Citizen Cartwright

The trend toward citizen science

Did you hear about the high school girl who diagnosed her disease in science class after doctors had tried and failed for eight years?

How about the 15-year-old boy who a few years back used a sample of his DNA and the Internet to find the anonymous sperm donor who was his father?

Or the New York City teens who used a simplified genetic fingerprinting technique to determine that a quarter of the sushi they tested wasn't what it was labeled?

These are examples of the growing trend toward amateur biology, a topic of a briefing Thursday at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington.

It's "lo-fi" biology — low in complexity, cost and waste, says Jason Bobe, co-founder of DIYbio.org (the DIY standing for do-it-yourself), who spoke at the briefing.

Amateur activities range from identifying bacteria and plants to personal biomonitoring to environmental sensing using genetic engineering.

As an example, we're "getting closer to everyone being able to assess the quality of their tap water," Bobe says.

The other speaker at the briefing, Edward You of the FBI, discussed the security issues involved. He says the FBI doesn't want to stifle research and favors a "neighborhood watch" process to promote a culture of responsibility. 

Drumbeat continues on threat of cyberterrorism

FBI Director Robert Mueller said in a speech to security professionals on Thursday that militant groups, other countries and criminal gangs targeting government and private computer networks are an increasing threat to the nation's security.

"Terrorists have shown a clear interest in pursuing hacking skills and they will either train their own recruits or hire outsiders with an eye toward combining physical attacks with cyberattacks," he said.

A cyberattack could have as much impact as a "well-placed bomb," he said.

Capitol tweets

About a third of lawmakers use Twitter, the Los Angeles Times reports, citing a Congressional Research Service report.

Which senator tweets most? Surprisingly, it's John McCain, R-Ariz., who's said he doesn't use a computer. But the Times says his tweets sound "suspiciously staff-written." An example: "Good morning! If you are up early in Phoenix turn on ABC 15 at 6:40 for my interview."

The value of lawmakers using social media? CRS says, "For members and their staff, the ability to collect and transmit real time information from constituents could be influential for policy or voting decisions."

Cybersecurity

An Eastern European criminal group apparently is behind an international cyberattack of 2,500 companies and government agencies over the last 18 months that The Wall Street Journal first reported on Wednesday.

"Vast amounts of personal and corporate secrets" ranging from credit card transactions to intellectual property have been compromised, the paper says.

The revelation comes a day after a bipartisan group of former government officials taking part in a simulated cyberattack said more public awareness and government action are needed on the issue.

One of the participants, Joe Lockhart, former press secretary to President Clinton, said, “We want” people “scared enough so when their member of Congress comes home, they say to him, ‘What about this cyber thing.’”

Cyber insecurity

Chinese hackers are attacking U.S. firms such as Google with professionalism, organization and discipline, suggesting that the attacks have been coordinated or at least approved by the Chinese government, The Christian Science Monitor says.

Google and China's 'Great Firewall'

Google’s threat to leave China — and a market of Web surfers that exceeds the entire population of the United States — may further the Chinese government’s resolve to shape the Internet to its political advantage rather than accept the “unrestricted” Web advocated by President Obama, Bloomberg says.

The Web search giant said on Tuesday it had discovered that Chinese cyberattackers had tried to access the gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists.

Google said: "These attacks and the surveillance they have uncovered — combined with the attempts over the past year to further limit free speech on the Web — have led us to conclude that we should review the feasibility of our business operations in China. We have decided we are no longer willing to continue censoring our results on Google.cn."

Headin' down the high-tech highway

Coming soon to car dashboards are Internet-connected computers for the driver's use, The New York Times reports from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

While some features won't work when the car is moving, safety advocates fear that other features will distract drivers and lead to wrecks.

Your cell phone and your brain

Amid all the concern about whether cell phones cause brain cancer, scientists at the Florida Alzheimer's Disease Research Center say that using a cell phone in fact may be a brain boon.

The electromagnetic waves from the phones may prevent — and even reverse — Alzheimer's, they report in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.

No lack of jobs for cyber-security specialists

The federal government's demand for skilled computer-security technicians with security clearances is so intense that a bidding war among agencies and contractors has erupted, The Washington Post says.

New cyber czar

President Obama is expected to announce on Tuesday that he's chosen Howard Schmidt, who was a cyber-adviser to President George W. Bush, as the new cybersecurity coordinator. Before his stint at the Bush White House, Schmidt was chief security officer at Microsoft and eBay.

Obama said in May that protecting the country's digital networks would be a "national security priority." But naming a czar has been delayed as a number of people have declined the job, some of them saying it involved big responsibility but little authority.