DARPA's 'Cortical Modem' will plug straight into your BRAIN

Posted on by

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is developing a brain interface it hopes could inject images directly into the visual cortex.

news of the "Cortical Modem" project has emerged in transhumanist magazine Humanity Plus, which reports the agency is working on a direct neural interface (DNI) chip that could be used for human enhancement and motor-function repair.

Project head Dr Phillip Alvelda, Biological Technologies chief with the agency, told the Biology Is Technology conference in Silicon Valley last week the project had a short term goal of building a US$10 device the size of two stacked nickels that could deliver images without the need for glasses or similar technology.

The project was built on research by Dr Karl Deisseroth whose work in the field of neuroscience describes how brain circuits create behaviour patterns.

Specifically the work dealt in Deisseroth's field of Optogenetics, where proteins from algae could be inserted into neurons to be subsequently controlled with pulses of light.

"The short term goal of the project is the development of a device about the size of two stacked nickels with a cost of goods on the order of $10 which would enable a simple visual display via a direct interface to the visual cortex with the visual fidelity of something like an early LED digital clock," the publication reported.

"The implications of this project are astounding."

The seemingly dreamy research was limited to animal studies, specifically the real time imaging of a zebra fish brain with some 85,000 neurons, due to the need to mess with neuron DNA and the 'crude device' would be a long way off high fidelity augmented reality, the site reported.

DARPA's Biological Technologies Office was formed last April to cook up crazy ideas born at the intersection of biology and physical science. Its mind-bending research fields are geared to improve soldiers' performance, craft biological systems to bolster national security, and future the stability and well-being of humanity.

The project follows DARPA's upgrading of the heavy-set Atlas robot which was granted a battery allowing it to move about free of its electrical umbilical cord.

Link:

DARPA's 'Cortical Modem' will plug straight into your BRAIN

Scientists propose 'cortical modem' implant to give you Terminator vision

Posted on by

US military research agency DARPA forsees a tiny implant that could restore sight loss or give you a heads-up display without a helmet or glasses.

With just a bit of dabbling in your DNA, scientists could plug a heads-up display directly into your brain. Sergey Nivens/Shutterstock

Forget HoloLens, forget smart glasses and forget augmented reality -- scientists have proposed a "cortical modem" that plugs into your DNA and your visual cortex to cure sight loss and show a heads-up display in front of your very eyes.

The cortical modem concept is the brainchild of DARPA, the US Defense Research Projects Agency. Originally founded in 1958 in response to the launch of Sputnik, DARPA is the US military's research and development agency. It's perhaps best known outside of military circles for the development of ARPANET, an early packet switching network that formed a precursor to the Internet.

The cortical modem concept was presented by DARPA's Phillip Alvelda at a recent pow-wow in Silicon Valley, at which innovators, investors and other big brains were introduced to the agency's Biological Technologies Office (BTO), a blue-sky-thinking initiative announced last year.

During the event, transhumanist publication H+ reports that DARPA was described onstage as a "friendly, but somewhat crazy, rich uncle".

That crazy, rich -- or crazy rich -- uncle foresees the device providing a heads-up display or augmented reality projection appearing in your natural vision with no helmet or smart glasses or anything at all in front of your eyes. Like the Terminator. Or Robocop. Or something less shoot-y.

The short-term plan is for a tiny device about the size of two coins that would give you a heads-up display somewhere around the level of an LED alarm clock. It could cost just $10.

The cortical modem is rooted in the field of optogenetics, which involves studying and even controlling specified cells within living tissue by shining light on them. Light-responsive proteins can be added to the brains of living beings, allowing scientists to turn neurons on or off with never-before-seen precision. They can then study neurological activity -- at the same event presenting real-time visual maps of mouse thoughts -- and potentially even control that activity, perhaps one day correcting neurological disorders.

The cortical modem could do just that, restoring sight to someone with sight loss. Optogenetics is still a relatively young field of study, however, and has yet to be tested in humans -- it would require fiddling around with the DNA in a subject's neurons, which, let's face it, isn't the sort of project you dive into on a Friday afternoon.

Link:

Scientists propose 'cortical modem' implant to give you Terminator vision

Private Mars One Colony Project Cuts Applicant Pool to 100 …

Posted on by

One hundred people are still in the running to become humanity's first Mars explorers.

The Netherlands-based nonprofit Mars One, which aims to land four pioneers on the Red Planet in 2025 as the vanguard of a permanent colony, has whittled its pool of astronaut candidates down to 100, organization representatives announced Monday (Feb. 16).

More than 202,000 people applied to become Red Planet explorers after Mars One opened the selection process in April 2013. The latest cut came after Mars One medical director Norbert Kraft interviewed the 660 candidates who had survived several previous rounds of culling. [Images of Mars One's Red Planet Colony Project]

"The large cut in candidates is an important step towards finding out who has the right stuff to go to Mars," Mars One co-founder and CEO Bas Lansdorp said in a statement. "These aspiring Martians provide the world with a glimpse into who the modern day explorers will be."

The remaining pool consists of 50 men and 50 women who range in age from 19 to 60, Mars One representatives said. Thirty-nine come from the Americas (including 33 from the United States), 31 from Europe, 16 from Asia, seven from Africa and seven from Australia.

The remaining candidates will next participate in group challenges, to demonstrate their ability and willingness to deal with the rigors of Mars life. After another round of cuts, the finalists will be divided into four-person teams, which will train in a simulated Red Planet outpost.

Eventually, Mars One intends to select 24 astronauts (six four-person teams), who will become full-time employees of the organization and prepare for the Mars colonization mission.

"Being one of the best individual candidates does not automatically make you the greatest team player, so I look forward to seeing how the candidates progress and work together in the upcoming challenges," Kraft said.

Mars One wants to send new four-person crews to the Red Planet every two years or so after the first touchdown, which would take place in 2025. At the moment, there are no plans to bring any of these Mars colonists home to Earth.

Mars One has also mapped out a number of robotic precursor missions to prepare the ground for people. The first of these, which would deliver a lander and orbiter to Mars, is scheduled to blast off in 2018. (Mars One will not build any Mars-bound spacecraft itself, but instead will contract the work out to aerospace companies.)

The rest is here:

Private Mars One Colony Project Cuts Applicant Pool to 100 ...

100 people still in the running for a one-way trip to Mars

Posted on by

Mars One CEO Bas Lansdorp holds a press conference in New York to announce the launch of astronaut selection for a Mars space mission project, April 22, 2013. EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

One hundred people are still in the running to become humanity's first Mars explorers.

The Netherlands-based nonprofit Mars One, which aims to land four pioneers on the Red Planet in 2025 as the vanguard of a permanent colony, has whittled its pool of astronaut candidates down to 100, organization representatives announced Monday, Feb. 16.

More than 202,000 people applied to become Red Planet explorers after Mars One opened the selection process in April 2013. The latest cut came after Mars One medical director Norbert Kraft interviewed the 660 candidates who had survived several previous rounds of culling. [Images of Mars One's Red Planet Colony Project]

Play Video

The Mars One program says it will send a colonizing team to the Red Planet in 2024. Kera Rennert talks with two astronaut hopefuls about the one-...

"The large cut in candidates is an important step towards finding out who has the right stuff to go to Mars," Mars One co-founder and CEO Bas Lansdorp said in a statement. "These aspiring Martians provide the world with a glimpse into who the modern day explorers will be."

The remaining pool consists of 50 men and 50 women who range in age from 19 to 60, Mars One representatives said. Thirty-nine come from the Americas (including 33 from the United States), 31 from Europe, 16 from Asia, seven from Africa and seven from Australia.

The remaining candidates will next participate in group challenges, to demonstrate their ability and willingness to deal with the rigors of Mars life. After another round of cuts, the finalists will be divided into four-person teams, which will train in a simulated Red Planet outpost.

Eventually, Mars One intends to select 24 astronauts (six four-person teams), who will become full-time employees of the organization and prepare for the Mars colonization mission.

More here:

100 people still in the running for a one-way trip to Mars

RecentR TV (09.02.15) Die Verschwrung hinter NSA, Snowden und den Koch-Brdern – Video

Posted on by


RecentR TV (09.02.15) Die Verschwrung hinter NSA, Snowden und den Koch-Brdern
Bereits vor der Entstehung der amerikanischen Behrde fr Fernmeldeaufklrung NSA lieferten westliche Konzerne alle ntige Technologie in den Osten um die Sowjets zu einer ansehnlichen...

By: Alexander Benesch

Read more here:

RecentR TV (09.02.15) Die Verschwrung hinter NSA, Snowden und den Koch-Brdern - Video

Posted in NSA

NSA planted surveillance software on hard drives, report says

Posted on by

Security vendor Kaspersky outs a group capable of inserting spying software onto hard drives around the world, while Reuters fingers the NSA as the culprit.

Is the NSA behind a sophsticated way of implanting spyware on hard drives?

The National Security Agency is able to infect hard drives with surveillance software to spy on computers, Reuters said on Tuesday, citing information from cyber researchers and former NSA operatives.

In a new report, Kaspersky revealed the existence of a group dubbed The Equation Group capable of directly accessing the firmware of hard drives from Western Digital, Seagate, Toshiba, IBM, Micron, Samsung and other drive makers. As such, the group has been able to implant spyware on hard drives to conduct surveillance on computers around the world.

In a blog posted on Monday, Kaspersky said this threat has been around for almost 20 years and "surpasses anything known in terms of complexity and sophistication of techniques." The security researcher called the group "unique almost in every aspect of their activities: they use tools that are very complicated and expensive to develop, in order to infect victims, retrieve data and hide activity in an outstandingly professional way, and utilize classic spying techniques to deliver malicious payloads to the victims."

Surveillance software implanted on hard drives is especially dangerous as it becomes active each time the PC boots up and thus can infect the computer over and over again without the user's knowledge. Though this type of spyware could have surfaced on a "majority of the world's computers," Kaspersky cited thousands or possibly tens of thousands of infections across 30 different countries.

Infected parties and industries include government and diplomatic institutions, as well as those involved in telecommunications, aerospace, energy, nuclear research, oil and gas, military and nanotechnology. Also, included are Islamic activists and scholars, mass media, the transportation sector, financial institutions and companies developing encryption technologies.

And who's responsible for this sophisticated spyware?

Kaspersky didn't name names but did say that the group has ties to Stuxnet, a virus used to infect Iran's uranium enrichment facility. The NSA has been accused of planting Stuxnet, leading Reuters to finger the agency as the source behind the hard drive spyware, especially based on outside information.

Kaspersky's analysis was right, a former NSA employee told Reuters, adding that the agency valued this type of spyware as highly as Stuxnet. Another "former intelligence operative" said that the NSA developed this method of embedding spyware in hard drives but said he didn't know which surveillance efforts used it.

Originally posted here:

NSA planted surveillance software on hard drives, report says

Posted in NSA

NSA Has Planted Surveillance Software Deep Within Hard Drives Since 2001: Kaspersky

Posted on by

The U.S. National Security Agency(NSA) has been planting surveillance software deep within hard drives made by top manufacturers, allowing it to eavesdrop on almost every computer in the world, according to Kaspersky Lab, aMoscow-based software security company that announced its findings Monday.

Kaspersky did not explicitly name from which country or intelligence agency the spying software was found, but former operatives from the NSA confirmed that the findings correlated with NSA activity, Reuters reported.

The NSAs spyware lies within drives manufactured by Western Digital and Seagate, who deny that they had any knowledge of such programs. Samsung and Toshiba drives also contained the code, but both declined to comment.

Kaspersky said that PCs in 30 different countries were infected by the most advanced hacking operation ever uncovered, with the most in Iran, Russia, Pakistan, Afghanistan and China. The NSA has a number of ways in which it can obtain the drives source code, which it requires to embed the spyware. The NSAs methods include posing as software companies or asking for it directly, Reuters reported. The government can also request it for a security audit from manufacturers who wish to sell hard drives to the Department of Defense, and then use it to infect the manufacturers products.

The NSA also would intercept mailed items, such as CDs or USB drives, to infect them, according to a report from Ars Technica. The infections also affect iPhones and other Apple products.

The NSA is targeting a number of organizations, including government and military offices, telecommunication, energy and media companies as well as nuclear research facilities and Islamic activists. Institutions with infected hard drives should be able to detect the NSA spyware using technical details that Kaspersky published Monday.

Those details could impair the NSAs surveillance programs, which were already affected by the revelations made by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. The disclosures have already slowed sales of U.S. technology products internationally, especially in China.

Excerpt from:

NSA Has Planted Surveillance Software Deep Within Hard Drives Since 2001: Kaspersky

Posted in NSA

NSA burying spyware within firmware of disk drives made by Seagate, Western Digital and other major manufacturers

Posted on by

The US National Security Agency (NSA) has been hiding spyware within the firmware of hard-disk drives made by Seagate, Samsung, Toshiba, and Western Digital - and other major manufacturers - in a spy programme that has been running for almost 20 years, according to security software company Kaspersky.

Kaspersky claims to have found the spyware lurking in the firmware of PC hard-disk drives in as many as 30 countries worldwide, with Iran the most affected country. PCs in Russia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, Mali, Syria, Yemen and Algeria were also affected. The targets included government and military institutions, telecoms companies, banks, energy companies, nuclear researchers, media, and Islamic activists.

Kaspersky claims that the attacks - which it has dubbed "the Equation group" - may date back to as long ago as 1996 - but were certainly being conducted from 2001. "The Equation group uses multiple malware platforms, some of which surpass the well-known 'Regin' threat in complexity and sophistication. The Equation group is probably one of the most sophisticated cyber attack groups in the world; and they are the most advanced threat actor we have seen," claims the report from Kaspersky.

It continues: "In general, the Equation group uses a specific implementation of the RC5 encryption algorithm throughout their malware. Some of the most recent modules use RC6, RC4 and Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) too, in addition to other cryptographic functions and hashes.

"One technique in particular caught our attention and reminded us of another complex malware, Gauss. The GrayFish loader uses SHA-256 one thousand times over the unique NTFS object ID of the victim's Windows folder to decrypt the next stage from the registry. This uniquely ties the infection to the specific machine, and means the payload cannot be decrypted without knowing the NTFS object ID," explains the report.

The company claims to have identified several malware platforms within the Equation group. These include:

A victim doesn't immediately get infected with EquationDrug, claims Kaspersky. First, the attackers infect them with DoubleFantasy, which is a validator-style plug-in. If the victim is confirmed as interesting to the attackers, the EquationDrug installer is delivered.

"GrayFish is the most modern and sophisticated malware implant from the Equation group. It is designed to provide an effective (almost "invisible") persistence mechanism, hidden storage and malicious command execution inside the Windows operating system," claims Kaspersky.

It continues: "By all indications, GrayFish was developed between 2008 and 2013 and is compatible with all modern versions of Microsoft's operating systems, including Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 and 8 - both 32-bit and 64-bit versions.

"To store stolen information, as well as its own auxiliary information, GrayFish implements its own encrypted Virtual File System (VFS) inside the Windows registry. To bypass modern OS security mechanisms that block the execution of untrusted code in kernel mode, GrayFish exploits several legitimate drivers, including one from the CloneCD program. This driver (ElbyCDIO.sys) contains a vulnerability which GrayFish exploits to achieve kernel-level code execution. Despite the fact that the vulnerability was discovered in 2009, the digital signature has not yet been revoked," claims the report.

Read more here:

NSA burying spyware within firmware of disk drives made by Seagate, Western Digital and other major manufacturers

Posted in NSA

Volokh Conspiracy: No cell phone warrants without search protocols, magistrate judge rules

Posted on by

The Fourth Amendment says that warrants must state where the government will search and what evidence the government will seize. In recent years, some federal magistrate judges, when asked to sign warrants for computer searches, have began imposing a new third requirement: limits on how computers can be searched. As I wrote in this 2010 article, I dont think such limits are permissible. In my view, questions about how a computer is searched must be reviewed after the search in adversarial litigation challenging its reasonableness, rather than guessed at beforehand and written into the warrant by an individual magistrate judge.

At present, however, there isnt much in the way of caselaw on which side is right. Theres a ton of circuit precedent saying that search protocols are not required. But theres only one appellate case on whether they are permitted, a Vermont Supreme Court case which concluded that that some restrictions are permitted but others arent. No Article III court has yet ruled on the question.

In light of that ongoing debate, I thought I would flag a recent opinion by Magistrate Judge David Waxse in Kansas, In the Matter of the Search of Cellular Telephones within Evidence Facility Drug Enforcement Administration, Kansas City District Office. The opinion rejects an application for a warrant to search cell phones in DEA custody because the investigators refused to provide the court with a search protocol. If the government seeks review, it may generate the first Article III precedent that grapples with whether such restrictions are permitted. (The case happens to involve cell phones, but there is no Fourth Amendment difference between a cell phone search and any other computer search.)

Waxses opinion is pretty unusual. It includes a long section titled Applying Constitutional Protections in the Digital Era that offers an interesting theoretical account of the role of precedent. According to Waxse, magistrate judges should not be overly beholden to Supreme Court precedent when technology changes:

With technological developments moving at such a rapid pace, Supreme Court precedent is and will inevitably continue to be absent with regard to many issues district courts encounter. As a result, an observable gap has arisen between the well-established rules lower courts have and the ones they need in the realm of technology. Courts cannot, however, allow the existence of that gap to infiltrate their decisions in a way that compromises the integrity and objectives of the Fourth Amendment. . . . The danger, of course, is that courts will rely on inapt analogical reasoning and outdated precedent to reach their decisions. To avoid this potential pitfall, courts must be aware of the danger and strive to avoid it by resisting the temptation to rationalize the application of ill-fitting precedent to circumstances.

Judge Waxse then concludes, relying heavily on the reasoning of the Vermont Supreme Court, that he has the authority to deny applications for computer warrants unless they detail how the search will be executed. Although the Supreme Court has indicated that the reasonableness of a warrant execution should be reviewed ex post, not ex ante, Waxse concludes that its more efficient to have the review occur ex ante:

The fact of the matter is that a court is attempting to avoid entirely the harm that ex post remedies are meant to assuage. By only deciding reasonableness of the governments actions ex post, the government not only possesses a substantial portion of an individuals private life, but it also fails to prevent a person from having to defend against subsequent unreasonable searches stemming from the initial search and seizure. Requiring search protocol in a warrant allows the court to more effectively fulfill its duty to render, as the Supreme Court put it, a deliberate, impartial judgment as to the constitutionality of the proposed search, thus avoiding the need for ex post remedies resulting from an unconstitutional search.

He concludes:

If the Court were to authorize this warrant, it would be contradicting the manifest purpose of the Fourth Amendment particularity requirement, which is to prevent general searches. Given the substantial amount of data collected by the government upon searching or seizing a cell phone, as discussed in Riley, requesting an unrestricted search is tantamount to requesting disclosure of a vast array of intimate details of an individuals private life. For the reasons discussed in this opinion, to issue this warrant would swing the balance between an individuals right to privacy and the governments ability to effectively investigate and prosecute crimes too far in favor of the government.

Accordingly, the Court again finds that an explanation of the governments search techniques is being required in order to determine whether the government is executing its search in both good faith and in compliance with the Fourth Amendment. The Court does not believe that this request will overburden the government. In fact, in Riley, the government advocated and it can be concluded that the Supreme Court endorsed the implementation of search protocols: Alternatively, the Government proposes that law enforcement agencies develop protocols to address concerns raised by cloud computing. Probably a good idea, but the Founders did not fight a revolution to gain the right to government agency protocols.

Originally posted here:

Volokh Conspiracy: No cell phone warrants without search protocols, magistrate judge rules

Lawmakers Aim To Update Constitution For Data Privacy

Posted on by

ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) State lawmakers are considering a constitutional amendment that would protect personal data from unreasonable search and seizure without a warrant.

The data privacy amendment would expand the current law to protect electronic communications and data,giving it the same protection in the state constitution as papers and other personal property.

Lawmakers in favor of this constitutional amendment say it would ensure that new 21stcentury communications, emails, text messages and photos are protected just as much as your other personal property.

A broad spectrum of political opinion in the state is speaking as one voice: supporters range from the most conservative lawmakers to the most liberal, all believing that further protections are needed forthe electronic communications of Minnesotans.

Minnesotans support our traditional rights to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, and theyre also saying they support a modest, targeted constitutional amendment to make it clear that these protections still apply in our digital era, Matt Ehling, president of the Minnesota non-profit Public Record Media, said.

Supporters say the amendment will clarify that personal data is covered by the Fourth Amendment.

They also hope it closes loopholes that allow the federal government access to your emails, text messages and photos.

Sen. Branden Peterson, R-Andover, said there was a loophole in federal law over emails and other forms of digital communication.

All forms of electronic communication that are over sixmonths old can be accessed without a warrant, Peterson said.

The bill has passed through the Civil Law Committee and will be taken up in the Government Operations committee on Thursday.

Read more from the original source:

Lawmakers Aim To Update Constitution For Data Privacy

Blacklisting Boy Scouts

Posted on by

Remember when Gov. Cuomo suggested last summer that certain people i.e., those who are pro-life, pro-Second Amendment or anti-gay have no place in the state of New York?

Well, California is putting the Cuomo vision into practice, and its not pretty.

The target was the Boy Scouts. In a unanimous ruling, all seven justices on the states Supreme Court accepted an amendment to the states judicial code that has the primary effect of preventing any California state judge from serving as an adult volunteer for the Scouts.

Though the Boy Scouts have lifted the prohibition on openly gay Scouts, they still dont let gay adults serve as, say, Scoutmasters. The court imposed its ban, it said, to preserve the fairness, impartiality, independence and honor of the judiciary.

Of course, it does nothing of the kind.

In the past decade, gay Americans have secured victories once thought impossible: same-sex marriage, the ability to serve openly in the military and so forth.

At least in cases like this one, alas, victory hasnt led to a live-and-let-live approach. To the contrary, these victories seem to be accompanied by an effort to tar anyone who might disagree with bigotry and drive them off the public square basically for holding the same position President Obama held just a few years ago.

We leave it to the courts to settle the larger First Amendment issues here. All we say is that America is better than this.

In the name of tolerance itself, shouldnt it be possible to uphold gay rights without having to crush a venerable American institution in the name of political correctness?

Continue reading here:

Blacklisting Boy Scouts

Open carry rally slated

Posted on by

REXBURG Dan Roberts and members of the Second Amendment Alliance are staging a march and rally in Rexburg this Saturday Feb. 21, in support of the House Bill 89, or the Constitutional Carry bill.

Roberts said those participating will meet at 3:30 p.m. at the Madison County Courthouse and all participants are welcome to open carry their favorite firearms.

He said those assembled at the courthouse will then march to the Rexburg Tabernacle, where they will listen to a short presentation and be given the opportunity to sign a petition supporting the constitutional carry bill.

Roberts said House bill 89, or the constitutional carry bill, was recently tabled by the State Affairs Committee in the State Legislature. The bill would enable constitutional carry or concealed carry, without a permit in the State of Idaho.

Roberts also said this demonstration is loosely coordinated with another rally in Boise that is calling for the legislature to take another look at House Bill 89.

Roberts said this rally would be almost exactly the same as the pro-Second Amendment rally two years ago, except with a specific focus on the constitutional carry legislation.

Its a little different focus, you know, last time we were just talking about gun rights in general and not wanting to have more restrictions. This time were looking more at being proactive, trying to get rid of some existing regulations; specifically, we would like to see what they call a constitutional carry, which is basically any law abiding citizen in Idaho could carry within the state boundaries concealed without a permit, Roberts said.

Roberts said this years presentation at the tabernacle will be short, with only a few speakers, including Ron Nate, who represents Rexburg in the Idaho legislature.

Roberts said according to current regulations there are two types of concealed carry permits: one requires no training and a $60 fee and the other is an enhanced concealed carry permit that requires a course in addition to a fee.

Roberts said that since the standard concealed carry permit doesnt require any training, merely a fee for a background check, then the permits are useless.

Read more:

Open carry rally slated