4:07 PM
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/05/israeli-microbot-fires-pencil-sized-rockets-to-stop-bombs/
BP first said that its oil spill was releasing 1,000 barrels of oil daily into the Gulf...NOAA estimates were that it was actually 5,000 barrels daily. Experts estimate that the real rate is between 25,000 to 80,000 barrels a day...with 42 gallons per barrel, the official estimate means that 210,000 gallons of oil are going into the Gulf and the experts' estimates would raise that to nearly 3 million gallons a day:
http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/bp-oil-leak-much-bigger-official-estimates
The good news is that the tube that BP installed is capturing about 1,000 barrels of oil per day now and BP says that they could get 5,000 barrels of oil per day up that pipe if things go well. Since BP says that the oil spill is only 5,000 barrels of oil per day, if they are correct they could capture all of the spilled oil this way:
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-05-17/bp-capturing-about-one-fifth-of-oil-leaking-in-gulf-update3-.html
Scientists are finding enormous oil plumes in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico, including one as large as 10 miles long, 3 miles wide and 300 feet thick in spots. The discovery is fresh evidence that the leak from the broken undersea well could be substantially worse than estimates that the government and BP have given.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/16/us/16oil.html?scp=1&sq=oil%20plume&st=cse
Japan launched an interesting solar sail mission today--the first spacecraft powered solely by sunlight is planned to go to Venus and beyond. It is hoped that solar sail technology will lead the way for future hybrid space engines:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20100516/sc_space/japanesesolarsailheadedforvenusandbeyond
4.5 *trillion* cigarette butts find their way into the environment each year and are so toxic that they can kill fish. Chinese researchers found a way to use extracts from cigarette butts to protect steel pipes from rusting. China is the world's largest smoking nation (300 million smokers) and it consumes 1/3 of the world's cigarettes, with 60% of China's men smoking an average of 15 cigarettes per day:
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64C10W20100513
Security researchers demonstrated how modern cars are vulnerable to hacking--they showed how they could hack into the control systems of a family car and disable the breaks and even turn off the engine while the vehicle was moving:
http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/modern-cars-susceptible-malicious-hacking
Speculation is growing that Verizon and Sprint will be rolling out CDMA Rev. B (the multicarrier version of EV-DO)--Verizon could upgrade to Rev. B in places that they do not upgrade to LTE. This article notes that AT&T already reversed its stance on HSPA+...in September AT&T said they would not deploy HSPA+, but now AT&T says they will roll out HSPA+ to more than 250 million potential subscribers this year:
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/are-verizon-and-sprint-rolling-out-cdma-rev-b/2010-05-17
Verizon had previously said that they would have 1 LTE smartphone by May 2011, but now they say they will have 3-5 LTE smartphones by then. Verizon also says that they will start selling Android-based tablet computers (Motorola, LG, and Samsung are making tablets for Verizon) later this year that will run on Verizon's CDMA network and can be upgraded to work on LTE (download a full HD movie in less than a minute):
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37159445/ns/technology_and_science-wireless/
Valedictorian had just finished her speech during the Centenary College commencement when she proposed to her boyfriend (who said "yes"). She had a perfect 4.0 GPA and he would have matched her but he had 1 "A-" grade in 1 class:
http://www.dailyrecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2010305160003
NY animal shelter is asking for Viagra (which was originally developed as a heart medication) donations to treat a pit bull with a heart condition--the dog needs 2 Viagra pills every day or she will risk heart failure. One woman donated her husband's entire supply because she suspected he was having an affair:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/05/16/ap/strange/main6489096.shtml