Lightning formation and the conditions triggering it have long been shrouded in a cloud of mystery, but new research led by Penn State scientists is lifting the fog. Using mathematical calculations, the researchers have discovered that lightning-like discharge doesn’t require a storm cloud—it could be made inside everyday material on a lab bench. The study is published in the journal Physical Review Letters.
“We applied the same exact models that we use for lightning research but shrank down the scale to slightly larger than a deck of cards,” said Victor Pasko, professor of electrical engineering at Penn State and lead author on the paper. “We calculated that when supplied with a high-powered electron source, lightning can be triggered in everyday insulating materials like glass, acrylic and quartz.”
The team used detailed numerical simulations to show that lightning-like radiation bursts could form inside small solid blocks, under conditions achievable in the lab. The work, if proven experimentally, could have implications for more compact and potentially safer X-ray sources in doctors’ offices and security checkpoints, the researchers said. The primary benefit, however, would be to enable the study of a powerful natural phenomenon on a lab bench.
Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) tracked 90 zero-day vulnerabilities actively exploited throughout 2025, almost half of them in enterprise software and appliances.
The figure is a 15% increase compared to 2024, when 78 zero-days were exploited in the wild, but lower than the record 100 zero days tracked in 2023.
Zero-day vulnerabilities are security issues in software products that attackers exploit, usually before the vendor learns about them and develops a patch. They are highly valued by threat actors because they often enable initial access, remote code execution, or privilege escalation.
Hackers are exploiting a critical vulnerability in the User Registration & Membership plugin, which is installed on more than 60,000 WordPress sites.
Developed by WPEverest, the plugin provides membership and user registration management features, including custom forms, payment integrations with PayPal and Stripe, bank transfers, and analytics.
The security vulnerability is tracked as CVE-2026–1492 and received a critical severity rating of 9.8. Because the plugin accepts a user-supplied role during membership registration, hackers can create administrator accounts without authentication.
Cells in our immune system are best known for providing security against external invaders such as bacteria and viruses. These immune cells also guard against internal threats, including cancerous tumors. Different forms of cancer cells and tumors have their own tricks for avoiding detection by the body’s security system altogether or otherwise sabotaging any attempts to muster an immune response. In the case of the most common and difficult-to-treat form of ovarian cancer, this ability to suppress the immune system also makes the cancer resistant to treatments known as immunotherapies that seek to supercharge immune cells.
“Even if you boost the capability of immune cells, a treatment will have limited success if the cells struggle to recognize and react to the tumor,” said David Schlaepfer, Ph.D., a professor in the department of OBGYN and Reproductive Sciences at the University of California San Diego Moores Cancer Center.
By Chuck Brooks and Bill Bowers.
Every time you send a text, pay for groceries with your phone, or use your health site, you are relying on encryption. It’s an invisible shield that protects your data from prying eyes. Encryption is more than just a technological protection; it is the basis for digital trust.
Encryption is more than just safeguarding data; it is also about protecting people. It helps ensure privacy by protecting persons from spying and exploitation. And it is widely adopted to help ensure digital transaction security. For National Security it serves to protect key infrastructure and government communications. And it has a human rights function by providing citizens with peace of mind by ensuring the safety of their personal information. In places where surveillance is widespread, encryption can even defend free expression and opposition. It is a human right in this digital age.
In my book Inside Cyber: How AI, 5G, IoT, and Quantum Computing Will Transform Privacy and Security, I referred to encryption as the “linchpin of privacy and commerce in a connected society.” Without it, the digital economy would crumble under the strain of criminality, fraud, and spying.