Supernova Countdown

About 165 years ago, Eta Carinae mysteriously became the second brightest star in the sky. In 20 years, after ejecting more mass than our sun, it unexpectedly faded. N. Smith / J.A. Morse (U. Colorado) et al. / NASA

Supernova Countdown: Giant Star Could Explode Any Day Now -- Time

When the sun finally dies some 5 billion years from now, the end will come quietly, the conclusion of a long, uneventful life. Our star will, in a sense, go flabby, swelling first, releasing its outer layers into space and finally shrinking into the stellar corpse known as a white dwarf.

Things will play out quite differently for a supermassive star like Eta Carinae, which lies 7,500 light-years from Earth. Weighing at least a hundred times as much as our sun, it will go out more like an adolescent suicide bomber, blazing through its nuclear fuel in a mere couple of million years and exploding as a supernova, a blast so violent that its flash will briefly outshine the entire Milky Way. The corpse this kind of cosmic detonation leaves behind is a black hole.

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Soldiers From The Past

Forensic Reconstructions Reveal The Faces Of Civil War Sailors -- Popular Mechanics

Forensic anthropologists have reconstructed the faces of two Union sailors found onboard the USS Monitor, 150 years after the world’s first battle between ironclad warships off the coast of North Carolina.

One-hundred-fifty-year-old ghosts rarely look so detailed.

In 1862, two ironclad warships from opposing sides of the American Civil War blasted each other silly in the Battle of Hampton Roads. Although neither vessel could inflict much damage on the other, the Union’s USS Monitor and the Confederacy’s CSS Virginia opened a new era in naval technology as wooden sailing frigates gave way to armored warships with steam engines. The Monitor, however, didn’t have long to live; it sank in rough seas on December 1862 and sat for more than a century.

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My Comment: It is truly amazing what science can reveal, and looking at the pictures I cannot help but feel that these two fallen sailors are related by family.

A History Of The Parachute

A Brief History Of The Parachute -- Popular Mechanics

One hundred years ago, an Army daredevil completed the first parachute jump from a plane. But the history of the chute goes all the way back to Leonardo da Vinci, and all the way up to today's advanced military air drops.

Base jumpers like Jeb Corliss have nothing on U.S. Army Captain Albert Berry (right, above). The son of a balloonist, Berry grew up jumping out of balloons and dangling from a trapeze bar suspended from a parachute, a common stunt for early 20th century daredevils. But 100 years ago, on March 1, 1912, Berry entered a class of his own when he hopped off the axle of an early Benoist pusher biplane high above a St. Louis army base, and became the first person to jump from an airplane and land by parachute.

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An Interview With Radical Linguist Noam Chomsky

Photo: John Soars/Wikimedia Commons

Discover Interview The Radical Linguist Noam Chomsky -- Discover

For centuries experts held that every language is unique. Then one day in 1956, a young linguistics professor gave a legendary presentation at the Symposium on Information Theory at MIT. He argued that every intelligible sentence conforms not only to the rules of its particular language but to a universal grammar that encompasses all languages. And rather than absorbing language from the environment and learning to communicate by imitation, children are born with the innate capacity to master language, a power imbued in our species by evolution itself. Almost overnight, linguists’ thinking began to shift.

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Can America's Bunker-Busting Bombs Penetrate Iran's Defenses?

Exploding Concrete Wikimedia Commons

Could Iran's Ultra-Tough Concrete Withstand Bunker-Busting Bombs? -- Popular Science

Iran may not impress us with its flying saucer drones, but the country does at least one thing better than anyone else: Make concrete. Iran is in an earthquake zone, and its engineers make some of the world’s toughest building materials, which could conceivably withstand small earthquakes.

Or, as it happens, artificially-induced earth shaking. Like from bombs.

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My Comment: Oh oh .... another uncertainty for the Pentagon (and Israeli) planners to work out a successful plan of action against Iran's protected nuclear facilities.

A Earth - Comet Collision 13,000 Years Ago?

Comet May Have Collided With Earth 13,000 Years Ago -- Live Science

New evidence supports the idea that a huge space rock collided with our planet about 13,000 years ago and broke up in Earth's atmosphere, a new study suggests.

This impact would have been powerful enough to melt the ground, and could have killed off many large mammals and humans. It may even have set off a period of unusual cold called the Younger Dryas that began at that time, researchers say.

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U.S. Air Force's Second X-37B Space Plane Marks One Year In Orbit

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center image shows on-orbit functions for the reusable X-37 space plane, now under the wing of the U.S. Air Force. CREDIT: NASA/MSFC

U.S. Air Force Space Plane Marks One Year In Orbit -- Space Flight

The U.S. Air Force's second X-37B space plane marked one year in orbit Monday, continuing its clandestine mission more than 200 miles above Earth.

The robotic spacecraft's purpose is secret, but Air Force officials acknowledge the vehicle is performing well one year after it blasted off on a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket on March 5, 2011.

"We are very pleased with the results of the on-going X-37B experiments," said Lt. Col. Tom McIntyre, X-37B program director in the Air Force's Rapid Capabilities Office. "The X-37B program is setting the standard for a reusable space plane and, on this one-year orbital milestone, has returned great value on the experimental investment."

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Update: Air Force's Mysterious X-37B Space Plane Survives 1 Year in Orbit -- Space.com

My Comment: The Air Force is saying that they are VERY pleased with the performance of the X-37B .... are planning for a third one .... and .... oh yeah .... everything else is secret so don't bug us.

LulzSec And Anonymous Hackers Busted, Done In By Ringleader

Federal prosecutors unveiled criminal charges on Tuesday against six people in the U.S. and abroad they described as important members of a computer hacking group that allegedly stole confidential information from major companies, Joanna Chung reports on digits. Photo: Getty Images.

Top Members Of Hacking Group Anonymous Arrested After LEADER 'Betrays Them And Works With FBI For Six Months' -- Daily Mail

* Leader of computer hacking group LulzSec identified as unemployed dad-of-two Hector Xavier Monsegur
* Secretly arrested last June and pleaded guilty to hacking charges in August
* Has reportedly been working with FBI to bring down top hackers ever since
* Court papers released Tuesday portray him as ringleader of hacking groups
* Five members from UK, Ireland and US face charges

Top members of computer hacking groups Anonymous and LulzSec have been arrested across two continents after their leader - one of the world's most wanted computer vandals - turned them in.

In a startling show of betrayal towards his fellow hackers, 28-year-old Hector Xavier Monsegur led authorities to the five people who have now been charged in court papers in New York.

Dad-of-two Monsegur, who has pleaded guilty to a dozen hacking-related charges, is portrayed in court papers as the ringleader of LulzSec, and an 'influential member' of Anonymous.

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More News On The FBI Arrest Of The Members In Computer Hacking Group Anonymous and LulzSec

Top alleged members of hacking ring busted after one becomes FBI informant, betrays comrades -- Washington Post/AP
Authorities: LulzSec hackers busted, done in by ringleader -- Mercury News/AP
'Lulzsec hackers' arrested in international swoop -- BBC
LulzSec Leader Was Snitch Who Helped Snag Fellow Hackers -- Threat Level
U.S. Swoops Down on Alleged Computer Hackers -- Wall Street Journal
LulzSec arrests deal blow to hacker group -- CNET
Too Big To Fail: Why Anonymous And Hacktivism Will Go On After Sabu -- Tech Crunch

Looking For That Military 'Sixth Sense'

Soldiers occasionally get a sixth sense feeling about battlefield dangers. Here, Sgt. Auralie Suarez and Pvt. Brett Mansink take cover during a firefight with anti-Iraqi forces in the Al Doura section of Baghdad, March 7. CREDIT: U.S. Army | Staff Sgt. Sean A. Foley

US Military Seeks Sixth Sense Training -- Live Science

Ordinary soldiers have sometimes shown a battlefield sixth sense that has saved lives in Afghanistan and Iraq. Now the U.S. military wants to better understand that "spidey sense" and train troops to tap their inner superhero instincts.

The U.S. Office of Naval Research pointed to sixth sense research about how "humans can detect and act on unique patterns without consciously and intentionally analyzing them," according to a special notice posted on Feb. 29. It hopes to encourage such intuition in the brains of new soldiers, Marines and other troops with little or no battlefield experience.

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My Comment: My father mentioned this '6th sense' to me when I once asked him on how was he able to survive the fight on the Russian front during the Second World War. From his observation, he found that soldiers who were able to survive the first six months of heavy combat .... were also the same soldiers who were alive at the end of the war. It seems that the first few months of combat are crucial in sharpening these instincts and to help the soldier in becoming aware of the dangers that may be in front of him .... and to avoid it. Without this experience .... my father found that soldiers who were "green to the fight" were usually the soldiers who were finding themselves in grave and dangerous situations .... and getting killed or wounded because of it.

'Speech Jamming Gun' That Stops People Talking

Shut up! Japanese scientists say the 'Speech Jammer' can silence someone almost instantly

A Mute Button For People? 'Speech Jamming Gun' That Stops People Talking By Freezing The Brain -- Daily Mail

* The gadget fires a speaker's words back to them causing them to stutter and then stop talking
* 'Delayed Auditory Feedback' works because the brain does not like hearing the echo of the human voice
* Research has found it works best during a speech, making it ideal for shutting up unpopular politicians

It is a new gadget that could be straight out of George Orwell's 1984.

Japanese researchers have invented the ultimate conversation killer and instrument of control - a machine that can shut someone up at will.

Kazutaka Kurihara and Koji Tsukada have built a gun they call the 'Speech Jammer', which could be ideal for an unruly classroom or noisy library.

It forces individuals into 'vocal submission', they say, and is accurate when fired from up to 30 metres away.

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My Comment: The applications for such a device are endless.

Darpa's Robot Sets Racing Record

Video: Darpa’s Robotic Cheetah Sets Racing Record -- Danger Room

Trust me, gym rat. Your outrageously badass treadmill workout has nothing on this.

The Pentagon’s far-out research agency, Darpa, has just released a new video of its Cheetah ‘bot — designed to mimic the rapid movements of cheetahs, the speediest animals in nature — absolutely killing it on a laboratory treadmill.

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My Comment: That's fast .... and I am sure with time they will develop new robots that will be even faster.

Was Mars Stripped Of Its Protective Magnetic Field By A Huge Asteroid Impact

The Hellas basin on Mars was created by an asteroid impact so violent it left a crater as deep as Mount Everest is high - and deposited a layer of debris more than a mile thick around the crater

Was Mars Stripped Of Its Protective Magnetic Field By A Huge Asteroid Impact That Left THIS Crater As Deep As Mount Everest? -- Daily Mail

Four billion years ago, Mars had a magnetic field, just like Earth's - but something turned it off, leaving a barren planet totally exposed to the Sun's deadly radiation.

Now scientists have come up with a likely culprit - a huge asteroid impact which left a crater as deep as Mount Everest is high.

That impact, and four other 1500-mile-wide asteroids, had a catastrophic effect on hot rocks in and under Mars's surface - 'knocking out' the planet's magnetic field forever.

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What Happens As We Get To Absolute Zero

Why Can’t We Get Down To Absolute Zero? -- io9

What is Absolute Zero, and does it really exist anywhere in the universe? Could we ever reach Absolute Zero in real life?

There are all sorts of reasons to be curious about the limits of cold. Maybe you're an incredibly lame supervillain who uses the power of freezing, and you want to understand the extent of your powers. Or you're wondering if it would be possible to outrun a wave of cold. Either way, in this week's "Ask a Physicist" we'll explore the farthest limits of cold.

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Hackers Had 'Control' Of Nasa Computers

NASA said the loss of data did not affect the operations of the International Space Station

Hackers Had 'Full Functional Control' Of Nasa Computers -- BBC

Hackers gained "full functional control" of key Nasa computers in 2011, the agency's inspector general has told US lawmakers.

Paul K Martin said hackers took over Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) computers and "compromised the accounts of the most privileged JPL users".

He said the attack, involving Chinese IP addresses, was under investigation.

In a statement, Nasa said it had "made significant progress to protect the agency's IT systems".

Mr Martin's testimony on Nasa's cybersecurity was submitted to the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology's Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight.

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My Comment: This should never have happened.

Has Earth Always Had The Same Amount Of Water?

Researchers have examined 3.8 billion year old minerals from Greenland which are derived from the Earth’s primordial oceans in order to approximate the ancient water budget. (Credit: Image courtesy of University of Copenhagen)

The Blue Planet's New Water Budget: Do We Have Enough? -- Science Daily

ScienceDaily (Mar. 5, 2012) — Investigating the history of water on Earth is critical to understanding the planet's climate. One central question is whether Earth has always had the same amount of water on and surrounding it, the same so-called "water budget." Has Earth gained or lost water from comets and meteorites? Has water been lost into space? New research into Earth's primordial oceans conducted by researchers at the Natural History Museum of Denmark at the University of Copenhagen and Stanford University revisits Earth's historical water budget.

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The Hardest Movies To Turn Off Once You Start Watching Them

The Ten Hardest Movies To Turn Off Once You Start Watching Them -- PJ Media

I hereby provide my list of the Ten Hardest Movies to Turn Off Once You Start Watching Them. These may not be the best movies ever made — or they may be. But no matter where you come in on these films — no matter whether you intended to watch them or stumbled on them while lazily channel surfing — they grab you and won’t let you go. Or at least they grab me — which is more important, because I live here and you don’t.

Except for the first one — the most compulsively watchable film ever made — they’re not in any particular order. And any further suggestions will be welcomed and watched.

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My Comment: I totally agree with this list. And yes .... I love the movie HEAT.

Why Pot Smokers Forget

How Marijuana Makes You Forget -- Nature

Drug affects previously overlooked brain cells that have a crucial role in memory formation.

Researchers have discovered how marijuana disrupts short-term memory.

The drug impairs users’ working memory — the ability to retain and use information over short periods of time. Neuroscientists Giovanni Marsicano of the University of Bordeaux, France, and Xia Zhang of the University of Ottawa Institute of Mental Health Research now show that this common side effect occurs because of a previously unknown signalling mechanism between neurons and non-neuronal cells called astrocytes. Their work is published today in Cell1.

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My Comment: In short .... marijuana use has consequences. But will anyone listen .... hmmm .... I doubt it.

Find The U.S. Military's Hidden QR Codes

Find The Military's Hidden QR Codes And Rake In $40,000 -- MSNBC/Innovation

You'll likely need your social media networks for scavenger hunt contest already under way.

Got a smartphone? You can win up to $40,000 if you're first to find all of the U.S. military's special QR codes hidden across the continental United States. But the huge geographical scope of the contest means that people will probably need to turn to their social media networks to find all the codes.

There's a reason why the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) wants to watch code hunters collaborate on Facebook and Twitter. It planned out the " DARPA CLIQR Quest " as a real-life game to simulate how the public can help find essential resources during national emergencies — a very real concern for the military when responding to humanitarian crises or disasters such as the Haiti earthquake of 2010.

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Update: DARPA Launches QR-Locating Game As Test Of Distributed Resource Gathering -- Tech Crunch

My Comment: My prediction .... a winner will be announced very soon.

Oceans Acidifying At A Faster Rate Than At Any Time In The Last 300 Million Years

Will they survive? (Image: Reinhard Dirscherl/Waterframe/Getty Images)

Oceans Acidifying At Unprecedented Speed -- New Scientist

Humanity's greenhouse gas emissions may be acidifying the oceans at a faster rate than at any time in the last 300 million years. The sheer speed of change means we do not know how severe the consequences will be.

As well as warming the planet, carbon dioxide seeps into the oceans and forms carbonic acid. As a result the water becomes more acidic.

The pH is currently dropping by about 0.1 per century. This ocean acidification harms organisms such as corals that rely on dissolved carbonate to make their shells. It also disrupts behaviour in some animals.

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My Comment: This data is significant .... and scary to think about.

Meet Your New Robot Receptionist

Meet Your New Robot Receptionist, the DARPA ARM 'Bot -- Popular Science

Never worry about answering the phone or stapling documents again.

Bad news for long-term receptionists: DARPA's ARM (Autonomous Robotic Manipulation) robot can perform a whopping 18 different reception-ready tasks, from stapling to answering the phone to...turning on a lamp? Grasping things? Also it can't speak, or redirect calls, really, but it can drill a hole in a piece of wood, which I'm not entirely sure I can do, so it's an easy shoo-in for our incredibly prestigious Robot of the Week award. Congratulations! Watch the video after the jump.

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