ReHacked #66: Does the innocent need to fear surveillance, Assange Case Key Witness Lied, Time to assume that health research is fraudulent until proven otherwise and many more

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Julian Assange Case: Key Witness Admits He Lied, US Media Ignores Exculpatory Revelations #politics #leaks

The United States’ Department of Justice’s case against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange took a serious hit last week after a key witness admitted that he fabricated accusations in order to get immunity. Though these revelations were made public by an Icelandic newspaper on June 26, the mainstream media in the US has largely chosen to ignore them.

According to the bi-weekly Stundin, the witness, Sigurdur Ingi Thordarson, “has a documented history with sociopathy and has received several convictions for sexual abuse of minors and wide-ranging financial fraud”. He was recruited by US authorities in order to build a case against Assange, and misled them into believing he was a close associate of the Wikileaks founder. In reality, however, he had only “volunteered on a limited basis to raise money for Wikileaks in 2010 but was found to have used that opportunity to embezzle more than $50,000 from the organisation”, the Icelandic newspaper reports.

How children are spoofing Covid-19 tests with soft drinks #health

So, how can a soft drink cause the appearance of a red T line? One possibility is that the drinks contain something that the antibodies recognise and bind to, just as they do to the virus. But this is rather unlikely. The reason antibodies are used in tests like these is that they are incredibly fussy about what they bind to. There’s all sorts of stuff in the snot and saliva collected by the swabs you take from the nose and mouth, and the antibodies totally ignore this mess of protein, other viruses and remains of your breakfast. So they aren’t going to react to the ingredients of a soft drink.

A much more likely explanation is that something in the drinks is affecting the function of the antibodies. A range of fluids, from fruit juice to cola, have been used to fool the tests, but they all have one thing in common – they are highly acidic. The citric acid in orange juice, phosphoric acid in cola and malic acid in apple juice give these beverages a pH between 2.5 and 4. These are pretty harsh conditions for antibodies, which have evolved to work largely within the bloodstream, with its almost neutral pH of about 7.4.

How Bell’s Theorem Proved ‘Spooky Action at a Distance’ Is Real | Quanta Magazine #science #physics #nature

Bell’s theorem upended one of our most deeply held intuitions about physics, and prompted physicists to explore how quantum mechanics might enable tasks unimaginable in a classical world. “The quantum revolution that’s happening now, and all these quantum technologies — that’s 100% thanks to Bell’s theorem,” says Krister Shalm, a quantum physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

This beach does not exist #software #machinelearning

StyleGAN2-ADA network trained in HD resolution 1280×768 on dataset with ~20.000 images of the beach. All of these beaches are AI-generated.

Huge data leak shatters the lie that the innocent need not fear surveillance #privacy

Billions of people are inseparable from their phones. Their devices are within reach – and earshot – for almost every daily experience, from the most mundane to the most intimate.

Few pause to think that their phones can be transformed into surveillance devices, with someone thousands of miles away silently extracting their messages, photos and location, activating their microphone to record them in real time.

Such are the capabilities of Pegasus, the spyware manufactured by NSO Group, the Israeli purveyor of weapons of mass surveillance.

Time to assume that health research is fraudulent until proven otherwise? #science #health

Health research is based on trust. Health professionals and journal editors reading the results of a clinical trial assume that the trial happened and that the results were honestly reported. But about 20% of the time, said Ben Mol, professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at Monash Health, they would be wrong. As I’ve been concerned about research fraud for 40 years, I wasn’t that surprised as many would be by this figure, but it led me to think that the time may have come to stop assuming that research actually happened and is honestly reported, and assume that the research is fraudulent until there is some evidence to support it having happened and been honestly reported. The Cochrane Collaboration, which purveys “trusted information,” has now taken a step in that direction.

brython-dev/brython: Brython (Browser Python) is an implementation of Python 3 running in the browser #software

Brython (Browser Python) is an implementation of Python 3 running in the browser, with an interface to the DOM elements and events.

How To Learn Stuff Quickly #learning

It's often said that the internet has democratized education: the sum of human knowledge is only a Google search away! And yet, having access to information is only half of the story; you also need to be able to convert raw information into usable skills.

For a lot of us, the gap between the two can lead to things like tutorial hell—getting stuck doing tutorial after tutorial without ever feeling like you're making substantive progress.

Learning how to learn effectively is super important, especially as a software developer; learning new things is practically the whole gig! If you can learn to quickly pick up new languages/frameworks/tools, you'll be able to be way more productive than the average developer. It's sort of a superpower.

Baltimore Museum of Art #culture

In March 2022, the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) will present Guarding the Art, an exhibition curated entirely by 17 members of the museum’s security team. The exhibition will draw from works of art in the BMA’s collection, with each work selected by one of the participating officers. As guest curators, the officers will be collaborating with leadership and staff across the museum to select and reinterpret works from a variety of eras, genres, cultures, and mediums—offering a particularly human-centered lens through which to consider the objects. In addition, the team is working with renowned art historian and curator Dr. Lowery Stokes Sims, who is providing additional mentorship and professional development.

Splendor and poor of OnlyFans #internet #privacy #security #culture

OnlyFans, a social media platform best known for explicit content, has boomed during the pandemic. But from receiving terrorism videos to racial abuse and rape threats, a BBC investigation based on the experiences of dozens of women reveals concerns about how the British-run site is structured, managed and moderated.

Sioyek is a PDF viewer designed for reading research papers and technical books  #software

China unveils 600 kph maglev train - state media #technology #engineering

China unveiled a maglev train capable of a top speed of 600 kph on Tuesday, state media said.

The maximum speed would make the train, self-developed by China and manufactured in the coastal city of Qingdao, the fastest ground vehicle globally.

Using electro-magnetic force, the maglev train "levitates" above the track with no contact between body and rail.

Astronomers push for global debate on giant satellite swarms #space #engineering #science

Aerospace companies have launched about 2,000 Internet satellites into orbit around Earth over the past 2 years, nearly doubling the number of active satellites. This has sparked concerns among astronomers and other skygazers, who worry about interference with observations of the night sky.

Now, in what would be the biggest international step yet towards addressing these concerns, diplomats at a United Nations forum next month might discuss whether humanity has a right to ‘dark and quiet skies’. The debate could initiate a framework for how scientists and the public would deal with the flood of new satellites — with many more expected.

How Bell’s Theorem Proved ‘Spooky Action at a Distance’ Is Real #science #nature #physics

Bell’s theorem upended one of our most deeply held intuitions about physics, and prompted physicists to explore how quantum mechanics might enable tasks unimaginable in a classical world. “The quantum revolution that’s happening now, and all these quantum technologies — that’s 100% thanks to Bell’s theorem,” says Krister Shalm, a quantum physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Emmanuel Macron identified in leaked Pegasus project data #privacy #security

The leaked database at the heart of the Pegasus project includes the mobile phone numbers of the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and 13 other heads of state and heads of government, the Guardian can reveal.

The South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, and the Pakistani prime minister, Imran Khan, are also listed in the data, which includes diplomats, military chiefs and senior politicians from 34 countries.

The appearance of a number on the leaked list – which includes numbers selected by governments that are clients of NSO Group, the Israeli spyware firm – does not mean it was subject to an attempted or successful hack. NSO insists the database has “no relevance” to the company.

Getting started with... Python - Stack Overflow Blog #learning #programming

Here's a collection of resources on how to get started using Python.

NSO Group Hacked - Schneier on Security #privacy

NSO Group, the Israeli cyberweapons arms manufacturer behind the Pegasus spyware — used by authoritarian regimes around the world to spy on dissidents, journalists, human rights workers, and others — was hacked. Or, at least, an enormous trove of documents was leaked to journalists.

There’s a lot to read out there. Amnesty International has a report. Citizen Lab conducted an independent analysis. The Guardian has extensive coverage.

Airbnb raises violent crime rates in cities as long-term residents are pushed out, says study #economy #society

Researchers in the United States say there is a link between Airbnb rentals and violent crime in cities.

Their study, published in peer-reviewed open-source journal PLOS One on Wednesday, covers the period of 2011-2018 in Boston. It quantifies the number of Airbnbs present in the city's neighbourhoods by linking their addresses to census data.

The researchers found that there was a positive correlation between higher penetration of Airbnb properties in an area – for example buildings containing multiple Airbnb lets – and a rise in violence. However, crime types associated with rowdy visitors, like drunkenness and noise complaints, as well as private conflicts, did not increase.

According to one study author, the correlation isn't due to Airbnb tourists falling prey to pickpockets, but rather the way the short-term rental service can push long-term residents out of neighbourhoods.

Germany’s national healthcare system adopts Matrix! | Matrix.org #software #security #privacy #internet

… the national agency for the digitalisation of the healthcare system in Germany (gematik) has selected Matrix as the open standard on which to base all its interoperable instant messaging standard - the TI-Messenger.

Lost world revealed by human, Neanderthal relics washed up on North Sea beaches #history #nature

That vast continental shelf has been a blank spot on the map of prehistoric Europe because archaeologists can’t mount traditional excavations underwater. Now, thanks to the Zandmotor and construction work on a harbor extension in nearby Rotterdam, van Wingerden and a dedicated cadre of amateur beachcombers are amassing an impressive collection of artifacts from that vanished landscape. Scientists on both sides of the North Sea are applying precise new methods to date the artifacts and sequence any genetic traces, as well as mapping the sea floor and analyzing sediment cores. The effort is bringing to light the landscape and prehistory of a lost homeland of ancient Europeans.

Caffeine and theanine exert opposite effects on attention under emotional arousal #health

Tea is perceived as more relaxing than coffee, even though both contain caffeine. L-theanine in tea may account for the difference. Consumed together, caffeine and theanine exert similar cognitive effects to that of caffeine alone, but exert opposite effects on arousal, in that caffeine accentuates and theanine mitigates physiological and felt stress responses. We evaluated whether caffeine and theanine influenced cognition under emotional arousal. Using a double-blind, repeated-measures design, 36 participants received 4 treatments (200 mg caffeine + 0 mg theanine, 0 mg caffeine + 200 mg theanine, 200 mg caffeine + 200 mg theanine, 0 mg caffeine + 0 mg theanine) on separate days. Emotional arousal was induced by highly arousing negative film clips and pictures. Mood, salivary cortisol, and visual attention were evaluated. Caffeine accentuated global processing of visual attention on the hierarchical shape task (p < 0.05), theanine accentuated local processing (p < 0.05), and the combination did not differ from placebo. Caffeine reduced flanker conflict difference scores on the Attention Network Test (p < 0.05), theanine increased difference scores (p < 0.05), and the combination did not differ from placebo. Thus, under emotional arousal, caffeine and theanine exert opposite effects on certain attentional processes, but when consumed together, they counteract the effects of each other.

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