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Space

Submission + - Storm Subsides: Mars Rovers Now Battle Fallout (space.com)

Submitted by
Raver32
Raver32 writes: "Mars' globe-engulfing dust storm has died down during the past several weeks, but the two robotic rovers on its surface now face the fallout of dust from the thin atmosphere. Conditions were so bad in early August that just before the launch of the Mars-bound Phoenix spacecraft, rover scientist Mark Lemmon feared the demise of the Opportunity rover. "There was one sol [Martian day] when there was real uncertainty we'd hear from Opportunity," said Lemmon, a planetary scientist at Texas A&M University. He added that the plucky robotic explorer almost entered a power-saving mode that would have been dangerous "uncharted territory" for the rover team. Still, Lemmon thinks the Mars rovers will persevere through the dusty conditions. "Mars could throw worse storms at us, but for this season I think we have seen the worst," he told SPACE.com in an e-mail. "We got a good demonstration that Mars could kill them.""
Space

Submission + - Scientists claim to break the Speed of Light (telegraph.co.uk)

Submitted by dlemckert
dlemckert writes: A pair of German physicists claim to have broken the speed of light — an achievement that would undermine our entire understanding of space and time. Albert Einstein won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921 According to Einstein's special theory of relativity, it would require an infinite amount of energy to propel an object at more than 186,000 miles per second. However, Dr Gunter Nimtz and Dr Alfons Stahlhofen, of the University of Koblenz, say they may have breached a key tenet of that theory
The Internet

Submission + - A campaign to block Firefox users (whyfirefoxisblocked.com) 5

Submitted by rarwes
rarwes writes: A website is aiming at blocking Firefox users. This because a fraction of the Firefox users installed an Ad Blocker and thus stealing money from website owners that use ads. They recommend using IE, Opera or IE tab. From the site: Demographics have shown that not only are FireFox users a somewhat small percentage of the internet, they actually are even smaller in terms of online spending, therefore blocking FireFox seems to have only minimal financial drawbacks, whereas ending resource theft has tremendous financial rewards for honest, hard-working website owners and developers.
Biotech

Submission + - Scientists discover how to erase memories (pressesc.com) 1

Submitted by
amigoro
amigoro writes: "Neuroscientists have discovered that long-term memories are not etched in a "clay tablet"-like stable form as once thought, but the process is much more dynamic, involving a miniature molecular machine that must run constantly to keep memories going, jamming the machine briefly can erase long-term memories."
Security

Submission + - Orwellian 'Behavior Detection Officers' for TSA (msn.com) 1

Submitted by
Stanistani
Stanistani writes: "According to Newsweek, at US airports some security personnel will be observing passengers for facial expressions which indicate malicious intent. If they believe you look like you might be thinking of causing harm, you can be taken aside for further questioning. Welcome these new overseers: 'Behavior Detection Officers.' Their potentially life-changing decisions will be based on the pseudoscience of 'micro-expressions.'"

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