Scientists Grow Potatoes In Conditions Similar To Those Of The Mars in Peru

LIMA: Potatoes on Mars? Scientists report promising results by growing the tuber under conditions that mimic the Red Planet in an experiment in Peru linked to US space agency NASA.

"The preliminary results are positive," said the International Potato Center (CIP) this week after a potato grew under simulated conditions of Mars atmosphere in an experiment in Lima.

The CIP, in a report, said that the potato was planted in a specially constructed CubeSat content environment built by engineers from the University of Engineering and Technology in Lima.

The experiment was conducted from February 14th to March 5th.

"Growing plants under conditions similar to those of Mars is an important step in this experiment," said Julio Valdivia-Silva, Peru's astrobiologist in Lima UTEC, who previously worked at NASA.

"If crops can tolerate extreme conditions that we are exposing them to in our CubeSat, they have a good chance to grow on Mars," he said, adding that several sets of experiments will take place to find out which potato varieties do best .

Potatoes, one of the major food crops in the world, was first cultivated by the Incas Indians in Peru around 8000 to 5000 BC.

The potential ability of potatoes to grow under these conditions could signal promise for the food supplies in the context of climate change and extreme environments.

"The results indicate that our efforts to develop high-potential varieties to improve food security in areas that are affected or will be affected by climate change, are working," said CIP Walter Amoros potato breeder.

The customized environment for project potatoes on Mars is based on designs and advice provided by NASA.

Scientists "concluded that future missions to Mars hoping to grow the potatoes should prepare the ground with a loose structure and nutrients to allow the tubers to get enough air and water so that it can tuberize", Said CIP.

They used very dry soils found in the desert of southern Peru, nothing they are the most Mars-like soils found on Earth.

The CIP experiment is set to last five years.

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Use This Guide to See If The CIA Can Hack You

WikiLeaks, the organization that is famous for revealing confidential information and classified material from anonymous sources, recently announced that the CIA had a large number of spy tools that would be used to hack into computers and mobile devices and even some televisions.

These amounts of spying can literally make your electronic equipment become recorder of your everyday conversation and routine.

The CIA has gone as far trying to hack into small routers installed by PTCL. Do not believe us? See the picture below for yourself!

"Am I vulnerable?"

You can ask again and again this question after hearing the news. Clearly, CIA hacking knows no bounds. For those of you who are not yet sure whether or not you are vulnerable to getting hacked, read some of the indicators below to decide.

Read More: The CIA can read your WhatsApp messages and more: WikiLeaks

1. You are reading this article

The fact that you are reading this article means that you are connected to the Internet and actually using some sort of device, be it a mobile phone, tablet or PC.

2. You use a mobile device

Using a mobile device automatically and instantly make you vulnerable to hackers and online distribution of your private and confidential data.

3. Mobile phones manufactured after 2003

In the unfortunate case that you use a mobile phone that is manufactured after 2003, you are affected. To find out if a mobile phone made after 2003, just Google the sentence and click on one of the links. If your phone appears, then bad luck, you are vulnerable.

Read More: Apple, Samsung is determined to correct defects after CIA hacking report

4. Wi-Fi laptops

When buying a laptop or you already using one, be sure to check out the data sheet for a feature called "Wi-Fi". Wi-Fi is basically a wireless Internet connection for your laptop and mobile phones. If your laptop comes with this unique feature, that means you are vulnerable. To counter this problem, it is recommended that you use an Ethernet cable because of which you will not need to use Wi-Fi.

5. Affected Area

Of course, all areas are not affected by the CIA hacking. However, just to be sure, you can check the image of the Earth and see if you live in the affected area or not.

6. Not everyone is affected!

With the news about the CIA hacking going around the above indicators present, everyone thinks they are vulnerable to getting hacked. However, this is not the case. Not everyone is affected. If you were born at any time in 2018 or later, you are certainly not affected!

Source: Maddox, WikiLeaks

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Pakistan to present the local version of Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan ordered a comprehensive strategy to prepare within three days to reduce character assassinations through social media.

He has directed Officials of Interior Ministry to develop such a system in consultation with the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority.

The minister ordered that the system should not hinder freedom of expression, but at the same time, no one should abuse that right.

He ordered the management of social media companies must be contacted to present the local version of Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp.

Read More: Block all social media websites with blasphemous content: Chaudhry Nisar

He said that it should also ensure that the distribution of controversial material on a person's character must be effectively prevented.

The minister expressed his displeasure at the failure to provide the required information from Facebook's administration. The US government also contacted in this regard.

"It seems that social media is working under the freedom to lie rather than freedom of expression," he said.

Chaudhry Nisar said it is regrettable that Facebook administration and American officials were not realizing the sensitivity of the issue.

He said neither a foreign company under its policies and freedom of expression would be allowed to make any high-level personality controversy, and no one had the right to use social media for character assassination.

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Block all social media websites with blasphemous content: Chaudhry Nisar

Chaudhry Nisar the Interior Minister on Thursday threatened to block "all social media sites" that host blasphemous content because the Islamabad High Court (IHC) ordered the government to investigate online blasphemy.

The problem came to the forefront in January when five activists were reported missing. Four missing activists were returned to their families weeks later, but were not spoiled by a relentless campaign to paint them as "enemies of Islam."

On Thursday, IHC ordered the government to open an investigation into online "blasphemy" and threatened to ban social media networks if they failed to censor content considered an insult to Islam.

"We will go to any extent [including] permanently block all social networking sites if they refuse to cooperate," the minister said in a statement.

No country can afford religious sentiments to be hurt or top state functionaries to be subjected to ridicule under what the minister described as "the pretext of freedom of expression."

Judge Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui IHC asked the government formed a commission of inquiry to report back next Monday on the issue, saying he could order social media sites must be blocked if offending content remained online.

Read More: Pakistan to present the local version of Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp

"The judge ordered the government to do joint research with the team of Muslim officials to address the issue of blasphemy," said lawyer Tariq Asad, the petitioner in the case.

Human rights groups say that the label of "blasphemer" is liberally applied by religious conservatives to silence criticism of extremism.

However, unproven allegations can be fatal. At least 65 people, including lawyers, judges and activists, have been killed by vigilantes over blasphemy allegations since 1990, according to a recent report of the think-tank.

Pakistan banned Facebook previously from hosting the blasphemous content for two weeks in 2010, while YouTube was unavailable from 2012-2016 over an amateur film about Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) that led to global riots.

But later, Pakistan has agreements with major Internet companies to block the country material that violates its laws, in general, once the companies had performed their own cross-checks.

Yasser Latif Hamdani, a lawyer who worked to get YouTube unblocked, said previous Web censorship had also originated with court's orders and the judge could successfully implement a new set of bans.

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Atomic Hard Drive Of IBM Can Store 100,000 Times More Data

In recent years, we have seen significant progress in storage density. 60 TB SSD to microSD cards going as high as 1-2 terabytes.

IBM has made a breakthrough in storage technology. Until now, the information is stored as bits occupying up to 100,000 atoms. Meaning 1 bit carried up to 100,000 atoms of physical space.

IBM has managed to store each bit on individual atoms, so that data storage is used more efficiently in the process with its new atomic hard disk technology.

All iTunes data on a credit card-sized drive

In theory, this means that the size of today's hard drives decrease by 100,000 times. However, we are not yet there. According to IBM, the entire iTunes catalog (about 35 million songs) can be stored on an atomic hard drive the size of a credit card.

The scientists that managed to achieve this feat used holmium atoms placed on top of magnesium oxide to maintain the magnetic poles of atoms stable. Magnesium oxide also prevents magnets from affecting the magnetic poles of holmium atoms.

How it works?

The bits are stored as simple "on" or "off" states. On the atomic hard drive, the magnetic poles of atoms can be used for this purpose as well.

To write information to this storage system, you must apply electrical current through a microscopic needle to change the orientation of the magnetic poles.

To read the information of this system you will have to measure the magnetic current of individual atoms which is different depending on the orientation of the magnetic pole of the atoms.

This technology is purely experimental at this time; it uses a cooled liquid nitrogen, tunneling electron microscope to work. This means that you will not see the hard drive the size of a thumb tack anytime soon.

If only one could afford a tunneling electron microscope to see what is happening here at a sub-atomic level.

Via Engadget

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WhatsApp tests business chat tools in search for income

WhatsApp, the Facebook-owned messaging service used by more than 1 billion people worldwide, tests a system that allows companies to talk directly to WhatsApp users for the first time, according to communications about the project seen By Reuters.

The tests, which are carried out with a handful of companies that are part of the Y Combinator startup incubator, are an important sign of how WhatsApp plans to make money from its immensely popular service.

WhatsApp has not developed a business model within three years since Facebook Inc. bought it for the modest sum of $19bn.

WhatsApp, a pun on the phrase "What's up", It has helped to upend mobile services by allowing users to text or call friends and family for free, without text message charges. In competition with similar services such as WeChat, a unit of Tencent Holdings Ltd. China.

A potential source of revenue is to charge companies that want to communicate with customers in WhatsApp. However, the company works carefully to avoid spam message problems, the documents show.

WhatsApp is also surveying users about the extent to which they talk to businesses on WhatsApp, and whether they have ever received spam, according to the documents.

WhatsApp last year announced its development plan system, known as an application programming interface, or API, citing examples such as a user talking to a bank about a fraudulent transaction or an airline on a delayed flight.

Last month, WhatsApp signed an agreement with Y Combinator, which offers training and business development advice that show the potential, to have a small number of companies participate in an early trial, according to emails and messages posted on a Y Combinator forum.

Read More: The CIA can read your WhatsApp messages and more: WikiLeaks

Admission to Y Combinator, founded in 2005, is very competitive, and previous participants include such companies like Airbnb and Dropbox.

A WhatsApp spokeswoman declined to comment on the testing of the system.

Y Combinator President Sam Altman said in an email that he did not know the WhatsApp test, but he added: "In general, we see a lot of companies that want to test their products with CY cos."

The trial is still in the early stages, said Umer Ilyas, co-founder of Cowlar Inc., one of the new companies involved. The system is highly anticipated in remote locations where WhatsApp is particularly popular, he said.

Cowlar makes collars for dairy cows, collect data on its activity and recommend changes to improve milk production.

The company, which tests the collars in the United States, wants to use WhatsApp to send automatic alerts from the collars directly to farmers if say, a cow is not behaving normally, Ilyas said.

"This represents a great opportunity, because in all major dairy markets - India, Brazil, Pakistan - many farmers have access to WhatsApp," he said in a telephone interview.

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Apple, Samsung is determined to correct defects after CIA hacking report

Apple and Samsung on Wednesday promised to quickly correct the vulnerabilities of their products after the disclosure by WikiLeaks of an alleged CIA hacking arsenal capable of drilling into iPhones and other devices.

The file published on Tuesday aims to show that the CIA exploits the hardware and software weaknesses of the systems - without informing manufacturers of the defects in question.

"Although our initial analysis indicates that many of the problems disclosed today were already corrected in the latest iOS, we will continue to work to quickly resolve any identified vulnerabilities," Apple said in an e-mailed statement.

"We always encourage customers to download the latest iOS to ensure they have the latest security updates." Samsung offered a similar response.

Read More: The CIA can read your WhatsApp messages and more: WikiLeaks

"The protection of privacy of our consumers and security of our devices is a top priority in the Samsung," a statement from the South Korean electronics giant.

"We are aware of the report in question and are urgently address the issue."

WikiLeaks claims that the documents released on Tuesday are part of a large volume of leaked CIA documents, tools and codes which represents "most of its hacking arsenal."

The CIA neither confirms nor denies that the documents are authentic.

According to the documents, the CIA has produced more than 1000 sets of malware - viruses, Trojan horses and other software that can infiltrate and take control of the target electronics.

These hacking tools have focused on iPhone and Android systems such as the personal phone reportedly still used by the President Donald Trump, popular Microsoft software and Samsung Smart TV.

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The CIA can read your WhatsApp messages and more: WikiLeaks

When did you hear about WikiLeaks last? This time the organization, known for leaking important official government documents and files, has leaked the database of US-based central Intelligence Agency data.

Codenamed "Vault 7" the data includes more than 8,700 files that are claimed to be from the CIA itself. Of course, the information has not been verified, so take this with a grain of salt.

Wikileaks says the CIA has lost control of a major file containing information about how they hack devices. The data fell into the hands of US government hackers and contractors in an unauthorized manner, one of whom has provided WikiLeaks with portions of the archive.

Read More: Apple, Samsung is determined to correct defects after CIA hacking report

Devices CIA can Hack

If reports are true, the CIA can hijack devices from:

• Android phones
• iPhones
• Smart TVs (the report mentions Samsung TVs specifically)
• Routers
• Windows and Linux computers
• Mac computers

The CIA Can Read Your WhatsApp Messages

Another important revelation by WikiLeaks was that the CIA can read your WhatsApp messages before they are encrypted. It is true that end-to-end encryption does not deter CIA at all. Indeed, if the CIA hacks into your phone, they can access whatever they want. Does not matter if your messages are encrypted, if the CIA can read them when you are typing them or reading them yourself, end-to-end encryption is pretty much useless.

The operating system is to blame

Note that this is not an outdated encryption. Encryption prevents messages from being read after being sent from your phone. This helps prevent hackers from siphoning from public Internet to read private messages.

The problem here is the operating system and not the applications running with both Apple's iOS and Google's Android being hacked by the CIA.

According to the reports, CIA hacked the above-mentioned devices in a myriad of ways including:

• malware
• viruses
• trojans
• zero-day exploits (security flaws in an OS which the manufacturer doesn’t know of, so they haven’t been fixed)

Problems May Have Been Fixed:

The documents cover the CIA program from 2013 to 2016. It does not yet know whether the CIA continues to use the same methods to hack these devices or not. The operating system versions are not specified, it is possible that some of the exploits and zero-day problems have been corrected.

Via CNet

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