4:08 PM
NASA attracted a lot of attention today after saying that their press conference today will discuss a finding that impacts the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life:
http://www.asdnews.com/news/32197/NASA_creates_buzz_with__extraterrestrial__announcement.htm
NASA revealed today that their astrobiology research has changed the fundamental knowledge about what comprises all known life on Earth! Researchers discovered the first known life on Earth that thrives and reproduces via the toxic chemical arsenic, substituting arsenic for phosphorus. This expands the definition of life, will change biology textbooks, and expand the scope of the search for life outside of Earth:
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/universe/features/astrobiology_toxic_chemical.html
In response to the numerous leaks of sensitive (many of them classified) State Department documents that were just released by Wikileaks, the State Department has severed its computer files from the US government's classified network (SIPRNet). SIPRNet was set up by the Pentagon in the 1990s globally to transmit material up to the secret classification level:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2013559944_wiki01.html
Manchester Airport is testing biometric gates that scan the passenger's face using a camera and matching the face to the image on the passport--if the faces match, the passenger goes through the gate without speaking to an immigration officer. The independent chief inspector has criticized the reliability of the gate, finding that during one week the gates at Terminal 1 broke down *5* times...one of the technical faults resulted in an innocent passenger getting trapped inside a gate!
http://www.kable.co.uk/ukba-inspector-facial-recognition-gates-undermined-01dec10
GE demonstrated the "Electric Bus of the Future", a significant breakthrough that could help accelerate making all buses, delivery trucks, and other larger, heavy-duty fleets run on electricity. The zero-emission dual battery bus uses a high-energy density sodium battery and a high-power lithium battery:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/GE-Demonstrates-Electric-Bus-bw-2220463786.html
WiMAX is still increasing its revenue and coverage in the US--trying really hard not to be killed off by LTE:
http://nextbigfuture.com/2010/12/wimax-still-increasing-revenue-and.html
Motorola's CEO revealed a lot of interesting tidbits about Motorola and the rest of the wireless industry. Motorola expects to have poor sales in the first quarter of next year because Verizon is getting a smartphone that will significantly hurt Motorola's sales (cough, iPhone, cough). Motorola Mobility (their smartphone/tablet/settop division after Motorola splits in two) will have $3.5 billion in cash, no debt, no pension liabilities, and 16,500 patents in its portfolio:
http://www.bgr.com/2010/12/02/motorola-ceo-talks-smartphones-tablets-and-4g-alludes-to-q1-verizon-iphone-launch/
Goldman Sachs' new global smartphone survey surprisingly found that new smartphone users in the US would rather get an Android (27%) of BlackBerry (26%) device instead of an iPhone (14%)!
http://www.streetinsider.com/Analyst+Comments/A+Chink+In+Apples+%28AAPL%29+Armor%3F+-+New+Survey+Shows+Waning+Interest+in+iPhone/6122257.html
Verizon is making a huge push for Android phones over the Holiday season--the Droid X, Droid 2 Global, and Droid Incredible are now buy-1-get-1-free. They are also making it attractive to add smartphones to family plans--for the entire 2-year length of a contract, a unlimited data plan can be added to a family plan for $19.99 per month instead of the normal $29.99 per month...$10 off per month for 2 years and buy-1-get-1-free Android phones:
http://www.androidcentral.com/verizon-offering-bogo-droid-x-droid-2-global-and-droid-incredible
Brooklyn Bees ignored all the nectar close to their hives and feasted on the runoff from a Maraschino Cherry plant miles away from their hives. The drank so much of that chrry juice that their honey stomachs were trued bride red and their honeycombs turned red!
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/30/nyregion/30bigcity.html?_r=1
http://www.asdnews.com/news/32197/NASA_creates_buzz_with__extraterrestrial__announcement.htm
NASA revealed today that their astrobiology research has changed the fundamental knowledge about what comprises all known life on Earth! Researchers discovered the first known life on Earth that thrives and reproduces via the toxic chemical arsenic, substituting arsenic for phosphorus. This expands the definition of life, will change biology textbooks, and expand the scope of the search for life outside of Earth:
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/universe/features/astrobiology_toxic_chemical.html
In response to the numerous leaks of sensitive (many of them classified) State Department documents that were just released by Wikileaks, the State Department has severed its computer files from the US government's classified network (SIPRNet). SIPRNet was set up by the Pentagon in the 1990s globally to transmit material up to the secret classification level:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2013559944_wiki01.html
Manchester Airport is testing biometric gates that scan the passenger's face using a camera and matching the face to the image on the passport--if the faces match, the passenger goes through the gate without speaking to an immigration officer. The independent chief inspector has criticized the reliability of the gate, finding that during one week the gates at Terminal 1 broke down *5* times...one of the technical faults resulted in an innocent passenger getting trapped inside a gate!
http://www.kable.co.uk/ukba-inspector-facial-recognition-gates-undermined-01dec10
GE demonstrated the "Electric Bus of the Future", a significant breakthrough that could help accelerate making all buses, delivery trucks, and other larger, heavy-duty fleets run on electricity. The zero-emission dual battery bus uses a high-energy density sodium battery and a high-power lithium battery:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/GE-Demonstrates-Electric-Bus-bw-2220463786.html
WiMAX is still increasing its revenue and coverage in the US--trying really hard not to be killed off by LTE:
http://nextbigfuture.com/2010/12/wimax-still-increasing-revenue-and.html
Motorola's CEO revealed a lot of interesting tidbits about Motorola and the rest of the wireless industry. Motorola expects to have poor sales in the first quarter of next year because Verizon is getting a smartphone that will significantly hurt Motorola's sales (cough, iPhone, cough). Motorola Mobility (their smartphone/tablet/settop division after Motorola splits in two) will have $3.5 billion in cash, no debt, no pension liabilities, and 16,500 patents in its portfolio:
http://www.bgr.com/2010/12/02/motorola-ceo-talks-smartphones-tablets-and-4g-alludes-to-q1-verizon-iphone-launch/
Goldman Sachs' new global smartphone survey surprisingly found that new smartphone users in the US would rather get an Android (27%) of BlackBerry (26%) device instead of an iPhone (14%)!
http://www.streetinsider.com/Analyst+Comments/A+Chink+In+Apples+%28AAPL%29+Armor%3F+-+New+Survey+Shows+Waning+Interest+in+iPhone/6122257.html
Verizon is making a huge push for Android phones over the Holiday season--the Droid X, Droid 2 Global, and Droid Incredible are now buy-1-get-1-free. They are also making it attractive to add smartphones to family plans--for the entire 2-year length of a contract, a unlimited data plan can be added to a family plan for $19.99 per month instead of the normal $29.99 per month...$10 off per month for 2 years and buy-1-get-1-free Android phones:
http://www.androidcentral.com/verizon-offering-bogo-droid-x-droid-2-global-and-droid-incredible
Brooklyn Bees ignored all the nectar close to their hives and feasted on the runoff from a Maraschino Cherry plant miles away from their hives. The drank so much of that chrry juice that their honey stomachs were trued bride red and their honeycombs turned red!
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/30/nyregion/30bigcity.html?_r=1