The Future Of Warfare?

Direct Brain Control Of Weapons Prompts Ethical Debate -- The Inquirer

BRINGING A WHOLE NEW TWIST to the phrase 'blue screen of death', scientists are calling for a public debate on the ethics of using direct brain control technology to manage systems including weaponry.

The Nuffield Council on Bioethics has launched a public consultation on the ethics of using technologies such as brain computer interfaces (BCIs) in non-medical situations. The organisation defines a BCI as a system for measuring and analysing brain signals and translating them into outputs such as computer-based communication or control of a device.

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More News On The Debate Of Direct Brain Control Of Weapons

New 'thinking cap' technologies that control weaponry 'a step closer' -- The Telegraph
Missiles fired by the mind are closer than we think: Ethics council warn of 'Star Wars' future for human race -- Daily Mail
Thought-controlled weapons spark ethics debate -- Tech World
Ethics profs fret over cyborg brains, mind-controlled missiles -- The Register
Consultation on brain technologies from medicine to warfare -- BBC
Super-human brain technology sparks ethics debate -- Sydney Morning Herald
Ethics of brain-computer interfaces under scrutiny in UK -- GMA News
Consultation on the ethics of the 'superbrain' -- T3
UK Scientific Group To Study Ethics Of Neurotechnologies -- Red Orbit
Ethics committee debates Deus-Ex style augmentations -- Tech Eye

My Comment: A good article that explains how this science may affect the future of warfare is here.

One-In-Eight Chance Of Solar Megaflare In Next Ten Years

Destructive: A solar flare many times greater than this one could be catastrophic for Earth. There is a 12 per cent chance of one occurring over the next decade

One-In-Eight Chance Of Solar Megaflare Causing Trillions Of Dollars Of Damage In Next Ten Years, Scientists Warn -- Daily Mail

Earth has a 12 per cent chance of being struck by a solar megaflare of such violent proportions over the next decade it could cause trillions of dollars of damage, scientists warned today.

The event would rival the last giant sunstorm, known as the Carrington Event, more than 150 years ago when telegraph stations caught fire and their networks suffered massive black-outs.

In today's electronic-infused world, the consequences of such a huge magnetic force raining down on the planet could be catastrophic and may take a decade to recover from.

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My Comment: If everything that is electronic gets fried .... the costs will definitely run in the mega trillions.

Doomsday Seed Vault Has More Than 740,000 Samples

The Global Seed Vault opened in 2008 on Svalbard, Norway, above the Arctic Circle. Mari Tefre/Global Crop Diversity Trust

Doomsday Seed Vault Has More Than 740,000 Samples -- MSNBC/Live Science

Repository in Norway marks fourth birthday as backup for crop collections.

This week, the Doomsday Seed Vault in Norway is scheduled to receive nearly 25,000 samples of seeds from around the world, including those of grains that grow on one of the world's highest mountain ranges and a plant whose stems redden an Ecuadorean drink on the "Day of the Dead."

With these additions the now four-year-old vault, formerly known as the Svaldbard Global Seed Vault, would house more than 740,000 samples in an Arctic mountain on the Svaldbard archipelago.

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Ferrari Unveils Its Fastest Accelerating Car Ever

Going Like A Rocket: Ferrari Unveils Its Fastest Accelerating Car Ever (With A £250,000 Price To Match The Performance) -- Daily Mail

* Top speed of 212mph eclipses 205mph set by Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano
* Can accelerate from rest to 62mph in just 3.1 seconds

The fastest Ferrari ever was unveiled today – with a blistering price to match.

The new Ferrari F12 Berlinetta has a top speed of 212miles per hour but it’s the rocket like acceleration which is drawing gasps ahead of its official launch at next week’s Geneva Motor Show when it goes on sale.

The scintillating two-seater roars from rest to 62mph in just 3.1 seconds – shaving 0.6 seconds off the car it replaces, the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano. And the Italian supercar will hit 124mph in just 8.5 seconds, compared to 11 seconds for its predecessor.

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My Comment: This car would satisfy my need for speed .... unfortunately .... my empty wallet disagrees.

Approaching Asteroid Has A One In 625 Chance Of Hitting Earth

The asteroid has the potential to wipe out millions of lives if it landed on a city Photo: CORBIS

Asteroid Heads Towards Earth With One In 625 Chance Of Hitting Planet -- The Telegraph

An asteroid with a one in 625 chance of striking Earth in 30 years' time has been identified by NASA.

The 460 foot ball of rock named 2011 AG5 is potentially on course to hit this planet on February 5, 2040.

The United Nations Action Team on near-Earth object has begun discussions about how to divert the asteroid, amid fears that the likelihood of a collision could increase over the next few years.

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My Comment: The odds are rather small when you look at it from that perspective.

IBM Scientists On Verge Of Creating 'Quantum Computers'

Chip off the old block: A standard silicon chip houses three hi-tech 'qubits'

No Speed Limit: IBM Scientists On Verge Of Creating 'Quantum Computers' Faster Than Any Supercomputer On Earth -- The Daily Mail

* Breakthroughs move technology on 'up to 1000 times'
* Scientists believe working quantum computer will happen within their lifetimes
* Described as 'Holy Grail' of computing
* Quantum computer could crack any encryption

PCs faster than any supercomputer on Earth could become a reality after IBM scientists achieved a breakthrough in ‘quantum computing’ – described as the ‘new frontier’ in computing.

IBM has created working components using the technology - its scientists say the next step is 'creating systems'.

A working quantum computer would be capable of millions of calculations at once – and able to crack any computer code on Earth.

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How To Fill A Gas Tank For $1 A Gallon

How A Billionaire Fills Gas Tank For $1 A Gallon -- CNN

Long Beach, California (CNN) -- Gasoline at $4 a gallon is no worry for T. Boone Pickens, the billionaire energy investor from Texas. He drives from his home to his office in a car that runs on fuel costing less than $1 a gallon.

His method: He has a device that fuels his Honda Civic GX with natural gas from the pipes that serve his home. And he thinks there's a lesson there for America's energy woes.

Pickens, who is speaking Wednesday at the TED2012 Conference in Long Beach, California, said America needs to make natural gas a building block of a plan for ending oil imports from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Natural gas is "cheaper, it's cleaner, it's abundant and it's ours, and we're fools not to use it," Pickens said in an interview with CNN.

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My Comment: I always predicted that one day our cars will be running on natural gas. More stories like this one will probably push that day even sooner.

Who Wants To Live Forever?

Itskov, a 31-year-old media entrepreneur, says that he aims to transplant a human brain into a robot body within 10 years. He says his technology will be of interest at first to the 'disabled and close to dying'

Who Wants To Live Forever? Russian Project Aims To Transplant A Human Brain Into A 'Davros'-Style Robot Body Within 10 Years -- Daily Mail

* Entrepreneur claims to have 100 scientists working on project
* Aims to 'transplant' human mind into robot body in 10 years
* Claims 'next stage' of science is to create a 'new human body'
* 'This project is leading to immortality,' says Dmitry Itskov

Human minds could be downloaded into robots within 10 years, allowing human beings to 'live forever', says the Russian entrepreneur who heads a hi-tech research project called 'Avatar'.

Itskov, a media entrepreneur, claims to have hired 100 scientists to reach this goal - and is now looking for other scientists to help with the project.

'This project is leading down the road to immortality,' says Itskov. 'A person with a perfect Avatar will be able to remain part of society. People don’t want to die.'

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My Comment: In ten years .... please.

U.S. Navy Test-Fires First Working Prototype Railgun

The Ultimate Bullet Train: Watch The Amazing Video Of The Railgun That Can Hit Targets 100 Miles Away At Seven Times The Speed Of Sound -- Daily Mail

* Futuristic weapon is another step closer to being deployed
* Navy reveals industry-built prototype is now being tested
* Uses magnetic field and electric current to generate energy

A futuristic supersonic weapon which fires ammunition up to 100 miles is another step closer to being deployed by the U.S. Navy.

Officials have revealed an industry-built prototype of the electromagnetic railgun is now being tested at its Naval Surface Warfare Centre Dahlgren Division in northern Virginia.

The weapon, which it is hoped will be fitted on ships from 2017, uses a magnetic field and electric current, instead of chemicals, to generate energy to fire the rounds.

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More News On the U.S. Navy's Electromagnetic Railgun

New Navy Rail Gun Fires 50 Miles With No Propellant: Latest Tests Use Smaller Guns -- Aol Defense
Navy close on making super-powerful railgun -- CBS
It's real! Navy test-fires first working prototype railgun -- FOX News
U.S. Navy Test Fires 32-Megajoule Railgun, Could See Service by 2020 -- Daily Tech
Video: Navy Fires Off Its New Weaponized Railgun -- Danger Room
Video: Flamethrowing Navy Railgun Blasts Terrifying Projectiles Through Superheated Air -- Popular Science
The Military’s Shipwrecking Railgun Just Got Really Real -- Gizmodo
Navy Unleashes Its Electromagnetic Railgun Outside of the Lab [Video] -- Scientific American

Interpol Targets 'Anonymous Hackers' For Arrest

25 Suspected Anonymous Hackers Arrested In International Sweep -- L.A. Times

Twenty-five alleged hackers from the freewheeling, decentralized Anonymous protest movement have been arrested across Europe and South America in a massive sweep coordinated by Interpol, an agency based in France that links police around the world.

Suspects arrested in Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Spain were believed to have carried out coordinated digital attacks against the Colombian Ministry of Defense, a Chilean electrical company and other targets, the Associated Press reported.

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More News On Interpol Targeting For Arrest Anonymous Hackers

Interpol arrests suspected 'Anonymous' hackers -- CNN
Interpol says suspected Anonymous hackers arrested -- AP
25 alleged Anonymous members arrested after Interpol investigation -- Washington Post
Anonymous hackers: Police arrest 25 in four countries -- BBC
Interpol: 25 Anonymous members arrested across Europe and South America -- New york Daily News/AP
Arrests target suspected 'Anonymous' hackers -- Al Jazeera
Interpol website suffers 'Anonymous cyber-attack' -- The Guardian
Anonymous brings down Interpol website in retaliation for 25 arrests -- RT
Anonymous shuts Interpol site in revenge -- UPI
Interpol arrests Anonymous hackers: Do they warrant the attention? -- Scott Baldauf, Christian Science Monitor
What Is 'Anonymous' And How Does It Operate? -- Radio Free Europe

The Most Influential Weapon In American History:

My Comment: I did not expect much from this video, but after watching it I am pleasantly surprised.

Explaining Quantum Computing

Image via Wikipedia

MIT's Scott Aaronson Explains Quantum Computing -- Forbes

MIT’s Scott Aaronson, who works with the physics of quantum computing and is a friend of the blog, has a really great, down-to-earth article on quantum computing in the New York Times that I highly recommend reading as a nice primer for what’s possible and what isn’t.

Probably most interesting to me – and I follow quantum computing a lot – is one of the more overlooked aspects of quantum computing, and that’s its application to physics and chemistry research. Here’s a brief snippet.

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CSN Editor: Scott Aaronson's must read New York Times article on quantum computing is here.

How Heels Damage The Body

Fashion's High Price: How Heels Damage The Body -- Live Science

The laundry list of damage that high heels can do to your body just got longer: According to podiatrists, high-heeled shoes are one of the most common causes of ingrown toenails.

This toenail problem, which occurs when the toes are compressed so that the big toenail grows into the skin, is usually nothing more than a painful annoyance. But ingrown toenails can become infected, sometimes necessitating the removal of the entire nail.

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Arctic Sea Ice Decline May Be Driving Snowy Winters Seen in Recent Years in N. Hemisphere

Unusual Weather: Arctic Sea Ice Decline May Be Driving Snowy Winters Seen in Recent Years in N. Hemisphere -- Science Daily

ScienceDaily (Feb. 27, 2012) — A new study led by the Georgia Institute of Technology provides further evidence of a relationship between melting ice in the Arctic regions and widespread cold outbreaks in the Northern Hemisphere. The study's findings could be used to improve seasonal forecasting of snow and temperature anomalies across northern continents.

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Visual Comparison of Earthquake Strength

An Excellent Visual Comparison of Earthquake Strength -- The Atlantic

Think the 1994 Northridge quake was strong? How about Haiti's 2010 quake? This United States Geological Survey video by NOAA employee Nathan Becker puts the energy released by earthquakes over the last 50 years in startling perspective. While I know that the scale that we use to measure earthquakes is not linear, it is difficult to make my brain believe it until I see it laid out like this. Take a look for yourself, and give thanks that you weren't in Chile in 1960 when the strongest quake ever recorded struck.

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Android Takes The Fight To iPhone With Trio Of Next Generation Quad-Core Smartphones

Photo: Opposition: The iPhone 4S, which runs half the speed of the new Android offering

Android Takes The Fight To iPhone With Trio Of Next Generation Quad-Core Smartphones That Are TWICE As Fast - -Daily Mail

Android smartphones have taken the fight to Apple after launching the first quad-core handsets that work faster than iPhones.

HTC, LG and Huawei all showcased the new technology – which will be released later this year – at the Mobile World Congress fair in Barcelona.

The phones, which all use Android 4.0 operating systems, should work twice as fast as the iPhone 4S, which uses a dual-core A5 processor.

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Snowfall In Baghdad 1,000 Years Ago, And Again In 2008

Ice one: Snow fell on Baghdad in 2008 for the first time in memory

The Ancient Arabic Writings That Reveal Desert City Of Baghdad Was FROZEN Over 1,000 Years Ago In New Clue Over Climate Change -- Daily Mail

* It snowed three times between 908 and 1007 - but not again until 2008

Temperatures in Baghdad range from around 2C in winter to 45C in the summer – but ancient Arabic writings have revealed that the city experienced a dramatic frozen period around 1,000 years ago.

Spanish researchers from the University of Extremadura found 9th and 10th century (3rd and 4th in the Islamic calendar) sources that refer to snowfalls in the Iraqi capital in 908, 944 and 1007 and even rivers being frozen.

These are extreme events for Baghdad - for example, the only snowfall in the modern era took place in 2008 - and help meteorologists better understand today's climate.

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Trillion-Frame-Per-Second Video

Media Lab postdoc Andreas Velten, left, and Associate Professor Ramesh Raskar with the experimental setup they used to produce slow-motion video of light scattering through a plastic bottle. Photo: M. Scott Brauer

Trillion-Frame-Per-Second Video -- Physorg.com

By using optical equipment in a totally unexpected way, MIT researchers have created an imaging system that makes light look slow.

MIT researchers have created a new imaging system that can acquire visual data at a rate of one trillion exposures per second. That’s fast enough to produce a slow-motion video of a burst of light traveling the length of a one-liter bottle, bouncing off the cap and reflecting back to the bottle’s bottom.

Media Lab postdoc Andreas Velten, one of the system’s developers, calls it the “ultimate” in slow motion: “There’s nothing in the universe that looks fast to this camera,” he says.

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Five Predictions From IBM

IBM's Five Predictions For The Next Five Years -- Bloomberg

Biometric passwords? Mind-reading headsets? Junk mail you'll look forward to? As with all predictions, the answer is "maybe".

In each of the past five years, IBM has come up with a list of five innovations it believes will become popular within five years. In this, the sixth year, IBM has come up with the following technologies it thinks will gain traction. Hold on to your sci-fi novels, because some of these are pretty far out there. And some of them, well, I wish we had them today.

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Cartoon Pic For Today

Pick The Stradivarius Violin

Stradivarius Violin. Photo: Wikimedia.org.

Double-Blind Violin Test: Can You Pick The Strad? -- NPR

In the world of violins, the names Stradivari and Guarneri are sacred. For three centuries, violin-makers and scientists have studied the instruments made by these Italian craftsmen. So far no one has figured out what makes their sound different. But a new study now suggests maybe they aren't so different after all.

OK, here's a test. Clip one is a musical phrase from Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in D Major. Clip two is the same phrase. The same musician plays both. But one is on a Stradivarius violin, the other on a violin made in 1980. See if you can tell the difference.

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My Comment: I choose the wrong one .... hmmmm .... and I use to be a professional musician.

100,000 Times More ‘Nomad Planets’ Than Stars?

An artistic rendition of a nomad object wandering the interstellar medium (intentionally blurry to represent uncertainty about whether it has an atmosphere). A nomadic object may be an icy body akin to an object found in the outer solar system, a more rocky material akin to asteroid, or even a gas giant similar in composition to the most massive solar system planets and exoplanets. (Credit: Greg Stewart/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)

Galaxy May Swarm With 100,000 Times More ‘Nomad Planets’ Than Stars -- Kurzweil

There may be 100,000 times more wandering “nomad planets” in the Milky Way than stars, and some may carry bacterial life, according to a new study by researchers at the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (KIPAC).

If any of these nomad planets are big enough to have a thick atmosphere, they could have trapped enough heat for bacterial life to exist,” said Louis Strigari, leader of the team that reported the result in a paper submitted to the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

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100 Billion Stars In The Milky Way

An Otherworldly Discovery: Billions of Other Planets -- Wall Street Journal

Astronomers said Wednesday that each of the 100 billion stars in the Milky Way probably has at least one companion planet, on average, adding credence to the notion that planets are as common in the cosmos as grains of sand on the beach.

The finding underscores a fundamental shift in scientific understanding of planetary systems in the cosmos. Our own solar system, considered unique not so long ago, turns out to be just one among billions.

Until April 1994, there was no other known solar system, but the discoveries have slowly mounted since then: The Kepler space telescope, designed for planet-hunting, now finds them routinely.

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My Comment: And how many planets?

Is Google 'Dumping' Search

Why Google Is Ditching Search -- CNET

There has been a huge maelstrom about Google integrating Google+ into its search links. And it all misses the point.

Twitter and others are complaining that Google is throwing its massive 65 percent plus market share weight around and quashing smaller competitors. The reason Twitter and others are so threatened is that the pattern of shared links within Google+ provides a decent enough indicator as to what links are interesting. What's important is what's trending, and algorithms can get a sense of that with just a subset of everything that's getting shared on the Web.

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My Comment: That's what I like about Google .... always trying to stay one step ahead.

The Rise And Fall Of Personal Computing

The Rise And Fall Of Personal Computing -- Asymco

Thanks to Jeremy Reimer I was able to create the following view into the history of computer platforms.

I added data from the smartphone industry, Apple and updated the PC industry figures with those from Gartner. Note the log scale.

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My Comment: I love the graphs that he posted.

A Swarm of Nano Quadrotors

The World Belongs To Apps

How Apps Have Taken Over The World -- The Guardian

Steve Jobs initially resisted apps, fearing sabotage. But when the late Apple chief relented in 2007, the floodgates opened

A ticker on the front of Apple's website rolls over relentlessly, increasing by about 500 a second as it moves relentlessly towards 25bn.

It is counting the number of units of application software downloaded from the company's App Store – and the rise of a business that barely existed five years ago, but which now dominates daily conversation so much that the phrase, "There's an app for that", has become both an offer of help and a joke.

The counter is expected to hit the target by early March. By then, users will have spent about £3.6bn buying apps through the store, of which Apple will have passed on £2.5bn and retained £1.1bn.

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My Comment: And this is all just starting.

Apple Buys Chomp

Apple Said To Pay About $50 Million For Application-Search Startup Chomp -- Bloomberg

Apple Inc. (AAPL), the world’s most valuable company, acquired San Francisco-based Chomp Inc., which helps users sort through the widening array of software applications for mobile devices.

The Cupertino, California-based company paid about $50 million for Chomp, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because the specifics are private. Apple confirmed the deal yesterday, without disclosing the purchase price.

“We buy smaller technology companies from time to time and generally don’t comment on our purposes or plans,” said Amy Bessette, a spokeswoman for Apple.

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My Comment: It's about time.

Is This The Future of Touchscreen Tech?

Is This The Future of Touchscreen Tech? New Video Will Blow Your Mind -- Mashable Tech

Gorilla Glass manufacturer Corning has unveiled a follow-up YouTube video to its wildly successful “A Day Made of Glass,” providing another look into what the future could be like with the growth of glass touchscreen interfaces, from innovative chalkboards and activity tables in classrooms to uses for it in hospitals.

Corning released two versions of “A Day Made of Glass 2″ — one with a narrator and another, abbreviated version without commentary — the video follows the life of young Amy and her family as they go through their day using various products made of glass. Amy does classwork on a glass tablet, controls the temperature of the car from the backseat and even attends a field trip at the Redwood Forrest with an interactive signage that brings learning to life. Her teacher also works with students on interactive touchscreen activity tables. Corning expects these activity tables to be rolled out in the near future.

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My Comment: Impressive.

Were Neutrinos Faster-Than-Light .... Or Not?

'Faster-Than-Light' Particles May Have Been Even Speedier -- CBC

Subatomic particles clocked at speeds exceeding the speed of light may have been going even faster than they appeared, physicists say.

A problem with some of the equipment used in the original experiment may have led to an overestimate of the time it took the particles, known as neutrinos, to make their 730-kilometre journey, reported CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research in a statement Thursday.

As a result, their speed may have been underestimated.

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Update: Two Technical Problems Leave Neutrinos’ Speed in Question -- New York Times

CSN Editor: We will know the real answer in the next few months when more tests are done.

De-Classified UK Submarine Data Will Be Used To Assist Climate Science

Environmental data is routinely collected by submarines and other Navy vessels

UK Submarine Data De-Classified To Aid Climate Science -- BBC

The UK Ministry of Defence is to de-classify submarine data to help shed light on climate change in the Arctic.

Environmental data are routinely monitored by Navy vessels, but the measurements are highly sensitive because they could give away positions.

A dataset from one submarine mission will be released to give a snapshot of conditions under the ice.

It is hoped that further data could be released in future, yielding clues to how the Arctic is changing.

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Closer To A Heroin Vaccine

National Institute of Psychiatry's Director Maria Elena Medina speaks about the patent of a new vaccine that could reduce addiction to heroin, during a news conference at the institute in Mexico City February 23, 2012. Researchers at the institute say they have successfully tested the vaccine on mice and are preparing to test it on humans. The vaccine, which has been patented in the United States, works by making the body resistant to the effects of heroin, so users would no longer get a rush of pleasure when they smoke or inject it. REUTERS/Henry Romero

Mexican Researchers Patent Heroin Vaccine -- Yahoo News/Reuters

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - While Mexico grapples with relentless drug-related violence, a group of Mexican scientists is working on a vaccine that could reduce addiction to one of the world's most notorious narcotics: heroin.

Researchers at the country's National Institute of Psychiatry say they have successfully tested the vaccine on mice and are preparing to test it on humans.

The vaccine, which has been patented in the United States, works by making the body resistant to the effects of heroin, so users would no longer get a rush of pleasure when they smoke or inject it.

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My Comment: Faster please people are dying from the addiction properties of drugs every minute.

Tabasco Sauce Is In Demand On Board The International Space Station

Astronauts may have a particular affinity for Tabasco sauce in space because their sense of smell and taste is distorted. John Rose/NPR

Why Astronauts Crave Tabasco Sauce -- NPR

If you think astronauts just want dehydrated dinners and freeze-dried ice cream, think again. After a few days in space, they start reaching for the hot sauce.

In fact, they may start craving foods they didn't necessarily like on Earth.

"They crave [spicy] peppers, they crave sour and sweet things," says Jean Hunter, a food engineer at Cornell University. That means Tabasco sauce was definitely on the menu for space shuttle astronauts.

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Google Ocean

Catlin Seaview Survey

Google Street View Goes Undersea -- MSNBC

Less than a month after Google Ocean drowned our dreams of Atlantis by updating a image that previously showed mysterious grid patterns on the sea floor, the search giant is back with an underwater Street View.

Catlin Seaview Survey, the project's official name, launched Thursday with what New Scientist describes as "an unprecedented photographic tour of Australia's Great Barrier Reef." It is even more ambitious than Google's land version, which provides an eye level view of neighborhoods, parks and other public areas all over the world. This submerged 360 degree photo survey's "aim is to learn as much as possible about the reef's state of health from a panoramic underwater photographic and video survey – and let the rest of us enjoy the reef's untrammelled beauty online."

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The 'Wow!' Signal

The 'Wow!' Signal: One Man's Search for SETI's Most Tantalizing Trace of Alien Life -- The Atlantic

For decades, Robert Gray has been trying to duplicate the most surprising and still-unexplained observation in the history of the search for extraterrestrial life.

Late one night in the summer of 1977, a large radio telescope outside Delaware, Ohio intercepted a radio signal that seemed for a brief time like it might change the course of human history. The telescope was searching the sky on behalf of SETI, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, and the signal, though it lasted only seventy-two seconds, fit the profile of a message beamed from another world. Despite its potential import, several days went by before Jerry Ehman, a project scientist for SETI, noticed the data. He was flipping through the computer printouts generated by the telescope when he noticed a string of letters within a long sequence of low numbers---ones, twos, threes and fours. The low numbers represent background noise, the low hum of an ordinary signal. As the telescope swept across the sky, it momentarily landed on something quite extraordinary, causing the signal to surge and the computer to shift from numbers to letters and then keep climbing all the way up to "U," which represented a signal thirty times higher than the background noise level. Seeing the consecutive letters, the mark of something strange or even alien, Ehman circled them in red ink and wrote "Wow!" thus christening the most famous and tantalizing signal of SETI's short history: The "Wow!" signal.

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Robot Fish

Real Fish Welcome Robotic Overlord Into Their School -- Wired Science

A robotic fish has sailed across an aquatic uncanny valley by tricking real fish into following it upstream.

The feat could lead to better understanding of fish behavior and perhaps some means to divert them from environmental disaster scenes.

“Although some previous works have successfully investigated the interactions between live animals and robots or animal-like replicas, none of these studies have considered robots that are designed to simulate animal locomotion,” wrote the authors of a new study about the robot.

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Man's First Homes And Settlements

Excavations in Jordan have revealed dwellings dating back millennia before the development of agricultural settlements. The finds suggest that hunter-gatherers could sustain at least partially sedentary lives. Credit: L. Maher, EFAP Archive

Shelters Date To Stone Age -- Science News

Hunter-gatherers hung out in huts long before farmers built villages.

The remains of a couple of nearly 20,000-year-old huts, excavated in a Jordanian desert basin, add to evidence that hunter-gatherers built long-term dwellings 10,000 years before farming villages debuted in the Middle East.

These new discoveries come from a time of social transition, when mobile hunter-gatherers hunkered down for months at a time in spots that featured rivers, lakes and plentiful game, say archaeologist Lisa Maher of the University of California, Berkeley and her colleagues. Discoveries in and around hut remnants at a Stone Age site called Kharaneh IV include hearths, animal bones and caches of pierced seashells and other apparently ritual items, Maher’s team reports in a paper published online February 15 in PLoS ONE.

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My Comment: It looks like "early man" was far more sophisticated than what we give him credit for.

Astronomers Discover A Water World

GJ1214b, a super-Earth orbiting a red dwarf star 40 light-years from Earth Photo: AFP

Astronomers Discover New Type Of Planet – The Water World -- The Telegraph

A watery planet with a thick, steamy atmosphere has left astronomers fumbling for their classification books.

The water world, which has been named GJ1214b, is 2.7 times bigger than earth but weighs almost seven times as much.

GJ1214b orbits a red-dwarf star at a distance of two million kilometres, suggesting temperatures may reach up to 200C.

Astronomers believe the planet is an entirely new classification of celestial body, with the mixture of water and high temperatures meaning there is a chance new alien materials could have been produced.

Previous types of planetary body known to exist include a rocky surface similar to earth, gas giants like Jupiter, and ice giants like Uranus.

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

How Not To Fly

Birdman Releases Footage Of His 120mph Crash Into South Africa's Table Mountain -- The Telegraph

Jeb Corliss, a daredevil who nearly died after crashing into Table Mountain in South Africa, has posted footage only of the accident.

Corliss broke both his legs when he hit a outcrop of rocks while hurtling down the mountain in Cape Town at a speed of 120mph.

Corliss, 35, was being filmed by US network HBO and was performing his second jump from the Cape Town landmark when the accident happened at 10am on Jan 16.

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My Comment: Awesome video .... but ouch ....

Is The Earth Cooling Itself?

A cloudy world: The Earth made up of a mosaic of images taken by Nasa's Terra spacecraft

Is The Earth Cooling Itself? Cloud Level Has Fallen By 1% A Year Over Last Decade 'In Response To Global Warming' -- Daily News

Ever feel the sky is closing in on you - well, you're right, it is.

Earth's clouds got a little lower by around one per cent a year on average during the first decade of this century.

That's the finding by a new NASA-funded university study based on satellite data. The results have potential implications for future global climate.

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Neutrinos Are Not Moving Faster Than Light

Really? sk8geek via Flickr

Bummer: Faster-Than-Light Neutrinos Weren't, and It Was the Cable Guy's Fault -- Popular Science

Apparently neutrinos are not moving faster than light after all — some of the brightest minds in modern physics were bamboozled by a loose wire.

If you care about physics, Einstein or controversies, you’ll recall the excitement last fall about neutrinos that were supposedly moving faster than light. The ghostly particles, which can move through the Earth and through you without slowing down, were leaving a particle beam in Geneva and traveling under the Alps to Gran Sasso, Italy, in less time than it would take light to travel the same distance. The neutrinos were only 60 nanoseconds early, but still — the result, which the experimenters could not explain, suggested they were moving faster than light.

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My Comment: I agree .... what a bummer.

Bringing Solar Power To The Sahara Desert

Photo: Pilot ... the power station at Kuraymat may become part of a vast chain of plants generating solar power, if ambitious plans come to the fruition. Photo: Solar Millennium

Plugging The World Into Desert Sun -- Sydney Morning Herald

German firms hope projects in North Africa are just the start of a solar power network that will help wean Europe off fossil fuels. Leo Hickman reports.

During the summer of 1913, in a field just south of Cairo, an American engineer, Frank Shuman, stood before a group of Egypt's colonial elite, including the British consul-general, Lord Kitchener, and switched on his new invention.

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Here Comes The Google Digital Glasses

Google's glasses are reportedly similar in appearance to the Oakley Thump design

Google Digital Glasses 'Coming Soon' -- The Telegraph

Google is working on digital glasses using augmented reality and its Android technology, reports suggest.

The glasses reportedly integrate augmented reality technology into a new Robocop-style vision of the future, overlaying the screen of the glasses with additional contextual information.

Augmented reality traditionally uses increasingly commonplace technologies to add information to images on the screens of mobile phones and tablets. A digital camera and internet connectivity is combined with location data – so if you point your phone at Big Ben, because the device knows where you are it’s comparatively simple to add information to the image on screen. And while the obvious uses are for, say, historical information, there’s space for advertisers and social services to tell you where to, say, meet up with friends for a drink.

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My Comment: The glasses look very cool.

Britain Warned About Space Attacks (And Solar Storms)

A Russian Topol-12M mobile nuclear missile. A nuclear device detonated 500 miles above the earth could produce a crippling electro-magnetic pulse, MPs have warned. Photo: REUTERS

Britain At Risk From 'GoldenEye' Electromagnetic Pulse Attack From Space, MPs Warn -- The Telegraph

Britain's critical national infrastructure could be crippled in a high-altitude space attack by a rogue state or terrorists, MPs have warned.

A nuclear device detonated up to 500 miles above the earth's surface could generate an electro-magnetic pulse (EMP) with a "devastating" effect on power supplies, telecommunications and other vital systems, the Commons Defence Committee said.

It warned that countries such as Iran - which is resisting international pressure to end its nuclear programme - and even eventually some "non-state actors" could acquire the technology to mount such an attack, in a scenario akin to the plot of the 1995 James Bond film 'GoldenEye'.

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More News On British Concerns Of Space Weapons And Solar Storms

Terror bomb detonated in space 'could cripple Britain's electronic networks and jeopardise national security' -- Daily Mail
MPs warn over nuclear space bombs and solar flares -- BBC
UK vulnerable to 'space weather events' and space-fired weapons, say MPs -- The Guardian
'Complacent' MoD Warned Of Space Risk -- SKY News
MPs: MoD must take threat of nuclear attack from space seriously -- The Sun
MPs ask for defence against space attacks on UK -- The Inquirer
Britain at risk from electromagnetic pulse weapons warn MPs -- TNT
Electromagnetic pulses in history -- The Telegraph
Electromagnetic pulses explained -- The Telegraph

Australia's Largest Rough Pink Diamond Unearthed

Unearthed in Western Australia, the Argyle Pink Jubilee is a rare pink diamond (Image: Rio Tinto)

Australia's Largest Rough Pink Diamond Unearthed -- BBC

An Australian mining company says it has found a 12.76-carat pink diamond, the largest rough pink diamond found in the country.

The rare diamond was found at Rio Tinto's Argyle diamond mine in Western Australia's East Kimberly region.

Estimated to be worth millions, it has been named the Argyle Pink Jubilee, and is being cut and polished in Perth.

It will be sold later this year after being shown around the world, including in New York and Hong Kong.

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Update: 'Unprecedented' 12.76 carat pink diamond worth £7 million mined -- The Telegraph

Twitter Hits 500 Million Registered Users

Twitter 'To Hit 500 Million Registered Users' -- The Telegraph

Twitter is set to hit 500 million registered users later today, according to a report.

The popular microblogging company, which processes more than a billion tweets a week, is set to hit the milestone figure later today, claims Twopcharts, a third party Twitter analysis company.

However, the 500 million relates to the total number of registered accounts, and fails to reveal how many are active.

A Twitter spokesman declined to comment on third party figures and said that the company only tracks how many active users there are using the site. There are no plans from the company to announce a registered user figure milestone.

Presently there are 100 million active Twitter accounts; a figure which was announced by the company’s executives last September.

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My Comment: And a number that is still climbing .... all be it slowly.

Hepatitis C Is A Bigger Killer Than HIV

Hepatitis C-Related Deaths Outpace HIV Deaths, Study Says -- L.A. Times

Hepatitis C mortality rates surpassed HIV mortality rates in the United States in 2007, researchers said Monday.

In a study in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine (abstract here), U.S. Centers for Disease Control researchers analyzed causes of death on more than 21.8 million U.S. death certificates filed between 1999 and 2007. Rates of death related to hepatitis C, a viral infection that causes chronic liver disease, rose at an average rate of .18 deaths per 100,000 persons per year. More than 15,000 people died from hepatitis C in 2007. HIV-related death rates declined .21 deaths per 100,000 people per year — 12,734 people died from HIV in 2007. Rates of death related to a third infection, hepatitis B, remained more or less constant over the study period, falling .02 deaths per 100,000 people per year to just more than 1,800 deaths in 2007.

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Every 2-Year-Old Should Know At Least These 25 Words

Carla Tarantino-Marie and her 2-year-old daughter Violette, reading together. Viorel Florescu for New York Daily News

Every 2-Year-Old Should Know At Least These 25 Words: Researchers -- New York Daily News

A checklist for toddler language development

Turns out chatty toddlers who say “all gone” and “bye-bye” aren’t just cute — they’re showing off their essential language skills.

Researchers have identified 25 “must have” words that every child should be saying when they turn 2.

Kids who haven’t mastered them might not just be late talkers — they could be showing signs of autism, developmental delays or hearing problems .

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My Comment: Only 25?

A New Source Of Energy From Superbugs?

Scientists have engineered a new super biofilm, a key component of which is Bacillus stratosphericus -- a microbe commonly found in high concentrations in Earth's stratosphere. (Credit: © Andrey Armyagov / Fotolia)

Stratospheric Superbugs Offer New Source of Power -- Science Daily

ScienceDaily (Feb. 21, 2012) — Bacteria normally found 30 kilometres above Earth have been identified as highly efficient generators of electricity.

Bacillus stratosphericus -- a microbe commonly found in high concentrations in the stratosphere -- is a key component of a new 'super' biofilm that has been engineered by a team of scientists from Newcastle University.

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My Comment: It's not going to happen .... 30k is too far away.

Intetnet Service Providers Warned By The FBI To Get Rid Of A Notorious Trojan Virus

FBI Plans To Shut Down Internet Servers Infected With Notorious Trojan -- New America

Computers experts around the world are warning that, in an attempt to stop the damage inflicted by a Trojan virus that has infected millions of computers worldwide, the FBI plans to shut down Internet Service Providers (ISPs) whose administrators have not yet cleared their systems of the malware.

As reported by PCWorld.com, in November 2011 the FBI shut down a network that a gang of criminal hackers in Estonia had launched to infect servers with the notorious DNSChanger Trojan — a virus that redirects computers from legitimate online destinations to phony websites that launch online ads that generated revenue for the hackers. The Trojan is sophisticated enough to prevent computers infected with the virus from visiting websites with the tools available to remove the problem.

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My Comment: The FBI getting involved? Isn't this a bit of an overkill?

DARPA's Plan To Revolutionize Auto Manufacturing

Adaptive Vehicle Make: DARPA's Plan To Revolutionize Auto Manufacturing -- Popular Mechanics

The Pentagon's mad scientists aim to throw out the way vehicles are currently built and replace it with a model in which parts could be 3D-printed, designs will be entirely digital, and the wisdom of the crowd will design the military's next vehicle.
The defense research group DARPA wants better vehicles, and it wants them faster and cheaper. To make it happen, the Pentagon's mad scientists are taking a cue from computer-circuit builders.

During the 1980s, the integrated-circuit-manufacturing industry began a sea change away from the traditional manufacturing model: Design was separated from manufacturing as a stand-alone function, with designers outsourcing manufacturing to dedicated fabrication plants, or fabs. The result has been an industry more responsive to the rapid pace of innovation that we all know and love today.

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My Comment: So much for making the simple jeep.

Is Quantum Computing Possible?

Qubits in Liquid Helium D-Wave Systems Inc.

MIT Scientist Offers $100,000 to Anyone Who Can Prove Quantum Computing Is Impossible -- Popular Science

Scott Aaronson, a scientist at MIT who works mostly with theoretical quantum computers, issued a challenge to all of those deniers out there: prove that "scalable quantum computing is impossible in the physical world," and Aaronson will personally pony up $100,000 to the winner.

Aaronson works with quantum computing theory all day; sounds like he's sick of the constant chatter that quantum computing is not scalable, that the theory is purely theoretical. (Check out our interview with Seth Lloyd for a great beginner's guide to quantum computing.) There are as many skeptics as believers out there, so Aaronson is asking them to step up and prove that quantum computers will never be able to do useful work.

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A Blood Test For Depressions

Blood Test Could Someday Diagnose Depression. U.S. Navy

Study Of The Day: Blood Tests Can Accurately Diagnose Depression -- The Atlantic

PROBLEM: Depression has traditionally been diagnosed with a questionnaire that assesses patients' reported symptoms. This process varies greatly, however, since it relies heavily on the clinician's experience and resources.

METHODOLOGY: To test if an objective biological test could improve diagnosis accuracy, scientists recruited 36 adults with major depression and 43 healthy participants for a blood screening. They measured the levels of nine biomarkers associated with depressive symptoms, such as inflammation, the development and maintenance of neurons, and the interaction between brain structures involved with stress response and other key functions.

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Update: Depression Can Be Diagnosed With a Blood Test -- Popular Science

My Comment: The value of such a test in diagnosing our vets who suffer from depression are obvious.

Nanodust Explosives?

Dust Causes Explosions, And Apparently Nanodust Causes Mega-Explosions -- Popular Science

Along with annoyingly adhering to your TV screen and tabletops, dust can be a deadly material, exploding with enormously destructive force in places like coal mines, sugar refineries and grain silos. The explosive properties of normal dust are pretty well known, but what about non-traditional dust? Not all dusts are created equal — and dust derived from the materials of the future could present a very different type of danger.

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My Comment: One more worry to worry about.

What Eases Pain Of Financial Loss

Brain Study Finds What Eases Pain Of Financial Loss -- Yahoo News/Reuters

LONDON (Reuters) - Financial market traders and keen gamblers take note. Scientists have found that a chemical in the region of the brain involved in sensory and reward systems is crucial to whether people simply brush off the pain of financial losses.

Scientists say the study points the way to the possible development of drugs to treat problem gamblers and sheds light on what may have been going on in the brains of Wall Street and City of London traders as the 2008 financial crisis took hold.

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