The idea that magnetism doesn’t necessarily always have a dipolar configuration is not a new one, but it’s not an easy theory to find evidence for. Most recently a team of scientists at the University of Toronto used a new method involving vibrational energy in the form of phonons to find evidence for an octupolar magnetic order.
In the associated paper in Physical Review Letters (paywalled, arXiv version) by [Ruairidh Sutcliffe] et al. we can find more details on this method and what their findings may mean for various fields. Naturally, this is a quantum-level phenomenon that requires Raman spectroscopy to be detectable via said phonons.
The materials investigated here are also somewhat exotic, ranging from actinides like NpO2 to transition metal oxides like Sr2MgReO6, while having on common strong spin-orbit coupling. Where the phonons come into play is that they can be used to indirectly measure crystal lattice distortions due to the pseudo-angular momentum assigned to the phonons. This generates pseudo-chiral phonons which then show up in the Raman spectroscopy.
Although finding evidence for octopolar magnetic order is interesting in itself, this way to measuring a crystal lattice’s structure makes for another fascinating research tool that can be used to study many similar phenomenon.
These quantum-level magnetic states could conceivably be used for anything from sensors to magnetic data storage, though any such research is unlikely to be commercialized any time soon.
What is hacking? Many, especially in the mainstream, view it through the lens of computer security. Others consider it synonymous with making or creating. Even for those of us immersed in the community, this can be a surprisingly difficult question to answer.
In his Hackaday Supercon 2026 keynote address, Bruce Potter will explore this idea by taking a step back and looking at what makes someone a hacker in the first place. Rather than viewing hacking as a singular act, he’ll make the case that it’s a mindset, a way of approaching problems that’s not strictly dependent on the tools used or even the desired outcome.
Bruce Potter
With a cybersecurity career that’s spanned three decades, Bruce has been involved with hacking at every level and in every form — from conducting DARPA research to founding The Shmoo Group and helping organize the legendary ShmooCon. Currently the Chief Product Officer at Trinity Cyber, Bruce has made creative problem solving his life’s work, and he’s eager to share what he’s learned with the Hackaday community. While most of us won’t get the opportunity to advise on national cybersecurity policy as he has, we can still apply the same techniques to our own personal and professional projects.
Those joining us this weekend in Pasadena will get to experience Bruce’s keynote, as well as more than 30 other fascinating presentations, with a group of individuals who are just as eager to understand the how and why of the world around them as you are. Making personal connections with like-minded folks is truly the highlight of Hackaday Supercon; badge hacking and tacos are just the fringe benefits.
In our totally unbiased opinion, we believe Hackaday Supercon is the ultimate hardware hacking conference, but you don’t have to take our word for it. A few tickets are still left if you want to see for yourself.
One of the easiest ways of improving security and privacy when using the Internet, and computers in general, is to use strong passwords unique to each site or service. A password manager makes this easy on your phone or computer, but what if you’re in a situation where you can’t install any software on the device you’re logging into? In that case, maybe it’s time to get out the Toothpaste.
The way this creation from [brisk4t] works is that an ESP32-S3 is programmed to act as a keyboard and mouse for any computer it’s plugged into. From there, it connects over an encrypted WEB-BLE connection to another device like a laptop or smartphone. This second device can send text to the ESP32 acting using an extension for Chromium-based browsers, and the ESP32 sends it over the USB connection as if it were nothing more than a standard keyboard. This is all done without having to install any apps or drivers on the target machine, since any machine in the last two or three decades can recognize a USB keyboard and mouse with no problem.
Not only does this allow for easy password input for awkward situations, this can also be used for BIOS where an app couldn’t be installed anyway, for air-gapped systems with no networking, or insecure systems the user doesn’t trust. If you don’t need quite as many bells and whistles, we’ve seen a similar technique pulled off with an ATtiny85.
A constant in film and TV if you work with technology is to continually see wildly inappropriate depictions of it on screen. Whether it’s all those hacking scenes in which the teen wizard mashes a keyboard and instantly gains access to the military grade computer system, the infamous NCIS sequence in which two people work simultaneously on the same keyboard, or CSI‘s magical video enhancement technology, we’ve seen it all. But there’s one area of technology which surprisingly has had a few accurate portrayals on screen, and that’s amateur radio. Yes, just sometimes, film crews do their homework.
Comedy, Hero, or Excentric. Which Are You?
Tony Hancock, radio amateur.
Writing this from the rainy edge of Europe, the depiction of a radio amateur non screen that first comes to mind dates from the early 1960s. The British comedian Tony Hancock devoted a whole episode of his series to it, in which he plays an inept operator with hilarious consequences. It’s not in any way accurate and some of the comedy is … dated, but it’s interesting to watch. There’s a whole genre of comedic episodes featuring the hobby, in researching this piece I found a 1965 episode of The Munstersin which Herman minstakes some kids at play for real Martians, and a Simpsons episode in which Principal Skinner is revealed to have a licence.
But amateur radio as a source of comedy isn’t the only genre at play. Radio amateurs are often depicted as heroic rescuers or communicators. alternately sending help to shipwrecked mariners, solving crimes, or providing emergency comms. In 1969’s The Red Tent starring Sean Connery for example a Russian radio amateur picks up a distress call from an airship crash, while in 2008’s The Bank Job is based on the true story of a London robbery in which a radio amateur heard the radio comms of the criminals. I’m sure many of you meanwhile will have seen Independence Day, in which radio amateurs use Morse code as a last ditch global communication system.
Probably the most frequent depiction though is through science fiction. 1996’s Phenomenon for example has amateur radio associated with paranormal events, and in a more comedic vein, 1980s TV’s ALF follows an amateur radio signal to Earth. Meanwhile The X Files has multiple episodes peripherally featuring the hobby, after all, us radio amateurs know the truth is out there, right?
There Are More Radio Amateurs In The Movie Business Than Hackers
Through all of this, when compared to hacking scenes in movies and TV, amateur radio gets off lightly when it comes to accuracy. Tony Hancock’s performance may be more comedy than radio, but frequently there have been real radio amateurs involved in the production somehow. Principal Skinner’s callsign is one previously held by the show’s executive producer David Mirkin for example, and the ARRL have some comments on the accuracy of 2011’s Super 8. Perhaps this is because people with the skills to be thought of as hackers by movie production crews tend to have jobs in allied fields and never come near a movie set, while radio amateurs are more widely spread among the population. The chances of a radio amateur being in proximity to a film set are high, while the chances of a hacker? No chance, the lights are too bright.
When it comes to abiogenesis, i.e. the formation of the first biological cells on Earth, there are many theories on how this got kickstarted. One of the more popular theories involves the primordial Earth being seeded with the organic building blocks by comets hurtling through the atmosphere. Although organic compounds have been discovered on such comets, the question of whether these compounds could survive hurtling through Earth’s atmosphere and the rapid deceleration upon impact remained unanswered.
Hydrothermal vent in the Atlantic Ocean. (Source: NOAA)
Now a study by [Richard J. Anslow] et al. in Scientific Reports posits that the answer here is a very probable ‘no’. Using detailed cometary impact simulations and our current understanding of the formation and presence of these volatile organic molecules on comets it was found that the possibility of such molecules surviving the impact was extremely low.
The focus here was on hydrogen cyanide (HCN), with simulations showing a negligible amount of it surviving to make it onto Earth’s surface. Naturally from there other influences like hydrolysis will further dilute and degrade such molecules, making their effect on any biological activity highly unlikely. Meanwhile this comet-based delivery method was much more effective on a historical Mars – one capable of retaining liquid water – with more than five times successful deliveries of HCN.
Realistically, the much more likely source of such ingredients and the energy for the formation of the first biological cells on Earth would have been found near hydrothermal vents, which even today provide a rich mixture of chemicals that sustains entire ecosystems that are quite unlike those found here on the surface. For smaller planets like Mars the cometary route could however been a viable method for biological activity, which provides exciting prospects for similar bodies like Europa once we start exploring its oceans.
Whether it’s to make more money or because of licensing disagreements, car companies often restrict the abilities of the infotainment units in their vehicles. They can do so much more, and a group of hackers is setting the Gen5W systems from Hyundai free with NEMESIS.
Many Hyundai and Kia vehicles from 2015 to 2019 use the Gen5W system, but there are some exceptions to the exploit like the Hyundai Elantra, Kia Forte, and Hyundai Ioniq 6, along with Canadian vehicles using the system. The most interesting feature for most users will likely be the ability to use Android Auto or Apple CarPlay wirelessly as well as bringing turn-by-turn navigation cues from those systems to the driver cluster and heads up display like you get with the built-in, but not so great, OEM navigation system.
Using a flaw in the over the air (OTA) update system, the developer says “the version must have S5W_M in it (General Settings > SW Info). S5W_L is not supported.” The head unit must also be one that supports OTA updates as otherwise it won’t have the appropriate logic to exploit.
We’ve seen hacks of various infotainment systems before including older Hyundai systems and Teslas.
Shortly after [RCMakerLab] posted his question on potentially equipping an RC airplane with the electronic ducted fans (EDFs) from those airblower devices – are sold mostly as a replacement for canned air – the comment sections pretty much exploded with comments that he should just have strapped them onto an RC airplane and see for himself. In a new video this is exactly what is done, creating a somewhat A-10 Warthog-esque RC plane with its twin EDF turbines.
After we first covered this journey, the next question that got answered in the subsequent video was whether replacing the default electronic speed control (ESC) would make sense, mostly to lighten the load and optimize it for use with a typical RC avionics controller. This turned out to be the case, and thus it’s time for a test flight.
The aircraft created from largely styrofoam board seems to be largely designed for stability, with its large wings and the very A-10-like placement of the turbines right above the tail with its twin vertical stabilizers. It wasn’t really a shocker to see that the resulting 368 gram light airplane actually flies pretty well, with it taking off almost immediately.
With the used 2S1P, 1300 mAh Li-Po battery total flight time is about 3-4 minutes, which seems about on par with typical numbers. With a larger airplane and battery these two EDFs probably could be pushed even further, which we fully expect to see in a future video.
