SCIENCE BOND

Weaknesses in the way mice swapped data with computers left them vulnerable, said security firm Bastille Networks.  Attackers could spoof poorly protected signals letting them use PCs as if they were sitting in front of them, it said.  Information about the loopholes have been passed to the makers of vulnerable mice, some of who are creating updates to make the mice more secure.The radio signals sent by many wireless mice to a "dongle" plugged in to a computer were often unencrypted, said Marc Newlin and Balint Seeber, from Bastille, who carried out the research.  "That makes it possible for the attacker to send unencrypted traffic to the dongle pretending to be a keyboard and have it result as keystrokes on your computer," Mr Newlin said. By contrast, they said, signals sent by wireless keyboards were scrambled to stop attackers eavesdropping on or spoofing them.  The pair found they could spoof signals for mice using a few lines of code and an antenna a...

A team led by US research entrepreneur Craig Venter has created a semi-synthetic, functioning bacterium in the lab that has fewer than 500 genes.  This minimal number is lower than in any known free-living bug in nature. The group says its investigations aim to push the boundaries of fundamental knowledge and could lead to novel means to make new drugs and other chemicals.  "Our long-term vision has been to design and build synthetic organisms on demand where you can add in specific functions and predict what the outcome is going to be," said Daniel Gibson, who is a co-author on a paper describing the latest work in Science Magazine.  "We think these cells would be a very useful chassis for many industrial applications, from medicine to biochemicals, biofuels, nutrition and agriculture," he told reporters.The team reported its first semi-synthetic organism in 2010. In that project, the scientists constructed in the lab the entire "genetic software...

The 10th Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment also showed that investment in developing nations exceeded that in developed countries.  In another first, more new renewables capacity than fossil-fuel generation came online during 2015.  But it warned that much more had to be done to avoid dangerous climate change.  The assessment, produced by the Frankfurt School-Unep Collaborating Centre for Climate and Sustainable Energy Finance and Bloomberg New Energy Finance, showed that the developing world committed a total of US$156bn (up 19% on 2014 levels) in renewables (excluding large hydro) while developed nations invested US$130bn (down 8% from 2014 levels).  "A large element in this turnaround was China, which lifted its investment by 17% to US$102.9bn, or 36% of the world total," the report observed.  However, other developing nations also contributed as six of the top 10 investors were developing nations. In the foreword, UN secretary-general Ban...

Some two dozen behemoths were identified, all with masses in excess of a hundred times that of the Sun.  Four were known previously, including the remarkable colossus catalogued as R136a1, which is 250 times as massive as our home star.  But the new survey finds many more of the super-objects in a tight patch of sky within the Large Magellanic Cloud.  "In just a tiny bit of this satellite galaxy, we see perhaps a couple of dozen stars with more than a 100 solar masses, of which nine are in a tight core just a few light-years across," explained Prof Paul Crowther from Sheffield University, UK.  "But that two dozen number - that's probably more than are in the entire Milky Way Galaxy for this type of star," he told.  The observations are to be published shortly in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. They build on earlier work reported in 2010 that first described R136a1 - the most massive and most luminous star identified to date. ...

The digital design major has been straightening his top teeth for the past 16 weeks using clear braces he made himself.  "I'm still wearing the last one," Dudley told CNNMoney on Tuesday.  "The last one" refers to the twelfth and final straightening tray in his self-designed treatment.  Dudley said he had braces when he was in junior high, but he didn't wear his retainer as much as he should have, and his teeth shifted.  Over time, Dudley discovered that he wasn't smiling as much because he wasn't happy with the way his teeth looked.Name brand options for clear braces can cost up to $8,000, according to companies likeInvisalign, Damon, and ClearCorrect. But the 24-year-old wanted to save money, so he found a way to manufacture his own for less than $60. The total cost is so low because he only had to pay for materials used to make the models of his teeth and the retainers. Even though he built his own 3D printer at home, he opted to use a ...

It's called the HyperAdapt 1.0, and Nike CEO Mark Parker introduced it at the Nike Innovation 2016 event in New York City this week.  How does a sneaker tie itself? Duh!  "When you step in, your heel will hit a sensor and the system will automatically tighten. Then there are two buttons on the side to tighten and loosen. You can adjust it until it's perfect."  That was how Nike senior innovator Tiffany Beers explained it.  The technology has been in the works since 2013, and it's based on what went into the Nike MAG -- a replica of Marty McFly's self-lacing sneakers in "Back to the Future" that Nike made last year.  Nike said the HyperAdapt makes use of a "more technical, sport version" of the automatic tying mechanism. The HyperAdapt 1.0 will be available in three colors to Nike+ members this holiday season. The company said interested buyers can create an account online and sign up for updates about the shoe. The Nike+ app wi...

The box tree caterpillar - the larva of a moth - is native to Asia and feeds on box plants, commonly used in formal gardens for hedges and shrubbery.  First found in the UK in 2011, it was initially limited to London but is now spreading across south-east England.  It is the first time in nearly a decade that slugs and snails are not top of the society's most-unwanted list.The list is based on the enquiries about pests received by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) entomology team (insect experts) in 2015, of which the box tree caterpillar accounted for 433 (17%). Slugs and snails were second in the list (122 enquiries) of the top 10 pests, followed by: aphids large cabbage white butterflies vine weevil cushion scale lily beetle rosemary beetle fuschia gall mite woolly aphidBox tree caterpillars (Diaphania perspectalis) feed within webbing and can completely defoliate box (Buxus) plants. The moths lay overlapping sheets of pale yellow eggs on the unde...

It used data on bird strikes to get a sense of what would happen if a small drone collided with a plane.  Only 3% of collisions between aircraft and birds similar in weight to domestic drones result in damage, found the George Mason University researchers.  An even smaller number caused injuries to humans, it found, and many of these were caused by flocks of birds.The research project was prompted by the recent introduction of rules in the US that make owners of drones weighing more than 250g register their craft with the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).  "Contrary to sensational media headlines, the skies are crowded not by drones, but by fowl," wrote Eli Dourado and Samuel Hammond in an article summarising their research.  US airspace is home to about 10 billion birds, said the researchers, but collisions between fowl and aircraft have remained rare. The pair analysed 25 years of data gathered by the FAA on bird strikes to determine what damage ...

Chris Urmson told a Senate hearing that the US Transport Secretary should be given authority over the matter rather than leaving it to individual states.  He also reiterated his company's view that it would be safer if passengers were not able to override a vehicle's autonomous systems.  That contrasts with the view of California's regulator.  The state's Department of Motor Vehicles published draft rules in December that said a trained human must still be able to take control.  Mr Urmson noted that 23 states had now set a total of 53 pieces of legislation relating to self-driving vehicles, some of which are at odds with each other."We currently face a growing patchwork of state laws and regulations on self-driving cars that has the potential to become unworkable," Mr Urmson said. "If every state is left to go its own way, it would be extremely impractical to operate an autonomous vehicle across state boundaries."  His view was supported a...

Scientists from the University of Edinburgh, along with US and Russian colleagues, discovered the fossilised remains of the animal in Uzbekistan.  They have named it Timurlengia.  A study of the 90-million-year-old beast suggested its ears and brain were crucial in Tyrannosaurs' dominance.  "We have a totally new species of dinosaur," explained lead researcher Dr Stephen Brusatte from the University of Edinburgh.  "It's one of the very closest cousins of T. rex, but a lot smaller - about the size of a horse.  "And it comes from the middle part of the Cretaceous period - a point where we have a huge gap in the fossil record." This "frustrating" gap has made T. rex - which was found later in the period and was up to 13m head to tail - something of an evolutionary mystery. That is what this find has helped to resolve."It has features of its bones that are also found in T. rex," said Dr Brusatte. "So this is evolving feat...

They said the "surprise" findings, reported at the European Breast Cancer Conference, could mean some women no longer need chemotherapy.  The drugs, tested on 257 women, target a specific weakness found in one-in-ten breast cancers.  Experts said the findings were a "stepping stone" to tailored cancer care.  The doctors leading the trial had not expected or even intended to achieve such striking results.  They were investigating how drugs changed cancers in the short window between a tumour being diagnosed and the operation to remove it.  But by the time surgeons came to operate, there was no sign of cancer in some patients. Prof Judith Bliss, from the Institute of Cancer Research in London, said the impact was "dramatic".The drugs were lapatinib and trastuzumab, which is more widely known as Herceptin.  They both target HER2 - a protein that fuels the growth of some women's breast cancers.  Herceptin works on the surface of cancerous cells wh...

Anthony Foxx told that accidents were inevitable, but that the emerging technology should not be compared "against perfection".  Nobody was hurt in the crash, but it was the first time Google's on-board computer has been blamed for causing a collision.  Secretary Foxx was attending the South by Southwest Interactive festival in Austin, Texas.  He announced that seven US cities - Austin, Columbus, Denver, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Portland and San Francisco - had reached the final stage of a competition to receive $40m in government funding for "smart" technologies. Secretary Foxx agreed that smart technologies could put some people out of work.  "Driverless technology presents a lot of potential for disruption on a number of fronts," he said.  "It's unclear to me now exactly how that future unfolds."Secretary Foxx is leading efforts to bring self-driving cars to US roads. The Obama administration has committed $4bn to that goal ...

I've never been the type of guy to ride a motorcycle. I'm more of the play-it-safe type. Plus, I don't own a black leather jacket.  Now, I'm shedding my good-boy image for an electric bike called Bolt.  It looks, feels and acts like a motorcycle with one big difference: It's not.  The Bolt has pedals and can limit its speed to 20 miles per hour, so most states consider it an "electric bicycle."  That means you don't need a license, registration or insurance, plus you don't need to fill it up with any gas.  The bike costs $5,500 -- shipping and handling will set you back another few hundred dollars.Since it's an e-bike, you can ride it in the bike lane, and you don't need to look -- or pay -- for a parking spot. "I park mine anywhere I park a bicycle," Josh Rasmussen, Bolt Motorbikes CEO, tells me. "Next to a standard sign, I put a U-lock around it. Plus this has GPS. So if your bike is even moved, you get a notific...

The satellite, called the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), lifted off from Baikonur in Kazakhstan at 09:31 GMT.  The probe will investigate whether the methane in the world's atmosphere is coming from a geological source or is being produced by microbes.  If all goes well, the two space powers expect to follow up this venture with a rover, to be assembled in the UK, which will drill into the surface.  That could launch in 2018, or, as seems increasingly likely, in 2020.It will take the carrier rocket more than 10 hours to put the satellite on the right trajectory to go to Mars.  This involves a series of engine burns by the Proton's Breeze upper-stage to build up the velocity needed to break free of Earth's gravity. These will fling the TGO away from Earth with a relative velocity of 33,000km/h.  The flight sequence is sure to strain the nerves of space agency officials.  For Russia especially, the Red Planet represents a destination of wretched ...

Urgent action is needed to stop the Balearic sheerwater being drowned in fishing lines and nets, say scientists.  The bird breeds in the Balearic Islands, sometimes stopping off in British waters as it migrates north.  Research shows the global population is not sustainable in the long term. There are about 3,000 breeding pairs left.  The main threat to the bird is becoming entangled in fishing gear, according to findings published in the Journal of Applied Ecology.  Other risks include hunting by the likes of cats and other small mammals.  Prof Tim Guilford of the Department of Zoology at the University of Oxford is co-researcher on the study. He told "The survival of adults from one year to the next and especially of young adults is much lower than we thought.  "The species is unsustainable - it is on the road to extinction."  Estimates suggest about half of deaths in adult birds are due to accidental capture in fishing lines and nets. ...

The customer from Ohio, known as Caleb, asked Mr Cook whether closing down "multitasking apps" improved battery life and whether it was something the chief executive did himself.  Senior vice-president Craig Federighi replied "no and no".  However, other smartphone batteries can benefit from app closure.  Microsoft advises Nokia Lumia owners to close apps that aren't in use on a web page about extending battery life.  "You can view and optimise your device through closing running apps and uninstalling unnecessary apps," said Samsung in an announcement about a new "smart manager" app for the Galaxy 6.  While many Apple users do shut down apps in the belief it extends the iPhone battery this is not advice explicitly given by the firm itself. It only recommends disabling apps from carrying out background refreshes in a list of tips about saving power.  Former chief executive Steve Jobs would sometimes reply directly to unsolicited email...

A newly discovered 250-million-year-old fossil reptile from Brazil gives an "extraordinary" insight into life just before the dinosaurs appeared.  At the time, the world was recovering from a massive extinction that wiped out most living species.  The reptile, named Teyujagua or "fierce lizard", is the close relative of a group that gave rise to dinosaurs, crocodiles and birds.  The fossil is "beautiful" and fills an evolutionary gap, say scientists.  Dr Richard Butler from the University of Birmingham said the animal is a new species that has not been previously known.  "It's very close to the ancestry of a very important group of reptiles called archosauriforms," the co-researcher on the study, published in the journalScientific Reports, told. "It helps us understand how that group evolved."  Teyujagua paradoxa was a small crocodile-like animal that probably lived at the side of lakes, feeding on fish.  The ancient rept...

Meat and tools, not the advent of cooking, was the trigger that freed early humans to develop a smaller chewing apparatus, a study suggests.  This in turn may have allowed other changes, such as improved speech and even shifts in the size of the brain.  The authors conclude that cooking became commonplace much later.  Prof Daniel Lieberman and Dr Katherine Zink from Harvard University have published their work in the journal Nature. The earliest members of our genus, Homo, are only sparsely represented in the fossil record.  By the time the species Homo erectus appeared about two million years ago, humans had evolved bigger brains and bodies that had increased our daily energy requirements.  But paradoxically, they had also evolved smaller teeth, as well as weaker chewing muscles and bite force. They also had a smaller gut than earlier human ancestors. One of the possible reasons for these changes, cooking, did not become commonplace until 500,000 yea...

After an emergency committee meeting on Tuesday, the UN health agency also said there was increasing evidence of links between Zika and various birth defects.  Zika is most commonly spread by mosquitoes but several countries have reported cases of sexual transmission.  The WHO last month said the outbreak constitutes a global emergency.  WHO Director General Dr Margaret Chan said "reports and investigations in several countries strongly suggest that sexual transmission of the virus is more common than previously assumed".  She called the development "alarming". Dr Chan also said that microcephaly - a birth defect strongly linked to the Zika outbreak in Brazil - was just one of several conditions that the WHO had linked to  Another is Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS). Nine countries have now reported an increase in cases of GBS, a rare condition that can cause temporary paralysis and death. Dr Chan said problems linked to Zika were now being seen not ...

South Korea's Lee Se-dol is playing Google's AlphaGo programme in the first of a series of games in Seoul.  In October 2015, AlphaGo beat the European Go champion, an achievement that was not expected for years.  A computer has beaten the world chess champion, but the Chinese game Go is seen as significantly more complex.  The first game between Mr Lee and AlphaGo kicked off at 13:00 local time (04:00 GMT) and is expected to last for several hours. It is being live broadcast on Youtube. The two opponents will play a total of five games over the next five days for a prize of about $1m (£700,000).The five-day battle is being seen as a major test of what scientists and engineers have achieved in the sphere of artificial intelligence.  Go is a 3,000-year old Chinese board game and is considered to be a lot more complex than chess where artificial intelligence scored its most famous victory to date when IBM's Deep Blue beat grandmaster Gary Kasparov in 1997....

The eclipse began at 06:19 local time (23:19 GMT Tuesday) as the Moon started to pass directly in front of the Sun.  As the eclipse reached totality, the Moon blocked all direct sunlight, turning day into night.  In Indonesia's Belitung province, a crowd gathered on a beach and witnesses spoke of a "magical" experience. The eclipse was total in Indonesia and the Central Pacific, while parts of Australia and Asia experienced a partial one.  Astronomers reiterated advice not to look directly at the Sun with the naked eye, or through a telescope. Experts recommended using either a professional solar filter in front of a telescope or camera, or special eclipse-viewing glasses.  The total eclipse began at 00:15 GMT, with the moment of maximum shadow at 01:59 GMT. The celestial event will end at sunset, local time, north of Hawaii (04:34 GMT).Because the eclipse path crosses the International Date Line, in the local time zones it begins on Wednesday 9 March and ends o...

The Justice Department is relying on the same law as the one in its fight with Apple over the encrypted phone belonging to the San Bernardino gunman.  It has gone to a higher court after a Brooklyn judge said he had no power to give the order.  Apple said the order would be the start of a "slippery slope that threatens everyone's safety and privacy".  In the original hearing, the US government asked Judge James Orenstein to order Apple to open up a locked phone belonging to Jun Feng, who has pleaded guilty to participation in a methamphetamine distribution conspiracy. The Justice Department wants to use the device to find any of his co-conspirators.After Judge Orenstein's decision last week, the government resubmitted its arguments to a higher judge overseeing the matter. While the case has similarities with that being heard in California in relation to the San Bernardino shootings, the New York case involves an older version of Apple's operating system. ...

The surface of the innermost planet is unusually dark, and scientists now think they know why.  Scientists analysing data from Nasa's Mercury Messenger spacecraft now think this mystery darkening agent is carbon in the form of graphite.  This graphite may be a relic of the planet's primordial crust, which was later covered up by volcanism.  The findings are published in the journal Nature Geoscience.  Patrick Peplowski from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Maryland and colleagues analysed measurements of the darkest parts of Mercury's surface taken by Messenger at the end of its mission. They found that the darkest "stuff" on Mercury had a carbon-rich composition and that it was associated with large impact craters.  According to the team, this association is consistent with the dark material coming from deeper within the planet and being exposed when space rocks gouged it out.  Like Earth's Moon and the other inne...