With just a single transaction, hackers have stolen nearly £31 million ($40m) in Bitcoins from one of the world's largest cryptocurrency trading companies.  The theft, which affected Binance, was carried out with a variety of methods that included phishing and viruses.

The hackers were able to withdraw 7,000 Bitcoin (£30.9m) by surpassing all the company's security checks, said the company's CEO.  Chief Executive Changpang Zhao said that the amount taken made up 'about 2%' of Binance's total Bitcoin holdings.

The Japan-based company's chief executive Mr. Zhao, who is also known as CZ, said Binance will use its secure asset fund fully cover the incident and promised that it will conduct a 'thorough security review'.

In a statement, CZ described how the latest breach occurred, writing: 'Hackers were able to obtain a large number of user API keys, 2FA codes, and potentially other info.  The hackers used a variety of techniques, including phishing, viruses and other attacks.  We are still concluding all possible methods used.  There may also be additional affected accounts that have not been identified yet.'

The company however warned its account holders that the process will take around a week, during which time withdrawals and deposits will remain suspended, although trading could continue.

'The hackers had the patience to wait, and execute well-orchestrated actions through multiple seemingly independent accounts at the most opportune time.  The transaction (was) structured in a way that passed our existing security checks.  It was unfortunate that we were not able to block this withdrawal before it was executed.  Once executed, the withdrawal triggered various alarms in our system.  We stopped all withdrawals immediately after that.'

In a separate Twitter post, the CEO CZ wrote: 'Not the best of days, but we will stay transparent.'

The theft is thought to only have affected the exchange's 'hot wallet', which refers to a cache of Bitcoin connected to the internet.

According to Ilia Kolochenko, founder and CEO of web security company ImmuniWeb, the technical details of the latest security breach remain 'obscure'.   Mr Kolochenko said: 'It would be premature to make any conclusions at this point of time.  Today, all cryptocurrency-related businesses should be well prepared to defend against constant and sophisticated cyber attacks.  In reality, however, virtually all of them underestimate or ignore digital risks and allocate scant resources for cybersecurity.  Most have to compete on a very aggressive and turbulent market and thus are reducing their costs by all available means.  Software development suffers most tremendously as cheap outsourced code cannot be secure by definition.  To bring certainty to the cryptocurrency markets clear regulatory standards are required, such as is PCI (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) and PA DSS (Payment Application Data Security Standard).  Even if they are not a silver bullet, they greatly reduce both the number and average volume of credit cards theft.'

This is not the first time that unregulated cryptocurrency market has been plagued by scams.  On top of large-scale funnelling of bitcoins worth millions of dollars, which are relatively rare, criminals also target individuals using elaborate schemes.  These often target multiple investors and average account holders.

A report issued in October last year showed that in the first half of the year alone, more than $800 million were stolen in bitcoins.  At the time, Patrick Wyman, FBI supervisory special agent at the financial crimes section of the agency's anti-money laundering unit acknowledges cryptocurrencies pose some unique challenges.

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A women's sex toy startup has been re-awarded the robotics prize from organizers of the annual CES gadget show after they revoked it, claiming the firm had violated its rules.

An independent panel of judges had selected startup Lora DiCarlo's Ose vibrator last fall for a CES 2019 Innovation Honoree Award in the robotics and drone category.  But the Consumer Technology Association disqualified the gadget, telling the company it reserved the right to rescind awards for devices deemed 'immoral, obscene, indecent, profane or not in keeping with CTA's image.'

Lora DiCarlo criticized the decision, calling it sexist and penning a letter addressing the CTA's decision.

The firm wrote in the letter: 'Lora DiCarlo joined a small percentage of other products that were awarded such a coveted honor each year; this feather in our collective cap made years of research and engineering even more worthwhile and further validated our vision for creating innovative, inclusive products that change lives.  My team rejoiced and celebrated.  A month later our excitement and preparations were cut short when we were unexpectedly informed that the administrators at CES and CTA were rescinding our award and subsequently that we would not be allowed to showcase Osé, or even exhibit at CES 2019.'

The company pointed out that a sex doll for men was launched at CES in 2018, while an exhibitor has showed off VR porn at the event several times, 'allowing men to watch pornography in public as consumers walk by.'

'Other sex toys have exhibited at CES and some have even won awards, but apparently there is something different, something threatening about Osé, a product created by women to empower women,' the firm added.

The move also elicited criticism online, where Twitter users blasted the organizers for being 'sexist' and 'biased.'

CTA re-awarded the prize to Lora DiCarlo four months after the fact.  Jean Foster, CTA's senior vice president of marketing and communications, said in a statement: 'CTA did not handle this award properly.  This prompted some important conversations internally and with external advisors and we look forward to taking these learnings to continue to improve the show.'

Lora DiCarlo CEO Lara Haddock said the experience shows the need for 'meaningful changes' at CES: 'I am thankful that the CTA has reconsidered our eligibility for this award and validated the innovation our engineering team is responsible for.  The incredible support and attention we’ve received in the wake of our experience highlights the need for meaningful changes and we are hopeful that our small company can continue to contribute meaningful progress toward making CES inclusive for all.'

CES has faced claims of persistent sexism at its shows for several years, with critics pointing to the use of 'booth babes' by exhibitors, instead of featuring female-run startups or having female keynote speakers.

This year, IBM CEO Ginni Rometty delivered the keynote address at the annual show, held in Las Vegas in January.

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Using new technology, scientists are turning the world's most dangerous greenhouse gas into solid stone.  Researchers say the technology, which mimics a process of carbon being absorbed by basalt rock that usually takes place over thousands of years, could help clean the atmosphere of carbon dioxide.

'With this method we have actually changed the time scale dramatically,' said geologist Sandra Osk Snaebjornsdottir in a statement.

The method, which is being devised by Iceland's CarbFix project with researchers and engineers from utility company Reykjavik Energy, the University of Iceland, France's National Centre for Scientific Research, and Columbia University in the United States, works by turning C02 into what researchers describe as 'fizzy water.'

By capturing CO2 using steam and then converting that into condensate, scientists are able to dissolve the C02 into water.  That combination is then piped several miles away where it deposited under high pressure into basalt rocks that stretch 3,300 feet beneath Iceland's surface.  This is where the solidification process begins -- when the CO2 filled liquid comes in contact with the calcium, magnesium and iron in the basalt, it starts to mineralize.

In the Hellisheidi geothermal power plant, which was the subject of researchers experiments, the scientists note that the method has reduced emissions by a third, preventing 12,000 tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere.

While the method has proven effective in Iceland, researchers note that in other parts of the world, its application might logistically implausible.  For each ton of CO2 injected and transformed into rock, the method requires 25 tons of desalinated water -- in Iceland, a slew fresh glacial water is abundant, which makes the country an ideal candidate for the technology.

'I agree that the process uses a lot of water, but we gain a lot by permanently getting rid of CO2 that otherwise would be floating around the atmosphere,' says Aradottir.

Despite increased interest in technology that mitigates emissions of greenhouse gas around the world, methods of carbon capture and storage like those used by researchers in Iceland have been slow to gain steam.  Among the major critiques has been that the systems -- instead of pushing the energy sector towards cleaner forms of energy -- enables continued reliance on fossil fuels.

However, that hasn't stopped some scientists from coming up with unique ways of incorporating the technology.  In a recent proposal, experts floated the idea of turning air conditioning units into carbon capturing devices which could then turn the gas into synthetic fuel.

Under the Paris climate agreement, Iceland has aimed to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 40 per cent by 2030.

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You might want to think twice before returning missed calls from an unknown number.  The Federal Communications Commission has issued a new warning about 'one ring' schemes that are on the rise and are carried out by illegal robocallers.  A telltale sign is that users' phones will ring once and the caller will hang up without leaving a voicemail, tricking the user into calling them back.

'If that happens to you, and you do not recognize the number, do not return the call. You may be the target of a "one-ring" phone scam,' the FCC warned last week.

Scammers may use phone numbers that appear to be from the U.S. or a phone spoofer, to mask the number that shows up on your device.  Others that are savvier will use international numbers from regions that use three-digit area codes, such as 649, which is associated with the Turks and Caicos, as well as 809 and 222, which go to the Dominican Republic and Mauritania, respectively, the FCC explained.  The FCC said the calls are widespread in New York and Arizona.

When users call these numbers, they may be connected to a phone number outside the U.S.  As a result, they risk being slapped with hefty interconnect fees that can tick up by the minute, depending on how long you stay on the phone.

'Variations of this scam rely on phony voice-mail messages urging you to call a number with an unfamiliar area code to "collect a prize" or to notify you about a "sick" relative,' according to the FCC.

Once users call back, they may hear a recorded message that's meant to keep them on the phone for several minutes or call back a second time.  The longer users stay on the phone, or the more times that they call back, the more money bad actors get.

The FCC said: 'Advances in technology allow massive amounts of calls to be made cheaply and easily.  In addition, spoofing tools make it easy for scammers to mask their identity.  The FCC is working to combat scam calls with enforcement actions, a strong push for caller ID authentication, and support for call blocking tools.'

The FCC offered a few tips to avoid the scam, including avoiding calls from numbers you don't recognize, double checking the area code of incoming calls and disabling international calls on your phone plan if you don't need to make them.

'Always be cautious, even if a number appears authentic,' the FCC said.

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The world’s amphibians may be in even graver danger than we’ve thought, a new report warns.  A new analysis of the risks faced by the 8,000 or so known amphibian species has found that up to 50 per cent may be at risk of extinction, in a dramatic rise from earlier estimates.

The spike stems from the inclusion of roughly 2,200 species that were previously under-represented due to lack of data; now, based on the new models, researchers say at least another 1,000 species are facing the threat of extinction.  The study comes on the heels of a worrying UN report that found plant and animal species today are being wiped out at unprecedented rates.

In the new study published to the journal Current Biology, researchers used a technique dubbed trait-based spatio-phylogenetic statistical framework to assess the extinction risks of data-deficient species.  This combined data on their ecology, geography, and evolutionary attributes with the associated extinction risks of each factor to make a prediction.  Only about 44 per cent of amphibians currently have up-to-date risk assessments, the team notes.

Pamela González-del-Pliego of the University of Sheffield and Yale University said: ‘We found that more than 1,000 data-deficient amphibians are threatened with extinction, and nearly 500 are Endangered or Critically Endangered, mainly in South America and Southeast Asia.  Urgent conservation actions are needed to avert the loss of these species.’

According to the researchers, the species most at risk likely also include those we know the least about, further adding to the complexity of their protection.

While some of these species may be helped by conservations already targeting others in the same region, this strategy won’t work for all.  Amphibians living in Southeast Asia and Central Africa, for example, don’t share this overlap.

González-del-Pliego said: ‘In the Neotropics, the species that we know are threatened have very similar geographical distributions compared to the data-deficient species predicted to be threatened.  Therefore, if we try and conserve the areas where current threatened species are, we will be protecting the data-deficient species as well.  We need to move quickly to consider amphibians as a high conservation priority and integrate data-deficient species into conservation strategies.’

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A 25-tonne self-driving truck is hitting British roads in a bid to speed up time-consuming roadwork plaguing the nation's highways.  The vehicle can carry a 40-tonne load and has been fitted with gadgets originally developed for autonomous trucks in Australian mines.  It is being tested off the A14 in Cambridgeshire where work is under way to upgrade a 21-mile (34km) stretch of the road between Cambridge and Huntingdon.  It is hoped that autonomous trucks could be developed to operate round the clock, meaning work is finished faster.  Dumper trucks are used to move excavated earth, with around 10 million cubic metres moved by 200 dumper trucks during the A14 upgrade.

Julian Lamb, deputy project director on behalf of Highways England for the A14, said that a shortage of drivers prompted the trial.  He said: 'It's not to replace drivers but it's to be able to respond to the capacity that we will need.'

He added that there was 'no reason why autonomous vehicles couldn't work 24 hours per day' and that the technology could make sites safer for workers by keeping people away from machines.

The roof of the truck is fitted with a GPS tracker, WiFi receiver and laser light unit.  When switched to autonomous mode, it is controlled by computers, with the steering wheel motionless as it rounds corners.

Fiona McDonald, project manager with Highways England, said she hoped the technology could be 'fast-tracked' into use as safety regulations have been developed in Australia where similar trucks are in use in mines.  However she said it would be the first time autonomous trucks have been used in roadworks anywhere in the world.

Richard Austin, who works for earth moving subcontractor CA Blackwell, is from Australia and suggested using the technology for roadworks projects.  He said the price of sensors has reduced due to investment by the automotive industry to automate cars, and some Australian mines are fully automated.

There would be a 'hierarchy of controls' to ensure safety, he said, including precision mapping to within 25mm so a truck 'just cannot wander off' and strictly controlled sites.

'Lastly, if everything else fails, if somebody's ignored all of your controls and come into your work zone, if everything else has failed, then the truck itself can still see, it can observe what's going on around it, detect an obstacle that shouldn't be there and it can stop,' he said.

The one truck being tested has been fitted with old research gadgets developed seven years ago.  It is expected to take two to three years before autonomous trucks could be in full operation.  This means they will not be used on the A14 project, due to finish by the end of 2020, but may be used on future projects like the Lower Thames Crossing and improvements to the A303 near Stonehenge.

Highways England has committed £150,000 from its innovation designated fund into the A14 dump truck trial.

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Climate change could alter fertility, with parents in some countries having more children and others having fewer children, a shocking new study claims.

As changing weather patterns wreak havoc on farmlands in tropical countries, parents may want more children to help them deal with the workload.  As a result, these families will also spend less money on education and more time making sure their children acquire agricultural skills.  Meanwhile, in richer countries that are further away from the equator and don't depend on agriculture as much, the opposite is true.

The research team, from Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, says this will not only affect the income of those children in the future, but it will also increase the inequality between countries with warmer climates and those with cooler ones.

'Our model suggests climate change may worsen inequalities by reducing fertility and increasing education in richer northern countries, while increasing fertility and reducing education in tropical countries,' said co-author Dr Soheil Shayegh, from Bocconi University in Milan, Italy.

For the study, published in Environmental Research Letters, the team looked at countries near to and further from the equator.

For their economic model, researchers chose two countries: Colombia, to represent a country that relies heavily on agriculture, and Switzerland, a country that is non-agricultural.  The team's model then followed hypothetical residents in each country through childhood and adulthood.

In the model, parents had limited resources and had to divide it between buying food and goods for the family, having children and paying for each child's education.

Lead author Dr Gregory Casey, an assistant professor of economics at Williams College said: 'Increases in global temperature affect agricultural and non-agricultural sectors differently.  Near the equator, where many poorer countries are, climate change has a larger negative effect on agriculture.'

While a rise in temperature and carbon dioxide levels could increase crop yields, it could also change the level of nutrients in the soil as well as water availability, according to a 2016 report from the US Global Change Research Program.

Additionally, how frequently droughts and floods occur - and how severe they are - could also affect crop yields negatively and could change the habitats of species living in the area.

Dr Casey said: 'This leads to scarcity of agricultural goods, higher agricultural prices and wages and, ultimately, a labor reallocation.  Because agriculture makes less use of skilled labor, our model showed that climate change decreases the return on acquiring skills, leading parents to invest fewer resources in the education of each child, and to increase fertility.'

This means that, in poorer countries, parents will spend less time educating their children and more time acquiring skills to help their parents farm the land.  In addition, more children will be born because more workers are needed.

However, for countries that were further away from the equator and richer, such as Switzerland, the pattern was reversed.

Researchers say the findings also suggest that climate change will lead to further inequality between richer and poorer countries.

'It is widely acknowledged that poor countries are less capable of adapting to climate change.  Thus, these forces may increase the gap between the richer high-latitude countries and poorer equatorial countries,' the authors wrote in their paper.

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Robots are increasingly picking up the slack in package distribution centers.  Honeywell and Siemens have unveiled new machines that are capable of autonomously ferrying packages from the tractor trailer to the fulfillment center with surprising accuracy, according to Bloomberg.

It comes as consumers increasingly expect two-day or even same-day delivery, causing shipping companies to embrace automation as a solution to meet the spike in demand.

Both Honeywell and Siemens' robot unloaders drive up to the back of a tractor trailer and use machine learning to identify packages.  And, the companies say their machines work just as fast, if not faster, than human employees.

For example, it takes Siemens' robotic unloader about 10 minutes to empty a tractor trailer, whereas it would take one person up to an hour to move the boxes, according to Bloomberg.

Honeywell said its device is capable of unloading packages at a rate of 1,500 cases per hour.  Its machine works via an apparatus that extends into the back of the truck, scooping the packages up using a conveyor belt.  The machine then pulls them out and carries them into a distribution center.  Additionally, another apparatus is located at the top of the machine with suction cups attached, so as to be able to grab packages that are stacked up high inside the truck.

Siemens' machine works a bit differently, attaching a rolling conveyor belt to the bottom of a tractor trailer, which then pushes the packages out and onto a machine, which sends them to a sorting facility, according to Bloomberg.  The machines took several years to develop and don't yet work perfectly, Bloomberg reported.

FedEx and UPS are now working to develop machines of their own.   'The biggest challenge in our world is: Every single package is different in size, shape, weight, color, material.  It makes it a very tricky problem,' Ted Dengel, managing director of operations technology at FedEx, told Bloomberg.

Honeywell says its machine can lighten the load for humans who are stationed to pickup packages at receiving docks - what is traditionally back-breaking work for employees.

Matt Wicks, vice president of product development at Honeywell Integrated, said in a statement: 'For distribution center workers, unloading packages is labor-intensive, physically demanding and injury-prone work that is often subject to extreme temperatures.  These factors lead to low employee satisfaction and high turnover – as much as 36 per cent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.  With our robotic unloader, we are using advanced machine learning to allow workers to remove themselves from the extreme environment and to oversee multiple unloading machines, increasing productivity and improving safety.'

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With a successful test, the U.S. Air Force is closing in on being able to stop enemy missiles in mid-flight using a sophisticated laser machine.  The laser defense system, called Self-Protect High Energy Laser Demonstrator, or SHiELD, successfully shot down multiple air-launched missiles according to a statement from the U.S. Air Force.

Behind the laser system is a technology that the military calls 'directed energy systems.'  This class of military device weaponizes frequencies like microwaves for both offensive and defensive purposes.  Think, a mounted satellite that can fry hardware in trucks, cars and other vehicles.

'This critical demonstration shows that our directed energy systems are on track to be a game changer for our warfighters,' said Dr. Kelly Hammett, director of AFRL’s Directed Energy Directorate.  Similar technology mounted on ground vehicles has already been tested successfully, staving off various types and sizes of drones.

The high-power microwave laser is being developed by Raytheon and can identify, track, and disable adversarial drones.  For directed energy technology focused on defending against missiles, however, progress has been less forthcoming.

Unlike with drones, anti-missile tech, which the Air Force hopes will be able to guard against ground-to-air and air-to-air missiles, has the added responsibility of targeting and stopping an object that, in some cases, can travel up to or even faster than the speed of sound.

While the military hopes to be able to attach the technology to aircraft, giving fighter pilots a much needed tool to defend themselves against enemies, one major barrier has building the systems small enough to fit on planes.  An experimental chemical laser system being developed and explored by the U.S. Air Force was decommissioned in 2012.  Though the laser, mounted on a Boeing 747, successfully shot down a missile for the first time ever, severe limitations in costs and ability eventually led to the project's demise.

According to a report from The Verge, the systems range was restrictive -- in order to shoot down a missile launched from Iran, the plane and laser would have to be within the country's borders.

From here, the Air Force says it will look to reduce the size and weight of its system with the hopes of attaching it to a plane -- so far, the technology has been better suited for giant war ships due to its size restrictions.

'The final SHiELD system, however, will be much smaller and lighter, as well as ruggedized for an airborne environment,' said the Air Force in a statement.

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Wolves are more sociable and care about their pack members more than pet dogs do, a study has found.

A new study suggests the reputation of dogs being caring and full of affection may be misleading.  A series of touchscreen experiments carried out by the Wolf Science Centre in Austria found wolves make for more selfless pack mates than dogs who were also raised in groups.

The study's authors say the findings suggest domestic dogs inherited their cooperative tendencies from their fierce wolf ancestors, rather than through their contact with human beings.

Researchers trained the animals to use their snouts to press a 'giving' symbol on a screen.  It would deliver food to an adjacent enclosure after being pressed where a fellow animal may or may not be present.

Over multiple trials, wolves opted to deliver food to members of their own pack, knowing they would not get anything in return.  However the wild animals lost interest if they were shown an unfamiliar wolf.

Dogs, on the other hand, showed no particular inclination to feed other dogs when no personal payoff was involved, regardless of whether they knew them or not.

Lead author Rachel Dale said: 'This study shows that domestication did not necessarily make dogs more pro-social.  Rather, it seems that tolerance and generosity towards group members help to produce high levels of cooperation, as seen in wolves.'

But don't write off your pooch just yet.  The authors cautioned against applying the results of an experiment carried out on pack dogs to pet dogs that have been found to have pro-social tendencies in past studies.  The researchers believe those behaviours could be the result of training or encouragement, and say more research is needed to determine what accounts for the differences.

The research was published in the journal Plos One.

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