If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada have united to probe a significant data breach at genetic testing giant 23andMe. The breach compromised the genetic and ancestral information of 6.9 million users—half of its user database. Initially unnoticed by the company, the breach occurred between April and September 2023, with the company becoming aware only in October after the compromised data surfaced on an unofficial subreddit and a notorious hacking forum. The scope of the stolen data is extensive, including sensitive details such as the users’ names, birth years, familial connections, DNA shared with relatives, ancestry reports, and self-reported locations. Hackers executed the breach by employing a technique known as password spraying, reusing passwords exposed in previous breaches to access around 14,000 customer accounts. Through an opt-in feature designed to connect distant relatives, dubbed DNA Relatives, the attackers could scrape the information of millions from these breached accounts. In a climate where digital privacy concerns are escalating, ICO Commissioner John Edwards emphasized the necessity for trust in organizations that handle sensitive information. Edwards said, “This data breach had an international impact, and we look forward to collaborating with our Canadian counterparts to ensure the personal information of people in the UK is protected.” The investigation aims to ascertain the breadth of the exposed data, assess the potential harm inflicted on the affected users, and evaluate whether 23andMe had sufficient security measures to protect user data and properly notify the appropriate regulatory bodies. 23andMe’s spokesperson, Andy Kill, acknowledged the investigation, stating, “23andMe acknowledges the joint investigation announced by the Privacy Commissioner of Canada and the UK Information Commissioner today. We intend to cooperate with these regulators’ reasonable requests relating to the credential stuffing attack discovered in October 2023.” The significant data breach at 23andMe underscores the profound privacy and security risks associated with entrusting sensitive information to centralized companies, especially when it involves genetic data and biometrics. This incident demonstrates how vulnerable such data is to cyberattacks. The hackers’ ability to infiltrate the system using password spraying techniques and exploit features like DNA Relatives highlights the potential for extensive misuse and exploitation of personal data. When genetic information—an immutable and deeply personal identifier—is compromised, the ramifications can be far-reaching, affecting not only the individuals involved but also their relatives, given the interconnected nature of genetic data. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post UK and Canada Probe DNA Company 23andMe’s Data Breach appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

It Looked Like Biden Froze During Early Juneteenth Celebration at the White House

With their large, dark eyes, elusive nature, and unusual sounding calls, it’s no wonder European nightjars (Caprimulgus europaeus) are steeped in folklore. While they’re probably not as supernatural as they seem, there’s still an air of mystery surrounding them – so what do we actually know about the nightjar?Masters of camouflageWe would argue that they’re quite pretty, but there’s no denying that nightjars are at least a bit odd-looking. Though often compared to kestrels in terms of shape, their tiny beaks and wide mouths look somewhat out of proportion with the rest of them. Nightjars are, however, masters of camouflage. Their feathers are a mottled gray-brown that resembles tree bark, allowing them to blend in with their surroundings during the day. Couple that with the fact that they’re nocturnal and have silent flight, and the chances of spotting one become fairly slim.Seeing is hearingThough they’re called European nightjars, these birds actually spend most of the year in Africa, primarily in the grasslands of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Then, in late April and May, they make their way to Europe, where they settle on open land like heaths, moors, and woodland clearings.Within those regions, the best bet at catching a glimpse of a nightjar first involves using your ears. Get yourself on a heath at dusk, when they start to become active, and you may well hear male nightjars churring. If you think this unique trilling doesn’t sound like it comes from a bird, you’re not the only one; it was once believed the male nightjar’s call was actually the sound of witches hiding in bushes.  IFLScience is not responsible for content shared from external sites.Mom of the yearOn their arrival in Europe, nightjars get busy. Between late May and August, they usually hatch two broods, each consisting of two eggs. Forgoing a nest, a female nightjar lays their eggs on the ground. Though that might seem a tad risky, the eggs are bark-colored, which helps to camouflage them.Normally, young nightjars fly the nest around two weeks after they hatch, but something quite unexpected happened to a nightjar chick on the UK TV series Springwatch in June last year. The program had been following a female nightjar and her recently hatched chicks. During some night vision footage captured the previous evening, it appeared as though the mother bird had returned to her nest to feed the chicks, with her head shown to be bobbing up and down.But then she turned around and as presenter Chris Packham described: “She’s eating her own chick alive, and she swallows it whole.”Whilst chowing down on your offspring, known as filial cannibalism, isn’t exactly uncommon in the animal world, this doesn’t seem to be typical behavior for nightjars. As Packham explained to viewers, the program’s team had spoken to experts on the matter and gone through scientific reports, and couldn’t find another example of a female nightjar eating their young.It’s not the only atypical food source that’s been associated with nightjars either. Their genus name, Caprimulgus, means “goatsucker” in Latin. That’s because some used to think that nightjars drank directly from goats’ udders and stopped them from producing milk. In all likelihood, they were actually just snacking on the insects surrounding the goats.Justice for the nightjar, we say.

Finland may be about to become the first country in the world to start dishing out preventative bird flu vaccines to some citizens. It’s being reported that the first shipments of vaccine secured by the European Union (EU) will be heading there, so that those most at risk of exposure to the virus can be offered some protection.Reuters reports that the EU is due to sign a contract with vaccine manufacturer CSL Seqirus to secure 665,000 doses of a preventative avian influenza vaccine on behalf of 15 nations within the EU and European Economic Area (EEA). Similar efforts are underway in the US, Canada, and UK, but with the EU’s deal slated for completion on June 11, 2024, it’s looking likely the first nation to begin its vaccination efforts will be Finland.The Zoonotic Influenza Vaccine Seqirus, which was authorized for use by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in October 2023, was developed against a strain of bird flu in the H5N8 classification.This is slightly different from the bird flu that’s recently been hitting the headlines with outbreaks on dairy farms in several US states – that’s an H5N1 virus. However, since the vaccine’s main target is the hemagglutinin surface protein on the virus – the “H” part, which is common to both H5N8 and H5N1 – it’s hoped that it will still offer some protection against H5N1.So far, three farm workers in the US are known to have contracted the virus after exposure to infected cows, and there’s no evidence of transmission between people. While the risk is generally considered low, those whose occupations bring them into close contact with animals will be the proverbial “canaries in the coal mine” if this virus starts to make more frequent jumps to humans.The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is recommending that anyone spending time around dairy cows or raw milk practice good hand hygiene and wear personal protective equipment, including gloves, respirators, and safety goggles. It’s hoped a vaccine, even against a slightly different avian flu virus, will offer another layer of protection.No EU/EEA countries have yet reported a human case of H5N1. “The risk of zoonotic influenza transmission to the general public in EU/EEA countries is considered to be low,” said the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control in its weekly report for June 1-7.That said, Finland saw a number of outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 in 2023, in wild birds and among mammals on a number of the country’s over 500 fur farms, which resulted in large-scale culling. Animals that are farmed for fur, like mink, are known to be susceptible to avian flu, but outbreaks on fur farms, as well as the ongoing situation with dairy cows in the US, are particularly concerning to epidemiologists as they raise the specter of sustained transmission between mammals, which itself increases the chance of a virus making the jump to humans.“Last year the situation looked very alarming,” said Hanna Nohynek, chief physician with the Infectious Diseases Control and Vaccines Unit at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, according to Euractiv. “This year has been more calm, but we know from the US that the virus is still around, so we want to protect those who are working with animals that might be affected.”To that end, STAT News reports that Finnish authorities are planning to start delivering doses to poultry farmers, fur farm workers, vets, and scientists studying the virus “as soon as the vaccines are in the country.”

Jesus of Nazareth, the principal figure of Christianity, is both an incredibly influential figure and an obscure one. Although he probably existed (proof outside of biblical texts is limited to a few references), historians and theologians know very little about him, especially his early life.There are apocryphal accounts, such as the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, that discuss young Jesus’s miraculous childhood activities, but such tales are not accepted as canon. Now, however, a newly discovered fragment of papyrus offers an even older version of this text.Before discussing the new papyrus fragment, it is worth clearing up some details about the history of the Bible. Although this religious anthology is said to represent the canon of the Christian faith and is God’s indelible word, it has undergone significant changes over the centuries. The 66 books that make up the Bible were written by over 40 authors and across a wide period of time.In addition, there are many other accounts known as Apocrypha, which are stories that are not accepted as Scripture, even though some may have once been considered as such.One such piece of apocryphal literature has been sitting unnoticed for decades at the Hamburg Carl von Ossietzky State and University Library, a fragment of papyrus inventoried as “P.Hamb.Graec. 1011”.According to papyrologists Dr Lajos Berkes from the Institute for Christianity and Antiquity at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU) and Prof Gabriel Nocchi Macedo from the University of Liège, Belgium, the fragment belongs to the earliest known example of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas.Until now, the earliest known example of this text belonged to a codex from the 11th century CE, but this new piece was probably written sometime between the 4th and 5th century CE. This is obviously much closer to when the Infancy Gospel of Thomas was originally written – probably in the 2nd century CE.As such, the papyrus provides new insights into the apocryphal stories that tried to depict the early life of Jesus as a supposedly miraculous figure. It also helps us understand how these stories were then transmitted over the centuries.“The fragment is of extraordinary interest for research,” Dr Berkes said in a statement. “On the one hand, because we were able to date it to the 4th to 5th century, making it the earliest known copy. On the other hand, because we were able to gain new insights into the transmission of the text.”“Our findings on this late antique Greek copy of the work confirm the current assessment that the Infancy Gospel according to Thomas was originally written in Greek,” added Dr Nocchi Macedo.The fragment measures around 11 centimeters by 5 centimeters (4 inches by 2 inches) and contains 13 Greek lines, with about 10 letters per line.It lay unnoticed for so long because scholars did not think it was relevant.“It was thought to be part of an everyday document, such as a private letter or a shopping list, because the handwriting seems so clumsy,” Berkes explained.“We first noticed the word Jesus in the text. Then, by comparing it with numerous other digitised papyri, we deciphered it letter by letter and quickly realised that it could not be an everyday document.”By analyzing and comparing the use of words like “crowing” and “branch”, which appear in the text, the researchers were able to match it to the Infancy Gospel of Thomas.“From the comparison with already known manuscripts of this Gospel, we know that our text is the earliest. It follows the original text, which according to current state of research was written in the 2nd century AD.”Specifically, they connected it to a story known as the “vivification of the sparrows” and was probably created as a writing exercise in a monastery – which explains the poor handwriting.  The story itself explains the “second miracle” of Christ where the child Jesus was playing at a river fort where he made sparrows out of clay. When rebuked by his father, Joseph, for doing such a thing on the Sabbath, the child clapped his hands and brought the mud figures to life.The study is published in Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik.

Dog whisperers can now join the list of professionals whose jobs are at risk of being stolen by artificial intelligence (AI), as it may have just entered the world of animal communication. Using machine learning software, researchers were able to successfully decode the meaning of dogs’ vocalizations, paving the way for new technologies that may help us better understand our four-legged companions.The authors of the as yet un-peer reviewed study recorded the barks, growls, howls and whimpers of 74 pet dogs as they were exposed to a variety of scenarios designed to trigger certain responses. These included everything from playing with their favorite toys to witnessing the researchers pretending to attack the dogs’ owners.From these recordings, the study authors identified 14 different types of dog vocalization, such as “positive squeals” during gameplay, “sadness/anxiety barking” and “very aggressive barking at a stranger.” An AI model called Wav2Vec2 - which was originally designed for human speech recognition - was then trained on these hound sounds before being put through its paces with a number of challenges. The first of these involved picking out individual dogs based on their vocalizations. Funnily enough, when the AI was pre-trained on human speech before being introduced to pooch talk, it was able to successfully identify specific dogs in 50 percent of trials, while models trained only on canine sounds achieved a 24 percent success rate.This is pretty significant, as it suggests that familiarity with human speech can help an AI to get to grips with the complexities of non-human communication, which means we don’t have to start from scratch when it comes to building a model for talking to animals. "Our results show that the sounds and patterns derived from human speech can serve as a foundation for analyzing and understanding the acoustic patterns of other sounds, such as animal vocalizations," explained study author Rada Mihalcea in a statement.For its next trick, the model was able to distinguish between different dog breeds with varying levels of success. More than half of the dogs in the study were chihuahuas, and the software was able to correctly identify these lap dogs from their bark on around 75 percent of occasions.Finally, the model was challenged to interpret the meaning of the animals’ vocalizations by matching them to one of the 14 types of dog sound listed by the researchers. When pre-trained on human speech, the AI achieved a success rate of 62.2 percent, although certain categories of sound were more easy to decipher than others.For instance, the model was able to correctly identify 90.7 percent of negative grunts but only 45.26 percent of negative squeals. "There is so much we don't yet know about the animals that share this world with us. Advances in AI can be used to revolutionize our understanding of animal communication, and our findings suggest that we may not have to start from scratch," said Mihalcea."By using speech processing models initially trained on human speech, our research opens a new window into how we can leverage what we built so far in speech processing to start understanding the nuances of dog barks," she said.The study study is currently awaiting peer review and is available as a preprint on arXiv.

Given that they’re, y’know, dead, it’s hard to discern much about the life of extinct creatures like the little bush moa, a turkey-sized emu lookalike that strutted around New Zealand until the 13th century. But using the 21st century power to study ancient DNA, a new study has provided more clues about how the bush moa lived than we might get from fossils alone.“With extinct species, we have very little information except what their bones looked like and in some cases what they ate,” said Scott V. Edwards, senior study author and a professor of organismic and evolutionary biology at Harvard University, in a statement. “DNA provides a really exciting window into the natural history of extinct species like the little bush moa.”And so, Edwards and a team of fellow researchers set to producing a genome sequence – the entirety of an organism’s DNA – for the bush moa.They did this using a method similar to that used to produce genome sequences for other extinct animals, like the woolly mammoth. DNA was extracted from a single bush moa toe bone and sequenced in short snippets.The next step was to piece the snippets together into their correct positions. This was made slightly simpler by using the emu genome as a guide; not only is the emu related to the bush moa, but it also has a particularly well-characterized genome.It should be noted that the resulting genetic map is a draft, meaning that there may well be inaccuracies, or bits missing that the researchers don’t know about. Nonetheless, it’s pointed to some interesting features of what the bush moa’s sensory experience may have been like.Genetic evidence suggests that, like many birds, they had four types of cone photoreceptors – proteins in the retina that are light-sensitive and convert it into an electrical signal. The particular receptors present mean that, despite having fairly small eyes, they could see both color and ultraviolet.And if you’ve ever wondered whether extinct birds might enjoy kimchi, the answer could be yes; the genome sequence suggests that bush moa had the full set of taste receptors, meaning they’d be able to pick up on umami.It’s hoped that continuing to study the genome might also explain how flightless birds evolved; the bones found in birds with wings are completely absent in moa.Bush moa, alongside the other eight species of moa, are thought to have gone extinct around 800 years ago, following the arrival of Polynesian human settlers in New Zealand – though some people have claimed that the giant moa was still kicking about in the early 1990s.With a genome sequence in hand, could the bush moa be brought back from the grave? People are certainly trying with other extinct birds.   But that’s not the purpose of the current research, as Edwards explained. “To me, this work is all about fleshing out the natural history of this amazing species,” the researcher concluded.The study is published in Science Advances.

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CBS’s Stephen Colbert rolled out the welcome mat for New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker for a three segment interview on Monday’s installment of The Late Show. In segment one, the duo would portray former President Trump’s guilty verdict as beyond critics, while in segments two and three, they wildly speculated about the Supreme Court overturning Brown v. Board of Education and cast doubt on the Court’s legitimacy because the justices were confirmed by senators from Wyoming and the Dakotas. Regarding the Trump verdict, Colbert wondered, “What about the accusation that this is not actually -- so there's no crime here?”     Booker replied by arguing that because the jury voted to convict, that must mean there was nothing wrong with the case, “So, you have a jury that was selected by the prosecutors and the defense. They agreed on a jury of 12 people that ranged from Fox News watchers all the way to no news watchers. These folks considered the facts, the law, and the evidence. They deliberated after a six-week trial and came back unanimously with 34 counts.” The jury was not responsible for the instructions given to them by the judge or any of the other problems Trump may raise on appeal, but a sarcastic Colbert took Booker’s answer and ran with it, “Sounds like the fix was in from the beginning. If those guys didn’t have to debate that much and they came back with 34 convictions right away. Sounds like they already made up their minds before the trial started. You have to admit that that's what that sounds like.” Naturally, Booker did not. As for Colbert, he kicked off segment two by wondering, “One of the things that people are -- speculation is that something is foundational to the modern American view of equality: Brown v. Board of Education could fall under the Supreme Court. What do you make-- is that alarmist? Or would you not put this past them?”     Instead of simply saying “no, that’s ridiculous,” Booker went on a long, rambling response where he claimed, in part, “I was stunned when I saw a change, that justices, including some of the Supreme Court justices that he appointed came before us and when asked directly, was Brown v. Board of Education rightfully decided? They would not answer one way or the other.” Booker can think liberal hero Ruth Bader Ginsberg and a certain former senator named Joe Biden for setting the precedent of not answering hypothetical questions that may one day come before the Court, no matter how obvious the answer may appear. Later, in segment three, Colbert asked, “You’ve been in the Senate for over ten years and as a member of the Senate, how do you feel about my feeling about what's killing this country is the United States Senate specifically?” Elaborating, he added: Those people on the Supreme Court that were put there were voted in by Senators who represent 41 million fewer Americans than, at the time, the minority party, the Democrats. So, of course, the judge in Texas, those people in the Supreme Court, Aileen Cannon for Pete's sake, they are not representative of the will of the American people. How can the United States be a democratic representative country if the Senate continues its present structure because you continue to have the courts and the Senate move further away. Two senators from Wyoming have the same votes as two senators from California or in New York and represent a fraction of the number of people. One man, one vote goes to die in the Senate. Booker added to the delegitimization efforts because it was appointed by Constitutional methods, including “the majority of our Supreme Court right now was put in place by a president who didn't win the majority vote.” He urged viewers to support amending the Constitution to fix this “problem,” but that may be more difficult than he is willing to admit. Alternativly, Democrats could just try winning elections in states like North Dakota. Here is a transcript for the June 10 show: CBS The Late Show with Stephen Colbert 6/11/2024 12:05 AM ET STEPHEN COLBERT: What about the accusation that this is not actually -- so there's no crime here? CORY BOOKER: So, you have a jury that was selected by the prosecutors and the defense. They agreed on a jury of 12 people that ranged from Fox News watchers all the way to no news watchers. These folks considered the facts, the law, and the evidence. They deliberated after a six-week trial and came back unanimously with 34 counts.  COLBERT: So, that sounds to me and just for a second, sir, excuse me, if you’ll allow me— BOOKER: Yes, yes, go ahead, please proceed, proceed, proceed. COLBERT: Let me get a word and, if you're not going to filibuster me.  BOOKER: I am not going to filibuster you. COLBERT: Sounds like the fix was in from the beginning. If those guys didn’t have to debate that much and they came back with 34 convictions right away. Sounds like they already made up their minds before the trial started. You have to admit that that's what that sounds like. BOOKER: I actually don't think it sounds like that. I think it sounds like incredible citizens who stepped forward. They swore an oath to be impartial and they looked at the evidence and came to a conclusion, quick or not, that this was obviously come on its face, criminal activity and they convicted him for 34 counts.  … COLBERT: Let's talk about the Supreme Court for a second. BOOKER: Yeah. COLBERT: One of the things that people are -- speculation is that something is foundational to the modern American view of equality: Brown v. Board of Education could fall under the Supreme Court. What do you make-- is that alarmist? Or would you not put this past them? BOOKER: Take Donald Trump at his word and listen to people, what they say to you. I've been on the Judiciary Committee now for years and I was stunned when I saw a change, that justices, including some of the Supreme Court justices that he appointed came before us and when asked directly, was Brown v. Board of Education rightfully decided? They would not answer one way or the other. This idea that we are a nation of equality, the fundamental establishment in that case of this truth about America is that we should be a nation of equality and justice for all. Something as foundational is that now is being put into this sphere of being in question by jurists or refusing to affirm those ideals and so I have been shaken by seeing things happen in our federal judiciary that I never imagined possible.  Let me give you an example if I can. One of Donald Trump's extreme justices that he put on in the state of Texas decided that you know what, I, after almost 25 years of mifepristone, medical abortion being available to people in the United States, the number one means with which women often use that medication for abortions, something that's been used for more than 25 years, one judge with no medical training decided to append it and freeze its usage. It is an extreme nature of the people he's putting on the Court to take precedence, to take patterns, practices, and upturn them. And me and a lot of my colleagues now, realizing what's happening at some of the rhetoric coming out of the Supreme Court in concurring opinions and more have made us move to protect same-sex marriage. Have made us move to protect things like in vitro fertilization … COLBERT: You’ve been in the Senate for over ten years and as a member of the Senate, how do you feel about my feeling –  BOOKER: How do I feel about your feelings? COLBERT: -- about what's killing this country is the United States Senate specifically, because all those judges you're talking about were brought before the Senate and confirmed by the Senate, a Senate that is terribly anti-democratic. It's not representative of the majority of the American people. Those people on the Supreme Court that were put there were voted in by Senators who represent 41 million fewer Americans— BOOKER: Yes. COLBERT: -- than, at the time, the minority party, the Democrats. So, of course, the judge in Texas, those people in the Supreme Court, Aileen Cannon for Pete's sake, they are not representative of the will of the American people. How can the United States be a democratic representative country if the Senate continues its present structure because you continue to have the courts and the Senate move further away. Two senators from Wyoming have the same votes as two senators from California or in New York and represent a fraction of the number of people. One man, one vote goes to die in the Senate. BOOKER: So, let me drive home a bit more what you're saying. Look, Wyoming, South Dakota, North Dakota have roughly less than a million people. California has 40 million people. COLBERT: And Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, wonderful states, wonderful people— BOOKER: People, yes. COLBERT: -- but that doesn't mean the Senate isn't broken. BOOKER: But let me go further than that, you said the majority of the Supreme Court being confirmed by a Senate of people who represent 40 million less votes. Don’t forget, the majority of our Supreme Court right now was put in place by a president who didn't win the majority vote because of the Electoral College. I'm not going to tell you that there are design issues within our Constitution that are problematic, but I’m also going to tell you that our Founders, these imperfect geniuses, put mechanisms within our Constitution to change it.