12629934
submission
necro81 writes:
In the latest longevity milestone for the little-rovers-that-could, the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has become the longest operating Mars lander ever, passing the mark set by the Viking 1 lander back in the 1970s. Considering that Viking was an immobile, nuclear-powered science station, the 2246-sols (six Earth years) that the solar-powered roving Opportunity has racked up is even more impressive. Opportunity does not seem to be slowing down, either, it is still driving its way slowly towards Endeavor crater, which it hopes to reach in another two years. Its twin, Spirit , has fared less well of late, but may yet be heard from again.
11897944
submission
necro81 writes:
Palm, Inc., which has struggled in recent months after making a splash with its Pre smartphone, will be bought by HP, the world's largest computer maker. The deal has been approved by both companies' boards, and should be wrapped up this summer. HP will get Palm for about $5.70/share (about 20% above today's closing price), or about $1.2 billion. That's a pretty good deal, considering that in the months following the launch of the Pre on Sprint's network, Palm's share price topped $16. But marketing blunders hindered the Pre's more widespread adoption on other carriers, and the company's very existence has recently seemed in doubt.
11891234
submission
necro81 writes:
, the 130-turbine offshort wind project sited off Nantucket Island in Massachusetts, has been given regulatory approval by the US Dept of the Interior. It is the first offshore wind farm in the US to clear this hurdle, which makes it the front runner to become the first operating offshore windfarm in the US, wholags far behind Europe and China. The start of construction is not yet assured, however: the project has been met with fierce and tenacious resistance from (some) locals, (some) politicians, and even (some) Native Americans, who could still delay the project for years in court
11789546
submission
necro81 writes:
A $1.5 billion gamma ray experiment, the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, that was to have launched aboard the space shuttle Endeavor to the International Space Station in July, has undergone a last minute design change that will change the launch date, pushing back the end of the shuttle program by at least several months. The change replaces the original liquid helium-cooled superconducting magnet with a more conventional one, which will reduce the risks involved (superconducting magnets can be problematic — just ask CERN) and will greatly extend the useful life of the spectrometer (the liquid helium coolant would have boiled away within a few years of launch). Although the conventional electromagnet is only 1/5th as strong, its increased lifespan should allow for substantially more science to be conducted, especially considering the ISS's extended mission life. As the change is still underway, the impact to the final shuttle schedule is not fully known.
8453914
submission
necro81 writes:
Google consumes massive amounts of electrical energy to power its data centers across the country and world. Now it has created a subsidiary, Google Energy LLC, and applied (pdf) to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to become a utility-scale energy trader. Google's stated aim is to be able to purchase renewable energy directly from producers at bulk rates, pursuing its goal of becoming carbon neutral. It is likely that Google Energy would also permit Google's own renewable energy projects to sell their energy at more favorable rates. Google reportedly does not have plans to actively become an energy broker, a la Enron.
7408342
submission
necro81 writes:
The NY Times is reporting that a new report from Osram, a major lighting manufacturer, has calculated the total lifecycle energy costs of LED lightbulbs and found that they are approximately 20% that of incandescents. While it is well known that LED bulbs use a fraction of the energy of incandescents to produce the same amount of light, it has been unproven if the higher manufacturing energy costs made the technology a net gain. The study found that manufacturing and distribution energy costs of all lightbulb technologies is only about 2% of their total lifetime energy cost — a tiny fraction of the energy used to produce light.
7219234
submission
necro81 writes:
The NY Times is reporting that there may be an upcoming shortage of helium-3, and the effect that has on nuclear weapons detection. The gas is exceptionally rare on Earth; the primary source is from the decay of tritium. The end of the Cold War left humanity with a sizable stockpile of tritium but, with a half-life of just twelve years, a great deal of that tritium has since decayed.. As a result, the cost of helium-3 has shot up from $100/L to more than $2000/L in the last few years. Producing more requires a specially outfit nuclear reactor and extraction and purification facilities, which cannot be done overnight. Aside from the interest in helium-3 from the nuclear fusion community, it is used for several medical diagnostic tests as an MRI contrast. Because of its neutron-sensitivity, it is a critical component in a network of nuclear material detectors that are being rolled out at American ports.
6836018
submission
necro81 writes:
Carly Fiorina, the former CEO of HP, has announced that she will run as a Republican to unseat California senator Barbara Boxer in next year's mid-term elections. A political newcomer, she plans to run on a platform of lowering taxes, reigning-in government spending, and touting her business experience. As HP's boss, she had a mix of successes (such as a merger with Compaq and spinoff of Agilent) and failures (such as a stock price that fell by half) before being ousted unanimously in 2005. Although her $21 million golden parachute provides her with an early edge in fundraising, she will face a strong primary challenge from assemblyman Chuck DeVore, a staunch social conservative.
5737353
submission
necro81 writes:
India has lost radio contact with its lunar orbiter, Chandrayaan-1. After nearly a year in space and thousands of orbits of the moon, the orbiter abruptly lost contact early Saturday morning. Ground controllers haven't been able to re-establish contact or control the craft. Chandrayaan's launch and successful orbiting of the Moon vaulted India into an elite club of space-faring nations. The orbiter had already accomplished most scientific objectives of its two-year mission to map the surface and survey for minerals in preparation for future lunar missions.
5514883
submission
necro81 writes:
General Motors, emerging from bankruptcy, today announced that its upcoming plug-in hybrid vehicle, the Volt, will have an EPA-rated 230 mpg for city driving (approx 1L / 100km). The unprecedented rating is the result of a new (draft) methodology for calculating the "gas" mileage for vehicles that operate primarily or extensively on electricity. The Volt, due out late this year, can drive approximately 40 miles on its Li-Ion battery pack, after which a gasoline engine kicks in to provide additional electricity to turn the wheels. Running off the gasoline engine yields approximately 50 mpg. Of course, the devil's in the details, because the conversion of grid-based electricity to gasoline-mileage is imprecise.
5118131
submission
necro81 writes:
It has almost become an internet joke how Google leaves many of its projects in the beta stage indefinitely, never officially releasing them. No longer: Gmail, Docs, Calendar, and Talk have finally left beta. Gmail has hung around in beta since April 2004 and is currently used by over 100 million people. Google Apps has 1.75 million users. Removing the beta label should allow Google to push for greater adoption in enterprise settings, where greater surety of support and a predictable product life cycle are necessary. The move brings with it a push towards making Apps a paid-only service.
4874335
submission
necro81 writes:
Recently named CIO for the US Government, Vivek Kundra, intends to launch a website that will allow government and the public to view a dashboard for each of the 800 major (>$50 million) federal technology projects. The dashboard will reveal information such as what the project is for, who in government is overseeing it, how large its budget is, what contractors are working on it, and how many change orders it has received. At present, there is no simple way to track any of this information. Hopefully, it will help avoid debacles like the scrapped $600 million program to develop PDAs for the 2010 census.
3310789
submission
necro81 writes:
The Delay DTV Act was passed first by the Senate, now in the House, and will be signed by the President. The hard cutoff for turning off analog TV broadcasts in the U.S. has been pushed out to June 12th. The act had earlier failed to gain a 2/3rds majority in the House, but passed this afternoon with a simple majority. The bill allows stations to cease analog transmissions at any point between Feb 17th (the old cutoff) and June 12th, and many have signaled they will do so.
3255333
submission
necro81 writes:
The IBM Model M keyboard is considered by some to be the best ever made. With a buckling-spring under each key, it felt like a real typewriter, with a satisfying click with every stroke; its heavy construction would last forever. Although IBM discontinued the Model M decades ago, NPR reports how a former employee bought the design and molds and founded a company in 1996, Unicomp, to produce modern versions. However, Unicomp is falling on hard times as banks and large corportations — the biggest customers — are pulling back purchasing, while parts and labor costs in the Kentucky factory keep climbing. Can an expensive, durable, niche product survive tough times?
3108149
submission
necro81 writes:
The Inauguration of Barack Obama tomorrow is expected to put considerable stress on the cellphone network around Washington, DC. The expected crowd could top two million people, and many of them are expected to call, text, tweet, photo, and blog their way through the event. In response, the major wireless carriers in the area have spend millions of dollars upgrading their local networks and will bring in extra "cells on wheels" (COWs) and "cells on light trucks" (COLTs). They are also requesting that attendees limit their usage during the event, and avoid bandwidth-heavy activities — like uploading photos — until afterward.
