Computing with Heat

 Researchers in Singapore have shown, in principle at least, that it will soon be possible to create thermal logic gates, including AND, OR, and NOT gates. Once you have all those pieces, you've got the basic ingredients of a computer that runs directly on heat, with no need for electricity at all.

Lei Wang and Baowen Li of the National University of Singapore propose that their logic gates could soon be built of recently developed thermal transistors or related designs, which control heat flow in the same way that conventional transistors control electricity.

A thermal transistor turns on or off depending on whether the temperature at its input gate is above or below a critical temperature. Constant temperature heat baths would take the place of power supplies in operating the thermal transistors and logic gates. In theory, any heat source could be used to run a thermal computer - sunlight, the heat from a campfire, etc.

In addition to proving that thermal gates can perform all the basic functions of electronic gates, the authors of the research soon to be published in the journal Physical Review Letters point out that the work may also help us to understand the complex heat flow in biological cells and systems in terms of thermal logic.

To get a look at the research before it's officially published, you can download a preprint of paper from the online science archives.

The World's Most Sophisticated Malware Ever Infects Hard Drive Firmware

High-tech "Equation group" is likely connected to NSA

 

 here's a new malware king on the block. Security researchers at Moscow-based Kaspersky Labs have uncovered a sophisticated suite of software packages that stem from what it calls the "Equation" group, a single cluster of unidentified hackers dating back to 2001.
A few things point to involvement by the U.S. intelligence apparatus: the complexity of the software; the groups and organizations targeted by the code; and similarities with known malware like Regin, Stuxnet, and software mentioned in documents from Edward Snowden. It's most likely the work of the National Security Agency (NSA), but Kaspersky doesn't explicitly draw that connection.

The malware can rewrite the firmware of hard drives--i.e. the very software that controls a device--making it virtually impossible to detect, let alone remove.

What makes Equation's work so impressive is the lengths to which it will go to infect target computers. In a never-before-seen capability, its malware can rewrite the firmware of hard drives--i.e. the software on the devices that controls them--making it virtually impossible to detect, let alone remove. Such an exploit would require access to private source code from hard-drive makers, though several of those companies denied to Reuters any knowledge or involvement.
The Equation group might also use a technique called "interdiction," in which they intercept mailed goods and replace them with infected versions; in one instance, Kaspersky learned CDs mailed to attendees of a scientific conference were replaced with versions containing one of Equation's Trojan horse programs.
The news has the feel of some dark web, Big Brother-esque conspiracy, but does this directly impact you, the average computer user? Probably not. For one thing, the Equation group's software appears to be highly targeted. It uses what's called an "escalation model:" a Trojan horse first determines whether or not the target is of interest before installing more invasive software. Much of the malware is also designed to self-destruct after a period of inactivity--no doubt intended to cover its tracks. But in one particular exploit of an online forum, Equation's exploit went out of its way not to track or infect unregistered users, targeting only those who were logged in.
Even if you are concerned about being infected by the Equation group's malware, there's little to be done about it at present. The software is so sophisticated that techniques to remove it don't yet exist--but we expect Kaspersky and other vendors will work to identify those methods.