Vulnerabilities found in VLC Media Player

ermany: A security hole has been discovered in the VLC Media Player, the German Federal Agency for Security in Information Technology (BSI) here reported.

Attackers can exploit this vulnerability using rigged Real Media files (file ending with "rm") to install malicious software onto the user's computer. The victim has just to open the manipulated multimedia file.

VLC Media Player versions prior to release 0.9.8 are affected, BSI reports. 

The software maker has fixed the problem for Version 0.9.8, but to date has only made the source code available.

All VLC Media Player users are advised to remove the file libreal_plugin.* manually from the VLC plug-in installation directory.

Human bone marrow synthesised in lab

Artificial bone marrow that can continuously make red and white blood cells has been synthesised in a lab for the first time. This could lead to simpler pharmaceutical drug testing, closer study of immune system defects and a continuous supply of blood for transfusions.

To determine whether the substance behaves like real bone marrow, the scientists implanted it in mice with immune deficiencies. They produced human immune cells and blood vessels grew through the substance. 

Cancer-fighting chemotherapy drugs can strongly suppress bone marrow function, leaving the body more susceptible to infection. 

The new artificial marrow could allow researchers to test how a new drug at certain potencies would affect bone marrow function, said Nicholas Kotov, co-author of the study and professor in University of Michigan departments of chemical and bio-medical engineering.

"This could assist in drug development and catch severe side effects before human drug trials," he said. 

The substance grows on a 3-D scaffold that mimics the tissues supporting bone marrow in the body, 

Kotov and Joan Nichols, professor at the University of Texas, collaborated on many aspects of the project.

"This is the first successful artificial bone marrow," Kotov said. "It has two of the essential functions of bone marrow. It can replicate blood stem cells and produce B cells. The latter are the key immune cells producing antibodies that are important to fighting many diseases."

Blood stem cells give rise to blood as well as several other types of cells. B cells, a type of white blood cell, battle colds, bacterial infections, and other foreign or abnormal cells including some cancers. 

Bone marrow is a complicated organ to replicate, Kotov said. Vital to the success of this new development is the 3-D scaffold on which the artificial marrow grows. This lattice had to have a high number of precisely-sized pores to stimulate cellular interaction. 

The scaffolds are made of a transparent polymer that nutrients can easily pass through. To create the scaffolds, scientists moulded the polymer with tiny spheres ordered like billiard balls. Then, they dissolved the spheres to leave the perfect geometry of pores in the scaffold.

The scaffolds were then seeded with bone marrow stromal cells and osteoblasts, another type of bone marrow cell, said a Michigan university release. The findings were published online in Biomaterials.

"The scaffold for this work had to be designed from scratch closely mimicking real bone marrow because there are no suitable commercially available products," Kotov said.

India cannot remain a global 'back office': PM

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said India should not remain a 'back office' to provide R&D solutions to the world and asked scientists to do more to keep pace with China and Japan who have 'scored over' it in taking scientific and technological advances to the people.

"We cannot be satisfied becoming a back office for providing research and development solutions for multinational companies," he told a gathering of top scientists in New Delhi.

Singh gave away the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prizes, the country's highest science awards, for 2007 and 2008 to 21 young scientists.

"China and Japan have scored over India in delivering to the people the benefits of scientific and technological advances," he said.

"Unless we apply ourselves to this task, the powerful scientific tools of social and economic change will remain confined to our laboratories and institutions," he said.

"Our scientists should work to connect science to the daily lives of millions of Indians," the prime minister said pitching for use of public-private partnerships to commercialise technologies emerging from R&D programmes being funded by various science departments.

He said the scientists should focus more on linking the lab with the market and asked Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to take lead in this regard.

"To begin with, let CSIR work to commercially exploit its

knowledge base, currently embodied in more that 3,000 or so patents held nationally and globally," Singh said.

Noting that the world is confronted with potentially devastating climatic changes, the prime minister asked scientists to use the "ingenuity and inventiveness" of science to find ways to "leapfrog" to future technologies, which are affordable and sustainable.

"We can use some part of the public investment, which we will spend to stimulate our economies, in these technologies that will help build sustainable pathways to development," he said.

The Ministry of Science and Technology is putting together a plan that will provide us the framework for research and investigation in the area of climate change, he said.

Singh said the government will spare no resource to ensure that the country's huge potential in the science and technology is utilised.

"The creativity of and innovation of our scientists are a matter of great pride for our country. They have pushed the frontiers of science to enable us to strengthen our defence capabilities; improve our healthcare and our agricultural economy; extend the reach of our communications and land on the moon," he said.