What happened
Iran has threatened to retaliate against the US with cyberattacks that target its foe’s energy, water and telecommunications networks as fighting between the two countries again intensifies. A hacking group linked to Iran warned of “unexpected and critical events” for American communities, although recent attempts to penetrate infrastructure systems have largely failed. US authorities have already investigated attacks on water facilities in several states.

The threats came as Iran launched missiles and drones at US military positions across the Middle East following American strikes aimed at securing the passage of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

Who said what
Donald Trump said he would pursue the conflict regardless of November’s mid-term elections, telling reporters: “I’m not affected by the elections.”

But “Trump doesn’t understand the forever war he’s created with Iran”, said Sam Kiley in The Independent. In concert with Moscow, Tehran’s “long-term intent is to expose the limits of current US power and further weaken its influence across the Middle East”.

In his “on-again, off-again” war, the US president has “returned to a familiar playbook”, said Erica L. Green in The New York Times. He “went from boasting that Iran was defeated militarily, a ‘failed nation’ in economic disarray, to threatening an apocalyptic attack that would leave ‘very little left’ of the country after it had defied his declarations and demands”.

What next?
US cybersecurity officials have urged infrastructure operators to strengthen their defences against hackers.

What happened
Booking.com has been accused of being “unfit” for purpose after the watchdog Which? said it was able to create a bogus rental listing for 10 Downing Street.

On June 18, Which? listed a property on the travel site headlined “1 bedroom apartment in the heart of London” – with the exact address and a picture of the prime minister’s home. Which? Travel researchers then tested a reservation for a week at the end of July. They “also added a fake review for the property, mentioning how much they had liked hanging out with Larry the Cat, who lives in 10 Downing Street with the prime minister”, said The Times.

Who said what
Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel, said: “If Booking.com’s so-called sophisticated AI systems can’t spot that 10 Downing Street is not a holiday rental, then it’s no wonder scammers can exploit the platform so easily.”

A spokesperson for Booking.com said the “limited test” was not a “true reflection of the experience of millions of listings or reviews published on our platform”, adding that because the fake 10 Downing Street listing “was not open and bookable”, its automatic fraud controls were not triggered to remove it.

What next?
Booking.com claimed that protocols successfully used AI to spot fake listings and remove them. Meanwhile, Which? said more should be done to force booking sites to swiftly remove false listings under the Online Safety Act.

The sweet treat of the future could be plastic. Scientists have found a way to transform plastic waste, along with other food additives and ingredients, into edible cookies. The method could combat refuse accumulation and provide sustenance in remote areas or disaster zones – maybe even in space some day. However, many people are understandably unsure about eating plastic and there’s a long road ahead before the cookies can hit shelves.

According to research that was presented at the autumn meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS), scientists have “programmed yeasts to turn plastic and agricultural waste into edible proteins and flavoring molecules”, creating a treat dubbed µBites (micro bites), said an ACS news release.

Polyethylene terephthalate, or PET, from plastic bottles and “discarded sweet corn plant stalks and leaves” were put through a process called “oxidative hydrothermal dissolution”, which “uses heat to break down the materials into components that microbes can digest”, said New Scientist. The components are “fed to yeast that has been genetically altered using CRISPR gene-editing technology”, allowing it to “convert the components into a variety of useful ingredients, including proteins, fats and acids, as well as vanilla flavouring and beta-carotene, which the body can convert into vitamin A”. Then “fibre, starch and sweetener are added, and the paste is extruded through a 3D printer into any desired shape”. Thus µBites are produced.

Rather than becoming a mainstream treat, the “µBites system is a tunable and portable device that integrates all necessary components” that could be “deployed in submarines or disaster relief vehicles to produce on-demand, on-site food”, Lahiru Jayakody, a microbiologist at Southern Illinois University Carbondale who worked on the study, told ScienceAlert. The process is also “particularly suited for using carbon waste in extreme environments such as deserts, the Arctic or the Antarctic to make food”, and potentially even “on Mars or the lunar surface”.