Science & TechnologyS


Telescope

First Findings On Key Astrophysics Problem


sciencedaily.com
Tue, 04 Dec 2007 03:11 UTC
International team of space scientists led by researchers from the University of New Hampshire have new findings on the first experimental evidence that points in a new direction toward the solution of a longstanding, central problem of plasma astrophysics and space physics.

The mystery involves electron acceleration during magnetic explosions that occur, for example, in solar flares and "substorms" in the Earth's magnetosphere - the comet-shaped protective sheath that surrounds the planet and where brilliant auroras occur.

During solar flares, accelerated electrons take away up to 50 percent of the total released flare energy. How so many electrons are accelerated to such high energies during these explosive events in our local part of the universe has remained unexplained.

©NOAA
Diagram of the effects of a solar flare.
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Display

Teenager accused of leading £12.5m cyber crime team

Barbara McMahon and Bobbie Johnson
The Guardian
Mon, 03 Dec 2007 23:11 UTC
A New Zealand teenager is facing a 10-year jail term after being accused of leading an international group of computer hackers called the A-Team that infiltrated more than a million computers worldwide and swindled their owners out of £12.5m .

The 18-year-old, working from his bedroom, is said to have collaborated with American associates in hijacking hundreds of thousands of computers around the world.

The case is part of an international crackdown on hackers who create networks of computers known as "botnets" to access personal bank accounts, steal credit card information or bombard users with spam. Eight people have already been charged, pleaded guilty or have been convicted since the operation under the auspices of the FBI began in June and more warrants are pending in the US and overseas.
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Eye 2

Mummified Dinosaur Unveiled


National Geographic
Mon, 03 Dec 2007 20:04 UTC


©National Geographic/artist's rendering
Dakota, a 67-million-year-old "dino mummy" unveiled today by a British paleontologist, is seen here in an artist's rendering.

The extraordinarily preserved hadrosaur, or duck-billed dino, still had much of its tissues and bones intact, encased in an envelope of skin.
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Network

Flashback Student's program sends PR chaos in Wiki-scandal


Malta Star
Thu, 16 Aug 2007 13:25 UTC
One American student sent major corporations, governments and even the Vatican on the defensive after coming up with Wikipedia Scanner, a software program that reveals who changed Wikipedia entries.

Wikipedia.com is an online encyclopedia edited by general users, who write articles on every imaginable subject. Since it is written by users, anyone can edit, delete and arrange the articles on Wikipedia.

What Virgil Griffith did was come up with a program that reveals who edits these articles, via a system where it scans the I.P address and cross-references it with the I.P. directory.
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Cow Skull

Improving Drought Forecasts


Terra Daily
Mon, 03 Dec 2007 08:23 UTC


©Unknown
File image.

From the deserts of the American southwest to the pine forests of the Deep South, drought-weary residents have one thing on their minds: "I wish it would rain!" Technically, what they should be wishing for is "more streamflow," says Dr. Ashutosh Limaye, a hydrologist at the National Space Science and Technology Center (NSSTC) in Huntsville, Alabama.
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Info

NEC develops first translation software on cellphone


Agence France-Presse
Mon, 03 Dec 2007 08:15 UTC


©Unknown

Japanese electronics giant NEC Corp. said Friday it has created a world-first real-time translator on a cellphone, which can instantly turn Japanese travellers' words into English.
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Document

A real attention grabber: Scientist finds way to measure covert attention

Kathy Wallis
University of Western Ontario
Sun, 02 Dec 2007 08:12 UTC
The person you're speaking with may be looking at you, but are they really paying attention" Or has the person covertly shifted their attention, without moving their eyes" Dr. Brian Corneil, of the Centre for Brain and Mind at The University of Western Ontario in London, Canada has found a way of actually measuring covert attention. His research "Neuromuscular consequences of reflexive covert orienting" is posted on the Advance Online Publication of "Nature Neuroscience".
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Telescope

Noctis Labyrinthus, Labyrinth Of The Night


Mars Daily
Mon, 03 Dec 2007 08:07 UTC


©ESA/ DLR/ FU Berlin (G. Neukum)
This image was taken by the High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC), onboard ESA's Mars Express imaged the Noctis Labyrinthus region, the 'Labyrinth of the Night' on Mars. The HRSC took these pictures on 25 June 2006 in orbit 3155, with a ground resolution of approximately 16 m/pixel. This colour scene has been derived from the three HRSC colour channels and the nadir channel.

These images taken by the High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC), onboard ESA's Mars Express imaged the Noctis Labyrinthus region, the 'labyrinth of the night' on Mars. The HRSC took these pictures on 25 June 2006 in orbit 3155, with a ground resolution of approximately 16 m/pixel. Noctis Labyrinthus lies at approximately 6.5 south and 260 east. The Sun illuminates the scene from the north-west, top right in the image above.
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Telescope

Earth-like Venus

Moffett Field
Space Daily
Mon, 03 Dec 2007 07:58 UTC
ESA's Venus Express has revealed Venus as never before. For the first time, scientists are able to investigate from the top of its atmosphere, down nearly to the surface. They have shown it to be a planet of surprises that may once have been more Earth-like, and still is, to a certain extent. Scientists hope that by studying atmosphere and climate of Venus, we may be able to better understand phenomenon such as global warming our own planet, Earth.

©NASA
Mars (left), Earth (middle), Venus (right) with relative sizes.
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Eye 2

Mummified dinosaur reveals surprises

Maggie Fox
Reuters
Mon, 03 Dec 2007 07:46 UTC
A partially mummified hadrosaur discovered by a teenager in North Dakota may be the most complete dinosaur ever found, with intact skin that shows evidence of stripes and perhaps soft tissue, researchers said on Monday.

Enough of the animal remains to show it ran quickly and was far more muscular than scientists believed such dinosaurs were.
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