As MIT’s Larry Hardesty notes, the rapidly evolving Internet of Things (IoT) is expected to boast extremely low-power sensors capable of running for months on a single charge using various energy harvesting techniques. Indeed, MIT researchers have designed a power converter chip designed to both power a device and charge a battery that’s more than 80 percent efficient, even at the extremely low and variable power levels characteristic of tiny solar cells. Previous iterations, says Hardesty, had efficiencies of only 40 or 50 percent.
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Bolstering mobile security for the IoE
Writing for Semiconductor Engineering, Ernest Worthman notes that approximately six billion people rely on a variety of mobile devices to shop, bank, interface with social media and monitor their health. “Unless you are on the inside track and know better, one would think that all that data is secure. Reality is somewhat different,” Worthman explains. “A mobile society has tremendous benefits, but those benefits come with a price. The advantages are obvious, but the price can be very steep if security isn’t a primary consideration.”
Can Big Data take on cancer?
Writing for Forbes, Bernard Marr terms the fight against cancer as the “Holy Grail” of modern medicine. “Almost everyone will be affected at some point in their lives, either personally or by proxy through a loved one,” he explained. “So it’s no surprise that Big Data is being put to use in many ways to aid the task of improving care, identifying risks and hopefully eventually producing cures.”
Bringing your own encryption and keys to the Cloud
Sean McGrath of InformationWeek recently confirmed that the rise of the public Cloud as a “de-facto standard” has prompted businesses to ask new questions about their respective security procedures. “The answer to numerous security questions and concerns lies, of course, in encryption,” he explained.
Robots and sensors eyed for civil construction
Writing for the New Civil Engineer, Greg Pitcher reports that civil contractors will increasingly use robots and sensors to create structures in futuristic offsite factories. “In 10 years’ time I see robots and robotic machinery being used in offsite construction facilities, rather than cranes and forklift trucks,” Duncan White, the director of science and industry at consultants Arup, explained in a recent report cited by the New Civil Engineer.
Mitnick says the IoT is exploitable
Kevin Mitnick recently told the Freescale Technology Forum that the Internet of Things (IoT) is “exploitable.” “I don’t know any system out there that’s impenetrable,” the hacker turned security consultant emphasized during a conference symposium cited by DesignNews. “In our experience, when we are hired by clients to attack their systems, our success rate is 100%.”
