Jaxa's vision of a space solar power system (SSPS) Photo: AFP
From The Telegraph:
Japan’s space agency is planning to construct a solar power station in space and use it to beam energy down to Earth using lasers.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa) hopes that the ambitious plans will help ease the country’s energy problems as well as providing a solution for global warming.
A select group of companies and researchers have been given the task of designing and building the Space Solar Power System (SSPS).
The debut of the video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 looks sure to become the most successful product launch in the history of entertainment, with global first-day sales estimated at $500 million.
Less than 24 hours after launch, first day sales of the controversial and violent new game are set to exceed the previous record set by Grand Theft Auto IV in 2008 by $200 million.
The game is expected to sell more than 3 million copies in the UK alone, with the online retailers Amazon and Play.com both reporting record sales.
Microsoft is using Wolfram Alpha to help power certain results, such as this search for the fat content of french fries. (Credit: CNET News)
From CNET:
Unlike when you stand over your coworker's desk, Microsoft's Bing search engine actually works better when you hover.
One of the key features of the would-be rival to Google is that when you hover to the right of a result, you can get a preview of what to expect. As part of an update this week, Bing's hover result will now feature more information including a thumbnail preview of the site in question.
(GENEVA) — In its first study of women's health around the globe, the World Health Organization said Monday that the AIDS virus is the leading cause of death and disease among women between the ages of 15 and 44.
Unsafe sex is the leading risk factor in developing countries for these women of childbearing age, with others including lack of access to contraceptives and iron deficiency, the WHO said. Throughout the world, one in five deaths among women in this age group is linked to unsafe sex, according to the U.N. agency.
Science Daily (Nov. 11, 2009) — Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have discovered a mechanism that controls the brain's ability to create lasting memories. In experiments on genetically manipulated mice, they were able to switch on and off the animals' ability to form lasting memories by adding a substance to their drinking water. The findings, which are published in the scientific journal PNAS, are of potential significance to the future treatment of Alzheimer's and stroke.
This digital image shows how autonomous underwater explorers (AUEs) will be used to provide new information about the oceans. Credit: SIO
From Live Science:
Swarms of soup-can-sized robots will soon plunge into the ocean seeking data on poorly understood phenomena from currents to biology.
With $2.5 million in new funding from the National Science Foundation, researchers at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography will create and deploy fleets of autonomous underwater explorers (AUEs) to explore the depths. Tens or hundreds of pint-sized robots would be deployed along with one the size of a soccer ball, in setups repeated wherever they are needed.
Scientists build new materials using inspiration from complex biological forms.
Joanna Aizenberg, a materials scientist at Harvard University, has scoured the natural world for clues to biological building codes. She aims to decipher some of Mother Nature’s unique designs, including dirt-resistant sea urchins and sea sponges made of super-strong light-conducting glass, to develop novel materials that, like these organisms, can self-assemble and sense and respond to their environment.
A nuclear bomb test is shown in Nevada, Aug. 18, 1957. Nuclear or near nuclear war/engagement between any two nations could have a hand in human extinction, research concludes. Getty Images
From Discovery News:
It would take a combination of severe and catastrophic events to drive the hardy human race to extinction, research concludes.
Humans could become extinct, a new study concludes, but no single event, aside from complete destruction of the globe, could do us in, and all extinction scenarios would have to involve some kind of intent, either malicious or not, by people in power.
The determinations suggest that the human race itself will ultimately determine its fate.
The A160 hummingbird, just one of many DARPA project that have found military or commercial use (Image: DARPA)
From New Scientist:
ON 6 December 1957 a hollow aluminium sphere the size of a small melon burst from a blazing fireball, rose a mere metre or so above Florida before landing with a thump. The US was in trouble. A month earlier, the Soviet Union had sent a 500-kilogram capsule bearing a dog called Laika into space. But here was the US unable to even notch up its first foray into orbit.
President Dwight Eisenhower responded by creating a new research agency tasked with ensuring such "technological surprises" like Sputnik would never be sprung on the US again. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), conceived in February 1958 not only still exists, it has consistently made the US military the most advanced on Earth and unleashed life-changing technologies such as the internet, GPS and the computer mouse along the way.
London Calling Your Internet activities are no longer for your eyes only Simdaperce
From Popular Science:
UK netizens may find their online activities under ever-greater scrutiny in the near future. The UK government has pushed ahead with a proposal to require monitoring of Internet usage, including social networks such as Facebook and conversations within online games.
The new UK law would require communication firms to hold records of who contacted whom, rather than the actual contents of online conversation. About £2 billion ($3.34 billion) would go toward compensating the firms for the technical challenge of collecting the data. Read more ....
Filming a manta at a 'cleaning station'. Injured rays are frequent visitors so their wounds can be cleaned by tiny, butterfly fish
From The Daily Mail:
Gliding through the oceans like ghosts, these mysterious manta rays have been captured in unique footage filmed off the coast of Mozambique.
Biologist Andrea Marshall is shown performing a ballet-like dance with the inquisitive giant fish, which she described as 'the most beautiful underwater birds.'
What foods can be grown with the least environmental impact?
From Slate:
Which fruits, vegetables, and other crops have the smallest environmental footprints?
I know you can buy local or buy organic, but I've heard that some crops are simply more resource-intensive than others, regardless of how or where they are grown. So what's the key to picking foods that have the smallest environmental footprint?
Workers feel ten years younger after they retire, according to a study that highlights the physical toll of lengthy careers.
Researchers analysed almost 15,000 employees and found that they felt increasingly less well in the years leading up to retirement, but significantly better after they stopped work.
The team behind the study said it showed that working conditions must be improved for older people if they are to be persuaded to remain economically active.
A highly focused laser beam (at right) is used to apply mechanical force (shown as a double headed arrow) to a microsphere (white) coated with histocompatibility protein. The microsphere abuts the surface of a single T cell, shown in gray (top). Activation of the T cell is measured by a change in calcium levels within the cell, which are shown by green colorization (left, prior to force application; bottom, after force application). The direction of force must be tangential, rather than perpendicular, to the T cell surface in order to trigger a rise in calcium levels. Without an application of force, the binding of the histocompatibility protein produces no such rise. (Credit: Please credit Dana-Farber Cancer Institute)
From Science Daily:
Science Daily (Nov. 10, 2009) — The immune system's T cells have the unique responsibilities of being both jury and executioner. They examine other cells for signs of disease, including cancers or infections, and, if such evidence is found, rid them from the body. Precisely how T cells shift so swiftly from one role to another, however, has been a mystery.
Though you might not be able to run away from your problems, moving to another state could be good for the soul. New research suggests U.S. states with wealthier, better educated and more tolerant residents are also happier on average.
The reasoning is that wealthy states can provide infrastructure and so it's easier for residents to get their needs met. In addition, states with a greater proportion of artists and gays would also be places where residents can freely express themselves.
This photo of U2 lead singer Bono, shot during U2's Rose Bowl show on October 25, by amateur photographer Bruce Heavin, was taken with a Canon PowerShot G11, and is representative of the high-quality pictures that ticket-holders can easily take these days at concerts and other events with point-and-shoot cameras. Note the people in the picture snapping their own images of Bono. (Credit: Flickr user Bruce Heavin)
From CNET:
At last month's huge U2 show at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., how could you tell the difference between the professional photographers and your average amateurs?
Answer: the professionals were the ones whisked away after Bono and friends finished their third song, and the amateurs were still there, happily shooting to their heart's content.
Nearly every person at any show these days is going to have some form of camera with them, be it a point-and-shoot, an iPhone or some other camera phone, and it seems that there is almost no way to imagine keeping all those devices out.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Review—Heard Of It? -- Popular Mechanics
Analysts expect Modern Warfare 2's first week sales to breach $500 million. To provide perspective, The Dark Knight made $155.34 opening weekend. A movie ticket is certainly cheaper than a video game, but half a billion dollars, any way you spin it, screams mainstream hit.
So, if you're reading this, we can assume you're one of three types: One, someone who's already bought Modern Warfare 2; Two, someone who's boycotting Modern Warfare 2 for any of a number of reasons, but will still probably buy it; Or three, a non-gamer who buys three or four titles a year and has been struck with curiosity by an unavoidable hype machine, including but not limited to television commercials, online take over ads and word of mouth.
My Comment: When I was young I was into these games .... no more now. But the young .... especially the young soldiers that I know .... for their own reasons they love these games.
So the above is my little contribution to those who may wonder what their "young" soldier will want for Christmas.
On a side note .... the Onion has done a great spoof on this fad. Check out the video below. (Hat Tip: Small Wars Journal)
Starscream Gets An Etonian Makeover courtesy of the UK Ministry of Defense
From Popular Science:
In February, the Ministry of Defense (MOD) in Great Britain unveiled its plans for modernizing its military. Curiously similar to the US Army's recently killed Future Combat System, the British program looks to bring a new generation of unmanned vehicles, advanced sensors and energy weapons to the battlefield.
However, unlike its American counterpart, it looks like this project is a go.
Don't panic! Although the asteroid passed within 9,000 miles of Earth it measured just 23ft across and wouldn't have dented the surface (artist's illustration)
From The Daily Mail:
You almost certainly missed it - and luckily it missed you - but an asteroid has come within 8,700 miles of hitting the Earth.
Astronomers spotted the object only 15 hours before its closest approach to our planet last Friday.
Its orbit brought it 30 times nearer than the Moon, which is 250,000 miles away.
Jaxa's vision of a space solar power system (SSPS) Photo: AFP 
