Water Pump
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Scientists defy gravity with 'perpetual' water pump
Scientists have figured out how to pump water upwards in a thick tube using a combination of surface tension and water-repellent materials. Before you get your hopes up, it's definitely no perpetual-motion machine -- but the discovery from Beihang University researchers in China could bring other benefits. Here's how it works: The right angle pipe shown above is filled with a small amount of water, which can't drain thanks to a copper mesh doped with a superhydrophobic (water-rejecting) material at the bottom. When a small droplet is introduced, it's drawn upward by surface tension, albeit very slowly (the above GIF is sped up about 75 times).
AT-AT PC Case Mod: and you thought it was just geeky on the outside
This isn't the first Star Wars-themed peripheral we've featured. Not by a long shot. Not even today. It's not even the first AT-AT case mod we've had, but we can safely say it poses the most danger to the alliance. With a mini-ITX mainboard, Intel Core i7-2600K CPU and 8GB of RAM, this walker might actually have enough brains to avoid a harpoon and tow cable, and with elaborate watercooling the Hasbro plastic shouldn't get scorched either. The icing on the imperial cake is weapons and interior that light up with the touch of a remote. Want to see how modder Asphiax made it happen? Then pewpew the source link.
Man on vacation confused for a Russian spy, almost restarts cold war
Threats of Russian espionage can come from the unlikeliest of sources, as Jim Mimlitz, owner of Navionics Research, a small integrator firm, knows only too well. Curran Gardner Public Water District, just outside of Springfield, Illinois, employed Mimlitz's firm to set up its Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition system (SCADA), and the spy games began when Mimlitz went on vacation in Russia. While there, he logged into the SCADA system to check some data, then logged off and went back to enjoying Red Square and the finest vodka mother Russia has to offer. However, five months later a Curran Gardner water pump fails, and an IT contractor eyeballing the logs spots the Russian-based IP address. Fearing stolen credentials, he passes the info up the chain of command to the Environmental Protection Agency (as it governs the water district) without bothering to contact Mimlitz, whose name was in the logs next to the IP address. The EPA then passed along the paranoia to a joint state and federal terrorism intelligence center, which issued a report stating that SCADA had been hacked. Oh boy. A media frenzy followed bringing all the brouhaha to Mimlitz's attention. After speaking with the FBI, the massive oversight was identified, papers were shuffled, and everyone went about their day. So, next time you delete all your company's e-mail, or restart the wrong server, remember: at least you didn't almost start World War III. Tap the source link for the full story. [Image courtesy Northackton]
Feds deny hacking caused Illinois water pump failure
Did a hacker or group of hackers, possibly in Russia, manage to physically destroy a water pump in Springfield, Illinois? That was the word last week, when reports spread that hackers had managed to take control of the water plant's Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System (or SCADA), which gave them the ability to repeatedly turn the pump on and off and eventually burn it out. Now, however, both the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security say that their investigations have found no evidence of hacking or malicious activity, and that earlier reports were based on "raw, unconfirmed data." As you might expect, that explanation isn't quite being accepted by everyone, including Joe Weiss, the security researcher who first reported the incident. You can find his comments on Wired's Threat Level blog linked below.
Water pump reportedly destroyed by SCADA hackers
The FBI and DHS are investigating damage to a public water system in Springfield, Illinois, which may have been the target of a foreign cyber attack. There's no threat to public safety and criminal interference has not been officially confirmed, but a security researcher called Joe Weiss has reported evidence that hackers based in Russia are to blame. He claims they accessed the water plant's SCADA online control system and used it to repeatedly switch a pump on and off, eventually causing it to burn out. Coincidentally, a water treatment facility was publicly hacked at the Black Hat conference back in August, precisely to highlight this type of vulnerability. If there are any SCADA administrators out there who haven't already replaced their '1234' and 'admin' passwords, then they might consider this a reminder.
