Why Did Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle Test Failed?

An artist's rendering of the Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2. (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency / April 20, 2012)

Pentagon Releases Results Of 13,000-Mph Test Flight Over Pacific -- L.A. Times

The results are in from last summer’s attempt to test new technology that would provide the Pentagon with a lightning-fast vehicle, capable of delivering a military strike anywhere in the world in less than an hour.

In August the Pentagon's research arm, known as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, carried out a test flight of an experimental aircraft capable of traveling at 20 times the speed of sound.

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Update: DARPA releases cause of hypersonic glider anomaly -- AP

My Comment: Now we know why the test failed .... but with no money in the budget for additional tests, it looks like this research is going to be put on hold for now.

iPhone 5 Rumors

Apple iPhone 5 'To Be Cased In Liquidmetal' -- The Telegraph

Apple’s next iPhone will be cased in ‘Liquidmetal’, according to reports.

The iPhone 5, likely to be released later this year, is expected to be cased in a ‘metallic glass’, otherwise known as Liquidmetal, says a Korean news outlet citing ‘industry sources’.

The case is expected to be 20 times stronger than the current encasement. According to The Register, ‘metallic glass is a metal alloy, but one with the disordered structure of glass’. The material has been around since the 1990s, but since a new breakthrough in ‘superspeed pulse mould technology’, this type of glass, which is as tough as metal, can now be used for phone casings.

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Mining The Asteroids

Sean Connery in 1981's 'Outland,' a British thriller that takes place at a mining colony on a Jupiter moon. Warner Bros. Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection

A Quixotic Quest to Mine Asteroids -- Wall Street Journal

A new company backed by two Google Inc. GOOG -0.54% billionaires, film director James Cameron and other space exploration proponents is aiming high in the hunt for natural resources—with mining asteroids the possible target.

The venture, called Planetary Resources Inc., revealed little in a press release this week except to say that it would "overlay two critical sectors—space exploration and natural resources—to add trillions of dollars to the global GDP" and "help ensure humanity's prosperity." The company is formally unveiling its plans at an event Tuesday in Seattle.

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My Comment: There is only one problem with this plan on mining the asteroids .... it's how will we get there.

Sweden's Stonehedge

Could this megalithic structure, known as Ales Stenar, be much older than we thought? Getty images

Swedish Stonehenge? Stone Structure Spurs Debate -- Discovery News

A series of 59 boulders placed at a seaside cliff in Sweden might represent Stonehenge's "sister" site.

* An ancient stone structure in Sweden may be 1,500 years older than previously thought.
* New analysis suggests the stones represent an ancient astronomical calendar.
* Some researchers argue the stones were placed with the same underlying geometry of Stonehenge.

Ancient Scandinavians dragged 59 boulders to a seaside cliff near what is now the Swedish fishing village of Kåseberga. They carefully arranged the massive stones -- each weighing up to 4,000 pounds (1,800 kilograms) -- in the outline of a 220-foot-long (67-meter) ship overlooking the Baltic Sea.

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Some Facts On The U.S. Secret Service

Secret Service agents surround President Barack Obama during a visit to the Port of Tampa on April 13. Getty

Decoding The Secret Service -- Discovery News

Why football players make for good recruits and other facts about these secret protectors, now facing a prostitution scandal.

* Some Secret Service agents are involved in a prostitution scandal in Colombia.
* It’s a long road from Secret Service recruit to Presidential protection, and most agents never get close to the President.
* Agents work long hours with lots of travel, and divorce rates are high.

A recent scandal involving Colombian prostitutes and the Secret Service has drawn new attention to an agency that has long been shrouded in mystery and dominated by romantic images of sculpted men wearing sunglasses and earpieces.

While investigations into the late-night carousing continue, the scandal offers an opportunity to look inside the very secret organization.

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'Huge' Water Resource Exists Under Africa

'Huge' Water Resource Exists Under Africa -- BBC

Scientists say the notoriously dry continent of Africa is sitting on a vast reservoir of groundwater.

They argue that the total volume of water in aquifers underground is 100 times the amount found on the surface.

The team have produced the most detailed map yet of the scale and potential of this hidden resource.

Writing in the journal Environmental Research Letters, they stress that large scale drilling might not be the best way of increasing water supplies.

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Pentagon And State Support Lifting Some Controls On U.S. Satellite Exports

The Star Fighters -- Washington Free Beacon

Administration report warns that loosening exports on space technology could boost China’s space warfare capabilities.

China is building space weapons designed to defeat U.S. and allied long-range missiles, and U.S. plans to loosen controls on satellite exports likely will boost Beijing’s space warfare programs, according to a Obama administration report made public on Wednesday.

The report warned that if the U.S. government relaxes controls on satellite exports and related items, “China would purchase and acquire more of these items, and in turn, further reduce the technological edge of the United States’ and its allies’ space assets,” the report said.

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Update: DoD, State Want Easier Satellite Exports; PRC Still Banned From Launching US Birds -- Aol Defense

My Comment: My prediction .... the White House will proceed with lifting the many controls that are in place to limit critical technology transfers .... and then a a few years from now .... we will be writing and reading stories on how did China get access to US space tech and info.

Amozon's Cloud Uses 1% Of The Internet

An Amazon data center in Sterling, Virginia. Photo: Eric Hunsaker/Flickr

Amazon’s Secretive Cloud Carries 1 Percent Of The Internet -- Wired Enterprise

Amazon’s cloud computing infrastructure is growing so fast that it’s silently becoming a core piece of the internet.

That’s according to an analysis done by DeepField Networks, a start-up that number-crunched several weeks’ worth of anonymous network traffic provided by internet service providers, mainly in North America.

They found that one-third of the several million users in the study visited a website that uses Amazon’s infrastructure each day.

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Better Hair Transplants On The Horizon?

Bioengineered follicles can grow hair (as seen on the mouse’s head) when transplanted into normally hairless mice, a new study shows. Takashi Tsuji/Tokyo University of Science

Engineering Better Hair Transplants -- Science News

Cell-based approach to new follicles takes hold in skin.

A hair-raising trick may lead to better hair transplants. Engineered hair follicles patched into skin can be coaxed to connect to surrounding tissue and to grow hair in an organized way, a study in mice finds.

Unlike current hair transplant methods, which simply move existing hair follicles from one area of the scalp to another to cover a bald region, the approach would spur the creation of new hair follicles from existing cells.

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My Comment: Being one who has been losing his hair for a while .... faster please.

Where Do Brain Waves Come From?

Pablo Picasso Photo: REX FEATURES

Where Do Brain Waves Come From?: Extract From Jonah Lehrer's Imagine -- The Telegraph

From surfing backwards to improvising a complex song, Jonah Lehrer explains why creativity lies within us all - and the fascinating science that can help us access it.

The search for emotion shapes the way the virtuoso classical cellist Yo-Yo Ma approaches every concert. He doesn’t begin by analysing his part or by glancing at what the violins are supposed to play. Instead, he reviews the complete score, searching for the larger story. “I always look at a piece of music like a detective novel,” Ma says. “Maybe the novel is about a murder. Well, who committed the murder? Why did he do it? My job is to retrace the story so that the audience feels the suspense. So that when the climax comes, they’re right there with me. It’s all about making people care about what happens next.”

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Who Laid These Eggs?

Eggs-traordinary: A man looks at one of the dinosaur eggs, which number around 40 so far

Eggs-Traordinary: 40 Gigantic dinosaur Eggs Dating Back 60Million Years Found In Chechnya - but What Laid Them Is A Mystery -- Daily Mail

* The eggs are between 25cm and a metre in height

Geologists in Russia's volatile Chechnya region have discovered what they believe to be fossilised dinosaur eggs laid by one of the huge extinct reptiles that roamed the Earth more than 60million years ago.

'We've found about 40 eggs so far, the exact number has not been established,’ said Said-Emin Dzhabrailov, a geologist at the Chechen State University.

‘There could be many more lying under the ground.’

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My Comment: Wow .... these dinosaurs must have been huge .... correction .... super huge.

Robot Prostitutes?

Photo: SEX TOURISM: Are sex robots the future, like in Steven Spielberg's AI Artificial Intelligence?

Robot Prostitutes 'The Future Of Sex Tourism' -- Sydney Morning Herald

The future of sex tourism lies in robot prostitutes, two New Zealand researchers have theorised.

Management professor Ian Yeoman, a futurist with an interest in tourism, and sexologist Michelle Mars from Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand, have looked to how red light districts might operate in the year 2050.

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My Comment: Probably a discount will be involved (for the robots).

Nissan Unleashes 'BatMobile' DeltaWing Concept Car

This is the dramatic moment Nissan unleashed its flame-throwing 'Batmobile' in Europe for the first time

Like A Bat Out Of Hell: Nissan Unleashes 'BatMobile' DeltaWing Concept Car For Fire-Breathing Test Drive -- Daily Mail

Flames belched from the exhausts of Nissan's DeltaWing as it blasted round Norfolk's Snetterton race track on its first test drive.

The Deltawing is a revolutionary vehicle many have likened to the BatMobile.

The ultra-aerodynamic prototype will race at Le Mans this year and could change motorsport forever, its creators believe.

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My Comment: Definitely something that Batman would drive.

One Day Cellphones Will Be Able To See Through Walls

Dr. Kenneth O, director of the Texas Analog Center of Excellence and a professor of electrical engineering, left, worked with a team including Dae Yeon Kim, who was among the authors of the research report. (Credit: Image courtesy of University of Texas at Dallas)

New Research Could Mean Cellphones That Can See Through Walls -- Science Daily

ScienceDaily (Apr. 18, 2012) — Comic book hero superpowers may be one step closer to reality after the latest technological feats made by researchers at UT Dallas. They have designed an imager chip that could turn mobile phones into devices that can see through walls, wood, plastics, paper and other objects.

The team's research linked two scientific advances. One involves tapping into an unused range in the electromagnetic spectrum. The other is a new microchip technology.

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Publishing World Struggles To Adapt To New Lines

London Book Fair: Publishing World Struggles To Adapt To New Lines -- The Guardian

The partying goes on at Earl's Court, but new formats and self-publishing are changing the industry

The trays of free wine and boastful talk of six-figure deals struck at dinner parties might seem to some like the last days of decadence for a publishing world in denial about the digital storm clouds gathering overhead.

But in the main hall of Earl's Court, hundreds of publishers gathered for the 41st London Book Fair have been showing stands of lovely new books as editors meet agents and foreign publishers keen to buy unpublished books, sell foreign rights, and relentlessly talk up their new titles.

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My Comment: A sobering analysis that the hardcover book is the way of the dinosaur.

Deformities in Gulf Seafood Found After BP Oil Spill

Gulf Seafood Deformities Alarm Scientists -- Al Jazeera

Eyeless shrimp and fish with lesions are becoming common, with BP oil pollution believed to be the likely cause.

New Orleans, LA - "The fishermen have never seen anything like this," Dr Jim Cowan told Al Jazeera. "And in my 20 years working on red snapper, looking at somewhere between 20 and 30,000 fish, I've never seen anything like this either."

Dr Cowan, with Louisiana State University's Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences started hearing about fish with sores and lesions from fishermen in November 2010.

Cowan's findings replicate those of others living along vast areas of the Gulf Coast that have been impacted by BP's oil and dispersants.

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My Comment: To say that this is disturbing is an understatement.

Avian Flu Paper On Mutant-Flu Research To Be Published

Dutch authorities say work on an avian flu virus that is transmissible between mammals cannot be published without an export permit. MEDICAL RF.COM/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Mutant-Flu Researcher Plans To Publish Even Without Permission -- Nature

Virologist plans to defy Dutch government over export permit requirement for avian flu paper.

Ron Fouchier, a researcher at the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, whose work on H5N1 avian flu virus has been at the centre of controversy, says that he is prepared to defy government demands and submit the work to Science without seeking the export permit that the Dutch government says is required.

A government official says that such an action could incur penalties including up to six years' imprisonment.

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My Comment: Pandora's Box is now open.

5 Horrifying Facts You Didn't Know About the Space Shuttle

The space shuttle Discovery attached to its 747 transport aircraft passes over Washington, D.C., April 17, 2012. The shuttle will become an exhibit at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. The Discovery, along with the rest of the shuttle fleet, has been retired from active service after 32 years of operations. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Jason M. Graham

5 Horrifying Facts You Didn't Know About the Space Shuttle -- Forbes

Criticizing the Space Shuttle is like punching America in the face. After all, it’s been a symbol of national pride for thirty years. But many of my friends and I are celebrating yesterday’s piggy-backed final flight of the Space Shuttle Discovery to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum…because a museum is where the shuttle belongs.

Yes, the Shuttle deserves a tip of the hat—after all, it took us to the final frontier. But as the former editor of the Space Future Journal, a website dedicated to space tourism, I’ve met people who are as enthusiastic about average citizens, not trained astronauts, visiting space as I am. And we know the Shuttle wasn’t the vehicle to take us there.

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My Comment: Details details details ....

Steve Jobs Was Designing His Own Superyacht

Steve Jobs’s Unfinished Luxury Feadship Superyacht -- CEO.com

Updated: What is French designer Philippe Starck working on for Apple? Prior to his death, Apple CEO Steve Jobs was working with Starck on a yacht. And this is very likely the “fairly, if not very, revolutionary” project he was talking about. To be built by luxury superyacht builder Feadship, the yacht is believed to have a very minimalist and sleek design with a main feature being 40 foot long glass walls. And Starck has been involved in its design.

Mentioned in the New York Times from Walter Isaacson’s new biography of Steve Jobs, which was released last Monday, the late Apple leader was working on creating his very own Feadship superyacht. Jobs didn’t like the normal yacht designs so he decide to design it himself, not a surprise, creating a super luxurious yacht to rival his good friend and fellow yachtsman Larry Ellison.

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Update: Steve Jobs Was Designing His Own Luxury Superyacht -- Complex Rides

My Comment: It would definitely be one of a kind.

Porn Will "Shut Down" Your Brain

Watching explicit films has some surprising effects on brain activity.
CREDIT: Petr Malyshev, Shutterstock

Porn May 'Shut Down' Part of Your Brain -- Live Science

Watching pornography would seem to be a vision-intensive task. But new research finds that looking at erotic movies can actually quiet the part of the brain that processes visual stimuli.

Most of the time, watching movies or conducting any other visual task sends extra blood flow to this brain region. Not so when the movies are explicit, the researchers found. Instead, the brain seems to shunt blood — and therefore energy — elsewhere, perhaps to regions of the brain responsible for sexual arousal.

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My Comment: No comment.