CIA hacking claims: How worried should you be?

Allegations that the U.S. agency has hacked into smartphones, laptops, and internet-connected TVs to spy on people around the world are enough to make anyone paranoid. But security experts are urging tech consumers to keep calm and take a few simple precautions.

Billions at stake in battle over gene-editing patents

Much like a surgical scalpel, the technique allows the genome to be edited by clipping out a specific area of DNA and in some cases replacing it with new instructions The first skirmish was fought last week in what could be a long war over a revolutionary patent on gene-editing technology, with colossal amounts of money at stake. Facing off are the top international experts in the fast-growing field of gene-editing – pitting American scientist Feng Zhang, against the French-American duo of Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna.

NASA photograph

High performance materials and structures are needed for safe and affordable next generation exploration systems such as transit vehicles, habitats, and power systems. NASA has selected proposals for the creation of two multi-disciplinary, university-led research institutes that will focus on the development of technologies critical to extending human presence deeper into our solar system.

NASA Funds 2 New Research Institutes to Help Humanity Explore Deep Space

NASA will spend up to $30 million over the next five years to set up and support two new institutes dedicated to helping humanity extend its footprint out into the solar system. The two Space Technology Research Institutes – each of which will receive up to $15 million of NASA funding over a five-year “period of performance” – will aim to develop new technologies in the fields of biomanufacturing and materials, agency officials said.

Gene Editing Patent Ruling Sways Fortune of Biotech Hopefuls

In a highly anticipated decision that could sway the fortunes of a handful of biotechnology companies, the federal patent office has turned back a challenge to patents covering a widely used method for editing genes. The office’s board of appeals ruled Wednesday that the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard can keep patents it had been awarded for a technique called CRISPR that lets scientists alter DNA within cells.

Way found to reprogram mouse embryonic stem cells

This undated photo provided by animal clone scientist Zhou Qi of the Institute of Zoology in Beijing shows the mouse Xiao Xiao or “Tiny” from the induced pluripotent stem cells in its three-month old. Two teams of Chinese researchers have created live mice from IPS cells, answering a lingering question about the developmental potential of the cells, according to a press release published online by Nature on July 23, 2009.

Whatsapp bug allows viewing of encrypted messages

Whatsapp’s messaging app supposedly ensures strong end-to-end encryption, with the idea being that only the people involved in a conversation will ever be able to read the messages. But as it turns out, a programming bug – that Whatsapp has known about for some time and has not fixed – theoretically allows Whatsapp to snoop on any encrypted messages sent over the platform.