Miscreants have poisoned Google Video search results in a bid to trick the unwary into getting infected with malware.

Instead of video clips, researchers at Trend Micro discovered that around 400,000 queries returning malicious results that lead to a single redirection point, which leads onto an array of maliciously constructed websites designed to load malware onto vulnerable Windows PCs. The strain of malware spread using the attack - named as AQPlay-A by Trend Micro - poses as a Abode Flash Player update that’s supposedly needed to view video content.

Running the software on unprotected PCs leads to infection. The malware is also programmed to spread via removable and network drives.

Hackers behind the attack have been careful to camouflage the assault. Trend Micro reckons the VXers organising the assault are maintaining a large number of domains, each full of keywords, so that these pages appear at the high in search results when users enter targeted search queries.

The approach is typical of one type of search engine optimisation malfeasance, but the Google Video attack takes things one step further, by incorporating detection-evasion technique. Only users who are redirected from Google Video are prompted to download the booby-trapped Flash Player executable, Trend Micro warns.

Pentagon crazytech researchers look to be revisiting a long-speculated-upon idea: that of helicopter blades which could extend or shorten in length during flight. This would offer major performance benefits, and such options as whisper mode or easier operations in confined spaces.

The latest development in the telescoping rotor blade world originates at DARPA, the Pentagon tech barbershop where they only know one style - Lunatic Fringe. DARPA has just kicked off a new extendy-shrinky-copter push under the rather dull name “Mission Adaptive Rotor”, or MAR.

According to the Pentagon propellor-heads:

The goal of the Mission Adaptive Rotor (MAR) program is to develop “on-the-fly” morphing rotor technology and demonstrate the dramatic benefits possible using this capability to reconfigure the rotor in flight, either during each rotor revolution, between mission phases, or both. Applications for both tilt rotors and edgewise rotors are equally acceptable.

Memory chip prices shot up on Monday–a welcome bit of news for beleaguered chipmakers, who have been caught in a relentless downward price spiral.

Prices for DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory), the main memory in PCs, shot up as much as 26 percent, according to data posted on DRAMeXchange. A number of reports have attributed this to the bankruptcy of Germany-based chipmaker Qimonda, and seem to indicate that this will relieve some of the pressure on prices caused by oversupply.

The price of certain DDR2 (Double Data Rate, second generation) memory chips rose as much as 28 percent Monday. Flash memory also rose, with 16-gigabit chips rising more than 5 percent.