Giant Sunspot Shooting Out Intense, X-Class Solar Flare Detected

Solar Dynamics Observatory satellite image of solar flare (NASA)

Giant Sunspot Shoots Out Intense, X-Class Solar Flare -- Washington Post

UPDATE, 3:30 p.m.: NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) just posted the following:

The R3 (Strong) Radio Blackout today at 12:49 EDT (1649 UTC) was accompanied by an earth-directed CME. Hampered by limited observations of the event, SWPC forecasters are now anticipating the passage of the [coronal mass ejection] around 1:00 a.m. EDT, Saturday, July 14. G1 (minor) Geomagnetic Storm activity is expected to then ensue through the rest of the day.

In short, NOAA is predicting minor effects from this space weather event - no major impacts on the power grid or satellites anticipated - although we remind you forecasting space weather is difficult and surprises are possible. Sky watchers in northern U.S. (and high latitudes) may have an opportunity to see aurora late Friday night into early Saturday morning.

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Your Facebook Chats Are Not Private

Facebook Monitors Your Chats for Criminal Activity -- Mashable

Facebook and other social platforms are watching users’ chats for criminal activity and notifying police if any suspicious behavior is detected, according to a report.

The screening process begins with scanning software that monitors chats for words or phrases that signal something might be amiss, such as an exchange of personal information or vulgar language.

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My Comment: Should not be surprised by this news. Our online activity is monitored for advertising purposes .... so for law-enforcement and Facebook .... the technology is already there for them to use.

Cybercom Commander: Destructive Cyber Attacks Are Coming

National Security Agency Director Gen. Keith Alexander (Reuters/Larry Downing)

Cyber War -- Washington Free Beacon

Cybercom chief: Destructive cyber attacks are coming

The commander of the military’s new U.S. Cyber Command said digital attacks are evolving from disrupting network functions to destructive strikes.

Army Gen. Keith Alexander, the Cybercom commander who is also head of the National Security Agency electronic spy service, said current forms of attack emanate from nation states, criminals, hackers, and others, and mainly disrupt temporarily the work of computer networks and systems.

“What I am concerned about and what I think we really need to be concerned about is when these transition from disruptive to destructive attacks, and I think those are coming,” Alexander said during remarks Monday to the American Enterprise Institute.

Read more ....

More News On Warnings From The Cybercom Commander On Future Cyber Attacks

Cyber chief warns of rising danger from cyber attacks -- CNN
NSA General on Cyberattacks: 'Probability for a Crisis Is Mounting' -- US News and World Report
US must adopt cyberattack law, says NSA chief -- The Telegraph
Cyber Command chief urges action on information-sharing legislation -- The Hill
Cybersecurity Chief Urges Action by Congress -- ABC News/AP
Legislative action needed now on cybersecurity, says US cyber chief -- Defense Systems
Cyber command chief urges greater role for agencies in infrastructure protection -- Stars and Stripes
Cybersecurity Law Is No Threat To Privacy: NSA Chief Gen. Alexander -- Aol Defense
US NSA chief backs cybersecurity law -- AFP
NSA Chief Says Spy Agency Does Not Read Private Email -- The New American
US Needs Cyber Defense From China, General Says -- Epoch Times
Pentagon cyber chief downplays NSA email snooping; says attack is 'coming our way' -- RT
NSA chief discusses challenges, opportunities of cyberworld -- US Air Force

The Next Holy Grail For Physics

(Click on Image to Enlarge)

The Next Holy Grail For Physics: Finding The Anti-World -- Spiegel Online

The apparent discovery of the Higgs boson was hailed as a historic milestone, but for particle physicists it mainly marks the beginning of a new search. Rival teams at CERN in Switzerland are trying to decipher the secrets of antimatter. If they succeed, the laws of physics will have to be rewritten.

Sheep are grazing to the left of the gate to the anti-world. On the right-hand side, a pair of rust-brown steel bottles is waiting to be picked up. A sign warns: "Caution. Radiation!" Another sign prohibits the use of bicycles.

Read more ....

The Sexiest Car On The Planet?

It's Official: The Aston Martin Virage Is The Sexiest Car On The Planet - -Business Insider

We spent an entire weekend cruising around in a 2012 Aston Martin Virage Volante. The verdict?

This Aston Martin drop top convertible is hands-down the sexiest car we've ever driven. It looks, sounds, and feels great – not to mention it's also a frickin' Aston Martin.

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Editor: The full review of the car is here.

Strategies For Farming In A Changing Planet

Better Seeds. David Arky

Strategies For A Changing Planet: Farming -- Popular Science

Wheat, rice and corn provide 60 percent of the world's calories -- here's how to prepare them for the future

Climate change is already happening, and it's time to get ready. Here's how we could adjust our most basic needs--food, water, shelter--to survive.

The biggest challenge in preparing crops for climate change is knowing what to prepare them for. Even within agricultural regions, the effects of global warming will vary.

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My Comment: Was not aware that wheat, rice and corn provide 60 percent of the world's calories.

US Declares The Largest Natural Disaster Area Ever Due To Severe Drought

U.S. Declares Drought-Stricken States Largest Natural Disaster Area Ever -- The Lookout/Yahoo News

The United States Department of Agriculture has declared natural disaster areas in more than 1,000 counties and 26 drought-stricken states, making it the largest natural disaster in America ever.

The declaration—which covers roughly half of the country—gives farmers and ranchers devastated by drought access to federal aid, including low-interest emergency loans.

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More News On The US Declaring The Largest Natural Disaster Area Ever Due To Severe Drought

Disaster Declared in 26 States as Drought Sears U.S. -- Bloomberg
U.S. Declares the Largest Natural Disaster Area Ever Due to Drought -- The Atlantic
USDA Declares Biggest Disaster Ever -- Newser

My Comment: This will not only mean higher food prices in the U.S., but also higher prices worldwide. In a world where even small swings in the price of food commodities an bring about disaster, one can then only expect a future of even more unrest and suffering in regions that are dependent on this food aid and assistance.

New Pluto Moon Discovered By The Hubble Space Telescope

Image Credit: NASA, ESA and M. Showaler (SETI Institute)

New Pluto Moon Discovered -- Red Orbit

Scientists announced on Wednesday they have discovered the smallest moon yet, orbiting around the dwarf planet Pluto.

The discovery was made by a team of scientists who used the Hubble Space Telescope to scout out Pluto’s neighborhood ahead of a NASA spacecraft that is scheduled to arrive in 2015.

The new moon, known as P5 currently, appeared as a small fleck in the Hubble images, and scientists believe it is about 6 to 15 miles across.

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My Comment: Incredible. This new moon is only 6 - 15 miles across .... but it can still be spotted by the Hubble telescope.

Tree-Rings Prove Climate Was WARMER In Roman And Medieval Times Than It Is Now

Global cooling: It is the first time that researchers have been able to accurately measure trends in global temperature over the last two millennia

Tree-Rings Prove Climate Was WARMER In Roman And Medieval Times Than It Is Now - And World Has Been Cooling For 2,000 Years -- Daily Mail

* Study of semi-fossilised trees gives accurate climate reading back to 138BC
* World was warmer in Roman and Medieval times than it is now

How did the Romans grow grapes in northern England? Perhaps because it was warmer than we thought.

A study suggests the Britain of 2,000 years ago experienced a lengthy period of hotter summers than today.

German researchers used data from tree rings – a key indicator of past climate – to claim the world has been on a ‘long-term cooling trend’ for two millennia until the global warming of the twentieth century.

This cooling was punctuated by a couple of warm spells.

Read more ....

My Comment: More fuel to the climate warming debate.

Truvada Drug Trials Signal 'Turning Point' In The Battle Against AIDS

Truvada Drug Trials Signal 'Turning Point' In AIDS Epidemic -- USA Today

A trio of new studies highlights the promise and challenges of preventing the spread of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS: Giving anti-AIDS drugs to healthy but high-risk patients can dramatically reduce the risk of infection.

Two studies from Africa in heterosexual patients found that the drugs reduced the rate of HIV infection by 62% to 75%, a success rate that's comparable to results from studies of gay men, according to research in today's New England Journal of Medicine. A third study in African women at high risk of infection, however, was ended early after researchers saw the drugs had no effect on HIV rates, largely because fewer than 40% of study participants took their pills as instructed.

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My Comment: Say what they want .... the battle against AIDS is a long battle that will years (if ever) to succeed.

Could Wine Reduce The Chance Of Arthritis by half?

Drink up: Women who drink three glasses of wine a week could be halving their risk of arthritis

Three Glasses Of Wine A Week Could Reduce Chance Of Arthritis By Half -- Daily Mail

* Around 400,000 Britons are affected by rheumatoid arthritis and the majority are women, aged 40 to 70

The next time someone offers you a glass of wine, be grateful – it could save you from the agony of arthritis.

Women who indulge in moderate drinking halve the risk of certain forms of the illness, researchers have found.

Swedish academics found that women who drank at least three medium-sized glasses of wine a week - or the equivalent in beer or spirits - were up to 52 per cent less likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis.

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My Comment: I will drink to that.

Was This Mercedes Hitler's Car?

The owner of an auto repair shop in New Jersey believed this 1942 Mercedes once belonged to Adolf Hitler. It did not. But it did belong to a Nazi general. Christopher Gregory/The New York Times

N.J. Car Dealer: Mercedes Bought Online Was "Hitler's Car" -- CBS News

(CBS News) EDGEWATER, N.J. - An auto repair shop owner was shocked to find out that a Mercedes-Benz he purchased over the Internet for a customer has strong ties to Adolf Hitler.

"He was surprised," Zenop Tuncer, owner of Euro Tech Motors, told CBSNews.com in recalling his conversation with the customer. "We were all surprised!"

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Update: It is not Hitler's 'car'.

How New Scanners Will Revolutionize Security And Warfare

Cutting the queues: The laser scanners will be ten million faster than existing security scanning technology, which would presumably shorten lines at airports but also cause privacy issues

Homeland Security Buys 'Big Brother' Laser Scanner That Can Tell If You Are High, What You Are Carrying And Even What You Had For Breakfast... From 50 Meters Away -- Daily Mail

The latest scanners acquired by the U.S. government will be able detect the most minute traces of molecular discrepancies in both individuals' bloodstream and carry on luggage from 50 meters away.

Using advanced laser technology, Picosecond Programmable Laser scanners will show traces of drugs, chemicals, weapons, and even food you recently digested at the push of a button.

A non-governmental company originally developed the technology but has since partnered with the Department of Homeland Security, implying that the scanners will likely be deployed throughout airports and other high-risk areas.

Read more ....

My Comment: The security and military applications for this tech .... which is portable .... is astounding.

The Age Man Suit

The Age Man Suit, which has ear-protectors that stifle hearing and a yellow visor that blurs eyesight.

Suit Lets Medical Students Experience Symptoms Of Old Age -- The Guardian

The Age Man Suit, developed by German scientists, is designed to make future doctors aware of older people's needs

It's nothing if not depressing. I drop a coin on the floor and bend down to pick it up. The bending is laborious and with it comes the risk of toppling over. My head is heavy and moving it causes dizziness. And there's still that coin to pick up – a five-cent piece, which, with my clumsy hands whose fingers are not very flexible and lacking a proper sense of touch – seems to defy my attempts to grab it, five, six times. Those around me joke: "Hurry up, grandma, we haven't got all day."

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My Comment: I am 52 years old .... and I feel the years already. Can only imagine what I will feel like when I am 72 .... or .... here is a scary thought .... when I am 92.

Advances In Telescopes Will Make It Possible To View Exoplanets By Hiding Interfering Starlight

Sifting Starlight These two images show HD 157728, a nearby star 1.5 times larger than the sun. The star is centered in both images, and its light has been mostly removed by an adaptive optics system and coronagraph belonging to Project 1640, which uses new technology on the Palomar Observatory's 200-inch Hale telescope to spot planets. Project 1640/NASA-JPL

New Telescope Optics Can Directly View Exoplanets By Hiding Interfering Starlight -- Popular Science

For now, the thousands of potential exoplanets discovered in the past two years are little more than curvy dips on a graph. Astronomers using the Kepler Space Telescope pick them out by examining the way they blot out their own stars’ light as they move through their orbits. But if astronomers could block out the stars themselves, they may be able to see the planets directly. A new adaptive optics system on the storied Palomar Observatory just started doing that — it’s the first of its kind capable of spotting planets outside our solar system.

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My Comment: I am now looking forward to see some interesting sights.

The Crusaders' Last Stand

Buried treasure: The coins - worth a fortune even in 1265 when they were thought to have been buried - were deliberately hidden inside a broken jug to prevent them being discovered

The Crusaders' Last Stand: Pot Of Gold Worth £300,000 Found In Fortress Where It Was Buried By Doomed Force Of Christian Knights -- Daily Mail

* Pot of gold 'Dinals' were buried by Crusaders as enemy forces closed in
* 100 coins worth up to $5000 each
* Remained hidden in fortress since 1265
* Hidden inside broken jug to prevent conquerors taking treasure

A pot of gold from the Crusades worth up to $500,000 has been found buried in an ancient Roman fortress in Israel.

The coins were buried by Christian soldiers of the order of the Knights Hospitalier as the Crusaders faced an unstoppable attack by a huge Muslim army.

The knights were annihilated in April 1265.

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My Comment: Buried for almost 750 years .... what a remarkable story it can tell.

Priciest Car Accident Ever? $31-Million Ferrari Crashes In France

A Ferrari 250 GTO is seen at Retromobile 2012 Convention at Parc des Expositions Porte de Versailles (July 10, 2012)

Priciest Accident Ever? $31-Million Ferrari Crashes In France -- L.A. Times

It was a prized Ferrari, one of a rare model known as the “Picasso of motoring” that is often included by elite automobile magazines among the top wheels in the world.

Now its owner, American businessman Christopher Cox, has a new and less desirable distinction: Driver in what could be the most costly car crash ever seen.

The Ferrari 250 GTO smashed into another car last week during a parade of pricey race cars through France, breaking the leg of his wife Ann Cox and sending two passengers in the other car to the hospital, the British newspaper Metro reported.

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My Comment: That hurts.

Breeding GM Mosquitoes To Stop The Spread Of Dengue Fever

Scientists To Breed GM Mosquitoes To Stop Spread Of Dengue Fever -- The Telegraph

Huge numbers of genetically modified mosquitoes are to be breed by scientists in Brazil to help stop the spread of dengue fever, an illness that has already struck nearly 500,000 people this year nationwide.

Dengue affects between 50 and 100 million people in the tropics and subtropics each year, causing fever, muscle and joint ache as well as potentially fatal dengue haemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome.

The disease is caused by four strains of virus that are spread by the mosquito Aedes aegypti. There is no vaccine, which is why scientists are focusing so intensely on mosquito control.

Read more ....

Look At That Flipping Ship!

Look At That Flipping Ship! U.S. Navy Celebrates Research Vessel's 50th Year With Acrobatic Display -- Daily Mail

Seen out of context, it looks like a ship silently slinking under the waves, like the final scene in a disaster movie.

But have no fear, this is simply a very special U.S Navy ship, taking a 'flip' as it celebrates 50 years of cartwheels.

With an ability to drift over the ocean like a ship - yet transform into a vertical buoy in pursuit of scientific research - the Navy's Floating Instrument Platform (FLIP) is one of the most unique ships on (or under) the water.

Read more ....

Tornado Passes By A Man In A Car On His Cell

My Comment: Way to close for comfort.

Cows Raised On Fine Wine

Jean-Charles Tastavy, who came up with the idea, said the two Angus and one Camargue were initially fed the wine in a mix of barley, hay and grapes Photo: Alamy

French Cows Reared On Fine Wine -- The Telegraph

French cows are enjoying up to two bottles of high quality wine every day as farmers attempt to produce the best beef in Europe.

The extraordinary development has seen a 'Vinbovin' label of meat established which is already being championed by some of the best restaurants in Paris.

It follows an experiment in Lunel-Viel, in the southern Herault region of France, which saw three cows fed local wine for four months.

Jean-Charles Tastavy, who came up with the idea, said the two Angus and one Camargue were initially fed the wine in a mix of barley, hay and grapes.

It soon became clear that they were 'happy cows' who ended up producing an exceptionally succulent meat.

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My Comment: Lucky cows.

Look Who Is Coming To Dinner

WHDH-TV -

Great White Shark Stalks Cape Cod Kayaker -- 7News

ORLEANS, Mass. (WHDH) -- Nauset beach was evacuated Saturday afternoon when a 12 to 14-foot shark was spotted only 100 feet out.

A great white's dorsal fin cut through the top of the water as it cruised the shoreline.

“All of a sudden, we saw this person in a kayak, and we saw a fin 10 feet from it,” said Lizzy Jenkins.

Everyone else in the water immediately ran onto the beach.

“We started swimming and people on the shore started waiving us in,” said Christina Proulx.

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My Comment: The above picture is a classic.

Nasa Releases 360 Degree View Of Mars

Nasa Releases 360 Degree Image Of Mars -- The Telegraph

After months of image collection, Nasa publishes two new images from the surface of Mars.

Described by Nasa as the 'Greeley Panorama' from the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, the first image documents the fifth Martian Winter of the mission.

The full-circle scene combines 817 images taken by the panoramic camera (Pancam) on Opportunity.

Nasa scientists say the image shows the terrain that surrounded the rover while it was stationary for four months of work during its most recent Martian winter.

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My Comment: A truly impressive view of the martian landscape.

The Closest Robotic Legs Have Ever Gotten To Mimicking Human Gait

Video: The Closest Robotic Legs Have Ever Gotten To Mimicking Human Gait -- Popular Science

Getting a robot to walk is doable. Getting it to walk exactly like a human? Not so easy. But now we're getting there, with researchers from the University of Arizona unveiling a first-of-its-kind set of biologically accurate robot legs.

To make it possible, researchers set up a fake half-center, a simple neural network of two neurons that fire interchangeably, producing the rhythm of human walking, while sensors in the robot send feedback about its environment. Researchers believe babies might operate on a similar half-center system, even before they walk, and that a half-center might be what provides a framework for people with spinal cord injuries to re-learn how to walk.

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My Comment: Getting better with each new development.

Map Of Every Major Earthquake Since 1898

Michigan-based designer John Nelson charted a century's worth of earthquakes (a staggering 203,186 of them) across the globe

Shaking All Over: Map Of Every Major Earthquake Since 1898 Reveals Stunning Image Of Planet's Danger Zones -- Daily Mail

If you are looking for somewhere safe from an earthquake, this might help.

For this map shows the where every major quake has struck since 1898, and as you can see, the edge of the Pacific Ocean appears particularly dangerous. In total there are a staggering 203,186 of them, dotted all over the world.

The neon-coloured map was created as a side-project by mapping manager John Nelson, in a case of taking his work home with him, as he works for data-visualisation software maker IDV Solutions.

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My Comment: This map clearly illustrates the 'ring of fire'.

China's Giant Man-Made Waterfall As Floodgates Are Opened

A cloud of water: The floodwater churns through Yellow River as bystanders stand and stare

Apocalypse Dam: China's Giant Man-Made Waterfall As Floodgates Are Opened To Send Millions Of Tons Of Silt Downstream -- Daily Mail

It is an scene of almost apocalyptic proportions.

Bystanders are dwarfed as they stand watching a tremendous rush of water gushing through gaps in a dam in China, part of a carefully-choreographed operation to remove silt from the Yellow River in Luoyang, in the Henan province.

This annual operation sees more than 30 million tonnes of silt sent downstream a year, with more than 390 million tonnes shifted this way over the last 13 years.

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My Comment: Awesome pictures .... nature held back until man has to let it go.

The Higgs Boson: Why You Should Care About The God Particle.

Scientists have identified the Higgs boson using the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. Image credit: CERN

The Higgs Boson: Why You Should Care About the God Particle. And, Sadly, Why You Don't -- Forbes

Here’s what you need to know about the God Particle.

The Higgs boson (Higgs is a guy’s name, BTW, and a boson is a subatomic particle) is the biggest scientific discovery of the 21st Century. Period.

This discovery is up there with Copernicus. If we did not find the Higgs boson, everything that we understood about how the universe works would have been wrong. We would have had nice equations that describe things we observed in the world, but they would have been crap. That would have been $10 billion flushed down the toilet with the creation of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and we would have gone back to the drawing board with our tail between our legs after fifty years of an aimless pursuit.

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Finding Buried Treasure

Exciting: Silver and gold, pictured here among the coins, has been discovered by experts working on the record £10million coin hoard that was discovered in Jersey last week

Silver And Gold Discovered Among Record £10Million Jersey Hoard Of Coins That Date Back To Julius Caesar's Invading Army -- Daily Mail

Silver and gold has been discovered by experts working on the record £10million coin hoard that was discovered in Jersey last week.

The haul contains between 30,000 and 50,000 Celtic coins and was discovered by metal detector enthusiasts Reg Mead and Richard Miles.

They are currently in one solid mass and work is being carried out to evaluate what else is in the find.

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My Comment: Makes one wonder how many more hidden hoards of treasure exist in England.

Hot To Fix A Machine Infected With DNSChanger

If you see this or similar warnings when using Google or other services, then be sure to check your system for malware. (Credit: CNET)

How To Detect And Fix A Machine Infected With DNSChanger -- CNet

The FBI will be closing the DNSChanger network on Monday, after which thousands worldwide are expected to no longer be able to access the Internet.

On July 9, the FBI will close down a network of DNS servers that many people have been depending on for proper Internet access. These servers were originally a part of a scam where a crime ring of Estonian nationals developed and distributed a malware package called DNSChanger, but which the FBI seized and converted to a legitimate DNS service.

This malware scam has been widespread enough that even third-party companies like Google and Facebook and a number of ISPs like Comcast, COX, Verizon, and AT&T have joined in the effort to help remove it by issuing automatic notifications to users that their systems are configured with the rogue DNS network.

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My Comment: If you are reading this, your computer is probably clean.

Remembering Sergio Pininfarina Who Designed Classic Ferraris

Sergio Pininfarina, left, and Renzo Carli. Pininfarina was responsible for the sleek shapes of Ferraris and many other sports cars. (European Pressphoto Agency / July 3, 2012)

Sergio Pininfarina Dies At 85; Designed Classic Ferraris -- L.A. Times

Pininfarina's firm, based in Turin, Italy, was responsible for the Ferrari 250 and 500, the Dino and the Daytona. He was named an Italian senator for life.

Sergio Pininfarina, who headed a family company known for its designs of sleek Ferraris and other cars, has died. He was 85.

Pininfarina died Monday night at his home in Turin, the company announced Tuesday. No cause was given.

The company founded in 1930 designed cars for Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Cadillac, Rolls-Royce and Volvo but is most closely associated with Ferrari, designing nearly all of its models since the 1950s.

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My Comment: His designs are still classic Ferrari.

Graphene Pores When water molecules (red and white) and sodium and chlorine ions (green and purple) encounter a sheet of graphene (pale blue, center) perforated by holes of the right size, the water passes through, but the sodium and chlorine of the salt are blocked. David Cohen-Tanugi/MIT

Graphene Sheets Can Be Turned Into the Best Filters Ever, For Desalination and Much More -- Popular Science

Add another item to the list of things one can accomplish using graphene, the wonder material of the future: Clean drinking water. Graphene could cheaply and easily remove salt from seawater, potentially turning the oceans into a vast drinking supply for thirsty populations. With properly sized holes, graphene sheets may be able to serve as all-purpose filters.

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My Comment: The possibilities and applications are endless.

Is A New Dust Bowl Forming In The U.S.?

Rising Temperatures and Drought Create Fears Of A New Dust Bowl -- Bryan Walsh, Time

Triple-digit days. Weeks with little to no rain. Soil crumbling away. Stunted corn stalks. Right now the fertile fields of the U.S. Midwest are experiencing corn-killing weather, with parts of five corn-growing states in the region experiencing severe or extreme drought. In at least nine states, one-fifth to one-half of cornfields are currently in poor or very poor conditions. And all of this comes after earlier expectations that corn farmers were going to produce a bumper crop this season, with 40 million hectares planted — the largest corn area in 75 years. Instead, we could see that crops wilt, as Darrel L. Good — a professor emeritus of agricultural and consumer economics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign — told the New York Times:

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A Spectacular 15 Second Fireworks Display

San Diego Accidentally Set Off All Its Fourth Of July Fireworks at Once -- Atlantic Wire

Folks in San Diego witnessed what was either the worst Fourth of July fireworks celebration — or the absolute best — when a technical malfunction caused all of their pyrotechnics to go off at the same time. The annual Big Bay Boom extravaganza began and ended in spectacular fashion when an inadvertent signal set off the explosions about five minutes early and caused the entire 18 minute show to take place in about 15 seconds. Confused spectators waited around for what they thought was going to be the rest of the show, but were sent home and told the show (that was supposed to be choreographed to music) was canceled.

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My Comment: Oooopppssss ....

Drones Of The Future

Maple Seed Drones Will Swarm The Future -- TPM

Imagine a cheap, tiny, hovering aerial drone capable of being launched with the flick of a person’s wrist and able to provide manipulable 360-degree surveillance views.

It’s real, it’s inspired by maple seeds, and the company behind it, Lockheed Martin, envisions a future in which swarms of the new drones can be deployed at a fraction of the cost and with greater capabilities than drones being used today by the military and other agencies.

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My Comment: Impressive.

U.S. Military Looks At The Future

Was stealth a game-changer? Here maintainers and crew chiefs prepare B-2 stealth bombers for Operation Odyssey Dawn on March 19, 2011. Senior Airman Kenny Holston / U.S. Air Force

US Military Brainstorms Future Game-Changers -- MSNBC

Have expensive stealth bombers and cheap roadside bombs changed the face of modern warfare? The question of what technologies count as "game-changers" dominated the first of several U.S. military workshops meant to identify the most disruptive science and technology.

Much of the NeXTech workshop in Washington, D.C., looked at tomorrow's science and technology that could change warfare in 2025 — robots, 3D printing, energy, human enhancement and smarter software. But the gathered scientists, industry leaders and military officers also disagreed about how to define a technology's impact as "game-changing," even as they tried to keep focused on the future.

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My Comment: A summary on what many are predicting will be future game-changers for the US military.

Why Is It Hot Outside?

What's Behind The Record Heat? -- Discovery News

Heat is beating records around the country: the first five months of 2012 have been the hottest on record in the contiguous United States. And that's not including June, when 164 all-time high temperature records were tied or broken around the country, according to government records.

That's unusual, since the most intense heat usually comes in July and August for much of the country, said Jake Crouch, a climate scientist with National Climatic Data Center. For example, only 47 all-time high records were tied or broken in June of last year.

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My Comment: We can avoid the heat by moving up north .... but the winters are harsh. (I should know .... I live in Quebec, Canada).

How Bees Reverse Brain Aging

Old bees collect nectar and pollen. Most bees start doing this job when they are 3-4 weeks old, and after that they age very quickly. Their bodies and wings become worn and they loose the ability to learn new things. Most food collector bees die after about 10 days. (Credit: Christofer Bang)

Bees Can 'Turn Back Time,' Reverse Brain Aging -- Science Daily

ScienceDaily (July 3, 2012) — Scientists at Arizona State University have discovered that older honey bees effectively reverse brain aging when they take on nest responsibilities typically handled by much younger bees. While current research on human age-related dementia focuses on potential new drug treatments, researchers say these findings suggest that social interventions may be used to slow or treat age-related dementia.

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My Comment: I have to concur. Activities always keep the brain young.

Is The U.S. Losing It's 'Space Edge'?

Bill Nye: U.S. Risks Losing Its Space Edge -- Richard Galant, CNN

(CNN) -- Years before Bill Nye became the Science Guy, he was a mechanical engineering student at Cornell University, where he took a course with astronomer Carl Sagan.

Sagan, who was instrumental in the planning of NASA missions to other planets and became widely known for his research, writing and public television series, was one of the founders of the Planetary Society. And his student dutifully signed up to become a member.

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My Comment: It's hard to believe it .... but yes ... the US is losing it edge in space.

10 Workplace Secrets Of Flight Attendants

10 Shocking Secrets of Flight Attendants -- Mental Floss

Heather Poole has worked for a major carrier for more than 15 years and is the author of Cruising Attitude: Tales of Crashpads, Crew Drama, and Crazy Passengers at 35,000 Feet. We begged Poole to reveal 10 workplace secrets.

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My Comment: Diet Coke ... hmmmm ...

Here Comes The Blimp

Northrop Grumman

Flying Hippopotamus Over Afghanistan: $500 Million-Plus -- The Nation

The Pentagon has officially outdone itself: even as the war in Afghanistan winds down to its unhappy denouement, the Department of Defense is deploying what the Wall Street Journal calls a “football-field-size airship laden with surveillance gear,” essentially a gigantic blimp that will float over the county like a giant alien spaceship from Independence Day. Which, come to think of it, is exactly how Afghans might view it.

No one has seen the damn thing yet, but it’s likely to take flight soon on a test run in New Jersey at the same airfield where the Hindenburg blimp exploded and burned.

Read more ....

Update #1: The Army's New Surveillance Blimp Is The Size Of A Football Field And Can Stay Aloft For Weeks -- Business Insider
Update #2: Army's long-endurance airship days away from flight testing -- Defense Systems

My Comment: The technology to conduct 24/7 surveillance is what probably ate up most of the budget .... but will it be useful .... I guess we will find out when they start field testing it. And if the Afghan war is over before they can send it over there .... then do not be surprised to see it floating around a city near you.

Apple Wants Certain Domain Names

Now Apple Wants iPad3.com -- Red Orbit

It’s a little late, but Apple is now demanding they obtain the rights to the iPad3.com domain. Of course, there is no such thing as the iPad 3, but much like the public’s insistence on using the moniker “iTouch” for Apple’s iPod Touch, many continue to refer to the new, Retina’d iPad as the iPad 3. According to DomainNameWire.com, Apple has asked an arbitration panel to hand over the ownership rights to the parked iPad3.com domain.

Filing a case with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) under the uniform domain name dispute resolution policy (UDRP), Apple is hoping to take control of the parked domain.

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My Comment: iPhone1400.com is available .... hmmmm .....

Staying Sane On A Research Ship In The Middle Of The Ocean

How To Stay Sane On A Ship In The Middle Of The Ocean -- Scientific American

The Knorr is a big ship as far as research vessels go – but there’s still no getting around the fact that you’re in a little metal box in the middle of the ocean with 47 other people for a month. Add to that the fact that most people are doing highly repetitive experiments all day (and I do mean all day, people get up at 5 am and work until 11 pm) and you’ve got a recipe for madness.

For the first week or so, everyone was calm and collected. They got up, they did the CTD casts, they worked, filtered, sequenced and experimented. There was chatter and laughter, but it always came in between long periods of intense science-doing late into the night. But the times, they are a changin’, and people are starting to loosen up (or perhaps go nuts, I don’t know).

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My Comment: I rather stay on a luxury yacht where my primary focus is on what to eat that day.

The Reason Why Tomatoes Are Flavorless Today

Getty Images

Your Tomatoes Are Flavorless, Right? Here's Why -- Time

There are two pieces of late-breaking news on the tomato beat this week. First of all, tomatoes have shoulders. Second, tomatoes taste lousy. If you're younger than 70, you probably already know about the lousy part. The shoulders are surely more of a surprise — but these are both key parts of a new study published in Science that explains what's going on in the sorry world of supermarket tomatoes and why they taste nothing like their sweet, flavorful cousins in the wild.

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My Comment: I disagree with the assertion that tomatoes taste lousy .... they taste great when mixed with something else.

How The Discovery Of The Higgs Boson Could Break Physics

Image: The giant detector for the CMS experiment, one of the main Higgs-searching experiments at the LHC. CMS collaboration/CERN

How The Discovery Of The Higgs Boson Could Break Physics -- Wired Science

If gossip on various physics blogs pans out, the biggest moment for physics in nearly two decades is just days away. The possible announcement on July 4 of the long-sought Higgs boson would put the last critical piece of the Standard Model of Physics in place, a crowning achievement built on a half-century of work by thousands of scientists. A moment worthy of fireworks.

But there’s a problem: The Higgs boson is starting to look just a little too ordinary.

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My Comment: We will have to wait until Wednesday for the full results to be announced.

Injecting Oxygen Into The Blood

Blood: Injecting oxygen into the bloodstream could help keep patients who cannot breathe alive while undergoing medical treatment

Scientist Invents Way To Keep People Alive Even When They Can't Breathe By Injecting Oxygen Into The Blood -- Daily Mail

Scientists have discovered a new way of administering oxygen to the blood which could allow people to stay alive without breathing.

The amazing breakthrough could change medical science by eliminating the need to keep patients breathing during complex operations.

The procedure, which works by injecting oxygen molecules enclosed in fatty molecules directly into the bloodstream, could grant people an extra 30 minutes of life when they cannot breathe.

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My Comment: The applications are enormous .... hurry up with the R&D.

Hints Of The Higgs Boson Detected Last Year By A US "Atom Smasher"

The Tevatron was shut down at the end of last year

US Sees Stronger Hints Of Higgs -- BBC

Hints of the Higgs boson detected last year by a US "atom smasher" have become even stronger, scientists have said.

The news comes amid fevered speculation about an announcement by researchers at the Large Hadron Collider on Wednesday.

Finding the particle would fill a glaring hole in the widely accepted theory of how the Universe works.

This 30-year hunt is reaching an end, with experts confident they will soon be able to make a definitive statement about the particle's existence.

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Privacy Is Big Business For Trial Lawyers

Legal discovery: The billboard is imaginary, but the trend is real. Trial lawyers are ramping up lawsuits over online privacy breaches. Flickr Creative Commons | AdamL212 and istock/stocknroll

Why Privacy Is Big Business For Trial Lawyers -- Technology Review

Tech companies that make privacy mistakes can expect a lawsuit.

During his career as a litigator, David A. Straite has sued money-losing hedge funds and polluting solar-panel makers. These days he has a new hunting ground: the Internet.

Over the last eight months, Straite, a partner at Stewarts Law, headquartered in London, has sued AT&T, Samsung, Facebook, and Google, alleging that the companies violated U.S. wiretapping laws and committed computer fraud when they tracked users on the Web or via their smart phones in ways that broke the companies' own privacy policies.

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My Comment: Privacy issues will be one of the key legal issues in the next decade or two .... and while companies will be targeted, I suspect that the worse abusers will be government .... and they will immune themselves from the law.

Five Millionth 'Test Tube Baby' Born

Louise Brown, pictured with her son, was the world's first test tube baby

Five Millionth 'Test Tube Baby' -- BBC

Five million "test tube babies" have now been born around the world, according to research presented at a conference of fertility experts.

Delegates hailed it as a "remarkable milestone" for fertility treatments.

The first test tube baby, Louise Brown, was born in the UK in July 1978. Her mother Leslie Brown died last month.

However, delegates at the conference in Turkey warned couples not to use fertility treatment as an "insurance policy" if they delayed parenthood.

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My Comment: Someone is keeping count?

Inside A Souped-Up Sci-Fi DeLorean

Inside Ecto88, Ernie Cline’s Souped-Up Sci-Fi DeLorean -- Underwire

Ernie Cline is just begging for a speeding ticket in his souped-up DeLorean, a slick ’80s ride that’s loaded with sci-fi-inspired gadgets.

Like many a car enthusiast, the Ready Player One author has seen the boys in blue in his rear-view mirror once or twice. But unlike most hot-modders, he’s got a flux capacitor in his car, which is tricked-out with gear inspired by not just Back to the Future but also Ghostbusters, Knight Rider and The Adventures of Buckaroo Bonzai Across the 8th Dimension.

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My Comment: This guy (nerd) clearly loves his car .... lucky guy.

Will Wearable Computing Be The Norm?

Babak Parviz (right) demos Project Glass on stage with Sergey Brin by his side. Photo: Ariel Zambelich/Wired

Google Glass Team: ‘Wearable Computing Will Be The Norm’ -- Wired

Even though I followed Google’s I/O Conference from across the country, the event made it obvious that a company created with a strict focus on search has become an omnivorous factory of tech products both hard and soft. Google now regards its developers conference as a launch pad for a shotgun spread of announcements, almost like a CES springing from a single company. (Whatever happened to “more wood behind fewer arrows”?)

But the Google product that threatened to steal the entire show probably won’t be sold to the public until 2014. This is the prosthetic eye-based display computer called Project Glass, which is coming out of the company’s experimental unit, Google[x]. Announced last April, it was dropped into the conference in dramatic fashion: An extravagant demo hosted by Google co-founder Sergey Brin involved skydivers, stunt cyclists, and a death-defying Google+ hangout. It quickly attained legendary status.

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My Comment: If not Google glasses .... some other version of it.

Witness To An Evaporating Exoplanet

Two Satellites See An Evaporating Exoplanet -- Popular Mechanics

A solar flare that erupted at just the right time and direction could disrupt long-distance phone calls here on Earth, or make TV signals drops out for a while. But that’s nothing compared to the pummeling one exoplanet takes from its home star.

Thanks to a rare moment of synchronicity between the Hubble and Swift satellites, researchers at NASA recorded the first observed change in the atmosphere of a planet outside of our solar system. The planet, called HD 189733b, received a rather rude shock from its home star.

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My Comment: That must be quite a sight to see.

God Particle Is 'Found'

The particle accelerator: It is within these tubes that physicists are hunting for the 'God' particle

God Particle Is 'Found': Scientists At Cern Expected To Announce On Wednesday Higgs Boson Particle Has Been Discovered -- Daily Mail

* Scientists 'will say they are 99.99% certain' the particle has been found
* Leading physicists have been invited to event - sparking speculation that Higgs Boson particle has been found
* 'God Particle' gives particles that make up atoms their mass

Scientists at Cern will announce that the elusive Higgs boson 'God Particle' has been found at a press conference next week, it is believed.

Five leading theoretical physicists have been invited to the event on Wednesday - sparking speculation that the particle has been discovered.

Scientists at the Large Hadron Collider are expected to say they are 99.99 per cent certain it has been found - which is known as 'four sigma' level.

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My Comment: I guess we will have to wait till Wednesday to find out.

Will 'Google Glasses Be Great For Point-Of-View Porn' ?

Extreme: The Glass demonstration was meant to prove that the device is ready for users to begin testing it and pushing its limits

'Google Glasses Will Be Great For Point-Of-View Porn': Adult Film Studio Wants To Get Mitts On Super-Specs - But Quite What Search Giant Will Think Is A Different Matter... -- Daily Mail

Google has unveiled its new Glasses projects - a pair of specs which can film your life from the point of view of your eyes.

So it is perhaps obvious why a pornography studio wants to get hold of a pair, to make a new type of adult film.

But quite what Google will think of the idea is another matter: indeed in their official unveiling on Wednesday, the search giant said the product would initially be offered to business, industrial and medical use.

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My Comment: I am looking forward to a "cheaper" version.

Computer Worm Opens A New Era Of Warfare

Stuxnet: Computer Worm Opens New Era Of Warfare -- CBS News/60 Minutes

(CBS News) The most pernicious computer virus ever known wasn't out to steal your money, identity, or passwords. So what was the intricate Stuxnet virus after? Its target appears to have been the centrifuges in a top secret Iranian nuclear facility. Stuxnet showed, for the first time, that a cyberattack could cause significant physical damage to a facility. Does this mean that future malware, modeled on Stuxnet, could target other critical infrastructure -- such as nuclear power plants or water systems? What kind of risk do we face in this country? Steve Kroft reports.

The following script is from "Stuxnet" which originally aired on March 4, 2012 and was rebroadcast on July 1, 2012. Steve Kroft is the correspondent. Graham Messick, producer.

For the past year, the nation's top military, intelligence and law enforcement officials have been warning Congress and the country about a coming cyberattack against critical infrastructure in the United States that could affect everything from the heat in your home to the money in your bank account. The warnings have been raised before, but never with such urgency, because this new era of warfare has already begun.

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My Comment: When it comes to cyber security, my number one worry is my money in my bank account. I always say that if one wants to focus attention to the dangers of a cyber attack .... start messing around with individual banking information .... trust me .... everyone will notice.

Church Of The Nativity Has Been Designated As An Endangered Site

A nun walks outside the Church of the Nativity, the site revered as the birthplace of Jesus, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem June 28. Ammar Awad/REUTERS

UNESCO Designates Church Of The Nativity As Endangered Site -- Christian Science Monitor

Palestinian leaders consider the designation a political victory.

The Palestinians on Friday persuaded the U.N. cultural agency to list the Church of the Nativity — the place where Christians believe Jesus was born — as an endangered World Heritage site despite misgivings by churches in charge of the basilica.

The Palestinians hailed the nod by UNESCO as a step forward in their quest for global recognition of an independent Palestine in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, captured by Israel in 1967.

The centuries-old basilica is located in a part of the Israeli-occupied West Bank where the Palestinians have self-rule. UNESCO's decision was seen by them as validation of their rights to the territory.

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My Comment: Considering how important the site is ..... any steps to protect it are welcomed on my part.

Timbuktu Islamic Shrines Destroyed By Al Qaeda Linked Militants

Militants Destroy Timbuktu Islamic Shrines -- Voice of America

DAKAR -- In northern Mali, members of the Islamic militant group Ansar Dine are systematically destroying mausoleums and revered Muslim tombs in Timbuktu. UNESCO has listed the historic city as a World Heritage site for its ancient mosques and shrines.

Residents of Timbuktu told VOA that armed men from Ansar Dine began leveling the tombs early Saturday morning. The sites, including the tomb of 15th-century Muslim scholar Sidi Mahmoud, are considered sacred by the local population. Hardline Islamist groups like Ansar Dine regard such shrines as sacrilegious, but the sites are an important part of worship for Muslims around the world.

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More News On The Destruction of The Timbuktu Islamic Shrines By Al Qaeda Linked Militants

Ansar Dine fighters destroy Timbuktu shrines -- Al Jazeera
Mali: Islamists destroy Timbuktu heritage sites -- AP
Islamists destroy Timbuktu religious treasures‎ -- Euronews
Mali Islamists destroy Timbuktu shrines -- AFP
Islamic militants set fire to sacred tombs in Timbuktu -- CNN
Witnesses: Islamists destroy ancient sites in Timbuktu -- MSNBC
Islamists destroy rival holy shrines in Timbuktu, a UN heritage site -- Globe And Mail/Reuters
Militants Seek to Destroy Mali Shrines -- New York Times/Reuters

A Music-Robot Companion

Shimi, a musical companion developed by Georgia Tech’s Center for Music Technology, recommends songs, dances to the beat and keeps the music pumping based on listener feedback. (Credit: Image courtesy of Georgia Institute of Technology)

Musical Robot Companion Enhances Listener Experience -- Science Daily

ScienceDaily (June 26, 2012) — Wedding DJs everywhere should be worried about job security now that a new robot is on the scene.

Shimi, a musical companion developed by Georgia Tech's Center for Music Technology, recommends songs, dances to the beat and keeps the music pumping based on listener feedback. The smartphone-enabled, one-foot-tall robot is billed as an interactive "musical buddy."

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My Comment: Wow .... they have gone a long way on enhancing our appreciation for music.

France's Minitel To 'Go Dark'

Minitels like this one are set to go dark at the end of this week.

Minitel, France's Precursor To The Web, To Go Dark On June 30 -- Ars Technica

French fans bid "adieu" to the much loved dial-up 1980s-era computer terminals.

When I was in high school in the mid-1990s, I got to spend a few weeks with my French extended family at their country house east of Paris. Nearly each night, I watched my uncle stare into a small, old, dusty computer to monitor the results of the Tour de France. The little beige box had a fold-down keyboard and a pretty old-school text-only interface, even by mid-'90s standards. This was a Minitel.

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My Comment: I was approached by my business partner's associates to do a Quebec minitel version in Canada in the late 1980s. I declined for the same reason why it never evolved from where it developed in France .... too centralized and a limited list on what to visit.