Science & TechnologyS


Evil Rays

Developing countries drive explosion in global mobile phone use

Chris Tryhorn
The Guardian
Mon, 02 Mar 2009 02:04 UTC
More than half the world's population now pay to use a mobile phone and nearly a quarter use the internet, as developing countries rapidly adopt new communications technologies.

By the end of last year there were an estimated 4.1bn mobile subscriptions, up from 1bn in 2002, according to a report published today by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), an agency of the UN.

That represents six-in-ten of the world's population, with developing countries accounting for about two-thirds of the mobile phones in use, compared with less than half of subscriptions in 2002. Over the same period, fixed-line subscriptions rose more modestly, from 1bn to 1.27bn, indicating that many people in the developing world are bypassing the older technology altogether.
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Display

Facebook users suffer viral surge

Mark Ward
British Broadcasting Corporation
Tue, 03 Mar 2009 01:40 UTC
Image
Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg ruled out policing applications
Facebook has been targeted by malicious hackers seeking to steal valuable data from members.

The social network site has been hit by five separate security problems in the last seven days, say security experts.

By creating fake messages padded with details of Facebook members the thieves are capitalising on the trust and social links that drive the network.

Security firms warn that the popularity of social networking sites makes them a tempting target for hi-tech thieves.
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Laptop

Notebooks may offer hackers private data gateway

Kelvin Soh
Reuters
Tue, 03 Mar 2009 01:32 UTC
Taipei - Netbook web surfers beware. That low-cost netbook you're using could be a high-speed gateway into your life, bank accounts, passwords and other personal data.

Netbooks have made headlines since their 2007 launch, making PCs accessible to millions of non-traditional users. But their cheap cost could also carry a steep price tag due to lax security that makes them easier prey for viruses and hackers.

Since their introduction less than two years ago by Taiwan's Asustek, nearly all major PC makers, including Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Acer and Lenovo, have jumped on the netbook bandwagon.
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Telescope

Scientists Find Asteroids Are Missing in The Asteroid Belt, and Possibly Why

Lori Stiles
The University of Arizona
Wed, 25 Feb 2009 01:22 UTC
University of Arizona scientists have uncovered a curious case of missing asteroids.

The main asteroid belt is a zone containing millions of rocky objects between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. The scientists find that there ought to be more asteroids there than researchers observe. The missing asteroids may be evidence of an event that took place about 4 billion years ago, when the solar system's giant planets migrated to their present locations.

UA planetary sciences graduate student David A. Minton and UA planetary sciences professor Renu Malhotra say missing asteroids is an important piece of evidence to support an idea that the early solar system underwent a violent episode of giant planet migration that might possibly be responsible for a heavy asteroidal bombardment of the inner planets.
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Telescope

Scientists Look to Solve Mysterious Moon Flashes

Richard Lovett
National Geographic News
Mon, 02 Mar 2009 00:14 UTC
Image
© Arlin Crotts
Astronomer Arlin Crotts is trying to solve a 400-year-old puzzle.

Ever since the invention of the telescope, said the Columbia University astrophysicist, observers around the world have occasionally watched small areas of the moon brighten or "turn fuzzy." Sometimes they even turn reddish.

Because the bright patches are ephemeral, lasting only last a few minutes, these events have come to be known as transient lunar phenomena, or TLPs. "About 1,500 of these have been reported," Crotts said.
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Sherlock

Do These Mysterious Stones Mark the Site of the Garden of Eden?

Tom Cox
Daily Mail
Sun, 01 Mar 2009 02:10 UTC
Stone 1
© UnknownThe site has been described as 'extraordinary' and 'the most important' site in the world.
For the old Kurdish shepherd, it was just another burning hot day in the rolling plains of eastern Turkey. Following his flock over the arid hillsides, he passed the single mulberry tree, which the locals regarded as 'sacred'. The bells on his sheep tinkled in the stillness. Then he spotted something. Crouching down, he brushed away the dust, and exposed a strange, large, oblong stone.

The man looked left and right: there were similar stone rectangles, peeping from the sands. Calling his dog to heel, the shepherd resolved to inform someone of his finds when he got back to the village. Maybe the stones were important.

They certainly were important. The solitary Kurdish man, on that summer's day in 1994, had made the greatest archaeological discovery in 50 years. Others would say he'd made the greatest archaeological discovery ever: a site that has revolutionised the way we look at human history, the origin of religion - and perhaps even the truth behind the Garden of Eden.
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Cell Phone

UN study finds poor countries drive growth in global cell phone use


MSNBC.com
Mon, 02 Mar 2009 17:07 UTC
They're more than just a buzzing nuisance in movie theaters and restaurants. A new study suggests cell phones are now the communication technology of choice worldwide.
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Display

Borg-like cybots may patrol government networks

Mark Rutherford
CNet
Tue, 24 Feb 2009 16:13 UTC
cyber security
© DOE
The Oak Ridge National Laboratory has created software that uses colonies of borg-like cyberrobots it says will help government agencies detect and fend off attacks on the nation's computer network infrastructure.

The Ubiquitous Network Transient Autonomous Mission Entities (Untame) differs from traditional security software agents in that its cybot "entities" form collectives that are mutually aware of the condition and activities of other bots in their colony (PDF).

When these cybots detect network intruders, they communicate with one another, preventing cybercrooks from creating and using a diversion in one spot within the network to then break through in another.
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Meteor

Small Asteroid Buzzes Earth‏


SpaceWeather.com
Mon, 02 Mar 2009 10:14 UTC
Newly-discovered asteroid 2009 DD45 is about to fly past Earth only 72,000 km (0.000482 AU) away. That's about twice the height of a typical geostationary communications satellite. The 30- to 40-meter wide space rock is similar in size to the Tunguska impactor of 1908, but this time there is no danger of a collision. At closest approach on March 2nd, around 1340 UT (5:40 am PST), 2009 DD45 will speed through the constellation Virgo shining as brightly as an 11th magnitude star. Experienced amateur astronomers can track the asteroid using this ephemeris.

Update: Using a 14-inch telescope at the University of Nariño Observatory in Columbia, Alberto Quijano Vodniza has photographed the asteroid streaking toward Earth thirteen hours before closest approach: 1 MB movie.
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Ark

Boffins disprove dinosaur theory


Staines Guardian
Sat, 28 Feb 2009 08:00 UTC
Egham scientists have come up with "compelling new evidence" to prove how dinosaurs really became extinct.

A team of researchers from the department of Earth Sciences and the School of Biological Sciences at Royal Holloway University (RHU) have produced evidence which refutes the theory dinosaurs were wiped out by wildfires triggered by an asteroid impacting the Earth 65 million years ago.
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