Circumventing internet censorship in countries like China or Iran

Researchers at Paderborn University have developed a freely available tool and gained an award for their study

Universität Paderborn

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Free access to information online is a vital component of democratic societies. However, something that is take for granted in this country is by no means possible everywhere. Given this, in a recent study, researchers at Paderborn University and the Technology Innovation Institute in Abu Dhabi have demonstrated how internet censorship can be circumvented by making targeted modifications to the encryption protocols. The aim is to facilitate access to blocked websites and provide approaches for future technologies. This is focusing in particular on well-known censorship systems such as the ‘Great Firewall’ of China or censorship in Iran. In addition, the authors advocate developing the field of ‘censorship research’. Their findings are of practical benefit, as well as providing valuable insights for science and scholarship. In mid-May, the team’s work was recognised with an award at the renowned ‘IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy’ conference in San Francisco.

Mechanisms to ensure a freer internet

The researchers have developed an open-source tool in the form of a ‘censor scanner’ that encrypts web requests in such a way that censorship systems either cannot detect them or cannot block them. The team also tested which techniques bypass these systems, whilst also ensuring that the web requests would be understood by actual websites. This is crucial in order to be able to successfully display blocked pages.

A key example that researchers have examined carefully is a mechanism within the ‘TLS’ (Transport Layer Security) service. Under normal circumstances, this protocol ensures that internet connections are securely encrypted. Nevertheless, it can be blocked: ‘As TLS is used by millions across the world, it is a popular target for censors. They can analyse the protocol to block undesired websites. This is possible because the very first TLS message transmitted is sent unencrypted and reveals the name of the website to which the user is trying to connect. This means that censors can look at the start of TLS connections and halt them where required’, explains Professor Juraj Somorovsky, head of the System Security research group at Paderborn’s Department of Computer Science.

According to the team, one of the most successful ways of circumventing censorship is what is known as ‘TLS fragmentation’. ‘This means that the first TLS enquiry containing the name of the target website is fragmented into small parts that censorship systems struggle to analyse’, explains lead author Niklas Niere, also from Paderborn University. Other tricks involve changing or disguising details of the target website. Another method removes certain information entirely from web requests. All of the solutions identified have one thing in common: they are effective against censorship systems whilst also being accepted by internet servers. This means that requests will be successfully answered even if these tricks are used.

Important worldwide

The researchers’ results are a ray of hope for people under repressive regimes who have no free access to the internet. In the future, they may aid practical technologies that help people all over the world circumvent blocks. At the same time, the researchers emphasise that censors are also continually further developing their techniques. For example, their study demonstrates that China’s ‘Great Firewall’ is made up of three different systems that need to be outwitted in order to successfully circumvent the censorship.

Whilst encryption and security mechanisms across the world are being improved, freedom online is a race between technical progress and state control. This study serves as the basis for future academic work, as well as providing a guideline for developing tools that promote free access to the internet.

Read the study: https://ris.uni-paderborn.de/record/59824

 

The sweet spot: sugar-based sensors to revolutionize snake venom detection

Glycopolymer-functionalized gold nanoparticles for the detection of Western Diamondback Rattlesnake venom

University of Warwick

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image: 

Western Diamondback Rattlesnake, Crotalus atrox, Location: Germany, Ulm, Zoological Garden

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Credit: Holger Krisp

Every five minutes, 50 people are bitten by a snake worldwide; four will be permanently disabled and one will die. In the time-critical situation following a bite, identifying the snake venom making its way through your system is vital to saving lives and providing the best treatment. 

Most approaches to diagnose and treat snake venom, a WHO neglected tropical disease, rely on antibodies. Antibody assays have several challenges associated with them, including high costs, lengthy procedures, and inconsistencies, and yet there are not robust, low-cost, and widely available alternatives to antibody-based approaches. 

In this new research paper, published in ACS Biomacromolecules, Warwick researchers have shown the first proof of concept for a cheap and rapid alternative - a glycopolymer-based ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis) test to detect snake venom. They showcase a version of this diagnostic assay in the paper that specifically detects Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox) venom. 

Dr. Alex Baker, Assistant Professor at Warwick, lead researcher of the Baker Humanitarian Chemistry Group and senior author of the paper said: “Snake venoms are complex and detecting the toxins at work is challenging but essential to save lives. We’ve produced an assay using synthetic sugars that mimic the sugars in our bodies that the toxins naturally bind to and an amplification system that makes this rapid test visible. This method lays the foundations for the rapid and cheap detection of snakebite beyond antibody-based techniques, potentially improving improve patient outcomes.” 

Western Diamondback Rattlesnake venom has evolved to bind to specific sugar molecules on the surface of cells in the body, such as red blood cells and platelets. Specifically, the toxin binds to galactose-terminal glycans (sugar chains ending in galactose). Binding to these glycans allows the venom to disrupt blood clotting or interfere with the immune responses leading to disability and death. 

To create the venom assay for Crotalus atrox venom, the team engineered synthetic chains of sugar-like units (glycopolymers), to mimic the natural sugar receptors targeted by venom proteins. The synthetic sugars were attached to gold nanoparticles to amplify the response and make the reaction visible, creating a test that changes colour when venom toxins bind to the synthetic sugars. 

Mahdi Hezwani, first author and alumni of Dr Baker’s research group said: "This assay could be a real game-changer for snake envenomation. Venoms from other snake species do not interact with glycans in the body. For example, when we tested venom from the Indian Cobra (Naja naja) we did not see binding to the synthetic glycans that bind to C.atrox venom. Hence this assay shows promise to be able to distinguish between different snake venoms based on their sugar-binding properties.”  

This is the first example of a diagnosis test using sugars for detecting snake venom in a rapid detection system, and builds on the work of this Warwick research group using a glyconanoparticle platform in COVID-19 detection. 

This new assay is faster, cheaper, easier to store, is modifiable since the sugars can be custom-made to recognise a specific toxin and is an example of the bold, innovative solutions that will continue to be made possible through The University of Warwick's new STEM Connect programme. 

ENDS 

The full research paper can be accessed here. 

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.biomac.5c00125  

About The University of Warwick  

The University of Warwick is one of the UK’s leading universities, marking its 60th anniversary in 2025. With over twenty-eight thousand students from 147 countries, it is currently ranked 9th in the UK by The Guardian University Guide. It has an acknowledged reputation for excellence in research and teaching, for innovation, and for links with business and industry. The recent Research Excellence Framework classed 92% of its research as ‘world leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’. The University of Warwick was awarded Midlands University of the Year by The Times and Sunday Times. 

About the STEM Connect Programme  

The STEM Connect Programme forms part of The University of Warwick’s largest single investment in campus facilities in its 60-year history – known as the Connect Programme. This will deliver innovative spaces built for new state-of-the-art research and learning programmes to support purposeful collaboration that will address the local, national, and global challenges of today and tomorrow. 

 From teaching rooms to laboratories, the facilities will enable the University to build on its innovation and research excellence and enhance its campus experience to create more learning opportunities for undergraduate and postgraduate students. The STEM Connect Programme will also attract and inspire the world’s brightest students and will reinforce the University’s internationally-recognised work in science – having led on a vast array of pioneering research, including innovations to save lives through the early detection of skin cancer and dementia. 

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Journal

Biomacromolecules

DOI

10.1021/acs.biomac.5c00125 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Animal tissue samples

Article Title

Glycopolymer-Functionalized Gold Nanoparticles for the Detection of Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox) Venom

 

Lack of breastfeeding, low birth weight and smoking during pregnancy predict behavioral difficulties for the child

The researchers identified strong and often overlooked emotional and behavioural risk factors that can be predicted to be present in five-year-old children

University of Helsinki

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“Lack of breastfeeding, low birth weight and maternal smoking during pregnancy are factors that can be used to react very early, even before the child shows symptoms,” says the study’s lead author, doctoral researcher Xu Zong from the University of Helsinki.

The study, published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, used artificial intelligence to analyse data from nearly 6,000 children in a longitudinal study of UK households. The aim was to use pregnancy and newborn risk factors to predict emotional and behavioural difficulties in children at the age of five.

The study found differences between the sexes: boys were more affected by maternal smoking, while girls were more vulnerable to fussiness in infancy. According to the researcher, these findings highlight the need for gender-responsive approaches in early screening and policy design.’

“Our findings are particularly relevant in a time when both concern for children’s mental health and 'demand for early intervention are increasing,” Zong says.

The researchers’ observations are based on machine learning and big data. Using an advanced AI approach, the study revealed complex relationships and classified the predictive significance of 14 prenatal and postnatal factors.

“Based on our results, greater investments should be made in preventive care right at the beginning of pregnancy,” Zong points out.

Children’s emotional and behavioural difficulties are increasing worldwide. The study provides up-to-date information on how early life risk factors, which begin as early as pregnancy and the newborn, can shape children’s mental well-being years later.

The new international study, led by researchers from the University of Helsinki, was conducted in collaboration with Stockholm University, Karolinska Institutet Sweden and the University of Essex (UK).

Read the full study:

Zong, X., Li, Y., Liu, C., & Aguirre, E. (2025). Predicting children’s emotional and behavioural difficulties at age five using pregnancy and neonatal risk factors: Evidence from a longitudinal study of UK households. Journal of Mood Disorders.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2025.04.167

Journal

Journal of Affective Disorders

DOI

10.1016/j.jad.2025.04.167 

HVAC

High recognition from Japan: Jarek Kurnitski from TalTech was elected honorary member of the ventilation association

Estonian Research Council

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This is the highest recognition that SHASE (The Society of Heating, Air-Conditioning and Sanitary Engineers of Japan) gives to a foreign expert.

Photos from the ceremony: SHASE

The medal of honor was handed over to Kurnitski at the SHASE solemn ceremony in Tokyo. This recognition reflects Professor Kurnitski's long-standing and fruitful collaboration with Japanese scientists and engineers. Professor Kurnitski also gave a public lecture at Nagoya University, where he presented European experiences and developments in transition to zero-emission buildings.

“It is fascinating to work with the Japanese due to their high-tech society as well as their attitude and culture. The honorary title is a notable recognition to our cooperation on energy efficiency, an area in which Europe and Japan have a strong common interest due to the scarcity of natural resources. The politeness, modesty and tactfulness of the Japanese is exceptional, which makes our cooperation pleasant on a human level as well," says Jarek Kurnitski, describing the recognition.

Jarek Kurnitski, professor at the Tallinn University of Technology, is one of Europe's leading scientists in building energy efficiency and his work has had a significant impact on the development of nearly zero-energy buildings in Europe. Since 2012, under the leadership of REHVA (Federation of European Heating and Air Conditioning Associations), he has contributed to the development of definitions and calculation methodology for nearly-zero energy buildings, which have formed solid input for many European standards. The methodology developed under his leadership has also been published in international ISO standards.

A close cooperation between SHASE and REHVA has developed over the years. Professor Kurnitski has repeatedly visited Japan, including the development centers of leading construction corporations and ministries in the field. In recent years, under his leadership, a joint position document has been prepared comparing and coordinating the development trends of zero-emission buildings in Europe and zero-energy buildings in Japan, combining best practices and knowledge from both regions.

 

More information about SHASE: https://www.shasej.org

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Method of Research

News article

 

Third countries are undermining western sanctions against Russia

University of Würzburg

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The European Union has just imposed a new package of sanctions against Russia - now the seventeenth. Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the USA and EU had already imposed extensive economic sanctions, combined with far-reaching export bans. The central aim of these measures is to deny Russia access to technologies that are essential for the manufacture and maintenance of military equipment. However, the fact that Western technology can still be found in drones and missiles used in Ukraine shows that these sanctions only have a limited effect.

Economists from Würzburg, Munich and Princeton have now investigated whether sanctions against military goods have been circumvented in this case: Lisa Scheckenhofer, Feodora A. Teti and Joschka Wanner. They present their study in the current issue of AEA Papers & Proceedings.

Sanctioned military goods continue to reach Russia

The key finding: “In the article, we present evidence that military equipment sanctioned by the West continues to reach the Russian market in a roundabout way by being exported indirectly via countries friendly to Russia,” says Joschka Wanner, Assistant Professor of Quantitative International and Environmental Economics at Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (JMU). In concrete figures, the probability of these countries exporting a sanctioned military product class to Russia increased by almost 20 percentage points compared to neutral countries after the start of the war in Ukraine.

For its study, the team used publicly available trade data from UN Comtrade for the years 2021 to 2023. This is one of the world's largest databases for international trade in goods, operated by the United Nations. The sample includes 122 countries, divided into allied, Russia-friendly and neutral countries.

Illegal activities are difficult to detect

When evaluating this data, two aspects presented the research team with particular challenges: “When companies circumvent sanctions, this is an illegal activity that is naturally difficult to detect,” says Lisa Scheckenhofer. However, there are indications that logistics companies in Russia-friendly countries stepped up the transportation of Western goods to Russia after the start of the war. Accordingly, an increase in exports by Western allies to these countries and from there to Russia is to be expected. “In our analysis, we examined both flows in order to identify such patterns,” says Scheckenhofer.

The second challenge was to distinguish between a deliberate circumvention of sanctions and a regular shift in trade flows as a result of increased costs. “In order to make a distinction here, we compared the exports of Russia-friendly and neutral countries, both of which have unchanged trade costs with Russia,” explains Feodora A. Teti. Accordingly, in this case too, a disproportionate increase in exports from Russia-friendly countries to Russia in combination with higher exports from Western allies to these countries indicates a violation of sanctions.

The statistical analysis of the UN Comtrade data has a clear result: “After the start of the war, Russia-friendly countries were 20 percentage points more likely to export military goods to Russia than neutral countries,” says Joschka Wanner. And even Western countries that had imposed sanctions were still four percentage points more likely to export these sanctioned products to Russia-friendly countries compared to exports to neutral countries.

Decline in violations in 2023

There is at least one “consolation”: “We also find evidence that violations of sanctions on military goods were more widespread in 2022 than in 2023,” says the research team. This at least suggests that political measures to curb sanctions violations may have been effective.

Nevertheless, according to the authors, the results of this study demonstrate the urgent need to close loopholes for third countries. In order to prevent these countries from circumventing existing trade restrictions, they believe that “proactive measures” such as secondary sanctions are an option. These punish countries that are not themselves part of the sanctioning coalition in the event that they do not comply with the sanctions.

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DOI

10.1257/pandp.20251084 

Method of Research

Data/statistical analysis

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Dodging Trade Sanctions? Evidence from Military Goods

 

Still on the right track? Researchers at the University of Graz enable reliable monitoring of the Paris climate goals

Anthropogenic global warming is set to exceed 1.5 °C already by 2028 and hence improved quantification of the Paris goals is proposed. This is based on a new benchmark timeseries from 1850 to 2034 that tracks global surface air temperature change.

University of Graz

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image: 

The graphic illustrates the observed and predicted rise in global surface air temperature until 2024 and 2034, respectively, followed by two different scenarios up to 2050. The blue line depicts the IPCC's ambitious climate action scenario that is compliant with the Paris goals: strong emission reductions towards net-zero CO2 emissions around the middle of the century. The orange line shows the rise in temperature if continuing the current annual emission levels without reduction, which leads to a severe exceedance of the goals up to beyond 2 °C.

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Credit: © University of Graz - Wegener Center

In the Paris Agreement of 2015, the international community of countries agreed to limit global warming to well below 2 °C, and preferably to 1.5 °C, compared to pre-industrial levels. This refers to the increase in global surface air temperature, inspected at any time of interest as an average over 20 years. The latest IPCC report expected the 1.5 °C threshold to be reached between 2030 and 2035. Climate researcher Gottfried Kirchengast from the Wegener Center and Institute of Physics at the University of Graz now has to revise this estimate: “Our new results show that we will exceed this limit as early as 2028 – with a standard deviation range of plus/minus two years. The benchmark record we have developed shows the global temperature rise with unprecedented reliability and therefore allows us for the first time to also propose an assessment scale to verify whether the Paris climate goals are being met or missed,” the scientist points out.

Reference standard for global warming
Over the oceans, conventional monitoring of global warming does not use the air temperature above the water surface, but rather the temperature of the top few meters of seawater, such as recorded directly by drifting buoys. This results in an uncertainty that could not be properly corrected so far. The researchers at the University of Graz have now succeeded in doing so. Based on the best available data sources from international climate centers, they computed a new benchmark record for the period from 1850 to 2024, complemented by predictions up to 2034 and scenarios to 2050. “Our data show a six percent higher increase in global surface air temperature than the conventional monitoring,” says Kirchengast. “And we can distinguish the human-induced temperature increase from specific climate phenomena like El Niño and other natural fluctuations, and predict the annual mean temperature of any current year, such as now for 2025, as early as from August,” adds the co-author of the publication, Moritz Pichler from the Wegener Center.

Compliance assessment for the Paris Agreement
Building on the reliable monitoring of global warming, the researchers propose a four-classes assessment scale to quantitatively gauge to what degree the Paris climate goals are being met or missed. “This creates a completely new compliance assessment basis for the political and legal implementation of the agreement,” explains Kirchengast. He suggests further standardization in the context of the World Meteorological Organization and the IPCC, to provide it as an official assessment method for the Paris Agreement member countries. “It is important to provide clarity for the Paris climate goals so that policymakers and all of us know where we actually stand and what it needs to meet them,” emphasizes the researcher, proposing as a complement to the 1.5° C goal that the imprecise wording ‘well below 2 °C’ be firmly defined as ‘below 1.7 °C’. “It is high time to make these internationally binding targets for limiting global warming truly measurable and verifiable in order to underpin the urgently needed climate action by a generally valid climate-physics foundation,” concludes Kirchengast.

Once the paper is published, it will be available on the journal website at https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-025-02368-0.

The research is part of the Field of Excellence Climate Change Graz at the University of Graz.

The new reference data set and other key data on climate change are freely accessible and available worldwide via the Graz Climate Change Indicators – ClimateTracer web portal.

Information on the Atmospheric Remote Sensing and Climate System Research Group at the Wegener Center for Climate and Global Change, University of Graz

The graph illustrates the increase in global near-surface air temperature observed by 2024 and predicted by 2034. This has been supplemented by two possible future scenarios by 2050. The blue line shows the course according to the IPCC's climate protection scenario, which leads to compliance with the Paris goals: strong emission reductions and achievement of net zero CO2emissions around the middle of the century. The orange line depicts the temperature increase with unchanged emissions and leads to a blatant failure to meet the climate targets with an increase to over 2 °C.

Credit

© Uni Graz / Wegener Center

Usage Restrictions

Journal

Communications Earth & Environment

DOI

10.1038/s43247-025-02368-0 

Method of Research

Data/statistical analysis

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

A traceable global warming record and clarity for the 1.5 °C and well-below-2 °C goals.

Article Publication Date

2-Jun-2025