Apr 28th, 2025 - Most organizations have no defined strategy to defend against quantum-enabled threats, according to a new survey by ISACA. Just 5% of IT professionals said such a strategy is currently in place at their organization, while only 3% believe it is a high business priority for the near future. More than half (59%) of respondents admitted that no steps have been taken to prepare for quantum computing. Experts have warned that quantum computers will be capable of breaking all current encryption protocols , such as RSA and AES. This will require computing power of 10,000 qubits or more. Such a ... [Read More]

Apr 28th, 2025 - A runaway miniature dachshund in Australia named Valerie has been found alive and well after she went missing for 529 days in the wilderness. Wildlife searchers announced late Friday that Valerie had been safely rescued on Kangaroo Island off the coast of South Australia . The beloved sausage dog had captured international attention after disappearing in November 2023 during a camping trip with her owners, Josh Fishlock and Georgia Gardner. "We are absolutely thrilled and deeply relieved that Valerie is finally safe," Kangala Wildlife Rescue said on Facebook , sparking joy and relief on ... [Read More]

Apr 28th, 2025 - Archaeologists in Peru announced they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, in an area which for decades was used as a garbage dump. The new discovery revealed the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas, researchers said. "What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman," archaeologist David Palomino told AFP. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for over 30 years until becoming an archaeological site ... [Read More]

Apr 28th, 2025 - Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. . science and culture for people who love beautiful writing. Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. As a child, I was, like many people, mesmerized by the astounding physical metrics of snakes—the longest snake (reticulated python), the heaviest (anaconda), how large a meal they could consume in one gulp (up to 1.6 times their body weight in the case of pythons), the longest fangs, the most lethal venom. These superlatives have been memorialized in archival photos, popular science books (such as Clifford Pope's 1970s classic The ... [Read More]

Apr 28th, 2025 - The detection of the celestial body by a Rutgers-led team could redefine understanding of interstellar medium Rutgers University An international team of scientists led by a Rutgers University-New Brunswick astrophysicist has discovered a potentially star-forming cloud that is one of the largest single structures in the sky and among the closest to the sun and Earth ever to be detected.   The vast ball of hydrogen, long invisible to scientists, was revealed by looking for its main constituent – molecular hydrogen. The finding marks the first time a molecular cloud has been ... [Read More]

Apr 28th, 2025 - No More Excuses for Procrastinating on Quantum Preparation We have an urgency problem when it comes to quantum computing that is rivaling even the underlying technology challenge. As a society, we often are surprised at how fast major innovation moves. A tipping point arrives, and in many cases – as we've seen recently with generative artificial intelligence – we dramatically underestimate the impact. In the case of quantum computing, that underestimation could have dire consequences for our organizations. Now is the time to ring the alarm bell, as underscored by ISACA's new ... [Read More]

Apr 28th, 2025 - Did you eat cereal this morning? Or have you walked on a gravel path? Maybe you had a headache and had to take a pill? If you answered any of these questions with a yes, you interacted with a granular system today. Scientists classify any collection of small, hard particles – such as puffed rice, sand grains or pills – as a granular system . Even though everyone has interacted with these kinds of systems, describing the physics of how the particles collectively act when they are close together is surprisingly hard . Granular systems sometimes move like a fluid . Think of an ... [Read More]