Science, Wildlife

Tassie devil facial tumour is a transmissible cancer

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6 December 2014
2 min read
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On Monday this week The Conversation published a story under the headline What’s killing Tassie devils if it isn’t contagious cancer? The article suggested evidence that the Tasmanian devil facial tumour disease (DFTD) is a transmissible cancer is inconclusive and instead, environmental chemicals could be to blame. This misrepresents the state of the science.

All the latest research points to the fact that the deadly DFTD is a transmissible cancer that originated in a female Tasmanian devil. A single cell in this devil (patient zero) developed into a cancer cell.

This is nothing unusual as cancers, whether they are devil or human, originate from a single cell. This single cell divided uncontrollably to produce a tumour (mass of cells).

DFTD developed mechanisms to avoid being killed by the devil’s immune system. Again, nothing unusual — cancer cells usually develop such strategies.

What is unusual about DFTD, though, is that it is transmitted between devils. The same cancer cells from patient zero have spread throughout most of the Tasmanian devil population, killing every devil infected — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Photo: Tasmanian Devil (Sarcophilus harrissi) – Flickr/roger smith

Politics

Christopher Pyne’s People Movement Poised For The Most Phyrrhic Of Victories

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4 December 2014
3 min read
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If mean-spirited government incompetence is getting you down then why not sign Christopher Pyne’s petition. And leave a comment. Go on, you know you want to.

Tony Abbott may be the greatest self-harmer in the history of Australian politics, but Christopher Pyne is not too far behind, setting his own cracking pace with his petition demanding that the ABC not close down production houses in Adelaide, despite his government cutting $250 million from the ABC budget.

Except that ironically, it might just turn out to be one of the greatest political victories the Abbott Government is ever likely to enjoy. And we mean that seriously — Greatest Political Victory For Abbott, Ever.

Which says plenty about what constitutes success for the Tories, and even more about just how bad their year has been. 2014 could go down as one of the most Annus Horriblis years on Australian political record.

A fortnight ago, Pyne launched his petition to stop cuts to the Adelaide branch of the ABC. It is lumbering – slowly and inevitably — towards reaching its goal of 5,000 signatures.

Indeed, Pyne is more than halfway there. By Monday afternoon, he’d reached 3360 – just 1640 left to get (an ironic number when you consider that most of Pyne’s political values come from precisely that era of human history).

Although there is a problem. Well, two actually.

The first is that the ABC has already confirmed the cuts to its production facilities in Adelaide. Which is very bad news for the poor staff there, but even worse for Pyne, who will no doubt weep away the summer break internalising the agony of a jobless Christmas for more than a few of his constituents.

The second — and perhaps more troubling — aspect is that almost every single one of the signatures on his petition appears to have been posted for the sole purpose of enabling the petitioner the opportunity to leave a comment… and assault the Minister for Education with the sort of language that our children most definitely do not learn in school (unless they had Professor Barry Spurr for … in which case, maybe) — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Technology

Omnidirectional Elevators: Maglev Tech to Reshape Skylines

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3 December 2014
1 min read
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Effectively using the same magnetic levitation technologies employed in high-speed trains, the MULTI elevator system conveys people horizontally as well as vertically without ropes and at record speeds, all while allowing multiple elevators to traverse the same shafts.

Allowing fast vertical interior transit, the elevator has already revolutionized the shape of cities once — this breakthrough may enable a new version to do it again, not only cutting down on wait and travel times but also by enabling versatile sideways travel through structures. As illustrated above, a single car can go both up or down and then left or right, moving in a three-dimensional fashion within (and eventually perhaps even beyond) a given building — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Design

Alden Schwimmer Residence / John Lautner

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29 November 2014
59 second read
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This 1980s John Lautner-designed Alden Schwimmer Residence in Beverly Hills, California, dates from 1982 and is up for sale for the first time since the ‘90s. The agent describes it as a ‘modern hilltop castle’ perched on a 4.33 acre site above Benedict Canyon and offering a 180 degree view from the huge terraces. The house has also just undergone a multi-million dollar restoration and renovation by Lautner-trained architect Duncan Nicholson, so looking it nest right now too. It all comes at a price though, with $21,000,000 being the asking price — via WowHaus

Design

Boulder Display Units / CoucouManou

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27 November 2014
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The Boulder display units by CoucouManou are available from Not On The High Street. It’s (almost) all about the colour, with slabs of bright shades (there are three colour schemes to choose from) filling the back of the ever-so-slightly curved storage areas within the units. There are tall units and short units, both of which are made predominantly from oak and with those short oak feet. Handmade, so obviously not cheap, with the short unit and the tall version selling for £1,595 — via Retro To Go

Politics, Rights, Technology

Secret Malware in European Union Attack Linked to US and British Intelligence

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27 November 2014
3 min read
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In Politics, Rights, Technology
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Complex malware known as Regin is the suspected technology behind sophisticated cyberattacks conducted by US and British intelligence agencies on the European Union and a Belgian telecommunications company, according to security industry sources and technical analysis conducted by The Intercept.

Regin was found on infected internal computer systems and email servers at Belgacom, a partly state-owned Belgian phone and internet provider, following reports last year that the company was targeted in a top-secret surveillance operation carried out by British spy agency Government Communications Headquarters, industry sources told The Intercept.

The malware, which steals data from infected systems and disguises itself as legitimate Microsoft software, has also been identified on the same European Union computer systems that were targeted for surveillance by the National Security Agency.

The hacking operations against Belgacom and the European Union were first revealed last year through documents leaked by NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden. The specific malware used in the attacks has never been disclosed, however.

The Regin malware, whose existence was first reported by the security firm Symantec on Sunday, is among the most sophisticated ever discovered by researchers. Symantec compared Regin to Stuxnet, a state-sponsored malware program developed by the U.S. and Israel to sabotage computers at an Iranian nuclear facility. Sources familiar with internal investigations at Belgacom and the European Union have confirmed to The Intercept that the Regin malware was found on their systems after they were compromised, linking the spy tool to the secret GCHQ and NSA operations.

Ronald Prins, a security expert whose company Fox IT was hired to remove the malware from Belgacom’s networks, told The Intercept that it was “the most sophisticated malware” he had ever studied.

Having analysed this malware and looked at the [previously published] Snowden documents, Prins said, I’m convinced Regin is used by British and American intelligence services — via redwolf.newsvine.com

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