US military not ready to wage digital attack: official
Washington (AFP) April 14, 2015 -
The US military is well equipped to defend the country against cyberattacks but is not yet ready to wage digital warfare, a senior defense official told lawmakers on Tuesday.
The military's cyber command, created in 2009, lacks the means to lead an offensive campaign in a fast-moving digital conflict, said Eric Rosenbach, the Pentagon's principal adviser on cyber security.
Asked by Senat ...
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Blue Origin completes acceptance testing of BE-3 engine for New Shepard
Kent WA (SPX) Apr 15, 2015 -
Blue Origin recently completed acceptance testing of its BE-3 rocket engine, the first new hydrogen engine to be developed in the United States in more than a decade. The 110,000-lbf BE-3 will power Blue Origin's New Shepard suborbital system, and later, will be modified for upper stage applications.
"The BE-3 has now been fired for more than 30,000 seconds over the course of 450 tests," s ...
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Rocket tips over after SpaceX recycle attempt
Miami (AFP) April 14, 2015 -
SpaceX's latest attempt at recycling its Falcon 9 rocket by landing it upright on an ocean platform failed Tuesday, after a successful launch of its cargo mission to space.
"Ascent successful. Dragon en route to Space Station. Rocket landed on droneship, but too hard for survival," SpaceX chief Elon Musk said on Twitter, after the rocket and Dragon cargo ship blasted off from Cape Canaveral, ...
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Boeing-Lockheed team for Vulcan rocket with reusable engine
Bethesda, Md. (UPI) Apr 14, 2015 -
United Launch Alliance, a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin, on Monday announced plans to replace its current military space rocket models with a new design featuring a cost-cutting reusable engine.
The Vulcan rocket will take the best parts of the Atlas V and Delta IV launch vehicles but will cut costs dramatically through a recyclable first-stage booster engine known as ...
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Music: Will climate change give us the blues?
Vienna (AFP) April 14, 2015 -
Climate change is predicted to intrude into almost every area of life - from where we live, to what we eat and whom we war with.
Now music can be added to the list.
That's the unusual idea put forward by British researchers Tuesday, who say the weather has powerfully but discreetly influenced the soundtrack to our lives.
And tastes in songs are likely to change as the climate shifts ...
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Cyprus jolted by strongest quake in 16 years
Nicosia (AFP) April 15, 2015 -
Cyprus was rocked by its strongest earthquake in 16 years on Wednesday, sending some office workers scurrying into the streets but with no immediate reports of casualties, authorities said.
The quake, measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale, hit at 11:25 am (0825 GMT) and was followed by 10 aftershocks before midday, the island's geological survey department said.
The epicentre was off the re ...
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India government trying to shut us down: Greenpeace
New Delhi (AFP) April 14, 2015 -
Greenpeace India accused the government Tuesday of preventing local donors from funding its activities, saying the move was aimed at shutting down its operations in the country.
The latest allegation comes less than a week after the right-wing government suspended the environmental watchdog's foreign funding licence and blocked several of its bank accounts, citing violations of rules governi ...
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Britain's UKIP takes aim at Tories in election manifesto
Thurrock, United Kingdom (AFP) April 15, 2015 -
Britain's anti-EU UK Independence Party launched its election manifesto on Wednesday, appealing to Conservative voters with pledges to raise defence spending and bring forward a vote on Britain's EU membership.
Party leader Nigel Farage unveiled the policy document in front of activists in Thurrock, east of London, ahead of the May 7 vote in which it hopes to win a handful of seats in parlia ...
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Conservation from 5,000 feet
Vienna (UPI) Apr 14, 2015 -
It's not enough to simply classify a large swath of habitat as protected. Conservation requires regularly monitoring, researchers at the Vienna University of Technology say.
In a recent study, scientists at the Austrian school explain how nature preserves can be effectively monitored from the air, using aircraft and laser technology.
Nature preserves make up some 20 percent of Eu ...
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Aliens Are Probably Huge 650-Pound Creatures
Barcelona, Spain (Sputnik) Apr 10, 2015 -
New research proposes that if intelligent life outside Earth's atmosphere exists, chances are it's enormous.
The findings from University of Barcelona cosmologist Dr. Fergus Simpson are based on a mathematical algorithm that assumes all theoretical life in the universe follows the same laws of conservation of energy seen on Earth: the bigger the animal, the more resources it needs to survi ...
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Study of African birds reveals hotbed of malaria parasite diversity
Philadelphia PA (SPX) Apr 15, 2015 -
When you think of tropical biodiversity, you may picture flocks of colorful birds flitting through lush foliage--but what you are less likely to imagine is the plethora of parasites and pathogens pulsing through the bloodstreams of those birds. Among these microscopic organisms are Plasmodium parasites, best known for causing malaria in humans, birds and many other vertebrates.
A new study ...
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Researchers test smartphones for earthquake warning
Menlo Park CA (SPX) Apr 15, 2015 -
Smartphones and other personal electronic devices could, in regions where they are in widespread use, function as early warning systems for large earthquakes according to newly reported research. This technology could serve regions of the world that cannot afford higher quality, but more expensive, conventional earthquake early warning systems, or could contribute to those systems.
The stu ...
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Mountain gorillas enter the genomic age
London, UK (SPX) Apr 15, 2015 -
The first project to sequence whole genomes from mountain gorillas has given scientists and conservationists new insight into the impact of population decline on these critically endangered apes. While mountain gorillas are extensively inbred and at risk of extinction, research published in Science finds more to be optimistic about in their genomes than expected.
"Mountain gorillas are amo ...
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Coexisting in a sea of competition
Cape Cod MA (SPX) Apr 15, 2015 -
Diversity of life abounds on Earth, and there's no need to look any farther than the ocean's surface for proof. There are over 200,000 species of phytoplankton alone, and all of those species of microscopic marine plants that form the base of the marine food web need the same basic resources to grow--light and nutrients.
A study by a team of scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Ins ...
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A new beginning for baby mosasaurs
New Haven CT (SPX) Apr 15, 2015 -
They weren't in the delivery room, but researchers at Yale University and the University of Toronto have discovered a new birth story for a gigantic marine lizard that once roamed the oceans.
Thanks to recently identified specimens at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, paleontologists now believe that mighty mosasaurs - which could grow to 50 feet long - gave birth to their youn ...
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TRMM rainfall mission comes to an end after 17 years
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Apr 15, 2015 -
In 1997 when the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission, or TRMM, was launched, its mission was scheduled to last just a few years. Now, 17 years later, the TRMM mission has come to an end. NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) stopped TRMM's science operations and data collection on April 8 after the spacecraft depleted its fuel reserves.
TRMM observed rainfall rates over th ...
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Typhoon Haiyan's storm surge may contaminate aquifer for years
Austin TX (SPX) Apr 15, 2015 -
In research of significance to the world's expanding coastal populations, scientists have found that geology and infrastructure play key roles in determining whether aquifers that provide drinking water are inundated with seawater during a typhoon or hurricane and how long the contamination lasts.
In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan devastated the Philippines, killing more than 6,000 people and destro ...
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New source of methane discovered in the Arctic Ocean
Oslo, Norway (SPX) Apr 15, 2015 -
Methane, a highly effective greenhouse gas, is usually produced by decomposition of organic material, a complex process involving bacteria and microbes. But there is another type of methane that can appear under specific circumstances: Abiotic methane is formed by chemical reactions in the oceanic crust beneath the seafloor.
New findings show that deep water gas hydrates, icy substances in ...
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'Warm blob' in Pacific Ocean linked to weird weather across the US
Pullman WA (SPX) Apr 15, 2015 -
The one common element in recent weather has been oddness. The West Coast has been warm and parched; the East Coast has been cold and snowed under. Fish are swimming into new waters, and hungry seals are washing up on California beaches.
A long-lived patch of warm water off the West Coast, about 1 to 4 degrees Celsius (2 to 7 degrees Fahrenheit) above normal, is part of what's wreaking muc ...
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Pacific Ocean responsible for global warming slowdown
Princeton, N.J. (UPI) Apr 14, 2015 -
The climate is warming. Temperatures have been rising significantly over the last half-century. But over the last 15 to 20 years, temperatures haven't been rising as fast as climate models suggest they should have. Scientists have been calling the discrepancy "the slowdown."
New research by climatologists at NOAA claims to offer a definitive explanation for the so-called slowdown. Accor ...
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In parched California, Beverly Hills may go greener by going brown
Los Angeles (AFP) April 15, 2015 -
With its lush shrubs and manicured lawns, posh Beverly Hills is being shoved somewhere it's never been - pinched by deepening drought, mandatory cuts and now potential fines. Even its mega-rich have had to shut the spigot, under fire for over-watering.
"The lady of the house now has come to terms. She is going to let the garden die," Mexican-born long-time gardener Gilberto, who declined to ...
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More Tibetan autonomy 'not up for discussion': China
Beijing (AFP) April 15, 2015 -
Beijing threw cold water Wednesday on the possibility of re-launching talks with the Dalai Lama, saying greater autonomy for Tibet was "not up for discussion" and accusing the spiritual leader of backing "ethnic cleansing".
The statement comes months after the exiled spiritual leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner expressed optimism that Chinese President Xi Jinping may be open to re-starting ...
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Japan says will try again with 'scientific' whaling program
Tokyo (AFP) April 14, 2015 -
Japan's top whaling negotiator said Tuesday Tokyo would try again to justify its "scientific" Antarctic Ocean hunt after a panel of experts said the government had not proved why it needed to kill the mammals.
Joji Morishita, Japan's commissioner to the International Whaling Commission (IWC), said he and his fellow officials would do their best to meet demands for evidence their hunt is scie ...
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Why we have chins
Iowa City IA (SPX) Apr 15, 2015 -
Look at a primate or a Neanderthal skull and compare it with a modern human's. Notice anything missing? We have one feature that primates, Neanderthals, archaic humans--any species, for that matter--don't possess: a chin. "In some way, it seems trivial, but a reason why chins are so interesting is we're the only ones who have them," says Nathan Holton, who studies craniofacial features and mecha ...
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LNG work in Yemen halted by violence
Sanaa, Yemen (UPI) Apr 14, 2015 -
Declining security in Yemen means it's time to halt all production and start evacuating personnel, a Yemeni liquefied natural gas company said Tuesday.
"Due to further degradation of the security situation in the vicinity of [the industrial port town of] Balhaf, Yemen LNG has decided to stop all LNG producing and exporting operations and start evacuation of the site personnel," the comp ...
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