Rocket Flown Through Northern Lights To Help Unlock Space Weather Mysteries 33
Zothecula writes The northern lights are more than one of nature's most awe inspiring sights, they are an electromagnetic phenomena that can adversely affect power grids and communications and navigation systems. Researchers from the University of Oslo have flown a rocket through the phenomena to take a closer look with the aim of gathering data that will help in predicting space weather.
Re:How useless is Slashdot (Score:4, Interesting)
You mean this article [slashdot.org]? Albeit the summary was poor, but it covers the firmware hacking.
And FYI, if anyone actually takes the time to read the Kaspersky report they'd catch that the infection is believed to have been done on thousands to tens of thousands of computers, NOT "most HDDs". The firmware has the capability to infect most HDDs, but most HDDs are not infected - according to the very source report itself.
Which should be obvious. Because if you're the NSA and you're writing a super-infection to use against top-level targets, the last thing you want to do is have it on every last computer in the world, increasing your likelihood of being found by many orders of magnitude. The NSA's preferred method of infection is interdiction - intercepting objects while in transit to targets, such as CDs or hard drives, infecting them, then letting them continue on their way.
Once again, the NSA doesn't give a rat's arse if you're going to the Pirate Bay to download I Am Legend. It has far more important things to worry about, like people building atomic bombs and invading other countries.
Re: (Score:1)
...Once again, the NSA doesn't give a rat's arse if you're going to the Pirate Bay to download I Am Legend. It has far more important things to worry about, like people building atomic bombs and invading other countries.
I'd say "citation needed" but we only have rumor, innuendo and your word that the NSA is actually serious about going after real threats.
Re: (Score:2)
According to the linked article, it relies on Windows exploits. Nobody here will admit to using Windows!
Unpopular move (Score:2)
"You broke my rainbow, waaaaah"
Big deal. (Score:2, Funny)
News? (Score:5, Interesting)
People have been launching sounding rockets into the aurora borealis for something like 60 years - in the many hundreds, if not thousands. The facilities in AK and Canada are far and away the most active sounding rocket sites in the world because of it.
How is this news?
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
It's news because it pisses off the Republicans since they don't believe in the Aurora Borealis. Too many of their kind are Aurora Borealis deniers.
Re: (Score:2)
The Summary Claims Effect is Cause (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
The Aurora Borealis are not "are an electromagnetic phenomena that can adversely affect ..."
(Putting on my grammar policeman cap, and explicitly not addressing Rob's point...)
I DO wish the author of TFA would correctly use the singular and plural ...) ...)
of "Phenomenon".
- Phenomenon: One (class of
- Phenomena: More than one (class of
The Aurora Borealis are a set of related phenomena, involving glows from ionization of various atmospheric elements at different altitudes, various of the Van A