Scammed By A Skimmer: Watch Out For ATM-Based Info Theft Devices

Crafty criminals have used technology to streamline their operations since the word "hacking" only meant to slash off someone's limb.  Recently, their methods have been getting trickier and less obtrusive, so much so that you may be robbed without even knowing about it.

Who needs to be a stickup artist when a simple, slim ATM skimmer can do all the work for you?  According to gizmodo.com, that's what's troubling police in southern Europe this week, after this insidious little interloper was pulled from a bank machine.

It's efficient, but sure doesn't look as badass as old bank robbers used to.

Powered by a mere watch battery and a small magnetic reader, the heist device was also equipped with a small data storage unit.  The skimmer was likely used alongside an external camera that monitored customers pressing PIN numbers, although this was missing from the crime scene.  One bank employee explained that mystery well, stating they "didn't capture any hidden camera [because the criminals] probably took it. There were definitely no PIN pad [overlays]. In all skimming cases lately we see through the videos that fraudsters capture the PIN through [hidden] cameras."

This trend could easily go unnoticed in busy commercial centers where people need cash quickly, but if you aren't paying attention, you may end up paying through the nose. Keep your eyes peeled and your wallets sealed around shady ATMs!

A.T.Ummmm...

Microneedles: Big Development, Little Pain

The best technology is the type that makes life easier for people in places where it seemed difficult or impossible to create a more user-friendly interface. If successful, one new development in India is set to aid medical technology tremendously: near-painless needle arrays for syringes.

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Sciences have been working on a new invention, called "microneedles." Instead of a standard stainless-steel jab, these are small arrays of microscopic-sized silicon filaments which are still able to pass medication on to the user, sans any of the traditional pain.

As any screaming child who's gone through an impalement of inoculations can attest to, this could be very important in the healthcare field. Those who require frequent injections, such as diabetics, could have their ordeal made immensely more simple. At a mere 130 microns apiece, the tiny silicon snippets would barely sting, even in an array.

The biocompatibility of silicon was augmented by researchers using a simple and easily mass-produced method. K.B. Vinayakumar, lead author on the project, explained to thehindu.com that, "...we coated the needle with very thin layers of titanium and gold through electroplating.” This is to prevent negative reactions with blood plasma and degradation through repeat use (which is important to maintain the microneedles' strength enough to break the skin's "resistive force.")

The microneedles are currently still being tested on animals, but may soon be seen (though not felt) in use for humans.

If you still cry about needles after this, you're a huge wuss.

Space Station Sunday: Extremeophile Edition

It may be that not all the life aboard the ISS is human. This week, after a spacewalk, it was reported by cosmnauts Olek Artemyev and Alexander Skvortsov that plankton is growing on the exterior of the spacecraft.

According to the telegraph.co.uk, it was reported that the two spacefarers were conducting a cleanup operation outside the station when the extreme-living organisms were discovered. Samples were taken for analysis from among the other residue that coats the ISS as a result of its 6,000-odd days in orbit.

This may not be as alien as it sounds. Other organisms may live deeply beneath ice shelves, far below the ocean, or even in the vacuum of space. Theories on the space plankton include ideas that it has been carried up aboard another flight (although the material is inconsistent with growths found around Roscosmos, the Kazakh cosmodrome responsible for most of the space launches to the ISS), or that tiny frozen molecules containing the organisms wafted up from the atmosphere.

NASA has not yet confirmed these findings. Their spokeman, Dan Huot, told space.com that, “As far as we're concerned, we haven't heard any official reports from our Roscosmos colleagues that they've found sea plankton." Russian ISS orbital mission chief Vladimir Solovyev pushed the claim, and was quoted in forbes.com stating, “Results of the experiment are absolutely unique. We have found traces of sea plankton and microscopic particles on the illuminator surface. This should be studied further.”

It could be something out of a horror movie...or it could just be a case of the ISS needing a good wash. More news as this story develops...watch this space (station.)

Plankton or planetary invasion?

Serendipitous Songs? New App Maps Where And When People Play Similar Songs

Do you ever wonder if you share a "soundtrack" with other people, perhaps during a certain time, or in a certain vicinity? If you do, now there's a way to find out what your fellow music fans are jamming to at the same time or place you are.

According to techtimes.com, Spotify's new Serendipity app tracks your tunes as you rock out, then shows users if someone else, anywhere in the world, is grooving to the same song. As Spotify describes this, "If you're listen[ing] to a popular song, there's a good chance someone else is listening to it in sync with you." You can watch the results on a map and allow yourself to be happy that someone, somewhere is also crying along to Air Supply's "All Out Of Love."

The fascinating part about this is that Spotify has deduced that every second, ten people begin listening to the same song within a tenth of a second. So yeah, it could be implied that every time you're blasting the Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive", ten other people may be doing the Travolta dance along with you...somewhere.  

Ha, ha, ha, ha - oh sweet, some dude in Belgium is jamming it too!  Intercontinental dance party! 

Where're You At? New App Monitors Missed Connections

Have you ever passed a certain someone on the street and, for whatever reason, have not been able to get them out of your head? Now, a new app can help you find them without having to deal with all the weirdos in the "Missed Connections" forums.

Happn, a new app created by a hacker, an entrepreneur, and a computer engineer, seeks to play e-matchmaker with those who have perchance crossed your path. As their website exclaims, Happn is, "An app that loves coincidences and boosts luck again!"

Prospective users make profiles which are invisible to other users, except in the event that their paths cross...at parties, concerts or bars, on hikes on or the street. Maybe it's even just someone in the same hallway at work as you who you've never mustered up the courage or a reason to talk to. Now, thanks to Happn, you can happen upon their real identity.

The creators claim the app does not share information and has easy features to flag or block those who would use this app for stalking or other unsavory recon. So get out there and find that mystery man or woman!

One of these people could be the one for you, and now, you don't even have to talk to them to meet!

Gorgeous New Electric Coupe Charges Forth

Now that Tesla has officially proven it isn't going to pack up shop just because the oil lobbyists cry about it, it's time for the competition to heat up among the electric car creators. Enter the Renovo coupe, a hot new electric model set to debut in 2015.

According to acquiremag.com, the classically-styled Renovo coupe clocks in at 0-60 in 3.4 seconds and boasts 500 horsepower. Not bad for a car that you fuel in nearly the same manner that one would charge their cellphone. The car's Twin Sequential Axial Flux engine runs on three lithium ion batteries that require just 30 minutes, or which can attain a stronger "level 2" charge after five hours.

USA Today reports that the Renovo will be priced considerably higher than its Tesla competitors, with the coupe costing $529,000. The price coupled with the fact that its maximum range is 100 miles may hinder some interest in the vehicle. However, its light frame allows for superior handling. Jason Stinson, Chief Technical Officer, developed the car alongside other "performance junkies" like himself, and caters to a similar clientele. And while the Renovo isn't really a racecar (it tops off at 129 m.p.h.), it certainly looks like a champion. The drool-inducing chassis is based off of a design from Shelby American, a company created by racing legend Carroll Shelby.

Could a new golden age of American automobile enthusiasm soon start kicking the tires and lighting (well, charging) the fires?

Ride on.

Replace Your Face: 3-D Facial Implants Approved By FDA

Thanks to the success of Oxford Performance Material's 3-D printed skull (75% of which took up residence in a patient's headspace last year with great results), the FDA has announced approval of the company's OsteoFab Patient-Specific Facial Device, which can substitute your face-bones should such a dramatic need arise.

It's as simple as printing out the required new part and surgically installing it into your face-space. The rapid rise of 3-D technology has aided surgery for prosthetics, bones, and has even made strides on creating new organs, so this bit of reconstruction is not surprising, and also not significantly different from what you were born with.

According to cnet.com, Oxford Performance Materials' CEO Scott DeFelice said, "With the clearance of our 3D printed facial device, we now have the ability to treat these extremely complex cases in a highly effective and economical way, printing patient-specific maxillofacial implants from individualized MRI or CT digital image files from the surgeon."

So basically, you just need to steal one of your favorite movie star's MRIs and tell the surgeon to build you a fresh visage. OK, that might not work, but for those in need of serious cosmetic surgery, this offers a chance at restoring relative reality.

DO NOT ABUSE THIS NEW TECHNOLOGY.  We don't any more Cages or Travoltas running around.
A few extra Harrison Fords wouldn't be bad, though.