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Tech NewsA Robotic Worm Is Your Only Device In This Incredibly Strange Vision of the Future
For most people in 2015, “one device that can do it all” is a tablet that also has a keyboard. For interaction designers at MIT, it means a shape-shifting soft robot that switches from phone, to watch, to flashlight, to charging cable. The device is called Lineform, and it’s detailed in a new paper by … Continued
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Tech NewsPrivacy & SecurityThe World’s First Firmware Worm for Mac Is Here, and It Sounds Scary
“Oh don’t worry,” your uncle said when you were shopping for a new computer. “Macs are virtually virus proof.” Your uncle was wrong. A team of white hat hackers just announced the development of the world’s first firmware worm that’s vicious enough to break through Apple’s legendary security. The so-called Thunderstrike 2 attack can be … Continued
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Tech NewsSploidWhat in the monster hell is this scary bright green and pink gooey worm
It’s just not right. Adult humans should not have to fear monsters. But how in the world will the world ever sleep again after knowing that this terrifying radiator fluid-looking worm goo thing exists? Can humanity survive after seeing this? Just look at the sludge bug shoots out its pink dart and you’ll only dream … Continued
By Casey Chan -
Tech News
Nobody Knows Why Giant Piles of Worms Mysteriously Gathered in Texas
After floods hit Denison, Texas last week, park rangers were mystified to find stringy clumps dotting the rain-soaked streets in inexplicably organized lines. It was no pasta-based après-flood prank. It was just piles of living, squiggling worms. Eisenhower State Park Superintendent Ben Herman told ABC News that rangers aren’t sure what’s up with the worms. … Continued
By Kate Knibbs -
Tech NewsSploidWatch a terrifying worm bug thing shoot out an attacking web goo
I no longer want to live in this world anymore because I don’t want to share it with this utterly terrifying ribbon worm that has the ability to spit out an even more terrifying web-shaped goo. The way the substance stretches across that person’s hand just makes me want to never ever go outside again. … Continued
By Casey Chan -
io9
Yes, “Selfing” Is a Scientific Term
One of the most widely-studied worms in the world is the tiny, humble vinegar worm, known to science as C. elegans. And this worm has a really interesting way of reproducing. It’s called selfing. Image via Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience Over at This View of Life, Carl Zimmer has a terrific article on these worms, … Continued
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Tech News
Hackers Uploaded a Worm to South Korean Nuclear Plants
Here’s a scary thing that happened: South Korean authorities found evidence that a worm was recently removed from devices connected to nuclear power facilities. The news comes a little over a week after the country’s nuclear plant operator received warnings on Twitter that its network had been compromised. Thankfully, the reactor controls were not infected. … Continued
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io9
Those weird bone eating worms just got weirder. A newly discovered species of Osedax worms — those incredibly cool and strange creatures that feed off whale bones — appears to be evolving in reverse. Males of the species have reverted to an earlier form, which is surprising because these genes should have deteriorated by now. … Continued
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Tech NewsThis Robot Thinks It’s a Tiny Little Worm
Artificial intelligence researchers have started looking to some of the simplest creatures for inspiration. Cyborgs who think like humans are still just a sci-fi dream, but scientists have had success recreating a less complicated brain. They’ve already created LEGO robot with the artificial mind of a worm. The OpenWorm project (which kind of sounds like … Continued
By Kate Knibbs -
ScienceBiology
This Worm is Truly, Deeply Terrifying
This unsettling creature is called Eunice aphroditois, or colloquially the Bobbit worm. These critters can grow up to three meters long and have pincers capable of slicing its (sometimes larger) prey right in half. Also? It injects a toxin into its prey to make it easier to digest. Yum. The worm keeps itself buried in … Continued
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Tech News
The Stuxnet Worm Had an Evil Secret Twin
It’s been over three years since the discovery of the Stuxnet worm, but new revelations continue to trickle out from the cybersecurity community. Actually, this latest one is more of a torrent than a trickle: Turns out Stuxnet had an evil secret twin. An in-depth report just published in Foreign Policy details the origins of … Continued
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Tech News
These Disgusting Red Worms Have Been Found in Tap Water
Never drink water again. Or never drink water for as long as humanly possible. Or fine, drink water but make sure you watch out for these disgusting little red worms that have somehow dug their way through inside a water filtering system in Oklahoma. Those red worms—ranging from half an inch to an inch long—were … Continued
By Casey Chan -
io9
How do you charm a worm?
Well, the obvious way to charm a worm is to tell it that it looks a little like Ryan Gosling, but you have to get it out of the ground first. And worm charming is a way to do just that. Many people have seen birds tapping on the ground to sound out worms. And … Continued
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Tech News
What Death Looks Like: A Fast-Spreading Glowing Blue Wave
Dead is dead, some famous TV show about vacationing on an island once said. But how does dead, well, look? How do billions of cells shut off at once? An international team of researchers found that it comes in a wave. Death spreads through a special necrosis pathway that leaves dead cells as it passes … Continued
By Casey Chan -
io9This glowing blue death worm could hold the key to human longevity
In an eerie discovery, we’ve found that dying worms emit an intense, blue glow that begins in their intestines before radiating outward into their entire bodies. Studying this “death fluorescence” allows researchers to understand how age-related death works in humans — and possibly, pathways to slowing it. You can see footage of the glowing death … Continued
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io9
Decapitated worms regrow their heads with old memories intact
It’s hard to let go of some memories, even if your head has been chopped off. Well, at least if you’re a flatworm. When these tiny critters are decapitated, their heads and brain eventually grow back. But more remarkable than that, so too do their previous memories. Scientist who study planarian flatworms have known for … Continued
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Tech News
14 Infamous Computer Virus Snippets That Trace a History of Havoc
Computer viruses are almost as old as personal computers themselves, and their evolution was only hastened by the birth of Internet. And within each code is a story about its author, about the time it was written, and about the state of computing when it terrorized our hard drives. The following screenshots illustrate the history … Continued
By Attila Nagy -
io9
Ancient Penis-Headed Worm Pushes Fossil Record Back 200 Million Years
Behold Spartobranchus tenuis, a newly discovered creature that’s proving to be a crucial evolutionary missing link. The finding shows that biodiversity over half a billion years ago was more complex — and creepier — than previously thought. The phallus-shaped fossil was unearthed in Canada’s 505 million year-old Burgess Shale, and it’s a discovery that’s resetting … Continued
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ScienceBiologyIndestructible Robot Inchworm Crawls Using Creepy Artificial Muscles
Instead of focusing their immense talents on designing adorable robot puppies, or cuddly cyborg kittens, researchers at MIT have created an artificial earthworm that contracts and expands its body using nickel-titanium muscles that allow it to unsettlingly crawl its way along. The Meshworm’s entire body is made from the special nickel-titanium wire that expands and … Continued