Link Collection

Naval Research Laboratory scientists are looking to harness solar and sea power to fuel the military. They state that they need to develop alternative power and energy because conservation and efficiency alone will fall short of meeting the military's future needs:
http://www.asdnews.com/news/23910/Naval_Research_Lab_Looks_to_Sea%2C_Sun_for_Energy_Solutions.htm

Report funded by the Air Force states that cyber-war is an inevitability and states that the military must treat cyber-war as another emerging field of battle:
http://securitywatch.eweek.com/cyber-war/usaf_report_cyber_war_not_under_radar.html

UGV the size of a laptop can hop 25 feet in the air to get over an obstacle:
http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/single.php?id=8945

The CIA's VC arm just invested in a startup that monitors blogs and social media like Twitter. Closed systems like Facebook are safe for now, but all open systems are free game:
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/10/exclusive-us-spies-buy-stake-in-twitter-blog-monitoring-firm/

Study warns that unless Asia makes major reforms and innovations in the way they use water for agriculture then they could have food shortages by 2050:
http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/single.php?id=8939

The major earthquakes in Samoa and Indonesia on the same day and Vanuatu shortly after has resulted in scientists questioning conventional belief that earthquakes are not linked:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gpO7aIFkHyZPjd-nQjANWd0jNEyQ

UK study found that 80% of users carry enough information on their cell phones to commit fraud, including the 16% of people who keep their bank details on their phones. The group demonstrated to a reporter how easy it was to obtain information from a user's cell phone:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427301.100-the-pocket-spy-will-your-smartphone-rat-you-out.html?full=true

Drugs using unusual metals (Ruthenium and Osmium) could enable effective treatment of colon and ovarian cancer, even attacking cancerous cells that have developed immunity to other drugs:
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/newsandevents/pressreleases/unusual_metals_could

Study found that sounds that we hear help us see things better, contradicting the widely held assumption that the brain separates the sense:
http://www.gla.ac.uk/news/headline_133842_en.html

State workers for North Carolina and Alabama will pay more for health insurance if they are obese and North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Kentucky will make workers pay more if they smoke (Alabama will give nonsmokers a discount). Only people with a BMI over 40 will pay more in North Carolina, though a BMI of 30 is considered obese. North Carolina will do something that I never heard of before--I've heard of testing for illegal drugs, but they will test for tobacco!
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/local/story/988655.html

The biggest-ever insider trading case in Silicon Valley has been released, with federal charges against 6 money managers and hedge-fund operators for insider trading on companies such as Intel, Google, AMD, and Clearwire:
http://www.mercurynews.com/top-stories/ci_13580009?nclick_check=1

Clearwire's stock rose after an analyst raised his evaluation of Clearwire because Sprint, Time Warner and Comcast are relying on Clearwire for their 4G services:
http://blogs.barrons.com/techtraderdaily/2009/10/15/clearwire-rallies-macquarie-turns-bullish-expects-more-funding-from-sprint/

Time Warner is reselling Clearwire's service in North Carolina as "Road Runner Mobile" and they will next offer their cable modem/WiMAX combo in Dallas and Hawaii:
http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=183077&site=cdn&

Verizon launched a huge ad campaign that directly takes on the iPhone...they making a huge push for their first Android-based phone, the Droid. Given how Verizon is the biggest cell phone carrier in the US and how it doesn't really have a signature phone, if the Droid lives up to the hype (5 megapixel camera, multiple simultaneous apps, etc.) then this could be huge for both Verizon and Android:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/173865/verizons_droid_targets_iphone.html

According to this article, it sounds like Droid+Verizon is a significant threat to the iPhone:
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/18/verizon-droid-is-the-real-deal/

Commentary on how Nokia (which sells the most cell phones in the world) has been left in the dust in the smartphone market and needs to get on the Android bandwagon:
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/nokia/2009-10-18?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal

The BlackBerry watch is apparently about to be released to the market--the photos show that it could be useful for BlackBerry addicts who wish to check their latest e-mails (without anyone noticing) while stuck in a meeting:
http://crackberry.com/first-images-blackberry-watch-real

Remember the Sprint affiliate iPCS that kept filing lawsuits (and winning) in court to block Sprint's expansion efforts? Sprint just agreed to buy iPCS for $831 million, so those lawsuits will stop now:
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/sprint-buying-ipcs-831m/2009-10-19?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal

The price of gas is rising even as demand declines due to the decline in the value of the dollar:
http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/oct/19/us-oil-prices-101909/?business&zIndex=185219

The balloon boy incident will result in felony charges for his parents and others because authorities believe it was a hoax:
http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/oct/19/balloon-boy-was-center-big-hoax-sheriff-says/?uniontrib

Marathon in Detroit was struck with tragedy--three runners collapsed and died in a 16-minute span!
http://www.freep.com/article/20091019/SPORTS23/910190362/1318/Autopsies-today-for-3-runners

For Lori--Joss Whedon is going to direct an episode of Glee:
http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2009/10/19/glee-exclusive-joss-whedon-to-direct/