Archive for April, 2012
North Korea Fueling Rocket
April 11th, 2012Via: CNN: North Korea has started fueling a long-range rocket it plans to launch in the coming days, a senior national space official said Wednesday. Fueling of the rocket, which North Korea says will put a satellite in orbit, is under way and will be completed at the “appropriate time,” said Paek Chang Ho, head […]
Hack Attacks Warning On Medical Implants
April 11th, 2012Via: Tech Week Europe: Security firms have warned hackers could use radio signals to attack pacemakers and other medical implants, potentially killing people. Researchers from McAfee have shown they can take control of insulin pumps implanted inside diabetes patients, while scientists at the University of Massachussetts have shown they can use radio attacks to turn […]
3 Major Publishers Sue Open-Education Textbook Start-Up
April 10th, 2012I’d love to know the mechanisms by which students come to be required to buy, say, a calculus textbook for over $200. What has to happen to get a racket like that up and running? Suitcases of cash? Prostitutes? All-expenses-paid-conferences/colloquia-as-vacations? Horse heads tucked into beds with people? Via: The Chronicle of Higher Education: Open-education resources […]
A New Microchip Knows Just Where You Are, Indoors and Out
April 10th, 2012Via: MIT Technology Review: Broadcom has just rolled out a chip for smart phones that promises to indicate location ultra-precisely, possibly within a few centimeters, vertically and horizontally, indoors and out. The unprecedented accuracy of the Broadcom 4752 chip results from the sheer breadth of sensors from which it can process information. It can receive […]
Radioactive Particles from Fukushima Disaster Were Detected in Kelp Off Southern California
April 10th, 2012Via: San Francisco Chronicle: Kelp off California was contaminated with short-lived radioisotopes a month after Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant accident, a sign that the spilled radiation reached the state’s coastline, according to a new scientific study. Scientists from CSU Long Beach tested giant kelp collected off Orange County, Santa Cruz and other locations after […]
Videos of Blackwater Rampages in Iraq
April 9th, 2012Via: Harper’s Magazine: The April 2012 issue of Harper’s Magazine includes “The Warrior Class,” a feature by Charles Glass on the rise of private-security contractors since 9/11. The conclusion to the piece describes a series of videos shown to Glass by a source who had worked for the private-security company Blackwater (now Academi, formerly also […]
Japan Deploys Missile Defenses Ahead of North Korea Launch
April 9th, 2012Via: AFP: Japan has deployed missile batteries in Tokyo and dispatched destroyers as North Korea makes final preparations for a rocket launch that could take place this week despite fierce condemnation from across the globe. Pyongyang says it will launch a satellite for peaceful scientific research between April 12 and 16 to mark the 100th […]
A Fog of Drugs and War
April 9th, 2012Via: Los Angeles Times: More than 110,000 active-duty Army troops last year took antidepressants, sedatives and other prescription medications. Some see a link to aberrant behavior. … In a small but growing number of cases across the nation, lawyers are blaming the U.S. military’s heavy use of psychotropic drugs for their clients’ aberrant behavior and […]
And Now… U.S. Military Plans for Alien Invasion
April 8th, 2012YouTube: Mirror 1, Mirror 2 Via: NineMSN: Video: Alien invasion Related: LEGO: Alien Conquest
Military Researchers Zapping Brains to Make Better Snipers
April 8th, 2012Better snipers? *pfft* You’ll need this technology to help you make sense of all the information on your Heads Up Display: Via: The Week: Over the past few years, however, it’s become increasingly clear that applying an electrical current to your head confers similar benefits. U.S. military researchers have had great success using “transcranial direct […]
