China
China plans to disrupt elections with AI-generated disinformation
Beijing is expected to ramp up sophisticated AI-generated disinformation campaigns to influence several high-profile elections in 2024, according to Microsoft’s threat intelligence team. Microsoft warned that state-backed Chinese cyber groups – with assistance from North Korean actors – “are likely to target” the presidential and legislative elections in countries such as the US, South Korea,…
Great Wall of China protected from erosion by coat of lichen and moss
A section of the Great Wall of China made with rammed earth AtthameeNi/Shutterstock The Great Wall of China is being protected from erosion by a “biocrust” of moss, lichen and cyanobacteria, much as the wall once shielded the country from northern invasions. The wall, built and rebuilt many times between about 200 BC and the…
Unusual dark hedgehog from eastern China is new to science
The new-to-science hedgehog species has darker brown fur and spines, as well as slightly larger ears, than the European hedgehog ZooKeys Scientists have identified a new species of hedgehog: a dark brown creature that dwells in the forests of eastern China. In 2018, Kai He at Guangzhou University, China, and his colleagues stumbled across some mysterious-looking…