Oceans Confirmed on Europa -- Maybe

Data from the Galileo space probes journey to Jupiter suggests an ocean on its moon, Europa, is somewhat Earth-like. Scientists in the United States think the moons icy crust is relatively thin. There seem to be cracks and vents, which would allow gases, heat and organic matter to reach what may be water beneath.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2284852.stm

Russians Going To Mars

Russia is ready to send human beings to Mars, and will begin detailed planning to do so.This announcement was made to a London newspaper reporter by a Russian official, the chief of a once-secret space science institute. The official, Anatoli Grigoriev, surprised his international colleagues earlier this month with the prediction that a crew from Russia will be enroute to Mars as early as 2016."Our engineers believe we can do this by 2020 and, from a medical point of view, there are no big hurdles left to hinder such a mission,? Professor Grigoriev said. "Russia can offer a complete medical support system for a mission to Mars. This is recognized not just here but also in Houston."
http://www.marsnews.com/news/20010420-russia.manned.html

Life On Venus?

The acidic clouds of Venus could in fact be hiding life. Unlikely as it sounds, the presence of microbes could neatly explain several mysterious observations of the planets atmosphere.Venus is usually written off as a potential haven for life because of its hellishly hot and acidic surface. But conditions in the atmosphere at an altitude of around 50 kilometres are relatively hospitable: the temperature is about 70 °C, with a pressure of about one atmosphere. Although the clouds are very acidic, this region also has the highest concentration of water droplets in the Venusian atmosphere. "From an astrobiology point of view, Venus is not hopeless," says Dirk Schulze-Makuch from the University of Texas at El Paso.To look for possible signs of life, Schulze-Makuch and his colleague Louis Irwin looked at existing data on Venus from the Russian Venera space missions and the US Pioneer Venus and Magellan probes. They noticed some peculiar things about the chemical composition of Venuss atmosphere. Solar radiation and lightning should produce large quantities of carbon monoxide in the planets atmosphere, but instead it is scarce, as if something is removing it. They also found hydrogen sulphide and sulphur dioxide. These two gases react with each other, and so are never normally found together unless something is producing them.
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992843

Long-Lost Apollo Booster Found

Since its first sighting on Sept. 3, scientists had suspected that the 60-foot-long object, named JOO2E3, was a small asteroid. But further observations have proven that JOO2E3 was manufactured by humans, and is probably the long-lost third stage of the Apollo 12 rocket that took astronauts to the moon in 1969. Although JOO2E3 can be seen by amateur astronomers using 8- to 10-inch telescopes, high-tech scopes like NASAs Hubble Space Telescope couldnt conclusively identify it. The Hubbles 2.4-meter diameter mirror is limited to capturing images of objects no smaller than 80 meters across. J002E3 is, at best, about 30 meters across. JOO2E3 was identified partly through reports from amateur astronomers who tracked the objects position over a two-week period and supplied scientists with enough data to extrapolate JOO2E3s past and present orbit. Analysis by a high-power telescope provided the final clues: JOO2E3s surface is covered in white paint.
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,55364,00.html

Hilarious: Microsoft & IBM Diss MySQL

As interest in open-source databases builds, data management veterans IBM and Microsoft argue that alternative open-source databases such as MySQL lack the strength and functionality for enterprise deployment.Although Sun has not positioned MySQL as an alternative to larger transactional databases, executives speaking at the launch of the LX50 server in August said MySQL offers enough functionality to be a viable alternative in many cases.Open-source databases "dont support as many users, they dont support as much data, and you dont have as many connectivity options," said Jeff Jones, director of strategy for data management solutions at IBM. "They lack some key functionality and lack the scalability and performance, which keeps them out of the enterprise," Jones said.
http://infoworld.com/articles/pl/xml/02/09/23/020923pldman.xml

Earths Magnetic Field Boosts Gravity

Hidden extra dimensions are causing measurements of the strength of gravity at different locations on Earth to be affected by the planets magnetic field, French researchers say. This is a controversial claim because no one has ever provided experimental evidence to support either the existence of extra dimensions or any interaction between gravity and electromagnetism. But lab measurements of Newtons gravitational constant G suggest that both are real.Newtons constant, which describes the strength of the gravitational pull that bodies exert on each other, is the most poorly determined of the constants of nature. The two most accurate measurements have experimental errors of 1 part in 10,000, yet their values differ by 10 times that amount. So physicists are left with no idea of its absolute value.
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992814

Astronomers Find Theory-Affirming Evidence

Astronomers using a radio telescope at the South Pole reported on Thursday they had recorded a flicker of light from nearly 14 billion years ago that verifies most modern theory about the cosmos. Had the verification not been made, it would have tossed much current thinking into doubt, according to John Carlstrom of the University of Chicago. "Instead of stating that we think we really understand the origin and evolution of the universe with high confidence, we would be saying that we just dont know," absent the discovery, he said in an announcement from the university.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20020919/sc_nm/science_cosmos_dc_1

Signs Of Water On Distant Planets

His team used a 32-meter radio telescope to search for water maser emissions, telltale microwaves which could indicate water in a planets atmosphere when it is bathed in the infrared light of its star. Cosmovici said his team found the emissions in three planetary systems. Hugh Jones, of Liverpool John Moores University, said it could be an exciting first step in the search for signs of life on other planets. "Waters at the top of the shopping list of ingredients for life," he told the magazine.
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992810

Current Read: The Gateless Barrier

Zen master Zenkei Shibayana has done a great job in guiding the reader through what has been, for more than 7th century, one of the most rigorous training exercise in Zen: the koans in the "Gateless Barrier" or "Mumonkan," without the readers having to become a training Zen monk. He did this out of his "elders mind" (in Japanese: roshin) and out of his "grandmotherly heart" (robashin in J), for the tradition has always been to keep koan exercises strictly between the teacher and the student. (There are no correct answers, per se, to these koans and the exercise is only complete under the supervison of a teacher). And for the real purists like Shuan who wrote the preface to "Momonkan", they would urge us to "throw it away without waiting for me to do so. Let no drop of it fall into the world." In this regard, Shuan paled when compared to Ta-hui (Chinese spelling) who took the decisive step of burning every copy of the so-called frist book of Zen, Hegiganroku (Blue Cliff Record in Chinese), which had been written by a member of his teachers school, he could find. They both would have made Bodhidharma, the first Chinese Chan Patriach, proud - if thats possible, who wrote the famous gatha (a Buddhist poem): Transmission outside doctrine, No dependencies on words, Pointing directly at the mind, Thus seeing oneself truly, Attaining Buddhahood (Trans by Lucien Stryk & Takashi Ikemoto, in the Penguin Book of Zen Poetry).
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1570627266/qid=1032187736/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_3/002-2177368-5346452?v=glance&s=books#product-details

More Friction Between RIAA and Artists

Record companies see it as mutiny. Musicians call it an overdue rebellion. Either way, the artists rights movement has set the stage for combat that could revolutionize the music industry.What started as a classic David-and-Goliath skirmish over contractual terms could be tilting toward a level battlefield as opposition on a wide range of issues swells against an industry mired in a sales slump."The record business is in rough enough shape that something might actually change," says Craig Marks, editor of Blender magazine. "If things werent so uncertain, so bleak and in such disarray, the industry would be immovable, even with a gun to its head. If there was ever a set of circumstances that could lead to artists making inroads, its now."
http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2002-09-15-artists-rights_x.htm

Magic Lantern Info

Its been more than six months since the news broke about the FBIs new high tech spying device named "Magic Lantern." The government, understandably, wants to keep the Magic Lantern technology under wraps. But that didnt stop "CyberCrime" from getting the inside scoop on this high tech surveillance device from experts, which well show you on this weeks episode. The Magic Lantern technology began as part of a broad FBI project called "Cyber Knight" -- the same project that spawned the notorious Carnivore email monitoring device. Magic Lantern goes much farther than Carnivore, though. If initial reports are correct, it will allow investigators to secretly install software that records every keystroke on a persons computer, steal passwords, and read encrypted messages. With many encryption programs available on the Internet, the FBI has been frustrated in efforts to break open encrypted messages, and officials are increasingly concerned about their ability to read encrypted messages in criminal or terrorist investigations. Magic Lantern also resolves another important problem with the FBIs existing computer monitoring technology -- the "key logger system." In the past, investigators had to break into a targets residence armed with a warrant and physically attach a device to a computer. Magic Lantern, however, can be installed over the Internet by tricking a person into opening an email attachment. It is unclear whether Magic Lantern would transmit keystrokes it records back to the FBI over the Internet or store the information to be seized later in a raid. Once up and running, it can reportably records all keystrokes, peer into file, and even translate encrypted words into readable text.

http://www.techtv.com/cybercrime/privacy/story/0,23008,3386018,00.html

Hilarious: He-Man Vehicles

Of course, cars look a lot different in Eternia. The add-ons arent as mundane as what we see. These guys arent debating on paying extra for four-wheel drive or turbo-lock breaks - rather assorted missile launchers and slide-out wings. Automobiles like this probably cost a lot more than what we pay for our Fords and Toyotas, but fuck me if a little extra dough isnt worth driving around in a car that looks like a big red shark.
http://x-entertainment.com/messages/657.html

Huge Chunk Of Frozen Methane Found Off Vancouver Coast

It doesnt look much like fuel, but a glacier of frozen gas at the bottom of the ocean off British Columbia could one day provide Canada with a major source of energy. The deposit of methane hydrate, or frozen gas, came to light early last month when a fishing crew pulled up a chunk of the material in their nets. Scientists using a mini-submersible later found the deposit, about 75 kilometres off the west coast of Vancouver Island. Large chunks of the material are sitting in about 850 metres of water. "Theres likely enough methane and natural gas out there to satisfy energy reserves in Canada for about 40 years," said Dr. Ross Chapman, of the University of Victoria.
http://cbc.ca/stories/2002/09/09/methane020909

EU Users Online Now Outnumber NA

For the first time, Europe has more internet users than the US. According to Irish-based industry monitor Nua.com, Europe has almost 186 million users, while Canada and the US register 182 million. The difference may not seem substantial, but Europe is still a growing market."Internet penetration rate in the US is now close to saturation," says Nua.com editor Charlie Taylor. "However, the number of Europeans going online is increasing at a fast rate - they now account for 32% of the global internet population."
http://media.guardian.co.uk/mediaguardian/story/0,7558,788334,00.html

Ion Engine Still Kicking

A team led by Anita Sengupta, engineer and member of JPLs advanced propulsion technology group, has kept the Deep Space 1 flight spare ion engine running for 24,750 hours. If it had been an automobile engine instead of an ion engine, and it was driven for 24,750 hours at 80.5 kilometers per hour (50 mph), it would have traveled 1.93 million kilometers (1.2 million miles) without an oil change or tune up. The purpose of the test is to understand how an ion engine wears, and what phenomena contribute to its eventual end of life. With this information, NASA scientists can plan missions better and design improved ion engines.
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=9186

Speed of Gravity To Be Measured

Astronomers at the worlds largest radio telescopes are gearing up to measure the speed of gravity.It is the first attempt to verify a key prediction of Einsteins theory of general relativity, which says that nothing, not even the influence of gravity itself, can travel faster than light.No one has ever tested this prediction, even though the assumption that gravity travels in waves or gravitons with a finite speed underpins much of theoretical physics. The difficulty is that if light and gravity travel at the same speed, how can you hope to see evidence of gravitys speed?The answer, says Sergei Kopeikin of the University of Missouri, Columbia, is by watching a distant quasar as the planet Jupiter moves in front of it and its gravity bends radio waves from the quasar. This event is due to happen over the weekend of September 7 and 8. "When I first gave a talk about the idea everybody got excited and said we have to do this," says Kopeikin.
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992763

Inteview With The Creator Of Pitfall

One week before Pitfall! was to be released, I only gave you one life to play the whole game. I was experimenting with that concept as sort of the ultimate challenge. Thats right, fall in one pit and start over from the beginning! Well, thankfully my buddies practically tied me to my chair until I put in extra lives and Im glad they did. But most of the help came in much smaller details - things so small that taken individually you would never notice. It was the sum total of all the feedback and suggestions that polished the games to a fine edge.
http://www.gooddealgames.com/interviews/int_David_Crane.html