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Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Health security

The horrible science of hangovers (and how to stop them)

giphy (34)No one wants to ring in the New Year with a splitting headache and a sandpapery tongue, and yet "Hangover Cure" tends to be the number one Google search on New Year's Day. If that search term brought you here, sorry: There's no silver bullet cure for the side effects of boozin'. But based on what we know about hangovers, scientifically speaking, there are some things you can do to help.
International security

7 Events of Geopolitical Consequence to Anticipate in Asia in Early 2016


7 Events of Geopolitical Consequence to Anticipate in Asia in Early 20162016 is just around the corner and there’s a lot to keep an eye on in Asia in the first month of the year. In January 2016, we’ll see elections in Taiwan, the formal operational launch of China’s Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the possible resumption of peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban, the first steps toward renewed comprehensive talks between India and China, and the possible disintegration of a recently concluded controversial deal between the Japanese and South Korean governments on comfort women. Here’s your guide to starting off the new year with an eye to some early developments of geopolitical significance in the Asia-Pacific...
Innovations & technologies

Robots To Soon Touch The World Around Them

Depending on how you count them, humans have a variety of senses. The big five – sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch – provide us with the vast majority of the information we require to operate in the world. In some applications, for robots to be most useful for us, they need to possess replicas of these senses. Indeed, several of the senses are already recreated in their machine versions, or work is well underway to make it a reality. Video analytics provides machine visions. Audio analysis – including speech recognition – is a well developed field. There is even work to imbue machines with a “sense of smell.” Soon, robots could be getting the sense of touch, as well.
SynTouch is developing a haptic sensor that aims to provide robots with the ability to “feel” textures. They have, using this sensor, compiled a taxonomy of more than 500 materials, from fabrics to stone, in a database called SynTouch Standard. It’s based on 15 factors, like thermal properties, friction, and coarseness. SynTouch intends to standardise the classification of how materials feel, and to take subjectivity out of the matter.

Terror threat 

Russia establishes five regional maritime counter-terrorist headquarters

Russian president Vladimir Putin has signed and enacted a decree that establishes five operational headquarters in maritime areas to organise, plan, and conduct counter-terrorism operations.
The five centres, which exclude any on the Baltic Sea or wider Arctic Ocean, consist of: Kaspiysk in Dagestan, North Caucasus, on the Caspian Sea; Murmansk in Northern Russia on the Bering Sea and Arctic Ocean; Petropavlovsk-Kamchatka in the Russian Far East on the Northern Pacific coast; Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk on Sakhalin Island, in the Sea of Okhotsk and close to northern Japan; and Simferopol in occupied Crimea, close to the Black Sea and obviously Ukraine.
None of the locations have existing defence or naval headquarters.
Intel v. congressional scrutiny 

Spy agencies resist push for expanded scrutiny of top employees

U.S. intelligence agencies recently fought off a move by Congress to require the CIA and other spy services to disclose more details about high-ranking employees who have been promoted or fired, despite pledges to be more open and accountable.
The disputed measure was designed to increase scrutiny of cases­ in which senior officers ascend to high-level positions despite problems ranging from abusive treatment of subordinates to involvement in botched operations overseas.
The CIA in particular has come under sharp criticism in recent years for promoting operatives who faced investigations by the agency’s internal watchdog or the Justice Department for their roles in the brutal interrogations of prisoners or badly mishandled operations to capture terrorism suspects.
Cybersecurity

John McAfee Wants to Make Passwords Obsolete


John McAfee
The technology comes in two forms: one that resembles a USB thumb drive and another that looks like a digital fitness band. Both versions store passwords using military-grade software encryption, meaning that the data is especially tough to decipher, according to Everykey’s Web site.
When you place Everykey near a properly configured laptop, smartphone, or tablet computer, it automatically unlocks the device using a Bluetooth wireless connection. Move it out of range (about nine feet), and the device will lock down again so that no one unauthorized can use it.
Everykey works with Web site accounts and doors that are outfitted with wireless access control technology—including those in your house or your car. What happens if you lose Everykey? It can be “frozen” remotely, so no one else can use it.
Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity Skills Gap Making Companies Vulnerable To Major Attacks

Although there are more than a million cybersecurity positions available worldwide, the global shortage of skilled cybersecurity professionals is set to continue to grow at rapid pace in 2016, putting public and private sector organizations at risk, according to a recent survey by Cybrary, the world’s first and only no-cost cybersecurity massive open online course provider.

The results of the survey of 435 senior level cybersecurity professionals revealed that the cybersecurity job market is growing four times faster than the overall IT market and 12 times faster than the overall job market. Moreover, 47 percent of companies plan to hire between one and 10 cybersecurity workers in 2016, compared to 42 percent in 2015.

Despite the burgeoning demand for cyber talent, there is a lack of professionals with the skills necessary to fill these open positions. More than 80 percent of respondents indicated that they always or sometimes have trouble recruiting skilled cybersecurity professionals.
Public security

Israel and US to Promote Tech Development for First Responders

The Israel-US Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation has announced that the Israeli Ministry of Public Security and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security have signed an agreement of cooperation meant to encourage and support joint projects between Israeli companies and American companies for developing advanced technologies for First Repsonders.
The Israeli-American projects for the development of advanced technologies for first responders will receive about $12 million in funding over the next three years. The agreement brings together the Israeli Ministry of Public Security and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in their aim to better equip and prepare both countries’ national rescue forces including fire, police, and first-aid units. Each side will invest equally in the project.
Spy wars

Israel: We don’t spy on US, and expect US not to spy on us

Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz, arrives to cast his vote in the Likud primeries, in Tel Aviv, on December 29, 2015. (Flash90)Intelligence and Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz on Wednesday maintained that Israel does not spy on the US and said it expects Washington to uphold the same standards.
The Likud minister was responding to a report in The Wall Street Journalthat said the White House instructed US spies to eavesdrop on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top Israeli officials earlier this year in an effort to counter campaigning against the Iran nuclear deal, despite having promised to curtail listening in on foreign leaders.
The National Security Agency’s spying dragnet was cast so wide it caught conversations Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders had with US officials and Jewish American leaders. This led to what one source called an “oh shit moment,” because of fears that “the executive branch would be accused of spying on Congress,” according to the report.
Economic security

IMF chief warns of ‘disappointing’ global growth in 2016


International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde © Eric Vidal
Global economic growth will be disappointing and uneven next year, said the head of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde in an article for German newspaper Handelsblatt.
"In many countries the financial sector still has weaknesses and in emerging markets the financial risks are increasing. All of that means global growth will be disappointing and uneven in 2016," said Lagarde.
Low productivity, aging populations and the effects of the global financial crisis were putting the brakes on growth, she added.
Lagarde said growth in global trade has slowed considerably and a decline in raw material prices is posing problems for economies based on those factors. The financial sector in many countries still has weaknesses and financial risks are rising in emerging markets.
Financial safety

Will Iran, China, Russia Push US Dollar to the Brink of Extinction?

Euro and United States 100-dollar banknotes and Iran's rial banknotesThe supremacy of the US dollar is in danger: more and more countries around the world are seeking to replace the American currency, independent researcher and writer Timothy Alexander Guzman notes, pointing to a series of Russo-Iranian agreements aimed at stopping mutual settlements in US dollars with foreign countries.
...Besides Iran and Russia, China is replacing the dollar as mediating currency in its trade with Russia and other countries, at the same time bolstering the positions of the yuan as an alternative reserve currency.
As more countries are pushing ahead with de-dollarization, the US dollar faces decline in its exchange value. And it will result in a weaker dollar.
The de-dollarization is an obvious backlash against the US' longstanding policy of oppression of its geopolitical rivals. In fact, Washington has shot itself in the foot by imposing restrictions on Russia and Iran's trade. No one likes a bully.

Public security

POLICE REPEATEDLY VISITED APARTMENT BUILDING BEFORE EXPLOSION

Police sign
The police visited the apartment building on Nachtegaalstraat in Drachten in which there was an explosion on Sunday night several times before the explosion, a spokesperson said in a press conference on Monday, NOS reports.
The police spokesperson would not say who called the police in or for what. He also would not comment on rumors that some threatened to set the building on fire. A forensic investigation is currently ongoing in the apartment building to determine the cause of the explosion.
Only one person was injured in the explosion, a 46 year old man. He is in hospital with burns.
Twelve of the 38 apartments in the building collapsed after the explosion. All residents were evacuated before the collapse. All in all some 20 apartments are now uninhabitable, according to a spokesperson for the housing association.
Intel reform

CHINA’S MILITARY INTELLIGENCE SYSTEM IS CHANGING


Парад_в_честь_70-летия_Великой_Победы_-_40As American families dined on turkey and stuffing, China’s Central Military Commission (CMC) was hard at work in Beijing hammering out military reforms. These reforms were then announced to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) by President Xi Jinping, who also serves as the CMC chairman. The proposed organizational changes may make this round of reform the most significant since those of the 1950s, when the PLA transitioned from a revolutionary army to the arm of a party-state. First impressions of the proposals provide mostly descriptive analyses at what Xi Jinping proposed for the PLA, but what the PLA publicized does not tell the whole story. The proposed creation of a separate headquarters for PLA ground forces and reorganization of the military regions will reverberate throughout military intelligence — a subject omitted entirely in Beijing’s propaganda blitz. Once the PLA moves beyond the inevitable organizational growing pains, the Chinese military intelligence system will be better positioned to manage its responsibilities for informing policymakers and supporting military operations.
Electronic surveillance

Counterintelligence app lets troops in Europe flag suspicious acts

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Any smartphone can serve as a direct link to Army counterintelligence operations in Europe, thanks to an application launched on Dec. 18.
The iReport app, available for iOS and Android products, lets users report suspicious activities either to counterintelligence personnel or to local law enforcement. Unsure where your tip should go? The app points users in the right direction — flag the intel team for “someone expressing hatred of American society, culture or government,” for instance, or send a message to the police for “someone taking unauthorized photography of buildings or gate entrances.”
Climate security

Deaths and mass evacuations in South American floods


An aerial view of flooded houses in a neighborhood of Asuncion, Paraguay on 28 December 2015, for the overflow of Paraguay and Parana rivers. The flood has left 100,000 displaced people who are mostly residing in housing provided by the government. The worst floods for the past fifty years is currently affecting other South American countries, along with Paraguay, they includeBrazil, Arengitina and Uruguay.  Picture: EPA/ANDRES CRISTALDO
The death of a technician who was electrocuted while trying to restore power to a Paraguayan village brought the toll across three countries to at least 12 overall.
Over recent days the storms blamed on the El Nino weather phenomenon have killed four people in Brazil and two in Argentina. Officials say rainfall has driven at least 160,000 people from their homes in Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay.
The director of Paraguay’s weather service, Julian Baez, told reporters the level of the Paraguay River had risen to nearly 8m.
If rains continue as forecasters expect, the flood levels could tie or pass their record of 9m in 1983, when the capital’s busy port area was under water, Mr Baez warned.
Private data security

Database of 191 million U.S. voters exposed on Internet: researcher

Signs are pictured during a voter registration drive for National Voter Registration Day outside Convention Center in Los Angeles, California September 22, 2015.   REUTERS/Mario AnzuoniAn independent computer security researcher uncovered a database of information on 191 million voters that is exposed on the open Internet due to an incorrectly configured database, he said on Monday.The database includes names, addresses, birth dates, party affiliations, phone numbers and emails of voters in all 50 U.S. states and Washington, researcher Chris Vickery said in a phone interview.Vickery, a tech support specialist from Austin, Texas, said he found the information while looking for information exposed on the Web in a bid to raise awareness of data leaks.
Homeland security

‘Tactical 260’ Aerostat Expands Aeros’ Persistent Intelligence Gathering Capabilities

The North American Defense Advanced Technology Solution’s (NADATS), the defense-focused division of lighter-than-air (LTA) aircraft manufacturer, Aeros, announced earlier this month the expansion of its tactical aerostat line with the addition of the Tactical 260 aerostat.

Similar in design to the Tactical 130 model, the Tactical 260 aerostat is a larger system capable of increased payloads. The new model features a number of enhanced surveillance capabilities that promise to increase the aerostat line’s persistent surveillance capabilities.

An aerostat is a gas filled, tethered aircraft that provide intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) support. Aerostats have become an increasingly popular surveillance platform in the last several years as a cost-effective solution for ISR missions.

Aerospace

CHINESE STEALTH FIGHTER J-20 STARTS PRODUCTION

J-20 2101 China Stealth FighterIn a Christmas gift for Chinese fighter pilots, December 25th saw the unveiling of a new J-20 fighter in fresh yellow fuselage primer on the runway of the Chengdu Aviation Corporation (CAC) factory. More notable than its paint color, however, was the numbering of the plane: "2101." As opposed to "2018" or "2019" to follow the eighth flying prototype "2017," "2101" suggests the plane is the first of the low rate initial production (LRIP) airframes, which signify the move away from prototype production to building fighters for actual military use.

Terror threat

ISIS of Nazareth: Terror Group Arrives in Jesus’s Hometown

At the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth, on the site where it is believed the Angel Gabriel told the Virgin Mary she would carry the next messiah, Jesus Christ, both Christian and Muslim residents of the city are reflecting on recent news that the so-called Islamic State has come into their midst.
This month, the Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic intelligence agency, announced the arrest of five Nazareth residents who, it said, had declared their allegiance to ISIS. They had been training with arms, meeting covertly, and preparing for a jihad on “infidels,” the agency said.

Monday, December 28, 2015

National security

Addressing the Imbalance Between Strategy and Resources in a Turbulent World


Jihadist Attacks Rose Ninefold Between 2007 and 2013Expectation, Meet Reality
The U.S. strategy and defense program outlined in the 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review was predicated on certain assumptions:
  • That Europe would be stable and at peace.
  • That conditions in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Middle East were sufficiently quiet to continue drawing down large-scale U.S. ground, air, and naval forces to a series of small-scale counterterrorist efforts.
These conditions, it was thought, would allow the United States to focus more attention and resources on the Asia-Pacific region, "rebalancing" U.S. foreign and defense policy.
These assumptions, reflected in the presidential budget shown in Force II below, have been upended. However, the Budget Control Act limits defense spending to the levels described in Force I. Simply put, the current levels of military spending did not anticipate a revanchist Russia, the collapse of the Iraqi military and the rise of ISIS, or the continued need for U.S. combat forces in Afghanistan...


Wartime crimes

"Comfort women": Japan's 70-year sex slavery controversy, explained

In August 1910, in a date that to Americans might seem like ancient history but in northeast Asia is remembered as if it were yesterday, the Empire of Japan formally annexed what had once been the sovereign nation of Korea. It is only now, over a century later, that Japan and Korea have formally reconciled one of the darkest legacies of that era: the 1930s and '40s recruitment of Korean women and girls as sex slaves known as "comfort women."
Japan's imperialism in Korea ended in 1945, and Japan re-normalized relations with South Korea in 1965, but the psychological wounds it inflicted there have never fully healed. Japan and South Korea have, ever since, been locked in a sort of unspoken negotiation over this past; over how to remember this chapter in their shared history — a question that is still unresolved within Japan itself.
Middle East

Open thread for night owls. Feingold warns against another rush to an invasion of Iraq and Syria

As the United States struggles to begin a serious discussion about how best to deal with the threat posed by terrorist groups in general and Islamic State militants in particular, Russ Feingold is offering answers based on decades of experience and a deep understanding of all the issues that must be addressed. And it may be that the most important of these answers is this one: “[If] we are to win this fight, we cannot repeat the mistakes of the past with yet another rush toward a full-scale ground invasion led by tens of thousands of American troops.”
Politics & innovations

Washington's 'Star Wars'

GettyImages-494548335.jpgA Washington brawl has broken out over the future of the U.S. military's ability to reach orbit, with the powerhouse combo of Boeing and Lockheed Martin jostling with the scrappy — yet well-funded — upstart of entrepreneur Elon Musk’s SpaceX for multibillion-dollar contracts for launching satellites.
The competition is upending the norms of the defense contractor heavyweights, who are not used to dealing with relatively fresh rivals, and has released a flood of lobbying cash. SpaceX has spent more than $1.3 million on lobbying this year and while the Boeing-Lockheed joint effort, called United Launch Alliance, spent more than $900,000 — both on pace to easily set new records for the companies once the final quarter of 2015 is reported.

Politics & money



Over four decades of public life, Bill and Hillary Clinton have built an unrivaled global network of donors while pioneering fundraising techniques that have transformed modern politics and paved the way for them to potentially become the first husband and wife to win the White House.
The grand total raised for all of their political campaigns and their family’s charitable foundation reaches at least $3 billion, according to a Washington Post investigation.
Their fundraising haul, which began with $178,000 that Bill Clinton raised for his long-shot 1974 congressional bid, is on track to expand substantially with Hillary Clinton’s 2016 White House run, which has already drawn $110 million in support.





Cybersecurity

RECENTLY BOUGHT A WINDOWS COMPUTER? MICROSOFT PROBABLY HAS YOUR ENCRYPTION KEY


One of the excellent features of new Windows devices is that disk encryption is built-in and turned on by default, protecting your data in case your device is lost or stolen. But what is less well-known is that, if you are like most users and login to Windows 10 using your Microsoft account, your computer automatically uploaded a copy of your recovery key – which can be used to unlock your encrypted disk – to Microsoft’s servers, probably without your knowledge and without an option to opt-out.
During the “crypto wars” of the nineties, the National Security Agency developed an encryption backdoor technology – endorsed and promoted by the Clinton administration – called the Clipper chip, which they hoped telecom companies would use to sell backdoored crypto phones. 
Spy story

Will America’s 100-Year-Old Female Spy Finally Be Recognized for the Hero She Is?

Cpt. Stephanie Czech Rader
Capt. Stephanie Czech arrived at the U.S. embassy in Berlin wearing civilian clothes, as always, and delivered the report she’d been carrying to the intelligence section. The war may have ended, but Czech was still working, undercover.
Berlin was not her home base. Czech had arrived in Poland in October 1945, and spent the next four months driving around the countryside. She claimed to be a clerk at the U.S. embassy in Warsaw, searching for distant relatives in her spare time. In fact, Czech was an officer in the Women’s Army Corps and one of only two members of the Office of Strategic Services stationed in the country...
War on terror

What Is America Fighting For?


A U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft refuels from a KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft over northern Iraq Sept. 23, 2014, after conducting airstrikes in Syria.The United States has been at war with ISIS for more than a year, and with Islamic extremism for nearly a decade and a half. But beyond defending the homeland against terrorism,U.S. leaders have not offered a compelling answer to this vital question: What is it that America is fighting for?The question has taken on new urgency as electoral politics has driven a surge of illiberal populism, not only in the United States but in many European democracies. America will not defeat the grave challenge it faces by retreating from its core principles. When societies fall out of touch with their most elevating, unifying beliefs, they decline into cynicism and sloth. This is how states and civilizations decay and disappear.
Environmental security

2 Surprising Reasons Why Japan Won't Stop Hunting Whales


Hirata attributes Japan's pro-whaling anomaly to two factors. The first is cultural. Unlike Americans, Japanese people don't tend to see whales as charismatic mammals that should be protected from human consumption by a universal taboo. Hirata points out that in Japanese, "the symbol for whale (pronounced kujira) includes within it a component that means fish." Since whales are considered just a really big fish, she writes, "most Japanese lack any special love of whales and disagree with Western animal rights activists who insists on whales' rights." Sanctimony about whales translates as cultural prejudice...
Health security

Serious cases of influenza spark fear of outbreak

Print EditionThe Health Ministry called on everyone over the age of six – especially pregnant women and people of all ages with chronic diseases such as heart problems, diabetes or Down syndrome – to get a flu shot, following the death of a 54-year-old woman from H1N1 (swine) flu at the Rabin Medical Center-Beilinson Campus in Petah Tikva on Thursday.

The woman, who was first hospitalized a month ago at Soroka-University Medical Center in Beersheba, was transferred to Beilinson to undergo special treatment with a device designed to keep the heart and lungs working until they can recover. She had a chronic illness, but had not gone this year to her health fund clinic to receive the vaccine, which contains protection against the strain.
Weather & power grid security

Firefighters Gaining Control Over Explosive Ventura, California, Fire


Image: PCH 1 north and south bound lanes are shutdown from the Solimar  brush fire that started early Saturday morning in Ventura County
The flames were sparked when a power line fell and were fed by overnight winds of 50 mph, according to the Ventura County Fire Department.
About 100 homes near the coast were evacuated Saturday due to the blaze, which exploded to 1,200 acres overnight and grew by an additional 38 acres Saturday, according to the Ventura Fire Department. Residents were allowed back into their homes Saturday afternoon.
Syrian war

Russia Destroys Turkish Military Facilities inside Syria


A multifunctional fighter-bomber Su-34 of the Russian Aerospace Forces lands at Hemeimeem air base in Syria
Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said that Russian jets destroyed a terrorist training camp in the Syrian province of Idlib hosting fighters from Turkey and CIS states.
“Russian Su-34 bombers destroyed a major terrorist training camp in the Idlib province. A large group of experienced instructors from neighboring states (Turkey, Israel, Saudi Arabia and Qatar) had been stationed in the camp. Information about this camp, where the majority of terrorists arriving from Turkey were citizens of CIS countries, was received from representatives of the Syrian patriotic opposition about a week ago.”
Terror threat

Terrorism in 2016


TCB: Where do you see the threat from homegrown terrorism heading in 2016?
Matthew Olsen: There is every reason to expect that the threat of terrorism here in the U.S. will increase in 2016. The year 2015 is, by many measures, a record year in terms of the number of terror plots and terror suspects who have been identified.  This year around 50 people have been arrested for their connection to ISIS – the most that we’ve had since 9/11. That trend, given ISIS’s continued focus on the West as demonstrated in Paris and in San Bernardino, is likely to continue into the next year. That’s obviously posing a huge challenge to our counterterrorism community going forward.
Middle East

Israelis are calling attacks a ‘new kind of Palestinian terrorism’

Young Palestinians with kitchen knives are waging a ceaseless campaign of near-suicidal violence that Israeli leaders are calling “a new kind of terrorism.” Four attacks occurred in the past 48 hours alone — two stabbings and two vehicular assaults.
There have been about 120 attacks and attempted assaults by Palestinians against Israelis since early October, an average of more than one a day. At least 20 Israelis have been killed; more than 80 Palestinians have been shot dead by security forces and armed civilians during the assaults.
Encryption

Manhattan DA: Smartphone Encryption Foiled 120 Criminal Cases

 Investigators of the Paris attacks revealed recently that the terrorists used the encrypted apps WhatsApp and Telegram to communicate and coordinate beforehand. This follows reports from San Bernardino that authorities discovered two smashed cellphones at the scene of the rampage that killed 14 people, and they recovered a third one from the body of the female terrorist.
We don’t know what—if any—evidence was obtained from the devices in San Bernardino, but let’s hope they are not late-model smartphones. If they are, the FBI would have a much harder time learning details of the plot or warnings of where and when radical jihadists might strike again. Already, the FBI is concerned that it doesn’t know the contents of 109 messages that a terrorist exchanged with an ISIS operative in Syria before opening fire at a Prophet Muhammad cartooning conference in Garland, Texas.
Nuclear security

Emergency Shutdown of Russian Reactor


Изображение
Residents of St Petersburg, near Leningrad, in Russia were frightened December 18, 2015 by large quantities of radioactive steam venting from Reactor No 2 at the four reactor complex. The Director of the Nuke Plant said that a “main pipe” had broken in the turbine side of the reactor. This is unconfirmed. Very little else is known about the industrial accident other than one man was hospitalized. It is thought he was a worker at the nuke reactor.
The nuclear plant contains four aging 1,000 MW RBMK style Soviet-era reactors creating about 12,000 MW of Thermal energy or Total Heat. Only about a third is recoverable as electricity. Reactors, in general, are very inefficient sources of electricity, mostly the reactors just warm up the ocean and the air. Great for Plutonium 239 for Bombs; but real poor for electricity.
The No 2 reactor is 40 years old and temporarily shutdown due to the accident. The Unit had an expected lifespan of 30 years 40 years ago. All four reactors are similar to the destroyed No 4 reactor at Chernobyl, Ukraine.
Missile defense

U.S. missile defense site in Romania riles Russia

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The new ballistic missile defense site in Romania is set to come online Friday, as the Navy takes control of it after years of construction and prepares it to track and shoot down missiles bound for Europe.

The U.S. and Romania are expected to announce the radar site and missile battery has reached "technical capability" in a ceremony in Bucharest. The announcement means that all the radars, consoles, SM-3 interceptor missiles work and sailors who man it are trained and in place.

The site is not being declared "operational," said a defense official with knowledge of the announcement, because the land-based system still needs to be integrated into NATO's larger ballistic missile defense architecture, which has been a major Obama administration drive. The sea-based arm of the shield is provided by four BMD-capable destroyers forward-based in Rota, Spain. The Romania site should be declared operational this spring.

Sunday, December 27, 2015

Politics

Trash talk: What Putin's presidential potty mouth is all about


While his nation waded deeper into the Syrian civil war, Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, spent his 63rd birthday on the ice Wednesday, October 7, playing hockey with NHL stars and various Russian officials and tycoons in Sochi.  For years, Russia's leader has cultivated a populist image in the Russian media.The public first heard it in September 1999, when Putin was an unknown prime minister. Russia was hit with several deadly terrorist bombings of apartment buildings. Vowing revenge, Putin didn't hold back: "We're going to pursue the terrorists everywhere," he said. "That means, you'll excuse me, we'll catch them in the toilet, we'll wipe them out in the sh*t house, finally."
That tough talk shocked many Russians. They'd never heard anything like that from a leader before. But it also boosted their spirits; a tough, vigorous leader had their back and would fight to protect them.
Sport security

The dark side: The secret world of sports doping

Pills
The investigation has exposed the crucial role of pharmacists and doctors in creating and prescribing programs of performance enhancing drugs designed to cheat the testing system.
It also raises questions about some well-known athletes in American football and baseball who the medical professionals claim to work with.
The athletes and medical professionals who responded to requests for comment denied any wrongdoing.
This includes Payton Manning, a football player for the Denver Broncos, whose wife, one pharmacist alleged, was supplied with human growth hormone. in 2011 while he was recovering from surgery.
Grand corruption

China jails former newspaper group president for fraud

A Chinese court sentenced the former head of one of the country's best known financial newspapers to four years in prison on Thursday, closing a massive media corruption case as Beijing tightens control over the press.
Shen Hao, former president of 21st Century Media, was convicted of extortion and blackmail, "forced transactions" and embezzlement, the Shanghai Pudong New Area People's Court said in a statement on its official social media account.
The verdict comes at a time when China's government is exerting tighter controls over the media - already one of the most restricted in the world.
Shen is one of the 30 executives at the company, its website and related publications prosecuted by authorities earlier this year.
Power grid security

Blockchains To Protect UK’s Nuclear Power Plants

Power plants are some of the most critical bits on infrastructure. An attack against a power plant could incapacitate an entire region of any country. This is doubly true for nuclear power plants. Moreover, an attack against a nuclear power facility could have disastrous consequences, making an area uninhabitable for millennia. With more and more critical systems moving “online” an attack need not be physical to inflict untold damage.
To protect the nation’s nuclear power plants from cyber attacks, the UK government has employed security specialists Guardtime to provide cyber defences. The deal covers flood defences and the electrical grid as well.
Guardtime’s Keyless Signature Infrastructure (KSI) blockchain technology is based on hash-function cryptography. Blockchains were made famous by the digital currency BitCoin, but Guardtime’s usage of the technology predates it. In essence, KSI provides security by distributing data to trusted nodes over private, secure networks of validators.
Forensics

What Fingerprints Can Tell Us

Researchers are taking crime scene fingerprint identification to a new level. They have discovered a straightforward concept for identifying whether a culprit is male or female based on the content in fingerprints.
A team of researchers at UAlbany, led by assistant chemistry professor Jan Halámek,  have discovered how to identify  whether a culprit is male or female, according to a report in Homeland Security Newswire. It is based on the content in fingerprints — specifically amino acids.
According to known literature, amino acid levels in the sweat of females are about twice as high as in males. There is also a slightly different distribution, due mostly to hormonal differences. The same is true for amino acids left behind in fingerprints. Halámek’s research team has devised a simple method to back up these claims.