Report says no technological replacement exists for bulk data collection
Washington DC (SPX) Jan 26, 2015 -
No software-based technique can fully replace the bulk collection of signals intelligence, but methods can be developed to more effectively conduct targeted collection and to control the usage of collected data, says a new report from the National Research Council.
Automated systems for isolating collected data, restricting queries that can be made against those data, and auditing usage of ...
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ASC Signal Awarded NATO Contract for HF Antenna Deployment in Poland
Plano TX (SPX) Jan 26, 2015 -
ASC Signal Corporation has been awarded a contract by Page Europa, a General Dynamics company, to provide High Frequency (HF) antennas for Page Europa's defense customer in Poland.
The procurement and implementation of Poland Broadcast, MRL, and Ship-shore (BRASS) was awarded to Page Europa by the NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA). Page Europa system design incorporates ASC ...
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Establishing the CODE for Unmanned Aircraft to Fly as Collaborative Teams
Washington DC (SPX) Jan 26, 2015 -
The U.S. military's investments in unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) have proven invaluable for missions from intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) to tactical strike. Most of the current systems, however, require constant control by a dedicated pilot and sensor operator as well as a large number of analysts, all via telemetry.
These requirements severely limit the scalability ...
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New US sanctions would 'unravel' Iran nuclear deal: Zarif
Davos, Switzerland (AFP) Jan 23, 2015 -
Iran warned the US Congress on Friday against imposing new sanctions, saying this would lead to a collapse of negotiations over Tehran's controversial nuclear programme.
"We have an agreement that has the prospect of reaching a comprehensive agreement," Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told a meeting of political and business leaders in Davos.
"If someone comes to torpedo (th ...
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Dancer recalls "perfectionism that allows no mistakes"
Washington DC (UPI) Jan 22, 2015 -
This 35-year-old woman, a dancer, came to Seoul in 2004 from Pyongyang, where she had trained for and participated in the Pyongyang Arirang Festival. This festival, also sometimes referred to in English as the "North Korean Mass Games," is among the country's few efforts to expose itself culturally to other countries. This is the first time she has shared her story.
Q: Can you share a b ...
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Iraq PM says retaking Mosul from IS 'can be done'
Davos, Switzerland (AFP) Jan 23, 2015 -
Iraq's premier expressed confidence Friday that the country's struggling army is capable of retaking the city of Mosul from the Islamic State group.
The chief problem, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi told a gathering of political and economic leaders in Davos, is that Iraqi forces in the area are currently split and need to join up.
"That's why we are fighting now to make sure that that r ...
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Politics Won't Get in Way of Russia, US Nuclear Cooperation Through 2015
Moscow, Russia (Sputnik) Jan 23, 2015 -
Cooperation between Russia and the United States will continue in providing nuclear security in 2015, Russia's nuclear conglomerate Rosatom said in an official statement Thursday.
Earlier, a number of news reports suggested that Russia had told the United States it would curtail bilateral nuclear safety cooperation.
Rosatom pointed out that the joint US-Russian nuclear safety program ...
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Iran lawmakers drafting law on nuclear enrichment hike
Tehran (AFP) Jan 24, 2015 -
Iran's parliament has started to draft a law that would allow the country's nuclear scientists to intensify their uranium enrichment, a step that could complicate ongoing talks with world powers.
The move, announced Saturday by parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, comes after US lawmakers said they were planning legislation that could place new sanctions on Iran.
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Davos elites warned about catastrophic cyberattacks
Davos, Switzerland (AFP) Jan 24, 2015 -
Attacks on power plants, telecommunications and financial systems, even turning all of Los Angeles' traffic lights green: Davos elites were warned Saturday of the terrifying possibilities of modern cyber terrorism.
Eugene Kaspersky, who heads the Kaspersky Lab security group, said the possibilities of individuals being hacked would only increase in future as more devices, such as "smart" tel ...
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Obama, Modi break nuclear impasse, hail new 'friendship'
New Delhi (AFP) Jan 25, 2015 -
US President Barack Obama and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi broke the deadlock on a long-stalled nuclear pact Sunday as they hailed a new era of friendship between the world's two largest democracies.
After greeting Obama with a bear hug as he stepped off Air Force One, Modi then trumpeted the "chemistry" with his fellow leader on the first of a three-day visit to the Indian capital. ...
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Obama recommends extended wilderness zone in Alaska
Washington (AFP) Jan 25, 2015 -
US President Barack Obama said Sunday he would recommend a large swath of Alaska be designated as wilderness, the highest level of federal protection, in a move angering state oil proponents.
By setting aside 12.28 million acres (five million hectares) of public land in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, or ANWR, as wilderness, the oil-rich area would be sealed off from roads and developme ...
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Drought sees Rio's main hydro plant turned off
Rio De Janeiro (AFP) Jan 22, 2015 -
A major Rio hydroelectric power plant was switched off after water levels slipped below an operational minimum following severe drought, Brazil's national grid told AFP on Thursday.
Water levels are also dwindling at three other plants that serve a region home to 16 million people, but an ONS spokesman denied there was any immediate threat to energy supplies.
"The hydroelectric plant was ...
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Chinese become targets in DR Congo anti-government riots
Kinshasa (AFP) Jan 25, 2015 -
Clashes between Democratic Republic of Congo police and political protestors that left some 40 people dead last week also revealed the level of hostility towards the Chinese in the capital Kinshasa.
"Congolese, please" implored a sign in one store window, hoping it would be spared by the marauding protesters who attacked and looted around 50 Chinese-owned stores in the gritty, teaming Kinsha ...
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Australia orders waste dumping ban on Great Barrier Reef
Sydney (AFP) Jan 24, 2015 -
Australia has ordered a ban on dumping dredge waste on most of the Great Barrier Reef, the environment minister said Saturday, as part of a push to stop the UN declaring the site in danger.
Environment Minister Greg Hunt said he had ordered the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority to develop regulations to stop waste from capital dredging being dumped in the park "once and for all".
...
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UN moves toward major treaty for ocean biodiversity
United Nations, United States (AFP) Jan 24, 2015 -
UN member states agreed Saturday to begin negotiations on a treaty to protect marine biodiversity in ocean areas extending beyond territorial waters, in a move heralded by environmental organizations.
The eventual UN treaty would be the first to specifically address protection of marine life, calling for the preservation of vast areas threatened by pollution, overfishing and global warming. ...
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Defence Minister Lungu wins Zambia's disputed presidential race
Lusaka (AFP) Jan 25, 2015 -
Zambia's defence minister Edgar Lungu, of the ruling Patriotic Front, has narrowly won the country's presidential race, the electoral commission announced Saturday after an election marred by delays.
Lungu won 48.33 percent of the vote, beating his rival Hakainde Hichilema of the United Party for National Development (UPND), who garnered 46.67 percent.
Lungu's victory was greeted with ch ...
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Subglacial Lakes Seen Refilling in Greenland
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Jan 26, 2015 -
Scientists using satellite images and data from NASA's Operation IceBridge have found evidence of a drained and refilled subglacial lake beneath northeastern Greenland's Flade Ice Cap. This sub-ice body of water is only one of a handful that have been detected in Greenland and its presence sheds new light on how the Greenland Ice Sheet reacts to warming temperatures.
Subglacial lakes are r ...
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Constraints on the evolution of vertical deformation near Lake Mead
Stanford CA (SPX) Jan 26, 2015 -
The 12- to 6-million-year-old Hualapai Limestone was deposited in a series of basins that lie in the path of the Colorado River directly west of the Colorado Plateau and has been deformed by a pair of faults that have slipped due to tectonic extension of the Earth's crust over this same time period.
Therefore, this rock unit represents an opportunity to study the sedimentary geology and de ...
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California aims to slash greenhouse gas emissions through 2030
Berkeley CA (SPX) Jan 26, 2015 -
A new model of the impact of California's existing and proposed policies on its greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction goals suggests that the state is on track to meet 2020 goals, and could achieve greater emission reductions by 2030, but the state will need to do more to reach its 2050 climate goals.
"The big news here is that not only will California meet its 2020 reduction goals under AB 32, b ...
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Fossils that survived volcano give clues to Canary Islands history
Uppsala, Sweden (SPX) Jan 26, 2015 -
The most recent eruption on the Canary Islands - at El Hierro in 2011 - produced spectacularly enigmatic white "floating rocks" that originated from the layers of oceanic sedimentary rock underneath the island. An international team of researchers, led from Uppsala University, use microscopic fossils found in the rocks to shed new light on the long-standing puzzle about the origin of the Canary ...
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Study projects major loss of corals in Great Barrier Reef
Knoxville TN (SPX) Jan 26, 2015 -
The coverage of living corals on Australia's Great Barrier Reef could decline to less than 10 percent if ocean warming continues, according to a new study that explores the short- and long-term consequences of environmental changes to the reef.
Environmental change has caused the loss of more than half the world's reef building corals. Coral cover, a measure of the percentage of the seaflo ...
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Small drop in sea level had big impact on southern Great Barrier Reef
Sydney, Australia (SPX) Jan 26, 2015 -
The idea that coral reefs have formed over millennia in a continuous process has been challenged by a study of the southern Great Barrier Reef. The research, led by the University of Sydney, shows that even small variations in sea level can cause significant change across the reef.
"We create a new narrative for how the Barrier Reef and other coral reefs came about and explain the importan ...
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Soils could keep contaminants in wastewater from reaching groundwater
University Park PA (SPX) Jan 26, 2015 -
With endocrine-disrupting compounds affecting fish populations in rivers as close as Pennsylvania's Susquehanna and as far away as Israel's Jordan, a new research study shows that soils can filter out and break down at least some of these emerging contaminants. The results suggest that water pollution can be diminished by spraying treated wastewater on land rather than discharging it directly in ...
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These jellyfish aren't just drifters
Geelong, Australia (SPX) Jan 26, 2015 -
Jellyfish might look like mere drifters, but some of them have a remarkable ability to detect the direction of ocean currents and to swim strongly against them, according to new evidence in free-ranging barrel-jellyfish reported in the Cell Press journal Current Biology.
"Detecting ocean currents without fixed visual reference points is thought to be close to impossible and is not seen, fo ...
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When it comes to variations in crop yield, climate has a big say
Minneapolis MN (SPX) Jan 26, 2015 -
What impact will future climate change have on food supply? That depends in part on the extent to which variations in crop yield are attributable to variations in climate. A new report from researchers at the University of Minnesota Institute on the Environment has found that climate variability historically accounts for one-third of yield variability for maize, rice, wheat and soybeans worldwid ...
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