Why Bird Flu Research Is Dangerous

Image: The H5N1 virus could mutate to a deadlier form and spread to humans

Bird Flu 'Could Mutate To Cause Deadly Human Pandemic' -- BBC

The H5N1 bird flu virus could change into a form able to spread rapidly between humans, scientists have warned.

Researchers have identified five genetic changes that could allow the virus to start a deadly pandemic.

Writing in the journal Science, they say it would be theoretically possible for these changes to occur in nature.

A US agency has tried unsuccessfully to ban publication of parts of the research fearing it could be used by terrorists to create a bioweapon.

Read more ....

My Comment: This info should make any potential bio-terrorist happy .... they now have the blue print to cause a pandemic.

U.S. Cyber Weapons Are Being Revealed

We’re Slowly Starting to See U.S.’ Cyber Weapons -- Defense Tech

For years now, Defense Department officials have refused to discuss the details of the Pentagon’s offensive capabilities in the cyber arena, even as they railed against all the cyber attacks against the United States’ ever-vulnerable networks.

It seems however, that the Pentagon is happy to let actions speak for it. Earlier this spring, news reports emerged saying that it was indeed the U.S. and Israel who were behind the Stuxnet worm that famously wreaked havoc on Iran’s attempts to enrich uranium for its nuclear program. That worm was designed to make its way accross copmuter networks around the globe before infiltrating the specific type of Seimens-made SCADA computer that controlled the speeds at which Iran’s uranium enrichment centrifuges spun at. Once inside said computers, the infamous worm reprogrammed the centrifuges to spin at the wrong speeds where they would wreck the enrichment process.

Read more ....

My Comment: And what we have seen .... I suspect .... is just the tip of the iceberg.

Three New Biodefense Centers In The U.S.

Photo: Texas A&M University moves to the forefront of the US biodefense effort (credit: Texas A&M University)

U.S. Launches Three Biodefense Centers -- Kurzweil Accelerating Intelligence

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today awarded contracts for the creation of three new centers tasked with responding to the threat of future pandemics and biological attacks, Nature News Blog reports.

Based in Maryland, North Carolina and Texas, the three “Centers for Innovation in Advanced Development and Manufacturing” are the first tangible result of a review concluded by HHS in 2010.

Read more ....

My Comment: Pandemics, biological attacks .... this has all been known for a very long time. But why the rush to build the centers now?

A History Of Tetris

Tetris: Can A Cold War Classic Evolve For The Touchscreen? -- The Verge

The game couldn't be simpler. One of seven shapes falls from the sky. As the "Tetrimino" inches down the screen, the player rotates it and moves it into place among other similar objects. Build a horizontal line across the board and the entire thing vanishes. Create four lines at once, and they all disappear as the gamer earns massive points. Rotate, drop, explode. Rinse, wash, repeat. Again. And again. And again. A simple and repetitive task, but one that's beautiful when performed correctly.

Read more ...

My Comment: A sad confession .... I wasted many hours of my life playing this game.

U.S. Air Forces Launches Secret US Spy Satellite

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket launches the classified NROL-38 spy satellite into orbit from Space Launch Complex-41 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Wednesday. Liftoff occurred at 8:28 a.m. EDT. The national security satellite will be used by the National Reconnaissance Office. Patrick H. Corkery/United Launch Alliance

Shhh — Air Forces Launches Secret US Spy Satellite -- MSNBC/Space.com

Few details are offered up on clandestine national security mission for NRO.

A new U.S. spy satellite launched into orbit Wednesday, kicking off a clandestine national security mission for the National Reconnaissance Office.

The NROL-38 reconnaissance spacecraft lifted off at 8:28 a.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, atop a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas 5 rocket. It marked a milestone flight for the rocket company, a partnership between Lockheed Martin and Boeing.

Read more ....

More News On Today's 'Secret Launch' Of A US Spy Satellite

Secret military satellite heads into space -- CNet
US military launches new satellite into space -- AFP
NRO satellite lifts off from Cape Canaveral -- Air Force Times
Classified military satellite lifts-off from Cape Canaveral -- Examiner
Classified US satellite successfully orbited -- Flight Global

Voyager 1 Moves Ever Closer To The Solar System's Edge

Voyager 1 One of the two identical Voyager probes, as photographed by NASA. NASA

Voyager 1, Moving Ever Closer To Solar System's Edge, Hit By Rapidly Increasing Amounts of Cosmic Rays -- Popular Science

It's perched on the very edge of the solar system, and new data is the strangest yet.

For at least a year now, NASA has been waiting with bated breath for Voyager 1 to pass through the boundary of our solar system and become our first emissary to the stars. It’s been cruising the edge for some time, but when it finally leaves forever, it won’t be a satisfyingly clear punch-through — so it’s hard to say exactly when this will happen. Or happened. Now the spacecraft is in another strange new zone, where the influx of cosmic particles has been ramping up by the week.

Read more ....

My Comment: Yup .... one can say that we are now exploring the stars.

100 Greatest Discoveries In Physics (Video)

Has The Higgs Boson Particle Been Found?

Photo: A disk full of silicon sensors that sits as an endcap on ATLAS, one of the LHC experiments searching for the Higgs boson. Peter Ginter/ATLAS collaboration/CERN

Physics Community Afire With Rumors of Higgs Boson Discovery -- Wired

One of the biggest debuts in the science world could happen in a matter of weeks: The Higgs boson may finally, really have been discovered.

Ever since tantalizing hints of the Higgs turned up in December at the Large Hadron Collider, scientists there have been busily analyzing the results of their energetic particle collisions to further refine their search.

Read more ....

My Comment: I guess we will find out in a few weeks.

Welsh And Cornish Are The 'Purest Britons'

Those in south east and central England were described by Donnelly as "a real genetic cocktail", with parts of their DNA matching the pre-Roman population, Anglo-Saxon and the Danish Viking settlers. Photo: ROBERT HARDING PICTURE LIBRARY

Welsh And Cornish Are The 'Purest Britons', Scientists Claim -- The Telegraph

Natives from Wales and Cornwall could hold the title for the "purest" Britons, a scientific study suggests.

Scientists drew up a map of the British Isles revealing the genetic ancestry of people from different rural areas across the UK.

After extensive DNA surveying, they found that Welsh and Cornish people were among the most genetically distinct groups in the country.

One theory for the difference in their DNA is that they are a "relic" population, tracing their ancestry back to the tribes that colonised Britain after the last Ice Age 10,000 years ago.

Read more ....

My Comment: A lot has happened in 10,000 years.

Robots Get A Feel For The World

Like the human finger, the group's BioTac® sensor has a soft, flexible skin over a liquid filling. (Credit: USC)

Robots Get A Feel For The World: Touch More Sensitve Than A Human's -- Science Daily

ScienceDaily (June 18, 2012) — What does a robot feel when it touches something? Little or nothing until now. But with the right sensors, actuators and software, robots can be given the sense of feel -- or at least the ability to identify different materials by touch.

Researchers at the University of Southern California's Viterbi School of Engineering published a study June 18 in Frontiers in Neurorobotics showing that a specially designed robot can outperform humans in identifying a wide range of natural materials according to their textures, paving the way for advancements in prostheses, personal assistive robots and consumer product testing.

Read more ....

My Comment: This has many real world applications.

A Mystery At The Bottom Of The Baltic Sea

Hefty trajectory: The Swedish diving team noted a 985-foot flattened out 'runway' leading up to the object, implying that it skidded along the path before stopping but no true answers are clear

Pictured: The UFO-Shaped Object Found At The Bottom Of The Baltic Sea... Covered In Soot, With 'Little Fireplaces' And Lying At The End Of A 1,000ft Runway -- Daily Mail

* Object is raised about 10 to 13ft above seabed and curved at the sides like a mushroom
* It has a 60 metre diameter with an egg-shaped hole leading into it from the top
* Hole is surrounded by an strange rock formation that expedition team can not explain
* Stones are covered in something 'resembling soot' which has baffled experts

Sceptics expected that a deep-water dive would debunk the slew of extra-terrestrial theories surrounding an unidentified object sitting at the bottom of the Baltic Sea.

But the Swedish expedition team that took the plunge surfaced with more questions than answers - and certainly no solution to its origins.

The divers found that the object, which some have likened to the Millennium Falcon because of its unusual round outline, was raised about 10 to 13ft above the seabed and curved in at the sides, giving it a mushroom shape.

Read more ....

My Comment: I am always skeptical when I read UFO stories like this one .... but I will confess that sometimes they are fun to read on the oft-chance that maybe there is a surprise just waiting to be discovered.

No Rules For Cyber-Robot Wars

Rules For Robot-War -- Irfan Husain, DAWN

DOES the deployment of a computer virus by one state against another constitute an act of war? In this wired world, sabotaging a country’s computer systems through malware, or a piece of computer code designed to cause damage, is surely an offensive action equivalent to firing a missile at an enemy.

But thus far, international law has not kept pace with technology, and states can and do use these unseen weapons to further their agendas. Thus, malware like Stuxnet and Flame have apparently been launched against Iranian computers by American and Israeli experts to slow down its nuclear programme and to spy on its leaders.

Read more ....

My Comment: I have been commenting regularly that as cyber attacks become more sophisticated and targeted, it will only be a matter of time before we experience a cyber 9/11 attack that will incapacitate critical computer networks (i.e. travel, banking, etc.) as well as critical infrastructures (electrical, water, etc..) that are dependent on computer networks.

When that day happens .... the debate on rules for cyber attacks and the consequences of launching one will then start.

Western Officials Are Acknowledging That The U.S. And Israel Did Launch A Cyber Attack Against Iran's Nuclear Facilities

Kaspersky Lab

U.S., Israel Developed Flame Computer Virus To Slow Iranian Nuclear Efforts, Officials Say -- Washington Post

The United States and Israel jointly developed a sophisticated computer virus nicknamed Flame that collected critical intelligence in preparation for cyber-sabotage attacks aimed at slowing Iran’s ability to develop a nuclear weapon, according to Western officials with knowledge of the effort.

The massive piece of malware was designed to secretly map Iran’s computer networks and monitor the computers of Iranian officials, sending back a steady stream of intelligence used to enable an ongoing cyberwarfare campaign, according to the officials.

Read more ....

More News On The U.S. - Israeli Cyber Attack Against Iran's Nuclear Facilities

U.S., Israel developed Flame computer virus: newspaper -- Reuters
US, Israel made Flame virus to thwart Iran: report -- AFP
Israel, US collaborated in creation of Flame virus to slow Iran's nuke efforts, report says -- FOX News
Flame virus confirmed as U.S.-Israeli plan -- UPI
Report: US, Israel designed Flame computer virus against Iran -- The Hill
Confirmed: Flame created by US and Israel to slow Iranian nuke program -- Ars Technica
U.S., Israel, developed Flame #thecircuit -- Hayley Tsukayama, Washington Post
How Flame virus has changed everything for online security firms -- John Naughton, The Guardian

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.

Read more ....

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.

Read more ....

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.

Read more ....

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.

Read more ....

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.

Read more ....

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.

Read more ....

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.

Read more ....

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.

Read more ....

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.

Read more ....

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.

Read more ....

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.

Read more ....

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.

Read more ....

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.

Read more ....

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.

Read more ....

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.

Read more ....

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.

Read more ....

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.

Read more ....

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.’

Read more ....

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.

Read more ....

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.

Read more ....

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.

Read more ....

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.

Read more ....

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.”

Read more ....

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.

Read more ....

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.

Read more ....

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.

Read more ....

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.

Read more ....

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.

Read more ....

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.

Read more ....

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.

Read more ....

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.

Read more ....

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.

Read more ....

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.

Read more ....

My Comment: Here is some interesting news.