Giant Sunspot Shooting Out Intense, X-Class Solar Flare Detected

Solar Dynamics Observatory satellite image of solar flare (NASA)

Giant Sunspot Shoots Out Intense, X-Class Solar Flare -- Washington Post

UPDATE, 3:30 p.m.: NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) just posted the following:

The R3 (Strong) Radio Blackout today at 12:49 EDT (1649 UTC) was accompanied by an earth-directed CME. Hampered by limited observations of the event, SWPC forecasters are now anticipating the passage of the [coronal mass ejection] around 1:00 a.m. EDT, Saturday, July 14. G1 (minor) Geomagnetic Storm activity is expected to then ensue through the rest of the day.

In short, NOAA is predicting minor effects from this space weather event - no major impacts on the power grid or satellites anticipated - although we remind you forecasting space weather is difficult and surprises are possible. Sky watchers in northern U.S. (and high latitudes) may have an opportunity to see aurora late Friday night into early Saturday morning.

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Your Facebook Chats Are Not Private

Facebook Monitors Your Chats for Criminal Activity -- Mashable

Facebook and other social platforms are watching users’ chats for criminal activity and notifying police if any suspicious behavior is detected, according to a report.

The screening process begins with scanning software that monitors chats for words or phrases that signal something might be amiss, such as an exchange of personal information or vulgar language.

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My Comment: Should not be surprised by this news. Our online activity is monitored for advertising purposes .... so for law-enforcement and Facebook .... the technology is already there for them to use.

Cybercom Commander: Destructive Cyber Attacks Are Coming

National Security Agency Director Gen. Keith Alexander (Reuters/Larry Downing)

Cyber War -- Washington Free Beacon

Cybercom chief: Destructive cyber attacks are coming

The commander of the military’s new U.S. Cyber Command said digital attacks are evolving from disrupting network functions to destructive strikes.

Army Gen. Keith Alexander, the Cybercom commander who is also head of the National Security Agency electronic spy service, said current forms of attack emanate from nation states, criminals, hackers, and others, and mainly disrupt temporarily the work of computer networks and systems.

“What I am concerned about and what I think we really need to be concerned about is when these transition from disruptive to destructive attacks, and I think those are coming,” Alexander said during remarks Monday to the American Enterprise Institute.

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More News On Warnings From The Cybercom Commander On Future Cyber Attacks

Cyber chief warns of rising danger from cyber attacks -- CNN
NSA General on Cyberattacks: 'Probability for a Crisis Is Mounting' -- US News and World Report
US must adopt cyberattack law, says NSA chief -- The Telegraph
Cyber Command chief urges action on information-sharing legislation -- The Hill
Cybersecurity Chief Urges Action by Congress -- ABC News/AP
Legislative action needed now on cybersecurity, says US cyber chief -- Defense Systems
Cyber command chief urges greater role for agencies in infrastructure protection -- Stars and Stripes
Cybersecurity Law Is No Threat To Privacy: NSA Chief Gen. Alexander -- Aol Defense
US NSA chief backs cybersecurity law -- AFP
NSA Chief Says Spy Agency Does Not Read Private Email -- The New American
US Needs Cyber Defense From China, General Says -- Epoch Times
Pentagon cyber chief downplays NSA email snooping; says attack is 'coming our way' -- RT
NSA chief discusses challenges, opportunities of cyberworld -- US Air Force

The Next Holy Grail For Physics

(Click on Image to Enlarge)

The Next Holy Grail For Physics: Finding The Anti-World -- Spiegel Online

The apparent discovery of the Higgs boson was hailed as a historic milestone, but for particle physicists it mainly marks the beginning of a new search. Rival teams at CERN in Switzerland are trying to decipher the secrets of antimatter. If they succeed, the laws of physics will have to be rewritten.

Sheep are grazing to the left of the gate to the anti-world. On the right-hand side, a pair of rust-brown steel bottles is waiting to be picked up. A sign warns: "Caution. Radiation!" Another sign prohibits the use of bicycles.

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The Sexiest Car On The Planet?

It's Official: The Aston Martin Virage Is The Sexiest Car On The Planet - -Business Insider

We spent an entire weekend cruising around in a 2012 Aston Martin Virage Volante. The verdict?

This Aston Martin drop top convertible is hands-down the sexiest car we've ever driven. It looks, sounds, and feels great – not to mention it's also a frickin' Aston Martin.

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Editor: The full review of the car is here.

Strategies For Farming In A Changing Planet

Better Seeds. David Arky

Strategies For A Changing Planet: Farming -- Popular Science

Wheat, rice and corn provide 60 percent of the world's calories -- here's how to prepare them for the future

Climate change is already happening, and it's time to get ready. Here's how we could adjust our most basic needs--food, water, shelter--to survive.

The biggest challenge in preparing crops for climate change is knowing what to prepare them for. Even within agricultural regions, the effects of global warming will vary.

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My Comment: Was not aware that wheat, rice and corn provide 60 percent of the world's calories.

US Declares The Largest Natural Disaster Area Ever Due To Severe Drought

U.S. Declares Drought-Stricken States Largest Natural Disaster Area Ever -- The Lookout/Yahoo News

The United States Department of Agriculture has declared natural disaster areas in more than 1,000 counties and 26 drought-stricken states, making it the largest natural disaster in America ever.

The declaration—which covers roughly half of the country—gives farmers and ranchers devastated by drought access to federal aid, including low-interest emergency loans.

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More News On The US Declaring The Largest Natural Disaster Area Ever Due To Severe Drought

Disaster Declared in 26 States as Drought Sears U.S. -- Bloomberg
U.S. Declares the Largest Natural Disaster Area Ever Due to Drought -- The Atlantic
USDA Declares Biggest Disaster Ever -- Newser

My Comment: This will not only mean higher food prices in the U.S., but also higher prices worldwide. In a world where even small swings in the price of food commodities an bring about disaster, one can then only expect a future of even more unrest and suffering in regions that are dependent on this food aid and assistance.

New Pluto Moon Discovered By The Hubble Space Telescope

Image Credit: NASA, ESA and M. Showaler (SETI Institute)

New Pluto Moon Discovered -- Red Orbit

Scientists announced on Wednesday they have discovered the smallest moon yet, orbiting around the dwarf planet Pluto.

The discovery was made by a team of scientists who used the Hubble Space Telescope to scout out Pluto’s neighborhood ahead of a NASA spacecraft that is scheduled to arrive in 2015.

The new moon, known as P5 currently, appeared as a small fleck in the Hubble images, and scientists believe it is about 6 to 15 miles across.

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My Comment: Incredible. This new moon is only 6 - 15 miles across .... but it can still be spotted by the Hubble telescope.

Tree-Rings Prove Climate Was WARMER In Roman And Medieval Times Than It Is Now

Global cooling: It is the first time that researchers have been able to accurately measure trends in global temperature over the last two millennia

Tree-Rings Prove Climate Was WARMER In Roman And Medieval Times Than It Is Now - And World Has Been Cooling For 2,000 Years -- Daily Mail

* Study of semi-fossilised trees gives accurate climate reading back to 138BC
* World was warmer in Roman and Medieval times than it is now

How did the Romans grow grapes in northern England? Perhaps because it was warmer than we thought.

A study suggests the Britain of 2,000 years ago experienced a lengthy period of hotter summers than today.

German researchers used data from tree rings – a key indicator of past climate – to claim the world has been on a ‘long-term cooling trend’ for two millennia until the global warming of the twentieth century.

This cooling was punctuated by a couple of warm spells.

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My Comment: More fuel to the climate warming debate.

Truvada Drug Trials Signal 'Turning Point' In The Battle Against AIDS

Truvada Drug Trials Signal 'Turning Point' In AIDS Epidemic -- USA Today

A trio of new studies highlights the promise and challenges of preventing the spread of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS: Giving anti-AIDS drugs to healthy but high-risk patients can dramatically reduce the risk of infection.

Two studies from Africa in heterosexual patients found that the drugs reduced the rate of HIV infection by 62% to 75%, a success rate that's comparable to results from studies of gay men, according to research in today's New England Journal of Medicine. A third study in African women at high risk of infection, however, was ended early after researchers saw the drugs had no effect on HIV rates, largely because fewer than 40% of study participants took their pills as instructed.

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My Comment: Say what they want .... the battle against AIDS is a long battle that will years (if ever) to succeed.

Could Wine Reduce The Chance Of Arthritis by half?

Drink up: Women who drink three glasses of wine a week could be halving their risk of arthritis

Three Glasses Of Wine A Week Could Reduce Chance Of Arthritis By Half -- Daily Mail

* Around 400,000 Britons are affected by rheumatoid arthritis and the majority are women, aged 40 to 70

The next time someone offers you a glass of wine, be grateful – it could save you from the agony of arthritis.

Women who indulge in moderate drinking halve the risk of certain forms of the illness, researchers have found.

Swedish academics found that women who drank at least three medium-sized glasses of wine a week - or the equivalent in beer or spirits - were up to 52 per cent less likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis.

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My Comment: I will drink to that.

Was This Mercedes Hitler's Car?

The owner of an auto repair shop in New Jersey believed this 1942 Mercedes once belonged to Adolf Hitler. It did not. But it did belong to a Nazi general. Christopher Gregory/The New York Times

N.J. Car Dealer: Mercedes Bought Online Was "Hitler's Car" -- CBS News

(CBS News) EDGEWATER, N.J. - An auto repair shop owner was shocked to find out that a Mercedes-Benz he purchased over the Internet for a customer has strong ties to Adolf Hitler.

"He was surprised," Zenop Tuncer, owner of Euro Tech Motors, told CBSNews.com in recalling his conversation with the customer. "We were all surprised!"

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Update: It is not Hitler's 'car'.

How New Scanners Will Revolutionize Security And Warfare

Cutting the queues: The laser scanners will be ten million faster than existing security scanning technology, which would presumably shorten lines at airports but also cause privacy issues

Homeland Security Buys 'Big Brother' Laser Scanner That Can Tell If You Are High, What You Are Carrying And Even What You Had For Breakfast... From 50 Meters Away -- Daily Mail

The latest scanners acquired by the U.S. government will be able detect the most minute traces of molecular discrepancies in both individuals' bloodstream and carry on luggage from 50 meters away.

Using advanced laser technology, Picosecond Programmable Laser scanners will show traces of drugs, chemicals, weapons, and even food you recently digested at the push of a button.

A non-governmental company originally developed the technology but has since partnered with the Department of Homeland Security, implying that the scanners will likely be deployed throughout airports and other high-risk areas.

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My Comment: The security and military applications for this tech .... which is portable .... is astounding.

The Age Man Suit

The Age Man Suit, which has ear-protectors that stifle hearing and a yellow visor that blurs eyesight.

Suit Lets Medical Students Experience Symptoms Of Old Age -- The Guardian

The Age Man Suit, developed by German scientists, is designed to make future doctors aware of older people's needs

It's nothing if not depressing. I drop a coin on the floor and bend down to pick it up. The bending is laborious and with it comes the risk of toppling over. My head is heavy and moving it causes dizziness. And there's still that coin to pick up – a five-cent piece, which, with my clumsy hands whose fingers are not very flexible and lacking a proper sense of touch – seems to defy my attempts to grab it, five, six times. Those around me joke: "Hurry up, grandma, we haven't got all day."

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My Comment: I am 52 years old .... and I feel the years already. Can only imagine what I will feel like when I am 72 .... or .... here is a scary thought .... when I am 92.

Advances In Telescopes Will Make It Possible To View Exoplanets By Hiding Interfering Starlight

Sifting Starlight These two images show HD 157728, a nearby star 1.5 times larger than the sun. The star is centered in both images, and its light has been mostly removed by an adaptive optics system and coronagraph belonging to Project 1640, which uses new technology on the Palomar Observatory's 200-inch Hale telescope to spot planets. Project 1640/NASA-JPL

New Telescope Optics Can Directly View Exoplanets By Hiding Interfering Starlight -- Popular Science

For now, the thousands of potential exoplanets discovered in the past two years are little more than curvy dips on a graph. Astronomers using the Kepler Space Telescope pick them out by examining the way they blot out their own stars’ light as they move through their orbits. But if astronomers could block out the stars themselves, they may be able to see the planets directly. A new adaptive optics system on the storied Palomar Observatory just started doing that — it’s the first of its kind capable of spotting planets outside our solar system.

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My Comment: I am now looking forward to see some interesting sights.

The Crusaders' Last Stand

Buried treasure: The coins - worth a fortune even in 1265 when they were thought to have been buried - were deliberately hidden inside a broken jug to prevent them being discovered

The Crusaders' Last Stand: Pot Of Gold Worth £300,000 Found In Fortress Where It Was Buried By Doomed Force Of Christian Knights -- Daily Mail

* Pot of gold 'Dinals' were buried by Crusaders as enemy forces closed in
* 100 coins worth up to $5000 each
* Remained hidden in fortress since 1265
* Hidden inside broken jug to prevent conquerors taking treasure

A pot of gold from the Crusades worth up to $500,000 has been found buried in an ancient Roman fortress in Israel.

The coins were buried by Christian soldiers of the order of the Knights Hospitalier as the Crusaders faced an unstoppable attack by a huge Muslim army.

The knights were annihilated in April 1265.

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My Comment: Buried for almost 750 years .... what a remarkable story it can tell.

Priciest Car Accident Ever? $31-Million Ferrari Crashes In France

A Ferrari 250 GTO is seen at Retromobile 2012 Convention at Parc des Expositions Porte de Versailles (July 10, 2012)

Priciest Accident Ever? $31-Million Ferrari Crashes In France -- L.A. Times

It was a prized Ferrari, one of a rare model known as the “Picasso of motoring” that is often included by elite automobile magazines among the top wheels in the world.

Now its owner, American businessman Christopher Cox, has a new and less desirable distinction: Driver in what could be the most costly car crash ever seen.

The Ferrari 250 GTO smashed into another car last week during a parade of pricey race cars through France, breaking the leg of his wife Ann Cox and sending two passengers in the other car to the hospital, the British newspaper Metro reported.

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My Comment: That hurts.

Breeding GM Mosquitoes To Stop The Spread Of Dengue Fever

Scientists To Breed GM Mosquitoes To Stop Spread Of Dengue Fever -- The Telegraph

Huge numbers of genetically modified mosquitoes are to be breed by scientists in Brazil to help stop the spread of dengue fever, an illness that has already struck nearly 500,000 people this year nationwide.

Dengue affects between 50 and 100 million people in the tropics and subtropics each year, causing fever, muscle and joint ache as well as potentially fatal dengue haemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome.

The disease is caused by four strains of virus that are spread by the mosquito Aedes aegypti. There is no vaccine, which is why scientists are focusing so intensely on mosquito control.

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Look At That Flipping Ship!

Look At That Flipping Ship! U.S. Navy Celebrates Research Vessel's 50th Year With Acrobatic Display -- Daily Mail

Seen out of context, it looks like a ship silently slinking under the waves, like the final scene in a disaster movie.

But have no fear, this is simply a very special U.S Navy ship, taking a 'flip' as it celebrates 50 years of cartwheels.

With an ability to drift over the ocean like a ship - yet transform into a vertical buoy in pursuit of scientific research - the Navy's Floating Instrument Platform (FLIP) is one of the most unique ships on (or under) the water.

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Tornado Passes By A Man In A Car On His Cell

My Comment: Way to close for comfort.