HackingTheUniverse

Evolutionary Computation

Omar Fink — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 04:48:31 +0000

Computational techniques that mimic the process of biological evolution are considered to be “evolutionary computation”. This is an umbrella term that can include the areas known as; evolutionary/genetic algorithms, evolutionary/genetic programming, evolutionary/genetic strategies and more. Biological evolution works through a somewhat random or haphazard insertion of mutations and other variations that produce diversification in biological [...]

Mossad Hack

Omar Fink — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:00:31 +0000

German magazine Der Spiegel describes how a computer hack by the Israeli foreign intelligence agency, the Mossad, enabled Israel to identify and eventually destroy a Syrian nuclear installation. How Israel Destroyed Syria’s Al Kibar Nuclear Reactor - [spiegel.de] In late 2006, Israeli military intelligence decided to ask the British for their opinion. But almost at the same [...]

Zeolites

Omar Fink — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 18:36:52 +0000

Zeolites are microporous structures made of aluminosilicate minerals that tend to absorb water like a sponge. Because of their ability to attach positive ions and sort substances by molecular size, they are often referred to as molecular sieves. Database details 2.7 million possible structures for molecular sieves - [nanowerk.com] Zeolites can be viewed as “a membrane that [...]

Acoustic Hyperlens

Omar Fink — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 23:57:08 +0000

High resolution ultrasound scans and greatly improved sonal imaging may become possible because of a technique using metamaterials to create a hyperlens that can focus sound to a fraction of its wavelength. Acoustic Hyperlens Could Sharpen Ultrasound Imaging - [ieee.org] In the past few years, researchers have created artificial materials known as metamaterials, which bend [...]

SW Without HW

Omar Fink — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 22:08:07 +0000

It has been said that “without hardware, software is nothing, but without software, hardware is something.” And you can even make an argument that some level of logic can be built into hardware simply because it must have some kind of ordered structure on many levels: time and space, atomic, molecular, chemical, even simple shape. [...]

Ethics of AIs

Omar Fink — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 03:13:45 +0000

Most discusssions of ethics in AIs or robots involve implanting some kind of code of behavior into the system that ensures the kind of behavior that we would agree with. Asimov’s three laws of robotics are an example of this type of “ethical governor”. Since the definition of intelligence implies some reasoning ability and at least [...]

Malware Evolution

Omar Fink — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 02:23:59 +0000

This thoroughly researched paper by Dave Dittrich at the University of Washington, reflects on how malware and cyber criminals have evolved their techniques and activites over recent years. Hybrid combinations of penetration methods make it more difficult to defend against the malware and good use of social engineering increases the success percentage. Nugache [...]

VASIMR Plasma Engine

Omar Fink — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 23:55:53 +0000

VASIMR is a high powered plasma engine being developed by Ad Astra Rocket Company in Houston. The VAriable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket is a drive that creates propulsion by expelling ionized hyrdrogen plasma and uses superconductors to increase the strength of the magnetic field involved and maximize thrust. VASIMR - [adastrarocket.com] The Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket [...]

1854 - Poincare - bio

Omar Fink — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 20:46:45 +0000

Henri Poincare was born in Nancy, France in 1854 and was a mathematician, physicist and philosopher. He may be best known for posing a theoretical problem in topology called “the Poincare Conjecture” which is a problem in topology about how a sphere can be defined by dealing with the characteristics of a three dimensional manifold. [...]

FutureGrid

Omar Fink — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 23:42:16 +0000

FutureGrid is a high speed network connected to clusters of high performance computers and linked to Teragrid. TeraGrid is the worlds largest distributed cyber-infrastructure that integrates high performance computers, data resources and experimental facilities. While TeraGrid is designed to provide computing resources, FutureGrid is oriented toward developing tools and technologies. What is FutureGrid? - [...]