Marvels From Mars: Stunning Postcards From The Red Planet

Devil's punch bowl? The mouth of Albor Tholus, an extinct volcano, is 30km across

From The Daily Mail:

The Red Planet, Mars, fascinates us like no other celestial body. We have yet to visit the most Earth-like world in the solar system in person, but since the Sixties a small armada of space probes have poked and prodded the dusty Martian surface.

And, as these astonishing images show, they have taken the most spectacular close-up pictures while orbiting the planet.

Because Mars has so little air, and certainly no substantial running water and no vegetation, the processes of weathering and erosion, so important on Earth, operate differently on Mars.

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Government Gmail Use Following Google's China News

From ZNet:

Updated: A Google spokesman responds with the following: The premise of Mr. Strassmann’s post is without merit: There’s no need to withdraw servers that store Gmail information from China because there aren’t any there.

Federal Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra has been a consistent advocate of increasing the government’s use of commercially available technologies, such as Gmail. In fact, as the District of Columbia’s chief technology officer, Kundra implemented Google Apps, including Gmail, for all District employees.

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Major Antarctic Glacier Is 'Past Its Tipping Point'

A catastrophic collapse is imminent, according to the latest study
(Image: NASA/Jane Peterson, NSERC)

From New Scientist:

A major Antarctic glacier has passed its tipping point, according to a new modelling study. After losing increasing amounts of ice over the past decades, it is poised to collapse in a catastrophe that could raise global sea levels by 24 centimetres.

Pine Island glacier (PIG) is one of many at the fringes of the West Antarctic ice sheet. In 2004, satellite observations showed that it had started to thin, and that ice was flowing into the Amundsen Sea 25 per cent faster than it had 30 years before.

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Google Earth Reveals The Devastation In Haiti

On the left, buildings surrounding Haiti's capital are reduced to rubble, and the roof of the capital itself (at top) is crumbled. On the right, the capital building on Sept. 29, 2008. GeoEye Satellite Image

GeoEye Satellite Images: Haiti Before and After -- FOXNews.com

Before and after photographs from GeoEye's satellites shows the destruction to the capital and surrounding buildings in Port-au-Prince.

Before and after photographs from GeoEye's satellites shows the destruction to the National Palace and surrounding buildings in Port-au-Prince.

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More News On Satellite Pictures Over Haiti

Google Earth Reveals the Devastation in Haiti -- PC World
Google's Satellite Images of the Haiti Earthquake -- Time Magazine
Google Earth Reveals Extent of Haiti Quake Damage -- Sphere
Updated Google maps show Haiti devastation -- Toronto Star
First Satellite Map of Haiti Earthquake -- Science Daily

Why China Needs Google More Than Google Needs China

From Popular Mechanics:

Cyber attacks targeting Gmail accounts of Chinese human right activists have led to a decision by Google to relax self-censorship for China. This may be the first step in a much larger pullout from China by tech giant Google. This bold business move is a good thing, according to Popular Mechanics's senior technology editor, Glenn Derene. Here, Derene argues that China needs Google's innovation and creativity much more than Google needs Chinese business.

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DARPA Spends $51 Million On Matrix-Like Cyber War Firing Range

Do Virtual IT Administrator Opponents Dream Of Electric Jolt Cola Bottles? via Chas Andrews

From Popular Science:

As any soldier will tell you, consistent and realistic drill forms the foundation of any successful military action. But whereas an infantryman can hone his aim at a firing range, America's Internet warriors don't have a similar venue for developing their skills at cyberwar. But DARPA hopes a $51 million network simulation, complete with computer programs that behave like human targets and adversaries, will provide the perfect arena for developing the next generation of cyberwar weapons and tactics.

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My Comment: The ultimate in computer warfare and conflict .... sigh .... I wish I was involved in this.

Faster And More Efficient Software For The US Air Force

From Science Daily:

Science Daily (Jan. 12, 2010) — Researchers at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln have addressed the issue of faulty software by developing an algorithm and open source tool that is 300 times faster at generating tests and also reduces current software testing time.

The new algorithm has potential to increase the efficiency of the software testing process across systems.

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The Devastating Haiti Earthquake: Questions And Answers

Desolate: Survivors gather around bodies laid out after being recovered from the wreckage

From Live Science:

The earthquake that devastated Haiti Tuesday was the strongest temblor to hit the island nation in more than 200 years. The magnitude 7.0 quake caused tremendous damage that officials have yet to fully characterize, and the death toll may run into the thousands.

What caused the Haiti earthquake, and why was it so devastating? Here are answers to these and other questions:

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The Exoplanet Explosion

The first six weeks of scientific data returned by Kepler has already turned up five exoplanets, with many more candidates waiting to be studied. (credit: NASA)

From The Space Review:

Fifteen years ago, there were virtually no known planets beyond the (then nine) planets in our own solar system: just a few found by chance orbiting a pulsar. Then, in late 1995 and 1996, came the initial discovery of planets orbiting main sequence stars like the Sun. That slow trickle of discoveries became a steady stream as astronomers refined their instruments and techniques, as well as increased both the number of stars studied and their period of time observed. By the beginning of 2010 astronomers reported finding over 400 such extrasolar planets, or exoplanets.

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Cocaine Found In Shuttle Work Area, NASA Says

Workers align the space shuttle Discovery's thrusters in Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 3 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in December 2009. A small amount of cocaine was found in a restricted area of the facility on Wednesday, NASA said. NASA

From MSNBC/Space.com:

NASA says workers face drug tests; no impact on flights expected.

NASA is investigating how a small amount of cocaine ended up in a space shuttle hangar at the agency's Florida spaceport.

A bag containing the cocaine residue was discovered in the space shuttle Discovery's hangar at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. The hangar, known as the Orbiter Processing Facility, is a restricted zone for shuttle workers only.

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Exotic Stars May Mimic big Bang

'Electroweak' stars may recreate the conditions of the big bang in an apple-sized region in their cores (Illustration: Casey Reed, courtesy of Penn State)

From New Scientist:

A new class of star may recreate the conditions of the big bang in its incredibly dense core.

Pack matter tightly enough and gravity will cause it to implode into a black hole. Neutron stars were once thought to be the densest form of matter that could resist such a collapse. More recently, physicists have argued that some supernovae may leave behind even denser quark stars, in which neutrons dissolve into their constituent quarks.

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Doomsday Clock Moves Back A Minute

The Doomsday Clock now reads six minutes until midnight. Scott Olson/AFP

'Doomsday Clock' Moves Away From Midnight but Only by 1 Minute -- ABC News

Despite Threats, Scientists Say State of Affairs Is 'Hopeful'

The world can breathe a sigh of relief today... kind of.

A group of international scientists this morning announced that they are moving the hands of the symbolic "Doomsday Clock" away from midnight -- or the figurative apocalypse -- but only by one minute.

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More News On The "Doomsday Clock"

Scientists Push "Doomsday Clock" Back a Minute -- ABC News/Reuters
Scientists Move Doomsday Clock Back One Minute -- Global Security Newswire
Atomic scientists move Doomsday Clock one minute further away from midnight -- New York Daily News
Doomsday Clock moves back a minute -- The Independent
Time Moves Backward for Doomsday Clock -- Sphere
Doomsday Clock Set Back One Minute -- Associated Content
Doomsday Clock shows signs for hope, need for progress -- Christian Science Monitor

My Comment: The scientists quote President Obama .... Scientists Say State of Affairs Is 'Hopeful'.

Sighhh ... hope and change is still in the air.

Could Haiti's Earthquake Tragedy Have Been Prevented?

A destroyed building is seen on January 12, 2010 in Port-au-Prince after a huge earthquake measuring 7.0 rocked the impoverished Caribbean nation of Haiti. (Photograph by Lisandro Suero/AFP/Getty Images)

From Popular Mechanics:

The 7.0-magnitude earthquake that devastated Haiti was long predicted by one group of geophysicists. Could the tragedy have been prevented?

On January 12, around dinnertime, a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Haiti, decimating the island nation and leaving hundreds of thousands presumed dead. A rescue effort is underway now, but as government officials and rescue agencies sort through the rubble, it is worth asking: Could this tragedy have been prevented?

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Looking For Life As We Know It

The Australia Telescope array near Narrabri, New South Wales, with Mercury, Venus, and the Moon all is the same stretch of sky. It's the 50th anniversary of attempts to search for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence. Credit: Graeme L. White and Glen Cozens/James Cook University

From Cosmos:

Some scientists are convinced life is common in the universe, but intelligence rare. As for how long civilisations last - and stay detectable - few are willing to hazard a guess.

Two young physicists at Cornell University in upstate New York, Philip Morrison and Giuseppe Cocconi, had long been interested in gamma rays. One spring day in 1959, Cocconi posed an intriguing question: wouldn’t gamma rays be perfect for communication between the stars?

The discussion that followed led to a two-page article in the British journal Nature entitled “Searching for interstellar communications”. Sandwiched between a paper on the electronic prediction of swarming in bees and one on metabolic changes induced in red blood cells by X-rays, the duo argued that if advanced extraterrestrial civilisations existed, and wanted to communicate, they would likely use radio.

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MIT Satellite Could Trounce Kepler Telescope, Finding Thousands Of Exoplanets In Just Two Years

MIT's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) MIT

From Popular Science:

The Kepler Space Telescope made headlines last week when it was announced that the planet-hunting instrument has already found its first five exoplanets. Researchers at MIT, however, think they can do better. A satellite proposed by a team of researchers there could scan a piece of sky 400 times larger than Kepler, observing 2.5 million of the closest stars and discovering hundreds of small exoplanets, several of which may be suitable for life. That is, if NASA decides to build it.

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The Third & The Seventh: Unbelievable CG Video

The Third & The Seventh from Alex Roman on Vimeo.

From Gawker.TV:

Alex Roman's The Third & The Seventh is a montage of enchanting slow motion shots of cameras, chairs, space shuttles, explosions, stairwells, bulbous water drops, and a trillion other things. It's all computer generated and will blow your mind. Watch!

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Hat Tip: GeekPress

'Longevity Gene' Helps Prevent Memory Decline And Dementia

Scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have found that a "longevity gene" helps to slow age-related decline in brain function in older adults. Drugs that mimic the gene's effect are now under development, the researchers note, and could help protect against Alzheimer's disease. (Credit: iStockphoto/Anne De Haas)

From Science Daily:

Science Daily (Jan. 13, 2010) — Scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have found that a "longevity gene" helps to slow age-related decline in brain function in older adults. Drugs that mimic the gene's effect are now under development, the researchers note, and could help protect against Alzheimer's disease.

Read more ....

Haiti Earthquake Science: What Caused The Disaster

From The Live Science:

The major earthquake that struck Haiti Tuesday may have shocked a region unaccustomed to such temblors, but the devastating quake was not unusual in that it was caused by the same forces that generate earthquakes the world over. In this case, the shaking was triggered by much the same mechanism that shakes cities along California's San Andreas fault.

The 7.0-magnitude Haiti earthquake would be a strong, potentially destructive earthquake anywhere, but it is an unusually strong event for Haiti, with even more potential destructive impact because of the weak infrastructure of the impoverished nation.

Read more ....

Google Is Not The Only Internet Site Attacked By China

Google China Cyberattack Part Of Spy Campaign -- MSNBC/Washington Post

Dozens of companies, human rights groups targeted in sophisticated strike.

Computer attacks on Google that the search giant said originated in China were part of a concerted political and corporate espionage effort that exploited security flaws in e-mail attachments to sneak into the networks of major financial, defense and technology companies and research institutions in the United States, security experts said.

At least 34 companies — including Yahoo, Symantec, Adobe, Northrop Grumman and Dow Chemical — were attacked, according to congressional and industry sources. Google, which disclosed on Tuesday that hackers had penetrated the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights advocates in the United States, Europe and China, threatened to shutter its operations in the country as a result.

Read more ....

Google said it would stop bowing to Chinese Internet censors after
"highly sophisticated" cyber attacks on its systems. Photo AFP

More News on China's Attack Against Google And Other Websites

Security experts dissect Google China attack -- The Register
Chinese hackers force US showdown -- Sydney Morning Herald
Yahoo Also Targeted By Chinese Cyber Attacks -- Barrons
China defends web censorship after Google threat -- AFP
After Google Threat, China Defends Internet Policies -- Wall Street Journal
China's Google Dilemma: Soften on Censorship or Anger Millions of Internet Users -- Washington Post
A Heated Debate at the Top -- Wall Street Journal
Google Upgrades Security on Gmail -- New York Times
Little future for Google in China without search -- Reuters
Soul Searching: Google's position on China might be many things, but moral it is not -- Washington Post/Tech Crunch
What's the real battle in the fight between China and Google? -- The Telegraph
In Google’s Rebuke of China, Focus Falls on Cybersecurity -- Reuters
Google exit from China could change face of Internet -- National Post

CES 2010: Que Touchcreen E-Reader Packs in Features