This is frightening. Nature just published a study by astronomers who have reanalyzed and recalculated the estimate of asteroids that could hit Earth and it's a lot worse than we thought. As in, researchers are now saying we are 10 times more likely to get struck by an asteroid than before. As in, scientists are saying we need to improve our early warning systems. As in, yikes.
If you've tried to wade through Security Advisory 2896666, you're probably ready to tear your hair out. I can't recall ever seeing a security advisory so poorly worded, convoluted, and uninformative. Let me try to cut through the multiple layers of bafflegab (I'm being polite here) and tell you if there's reason to be concerned and, if so, what to do to mitigate the problem.
Apparently someone's discovered a zero-day hole in the TIFF codec that ships with Office. According to McAfee -- which discovered the exploit in the wild -- the sample infected Word document it's analyzing uses (remarkably) the newer DOCX format. It works by sticking ActiveX objects inside the DOCX file, then using the ActiveX controls to spray heap memory.
This particular TIFF codec exhibits the "bad" exploitable behavior only when run on specific versions of Windows. That's led to a lot of confusion.
A typical attack involves opening a Word document with an infected embedded TIFF graphic. In rare circumstances, you can also get infected by previewing an email message in Outlook with that bad TIFF graphic, but only if you use Word to preview Outlook messages -- a practice cut off by default in Office 2003. Microsoft's garbled Security Advisory article also alludes to the possibility of getting infected via a drive-by Web attack, but I've seen no confirmation of that vector. Given the nature of the attack, through the Office TIFF codec, it's hard to understand how it could happen. The only confirmed attack vector I've seen operates by opening a Word document with an infected embedded TIFF file.
We've been around the barn several times, trying to figure out exactly which combinations of Word and Windows are vulnerable. Computerworld's Gregg Keizer, quoting Microsoft sources, provided an important piece of the puzzle yesterday. Here's the easy way to look at it:
If your combination of Word and Windows falls into one of the vulnerable categories, Microsoft has a Fixit for you. Be aware of the fact that the Fixit doesn't actually solve the problem; it just disables TIFF processing for all of Windows. You may or may not be able to live with that limitation.
Keep in mind that this is a so-called advanced persistent threat attack, which means it's most likely targeted very narrowly, at specific organizations. Microsoft says, "The attacks observed are very limited and carefully carried out against selected computers, largely in the Middle East and South Asia."
It's a safe bet that unless you're running a highly sensitive computer in the Middle East or South Asia, you aren't likely to encounter the problem -- yet.
I worked at Blockbuster off and on all through high school and college. It was easily the best minimum wage job I ever had (admittedly, that's a fairly small list). The people I worked with were always cool, and managers were usually okay. I mainly worked in a college town, so it wasn't tough to hit our numbers. It was just a generally chill place to be, working with movies and games. The best part of the job was easily when someone asked for a recommendation, and you got to help them pick out something they'd like.
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UFC Hall of Fame inductee Tito Ortiz was supposed to headline the first ever Bellator pay per view on Nov. 2 opposite fellow former UFC champion Quinton Jackson until a broken neck took him out of the bout. The card was then turned into a free one on Spike and both Ortiz and Jackson's futures seemed up in the air.
However, Ortiz tweeted followers this week and appeared in good spirits.
"Ppl I will have 100% recovery & will be back n the gym in 6 weeks.I'm a fighter & I love competition. I was doing great n training but accident do happen. Just time to reshuffle the deck & deal another hand. #positiveminded"
Ortiz battled through serious injuries throughout his career before retiring in 2012. The former UFC champ came out of retirement to fight for Bellator.
It appears as if Ortiz' recent set back, serious as it may be, has not dampened his enthusiasm for a come back. As for Jackson, Bellator announced this week that he will face Joey Beltran, who recently lost in the UFC and was released by the organization.
Clean Air Act has led to improved water quality in the Chesapeake Bay watershed
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
6-Nov-2013
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Contact: Amy Pelsinsky apelsinsky@umces.edu 410-330-1389 University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
Declines in atmospheric nitrogen pollution improved water quality over a 23-year period
FROSTBURG, MD (November 6, 2013) A new study shows that the reduction of pollution emissions from power plants in the mid-Atlantic is making an impact on the quality of the water that ends up in the Chesapeake Bay. The study by scientists at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science confirms that as the amount of emissions of nitrogen oxide from coal-fired power plants declined in response to the Clean Air Act, the amount of nitrogen pollution found in the waterways of forested areas in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia fell as well.
"When we set out to reduce nitrogen pollution to the Chesapeake Bay, deposition of nitrogen resulting from air pollution on the watershed was considered uncontrollable," said Donald Boesch, president of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. "This study shows that improvements in air quality provided benefits to water quality that we were not counting on."
Researchers evaluated long-term water quality trends for nine forested mountain watersheds located along the spine of the Appalachian Mountains from Pennsylvania to southern Virginia over a 23-year period (1986 to 2009). The sampling began slightly before the Clean Air Act of 1990 imposed controls on power plant emissions to reduce nitrogen oxide pollution through its Acid Rain Program. According to the EPA, total human-caused nitrogen oxide emissions declined 32% from 1997 to 2005 in 20 eastern U.S. states that participated in the program.
Intended to reduce the emissions (sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide) that caused acid rain, the program had the unintended consequence of reducing the amount of nitrogen oxide particles landing on forests in the sample area and ultimately improving water quality in the watershed.
"It worked for something nobody anticipated," said lead author Keith Eshleman, a professor at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science's Appalachian Laboratory. "The original idea was to reduce nitrogen oxide concentrations in the atmosphere because that would reduce acidity of precipitation and decrease ozone in the atmosphere. The other result was that water quality has improved, a side benefit that was unanticipated."
Air pollution that falls on the land (known atmospheric deposition) is one of the biggest sources of pollution to the forested area that impacts the Chesapeake Bay--sixty percent of the watershed. Nitrogen accumulation has significant consequences for air quality, human health, and the health of aquatic ecosystems. When excess nitrogen enters the streams and waterways, it can cause algae blooms that significantly impact water quality and marine life.
"In our most pristine and most heavily forested basins, nitrogen deposition is a primary driver of pollution," said Eshleman. "Where we are located in the Mid Atlantic, we've historically had some of the highest rates of deposition, and received some of the greatest reductions owing to the Clean Air Act."
###
The study, "Surface water quality is improving due to declining atmosphere N deposition" is published in the November 5 issue of Environment Science and Technology by Keith Eshleman, Robert Sabo and Kathleen Kline of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.
The Appalachian Laboratory is located in the mountains of western Maryland, the headwaters of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Since 1962, the Frostburg-based institution has actively studied the effects of land-use change on the freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems of the region, how they function in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and how human activity may influence their health and sustainability on local, regional and global scales. The scientific results help to unravel the consequences of environmental change, manage natural resources, restore ecosystems, and foster ecological literacy.
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science unleashes the power of science to transform the way society understands and manages the environment. By conducting cutting-edge research into today's most pressing environmental problems, we are developing new ideas to help guide our state, nation, and world toward a more environmentally sustainable future through five research centersthe Appalachian Laboratory in Frostburg, the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory in Solomons, the Horn Point Laboratory in Cambridge, the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology in Baltimore, and the Maryland Sea Grant College in College Park. http://www.umces.edu
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Clean Air Act has led to improved water quality in the Chesapeake Bay watershed
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
6-Nov-2013
[
| E-mail
]
Share
Contact: Amy Pelsinsky apelsinsky@umces.edu 410-330-1389 University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
Declines in atmospheric nitrogen pollution improved water quality over a 23-year period
FROSTBURG, MD (November 6, 2013) A new study shows that the reduction of pollution emissions from power plants in the mid-Atlantic is making an impact on the quality of the water that ends up in the Chesapeake Bay. The study by scientists at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science confirms that as the amount of emissions of nitrogen oxide from coal-fired power plants declined in response to the Clean Air Act, the amount of nitrogen pollution found in the waterways of forested areas in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia fell as well.
"When we set out to reduce nitrogen pollution to the Chesapeake Bay, deposition of nitrogen resulting from air pollution on the watershed was considered uncontrollable," said Donald Boesch, president of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. "This study shows that improvements in air quality provided benefits to water quality that we were not counting on."
Researchers evaluated long-term water quality trends for nine forested mountain watersheds located along the spine of the Appalachian Mountains from Pennsylvania to southern Virginia over a 23-year period (1986 to 2009). The sampling began slightly before the Clean Air Act of 1990 imposed controls on power plant emissions to reduce nitrogen oxide pollution through its Acid Rain Program. According to the EPA, total human-caused nitrogen oxide emissions declined 32% from 1997 to 2005 in 20 eastern U.S. states that participated in the program.
Intended to reduce the emissions (sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide) that caused acid rain, the program had the unintended consequence of reducing the amount of nitrogen oxide particles landing on forests in the sample area and ultimately improving water quality in the watershed.
"It worked for something nobody anticipated," said lead author Keith Eshleman, a professor at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science's Appalachian Laboratory. "The original idea was to reduce nitrogen oxide concentrations in the atmosphere because that would reduce acidity of precipitation and decrease ozone in the atmosphere. The other result was that water quality has improved, a side benefit that was unanticipated."
Air pollution that falls on the land (known atmospheric deposition) is one of the biggest sources of pollution to the forested area that impacts the Chesapeake Bay--sixty percent of the watershed. Nitrogen accumulation has significant consequences for air quality, human health, and the health of aquatic ecosystems. When excess nitrogen enters the streams and waterways, it can cause algae blooms that significantly impact water quality and marine life.
"In our most pristine and most heavily forested basins, nitrogen deposition is a primary driver of pollution," said Eshleman. "Where we are located in the Mid Atlantic, we've historically had some of the highest rates of deposition, and received some of the greatest reductions owing to the Clean Air Act."
###
The study, "Surface water quality is improving due to declining atmosphere N deposition" is published in the November 5 issue of Environment Science and Technology by Keith Eshleman, Robert Sabo and Kathleen Kline of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.
The Appalachian Laboratory is located in the mountains of western Maryland, the headwaters of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Since 1962, the Frostburg-based institution has actively studied the effects of land-use change on the freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems of the region, how they function in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and how human activity may influence their health and sustainability on local, regional and global scales. The scientific results help to unravel the consequences of environmental change, manage natural resources, restore ecosystems, and foster ecological literacy.
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science unleashes the power of science to transform the way society understands and manages the environment. By conducting cutting-edge research into today's most pressing environmental problems, we are developing new ideas to help guide our state, nation, and world toward a more environmentally sustainable future through five research centersthe Appalachian Laboratory in Frostburg, the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory in Solomons, the Horn Point Laboratory in Cambridge, the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology in Baltimore, and the Maryland Sea Grant College in College Park. http://www.umces.edu
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
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