More News On The Super-Computer Wars

The Sequoia: This grey slab is just part the most powerful computer on the planet, and will be used in nuclear power research, with perhaps a game or two of chess on the side

U.S. Reclaims Top Spot In Super-Computer Wars With Machine That 'Can Do More In An Hour Than The World's Population Working Non-Stop For 320 Years' -- Daily Mail

* IBM's 'Sequoia' beats Japan's 'K machine', running 1.55 times faster while being 15 per cent more energy efficient
* Computer - which is nearly 300,00 times faster than machines from 20 years ago - will be used for nuclear studies

In the super-computing league table, the U.S. has reclaimed 'top spot' from Japan.

IBM's Sequoia computer, which is 1.55 times faster than Japan's previous record-breaker, the Fujitsu K Computer, was installed and switched on at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California.

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My Comment: Impressive speeds .... and they are still getting faster.

The USB Stick That Deletes All Viruses

Fix Me: Stick the USB key into your PC and it will stop Windows from loading - and scan your computer for errors

The USB Stick That You Plug Into Your Computer - And Then It Deletes All The Viruses -- Daily Mail

Getting a virus cleaned off your computer can be a burden at the best of times.

But now a new USB stick aims to make it far easier by giving you the same tools as the professionals - and all you have to do is plug it in.

The FixMeStick supposedly finds the files which other anti-virus programmes miss by using powerful anti-virus software normally used by computer technicians.

All users have to do is put it into a USB slot on their PC and it will do the rest.

Read more ....

My Comment: The firm that manufactures this tech is in Montreal .... and I live in Montreal. I guess I should pay them a visit and report more later.

Australian Aboriginal Rock Art Is 28,000 Years Old

Art on the ceiling of the shelter Narwala Gabarnmang. Credit: University of Southern Queensland

Aboriginal Rock Art Is 28,000 Years Old -- Cosmos/AFP

SYDNEY: Aboriginal rock art found in remote Australia has been dated at 28,000 years old, experts have said, prompting new speculation that indigenous communities were among the world's most advanced.

Archaeologists picked up the fragment in inaccessible wilderness in Arnhem Land in the country's north a year ago, and recent carbon dating of its charcoal drawing has placed it among some of the oldest art on the planet.

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My Comment: Early man was not so backwards after-all.

The World's Oldest Cave Art

A look inside the Altamira Cave in northern Spain

Red Dot Becomes 'Oldest Cave Art' -- BBC

Red dots, hand stencils and animal figures represent the oldest examples yet found of cave art in Europe.

The symbols on the walls at 11 Spanish locations, including the World Heritage sites of Altamira, El Castillo and Tito Bustillo have long been recognised for their antiquity.

But researchers have now used refined dating techniques to get a more accurate determination of their ages.

One motif - a faint red dot - is said to be more than 40,000 years old.

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My Comment: Just think about it .... art that has survived 40,000 years old.

Playmates On The Moon?

NASA Astronauts Brought Playmates To The Moon -- Discovery News

When NASA sent its Apollo astronauts to the moon, it sent them with "cheat sheets" -- wrist checklists attached to their suits that outlined the main stages of surface activities for each extravehicular activity (EVA).

But like all flight hardware, crews didn't train with their real checklists; they trained with a copy and only signed off on the unassembled flight version. Assembling the checklist fell to the backup crew, and also gave them a great opportunity to sneak practical jokes into the mission.

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My Comment: Boys will be boys.

Swarms Of Cyborg Insect Drones Are The Future Of Military Surveillance

Fingertip: The US Air Force unveiled insect-sized spies 'as tiny as bumblebees' that could not be detected and would be able to fly into buildings

Is That Really Just A Fly? Swarms Of Cyborg Insect Drones Are The Future Of Military Surveillance -- Daily Mail

The kinds of drones making the headlines daily are the heavily armed CIA and U.S. Army vehicles which routinely strike targets in Pakistan - killing terrorists and innocents alike.

But the real high-tech story of surveillance drones is going on at a much smaller level, as tiny remote controlled vehicles based on insects are already likely being deployed.

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My Comment: This is impressive tech, and an indication on what the future in surveillance will be all about.

How A Hard Drive Works In Slow Motion

Is This The 'iPad Killer' At Last?

Is This The 'iPad Killer' At Last? Microsoft Unveils New Surface Tablet Designed To Work With Windows 8 -- Daily Mail

* Microsoft Surface will use same Windows 8 operating system as PCs
* Comes with built-in stand and keyboard to replicate experience of laptop
* Company refuses to reveal price of tablet or confirm exact release date


Microsoft has unveiled the tablet computer which it hopes will topple Apple's iPad from its pedestal at the top of the market.

The 'Microsoft Surface' is specially designed to work with the firm's new Windows 8 software.

The company, which is still the market leader in computer operating systems, is counting on customers returning to the familiarity of Microsoft despite Apple's continuing 'cool' factor.

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My Comment: I like the keyboard and the size of the screen .... unfortunately .... it lacks Apple's app store.

Is This What The End Of World Will Look Like?

Awesome Mushroom Storm Cloud Dominates Skyline Over Beijing And Sparks Fresh 'End-Of-The-World' Fears -- Daily Mail

To the untrained eye, it could have been the first signal of the end of the world as nuclear war broke out.

But instead of anything sinister, the giant mushroom cloud spotted in the skies over the Chinese capital last week was simply a brilliant showcase of the wonder of nature.

The huge cloud, which appeared on Thursday, gradually took the shape of an explosion from an atomic bomb.

Read more ....

Update: Giant mushroom cloud forms over Beijing (PHOTOS & VIDEO) -- Yahoo News

My Comment: I saw one of these cloud accumulations in the north of Quebec on a camping trip a few years ago .... it is awesome .... and ominous.

The Story Behind The Paper Clip

The Perfection Of The Paper Clip -- Slate

It was invented in 1899. It hasn’t been improved upon since.

The paper clip is something of a fetish object in design circles. Its spare, machined aesthetic and its inexpensive ubiquity landed it a spot in MoMA’s 2004 show Humble Masterpieces. This was a pedestal too high for design critic Michael Bierut, who responded with an essay called “To Hell with the Simple Paper Clip.” He argued that designers praise supposedly unauthored objects like the paper clip because they’re loath to choose between giving publicity to a competitor and egotistically touting their own designs. Bierut might be right about his colleagues’ motives, but he’s wrong about the paper clip: It’s not all that simple.

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How Food is Eaten

Slow-Mo Video: How Food Is Eaten -- Popular Science

Saveur assistant editor Anna Stockwell is a woman of many talents -- she cooked a whole goose last year -- but when we brought the Phantom v642 super-slow-motion super-camera over to the Saveur office, she was on her lunch break. So we just captured this footage of her and her apple.

Even ordinary phenomena are fascinating to watch when they're filmed at 1,000 frames per second! This one reminds us for some reason of a wildlife documentary.

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My Comment: Creepy ..... but cool.

IBM Supercomputer Sequoia Overtakes Fujitsu As World's Fastest

IBM Supercomputer Overtakes Fujitsu As World's Fastest -- BBC

IBM's Sequoia has taken the top spot on the list of the world's fastest supercomputers for the US.

The newly installed system trumped Japan's K Computer made by Fujitsu which fell to second place.

It is the first time the US can claim pole position since it was beaten by China two years ago.

Sequoia will be used to carry out simulations to help extend the life of aging nuclear weapons, avoiding the need for real-world underground tests.

It is installed at the US Department of Energy's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California.

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More News On Livermore’s Sequoia Supercomputer Earning The Number #1 Rank As The World's Fastest

California Nuke Simulator Is World’s Most Powerful Computer -- Wired
IBM supercomputer overtakes Japan's Fujitsu as world's fastest -- Tech Spot
US regains top spot for fastest supercomputer -- AFP
IBM's Sequoia is the world's fastest supercomputer -- The Guardian
IBM's Sequoia Supercomputer is Now the World's Fastest Computing Machine -- Popular Science
NNSA Sequoia supercomputer takes worlds fastest title, prevents nuclear testing -- Endgadget
Nuclear weapons supercomputer reclaims world speed record for US -- The Telegraph
With 16 petaflops and 1.6M cores, DOE supercomputer is world’s fastest -- Ars Technica

Google Sees An Increase In Government Web Censorship

Google Reports 'Alarming' Rise In Censorship By Governments -- The Guardian

Search engine company has said there has been a troubling increase in requests to remove political content from the internet.

There has been an alarming rise in the number of times governments attempted to censor the internet in last six months, according to a report from Google.

Since the search engine last published its bi-annual transparency report, it said it had seen a troubling increase in requests to remove political content. Many of these requests came from western democracies not typically associated with censorship.

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More News On Google's Report That there Is An 'Alarming' Rise In Censorship By Governments

Google sees 'alarming' uptick in government censorship -- FOX News
Google sees 'alarming' level of government censorship -- CNet
Google: U.S. censorship requests doubled in last half of 2011 -- Washington Post/AP
Google Reports Rise In Removal Requests -- Radio Free Europe
Google's Censorship Juggle -- Wall Street Journal
Google censored videos offending Thai king, denied other requests -- L.A. Times
Google Receiving Record Number Of Censorship Requests, Even From Western Democracies -- Inquisitr

WNU Editor: The Google Transparency Report is here.

Google Agrees To Take Down 640 YouTube 'Terrorism' Videos

Terror fears: Google agreed to take down hundreds of videos apparently depicting or inciting acts of terrorism at the request of UK police chiefs (file picture of a terror video)

Google Agrees To Take Down 640 YouTube 'Terrorism' Videos After Request From UK Police Chiefs -- Daily Mail

* It also removed films containing offensive remarks about the King of Thailand
* But it refused to remove video of Canadian flushing passport down toilet after officials' appeal
* Details of such requests are detailed in internet giant's Transparency Report

Google removed 640 videos from YouTube in just six months amid fears they promoted terrorism.

Five user accounts were closed for allegedly promoting terrorist activity, following requests from the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo).

In the second half of last year alone, the internet giant agreed to requests that saw the 640 videos deleted.

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More News On Google Agreeing To Take Down 640 YouTube 'Terrorism' Videos

Google removes 640 videos from YouTube promoting terrorism -- The Telegraph
Police demand deletion of 640 YouTube 'terrorist' videos -- ZDNet
Google removed 640 Youtube videos for promoting terrorism last year -- Inquirer
UK Police Forced YouTube to Remove 640 Terrorist Videos in Just Half a Year -- Gizmodo
Google reveals 'terrorism video' removals -- BBC

My Comment: Only 640 videos?

U.S. Air Force's X-37B Completes Secret Sapce Mission

Air Force's Secret X-37B Space Plane Lands In Calif. After Mystery Mission -- MSNBC/Space

After spending over a year in space, the secret unmanned craft came home.

The U.S. Air Force's robotic X-37B space plane finally returned to Earth Saturday (June 16), wrapping up a mysterious mission that lasted more than year in orbit.

The unmanned X-37B spacecraft, also known as Orbital Test Vehicle-2 (OTV-2), glided back to Earth on autopilot, touching down at California's Vandenberg Air Force Base at 5:48 a.m. PDT (8:48 a.m. EDT, 1248 GMT). The landing brought to an end the X-37B program's second-ever spaceflight, a mission that lasted more than 15 months with objectives that remain shrouded in secrecy.

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More News On the Landing of The X-37B

Secret military mini-shuttle lands in California -- Reuters
Boeing X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle Completes 469-Day Mission -- Bloomberg
Mystery Mini Space Shuttle X-37B Lands in California -- ABC
Unmanned Air Force space plane lands in California -- USA Today/AP
Military space plane returns to Earth after 469-day mission -- Examiner
Video: Secret Space Plane Shatters Orbital Record as Chinese Rival Looms -- Danger Room
Second X-37B completes classified space mission -- Aviation Week

Would You Live In One Of The Ten Best Homes In America?

The Pierre, French for stone, celebrates the owner's affection for a stone outcropping on her property

Would You Live In One Of The Ten Best Homes In America? Architects Reveal The Spectacular Properties That Have Wowed Them In 2012 -- Daily Mail

* American Institute of Architects handed out its annual awards to projects showcasing the best innovative design

What do Scottsdale, Arizona, Syracuse in upstate New York and the San Juan Islands off Washington have in common? They are all home to some of the most architecturally inspiring addresses in the United States.

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has handed out the 2012 Housing Awards to projects at the pinnacle of design, creativity and sustainability.

The jury recognized projects in four categories - custom-built homes for one family, large structures which sleep many individuals in their own apartments and specialized buildings such as community centers.

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My Comment: There are some impressive homes (architecturally speaking) in this list. Check it out.

China Plans To Build The World's Tallest Tower In Three Months!

90 days to be the biggest in the world: It's a tall order - but the company thinks it can put other skyscrapers to shame

Ambition Has Never Scaled Such Heights: China Plans To Build The World's Tallest Tower - And Complete It In Just THREE MONTHS -- Daily Mail

If you want to reach the top, you have got to move fast.

This must be the logic of a Chinese consortium, who seem confident that they can bend time and space and build the world's tallest tower - all 838 metres of it - in just three months.

As soon as the 220-storey 'Sky City', in Changsa, the provicincial capital of Hunan, is complete, it will take the mantle of the world's tallest building.

That means it will beat Dubai's current world-beater, the Burj Khalifa - which took five years to build.

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My Comment: In three months .... I am skeptical.

The Man Behind Cryptome

The Man Behind The ‘Blue Ball’ Emails Scandal That Snared Brett McGurk -- Eli Lake, The Daily Beast

How a little-known leakster imperiled Brett McGurk’s nomination as Obama’s ambassador to Iraq—and why Cryptome isn’t going away. Eli Lake on the growing business of open secrets.

The scandal embroiling Brett McGurk, the Obama administration’s nominee to become the next ambassador to Iraq, got its start when an anonymous tipster alerted a 76-year-old architect to recent photo uploads on a mysterious Flickr account. The account contained what purported to be images of explicit emails from 2008 between McGurk and Gina Chon, then a Wall Street Journal correspondent in Iraq.

Read more ....

My Comment: Cryptome's website is here. I have been a regular reader of Cryptome since the beginning .... and it is still one of my must reads everyday.

Were Neanderthals The First Cave Painters?

In El Castillo cave, hand stencils join a red disk (not pictured) that may be Earth's oldest cave art. Photograph courtesy Pedro Saura via Science/AAAS

World's Oldest Cave Art Found—Made By Neanderthals? -- National Geographic

"It adds to evidence Neanderthals were not a distinct species," archaeologist says.

Prehistoric dots and crimson hand stencils on Spanish cave walls are now the world's oldest known cave art, according to new dating results—perhaps the best evidence yet that Neanderthals were Earth's first cave painters.

If that's the case, the discovery narrows the cultural distance between us and Neanderthals—and fuels the argument, at least for one scientist, that the heavy-browed humans were not a separate species but only another race.

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My Comment: Cave art that is tens of thousands of years old .... quite incredible when you think about it.

The Greatest Internet 'Landgrab' In History

Here Comes The Greatest Internet Landgrab In History -- CNet

ICANN tomorrow will reveal who is going after what new domain extensions, paving the way for a very different looking Web. Prepare for dot-madness.

Frank Schilling made his fortune in the aftermath of the dot-com bust, buying up thousands of domain names others didn't want. He kept at it, aggressively building a portfolio of more than 320,000 domains that, through a combination of ads and outright sales, have made Schilling a decamillionaire many times over.

Now the 43-year-old domainer is going after what he sees as a far bigger opportunity. He's put up $60 million of his own money to stake his claim on a giant, emerging piece of the Internet -- the opening up of so-called generic top-level domains, or gTLDs, to include pretty much anything. The king of all domain extensions -- .com -- is under attack as never before.

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My Comment: This is big news, and will impact internet use and how money is made on the web for generations to come.

Is Earth About To Face An Ecological Collapse?

Earth Ecological Collapse Approaching? -- Future Pundit

A huge ecological shift headed our way in the 21st century?

Using scientific theories, toy ecosystem modeling and paleontological evidence as a crystal ball, 18 scientists, including one from Simon Fraser University, predict we're on a much worse collision course with Mother Nature than currently thought.

In Approaching a state-shift in Earth's biosphere, a paper just published in Nature, the authors, whose expertise span a multitude of disciplines, suggest our planet's ecosystems are careening towards an imminent, irreversible collapse.

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My Comment: Hope not .... but when one looks at what is happening in many places of the world .... you cannot help but feel that the earth's ecology will soon be facing a breakdown.

The Science Of Hypersleep

Prometheus, Alien And The Science Of Hypersleep -- The Telegraph

Ian Douglas looks at a series of experiments that hint at the real possibility of suspended animation.

Noomi Rapace is describing waking up from a two-year sleep. She’s one of the stars of Prometheus, a prequel to the 1979 film Alien, in which long space voyages are accomplished by putting the travellers to sleep in pods, only waking them when they reach their destination.

‘I actually did a detox for a week before. I wanted to drain my body and clean it, and train it a bit. I had an idea that everything should appear sunken. Because it’s hard to imagine, how it is to be sleeping for two years. We talked about it: how groggy are we, how aware are we of the things around us.’

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My Comment: Love the video.

Why Does Rock Music 'Bring Out The Animal In Us'?

Why Rock Music 'Brings Out The Animal In Us' -- The Telegraph

Rock music such as Jimi Hendrix-style electric guitar excites us because it recreates the sound of primal distress calls and "brings out the animal in us", scientists claim.

Sudden, jarring changes in pitch and frequency play on the same emotional mechanisms as the signals which animals use to alert one another of danger, a study found.

When animals cry out in distress they force a large amount of air through their voice box very quickly, producing a discordant effect designed to grab the attention and provoke an emotional response in other animals.

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My Comment: What does Justin Beiber bring out?

Earth Size Planets Easy, But Life Not So Much

Earth Worlds Are Easy, Life Not So Much -- Discovery News

Planets up to about four times the diameter of Earth form under a broader range of environmental conditions than gas giant planets, a new analysis of data from NASA’s planet-hunting Kepler space telescope shows.

Scientists looked at 152 stars hosting planets or suspected planets that are Neptune-sized or smaller. They found that small planets, unlike gas giants, don’t need metal-rich parent stars to form.

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My Comment: The only way to be sure is to go there .... but .... traveling great distances is not possible for mankind today.

Apple Ditches Google Maps

Image: Navigation firm TomTom is providing maps for Apple's service

Apple Ditches Google Maps Software In Latest iOS -- BBC

Apple has unveiled its latest mobile operating system, iOS6, at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference.

The operating system, which runs on its iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices, will no longer include Google Maps software.

Apple will instead run its own mapping app, which has a high-quality 3D mode, on the platform.

Google announced its own 3D mapping software last week on its competing mobile platform, Android.

Both companies have used fleets of planes to capture the imagery, drawing concerns from some privacy campaigners.

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My Comment: Apple is finally catching up to this market.

What Are The Most Coveted Domains

The Most Coveted Domains, From .app To .home -- CNet

ICANN released its list of top-level-domain applications, and .app appears as the most popular domain. Surprisingly, .sex and .sucks garnered less interest.

In a sea of popular words, who would have guessed .app would be the most sought after domains?

"App" garnered 13 applications for a top-level-domain, also known as a string. The full details on the applications were revealed by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Named and Numbers today. The introduction of new TLDs change the way consumers will type in URLs and open up new possibilities for Web addresses.

Read more ....

Wooly Mammoth Extinction Pattern Has Been Mapped

Mammoth skull and tusks, University of Alaska Museum, Fairbanks. G.M. MacDonald

Wooly Mammoth Extinction Mapped -- USA Today

Good new, folks. Humans were only incidental to the extinction of the Wooly Mammoth.

Once widely roaming across Siberia and North America, the Wooly Mammoth died off more than 10,000 years ago, with a lingering dwarf population lasting on the Wrangel Islands until 4,000 years ago.

In a jumbo analysis of 1,323 wooly mammoth samples, and numerous woodland sample records, a team led by Glen MacDonald of the University of California Los Angeles, reports in the current Nature Communications journal on the gradual disappearance of these remarkable pachyderms.

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My Comment: It must have been an incredible sight to see when they roamed the plains.

A Head Injury Turns A Man Into A Musical Savant

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Less than six years ago, Derek Amato had only mediocre guitar skills. But after suffering a concussion – and never having a lesson – he became a piano-playing sensation. NBC's John Yang reports.

Head Injury Turns Man Into Musical Savant -- MSNBC

When Derek Amato crashed headfirst into the hard bottom of a pool, he was scared about what he might have done to his brain. But amazingly the fallout from that accident wasn’t all bad. Along with the headaches and other post-concussion symptoms, the accident brought Amato an unexpected gift: it turned him into a musical savant.

Although Amato had always loved music, he’d never been serious about playing any instrument before the head injury. Amato dabbled a bit with guitar before the accident but described his musical ability to TODAY as “on a scale of 1 to 10 . . . like a 2.5, close to 3.”

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My Comment: Truly incredible.

Meet The Cruise Liner For Ships!

Blue Marlin carrying USS Cole. Wikipedia

Meet The Cruise Liner For Ships! Massive Carrier Craft Can Hold Up To 22 Barges - And Even An Oil Rig - On Its Back -- Daily Mail

When you need to transport 22 barges – each weighing nearly 3,000 tonnes – half way around the world, you're going to need a pretty sturdy boat.

And they don't get much sturdier than the Blue Marlin, one of the most extraordinary crafts ever to sail the seas.

The incredible ship can carry 75,000 tonnes. Rather than the usual cargo of toys, TVs and coffee, it carries other ships and oil rigs.

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My Comment: Impressive .... and for the U.S. Navy .... essential.

Steve Jobs’ Pentagon File

Steve Jobs’ Pentagon File: Blackmail Fears, Youthful Arrest and LSD Cubes -- Threat Level

Steve Jobs thought someone might kidnap his daughter in order to blackmail him, according to a newly released Department of Defense document that was filled out in the 1980s when Jobs underwent a background check for a Top Secret security clearance.

That revelation, along with some new details on Jobs’ drug use and a previously unreported arrest as a minor, comes from a questionnaire that Jobs filled out for the clearance investigation, which was acquired by Wired through a Freedom of Information Act request.

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My Comment: Even in death Steve Jobs continues to intrigue people.

7 Great Underwater Finds

A mosaic of the ship's front stern and bow sections, which broke apart and landed separately on the seafloor but here are digitally reunited. (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution/NOAA) 2) Mosaic photograph of the Titanic's prow. (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution/NOAA)

Shipwreck Science: 7 Great Underwater Finds -- Wired Science

Time capsule, detective mystery and adventure story rolled into one, a shipwreck captures the imagination: A few hundred underwater years turns even a simple trading ship into a vessel from a lost world.

Contrasting with that antiquity are the tools of modern marine archaeologists, who use high-powered sonar, submersible robots, image-stitching software and cutting-edge imaging techniques to investigate the wrecks. On the following pages, Wired takes a look at our favorite finds.

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My Comment: I am sure that those who discovered these finds were impressed.

Europe To Build World's Biggest Telescope

An artist's impression of the European Extremely Large Telescope on Cerro Armazones, a 3,060-metre mountaintop in Chile's Atacama Desert: For comparison, look at the size of the cars

Europe To Build World's Biggest Telescope Powerful Enough To See Mountains On Planets Beyond Our Solar System -- Daily Mail

A coalition of 15 European countries has announced plans to build the biggest telescope in the world.

The mirror inside the telescope will measure 39metres across - four times wider than today's biggest telescope - and it will be so powerful that astronomers will even be able to observe dark, rocky planets far beyond our solar system.

The European Southern Observatory project is supported by 15 members of the European Union and has the catchy name 'European Extremely Large Telescope'... even if it will be built in Chile, to avoid light pollution.

The twin infrared/optical telescope will sit on top of a 3,060metre mountaintop, giving unparralled views of the sky above, and should hopefully come online in 2022.

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My Comment: OK .... I am very impressed.

Bugatti Veyron On ‪National Geographic

My Comment: If the Bugatti is your dream car, this is a must see video.

Can Drinking Moonshine Really Make Me Go Blind?

Moonshining Former moonshiner John Bowman (right), explaining the ins and outs of a proper moonshine still. via Wikimedia

FYI: Can Drinking Moonshine Really Make Me Go Blind? -- Popular Science

The short answer: yes, it’s possible to go blind from drinking moonshine. But it’s also possible to go blind staring at the sun. When consuming alcoholic beverages of the DIY variety, the important thing is to let common sense be your guide.

The idea that moonshine or other home-distilled liquors can cause blindness is rooted in truth, but it’s important to separate the causes of said blindness from the alcohol distillation process itself. When homemade spirits cause damage to the optic nerve the culprit is almost always methanol, cousin to the ethanol you consume when you toss back any glass of tipple.

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My Comment: I had the unpleasant experience of drinking moonshine in China. I suffered 'white blindness' .... and it was uncomfortable.

4 Drone Sensors That Changed Warfare

4 Drone Sensors That Changed Warfare—and What Happens When They Come Home -- Popular Science

After more than a decade of military surveillance, Afghanistan is among the most closely observed nations in the world. As the war progressed, manned observation aircraft gave way to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which can stay aloft far longer than anything carrying a pilot. Military technology often filters into civilian use. By congressional order, the FAA is preparing to open the skies over the United States to UAVs, making it likely that these sensor-laden drones will be coming home, flying overhead in U.S. airspace.

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My Comment: And the next generation of UAVs will probably be just as revolutionary.

The Essential Guns, Gadgets, And Gear Of Spec Ops

Colt M4A1 Carbine with SOPMOD Kit
The M4A1 has been the standard for special operations since its release in 1994. The A1 model has a slightly heavier barrel compared with the standard M4, and full auto capability. The Special Operations Peculiar Modification (SOPMOD) Kit provides additional items such as the M203 Grenade Launcher, a Picatinny Rail System for attachments, forward hand grip, Trijicon's 4x ACOG sight, EOTech's holographic sight, Aimpoint's Close Combat Optic (CCO) sight, Insight Technology's PEQ-2 or PEQ-15 Aiming Laser, and the Insight Flashlight.

The Essential Guns, Gadgets, And Gear Of Spec Ops -- Popular Mechanics

Special operations forces wear body armor made of revolutionary materials, carry armor-puncturing knives, and don visions systems that can combine visual data with infrared and feeds from UAVs overhead.

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Does Wine Kept Under Sea Taste Better Than The Stuff Stored In A Chateau?

Photo: Finished product: The 'Neptune' branded wine from Chateau Larrivet Haut-Brion which was aged under the sea

The Test Proving Wine Kept Under Sea Really DOES Taste Better Than The Stuff Stored In A Chateau... After 11 Bottles Found In 200-Year-Old Shipwreck Sell For £90,000 -- Daily Mail

* French trio aged two barrels of identical wine for six months - one under sea and the other in chateau cellar
* Lab tests revealed sea wine had undergone different process of osmosis, giving it a mellower taste than traditionally aged barrel
* Comes after 11 bottles of champagne from 2010 Baltic shipwreck sold for £90,000 at auction

Bottles of wine found in shepwrecks often sell for a fortune. But does the sea hold the secret to truly great vintages?

To find out a trio of French wine lovers - a vineyard manager, a barrel maker and an oyster farmer - teamed up to test the myth, above and below water.

Barrels of a 2009 Bordeaux wine were stored in two locations - one was to be kept in chateau cellars, the other sunk among the prized oyster beds of the Bay of Arcachon, on the Atlantic coast.

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My Comment: As a wine maker, I find this news fascinating.

Apple Will Unveil First New Products Since Steve Jobs' Death

Last summer: Then-CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the iCloud syncing service at the 2011 event

Apple Will Unveil First New Products Since Steve Jobs' Death At Keynote Conference Today - So What Can We Expect To See? -- Daily Mail

During Steve Jobs' last years at Apple, current CEO Tim Cook was often seen alongside his chief.

Now, nine months since the founder's death, today is the day Apple will describe their changes to Apple's operating systems - iOS, which powers the iPad and iPhone range, and the Mac operating system 'Mountain Lion'.

By the end of today's conference in San Francisco, Apple fans and the business world will have been given a good glimpse of how Apple has coped with the loss of its biggest inspiration and evangelist, and the changeover in leadership.

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My Comment: With Steve Jobs gone .... it's not going to be the same.

Flame And Stuxnet 'Link' Found

Source code was shared between the teams making the malware attacks, researchers said

Flame And Stuxnet Makers 'Co-Operated' On Code -- BBC

Teams responsible for the Flame and Stuxnet cyber-attacks worked together in the early stages of each threat's development, researchers have said.

Flame, revealed last month, attacked targets in Iran, as did Stuxnet which was discovered in 2010.

Kaspersky Lab said they co-operated "at least once" to share source code.

"What we have found is very strong evidence that Stuxnet/Duqu and Flame cyber-weapons are connected," Kaspersky said.

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My Comment: Here is some interesting news.

Watching Tiny 'Living' Machines Self-Assemble

Vallée-Bélisle and Michnick have developed a new approach to visualize how proteins assemble, which may also significantly aid our understanding of diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, which are caused by errors in assembly. Here shown are two different assembly stages (purple and red) of the protein ubiquitin and the fluorescent probe used to visualize these stage (tryptophan: see yellow). (Credit: Peter Allen)

Researchers Watch Tiny Living Machines Self-Assemble -- Science Daily

ScienceDaily (June 10, 2012) — Enabling bioengineers to design new molecular machines for nanotechnology applications is one of the possible outcomes of a study by University of Montreal researchers that was published in Nature Structural and Molecular Biology June 10. The scientists have developed a new approach to visualize how proteins assemble, which may also significantly aid our understanding of diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, which are caused by errors in assembly.

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My Comment: Faster please.

Most Africans Will Have Smartphones In Five Years

In Five Years, Most Africans Will Have Smartphones -- Joe Evans, Tech Crunch

Feature phones are not the future. Of course that verges on tautology; of course everyone will have a smartphone, until everyone has something smaller and better and even more integrated into the fabric of our lives, like Google Glasses or cybernetic jawbone/retinal implants or whatever Charles Stross dreams up next. But when, exactly?

I’ve spent a good chunk of my life wandering around and writing about the developing world, and as lots of folks have recently argued, that’s still feature-phone territory, and will stay so for the foreseeable future. OK. Fair enough. But when precisely does the foreseeable future end? Because when the smartphone revolution hits the developing world, that’s when things are going to get really interesting, because it will also be their computer revolution and Internet revolution, all at the same time.

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My Comment: This is the best news that I have read all day.

Eye In The Sky

Hyper-real: 3D mapping services used by C3 Technologies (as purchased by Apple) will form the main part of the software giant's new mapping service

Beware The Spy In The Sky: After Those Street View Snoopers, Google And Apple Use Planes That can Film You Sunbathing In Your Back Garden -- Daily Mail

Software giants will use military-grade cameras to take powerful satellite images

Spy planes able to photograph sunbathers in their back gardens are being deployed by Google and Apple.

The U.S. technology giants are racing to produce aerial maps so detailed they can show up objects just four inches wide.

But campaigners say the technology is a sinister development that brings the surveillance society a step closer.

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My Comment: Should we be surprised by this development .... I think not. The question that should instead be asked is .... what took them so long.

The Google - China Conflict Escalates

A Chinese national flag flies in front of Google China's headquarters in Beijing on Thursday. Jason Lee/Reuters

Google Fights Back in China -- L. Gordon Crowitz, Wall Street Journal

The company is telling users when 'state-sponsored attackers' are compromising their accounts.

Two giants on the world stage are battling over the future of information. One is an authoritarian regime suppressing access to modern technology. The other is an information company fighting back without support from its home country. The conflict between China and Google is shaping up as the first war of the digital era.

Google recently launched a pair of counterattacks, last week informing Gmail account holders when "state-sponsored attackers" compromise their emails. Gmail users get this pop-up message: "Warning: We believe state-sponsored attackers may be attempting to compromise your account or computer. Protect yourself now." Users are told how to do so, including with a new login process.

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My Comment: Chen Guangcheng, the blind legal activist who took refuge in the U.S. Embassy and was eventually allowed to come to the U.S., sums it up best ....

.... "I think even over the last few years as the Information Age has developed so quickly, China's society has gotten to the era where if you don't want something known, you better not do it."

The Biggest Cost For Facebook

Data store: Facebook’s data center in Prineville, Oregon, is one of several that will help the company cope with its always growing user base. Facebook

The Biggest Cost of Facebook's Growth -- Technology Review

Running the world's largest social network will be a technical and financial challenge as it grows.

Facebook is the gateway to the Internet for a growing number of people. They message rather than e-mail; discover news and music through friends, rather than through conventional news or search sites; and use their Facebook ID to access outside websites and applications.

As the keeper of so many people's social graph, Facebook is in an incredibly powerful position—one reason its IPO this week is expected to be the largest ever for an Internet company.

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My Comment: Those data centers are not cheap.

'Prime Suspect' In Bee Colony Deaths Is Found

Photo: Bee populations have been falling rapidly in many countries, fuelled by a phenomenon known as colony collapse disorder

'Prime Suspect' In Bee Colony Deaths Is Found - A Parasitic Mite That Spreads Viruses While Feeding On The Insects' 'Blood' -- Daily Mail

* Study into impact of mite on 'fresh' territory - Hawaii - has revealed devastation it can cause in bee colonies
* Mite carries deadly virus
* It is 'prime suspect' in worldwide colony deaths

Parasitic mites have 'turbo-charged' the spread of a deadly virus that is killing honey bee colonies around the world.

Bee populations have been falling rapidly in many countries, fuelled by a phenomenon known as colony collapse disorder.

Many suspects have been named for bee colony collapse, including popular pesticides.

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My Comment: A parasitic mite has always been the prime suspect. It's good to know that they are now isolating the specific cause.

The U.N. Wants To Tax Web Sites

U.N. Could Tax U.S.-Based Web Sites, Leaked Docs Show -- CNet

Global Internet tax suggested by European network operators, who want Apple, Google, and other Web companies to pay to deliver content, is proposed for debate at a U.N. agency in December.

The United Nations is considering a new Internet tax targeting the largest Web content providers, including Google, Facebook, Apple, and Netflix, that could cripple their ability to reach users in developing nations.

The European proposal, offered for debate at a December meeting of a U.N. agency called the International Telecommunication Union, would amend an existing telecommunications treaty by imposing heavy costs on popular Web sites and their network providers for the privilege of serving non-U.S. users, according to newly leaked documents.

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My Comment: So typical of big government bureaucrats .... tax and regulate something that brings enormous benefits to billions of users.

Here Comes 'Big Brother'

Surveillance: The new BRS Labs AISight software is used with devices are installed in places like train stations or public buildings where they scan passers by to see if they are acting suspiciously

New Surveillance Cameras Will Use Computer Eyes To Find 'Pre Crimes' By Detecting Suspicious Behaviour And Calling For Guards -- Daily Mail

* Computerised detectors look for 'abnormal' behaviour
* When suspicious individuals are seen, guards called
* BRS machines have been trialled in numerous locations
* 288 cameras to be installed on subway in Sn Francisco

A new generation of computerised 'Big Brother’ cameras are able to spot if you are a terrorist or a criminal - before you even commit a crime.

The devices are installed in places like train stations or public buildings where they scan passers by to see if they are acting suspiciously.

Using a range of in-built parameters of what is ‘normal’ the cameras then send a text message to a human guard to issue an alert - or call them.

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My Comment: The military - counter-terrorism applications are huge.

New Ways To Hear ET

Despite there being no 'intelligent' signal detected coming from Gliese 581, the new technique could prove useful to future SETI projects (Source: M Kornmesser/ESO)

New Way To Hear Signals From ET's Home -- ABC News (Australia)

The search for extraterrestrial intelligence has a powerful new tool at its disposal, Australian scientists report.

For the first time, a group led by astronomer Professor Steven Tingay from Curtin University have used a sensitive type of radio telescope, known as a very long baseline interferometer, to listen out for radio signals coming from a distant planet.

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My Comment: One planet down .... billions more to go.

Thinking About Wine Can Help You Relax

Just the thought of a glass of wine could be enough to help you relax because of the power of positive thinking Photo: Alamy

Thinking About Wine Can Help You Relax, Scientists Claim -- The Telegraph

Just the thought of a glass of wine could be enough to help you relax because of the power of positive thinking, scientists have claimed.

People are so suggestive that simply believing an alcoholic drink will make us feel better or socialise more easily at a party will greatly raise the chance of making it so, researchers said.

This is because of the phenomenon of "response expectancies", or the way in which we predict how we will behave in different situations.

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My Comment: I will definitely drink to that.

Quantum Computers Move One Step Closer

Image Caption: SFU physicist Mike Thewalt and grad student Kamyar Saeedi with a sample of highly isotopically enriched silicon - its unique properties could advance quantum computing. Credit: SFU

Quantum Computers Move One Step Closer -- Red Orbit

The quantum computer is a futuristic machine that could operate at speeds even more mind-boggling than the world’s fastest super-computers.

Research involving physicist Mike Thewalt of Simon Fraser University offers a new step towards making quantum computing a reality, through the unique properties of highly enriched and highly purified silicon.

Quantum computers right now exist pretty much in physicists’ concepts, and theoretical research. There are some basic quantum computers in existence, but nobody yet can build a truly practical one—or really knows how.

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My Comment: Bottom line .... are are still a long way from having a real quantum computer.

Looking At Nature For Inspiration In Developing New Body Armor

A mantis shrimp in the lab of David Kisailus. (Credit: Carlos Puma)

Armored Caterpillar Could Inspire New Body Armor -- Science Daily

ScienceDaily (June 7, 2012) — Military body armor and vehicle and aircraft frames could be transformed by incorporating the unique structure of the club-like arm of a crustacean that looks like an armored caterpillar, according to findings by a team of researchers at the University of California, Riverside's Bourns College of Engineering and elsewhere published online June 7, in the journal Science.

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My Comment: This is interesting science .... but I assume that it will take a long time to develop such discoveries into practical applications.

Bing Signs Encyclopaedia Britannica To Expand Search Results

What the Encyclopedia Britannica search results look like on Bing.
(Credit: Bing)

Bing Plugs Encyclopedia Britannica Into Its Search Results -- CNet

Move over Wikipedia, Encyclopedia Britannica has come to Bing. In a new partnership, the search engine will be linking to query results from one of the world's most trusted encyclopedias.

In the quest for knowledge, Microsoft's Bing announced a partnership with Encyclopedia Britannica today. Now, alongside all other results -- like Wikipedia and Web pages -- users will see a box of information with an image linking to results from Britannica's online encyclopedia.

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Update: Bing Gets Smarter, Partners With Encyclopedia Britannica (But It’s No Challenge For Google’s Knowledge Graph) -- Tech Crunch

My Comment: This is a smart move for both sides.

Space Shuttle Enterprise Arrives At The Intrepid Sea, Air And Space Museum.

New Yorkers Turn Out For Docking Of A Space Shuttle — Close Up -- Geek Mom/Wired

There was an impromptu party on Manhattan’s West Side yesterday to welcome the space shuttle Enterprise to its new home aboard New York’s biggest floating attraction, the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum.

Taking advantage of the beautiful spring weather, New Yorkers and tourists alike, flocked to the shoreline on foot, on bicycles, pushing strollers and holding older kids by the hand. They came to watch the Enterprise as it made the final leg of its journey from JFK Airport to midtown. The Enterprise — yes, it was named after the iconic star ship! — was built in 1976 as a prototype. It never flew on its own.

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My Comment: An end to an era.