58523153
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coondoggie writes:
NASA recently began laying out the groundwork for the technology it will need to fly an unmanned mission to Jupiter's intriguing moon Europa.
Scientists say Europa — which orbits the planet Jupiter about 778 million km (484 million miles) from the Sun — could support life because it might have an ocean of liquid water under its miles-thick frozen crust. NASA said in December the Hubble Space Telescope observed water vapor above the frigid south polar region of Jupiter's moon Europa, providing the first strong evidence of water plumes erupting off the moon's surface.
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DavidGilbert99 writes:
What has been described as "the most valuable tweet in history" saw an anonymous benefactor donate 40 million dogecoin ($11,000) to the Doge4Water campaign — which is raising money for drought-stricken Kenya — via the @tipdoge account on Twitter. Going by the name Hood, the anonymous donor said the dogecoin community had "pure intentions" and he wanted to give them a hand.
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astroengine writes:
For the first time, scientists have found direct evidence of the expansion of the universe, a previously theoretical event that took place a fraction of a second after the Big Bang explosion nearly 14 billion years ago. The clue is encoded in the primordial cosmic microwave background radiation that continues to spread through space to this day. Scientists found and measured a key polarization, or orientation, of the microwaves caused by gravitational waves, which are miniature ripples in the fabric of space. Gravitational waves, proposed by Albert Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity nearly 100 years ago but never before proven, are believed to have originated in the Big Bang explosion and then been amplified by the universe’s inflation. “Detecting this signal is one of the most important goals in cosmology today,” lead researcher John Kovac, with the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, said in a statement.
57554155
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Nerval's Lobster writes:
In a Google Hangout with an auditorium full of South by Southwest attendees, government whistleblower (and former NSA employee) Edward Snowden suggested that encrypted communication should become more ubiquitous and easier to use for the majority of Internet denizens. “The way we interact with [encrypted email and communications] is not good,” he said from somewhere within Russia, where he resides under the conditions of a one-year asylum. “It needs to be out there, it needs to happen automatically, it needs to happen seamlessly.” For his part, Snowden still believes that companies should store user data that contributes directly to their respective business: “It’s not that you can’t collect any data, you should only collect the data and hold it as long as necessary for the operation of the business.” He also couldn’t resist some choice swipes at his former employer, accusing high-ranking intelligence officials Michael Hayden and Keith Alexander of harming the world’s cyber-security—and by extension, United States national security—by emphasizing offensive operations over the defense of communications. “America has more to lose than anyone else when every attack succeeds,” Snowden said. “When you are the one country that has sort of a vault that’s more full than anyone else’s, it makes no sense to be attacking all day.”
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EwanPalmer writes:
China has begun using its orbiting satellites in a bid to find the missing Malaysian Airlines flight.
The Xi'an Satellite Monitor and Control Center is said to have launched an emergency response to search for Flight MH370 after it went off radar over the South China Sea in the early hours of Saturday. The center is reported to have adjusted up to 10 of its high-res satellites to help search for the plane.
57095871
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interquartzboy writes:
SeaOrbiter, a futuristic-looking research vessel designed by Jacques Rougerie, the man behind the original underwater village, is set to become a reality after it hit its fundraising target. The spaceship-like vessel will travel the ocean currents for three or six months at a time with a crew of 20, and collect and analyse data about unexplored areas of the ocean using onboard labs. It will also produce documentaries and literature for use in education.
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diegocg writes:
Germany has outlined the details of the new 800km/497miles high voltage power link that will transport renewable power from the north to the industrial south. It is part of the Energiewende plan to replace nuclear power and most of other non-renewable energy sources with renewable sources in the next decades. However, the power link is facing a problem: popular resistance from neighbours affected.
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Daniel_Stuckey writes:
Protests in Venezuela grew Thursday as opposition leaders seek a more stable economy and an end to violent retaliations against the protestors. In addition to marches across the country, hackers associated with Anonymous have apparently taken down several government websites and photos of the violence have begun to circulate widely on social media.
This is how we protest in 2014: It appears to be an all-out assault that's happening in local media, on the streets, on social media, and online.
Nicolas Maduro’s presidency has been rocky ever since he was elected in a special election last year after Hugo Chavez’s death. The country is facing extreme economic uncertainty as its currency becomes hyper-inflated. Maduro has said that foreign governments such as the United States have plans to overthrow him, but recent protests in Caracas and Lara seem to have come from within in the country.
Amnesty International has asked for an “urgent” investigation of the events surrounding the deaths of three protesters in Caracas during what started as a peaceful student protest in the capital.
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Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes:
As the number of students attending colleges and universities has steadily increased and the cost for most students has climbed even faster, student debt figures (both total and per person) have continued to get bigger. Now Josh Freedman at Forbes Magazine proposes a graduate tax-funded system of higher education, under which students would pay nothing to attend college upfront. Instead, once they graduate and move out of their parents’ basements, they would begin to pay an additional income tax (say, for example, three percent) on their earnings that would fund higher education. "In other words, the current crop of college graduates funds the current crop of college students, and so on down the line. There is no debt taken on by students, which minimizes risk (good); repayment is tied to income, because only people who make income pay the tax (also good); and it is simpler and more easily administrable than plans to make loans easier to pay off (still good)." The main argument for a graduate tax comes from its progressivity. Supporters of a graduate tax point out that most college graduates, particularly those from elite universities that use a greater share of resources, are richer than people who have not graduated from college. The state of Oregon made headlines last year for an innovative proposal called “Pay It Forward” to fund higher education without having students take on any debt. Pay It Forward amounts to a graduate tax: All of the graduates of public colleges in Oregon would pay nothing up front in tuition but would pay back a percentage of their income for a set number of years. These payments would build a fund that would cover the cost for future students to receive the same opportunity to attend college with no upfront costs. "As pressure mounts for more students from all backgrounds to attend college, it will become increasingly difficult to try to stem the rapid tuition inflation under a loan system," concludes Freedman. "Our current student loan system has made college more expensive, turned higher education into an individual, rather than a communal, good, and generated serious negative economic and social risks."
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cartechboy writes:
Man the automotive dealer associations don't like Tesla. Remember that time the Ohio dealers attempted to block Tesla from selling its electric cars in in the Buckeye State. Now, it's happening again. The car dealers are once again pushing legislation that would keep Tesla from selling cars in Ohio. Senate Bill 260 would prohibit the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles from issuing car-dealer licenses to auto manufacturers. Since Tesla owns and operates its own network of "dealerships" (aka galleries), this would make it so the automaker couldn't acquire a car-dealer license. Section 11 of the bill lists "a manufacturer... applying for license to sell or lease new motor vehicles at retail" as one of the types of organization ineligible for a dealership license. On top of all this, the langauge isn't on the Senate floor as a standalone bill. No, it's inserted as an amendment to Senate Bill 137 which is an unrelated bill requiring Ohio drivers to move to the left while passing roadside maintenance vehicles. Is this yet another slimy tactic to try and undercut the new kid on the block?
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bobbagum writes:
Iron Maiden, noted a surge in piracy traffic in South America,rather than send in the lawyers, Maiden sent itself in, The result was massive sellouts After all, fans can't download a concert or t-shirts.
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maratumba writes:
The Bill extends what are already hefty Internet curbs in place under a controversial 2007 law that Earned Turkey equal ranking with China as the world’s biggest web censor according to a Google Transparency report published in December.
The text notably permits a government agency, the Telecommunications Communications Presidency (TIB), to block Access to websites without court authorization if they are deemed to violate privacy or with content Seen as “insulting”.
Erdogan, Turkey’s all-powerful leader since 2003, is openly suspicious of the Internet, branding Twitter a “menace” for being Utilized in organisation of mass nationwide protests in June in which siX people died and thousands injured.
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redletterdave writes:
In the midst of a raging debate over whether carriers should be allowed to charge more for certain types of data, or let favored developers offer users apps that don’t count against their data caps, AT&T has applied for a patent on a credit system that would let it discriminate between 'permissible' and 'non-permissible' traffic on its network. According to the application, AT&T would be allowed to decide what other content is 'non-permissible'—movies and file-sharing files are just examples—and the carrier could also levy additional fees or terminate the user’s access if they tried to access unauthorized content or exceeded their 'credit allotment.'
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v3rgEz writes:
CJ Ciaramella stumbled upon some recently interesting documents with a recent FOIA request: The DEA's training materials regarding parallel construction, the practice of reverse engineering the evidence chain to keep how the government actually knows something happened away from prosecutors, the defense, and the public.
“Americans don’t like it," the materials note, when the government relies heavily on classified sources, so agents are encouraged to find ways to get the same information through tactics like "routine" traffic stops that coincidentally find the information agents are after.
Public blowback, along with greater criminal awareness, are cited among the reasons for keeping the actual methodologies beyond the reach of even the prosecutors working with the DEA on the cases.
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Master Moose writes:
New Zealands Government wants to override privacy laws to supply the US Government with private details about Americans living in New Zealand.
As part of a global tax-dodging crackdown, the US is forcing banks and other financial institutions to hand over the private financial details of US "persons" and companies based overseas.
From July this year, Kiwi banks and insurers will be required to provide US tax authorities with American customers' contact details, bank account numbers and transaction history.
The move comes amid continuing criticism of New Zealand's participation in Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement talks, aimed at securing a wider-reaching free trade deal with the US and other countries.
Critics say the secretive talks could restrict New Zealand's ability to make its own laws on everything from the environment to employment.
