Science & Technology

Russia tests new weapons as part of strategic missile forces drills

RT
Fri, 30 Mar 2018 13:01 UTC

More than 10,000 troops and 1,000 vehicles are taking part in Russian Strategic Missile Forces exercises in the Urals. The drills are testing a number of new weapons, including upgraded 'Yars' intercontinental ballistic missiles.

The joint drills of the Omsk, Vladimir and Orenburg rocket armies are the first time so much modernized weaponry has been taken out for a combat patrol, in the words of Colonel-General Sergey Karakaev, commander of the Strategic Missile Forces.

"It is important for us to find out whether the troops have mastered the new technology, and to what extent it is adapted to the deployment areas," Karakaev told reporters.

Persistent Aquatic Living Sensors: The scary plan to militarize ocean life

Sustainable Pulse
Sun, 25 Mar 2018 12:11 UTC

The US military has plans to create genetically modified marine organisms that can be used as underwater spies for the military. Fantastic as this idea may seem, the Pentagon's research arm, DARPA (or Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), has actually launched a new program that aims to tap into the "natural sensing capabilities" of marine organisms, who are highly attuned to their surroundings, to track enemy traffic undersea.

April 1 (no fooling!) Space station to plummet to Earth, fireballs expected

Sputnik
Wed, 28 Mar 2018 23:15 UTC

Easter Sunday is typically about rising, but this April 1 everyone will be thinking about falling: China's first space station is expected to plummet back to Earth in a fireball on Sunday.

While the heavens may not be falling figuratively, they literally are. China's 19,000-pound Tiangong-1, or Heavenly Palace-1, will be burning up in the atmosphere in an "uncontrolled reentry," which basically means that scientists can't stop it, over the weekend, although scientists caution that predicting uncontrolled re-entries is notoriously difficult.

Comment: Heads up, everyone!

IT security specialists claim 45 different smartphones have viruses built into them

RT
Thu, 29 Mar 2018 16:52 UTC

Experts at the Russian anti-virus service Doctor Web have identified 45 smartphone models with viruses installed at the production stage. This could badly affect hundreds of thousands of smartphone users, according to the firm.

"Users told us that their anti-virus program has found malicious software on their smartphones. We've analyzed the situation and came to the conclusion the software was in the system area where no virus could get from outside but could only be built in during the production phase," Doctor Web director general Boris Sharov told RIA Novosti.

He added that more detailed research revealed malicious software installed at the production phase in 45 models of phones operating on the Android system.

Boeing Aircraft hit by malware attack, company says scale of problem overstated by media

RT
Thu, 29 Mar 2018 04:10 UTC

Aircraft maker Boeing has suffered a malware attack, which early reports said could have impacted production or aircraft software. The company's official statement later said only a "limited intrusion" had occurred.

It all started with a daunting internal memo, reportedly sent by the chief engineer at Boeing Commercial Airplane production engineering, Mike VanderWel. The document, first reported on by the Seattle Times, warned employees of a possible shutdown of Boeing facilities due to a rapidly advancing computer virus. The memo reportedly blamed the notorious WannaCry ransomware for the imminent disruption of Boeing production sites and, potentially, its flying software.

"It is metastasizing rapidly out of North Charleston and I just heard 777 (automated spar assembly tools) may have gone down," VanderWel reportedly wrote. Fueling the fears further, he predicted the malware could affect equipment needed to tune aircraft, and that it might "spread to airplane software."

Scientists: The bigger the earthquake, the longer it takes to issue an alert

Matt Warren
Science
Fri, 23 Mar 2018 13:00 UTC

Earthquake early warning systems can give people crucial seconds to move to safety-but only if they send the message in time. Now, scientists working on such systems have discovered that the bigger the tremor, the longer it takes to issue an alert-giving people little time to prepare for the big one, but lots of time to brace for a ho-hum event.

All earthquakes start with P waves, which are fast moving and cause little damage. S waves come next, moving more slowly but causing more destruction. Early warning systems measure ground movement during the fast P waves to predict how much shaking the S waves will cause, and then send out an alert.

Internal report reveals USAF may be forced into massive reduction of planned F-35 fleet

RT
Wed, 28 Mar 2018 20:03 UTC

© Michael D. Jackson/F-35 Integrated Test Force/Handout / Reuters
An F-35B Lightning II undergoes ice evaluation testing at the 96th Test Wing's McKinley Climatic Laboratory at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida

The US Air Force may be forced to dramatically cut its fleet of F-35 multirole stealth fighters if it doesn't dramatically reduce operations and maintenance costs for the flagship fighter, according to an internal report.

At present, costs over the next decade are running at almost 38 percent over budget, according to analysis by the USAF seen by Bloomberg. The USAF previously ordered a total of 1,763 jets but may be forced to cut up to 590 of the fighters due to prohibitively expensive running costs.

The Defense Department estimates the cost of developing and producing a fleet of 2,456 F-35s for the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps at $406 billion. However, according to the internal analysis and subsequent cost estimates, it may cost upwards of $1.1 trillion to maintain the military fleet of next-generation stealth fighters through 2070.

Vets warn raw chicken can lead to rare but potentially fatal paralysis in dogs

Dr Nerissa Hannink
The University of Melbourne
Wed, 28 Mar 2018 00:00 UTC

As pet ownership increases across the world, our furry (as well as feathered and scaly) friends have become firmly established members of the family.

Wanting the best for our pets, we often offer special treats, and chicken necks are a favourite in many families - often considered a 'healthy' option.

But vets are warning raw chicken, particularly chicken necks, can lead to a debilitating and potentially fatal form of paralysis in dogs.

A new study, led by the University of Melbourne's U-Vet Werribee Animal Hospital, found the consumption of raw chicken meat increases the risk of dogs developing a paralysing condition called acute polyradiculoneuritis (APN) by more than 70 times.

"Cosmic signatures" of the Younger Dryas impact found in Antarctica

Cosmic Tusk
Thu, 15 Mar 2018 12:00 UTC

An example of the black mat: The Kloosterman layer

Detailed microscopic investigations of horizons in a surface paleosol, part of a pedostratigraphic stack of tills at New Mountain, Antarctica, dated to the middle Miocene climatic optimum event (ca. 15 Ma), suggest not only that the paleoclimate history of the continent can be read from stratigraphic layers within paleosols but also that records of cosmic events may lie embedded in coatings on sand clasts resident in paleosols.

Recent microscopic and chemical data from sands in the upper horizons of a surface paleosol (Ant-828), adjacent to the Taylor Glacier, contain Fe and Na coatings surfaced with cosmic signatures including welded and shock-melted grains, opaque carbon coatings, microfeature stack of cards, Fe spherules, solubilized grain surfaces with streams of melted skin, a grain carrying an Ir signature, rare earth elements elevated above crustal averages, and slightly elevated Pt/Pd ratios.

Comment: For an excellent article on the events surrounding the Younger Dryas Event, see: Of Flash Frozen Mammoths and Cosmic Catastrophes

Also See:

High resolution CT scans shed new light on the extinct Tasmanian Tiger

Dr Nerissa Hannink
Pursuit
Wed, 28 Mar 2018 15:16 UTC

When all that remains of an extinct species is a few precious specimens, dissecting them, even in the name of science, isn't really an option.

But by using CT scanning, a technique similar to medical CAT scans but with much higher resolution, researchers from the University of Melbourne and Museums Victoria have been able to take a 'virtual' look inside the Tasmanian tiger to study the biology of this iconic species.

Called non-invasive X-ray micro-CT scanning, this technique has also been used to examine Egyptian Mummys, another example of rare and delicate specimens.

Dr Christy Hipsley, Research Associate at Museums Victoria and the University of Melbourne says that before they were hunted to extinction in 1936, it was very popular for museums to collect samples of the Tasmanian tiger, also known as thylacine or Thylacinus cynocephalus.

A Fox News host (Lisa Booth) asking some of the right questions (nothing new if you're not new to the ranks of SOTTypes though). Her spiel begins...

Animanarchy

I've got a LOT of rope. Just let me know.

DeliciousTears

Brand new JP Sears video. Spiritual People Then vs Now: [Link]

Animanarchy

Well, if anyone would know a 'rigger', it's Obomber. The democratic party is filled with riggers, as the last 'election' amply demonstrated.......

Winston Smith

Government, aided by mainstream media: lie upon lie upon lie....

ReRan

Science & Technology

Russia tests new weapons as part of strategic missile forces drills

Persistent Aquatic Living Sensors: The scary plan to militarize ocean life

April 1 (no fooling!) Space station to plummet to Earth, fireballs expected

IT security specialists claim 45 different smartphones have viruses built into them

Boeing Aircraft hit by malware attack, company says scale of problem overstated by media

Scientists: The bigger the earthquake, the longer it takes to issue an alert

Internal report reveals USAF may be forced into massive reduction of planned F-35 fleet

Vets warn raw chicken can lead to rare but potentially fatal paralysis in dogs

"Cosmic signatures" of the Younger Dryas impact found in Antarctica

High resolution CT scans shed new light on the extinct Tasmanian Tiger

Latest News

Picture of the Day

Quote of the Day

Recent Comments

Quantum Quirk

Contact Us