Onkalo, meaning “deep pit” in Finnish, the nuclear waste repository is slated to open in 2024. If all goes to plan, copper casks will safely store spent uranium fuel rods for at least the next 100,000 years. But what happens when we bury nuclear waste, and how does this fit into Finland’s nuclear future?

Finland is a Scandinavian country about the size of Montana with about five times the population at 5.5 million residents. (That said, Finland is the 216th nation in the world by population density, showing just how sparse Montana really is.) The population is concentrated in the south, with just 200,000 people living around and above the Arctic Circle in northern Finland.