Internet ‘Kill Switch’ Legislation Back in Play | Threat Level | Wired.com

Internet ‘Kill Switch’ Legislation Back in Play | Threat Level | Wired.com: "Legislation granting the president internet-killing powers is to be re-introduced soon to a Senate committee, the proposal’s chief sponsor told Wired.com on Friday.

The resurgence of the so-called “kill switch” legislation came the same day Egyptians faced an internet blackout designed to counter massive demonstrations in that country.

The bill, which has bipartisan support, is being floated by Sen. Susan Collins, the Republican ranking member on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. The proposed legislation, which Collins said would not give the president the same power Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak is exercising to quell dissent, sailed through the Homeland Security Committee in December but expired with the new Congress weeks later."

Jerusalem videos stir UFO buzz

Cosmic Log - Jerusalem videos stir UFO buzz: "As dark UFO videos go, this clip showing flashing lights over Jerusalem is certainly a puzzler. A bright speck seems to descend toward the skyline, around the location of the Dome of the Rock (also known as the Temple Mount). A minute into the clip, there's a bright flash, then the speck shoots up from the skyline. This version of the Jan. 28 clip shows two side-by-side videos, captured by observers who were virtually side-by-side as well. 'Have fun debunking this one,' the YouTube user who posted the video writes."

YouTube - The UFO Cover-Up in 10 Minutes

YouTube - The UFO Cover-Up in 10 Minutes: "Richard Dolan explains some of the high points of the on-going UFO cover-up, but it's not your average lecture"

Physicists call for alien messaging protocol - Networking - Technology - News - iTnews.com.au

Physicists call for alien messaging protocol - Networking - Technology - News - iTnews.com.au: "Earth's previous attempts to contact intelligent, extraterrestrial life could be too disorganised or cryptic for non-human beings to decode, US physicists have reported.

In a submission to the international journal, Space Policy, postgraduate astrophysicists Dimitra Atri, Julia DeMarines and Jacob Haqq-Misra suggested that a protocol be developed to improve the likelihood that messages would be understood.

The messaging to extraterrestrial intelligence protocol (METI, pdf) would include constraints and guidelines for signal encoding, message length, information content, the researchers wrote.

It should also specify a transmission strategy, they said, suggesting a simple physical or mathematical language with the signal repeated regularly to avoid being overlooked as noise."

Loose Nukes, mad scientist threaten world with an Apocalypse

Loose Nukes, mad scientist threaten world with an Apocalypse: "EUGENE, Ore. – There’s very little these days that gets the attention of savvy University of Oregon students here in trendy and “connected” Eugene; but, mention “loose nukes” and the real possibility of an Apocalypse that ends life as we know it and you get: “wow, that’s a bummer,” and “how can we stop it?”

Loose nukes is a term used by government officials when referencing poorly protected nuclear weapons in former Soviet Union states that tempt the likes of A.Q. Khan and other terrorists.

According to Congressional records, A.Q. Khan was the leader of Pakistan's nuclear weapons program. In 2004, Khan was placed under house arrest for his role in an international nuclear trafficking network and for sharing nuclear secrets with countries including North Korea, Libya and Iran."

DNA Shows Alternate Form

Laboratory Equipment - DNA Shows Alternate Form: "DNA, that marvelous, twisty molecule of life, has an alter ego, research at the Univ. of Michigan and the Univ. of California, Irvine reveals.

On rare occasions, its building blocks 'rock and roll,' deforming the familiar double helix into a different shape.

'We show that the simple DNA double helix exists in an alternative form— for one percent of the time— and that this alternative form is functional,' says Hashim Al-Hashimi, professor of Chemistry at U-M. 'Together, these data suggest that there are multiple layers of information stored in the genetic code.' The findings were published online in the journal Nature."

YouTube - ATLANTIS MAGNETIC VORTEX Anomaly Causes Shutdown Of US Army Weapons Base (JAN 27TH 2011)

YouTube - ATLANTIS MAGNETIC VORTEX Anomaly Causes Shutdown Of US Army Weapons Base (JAN 27TH 2011)

Some interesting things to consider -- true or not....

South Carolina scientist works to grow meat in lab: Scientific American

South Carolina scientist works to grow meat in lab: Scientific American: "CHARLESTON, South Carolina (Reuters) - In a small laboratory on an upper floor of the basic science building at the Medical University of South Carolina, Vladimir Mironov, M.D., Ph.D., has been working for a decade to grow meat.

A developmental biologist and tissue engineer, Dr. Mironov, 56, is one of only a few scientists worldwide involved in bioengineering 'cultured' meat.

It's a product he believes could help solve future global food crises resulting from shrinking amounts of land available for growing meat the old-fashioned way ... on the hoof.

Growth of 'in-vitro' or cultured meat is also under way in the Netherlands, Mironov told Reuters in an interview, but in the United States, it is science in search of funding and demand."

New Invisibility Cloak Closer to Working "Magic"

New Invisibility Cloak Closer to Working "Magic": "Harry Potter and Bilbo Baggins, take note: Scientists are a step closer to conquering the 'magic' of invisibility.

Many earlier cloaking systems turned objects 'invisible' only under wavelengths of light that the human eye can't see. Others could conceal only microscopic objects. (See 'Two New Cloaking Devices Close In on True Invisibility.')

But the new system, developed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) Centre, works in visible light and can hide objects big enough to see with the naked eye.

The 'cloak' is made from two pieces of calcite crystal—a cheap, easily obtained mineral—stuck together in a certain configuration.

Calcite is highly anisotropic, which means that light coming from one side will exit at a different angle than light entering from another side. By using two different pieces of calcite, the researchers were able to bend light around a solid object placed between the crystals.

'Under the assembly there is a wedge-shaped gap,' said MIT's George Barbastathis, who helped develop the new system. 'The idea is that whatever you put under this gap, it looks from the outside like it is not there.'"

Egypt and Tunisia usher in the new era of global food revolutions - Telegraph

Egypt and Tunisia usher in the new era of global food revolutions - Telegraph: "Political risk has returned with a vengeance. The first food revolutions of our Malthusian era have exposed the weak grip of authoritarian regimes in poor countries that import grain, whether in North Africa today or parts of Asia tomorrow."

World business leaders told flying saucers are real & extraterrestrials exist | Exopolitics Institute News Service

World business leaders told flying saucers are real & extraterrestrials exist | Exopolitics Institute News Service: "At five thousand dollars a ticket, some business leaders got more than they bargained for when they attended the first day of the Global Competitiveness Forum (GCF) being held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. They were told flying saucers are real, and they had better start thinking about the business implications of extraterrestrial life and technologies. Convened each year by the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority, the GCF brings together business and political leaders to discuss ways of promoting business competitiveness. For the first time at its annual conference, the GCF held a panel discussing UFOs and extraterrestrial life. Titled “Learning from Outer Space” the panel comprised five speakers who all endorsed the view that extraterrestrial life is real, and has many implications for the world as we know it."

YouTube - Jerusalem UFO, Two Videos Synchronized

YouTube - Jerusalem UFO, Two Videos Synchronized, Best UFO Footage ever: "Two differents points of view of the same white Ufo Orb.

At first there is one of them, and at the end many red others floating on the sky.

The first footage's audio file is on the Left stereo canal, the other on the Right one."

11 Predictions for the World in 2030 That May Sound Outrageous Today but not in the Future. - I Look Forward To

11 Predictions for the World in 2030 That May Sound Outrageous Today but not in the Future. - I Look Forward To: "All futurism is speculation. It's time someone made some claims. I've picked developments I honestly consider plausible. Here are my 11 predictions for the world of 2030. I'm backing these claims up with previous writings..."

Authoritarian governments start stockpiling food to fight public anger - Telegraph

Authoritarian governments start stockpiling food to fight public anger - Telegraph: "Commodities traders have warned they are seeing the first signs of panic buying from states concerned about the political implications of rising prices for staple crops.

However, the tactic risks simply further pushing up prices, analysts have warned, pushing a spiral of food inflation.
Governments in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa have recently made large food purchases on the open market in the wake of unrest in Tunisia which deposed president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.

Resentment at food shortages and high prices, as well as repression and corruption, drove the popular uprising which swept away his government.

Youths reportedly chanted 'bring us sugar!' in the demonstrations which toppled his regime."

Ancient legends once walked among early humans? - USATODAY.com

Ancient legends once walked among early humans? - USATODAY.com: "Wild, hairy, folks who fought griffons and nomads — have paleontologists unearthed mythic figures of folklore?

Siberia's Denisova cave held the pinky bone of an unknown early human species, a genetics team reported in March. The Naturejournal study, led by Johannes Krause of Germany's Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, offered no answer for what happened to this 'archaic' human species, more than one million years old and living near their human and Neanderthal cousins as recently as 30,000 years ago.

But at least one scholar has an intriguing answer: 'The discovery of material evidence of a distinct hominin (human) lineage in Central Asia as recently as 30,000 years ago does not come as a surprise to those who have looked at the historical and anecdotal evidence of 'wild people' inhabiting the region,' wrote folklorist Michael Heaney of the United Kingdom's Bodleian Library Oxford, in a letter to The Times of London."

Astronomers hunting alien Earths - USATODAY.com

Astronomers hunting alien Earths - USATODAY.com: "Alien worlds beckon to us Earthlings today, promising visions of a sister planet to our own orbiting a nearby star.
NASA's Kepler space telescope team this month unveiled the first indisputable detection of a rocky planet spotted in another star's solar system. The find lifted hopes that planets with rocky cores like Earth fill many stars' solar systems. Mission scientists led by William Borucki of NASA's NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., promise to report on hundreds of more planetary candidates next month.

Dubbed 'Kepler-10b,' the recently-announced rocky planet roasts in an orbit far too hot for life, circling less than two million miles above its sun-like star. 'You have to see this as a warm up for Kepler, literally,' says mission team scientist Sara Seager of MIT, however, pointing to expected future finds.

But will we be looking in the right places when the time comes to hunt for another Earth?"

Asteroid the size of the Titanic caused giant crater on Jupiter spotted by amateur astronomer | Mail Online

Asteroid the size of the Titanic caused giant crater on Jupiter spotted by amateur astronomer | Mail Online: "The scar left on Jupiter after the July 2009 impact was caused by an asteroid the size of the Titanic, according to research.

A huge rock some 500metres long hit the planet and created a hole the size of the Pacific Ocean, roughly the equivalent of Jupiter’s Little Red Spot.

It was the first time scientists had monitored an asteroid hitting the planet - previously it had only been thought that icy comets hit Jupiter after being sucked in by its gravitational field."

Great Pyramid May Hold Secret Rooms | Amazing Egyptian Discoveries | LiveScience

Architect: Great Pyramid May Hold Secret Rooms | Amazing Egyptian Discoveries | LiveScience: "A French architect known for his theories on how the Great Pyramid of Giza was built now believes the 4,500-year-old structure houses two secret rooms at its heart.

Jean-Pierre Houdin told reporters Thursday (Jan. 27) that 3-D simulations and data from American Egyptologist Bob Brier backs up his theory, Physorg.com reported. The rooms would have held furniture meant to be taken into the afterlife by the Pharaoh Khufu, Houdin said.

Houdin has argued for decades that the Great Pyramid was not built using ramps around the outside, but from the inside out. The idea is that Egyptians would have built the foundation of the pyramid using an outside ramp to pull blocks up from the ground. Then, about a third of the way up, they would have dismantled the ramp and used an inner corkscrew ramp to finish the structure. The original outside ramp would have been dismantled and the stones used to top off the pyramid."

Dinosaurs survived for at least 700,000 years after meteorite collision - Telegraph

Dinosaurs survived for at least 700,000 years after meteorite collision - Telegraph: "Many palaeontologists believe that all non-avian dinosaurs disappeared almost 66 million years ago - after debris from the meteorite blocked out the sun and caused extreme climate conditions, killing vegetation worldwide.
But new tests on a fossilised bone of a plant eating dinosaur discovered in New Mexico found that it was only 64.8 million years old - meaning that it was alive about 700,000 years after it was thought to have died."

Amazing Light Pillars Rain Down On Nebraska Farm

Astro Physics - coupmedia.org: "Light pillars are a common sight around cities in winter. Urban lights bounce off ice crystals in the air, producing tall luminous columns sometimes mistaken for auroras. But the light pillars Mike Hollingshead saw last night near a corn mill in Nebraska were decidely uncommon. 'They had V-shaped tops,' he explains, 'and some of the Vs were nested.' Here is what he saw:

'These light pillars are not just rare, they are exceptional!' declares atmospheric optics expert Les Cowley. 'Ordinary pillars are produced by plate-shaped ice crystals roughly half way between you and the light source. These are different. Their rarely seen flared tops show that they were made by column-shaped crystals drifting slowly downwards and aligned horizontal by air resistance.' "

Strange Lights Photographed above Utah County - UFO Casebook Files

Strange Lights Photographed above Utah County - UFO Casebook Files: "AMERICAN FORK, UTAH (ABC 4 News) - Reports of strange lights in the night sky have people in Utah County talking about UFOs. Three red lights appeared between 7:15 and 7:30 last night.

Witnesses say they hovered in formation and dropped what appeared to be flares.

Lynette Chidester lives in Highland and is one of those puzzled by what she saw. 'I don't believe in extraterrestrials.”

But she also doesn’t believe the lights were from airplanes or helicopters. She says they didn’t make a sound, and there were no blinking lights, just a constant red.

'I noticed over the roof of the garage a red light and white light and the red light isn't flashing like a plane light and that's what draws my attention to it.'

She says soon there were three red lights and those lights started dropping white streams."

All clear on Utah Army base after lost lethal VX nerve gas causes 'serious concern,' lockdown

All clear on Utah Army base after lost lethal VX nerve gas causes 'serious concern,' lockdown: "The Army gave the all-clear Thursday after loosing track overnight of a vial of lethal VX nerve agent at a Utah base.

An emergency lockdown went into effect around 6 p.m. Wednesday at the sprawling Dugway Proving Grounds when the vial turned up missing during a routine inventory check.

More than 1,000 employees were held at the base southwest of Salt Lake City as military officials launched a frantic search.

The missing vial was found on the base around 3 a.m."

Photoblog - Double whammy on the sun

Photoblog - Double whammy on the sun:

John Roach says: A spectacular double eruption on the sun was captured today by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. The eruptions happened nearly simultaneously on opposite sides of the solar disk, SpaceWeather.com reported. The plasma clouds produced by the event are expected to miss Earth, so there's no threat to us or to satellites orbiting the planet.

On the lower left in this image of the sun, a magnetic filament erupted, and on the upper right a departing sunspot produced the strongest solar flare of the year so far, an M1-class event. The double whammy may be more than a mere coincidence: Recent research suggests that solar activity is interconnected by magnetism over large distances, and that solar storms can go global."

UFO-Like Clouds Linked to Military Maneuvers?

UFO-Like Clouds Linked to Military Maneuvers?: "Three nearly identical, UFO-like cloud formations recently appeared over Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, sparking online discussions linking the features to everything from the Second Coming to recent mass bird deaths to secret military experiments.


At least one scientist believes the so-called hole-punch clouds have a military explanation, though it may not be quite what conspiracy theorists expect."

Squid May Help Make Soldiers Invisible

Squid May Help Make Soldiers Invisible: "For decades, military scientists have tried to figure out the best way to make things disappear, or at least hide them very well.

Members of the U.S. Army's First Earth Battalion hoped to bend physics and render themselves invisible, when they weren't trying to kill goats by staring at them. The British Ministry of Defense's Future Protected Vehicle project wants top tech companies to create an invisible tank, possibly using cameras and reflective screens, to use for patrols in Afghanistan.

But researchers working for the U.S. Navy have found a more down-to-earth -- down-to-sea, in fact -- inspiration in the search for stealth: squid."

Playing God...Will it be the death of us? UNNATURAL: THE HERETICAL IDEA OF MAKING PEOPLE BY PHILIP BALL

Playing God...Will it be the death of us? UNNATURAL: THE HERETICAL IDEA OF MAKING PEOPLE BY PHILIP BALL: "Unnatural is the story of all the ­Frankensteins who wanted to play God by creating mankind, some clumsily with ­models, others ­scrupulously with clones and genomes - while the original and best way of making people continues to be the one tried and tested millions of times every day.

We are all fascinated by unnatural ­creatures, whether they are giants or dwarves or indeed anybody who is not like ourselves.

But this is not a book about people who have had the misfortune to be born with some freakish abnormality, such as ­conjoined twins, or those with pinhead skulls, or so-called ­‘lionmen’ covered with long hair from top to toe, or any of those ­pitiable creatures who squirmed and ­scuttled from under the circus tent in Tod Browning’s unforgettable 1933 film Freaks.

Philip Ball poses different questions. Has ­anyone come close to creating a human being and, if not, how and when might it happen?"

How Egypt did (and your government could) shut down the Internet

How Egypt did (and your government could) shut down the Internet: "How hard is it, exactly, to kill the Internet? Egypt seems to have been able to do it. But Egypt's situation isn't exactly the same as that in the Western world. And even though Egypt only has four big ISPs, the fact that everything went down after midnight local time suggests that it took considerable effort to accomplish the 'Net shut-off. After all, it seems unlikely that President Hosni Mubarak ordered the Internet to be shut down as he went to bed; such a decision must have been made earlier in the day, and then taken hours to execute.

Also, the fact that such a drastic measure was deemed necessary may indicate that more targeted measures, such as blocking Twitter, didn't get the job done. This nuclear option—see below—was intended to make online coordination of anti-government action impossible; at the same time, the mushroom cloud may give protesters hope that their efforts are not in vain. As one blogger writes: 'It's as if the regime has done the information aggregation for you and packaged it into a nice fat public signal.'"

BREAKING: In a stunning reversal, USDA chief Vilsack greenlights Monsanto’s alfalfa | Grist

BREAKING: In a stunning reversal, USDA chief Vilsack greenlights Monsanto’s alfalfa | Grist: "Government regulation of corporate practices has apparently been much on President Obama's mind lately. He recent penned a Wall Street Journal op-ed vowing to review federal regulations to make sure they weren't too onerous on business. In his State of the Union address Tuesday night, he illustrated his concern about the complexity of federal regulation by pointing out that two different agencies regulate wild salmon. 'And when it's smoked, I understand it gets really complicated,' he added. Ha, ha.

In other words, Obama is trying to establish himself as an eminently reasonable, pro-business sort of president -- you know, not the sort of fellow who would let things like the Wall Street banking meltdown, the Upper Big Branch coal-mine disaster, the BP oil spill, or any other notorious lapse in government oversight stand in the way of the business of doing business."

The Faint Red Blob: Most Distant Galaxy Ever Discovered!

The Faint Red Blob: Most Distant Galaxy Ever Discovered!: "Astronomers have used Hubble to spot what they think is the furthest and one of the very earliest galaxies ever seen in the Universe. Candidate galaxy UDFj-39546284 appears as a faint red blob in this ultra deep field exposure taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. This is the deepest infrared image taken of the Universe. Based on the object’s colour, astronomers believe that its light has taken 13.2 billion years to reach us. The current known age of the Universe is 13.7 billion years."

Robot (R)evolution On The Way : Discovery News

Robot (R)evolution On The Way : Discovery News: "At the University of Vermont, the robots are learning about their bodies. Bot-tots who come online flat on the floor like babies and then gradually find upright positions, learned how to walk many times faster than their pre-positioned counterparts. Turns out learning in small steps -- how to crawl before standing before walking -- makes for a better adapted robot in the real world. So if you're giddy for a future robo-maid, start preparing the nursery since it may have to be “raised” before it can bring you breakfast in bed."

The Secret Sun: Son of the Suns: The Star Wars Symbol Cycle

The Secret Sun: Son of the Suns: The Star Wars Symbol Cycle: "The Star Wars story-cycle is one of the most popular of our modern myths, but also one of the most garbled. For the original trilogy, George Lucas consciously drew upon mythic and religious elements (ransacking every myth, fairy tale, scifi story and comic book he could get his hands on, especially Jack Kirby's New Gods), but not always coherently. Six films were made in all (Lucas has recently promised that more are on the way), but only the first (Chapter IV: A New Hope, 1977) and the last (Chapter III: Revenge of the Sith, 2005) hit the symbolic bases in the way that something like the Star Trek: the Next Generation films do. The films in-between are mostly concerned with high adventure and dazzling special effects."

Cosmic Log - Bomb-sniffing plants to the rescue

Cosmic Log - Bomb-sniffing plants to the rescue: "Bomb-sniffing plants could make airport security a whole lot greener – at least until a bomb-packing terrorist walks by and causes the leaves to turn white, researchers report in the journal PLoS ONE.

The plants are being grown by a research team headed by June Medford, a biologist at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, with funding from the Depart of Defense and a host of other agencies.

The trick involves using DNA to rewire the plants' protein-based signaling process, so that the leaves change color when certain chemicals or environmental pollutants are detected. Plants usually rely on the system to release toxins that ward off insects looking for a leafy meal.

'Plants can't run or hide from threats, so they've developed sophisticated systems to detect and respond to their environment. We've taught plants how to detect things we're interested in and respond in a way anyone can see to tell us there's something nasty around,' Medford explained in a news release."

Ancient body clock discovered that helps keep all living things on time

Ancient body clock discovered that helps keep all living things on time: "ScienceDaily (Jan. 27, 2011) — The mechanism that controls the internal 24-hour clock of all forms of life from human cells to algae has been identified by scientists.

Not only does the research provide important insight into health-related problems linked to individuals with disrupted clocks -- such as pilots and shift workers -- it also indicates that the 24-hour circadian clock found in human cells is the same as that found in algae and dates back millions of years to early life on Earth."

Take UFOs seriously, SA group urges: News24: Sci-Tech: News

Take UFOs seriously, SA group urges: News24: Sci-Tech: News: "Cape Town - A small, but vocal South African group is urging people to take UFO sightings seriously and has called for the government to release secret UFO files.

'The media around the world has not played a positive role in UFO reports and there is the ridicule factor - people are afraid of the responses they would get,' Christo Louw of SAUFOR (South Africa's UFO Resource) told News24."

UFO chasers

UFO chasers <img src='/www/news/images/ic_korean.gif'>: "Extraterrestrial life, alien attacks and space travel. All of these sound more than surreal for most people. But not for unidentified flying objects (UFO) investigators who think these are alien spacecraft — they argue that believing in the object is one of many ways to better understand the universe.

“People are too skeptical to believe in something beyond their senses or understanding,” UFO investigator Seo Jong-han said. “You can see and understand a lot of new things only when you’re open to various possibilities.”

Seo has devoted his life to researching UFOs for the past 30 years. He thinks the efforts to investigate this phenomenon are meaningful as they can help people prepare for possible contact with extraterrestrial life of higher intelligence in the future.

“For the past 50 years, there have been a lot of reports about UFO sightings by a lot of people from many different parts of the world. It’s not right to simply ignore them, and it’s worth examining and investigating such claims through objective and scientific methods by which we can learn something,” Seo said."

Genetically engineered food sparks ‘vigorous debate’ | The Red and Black

Genetically engineered food sparks ‘vigorous debate’ | The Red and Black: "Can a genetically modified food product cause consumers who eat it to grow a third eye?

“Absolutely not,” said Wayne Parrott, University crop and soil sciences professor and researcher on GM crops. “There’s not many times in science when you can say that, but this is one of them.”

Parrott said one reason many consumers fear genetically modified organisms, or GMOs comes from the science education in the U.S. and a disconnect with agriculture.

“I think it’s fear of the unknown,” he said. “It’s the thought that it’s out of your control … This is a pretty common fear and I don’t begrudge anyone for having it.”"

The Canadian National Newspaper: Ex-China Foreign Ministry Official says Extraterrestrials live among us

The Canadian National Newspaper: Ex-China Foreign Ministry Official says Extraterrestrials live among us: "In the industrialized West, there evolved the prevailing Pseudo-religious dogma that human beings are at the centre of 'G-d's creation in the universe'. This dogma is the ideological motivation behind the on-going de-legitimization of the verfiable contact that people have had with Extraterrestrials (ETs). This apparent dogma has become the modern equivalent of the corresponding dogma, that 'the world is flat', which Church and other elites centuries ago used to champion. In contrast, free of Western pseudo-religious based dogma, the Buddhist milieu of China, has freed their scientific community, with the support of government, and ofcommunity participation, to seek to explore UFO incidences and evidence of human contact with Extraterrestrials."

A Futurist’s Perspective: 10 Things to Know About the Next 10 Years (Part One & Two) : HRVoice.org

A Futurist’s Perspective: 10 Things to Know About the Next 10 Years (Part One & Two) : HRVoice.org: "The next ten years will dramatically change your life and almost everything in it. And while there are lots of things likely to change, I’d like to focus on ten that will be of particular importance to you personally and to our society. Someone always benefits from change – and those who will benefit most will be those who prepare most successfully for what’s to come.

1. Everyday robots

The first thing you need to know is that we are about to experience the emergence of what might be called “everyday robots” and computer intelligences..."

China to create largest mega city in the world with 42 million people - Telegraph

China to create largest mega city in the world with 42 million people - Telegraph: "City planners in south China have laid out an ambitious plan to merge together the nine cities that lie around the Pearl River Delta.

The 'Turn The Pearl River Delta Into One' scheme will create a 16,000 sq mile urban area that is 26 times larger geographically than Greater London, or twice the size of Wales.

The new mega-city will cover a large part of China's manufacturing heartland, stretching from Guangzhou to Shenzhen and including Foshan, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Zhuhai, Jiangmen, Huizhou and Zhaoqing. Together, they account for nearly a tenth of the Chinese economy."

Buy euros – the single currency is finished - Telegraph

Buy euros – the single currency is finished - Telegraph: "Rather than work hard, live within his means and save for the future, a dissolute student decided to invent a system for beating the bank at roulette. After months of experimentation with betting patterns, his quest bore fruit: a foolproof way of creating riches – or so he thought.

The problem was, in order to exploit his genius a bankroll was required. At this point, a credulous father was inveigled into the scheme. Suspending disbelief, the hapless parent signed a six-figure cheque and wished his son good fortune as the boy left for Las Vegas.

After a few days with no contact, Dad started to fret and sent the lad a tentative message: “How are we doing?” No reply.
A week later, he tried again, only this time was rather more panicky: “What’s happening?” Still no reply.

Finally, the desperate man sent an ultimatum: “Get in touch – or else!”"

Biological weapons base reopens after scare - U.S. news - Security - msnbc.com

Biological weapons base reopens after scare - U.S. news - Security - msnbc.com: "SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah military base that carries out tests to protect troops against biological attacks was locked down for nearly 12 hours overnight due to a 'serious concern' before it was allowed to reopen early Thursday, officials said."

Japan raises alert following volcano's biggest eruption in 50 years | Mail Online

Japan raises alert following volcano's biggest eruption in 50 years | Mail Online: "A one-mile cordon has been established around a volcano on Mount Kirishima after it erupted scattering rocks and ash across southern Japan and sending smoke billowing 5,000ft into the air.

The Meteorological Agency raised the volcanic alert to level 3 as ash today continued to spew from Shinmoedake on Japan's southernmost main island of Kyushu, and residents have been banned from going within a mile of the volcano following its worst eruption in 50 years."

Breakthrough promises $1.50 per gallon synthetic gasoline with no carbon emissions

Breakthrough promises $1.50 per gallon synthetic gasoline with no carbon emissions: "UK-based Cella Energy has developed a synthetic fuel that could lead to US$1.50 per gallon gasoline. Apart from promising a future transportation fuel with a stable price regardless of oil prices, the fuel is hydrogen based and produces no carbon emissions when burned. The technology is based on complex hydrides, and has been developed over a four year top secret program at the prestigious Rutherford Appleton Laboratory near Oxford. Early indications are that the fuel can be used in existing internal combustion engined vehicles without engine modification."

Food speculation: aFood speculation: 'People die from hunger while banks make a killing on food' | Global development | The Observer

Food speculation: aFood speculation: 'People die from hunger while banks make a killing on food' | Global development | The Observer: "Just under three years ago, people in the village of Gumbi in western Malawi went unexpectedly hungry. Not like Europeans do if they miss a meal or two, but that deep, gnawing hunger that prevents sleep and dulls the senses when there has been no food for weeks.

Oddly, there had been no drought, the usual cause of malnutrition and hunger in southern Africa, and there was plenty of food in the markets. For no obvious reason the price of staple foods such as maize and rice nearly doubled in a few months. Unusually, too, there was no evidence that the local merchants were hoarding food. It was the same story in 100 other developing countries. There were food riots in more than 20 countries and governments had to ban food exports and subsidise staples heavily."

Terminator Hand: Building a Super Robust Robot Hand - IEEE Spectrum

Building a Super Robust Robot Hand - IEEE Spectrum: "German researchers have built an anthropomorphic robot hand that can endure collisions with hard objects and even strikes from a hammer without breaking into pieces.

In designing the new hand system, researchers at the Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics, part of the German Aerospace Center (DLR), focused on robustness. They may have just built the toughest robot hand yet.

The DLR hand has the shape and size of a human hand, with five articulated fingers powered by a web of 38 tendons, each connected to an individual motor on the forearm.

The main capability that makes the DLR hand different from other robot hands is that it can control its stiffness. The motors can tension the tendons, allowing the hand to absorb violent shocks. In one test, the researchers hit the hand with a baseball bat—a 66 G impact. The hand survived."

'Life chemicals' may have formed around far-flung star

BBC News - 'Life chemicals' may have formed around far-flung star: "There is now even more evidence that life on Earth may have been seeded by material from asteroids or comets.

Prior research has shown how amino acids - the building blocks of life - could form elsewhere in the cosmos.

These molecules can form in two versions, but life on Earth exclusively uses just one of them."

A Fizzy Ocean on Enceladus - NASA Science

A Fizzy Ocean on Enceladus - NASA Science: "January 26, 2011: For years researchers have been debating whether Enceladus, a tiny moon floating just outside Saturn's rings, is home to a vast underground ocean. Is it wet--or not? Now, new evidence is tipping the scales. Not only does Enceladus likely have an ocean, that ocean is probably fizzy like a soft drink and could be friendly to microbial life.

Genetically modified mosquitoes released in Malaysia sparks fears of uncontrollable new species | Mail Online

Genetically modified mosquitoes released in Malaysia sparks fears of uncontrollable new species | Mail Online: "Malaysia has released 6,000 genetically modified mosquitoes into a forest in the first experiment of its kind in Asia aimed at curbing dengue fever.

The field test is meant to pave the way for the official use of genetically engineered Aedes aegypti male mosquitoes to mate with females and produce offspring with shorter lives, thus curtailing the population.

Only female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes spread dengue fever, which killed 134 people in Malaysia last year."

REWIND -- Ghost in the Shell: Why Our Brains Will Never Live in the Matrix | h+ Magazine

Ghost in the Shell: Why Our Brains Will Never Live in the Matrix | h+ Magazine: "When surveying the goals of transhumanists, I found it striking how heavily many of them favor conventional engineering. This seems inefficient and inelegant, since such engineering reproduces slowly, clumsily and imperfectly, what biological systems have fine-tuned for eons, from nanobots (enzymes and miRNAs) to virtual reality (lucid dreaming). Recently, I was reading an article about memory chips. (See Resources) In it, the primary researcher makes two statements that fall in the “not even wrong” category: “Brain cells are nothing but leaky bags of salt solution,” and “I don’t need a grand theory of the mind to fix what is essentially a signal-processing problem.”"

Hitchhiking the Milky Way: Will We Upload the Human Mind to Explore the Universe?

Hitchhiking the Milky Way: Will We Upload the Human Mind to Explore the Universe?: "Athena Andreadis wrote an article on why the human mind can't be uploaded, explaining how any ghosts in the machine would just be copies. But we ask the more important question: is that a problem?

Human consciousness is irrevocably integrated in our organic components. People have always thought of themselves according to the leading technological systems of the day, and with us that's computers - but the mind isn't a program that can be copied out onto upgraded hardware. It's an emergent effect of a hundred billion neurons, uncountable connections, a bath of chemicals and all sorts of input from our body. Besides, the very word 'copy' shows that even if you could do it, you wouldn't benefit - since the copy can exist at the same time, it has to be someone else. This is usually where discussions of uploading end, but who cares if it isn't us?"

Oil, Oil and More Oil. America Has More Than Any Other Nation.

Oil, Oil and More Oil. America Has More Than Any Other Nation. | Before It's News: "OIL—you better be sitting down when you read this. Here’s an astonishing read. Important and verifiable information :

About 6 months ago, the writer was watching a news program on oil and one of the Forbes Bros. was the guest. The host said to Forbes, “I am going to ask you a direct question and I would like a direct answer; how much oil does the U.S. have in the ground?” Forbes did not miss a beat, he said, “more than all the Middle East put together.”"

Even DHS Is Freaked Out by Spy Drones Over America | Danger Room | Wired.com

Even DHS Is Freaked Out by Spy Drones Over America | Danger Room | Wired.com: "Police departments around the country are warming up to unmanned spy planes. But don’t expect the Department of Homeland Security to catch drone fever anytime soon. It’s too controversial for an agency already getting hammered for naked scanners and junk-touching.

Sure, DHS flies some Predators along the Mexican border. But a broader deployment, above the majority of American skies, to stop terror attacks? Not likely.

“I don’t know how much [drones] will be used within the U.S.,” says Ruth Doherty, a top official with the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate tasked with countering the domestic threat of homemade bombs. Asked about domestic drone use for bomb-spotting by Danger Room, she replies, “A case has to be made that they’re economically feasible, not intrusive and acceptable to the public.”"

GLOBA: accelerating technologies will create a global state by 2050 | KurzweilAI

GLOBA: accelerating technologies will create a global state by 2050 | KurzweilAI: "This essay argues that the exponential rate of technical progress will create within 40 years an Internet that is a trillion times faster than today’s, a global media, a global education system, a global language, and a globally homogenized culture, thus establishing the prerequisites for the creation of a global democratic state, “Globa,” and ridding the world of war, the arms trade, ignorance, and poverty. Whether Globa can cope with the rise of massively intelligent machines occurring at about the same time is far less certain."

For the World is Hollow ... and I Have Touched the Sky!

For the World is Hollow ... and I Have Touched the Sky!: "For the World is Hollow ... and I Have Touched the Sky!"

Amazing images of Martian moon Phobos taken by space probe just 60 miles away | Mail Online

Amazing images of Martian moon Phobos taken by space probe just 60 miles away | Mail Online: "Mankind has long been obsessed by the red planet.

Now a European spacecraft in orbit around Mars has captured these astonishing images of Phobos, the larger of its two moons.

The pictures reveal an irregular, non-spherical mass that is littered with craters."

Despite discovering more planets the chance of finding aliens is unlikely | Mail Online

Despite discovering more planets the chance of finding aliens is unlikely | Mail Online: "Still waiting for little green men to make contact? Don’t hold your breath.

A leading astronomer has concluded there probably aren’t any aliens out there – meaning we are entirely alone in the universe.

Even though there may be tens of thousands of other distant planets similar in size to Earth, the conditions on them are likely to be too hostile to support life-forms such as ET."

Could Extraterrestrial Intelligence Sway Religious Beliefs? | Aliens & Religion, Science & Faith, Astronomy | Space.com

Could Extraterrestrial Intelligence Sway Religious Beliefs? | Aliens & Religion, Science & Faith, Astronomy | Space.com: "The discovery of extraterrestrial life might not shake people's faith in their religious beliefs, but it could lead them to wonder if Jesus Christ had incarnations on alien planets, scientists and theologians say.

These speculations and more arose from researchers presenting at a meeting of the Royal Society in London last year addressing the potentialimpacts of aliens on society, who detailed their analysis this month in the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society"

World business leaders told flying saucers are real & extraterrestrials exist

Exopolitics Comment 97: "At five thousand dollars a ticket, some business leaders got more than they bargained for when they attended the first day of the Global Competitiveness Forum (GCF) being held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. They were told flying saucers are real, and they better start thinking about the business implications of extraterrestrial life and technologies. Convened each year by the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority, the GCF brings together business and political leaders to discuss ways of promoting business competitiveness. For the first time at its annual conference, the GCF held a panel discussing UFOs and extraterrestrial life. Titled 'Learning from Outer Space' the panel comprised five speakers who all endorsed the view that extraterrestrial life is real, and has many implications for the world as we know it."

World's largest volcano in Yellowstone National Park to wipe out two-thirds of US? | Mail Online

World's largest volcano in Yellowstone National Park to wipe out two-thirds of US? | Mail Online: "It would explode with a force a thousand times more powerful than the Mount St Helens eruption in 1980.

Spewing lava far into the sky, a cloud of plant-killing ash would fan out and dump a layer 10ft deep up to 1,000 miles away.

Two-thirds of the U.S. could become uninhabitable as toxic air sweeps through it, grounding thousands of flights and forcing millions to leave their homes."

Global food system must be transformed 'on industrial revolution scale' | Environment | guardian.co.uk

Global food system must be transformed 'on industrial revolution scale' | Environment | guardian.co.uk: "The world will not be able to feed itself without destroying the planet unless a transformation on the scale of the industrial revolution takes place, a major government report has concluded.

The existing food system is failing half of the people on Earth, the report finds, with 1 billion going hungry, 1 billion lacking crucial vitamins and minerals from their diet and another billion 'substantially overconsuming', leading to obesity epidemics. Stresses on the food system are reflected in price spikes but the cost of food will rise sharply in coming decades, the report adds, which will increase the risk of conflict and migration."

Runaway Star Creates Stunning Dust Shockwave | Space Photos & Infrared Astronomy, NASA WISE Telescope | Space.com

Runaway Star Creates Stunning Dust Shockwave | Space Photos & Infrared Astronomy, NASA WISE Telescope | Space.com: "A huge star ejected from a binary system has been photographed slamming headlong through a barrier of cosmic dust, creating a shockwave that shines in brilliant yellow in infrared views.

The star, called Zeta Ophiuchi, is a stellar behemoth with about 20 times the mass of our sun and would be 65,000 times brighter if it weren't surrounded by a thick blanket of dust. It is about 4 million years old and is 460 light-years away from Earth. The star is zooming through space at a whopping 54,000 mph (nearly 87,000 kph), according to NASA scientists.

NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, called WISE, caught the massive star plowing through thick dust to create what scientists call a 'bow shock' – a shockwave that precedes stars as they move through space much like the ripple raised by the front of a boat traveling through water."

Indonesian Air Force Orders Probe Into Crop Circle Formation Formed By UFO

Indonesian Air Force Orders Probe Into Crop Circle Formation Formed By UFO: "Yogyakarta - Indonesian Air Force chief Marshall Imam Sufaat on Monday instructed his staff to use a helicopter to take aerial photographs of crop circles discovered on Sunday.

Crop circle was formed in the rice fields in Krasakan, Jogotirto Village, District Berbah, Sleman, Yogyakarta on 23rd January, 2011. The circle had a diameter of about 25-30 meters residents are alleging it was created by UFO."

Genetically-modified, oil-eating bacteria creating dangerous mutant organisms in the Gulf

Genetically-modified, oil-eating bacteria creating dangerous mutant organisms in the Gulf: "(NaturalNews) Even the most creative science fiction movie could not have concocted the reality of what is taking place both in the Gulf of Mexico and around the world right now. Genetically-modified (GM), oil-eating bacteria introduced into the Gulf as part of the oil disaster's remediation efforts is reportedly causing the emergence of various other mutant bacteria, as well as increasingly-severe harm to humans and the environment.

Back in August, NaturalNews covered the story of Tel Aviv University scientists' proposal to use a natural oil-eating bacteria to help clean up the Gulf (http://www.naturalnews.com/029375_o...). But reports have now revealed that both scientists and BP knew of a 'super' bacteria that was programmed to eat oil twice as fast as normal and set loose in the Gulf."

Crop warning over China drought

BBC News - Crop warning over China drought: "Shandong province is experiencing its driest weather for 60 years.

Half the wheat-growing land there is affected, while almost a quarter of a million people face drinking water shortages, the China Daily said.

Beijing has also been experiencing its longest dry spell for more than 30 years, another state daily said.

The Chinese capital has had no significant rainfall for three months, the Beijing Times reported.

Analysts say this drought is likely to put further pressure on food prices, which have been rising sharply for months."

High-Speed Geology: Violent Seismic Activity Tearing Africa in Two - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International

High-Speed Geology: Violent Seismic Activity Tearing Africa in Two - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International: "The fissures began appearing years ago. But in recent months, seismic activity has accelerated in northeastern Africa as the continent breaks apart in slow motion. Researchers say that lava in the region is consistent with magma normally seen on the sea floor -- and that water will ultimately cover the desert."

Sunspots and solar flares: the heat is on | News | The Guardian

Sunspots and solar flares: the heat is on | News | The Guardian: "There is still much to discover about sunspots, solar flares and their effect on our weather. With the peak of an 11-year solar cycle predicted for May 2013, a strong upward trend in activity on the Sun's surface has begun.

Researchers are hoping to learn a lot over the next two years. While some scientists are interested in the climatic effects, what concerns governments most is the electronic interference caused by the solar wind, which can knock out electricity grids."

Dead herring wash ashore on Vancouver Island

Dead herring wash ashore on Vancouver Island: "NANAIMO -- Large numbers of dead herring that washed ashore this week on a Vancouver Island beach have both fishery officials and local fishermen looking for answers.

Will Meeks, who works close to Cedar's North Beach where the fish washed ashore, said he knew something was amiss when he saw unusually large numbers of birds congregating on the beach Thursday morning.

He said he was surprised to find 'thousands' of dead herring washed ashore, a scene he can't recall ever seeing before on local beaches."

Twenty-four pilot whales die on New Zealand beach | Earth Times News

Twenty-four pilot whales die on New Zealand beach | Earth Times News: "Wellington - Twenty-four pilot whales have died on a remote beach in the far north of New Zealand, the Department of Conservation was quoted as saying on Friday by press reports.

Fourteen of the whales were already dead when the group was found scattered over 150 metres of rocks, mud and mangrove early Friday in Parengarenga Harbour, 15 kilometres south of North Cape.

They appeared to have become stranded the previous day.
The department said the others had to be put down because they were in poor condition and chances of successfully refloating them in deteriorating weather were remote."

10,000 Cattle Dead In Vietnam: Cows, Buffalo Part Of Mass Die-Off

10,000 Cattle Dead In Vietnam: Cows, Buffalo Part Of Mass Die-Off: "In the latest of a string of mass animal deaths, 10,000 cows and buffalo have died in Vietnam.

Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development confirmed the news this week that more than 10,000 cows and buffalos died nationwide due to harsh weather conditions.

Cattle have been dying throughout Vietnam, which has had a particularly intense winter. The northern mountainous province of Cao Bang was hardest hit with 2,260 dead cattle, per Thanh Nien News. Some have said the number of total dead cattle may be as high as 13,000.

Mass animal deaths have been in the news quite a bit lately. Hundreds of birds were found dead in South Dakota early this week, and before that birds were found dead in Italy and birds fell from the sky in Arkansas, among other incidents.

Some of the mass die-offs have been explained - for instance, indigestion is thought to be the cause in Italy and the U.S. government has admitted involvement in the South Dakota case. But others remain up for debate."

Scientists claim new geoglyph find in Nazca, Peru

Living in Peru » News » Scientists claim new geoglyph find in Nazca, Peru: "Two scientists from Yamagata University in Japan reported finding two new geoglyphs in southern Peru’s Nazca province, Andina reported.

The new geoglyphs depict a human head and an animal figure that the researchers have yet to identify, state news agency Andina reported. According to the archaeology faculty chief at Yamagata, Yoichi Watanabe, the drawing of the human head is 4.2 meters long and 3.1 m wide. The geoglyphs have most probably not been identified in aerial surveys before because of their small size, Watanabe said.

The researchers are continuing with their work and will submit a final report to Peru’s Culture Ministry outlining the findings, Ica department’s regional director of culture, Americo Baiocchi, said."

Quantum Entanglement Could Stretch Across Time | Wired Science | Wired.com

Quantum Entanglement Could Stretch Across Time | Wired Science | Wired.com: "In the weird world of quantum physics, two linked particles can share a single fate, even when they’re miles apart.

Now, two physicists have mathematically described how this spooky effect, called entanglement, could also bind particles across time.

If their proposal can be tested, it could help process information in quantum computers and test physicists’ basic understanding of the universe.

“You can send your quantum state into the future without traversing the middle time,” said quantum physicist S. Jay Olson of Australia’s University of Queensland, lead author of the new study.

In ordinary entanglement, two particles (usually electrons or photons) are so intimately bound that they share one quantum state — spin, momentum and a host of other variables — between them. One particle always “knows” what the other is doing. Make a measurement on one member of an entangled pair, and the other changes immediately."

FAA warns of ongoing GPS issues in southeastern US due to Defense Department 'tests'

Steve Quayle News Alerts: "FAA warns of ongoing GPS issues in southeastern US due to Defense Department 'tests'"

YouTube - UFO's by nuclear power plant

YouTube - UFO's by nuclear power plant:

"Several UFO's fly near power plant and hover."

Mexico to become first country to use iris scans on ID cards - Telegraph

Mexico to become first country to use iris scans on ID cards - Telegraph: "The documents, which will include the eye's image as well as fingerprints, a photo and signature, will be 99 per cent reliable, according to Felipe Zamora, who is responsible for legal affairs at the Mexican interior ministry.

'The legal, technical and financial conditions are ready to start the process of issuing this identity document,' Felipe Zamora, responsible for legal affairs at the Mexican Interior Ministry, told journalists Thursday.

Critics, including the National Human Rights Commission, have criticised the system, expressing concern that compiling personal data could violate individual rights.

The move will be introduced gradually, with some 28 million minors taking part in a first two-year stage, due to cost $25 million (£15.6 million).

The cards are due to start for adults from 2013."

Crop circles found in Yogya rice field | The Jakarta Post

Crop circles found in Yogya rice field | The Jakarta Post: "A large circle and geometric pattern local residents say were created by a UFO have been found in a rice field in Krasakan hamlet in Sleman, Yogyakarta.

The pattern includes a triangle and two smaller circles in the middle of the large circle, which has a diameter of between 25 and 30 meters, tempointeraktif.com reported Monday.
“The circles were there since yesterday morning. I think they were left by an alien space ship, like one I saw in TV,” Krasakan resident Cahyo Utomo said Monday.

“It is impossible that this was were made by the wind or any animal,” he added.

The circles and triangle in the rice paddy next to a residential area look resemble a geometric artwork, while the other parts of the field remain intact.

The crop circles were first reported by a farmer, Tukiman, on Sunday at 6 a.m."

Einstein Gives Humans 4 years After Bee extinctions - coupmedia.org

Einstein Gives Humans 4 years After Bee extinctions - coupmedia.org: "This truly sounds alarming: Bees are disappearing for reasons we can't yet explain, and a certified genius such as Einstein noted long ago that if all the bees disappeared, we'd soon be following them into extinction. If the intent of propagating this quote is to get our attention, it's certainly been working. Did Einstein sagely foresee an environmental crisis we're only just now beginning to notice?"

Southeast Australia set for another week of floods - Yahoo! News

Southeast Australia set for another week of floods - Yahoo! News: "MELBOURNE, Australia – Australia's deadly flood crisis forced more people to flee their homes Monday as a vast swath of muddy water spread further across the country's southeast, threatening to swamp several rural communities.

Record rains that began in November left huge parts of Australia's northeast Queensland state under water, killing 30 people, damaging or destroying 30,000 homes and businesses and causing at least 3 billion Australian dollars ($3 billion) in damage to crops and lost coal exports.

The flood disaster is now moving across southeast Victoria state, where driving rains have forced swollen rivers over their banks."

Chinese Pianist Plays Propaganda Tune at White House | United States | Epoch Times

Chinese Pianist Plays Propaganda Tune at White House | United States | Epoch Times: "Lang Lang the pianist says he chose it. Chairman Hu Jintao recognized it as soon as he heard it. Patriotic Chinese Internet users were delighted as soon as they saw the videos online. Early morning TV viewers in China knew it would be played an hour or two beforehand. At the White House State dinner on Jan. 19, about six minutes into his set, Lang Lang began tapping out a famous anti-American propaganda melody from the Korean War: the theme song to the movie “Battle on Shangganling Mountain.”

The film depicts a group of “People’s Volunteer Army” soldiers who are first hemmed in at Shanganling (or Triangle Hill) and then, when reinforcements arrive, take up their rifles and counterattack the U.S. military “jackals.”"

YouTube - UFO Photographed By Hungarian Military Pilot

YouTube - UFO Photographed By Hungarian Military Pilot: "Disc-Shaped Object Photographed by Hungarian Military Pilot"

China Bank Moves to Buy U.S. Branches - WSJ.com

China's ICBC Moves - WSJ.com: "CHICAGO—China's biggest bank signed an agreement that would make it the first Beijing-controlled financial institution to acquire retail bank branches in the U.S., though regulators could still block the deal.

Under the deal, Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., by some measures the world's largest bank, agreed to acquire a majority stake in Bank of East Asia Ltd.'s U.S. subsidiary. ICBC will pay $140 million for an 80% stake. Bank of East Asia, which is a publicly traded company based in Hong Kong, has a total of 13 branches in New York and California. ICBC and Bank of East Asia have talked to U.S. regulators about the deal, these people said.

China's largest bank, Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., is the first Chinese bank to acquire a U.S. deposit-taking bank. Ken Brown explains why it could be the start of big expansions by Chinese financial institutions in the U.S.

The move represents what could be the start of big expansions by Chinese financial institutions in the U.S."

Forum for the Future proposes a "Planned-opolis" | TG Daily

Analysis: Forum for the Future proposes a "Planned-opolis" | TG Daily: "The United Kingdom-based think tank Forum for the Future has proposed some interesting views of city life in the future. Their recent animated video depicting a 'Planned-opolis' flew under the world’s technology and science radars at the end of last year.

First a little background on Forum for the Future.

On their website we can see that the nonprofit organization has some powerful allies in “business, government, education and the voluntary sector.”

Some well-known names are PepsiCo UK, Thompson Reuters, and Vodafone. The full list is much larger, and it’s clear that a lot of powerful global corporations and UK government agencies are backing this think tank. Nevertheless, they still make the claim on their website that they’re an 'independent, non-profit organization.'"

Accelerating Future » Yes, The Singularity is the Biggest Threat to Humanity

Accelerating Future » Yes, The Singularity is the Biggest Threat to Humanity: "Some folks, like Aaron Saenz of Singularity Hub, were surprised that the NPR piece framed the Singularity as “the biggest threat to humanity”, but that’s exactly what the Singularity is. The Singularity is both the greatest threat and greatest opportunity to our civilization, all wrapped into one crucial event. This shouldn’t be surprising — after all, intelligence is the most powerful force in the universe that we know of, obviously the creation of a higher form of intelligence/power would represent a tremendous threat/opportunity to the lesser intelligences that come before it and whose survival depends on the whims of the greater intelligence/power. The same thing happened with humans and the “lesser” hominids that we eliminated on the way to becoming the #1 species on the planet.

Why is the Singularity potentially a threat? Not because robots will “decide humanity is standing in their way”, per se, as Aaron writes, but because robots that don’t explicitly value humanity as a whole will eventually eliminate us by pursuing instrumental goals not conducive to our survival. No explicit anthropomorphic hatred or distaste towards humanity is necessary. Only self-replicating infrastructure and the smallest bit of negligence."

Healthier, smarter, happier? | DailyTidings.com

Healthier, smarter, happier? | DailyTidings.com: "We stand on the brink of a disease-free utopia where our technology has overcome aging and given us vastly increased intelligence, physical prowess and psychological stability. Sound good?

It might be, says Southern Oregon University sociologist Echo Fields, who will give a presentation Wednesday on the 'transhuman' movement — or it could be, as one scientist called it, 'the world's most dangerous idea.' Transhumanism, or H+, as it is symbolized, goes by the slogan 'healthier, smarter, happier' and envisions 'tiny, tiny, tiny' nanotechnology devices implanted in our bodies to remove cancer, disease and effects of aging."

Mammoth ambitions to perform another miracle

Mammoth ambitions to perform another miracle: "THE ice age mammoth, believed to have gone extinct ten thousand years ago, is the centre of an exciting new project initiated by a group of scientists under the leadership of Japan's Kyoto University. They mean to use cloning technology to bring this ancient animal back to life, using cells from the supposed remains of one discovered years ago and now preserved in a Russian research lab."

Domestic use of aerial drones by law enforcement likely to prompt privacy debate

Domestic use of aerial drones by law enforcement likely to prompt privacy debate: "AUSTIN - The suspect's house, just west of this city, sat on a hilltop at the end of a steep, exposed driveway. Agents with the Texas Department of Public Safety believed the man inside had a large stash of drugs and a cache of weapons, including high-caliber rifles."

YouTube - UFO sighting over Lake Elsinore, CA (01/06/2011 7:30pm)

YouTube - UFO sighting over Lake Elsinore, CA (01/06/2011 7:30pm): "Compare with sighting seen at EL PASO (10/15/2010)"

Is Gliese 581 Nibiru or Planet X?

Is Gliese 581 Nibiru or Planet X?: "A whistleblower at NASA claims that they have discovered planet X or Nibiru and have calculated that it is heading our way.

The idea of a new planet being discovered in our Solar System is pretty exciting. Even more so because of the many theories about 'planet-x' or 'Nibiru' being associated with space aliens and the doomsday prophecies of 2012. Scientists at places like NASA and famous observatories have deflected inquiries about the discovery for a few years now, mainly because they feared being associated with these 'fringe' theories. But like it or not -- it has happened. Well... According to a team of Spanish artronomers who call themselves the StarViewer Team."

UFOs digging our nukes is not news – De Void - Sarasota Herald-Tribune - Sarasota, FL - Archive

UFOs digging our nukes is not news – De Void - Sarasota Herald-Tribune - Sarasota, FL - Archive: "A few weeks ago, Frank Warren, who runs a Web site out of Sacramento called The UFO Chronicles, interviewed another retired USAF officer with a national-security secret. This guy was on launch-control duty at a Midwestern nuclear missile silo in the Sixties when a UFO buzzed the bunker he was assigned to and scared the spit out of topside security.

Stories like these are becoming increasingly common. In his 2008 book UFOs and Nukes, New Mexico researcher Robert Hastings talked with military veterans who’ve placed UFOs stalking America’s A-bomb factories since the 1940s, from Hanford to Oak Ridge. Some 120 have shared their stories, and last September he brought seven of them together for a press conference in Washington."

Mystery as greenish-yellow goo falls from the sky in New York | Mail Online

Mystery as greenish-yellow goo falls from the sky in New York | Mail Online: "The FAA has launched an investigation after a mysterious greenish-yellow goo fell from the skies and splattered homes in Snyder, New York on Tuesday.

Homes along Washington Highway and Berryman Drive are now coated in yellow or green icicles. Walls and pavements are splashed with a bizarre deep brown substance.

Neighbours said the mystery substance appeared between the hours of 9am and midnight on Tuesday."

Social networking under fresh attack as tide of cyber-scepticism sweeps US | Media | The Observer

Social networking under fresh attack as tide of cyber-scepticism sweeps US | Media | The Observer: "The way in which people frantically communicate online via Twitter, Facebook and instant messaging can be seen as a form of modern madness, according to a leading American sociologist.

'A behaviour that has become typical may still express the problems that once caused us to see it as pathological,' MIT professor Sherry Turkle writes in her new book, Alone Together, which is leading an attack on the information age.

Turkle's book, published in the UK next month, has caused a sensation in America, which is usually more obsessed with the merits of social networking. She appeared last week on Stephen Colbert's late-night comedy show, The Colbert Report. When Turkle said she had been at funerals where people checked their iPhones, Colbert quipped: 'We all say goodbye in our own way.'

Turkle's thesis is simple: technology is threatening to dominate our lives and make us less human. Under the illusion of allowing us to communicate better, it is actually isolating us from real human interactions in a cyber-reality that is a poor imitation of the real world."

Chinese National TV reporting impending UFO/ET disclosure by Obama government - Seattle exopolitics | Examiner.com

Chinese National TV reporting impending UFO/ET disclosure by Obama government - Seattle exopolitics | Examiner.com: "Chinese National Television Xinhua news is now reporting an impending extraterrestrial disclosure by the Obama administration.

The unprecedented national China TV news bulletin that U.S. President Barack Obama may be preparing to disclose U.S. relations with specific extraterrestrial races was broadcast on the official channel Xinhua on January 4, 2011 on the eve of China President Hu Jintao's state visit to the United States."

Quantum robins lead the way

Quantum robins lead the way: "Researchers have been investigating the mechanism which enables birds to detect the Earth's magnetic field to help them navigate over vast distances. This ability, known as magnetoreception, has been linked to chemical reactions inside birds' eyes.

Now a team from Oxford University and Singapore believe that this 'compass' is making use of something called quantum coherence.

In a forthcoming article in Physical Review Letters the team report how they anaylsed data from an experiment by Oxford and Frankfurt scientists on robins.

The experiment showed that the magnetic compass used by robins could be distrupted by extremely small levels of magnetic 'noise'. When this noise, a tiny oscillating magnetic field, was introduced it completely disabled the Robins' compass sense which then returned to normal once the noise was removed - good news for robins which have to navigate on the long migration route to Scandinavia and Africa and back every year."

YouTube - Spectacular UFO's fleet

YouTube - Spectacular UFO's fleet: "Since 1994 UFO's fleets were recorded all over the world, and currently during the night, making spectacular shapes"

YouTube - INCREDIBLE UFO FLEET HOVERS OVER PITTSBURGH

YouTube - INCREDIBLE UFO FLEET HOVERS OVER PITTSBURGH: "Filmed on 01-16-11 over the skies of Pittsburgh. A fleet of UFOs witnessed and filmed hovering over the skies of Pittsburgh."

YouTube - Real UFO in Chhattisgarh

YouTube - Real UFO in Chhattisgarh: "20 January 2011 Catch on Mobile Real UFO in Chhattisgarh"

The Singularity Film

The Singularity Film: "Within the coming decades we will be able to create AIs with greater than human intelligence, bio-engineer our species and re-design matter through nanotechnology. How will these technologies change what it means to be human?"

Quantum Computing: Will It Be a Leap in Human Evolution? (Today's Most Popular)

Quantum Computing: Will It Be a Leap in Human Evolution? (Today's Most Popular): "Quantum computers have the potential to solve problems that would take a classical computer longer than the age of the universe.

Oxford Professor David Deutsch, quantum-computing pioneer, who wrote in his controversial masterpiece, Fabric of Reality says: 'quantum computers can efficiently render every physically possible quantum environment, even when vast numbers of universes are interacting. Quantum computers can also efficiently solve certain mathematical problems, such as factorization, which are classically intractable, and can implement types of cryptography which are classically impossible. Quantum computation is a qualitatively new way of harnessing nature.'"

University researchers create networked flying robots that build complex structures | Raw Story

University researchers create networked flying robots that build complex structures | Raw Story: "Imagine a future where massive, flying robots assemble complex structures like skyscrapers or houses, with all the machines working as one, coordinated through a wireless network and custom algorithm.

Granted, a similar process already takes place today on a much smaller scale, albeit guided by human pilots.

But with the potential for human error eliminated, construction times could be drastically reduced. Ultimately, a hyper-streamlined system could result in thousands of construction jobs being eliminated and a surge in urban sprawl.

Such an invention, properly scaled upward, would be simply revolutionary -- and that radical vision, scarcely imagined even in science fiction, took its first step toward becoming a reality in 2011."

Italian scientists claim to have demonstrated cold fusion (w/ Video)

Italian scientists claim to have demonstrated cold fusion (w/ Video): "(PhysOrg.com) -- Few areas of science are more controversial than cold fusion, the hypothetical near-room-temperature reaction in which two smaller nuclei join together to form a single larger nucleus while releasing large amounts of energy. In the 1980s, Stanley Pons and Martin Fleishmann claimed to have demonstrated cold fusion - which could potentially provide the world with a cheap, clean energy source - but their experiment could not be reproduced. Since then, all other claims of cold fusion have been illegitimate, and studies have shown that cold fusion is theoretically implausible, causing mainstream science to become highly speculative of the field in general."

Transhuman Topics: Unethical Nanotechnology

Transhuman Topics: Unethical Nanotechnology: "Nanotechnology is my own field of research for 12 years now. It is one of the, if not the most important emerging technology, and it is widely believed to be the vital ingredient to many by transhumanists desired transformations, be it slowing down aging, computer to brain network-neuron interfaces, or the development of ever faster (quantum) computers. Nano is still the big buzz word and I am afraid to be the uninvited party-pooper."

SPLICE OF LIFE: Genetically modified food at ‘center’ of debate | The Red and Black

SPLICE OF LIFE: Genetically modified food at ‘center’ of debate | The Red and Black: "Some call it frankenfood. Others call it playing God. But at the core of the matter, genetically modified food and crops are at the center of a debate between government, science and humanity.

“You get a variety of plant that says ‘new and improved’ — we’re the people who make new and improved plants,” said Wayne Parrott, a professor in the crop and soil sciences department. “From an academic perspective, a [genetically modified organism] is any of the plants that have been new and improved over the past century or so. From a sort of popular perception and media perception, a GMO is a plant that has become new and improved not by traditional methods but by splicing a new gene into it.”

There is a fine line between traditional breeding and gene splicing technology, Parrott said."

Apocalypse | Mayan calendar predicts the end of the world in 2012

Apocalypse | Mayan calendar predicts the end of the world in 2012: "FIRST the bad news: come December 21, 2012, the world as we know it will end. On this ill-starred date, the solar system will swing into alignment with the midpoint of the Milky Way, precipitating tsunamis, the cracking of continental shelves, the shifting of the magnetic poles, solar flares and other cosmic mayhem not recorded since the planetary upheavals that rendered the dinosaur extinct.

This is a bumper period for end-of-the-world buffs. Based on their reading of ancient prophesies and celestial alignments, many groups are expecting the apocalypse.

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The good news: the world's leading astrophysicists, whose job it is to map the vaults of heaven, to search the galaxy for stray cosmic missiles, don't believe a word of it."