【推荐1】The start-up that attracted the largest investment in the history of cybersecurity, of more than half a billion dollars, has a simple goal: a passwordless future.

Despite the spread of password management software that can generate and remember complicated strings of random characters, some of the most common passwords are still “12345”, “password” and “iloveyou”. As a result, more than 80 percent of hacks involve these kinds of passwords; and passwords remain the most sought-after data by hackers, above other personal or sensitive information.

In many cases, individuals are tricked into handing over password details by phishing emails and other social engineering techniques. Hackers have sought to break into apps and steal entire password databases as well. Passwords are also under attack from new technology, such as automated programs that can rapidly try to guess them, or can try stolen passwords on multiple online accounts.

Since the need to replace the easily forgotten and highly hackable strings of letters and numbers that we use to access everyday life has become even more urgent, the race to replace the password is under way, with biometric-based (基于生物识别的) security emerging as one of the most sought-after solutions. According to Tieo, a union of more than 250 companies, which promotes a standard system of passwordless authentication (身份验证), the vast majority of consumer services will offer passwordless login systems in the next couple of years. “If done correctly and safely, biometrics are really helping us move to a passwordless future in a rapid manner,” said Andrew Jenkinson, CEO of Tieo.

But there are still risks associated with the use of biometric authentication. Unlike passwords, biometrics cannot be changed. This means such data must be closely guarded for privacy purposes and to prevent spoofing—hackers trying to trick cameras or sensors with photos, or masks of their victim. “Biometric authentication and passwordless authentication has its own attack surface,” said Paul Smith, director of security research at CyberPek. His team revealed that it had found a design problem which would allow potential attackers to bypass facial recognition login by injecting a spoofed photo of a user’s face into the process.

The biggest obstacle standing in the way of the start-ups hoping to kill the password is how to change years of habit. Eric Brown, founder of TAK Cyber, a cyber research and advisory company, argued that while sensitive applications may rapidly shift from passwords, other websites have less motivation to update their systems. “You’ll never get rid of them,” he said. “We’re never going to get to the post-password era.”

【推荐2】My family has a new toy. At every gathering, a Mata Quest 2 virtual reality headset is now carefully unpacked and passed around. The metaverse (元宇宙) that the headsets access sounds like an appealing place. Create your own form, move between worlds and beyond the limitations of reality — what could be better? Yet the headsets are still massive and the apps cartoonist. Even the game my family loves best shows that perfect interaction with the real world and realistic pictures are still years away. After an hour, not even my nephews want to play anymore.

Yet this observation runs counter to the steady drumbeat of warnings that have emerged about virtual life over the past year. When Meta whistleblower Frances Haugen spoke out against her employer, addiction to the metaverse was one of the things she claims to be most worried about. Immersive environments would encourage users to disconnect from reality altogether, she said.

You can see why product managers like Haugen might worry. Many of us lost the battle against limiting our Internet use long ago. Tech addiction has tricked our brains into habits that ensure our overconsumption of tech products. For instance, our addiction to checking and rechecking our messaging apps. Or looking out for email notifications (通知). On this point, I agree. I’m guilty of both. I turned my own screentime reminders off months ago. Simply knowing how much time I was spending on my phone didn’t seem to be having any effect on my habits.

In lockdowns, spending hours at a time on the Internet became normalized. Yet this does not mean we are all on the edge of spending hours and hours in the metaverse. In the four years I have spent testing out virtual and augmented (强化的) headsets, I have yet to try one that feels comfortable. “Like tying a brick to your forehead,” as one friend put it. It is possible to buy upgraded head bands that attempt to redistribute the weight, but even so the sets still remain heavy.

【推荐3】Scientists have built a bacterium that contains the minimal（最小的）genetic ingredients needed for free living. This bacterium's entire set of genetic blueprints, its genome（基因组）, consists of only 473 genes, including 149 whose precise biological function is unknown. The newly-created bacterium contains a minimalist version of the genome of Mycoplasma mycoides （丝状支原体）.Mycoplasmas have already had some of the smallest known genomes.

In 2010, researchers at the J. Craig Venter Institute in La Jolla, Calif, created the entire genome of M. mycoides and popped it into a cell of a different species, Mycoplasma capricolum （山羊支原体）, creating what some people called the first synthetic（合成的）organism. The new work strips the M.mycoides genome down to its essential elements before transplanting it to the M. capricolum shell, producing a minimal bacterium called syn3.0. Researchers hope syn3.0's genome will teach them more about the basics of biology. Such minimal genome bacteria also may be helpful to build custom-made microbes（微生物）for producing drugs or chemicals.

J. Craig Venter, founder of the nonprofit institute, and a team of researchers there led by Clyde Hutchison III and Daniel Gibson initially set out to design an organism based on a core set of about 300 genes that researchers guessed a microbe would need to survive on its own. But when the researchers tried to bring their computer creations to life, "every one of our designs failed, "Venter said. About 32 percent of the genetic ingredients ultimately needed to cook up even a simple organism were left out of the initial recipe because the researchers didn't know what the genes did and didn't understand their importance. Once those genes were mixed back, the bacteria sprung to life.

"I think we're showing how complex life is in even the simplest of organisms, "Venter said. "These findings are very humbling "because they show that researchers still don't fully understand even the minimal requirements for life. Other researchers have attempted to make minimal genomes by stripping away one gene at a time. But the Venter group built their lean microbe from the ground up. Drew Endy, a synthetic biologist at Stanford University, is among several scientists applauding the approach. "Only when you try to build something do you find out what's truly required. Too often in biology we end up with only data or a just-so story ."Endy said in an e-mail.

At first, the genome didn't work. Some genes that appeared to be nonessential for life are really requirements, the researchers discovered. Those genes tended to have redundant functions with another gene. Researchers could remove one of those genes, but not both at the same time, just as knocking out one engine on a twin-engine jet will keep the plane airborne, but disabling both engines will lead to a crash, says                           Gibson.

【推荐2】Scientists have long said getting a good night’s sleep is important to your health. Now, an American team of scientists reports that too much sleep might be connected with cognitive decline. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine did the sleep study. Their findings were published in the September issue of Brain.

The study examined 100 adults who had been under medical observation for cognitive ability for 3 years. The average age of the study subjects was 65. Every year, they were asked to complete several tests for signs of cognitive decline—the higher the score, the less cognitive decline. They also wore special devices to measure their brain activity during sleep.

The study found that eighty-eight of the group were identified as free of cognitive damage, eleven subjects as very little damaged, and one as a little damaged. And those whose cognitive scores declined slept less than 4.5 hours or more than 6.5 hours per night. But the scores stayed the same for those in the middle of the range. Dr. Brendan Lucey, leading author of the research, said, “Our study suggests that there is a middle range for total sleep time for best cognitive ability. Shorter and longer sleep times were connected with worse cognitive result. ”

Greg Elder, a sleep researcher at Northumbria University, expressed his ideas about the findings. He wrote in The Conversation, “This is low when we consider that older adults are advised to get between seven and eight hours of sleep every night.” He also noted that the research should have taken other information about the subjects studied, including their general health or economic conditions, into consideration.

But Dr. Lucey agreed that each person’s sleep needs are unique. Babies, young children, and teens need even more sleep for their growth and development. And people over 65 should also get more sleep per night. “It suggests that sleep quality may be key, not simply total sleep,’’ Lucey added.