The Rapid Rise Of China As A Space Power

A Delta II rocket launch. Photo: Air Force

China Now Tops U.S. in Space Launches -- Danger Room

For the first time ever, China has launched more rockets into orbit in a year than the U.S. In 2011, the Chinese sent 19 rockets into space. The U.S. sent just 18. Russia, the Walmart of space launches, fired off no fewer than 31 rockets.

The numbers, parsed in recent reports from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and the nonprofit Space Foundation, might seem to herald America’s orbital decline relative to its most bitter rival. In terms of sheer numbers of rocket launches, China has been steadily catching up to America for several years. In 2010, China fired off 15 rockets, matching the U.S. for the first time.

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My Comment: The trend is for China to surpass even Russia within the next 5-10 years.

Here Comes The Robot Subs

The Navy will send a robotic sub -- shown here as a model -- to hunt buried mines. Photo: Spencer Ackerman/Wired

Navy Will Give Nearsighted Minehunter Robotic Glasses -- Danger Room

The Navy is building a fleet of mine-hunting ships that investigators say aren’t all that hot at finding mines. So in the coming years, those ships are going to get drone supplements to dive deep below the sea to spot the underwater weapons. Think of ‘em as pairs of robotic glasses.

This is a scale model of the Navy’s newest drone sub, called the Knifefish. Manufactured by General Dynamics, the Navy unveiled it for the first time on Monday at its annual Sea Air Space convention just outside Washington, D.C.

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My Comment: The US Navy is bit late in the drone revolution ... but it appears that they are catching up very quickly.

The Cost Of Britain's Bee Decline

Under threat: Numbers of honeybees in managed hives have fallen by half since the 1980s and wild honeybees are nearly extinct

The Honey Trap: How The Demise Of Britain's Bees Could Cost Us £1.8billion A Year -- Daily Mail

Losing bees would cost Britain £1.8bn to foot the costs of hand-pollinating plants, a study has found.

Researchers at the University of Reading say the decline in their numbers would be disastrous for crops and drive up food prices.

Simon Potts, professor of biodiversity, and his team tested teams hand-pollinating all Britain’s major crops.

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My Comment: £1.8bn is a lot of money.

The Only Man In The World Who Can Swim With A Polar Bear

My Comment: I wonder what the neighbors are thinking. For more info, go here.

The First Prostate Cancer Vaccine Could Be A Step Away From Human Trials

The treatment, developed by Bavarian-Nordic Immunotherapeutics, is aimed at men with advanced prostate cancer which cannot be cured by castration and for whom treatment options are very limited. Photo: ALAMY

Prostate Cancer Vaccine Uses DNA To Fight Disease -- The Telegraph

The first prostate cancer vaccine could be a step away after ministers gave their approval for a human trial of a new genetically modified therapy.

The treatment, which uses viruses carrying human DNA to direct the body's natural defences against cancer cells, is the first prostate cancer vaccine ever to reach late stage “phase three” trials in Europe.

No vaccines have yet been approved in Britain to treat any type of cancer, and scientists believe it could not only double the survival rate of prostate cancer sufferers but give way to a new range of similar treatments for other tumour types.

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My Comment: faster please.

Using Iceland's Volcanoes For Britain's Energy Needs

Britain Could Be Powered By Icelandic Volcanoes -- The Telegraph

Britain could become powered by Icelandic volcanoes as the government looks abroad for a solution to its green energy problem.

Charles Hendry, the energy minister, will visit the country next month to discuss a possible deal to harvest low-carbon energy from the natural geothermal energy of Iceland's volcanoes.

The arrangement would involve laying the longest high-voltage cable in the world across hundreds of miles of ocean floor between Britain and Iceland.

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My Comment:On paper it looks promising .... is it technically feasible .... we shall see.

New iPad Mini Rumor

(Credit: CNET)

New iPad Mini Rumor: 6M Coming In Third Quarter -- CNET

The latest comes by way of a translated report from Chinese online portal Netease, which states the device will compete against Windows 8 tablets.

Another day, another iPad Mini rumor.

The latest comes by way of a report from Chinese portal Netease, translated by Kotaku, which states that a smaller version of Apple's hit tablet will come to market in the third quarter.

The report says that 6 million units will be ready for launch, and the smaller tablet could sell for $249 to $299.

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My Comment: Too small for me to read.

Instagram's Popularity Increases With Facebook Acquisition

Instagram, seen here on an Android phone, has proved extremely popular among users of the Google mobile platform. Reuters

Instagram Gives Facebook 5 Million Reasons To Love Recent Acquisition -- Christian Science Monitor

The new Android app from Instagram, which was recently gobbled up by Facebook, has racked up 5 million downloads.

Earlier this week, Facebook announced the acquisition of photo-sharing hub Instagram. The price tag? A reported $1 billion in stock options and cash, a hefty chunk of change even for a company that could soon be valued at $100 billion.

In a message to users, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg maintained that although Facebook and Instagram offered very "different experiences, that the two platforms would "complement each other."

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Oracle And Google's Android Copyright Suit Begins

Larry Ellison's Oracle bought Sun Microsystems 14 years after it first released Java

Oracle And Google's Android Copyright Row Trial Begins -- BBC

Oracle's claim that Google violated several of its patents and copyrights goes to trial in a San Francisco court on Monday.

It is one of the biggest such tech lawsuits to date. Oracle is claiming about $1bn (£630m) in compensation.

The Java developer claims Google's Android system infringes intellectual property rights relating to the programming language.

Software engineers warn the case could set a worrying precedent.

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My Comment: Oracle feels confident about this case .... but we shall see.

Artificial Photosynthesis Breakthrough

Grass. Scientists have imitated natural photosynthesis and created a record-fast molecular catalyzer. (Credit: © Nejron Photo / Fotolia)

Artificial Photosynthesis Breakthrough: Fast Molecular Catalyzer -- Science Daily

ScienceDaily (Apr. 12, 2012) — Researchers from the Department of Chemistry at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm, Sweden, have managed to construct a molecular catalyzer that can oxidize water to oxygen very rapidly. In fact, these KTH scientists are the first to reach speeds approximating those is nature's own photosynthesis. The research findings play a critical role for the future use of solar energy and other renewable energy sources.

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My Comment: This has the potential of being big.

A Genetic Link To Memory

Scientists have advanced understanding of the genetic components of Alzheimer's disease and of brain development. (Credit: © adimas / Fotolia)

Memory In Adults Impacted By Versions Of Four Genes -- Science Daily

ScienceDaily (Apr. 15, 2012) — Two research studies, co-led by UC Davis neurologist Charles DeCarli and conducted by an international team that included more than 80 scientists at 71 institutions in eight countries, has advanced understanding of the genetic components of Alzheimer's disease and of brain development. Both studies appear in the April 15 edition of the journal Nature Genetics.

The first study, based on a genetic analysis of more than 9,000 people, has found that certain versions of four genes may speed shrinkage of a brain region involved in making new memories. The brain area, known as the hippocampus, normally shrinks with age, but if the process speeds up, it could increase vulnerability to Alzheimer's disease, the research suggests.

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My Comment: I am approaching that age where memory is becoming an issue .... so faster please.

A Genetic Link Between Brains And Intelligence

In studying a gene that drives cell growth, Project ENIGMA scientists found a variant that boosted gene expression levels (shown as colored dots), which also enlarged the brain's memory centers (shaded in green). CREDIT: UCLA Laboratory of Neuro Imaging

Specific Genes Linked To Big Brains and Intelligence -- Live Science

Brain size and smarts are, to some extent, genetic — and now, a team of more than 200 researchers has uncovered specific genes that are linked to both brain volume and IQ.

Though scientists have suggested bigger brains are "smarter," this study is the strongest case yet for a genetic connection to brain size and to IQ. Of course, brain size is not 100 percent correlated with a person's intelligence, and other factors, including connections between brain cells and even a person's experiences, play roles.

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My Comment: Hmmmm .... bigger brain .... greater intelligence.

Latest Advancements To The Military Robot (And Family) Designed To Replicate A Human

Climbing Stairs And Push Ups: The Latest Advancements To The Military Robot (And Family) Designed To Replicate A Human -- Daily Mail

What could be more intimidating than a military-crafted robot? How about one that can walk on two legs and in its latest advancement, do push ups and climb stairs?

With funding by the US Department of Defense's Advanced Research Project Agency the walking two-legged PETMAN humanoid robot has been advanced to do just that - and quite possibly faster than many Americans can, while certainly not expressing their fatigue.

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Vatican And Oxford Libraries Announce Joint Digital Conversion Of Some Manuscripts, Books

The "Historia naturalis" [Italian] Historia naturale (Venice Nicolaus Jenson, 1476) is one of the items to be digitized during the collaboration of the Bodleian Libraries and the Vatican. Courtesy Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford / MCT

Vatican And Oxford Libraries Announce Joint Digital Conversion Of Some Manuscripts, Books -- McClatchy News

WASHINGTON — More world literature just got its door kicked open digitally. For the first time scholars will be able to compare material kept in the separate collections for centuries.

The Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana and the Bodleian Libraries of the University of Oxford have announced a 4-year project to convert some of their important holdings into digital form for all to see — even if readers can’t understand the Medieval Latin, ancient Greek or Hebrew the documents are written in.

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My Comment: The y are finally getting onto the band-wagon when it comes to digital libraries .... a few years late.

Building A Supercomputer That Will Simulate The Entire Mind

(Click on Image to Enlarge)

Scientists To Build 'Human Brain': Supercomputer Will Simulate The Entire Mind And Will Help Fight Against Brain Diseases -- Daily Mail

* The 'brain' will take 12 years to build
* It will feature thousands of three-dimensional images built around a semi-circular 'cockpit'

The human brain’s power could rival any machine. And now scientists are trying to build one using the world’s most powerful computer.

It is intended to combine all the information so far uncovered about its mysterious workings - and replicate them on a screen, right down to the level of individual cells and molecules.

If it works it could be revolutionary for understanding devastating neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, and even shedding light into how we think, and make decisions.

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My Comment: 12 years to build .... hmmmm .... faster please.

Yahoo Mulls Plan To Put ADVERTS In eBooks

Birds Eye Fish Fingers: Could nautically themed books be 'brought to you' by brands such as Birds Eye?

Moby Dick (Brought To You By Cap'n Birdseye): Yahoo Mulls Plan To Put ADVERTS In eBooks -- Dialy Mail

* Video ads WITHIN text of books
* Words could even be inserted into text of novels
( Two patent applications submitted in U.S. last week

Yahoo is investigating plans to put adverts inside ebooks on devices such as Amazon's Kindle or Apple's iPad.

The idea could lead to increased product placement on modern novels - or books offered for free in exchange for adverts within the text.

Adverts could range from simple sponsorship - 'Oliver Twist is brought to you by Scots Porage Oats', to videos within the text.

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My Comment: Smart .... very smart. This is a cool war for online libraries to make money on their products.

Web Freedom May Be A Thing Of The Past

Web Freedom Faces Greatest Threat Ever, Warns Google's Sergey Brin -- The Guardian

Exclusive: Threats range from governments trying to control citizens to the rise of Facebook and Apple-style 'walled gardens'.

The principles of openness and universal access that underpinned the creation of the internet three decades ago are under greater threat than ever, according to Google co-founder Sergey Brin.

In an interview with the Guardian, Brin warned there were "very powerful forces that have lined up against the open internet on all sides and around the world". "I am more worried than I have been in the past," he said. "It's scary."

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My Comment: He is right, and the push to limit the freedoms that we enjoy on the internet are expanding.

The World's Internet Powerhouse Is Estonia

How Tiny Estonia Stepped Out Of USSR's Shadow To Become An Internet Titan -- The Guardian

The European country where Skype was born made a conscious decision to embrace the web after shaking off Soviet shackles.

In 1995, four years after Estonia broke free from the USSR, Toomas Hendrik Ilves read a "very Luddite" book by Jeremy Rifkin called The End of Work. "It argued that with greater computerisation there would be fewer jobs," remembered Ilves, then a senior diplomat, now the country's president, "which from his point of view was terrible."

Ilves and many of his colleagues saw it differently. In a tiny (population: 1.4 million) and newly independent country like Estonia, politicians realised computers could help quickly compensate for both a minuscule workforce and a chronic lack of physical infrastructure.

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My Comment: They may have a dominant position now .... but threats to the internet as we know it may change this.

Israel's Other Temple

Graphic: The land of the Samaritans and the Jews.

Israel's Other Temple: Research Reveals Ancient Struggle Over Holy Land Supremacy -- Spiegel Online

The Jews had significant competition in antiquity when it came to worshipping Yahweh. Archeologists have discovered a second great temple not far from Jerusalem that predates its better known cousin. It belonged to the Samaritans, and may have been edited out of the Bible once the rivalry had been decided.

Clad in gray coat, Aharon ben Ab-Chisda ben Yaacob, 85, is sitting in the dim light of his house. He strikes up a throaty chant, a litany in ancient Hebrew. He has a full beard and is wearing a red kippah on his head.

The man is a high priest -- and his family tree goes back 132 generations. He says: "I am a direct descendent of Aaron, the brother of the prophet Moses" -- who lived perhaps over 3,000 years ago.

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My Comment: This proves once again how old and ancient the biblical lands are.

Did China Just Test A "Kill-Switch" For The Internet?

Image source: Kai Hendry/Flickr.com.

China’s Mysterious Internet Outage; Speculation Over A ‘Kill Switch’ -- ZDNeT

Summary: Temporary blackouts leave China’s Internet users unable to access many Chinese Web sites as well as other unblocked foreign sites. Chinese Telecoms deny any network issues.

At approximately 11am local time yesterday, Internet users around China reported significant Internet blackouts. Not only were they unable to access some Chinese sites, but also many foreign Web sites that had not previously been blocked.

The issue was not isolated to China. Web users in Hong Kong and Japan also reported issues with accessing Chinese sites. A number of explanations immediately came to light, with the most viable cause being the 8.7 magnitude earthquake in Indonesia on Wednesday, that might have damaged undersea cables.

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More News On The Internet Outage In China

New Clarity on China Internet Outage -- Wall Street Journal
Strange Internet Rumblings Coming From China -- Tech News World
Rumors Are Circulating About China's Internet 'Kill Switch' -- Business Insider
Chinese Internet Outage Raises Questions -- Epoch Times

My Comment: The manner and progression in which the internet was cut reminds me of how both Iran and Egypt cut their internet during the height of their uprisings. This was a Chinese kill-switch test .... and yes .... it was successful.