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Income, tax and immigration data stolen in Healthcare.gov breach
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) now has details about the data stolen in the breach of Healthcare.gov that occurred last month. According to the government agency, a significant amount of personal information including partial Social Security numbers, tax information and immigration status was compromised in the breach. No financial information was stolen.
Healthcare.gov security breach leaks info for 75,000 people
Today The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that Healthcare.gov, the federally operated health insurance marketplace, has suffered a data breach. Apparently it detected "anomalous system activity" in a tool that's supposed to be used for brokers to help consumers get insurance coverage on October 13th, and declared the breach three days later. The CMS reports that it believes files for as many as 75,000 people were accessed, however it did not say what information specifically may have been revealed. It said in a statement that "CMS followed standard and appropriate security and risk protocols for researching and reporting the incident. Upon verification of the breach, CMS took immediate steps to secure the system and consumer information, further investigate the incident, and subsequently notify Federal law enforcement. We are actively engaged in and committed to helping those potentially impacted as well as ensuring the protection of consumer information." There have been warnings about security for state and federal healthcare websites before, and there was a hack in 2014 that didn't leak any data. The website is still operation, although the Direct Enrollment pathway for brokers has been disabled temporarily. With the Affordable Care Act-created site in turmoil politically, the timing of the breach is especially bad just before open enrollment for 2019 coverage begins. It will run from November 1st until December 15th, giving people who don't have health insurance through some other means a way to get covered. Once that period closes, they can only sign up through a Special Enrollment period if they have a qualifying life event.
Theranos settlement means it could have a lab again in 2019
Theranos has been headed toward disaster for a while through its questonable blood testing methods, but it might have just avoided the worst possible outcome. The biotech outfit has reached a settlement with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services that should end the legal and regulatory fights between the two. In return for Theranos dropping appeals of both its 2-year lab ban and sanctions on its Newark lab, CMS has decided against revoking Theranos' Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) certificates and reducing the civil financial penalty to $30,000. Theranos is voluntarily giving up the certificates, as it's not running labs that would need them.
Large Hadron Collider's new 'particle' was just a fluke
Sorry, folks: CERN didn't mean to get your hopes up. Researchers have determined that Large Hadron Collider data suggesting a possible new particle was really just a "statistical fluctuation." Additional data collected over the course of the past several months reduced the unusual diphoton "bump" to a significance of 2 sigma, or well below the 5 sigma needed for a discovery to be considered authentic. It's just unusual that scientists saw a blip like this at both the ATLAS and CMS experiments, ATLAS' Dave Charlton explains to Scientific American.
Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes banned from owning a lab
Spoiler warning in case you don't want to know how the movie will probably end: the Wall Street Journal reports US regulators have devised to ban the owners and operators of Theranos from running a lab for two years. That includes CEO & founder Elizabeth Holmes, as confirmed by a press release issued tonight. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) revoked the lab's Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) certificate and imposed a civil money penalty for an unspecified amount.
WSJ: Theranos is voiding and revising past blood test results
As Theranos faces increased scrutiny from regulators, tonight the Wall Street Journal is reporting the company is taking an extraordinary step by voiding its own blood test results going back two years. According to the Journal, the company is telling the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that it has issued "tens of thousands" of corrected blood test reports, covering results that have been revised or voided altogether.
WSJ: Theranos sent faulty test results to patients
News for blood testing startup Theranos just keeps getting worse. After plenty of very public drama and mishaps, the Wall Street Journal is now reporting that federal investigators have found that poor quality control led to inaccurate test results. To make matters worse, the report appears to suggest Theranos was aware the tests were unreliable, but sent the results to 81 patients anyway, putting them in "immediate jeopardy." Theranos disputes this number, telling Engadget the actual number of impacted patients was less than 40, and that it has "no reason to believe that these issues have affected patients' health," according to the new director of the Newark, CA lab at the heart of the investigation, Dr. Kingshuk Das.
Walgreens has told Theranos to shape up or ship out
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the relationship between Walgreens and Theranos is becoming fractious. According to the paper's unnamed sources, the drugstore has threatened to end its partnership with the troubled blood-testing startup. It's believed that Walgreens delivered an ultimatum to the firm in late January, saying that it needs to clean up its act within 30 days or be kicked to the curb. If true, then we could see the two part ways as early as the end of February. Walgreens is already doing its best to distance itself from its former BFF after shutting down the Theranos Wellness Center in Palo Alto and re-routing Theranos-branded tests to third-party labs.
US government says Theranos lab jeopardizes patients' health
Federal regulators have sent a letter to troubled Theranos Labs and the news is not promising. The (CMS) Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services states in a letter that it conducted a CLIA recertification survey of the lab and found it that it was not in compliance. In the letter signed by Karen Fuller, manager of state oversight for CMS, the agency noted that in regard to the hematology portion of the lab "it was determined that that the deficient practices of the laboratory pose immediate jeopardy to patient health and safety."
Former employee claims Theranos' FDA-approved test is faulty
Startup medical testing company Theranos came under fire in October as the accuracy of its tests were called into question. The FDA has been investigating since then, and today more fuel was thrown on the fire by some former employees. According to The Wall Street Journal, both the FDA and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) each received a complaint from a different former employee. The FDA received notice that the study Theranos submitted to win the agency's approval for its herpes test was "tainted by breaches in research protocol." That's notable because so far that herpes test is the only one of Theranos' tests that has actually been approved by the FDA. Founder Elizabeth Holmes (above) has continued to deny any accusations claiming that Theranos' data is inaccurate.
Slack Posts 2.0 explains big ideas without sending more emails
We live in an Orwellian future where every "k" and "LOL" brings us ever-closer to 1984-style Newspeak. To fight back, Slack's latest update acknowledges there are times when a line or two of IM-speak doesn't get the job done. Sometimes ideas need a little more explanation, and with that, it has released an update to its Posts tool dubbed -- creatively -- Posts 2.0.
Into the heart of CERN: an underground tour of the Large Hadron Collider (video)
"Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast." ― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland I've been to see ALICE -- though there was no looking glass to jump through, just a retina scanner and one very long elevator ride down into the earth. I've toured a CMS that has nothing to do with online publishing. I've even gently laid my body on the most powerful particle accelerator in the world and raised the ire of surrounding engineers in the interest of a good shot. I did all of this at CERN, the international particle physics laboratory located near Geneva, Switzerland. But you probably know it best as the birthplace of the world wide web and home of the Large Hadron Collider. And, yes, it was all exactly like a walking fever dream. %Gallery-192868% %Gallery-192867% %Gallery-192869% %Gallery-192870%
Visualized: this is where the Higgs Boson was discovered
It's not everyday you get to tour CERN, the international particle physics research facility that spans the border of both France and Switzerland. It's even more rare to go down into the sprawling facility's tunnels to see an inactive and under repair Large Hadron Collider -- currently, the world's most powerful particle accelerator. But that's just what we did this past week, as we spent some quality time with CERN's physicists and visited the dormant LHC, as well as two of its detectors: ALICE and CMS (pictured above). There'll be much more to come from our trip to CERN, so stay tuned. But for now feast your eyes on the birthplace of the Higgs Boson discovery.
EVE Online collecting player stories, CSM elections halfway over
In a lot of ways, EVE Online players are a lot like vikings. Or so CCP's new promotional video would have you believe. It draws comparisons between early Icelandic settlers carving out their place in the world to players in the galaxy of EVE Online doing much the same. It also makes the fine point that we would know nothing about the settlers of Iceland were it not for the few who took the time to write about the events of the time. The fine scholars at CCP want to preserve the history of EVE Online in a similar way, and they want players' help to do it. Internet spacefarers can go to the EVE True Stories site and submit their favorite tales, which will be voted upon by fellow players. One lucky player will even win a trip to Iceland to visit CCP's studios and take in the splendor of the country. EVE players and politicians may also want to remember that the 8th Council of Stellar Management elections are halfway done, and voting will close on April 17th (that's today!) at 7 p.m. EST (midnight GMT). So if you want to make your voice heard, head on over to the election page and cast your ballot. Also, don't forget to check out the True Stories video after the cut.SM
App authoring made WordPress-easy with Kleverbeast
Making a good iOS app isn't easy (just ask our own Mike Schramm), and frankly most non-programmer professionals don't have the time or energy to learn their way through XCode and take control of their own "face" on the App Store. That's too bad, really; more and more, a brand's first impression is formed not by its advertising or its website but by the mobile experience it delivers. Getting a truly "pro" result can cost thousands of dollars and countless hours of work. While there are rapid development platforms for iOS -- some very capable, and some that want to take their own slice of the sales revenue -- most RSS-driven tools are not so capable and the results are not so attractive. (I really can't think of a more unfortunate name for an authoring platform, but what do I know.) There's definitely room for a sophisticated, web-based tool that provides simplicity on the back end for novice app authors while delivering a slick, fully native experience on the App Store. Kleverbeast, which launches into a public beta today, may just be the standard bearer for app creation 2.0. The service, which starts at US$29/month for core features, lets authors work in a web-based CMS as they build out their apps. Once every bit of content is ready, navigation is set and all is approved, the Kleverbeast servers compile a full .ipa iOS package that's ready for the App Store. %Gallery-178880% With a $99 Apple developer account, you can publish under your own shingle; if you don't have or don't want ADC access, Kleverbeast will do the uploading for you. You can also target Android tablets via Google Play, but not iPhones or Android phones, yet. Granted, if you build a Kleverbeast app you're working in a template, but the templates are gorgeous and flexible (think Squarespace, not PowerPoint). During the beta, there are several "looks" available, with more on the way; the initial set focuses on creative professionals like artists or photographers, galleries or small retail, and a few other verticals. Alpha users like photographer Lawrence Schiller have already begun pushing the Kleverbeast platform to the max; you can see the results on the App Store now in his Marilyn and America in the '60s app, and in Chinese artist Zeng Fanzhi's gallery app. Here's a quick overview of the authoring process: The service includes a free KB Viewer app, which allows you to preview your app on a live iPad before pushing the Publish button. Kleverbeast is providing a seven-day free trial during the beta period, with full access to all the platform tools. Subscription plans are $29/month or $199/month depending on your desired feature mix, and enterprise plans are available. Even if your subscription expires, your app is yours and remains in the store; you would have to re-up your subscription to add or change elements in your app, however.
CERN confirms existence of new particle consistent with Higgs boson (video)
Physics' big announcement had more in common with a leaky product launch than the serious business of re-writing the science books. But slack asset management aside, it's official: a new boson has been observed with a standard deviation of 5 (confidence of 99.9%). The highly anticipated announcement came this morning direct from CERN's press conference (via ICHEP in Melbourne,) and is the result of an intense, ongoing search for the elusive particle. The observation is of a boson particle with a mass of 125.3 ± 0.6 GeV, at a significance of 4.9 sigma. Joe Incandela -- giving the presentation -- said that this is "In agreement with the standard model at 95% confidence range." The boson is the heaviest ever found, and although this is still a preliminary result, it's by far the strongest case yet for the existence of the elusive Higgs. The sought-after particle is essential for supporting the current understanding of sub-atomic world, and its bearing on nuclear, and electromagnetic interactions. The next stage will be to determine the exact characteristics of the new particle and whether it matches the expectations of the Higgs, or is it in fact something more "exotic." This part will take much more time, but for now, a (very) small, but important piece of the puzzle has been found. Update: We're sure you've got many questions, and CERN apparently anticipated this. Check out the more coverage link for a helpful FAQ about everything Higgs. [Image credit: CERN]
CERN update on its search for Higgs boson starts at 3AM ET (video)
The cat would appear to be out of the bag, but if you must find out about the status of the Higgs boson search ASAP, check the video stream (embedded after the break) as CERN scientists reveal whatever it is they've found. The webcast is scheduled to kick off at 2:55AM ET, as a prelude to this year's ICHEP particle physics conference in Melbourne. Whenever the announcement comes we'll be sure to let you know, check the links below for more information. Update: So yeah, they've found a new particle "consistent with Higgs boson," check out all the details here.
Higgs boson just may, possibly, more or less be proven to exist by ATLAS and CMS teams
We had a false alarm over the possible discovery of the theory-unifying Higgs boson last year, but a bit of poking and prodding in subsequent months may well have given us much more definitive evidence of the elusive particle. According to some rare rumors emerging from Nature, both CERN's ATLAS and CMS detectors have seen particle decay signals suggesting the existence of Higgs to within a 4.5 to 5 sigma level of proof -- in other words, very nearly concrete evidence. That's not quite the 5-plus needed to settle the matter, but it's to a much higher level of certainty than before. As if to add fuel to the fire, ScienceNews even located a briefly posted, CERN-made video (sadly, since pulled) saying bluntly that the CMS team had "observed a new particle." Whether or not there's any substance is another matter. Nature hears that scientists are supposedly still working out what to say at an event on Wednesday, while CERN has made the slightly odd claim to ScienceNews that the yanked video is just one of several pre-recorded segments made to cover possible outcomes -- you know, in that "Dewey defeats Truman" sort of way. Unless the scientists have to go back to the drawing board, though, the focus from now on may be more on learning how Higgs behaves than its very existence. Any significant truth could see researchers proving the validity of the standard model of physics just as we're firing up our Independence Day barbecues.
Large Hadron Collider to increase beam energy: Higgs boson can run, not hide
We've seen the Large Hadron Collider running at a record-breaking 7 TeV for short periods, but now CERN is turning it up a notch (to 4 TeV from 3.5) for the rest of the year. The decision comes after an annual performance workshop last week in Chamonix and a report from the CERN Machine Advisory Committee (CMAC). The increase may seem modest compared to the knee-trembling levels of 7 TeV, but it's all part of a broader optimization strategy. Scientists state the new approach should increase the data collected in 2012 to 15 inverse femtobarns -- a three-fold jump from 2011. Even more encouraging is a statement from CERN's Research Director, Sergio Bertolucci, who claims that we should finally know for sure about the existence of the Higgs boson -- either way -- before the LHC enters a temporary shut-down period at the end of the year. Beam yourself over the break for the full press release.
CERN: 'Don't believe the Higgs-Boson hype' (update: not yet)
CERN is pouring cold water on the rumor it's gonna announce the discovery of the Higgs at today's seminar in Zurich. For the uninitiated: the Higgs-Boson is the particle that is believed to give all things mass: it surrounds us, penetrates us and binds the galaxy together. The scuttlebutt is that the ATLAS sensor picked up a Higgs with a mass of 125GeV (gigaelectronvolts) and rated at three-point-five-sigma -- a one sigma barely warrants a mention, a five-sigma is a bona-fide scientific discovery. CERN hasn't confirmed or denied anything, claiming it's still got five inverse femtobarns worth of data (roughly 5 x 70 x 10^12 of individual collisions) to examine before it can be sure, so just chuck the one bottle of champagne into the refrigerator -- better to be safe, eh? Update: Looks like we don't need to bust out the bubbly, after all. The conclusion from the two-hour presentation is that the ATLAS detector has been able to narrow down the region it believes the Higgs is in to 115.5GeV to 131GeV and that any discovery so-far only has a rating of two point three sigma. The CMS is similarly inconclusive, with results bobbing around the two sigma region. In short, whilst they know where they should look, they haven't been able to find one -- yet.
