The malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, which has been promoted as a potential treatment for Covid-19, is known to have potentially serious effects on heart rhythms. Now, a team of researchers has used an optical mapping system to observe exactly how the drug creates serious disturbances in the electrical signals that govern heartbeat. The research, reported May […]
Georgia Institute of Technology
Posted inLife
The Case For DIY Masks To Slow Coronavirus’ Spread
April 13, 2020 – A nationwide chorus is urging the wearing of homemade facemasks in public to fight the spread of the novel coronavirus. One voice is that of is physicist Walt de Heer who here explains some of the logic behind wearing the protective covering, starting with old-fashioned wisdom. “Your mother told you to […]
Posted inSci/Tech
Hackers Could Use Connected Cars to Gridlock Whole Cities
July 29, 2019 – In the year 2026, at rush hour, your self-driving car abruptly shuts down right where it blocks traffic. You climb out to see gridlock down every street in view, then a news alert on your watch tells you that hackers have paralyzed all Manhattan traffic by randomly stranding internet-connected cars. Flashback […]
Posted inSci/Tech
Instability in Antarctic Ice Projected to Make Sea Level Rise Rapidly
ATLANTA, GA, July 9, 2019 – Images of vanishing Arctic ice is jarring, but its potential contributions to sea level rise are no match for Antarctica’s, even if receding southern ice is less eye-catching. Now, a study says that instability hidden within Antarctic ice is likely to accelerate its flow into the ocean and push […]
Posted inSci/Tech
‘Combosquatting’ attack hides in plain sight to trick computer users
Oct. 30, 2017 – To guard against unknowingly visiting malicious websites, computer users have been taught to double-check website URLs before they click on a link. But attackers are now taking advantage of that practice to trick users into visiting website domains that contain familiar trademarks — but with additional words that change the destination […]
Posted inSci/Tech
Wildfires pollute much more than previously thought
June 14, 2017 – Summer wildfires boost air pollution considerably more than previously believed. Naturally burning timber and brush launch what are called fine particles into the air at a rate three times as high as levels noted in emissions inventories at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, according to a new study. The microscopic specks […]
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Smoke from wildfires can have lasting climate impact
May 22, 2017 – The wildfire that has raged across more than 150,000 acres of the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia and Florida has sent smoke billowing into the sky as far as the eye can see. Now, new research published by the Georgia Institute of Technology shows how that smoke could impact the atmosphere and […]
Posted inSci/Tech
Combination of features produces new Android vulnerability
May 22, 2017 – A new vulnerability affecting Android mobile devices results not from a traditional bug, but from the malicious combination of two legitimate permissions that power desirable and commonly-used features in popular apps. The combination could result in a new class of attacks, which has been dubbed “Cloak and Dagger.” The vulnerability, which […]