Tuesday, March 24, 2009

NASA Tests Heaviest Chute Drop Ever

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday March 24, @02:48AM

from the not-so-fast dept.
NASASpaceTechnology
Iddo Genuth writes"NASA and the US Air Force have successfully tested a new super-chute system aimed at reclaiming reusable Ares booster rockets. On February 28, 2009 a 50,000-pound dummy rocket booster was dropped in the Arizona desert and slowed by a system of five parachutes before it crashed to the ground. The booster landed softly without any damage. This was possibly the heaviest parachute drop ever, and NASA is planning to perform even heavier drops of up to 90,000 pounds in the next few months."

Botnet Worm Targets DSL Modems and Routers

Posted by kdawson on Monday March 23, @08:12PM

from the new-vector dept.
SecurityThe Internet
CoreDuo writes"The people who bring you the DroneBL DNS Blacklist services, while investigating an ongoing DDoS incident, have discovered a botnet composed of exploited DSL modems and routers. OpenWRT/DD-WRT devices all appear to be vulnerable. What makes this worm impressive is the sophisticated nature of the bot, and the potential damage it can do not only to an unknowing end user, but to small businesses using non-commercial Internet connections, and to the unknowing public taking advantage of free Wi-Fi services. The botnet is believed to have infected 100,000 hosts."A followup to the article notes that the bot's IRC control channel now claims that it has been shut down, though the ongoing DDoS attack on DroneBL suggests otherwise.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Maggot Therapy Similar To Standard Care For Leg Ulcers

ScienceDaily (Mar. 23, 2009) — Larval (maggot) therapy has similar health benefits and costs compared with a standard treatment for leg ulcers, find two studies published on the British Medical Journal website.

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Researchers Demo BIOS Attack That Survives Disk Wipes

Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday March 23, @09:37AM

from the can't-believe-it-took-this-long dept.
SecurityHardware
suraj.sun writes"A pair of Argentinian researchers have found a way to perform unveil a BIOS level malware attack capable of surviving even a hard-disk wipe. Alfredo Ortega and Anibal Sacco from Core Security Technologies — used the stage at last week's CanSecWest conference to demonstrate methods for infecting the BIOS with persistent code that will survive reboots and re-flashing attempts. The technique includes patching the BIOS with a small bit of code that gave them complete control of the machine. The demo ran smoothly on a Windows machine, a PC running OpenBSD and another running VMware Player."

World's Cheapest Car Goes On Sale In India

Posted by timothy on Monday March 23, @08:18AM

from the wish-it-had-a-monorail-socket-too dept.
TransportationThe Almighty Buck
Frankie70 writes"The Tata Nano — the car that caught the world's imagination as the cheapest ever — will finally be rolled out commercially on Monday in Mumbai in a mega event organised by Tata Motors. Ben Oliver, contributing editor, Car Magazine, London test drove the car in December, 08.These were his first impressions. This was his verdict: 'CAR's first ride in the Tata Nano felt far more significant and exciting than a first drive in a Ferrari or Lamborghini, because this car's importance is immeasurably greater. It won't compete on dynamics or quality with European or Japanese city cars, but it doesn't have to. What Tata has achieved at an unprecedented price is astonishing, although we'd guess it will cost Indian consumers closer to £1700 when it finally goes on sale, six months late, in March 2009.'"

Northrop Grumman creates 100 kilowatt laser, could usher in World War III

by Darren Murph, posted Mar 23rd 2009 at 9:12AM


Northrop Grumman's been plugging along on this little project for years now, and at long last, the company has surpassed the milestone that it's been striving for. According to a new release that's just beaming with pride, the defense company has reportedly achieved 100 kilowatts from a solid-state laser. For those unfamiliar with the back story, 100 kilowatts is the level needed to create a laser gun that could actually do more than cause temporary blindness on the battlefield. Sadly, it seems that lethal laser pointers are still a good ways away, with Dan Wildt, vice president of Northrop's directed energy systems program, noting that "it is still a little heavy and a little big." It's all good, Northrop -- we're down with backpack weapons, too.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Depressed People Have Trouble Learning 'Good Things In Life'

ScienceDaily (Mar. 19, 2009) — While depression is often linked to negative thoughts and emotions, a new study suggests the real problem may be a failure to appreciate positive experiences.

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Strong Links Between Mothers' Diets And Health Of Their Children

ScienceDaily (Mar. 19, 2009) — A new report by University of Southampton academics emphasises the links between poor diet in mothers and ill health in their children, and calls for women of childbearing age to be made more aware of the importance of good nutrition.

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The Pwn2Own trifecta: Safari, IE 8, and Firefox exploited on day 1

by Thomas Ricker, posted Mar 19th 2009 at 5:59AM


That didn't take long. One day into the Pwn2Own hacking competition at CanSecWest and already Apple, Microsoft, and Mozilla have been sent packing to their respective labs to work on security issues in their browsers. In a repeat performance, Charlie Miller pocketed a $5,000 cash prize and a fully-patched MacBook by splitting it wide, and gaining full control of the device after a user clicked on his malicious link. Another white-hatter by the name Nils (pictured) toppled Internet Explorer 8 running on a Windows 7 laptop -- again, the five grand and compromised VAIO P laptop are now his to keep as compensation for turning over the malicious code. So much for "protection that no other browser can match," eh Mr. Ballmer? Nils then demonstrated a second Safari exploit before hacking Firefox later in the afternoon netting him a cool $15k by the close of day one. Only Google's Chrome was left unscathed -- Opera isn't part of the contest. This year's contest will also offer a $10,000 prize for every vulnerability successfully exploited in Windows Mobile, Android, Symbian, and the iPhone and BlackBerry OSes. In other words: this contest that runs through Friday isn't over by any stretch. 

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Did Bat Hitch a Ride To Space On Discovery?

Posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday March 18, @09:29AM

from the that'll-be-$10M-please dept.
SpaceScience
suraj.sun writes"A bat was seen clinging to the external fuel tank of the Space Shuttle Discovery before its launch on Sunday, apparently clung for dear life to the side of the tank as the spaceship lifted off. The shuttle accelerates to an orbital velocity of 17,500 milers per hour, which is 25 times faster than the speed of sound, in just over eight minutes. That's zero to 100 mph in 10 seconds. Did it make it into space? No one knows yet. But photos of Discovery as it cleared the launch tower showed a tiny speck on the side of the tank. When those photos were blown up, it became apparent that the speck was a bat."

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Black Sea Pollution Could Be Harnessed As Renewable Future Energy Source

ScienceDaily (Mar. 17, 2009) — The Black Sea harbours vast quantities of hydrogen sulfide, the toxic gas associated with the smell of rotten eggs. This noxious gas could be used as a renewable source of hydrogen gas to fuel a future carbon-free economy, according to Turkish researchers writing in a forthcoming issue of the International Journal of Nuclear Hydrogen Production and Applications.

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Shrinking In Hippocampus Area Of Brain Precedes Alzheimer's Disease

ScienceDaily (Mar. 17, 2009) — People who have lost brain cells in the hippocampus area of the brain are more likely to develop dementia, according to a study published in the March 17, 2009, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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Video: The Shimano Di2 electric bike shifter for the paradoxically lazy

by Thomas Ricker, posted Mar 17th 2009 at 5:45AM


If the idea of wrist-twist is too taxing, perhaps an electronic shifter is the best option to get your meat-bag mobile. With the press of a button, the Shimano Di2 derailleur on this $10,000 Merida Scultura 909 road-racer automatically eases you into that next gear. Now shipping on select bicycles, the Di2 system features a rechargeable Lithium Ion battery (lasting 1,000 kilometers or 621 miles) powering an integrated CPU that monitors and adjusts the front and rear derailleurs to keep them perfectly trimmed. The system allows you to shift 30% faster (as fast as you can move your finger) than with mechanical derailleurs -- even under load while cycling out of the saddle. Great for pros (we guess). For everyone else there's Vespa. Check the action after the break.

Friday, March 6, 2009

Weight Loss Plan

 A man calls a company and orders their 5-day, 10 lb. weight loss program.
 
The next day, there's a knock on the door and there stands before him a voluptuous, athletic, 19 year old babe dressed in nothing but a pair of Nike running shoes and a sign around her neck.

 She introduces herself as a representative of the weight loss company.
 
 The sign reads, "If you can catch me, you can have me."
  
Without a second thought, he takes off after her.
 
A few miles later huffing and puffing, he finally gives up.
 
The same girl shows up for the next four days and the same thing happens.

 On the fifth day, he weighs himself and is delighted to find he has lost 10 lbs. as promised.

He calls the company and orders their 5-day/20 pound program.
 
The next day there's a knock at the door and there stands the most stunning, beautiful, sexy woman he has ever seen in his life. She is wearing nothing but Reebok running shoes and a sign around her neck that reads, "If you catch me you can have me."
 
Well, he's out the door after her like a shot.
 
This girl is in excellent shape and he does his best, but no such luck.
 
So for the next four days, the same routine happens with him gradually getting in better and better shape.

Much to his delight on the fifth day when he weighs himself, he discovers that he has lost another
 20 lbs. as promised.

He decides to go for broke and calls the company to order the 7-day/50 pound program.

"Are you sure?" asks the representative on the phone. "This is our most rigorous program."

"Absolutely," he replies, "I haven't felt this good in years."
   
The next day there's a knock at the door; and when he opens it he finds a huge muscular guy standing there wearing nothing but pink running shoes and a sign around his neck that reads, "If I catch you, your ass is mine."

He lost 63 pounds that week.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Hamster Powered Vacume cleaner:)

Hamster Powered Vacume cleaner:)




Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Meteorite Hunters Find the West Texas Fireball

Posted by kdawson on Wednesday March 04, @01:14AM

from the sweet-dreams-and-flying-machines-in-pieces-on-the-ground dept.
SpaceScience
An anonymous reader writes"A fireball streaked over Austin, Texas on February 15 producing sonic booms and startling people for hundreds of miles. The video of the event was shown on national television and viewed by thousands of people on the Net. The first news reports speculated that the fireball might have been debris from a February 13th collision between two satellites over Siberia but space experts said that the object was probably a meteor. Now this has been confirmed: experienced meteorite hunters located a strewnfield about 120 miles north of the filming site of the Austin cameraman and have recovered over 100 freshly fallen meteorites."

Common Marine Sponges May Provide Super-antibiotics Of The Future

ScienceDaily (Mar. 4, 2009) — No matter how sophisticated modern medicine becomes, common ailments like fungal infections can outrun the best of the world's antibiotics. In people with compromised immune systems (like premature babies, AIDS victims or those undergoing chemotherapy for cancer) the risk is very high: contracting a fungal infection can be deadly.

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Long-Term Use Of Nutrient Supplements May Increase Cancer Risk

ScienceDaily (Mar. 4, 2009) — Long-term use of beta carotene and some other carotenoid-containing dietary supplements may increase the risk of lung cancer, especially among smokers, according to a study by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers.

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Tuesday, March 3, 2009

First Touch-Screen, Bendable E-Paper Developed

Posted by timothy on Tuesday March 03, @12:40PM

from the don't-sign-contracts-written-on-this dept.
DisplaysTechnologyNews
Al writes"The first touch-screen flexible e-paper has been developed by a team from Arizona State University and E-Ink (the company that makes the technology for Amazon's Kindle and Sony's Reader). Jann Kaminski and colleagues at ASU's Flexible Display Center say the main challenge is that most touch-screen technologies do not respond well to being flexed. So they used an inductive screen, which relies on a magnetized styluses to induce a field in a sensing layer at the back of the display. The first adopters for the technology are likely to be the US Army. Watch a video of the device being tested."

Oklahoma Bikers May Get to Run Red Lights Legally

biker waits for traffic light on motorcycleThere are few things in life as frustrating as burning gas at an extremely long red light when you can plainly see there are no other vehicles nearby. If you get around your town on a motorcycle, you get to experience this beautiful gas-wasting phenomenon routinely, since your vehicle isn't big enough to trigger the sensors at most traffic lights. That's why lawmakers in Oklahoma have introduced a bill that would make it legal for bikers to run red lights in certain circumstances.

I like to call this concept "straight on red." It's like the wonderful "right on red," except this congestion-easing practice would only apply to motorcycles who passed through the light in a safe-ish manner where there was no traffic approaching. Seem dangerous? Sponsors of the bill say it would actually reduce traffic accidents by clarifying when it's OK to cross, while also saving fuel and reducing emissions -- especially if you happen to be riding this hog

[via AutoblogGreen]

Ultimate In 'Green' Energy: Plants Inspire New Generation Of Solar Cells

ScienceDaily (Mar. 3, 2009) — The ability of plants to turn sunlight into energy through photosynthesis has been successfully mimicked by scientists at the University of Southampton to produce a new generation of solar cells.

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Health Campaigns That Promote Exercise May Cause People To Eat More

ScienceDaily (Mar. 3, 2009) — New research from the University of Illinois suggests that weight-loss campaigns that promote exercise may actually cause people to eat more.

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Advance In Making Stem Cells From Skin

Posted by kdawson on Monday March 02, @09:53PM

from the we-don't-need-no-steenkin'-viruses dept.
MedicineScience
KillerBob writes with an advance on the news from a year back that stem cells can be produced from human skin — discussed here. Now Canadian researchers have found a safe way to generate stem cells without using viruses to modify the genome, a process that can have its own dangers."The ethical debate over embryonic stem cell use may soon be moot, thanks to a Canadian team of researchers who, together with a team out of Scotland, has found a safe way to grow stem cells from a patient's own skin. The revolutionary finding, described in a paper published yesterday by the international science journal Nature, means doctors may be one step closer to treating a multitude of diseases, including Alzheimer's, diabetes and Parkinson's."

Wiping American Butts Worse for the Environment than SUVs

woman squeezing a pack of Charmin toilet paperWow, we knew that America's obsession with soft and fluffy toilet paper was a problem, but how bad is it really? According to Allen Hershkowitz, senior scientist from the Natural Resources Defense Council, America's toilet paper problem is actually worse for the planet than it's love of fuel-hogging SUVs. That's on account of the chemicals used in the manufacture of pulp and, of course, the fact that we're leveling old-growth forests to wipe our butts with.

The outcry over America's bathroom habits is being promoting in part by recent data showing that 98% of the toilet paper consumed in the US in 2008 came from virgin fibers (compare that to 60% in Europe and Latin America). According to the NYT, a significant portion of the quilted, super fluffy, triple-ply TP that comes from the nation's leading brands comes from rare old-growth forests in Canada. Sadly, the super comfy paper that is enjoyed for only a couple of unsavory seconds takes decades, if not centuries, to grow. Of course, there are plenty of alternatives out there like recycled TP or -- for hardcore conservationists -- the cloth toilet wipe.

Monday, March 2, 2009

Hardware: A New Way To Produce Hydrogen

Posted by kdawson on Sunday March 01, @05:20AM 
from the doctor-clark-i-presume dept.
Power
Iddo Genuth writes"Scientists at Pennsylvania State University and Virginia Commonwealth University are producing hydrogen by exposing clusters of aluminum atoms to water. Rather than relying on the electronic properties of the aluminum, this new process depends on the geometric distribution of atoms within the clusters. It requires the presence of 'Lewis acids' and 'Lewis bases' in those atoms (water can act as either). Unlike most hydrogen production processes, this method can be used at room temperature and doesn't require the application of heat or electricity to work. The researchers experimented with a variety of different aluminum cluster patterns, discovering three that result in hydrogen production."