Submission + - NASA Rover Finds Old Streambed on Martian Surface (nasa.gov)
littlesparkvt writes: "NASA's Curiosity rover mission has found evidence a stream once ran vigorously across the area on Mars where the rover is driving."
Submission + - Milky Way is Surrounded by Halo of Hot Gas (spaceindustrynews.com)
littlesparkvt writes: Data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory was used to estimate that the mass of the halo is comparable to the mass of all the stars in the Milky Way galaxy. If the size and mass of this gas halo is confirmed, it could be the solution to the ”missing-baryon” problem for the Galaxy.
Submission + - NASA to face 1.3 Billion Dollar Cut Next Year Under Sequestration (spaceindustrynews.com)
littlesparkvt writes: A budget forecast that was released on Friday shows that the defense department isn’t the only department getting hammered, NASA is as well if the automatic budget cuts happen.
Submission + - NASA Mars Rover Opportunity Reveals New "Blueberries" (spaceindustrynews.com)
littlesparkvt writes: Spherical objects concentrated at an outcrop Opportunity reached last week differ in several ways from iron-rich spherules nicknamed ”blueberries” the rover found at its landing site in early 2004 and at many other locations to date.
Submission + - The First Laptop in Space (spaceindustrynews.com)
littlesparkvt writes: The first laptop in space was designed by a man named Bill Moggridge who passed away September 8th, 2012 at the age of 69 years old. Bill won the Prince Philip Designers Prize in 2010 which recognizes outstanding computer design.
Submission + - Launched Today in 1978, USSR Probe Found Lightning on Venus (spaceindustrynews.com)
littlesparkvt writes: The only success that the Venera had was a gas chromatograph , which measure the composition of the Venus atmosphere, as well as instruments to study scattered solar radiation. These instruments sent back an amazing detail though, Venus has evidence of lightning and thunder and also the discovery of carbon monoxide at low altitudes.
Submission + - NASA Mars Exploration Rover Team to be Honored (spaceindustrynews.com)
littlesparkvt writes: The mission team for NASA’s long-lived Mars
Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity will be awarded the Haley
Space Flight Award. The team will receive the award Sept. 12 during
the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Space
2012 Conference and Exposition in Pasadena, Calif.
Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity will be awarded the Haley
Space Flight Award. The team will receive the award Sept. 12 during
the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Space
2012 Conference and Exposition in Pasadena, Calif.
Submission + - NASAs "Mohawk Guy" talks about sipping coffee on Mars, how to get a job at NASA (spaceindustrynews.com)
littlesparkvt writes: When the Mars Curiosity Rover landed on August 5th 2012 Bobak Ferdowsi became an overnight celebrity known as NASAs “Mohawk Guy”. He was gracious enough to sit down and give us a quick interview about drinking coffee on Mars, NASA and his new found fame.
Submission + - Mt Fuji may be close to erupting (wired.co.uk)
SpuriousLogic writes: The pressure in Mount Fuji's magma chamber is now higher than it was in 1707, the last time the nearly 4,000-metre-high Japanese volcano erupted, causing volcanologists to speculate that a disaster is imminent.
The new readings, taken by the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention, reveal that the pressure is at 1.6 megapascals, nearly 16 times the 0.1 megapascals it takes to trigger an eruption.
This, lead volcanologist on the case Eisuke Fujita told Kyodo News, is "not a small figure".
Researchers have speculated for some time that the volcano, located on Honshu Island 100km southwest of Tokyo, is overdue an eruption. In 2000 and 2001 a series of low-frequency earthquakes were recorded beneath the volcano, leading to widespread predictions of an imminent blow. Since the March 2011 tsunami and the 6.4 magnitude earthquake that followed four days later, Japan has been on tenterhooks, and in May 2012 a professor from Ryukyu University warned that a massive eruption within three years would be likely because of several major factors: steam and gases are being emitted from the crater, water eruptions are occurring nearby, massive holes emitting hot natural gases are appearing in the vicinity and finally, the warning sign that pushed the professor to make the announcement, a 34km-long fault was found underneath the volcano. The fault, experts suggested, could indicate a total collapse of the mountainside if there is another significant shift, and it would probably cause a collapse in the event of an eruption, leading to huge mud and landslides.
The new readings prove that the localised tectonic shifts of 2011 have indeed put immense pressure on the magma chamber, but the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention has qualified its warning by noting that pressure is just one contributory factor to an eruption. The 1707 quake, however, was itself caused by a recent earthquake that amped up the pressure in its magma chamber.
"It's possible for Mount Fuji to erupt even several years after the March 2011 earthquake, therefore we need to be careful about the development," a representative said.
A 2004 government report originally estimated that an eruption would cost the country £19.6 billion. However, new studies are underway by Honshu Island's Shizuoka prefectural government. The study is focussing on the potential damage that would be caused by a series of simultaneous earthquakes in the Tokai, Tonankai and Nankai regions located along the Nankai Trough, where it is feared another earthquake will soon take place. The most recent models have revealed that, in the worst-case scenario, 323,000 people would die and the tremors could trigger an eruption at Mount Fuji.
Regions that would be affected, including Kanagawa, Yamanashi and Shizuoka, plan to hold a test run of an evacuation by 2014, with a meeting of local governments covering progress of the plans and of shelter preparations slated for April 2013.
The new readings, taken by the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention, reveal that the pressure is at 1.6 megapascals, nearly 16 times the 0.1 megapascals it takes to trigger an eruption.
This, lead volcanologist on the case Eisuke Fujita told Kyodo News, is "not a small figure".
Researchers have speculated for some time that the volcano, located on Honshu Island 100km southwest of Tokyo, is overdue an eruption. In 2000 and 2001 a series of low-frequency earthquakes were recorded beneath the volcano, leading to widespread predictions of an imminent blow. Since the March 2011 tsunami and the 6.4 magnitude earthquake that followed four days later, Japan has been on tenterhooks, and in May 2012 a professor from Ryukyu University warned that a massive eruption within three years would be likely because of several major factors: steam and gases are being emitted from the crater, water eruptions are occurring nearby, massive holes emitting hot natural gases are appearing in the vicinity and finally, the warning sign that pushed the professor to make the announcement, a 34km-long fault was found underneath the volcano. The fault, experts suggested, could indicate a total collapse of the mountainside if there is another significant shift, and it would probably cause a collapse in the event of an eruption, leading to huge mud and landslides.
The new readings prove that the localised tectonic shifts of 2011 have indeed put immense pressure on the magma chamber, but the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention has qualified its warning by noting that pressure is just one contributory factor to an eruption. The 1707 quake, however, was itself caused by a recent earthquake that amped up the pressure in its magma chamber.
"It's possible for Mount Fuji to erupt even several years after the March 2011 earthquake, therefore we need to be careful about the development," a representative said.
A 2004 government report originally estimated that an eruption would cost the country £19.6 billion. However, new studies are underway by Honshu Island's Shizuoka prefectural government. The study is focussing on the potential damage that would be caused by a series of simultaneous earthquakes in the Tokai, Tonankai and Nankai regions located along the Nankai Trough, where it is feared another earthquake will soon take place. The most recent models have revealed that, in the worst-case scenario, 323,000 people would die and the tremors could trigger an eruption at Mount Fuji.
Regions that would be affected, including Kanagawa, Yamanashi and Shizuoka, plan to hold a test run of an evacuation by 2014, with a meeting of local governments covering progress of the plans and of shelter preparations slated for April 2013.
Submission + - President Obama's First Term: Key Accomplishments for NASA and Space (spaceindustrynews.com)
littlesparkvt writes: In his first term, President Obama built on existing NASA programs and projects, continuing our efforts at unmanned exploration, extending the life of the Space Shuttle by two flights, and continuing and expanding the basic scientific research occurring at the International Space Station.
Comment Used one for 6 months, loved it. (Score 1) 347
At my last job I was using a stand up desk for about 6 months and loved it. The thing about a stand up desk is that you can sit down in a chair if you need to take a break, the chair is just a bit taller to accomodate the size of the desk. The key is to make sure that the desk is the right height or you will be VERY uncomfortable.
Submission + - Neil Armstrong Memorial to be Live Streamed (spaceindustrynews.com)
An anonymous reader writes: On September 13th 2012 the world can pay their tributes to a great man, Neil Armstrong. Neil’s memorial service will be viewable online via live streaming video via NASA TV as well as NASAs website from the Washington National Cathedral. The service will begin at 10 am EST on SEptember 13th.
Submission + - Steam Linux Beta Build Surfaces In Steam's Database (thepowerbase.com)
An anonymous reader writes: For those of you who are chomping at the bit, biting your nails and ruthlessly washing your cars over and over again in anxious anticipation of Steam for Linux, we’ve got good news for you.
Database hacker Marlamin uncovered the first evidence of a Steam for Linux build on Steam’s servers using using CDR Steam database parser. Steam’s beta carries an app id of 16549 and was uploaded just today.
Database hacker Marlamin uncovered the first evidence of a Steam for Linux build on Steam’s servers using using CDR Steam database parser. Steam’s beta carries an app id of 16549 and was uploaded just today.
Submission + - Amazon To Release Kindle Smartphone (cnn.com)
WIn5t0n writes: With Amazon on the verge of announcing new kindle products at 1:30 ET (10:30PT) today from a hanger in Santa Monica, sources now say that the company is not only releasing a updated Kindle Fire (its popular tablet), but is also going to announce its entry into the cellphone market by unveiling a Kindle Smartphone. The phone, which will run on a modified version of the Kindle Fire OS or Android 4.0, is rumored to be using Nokia Maps and secondary software. However experts believe that the phone is still far away from being finished, and consumers will likely have to wait at least a month after its announcement to get their hands on one.
Submission + - EU Supply of IPv4 Addresses to Run Out Next Month
revealingheart writes: ISPreview reports that Europe’s Regional Internet Registry (RIR), RIPE NCC, which handles the distribution of internet addresses in Europe, has officially warned that they have just “one month worth of IPv4 address space” left. A final block of 16.8m addresses will be gradually released, but on a restricted basis. RIPE provides a graph with the number of addresses available, while Geoff Huston also has projections on how long registries have before exhaustion.
This follows the news of the last IPv4 blocks being issued by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) to Regional Internet Registrys in February last year. Asia-Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC) ran out of addresses to allocate for the Asia-Pacific region 2 months later.
IPv4 uses 32 bits for addresses, giving a maximum possible 4.3bn addresses to allocate for devices to connect to the internet. IPv6 is a replacement for IPv4, with support for 128 bit addresses (3.4 × 10^38 addresses). As of June this year, IPv6 only has 0.2% of internet traffic, with sales of unused IPv4 addresses gaining steam.
This follows the news of the last IPv4 blocks being issued by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) to Regional Internet Registrys in February last year. Asia-Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC) ran out of addresses to allocate for the Asia-Pacific region 2 months later.
IPv4 uses 32 bits for addresses, giving a maximum possible 4.3bn addresses to allocate for devices to connect to the internet. IPv6 is a replacement for IPv4, with support for 128 bit addresses (3.4 × 10^38 addresses). As of June this year, IPv6 only has 0.2% of internet traffic, with sales of unused IPv4 addresses gaining steam.
