Short Takes – 5-6-25 AM

Streamlining Global Automotive Cybersecurity Governance to Accelerate Innovation, Assurance, and Compliance. NCCGroup.com blog post. Pull quote: “Lack of Qualified Staff: It’s no secret that there’s a shortage of cybersecurity professionals in general. People with both automotive experience and cybersecurity expertise make this an even more niche career field. “I know what needs to be done in principle, but I don’t have the expertise to complete the work and I can’t hire people with the necessary experience and expertise.””

The State of State-Sponsored Hacktivist Attacks. Forescout.com blog post. Pull quote: “With hacktivism increasingly intertwined with state interests, understanding the operational tactics of the most active groups provides insight into modern cyber conflict. In a new threat briefing, “The Rise of State-Sponsored Hacktivism”, we analyze 780 hacktivist attacks in 2024 claimed by four groups operating on opposing sides of the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Palestine conflicts: BlackJack, Handala Group, Indian Cyber Force, and NoName057(16).”

A DNA robotic switch with regulated autonomous display of cytotoxic ligand nanopatterns. Nature.com article. More than a little biochem geeky. Abstract: “The clustering of death receptors (DRs) at the membrane leads to apoptosis. With the goal of treating tumours, multivalent molecular tools that initiate this mechanism have been developed. However, DRs are also ubiquitously expressed in healthy tissue. Here we present a stimuli-responsive robotic switch nanodevice that can autonomously and selectively turn on the display of cytotoxic ligand patterns in tumour microenvironments. We demonstrate a switchable DNA origami that normally hides six ligands but displays them as a hexagonal pattern 10 nm in diameter once under higher acidity. This can effectively cluster DRs and trigger apoptosis of human breast cancer cells at pH 6.5 while remaining inert at pH 7.4. When administered to mice bearing human breast cancer xenografts, this nanodevice decreased tumour growth by up to 70%. The data demonstrate the feasibility and opportunities for developing ligand pattern switches as a path for targeted treatment.”

Trump administration proposes cutting $491M from CISA budget. CyberScoop.com article. Pull quote: “In broad strokes, if approved by Congress, the budget would target for reduction what it identified as “so-called” disinformation and misinformation programs and offices; “duplicative” programs of other programs at the state and federal level; “external engagement offices such as international affairs”; and consolidate “redundant security advisors and programs.””

We need to build the data that chemistry deserves - here’s how we can do it. ChemistryWorld.com commentary. Pull quote: “What I’m proposing here is a huge piece of work. It’s not going to happen without broad understanding of the need for this data. I think more chemists would intrinsically get it if they at least knew how to build models from data at the smaller scale, and this whitepaper from JMP is a great starting point on using data to support innovation. The same principles that power those examples across different sectors and companies, could be used to build a tool that would be transformative for chemists everywhere.”

How to test for and control bird flu before it’s too late. TheHill.com commentary. Pull quote: “But according to Dr. Laura Goodman, an expert in molecular diagnostics at Cornell Public Health, the new rapid tests which are in the process of being developed to only be positive for H5N1, could then be used before chickens are showing signs of illness and before they are introduced into a barrier facility or a live bird market.”

NASA’s SPHEREx space telescope has begun its mission to map the entire sky in 3D. Engadget.com article. Pull quote: “SPHEREx’s 25 month survey will be a comprehensive one. The spacecraft “orbits Earth from north to south, passing over the poles, and each day it takes images along one circular strip of the sky,” NASA explains. “As the days pass and the planet moves around the Sun, SPHEREx’s field of view shifts as well so that after six months, the observatory will have looked out into space in every direction.” Researchers will use the SPHEREx observations to study the universe’s expansion in the moments after the big bang, and search for the ingredients for life elsewhere in the Milky Way.

Losing a key U.S. climate report would hurt future disaster prep. ScienceNews.org article. Pull quote: ““It wouldn’t be obvious for outsiders … how important something like the glossary was,” Sherman says. “So that when the Army Corps and FEMA are both dealing with a flood problem and use terms like flood or drought or resilience or whatever, they have a common definition and can work from the same standards. The National Climate Assessment was one way FEMA could make sure it’s speaking the same language as the EPA, or the Department of Agriculture.””

Inversion completes first flight of reentry vehicle, but without reentry.  Pull quote: “Despite the failure of Ray to demonstrate a controlled reentry, Inversion Space still considered the mission largely successful. “Ray’s mission was profoundly valuable, delivering substantial technical validation and invaluable real-world experience for the team,” the company stated, citing work testing the spacecraft’s hardware and software.”