5:49 PM
A California mine will be first US source of rare Earth elements in more than a decade and should reach full operations by 2012, where the 20,000 tons of rare Earth materials it should produce each year could actually meet the entire demand for rare Earth elements in the US. Demand is expected to outpace their supply capability even if they ramp production up to 40,000 tons per year after 2012. China currently provides 120,000 tons of rare Earth elements and owns 95% of the market. It is great for the US economy that the processing of the rare Earth elements into materials that can be used for high-tech items will be done in the US...since none of that can be produced in the US today:
http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/26980/page1/
For the first time since the peak of the Cold War, another country (China) has matched the US in the number of rocket launches in a year. China's 15th launch this year was for their GPS-style navigation satellite. China is apparently behind only the US and Russia on a space-capability basis and they will soon pass Russia:
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/12/china-matches-u-s-space-launches-for-first-time/
Nice work if you can get it. BAE Systems just won $150,000 to bombard computers with high-powered electromagnetic radiations to see whether they'll fritz out. The objective: learn how to fry the other guy's electronics while protecting your own.
BAE was awarded $150k to bombard computers with high-powered electromagnetic radiation to see whether or not the radiation will fry the computers. The Air Force program will investigate how much radiation is needed to fry the enemy's computers and how to protect US computers from high power electromagnetic radiation:
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/12/air-force-doles-out-cash-to-microwave-computers/
Scientists say that global warming is the reason for the freezing European winters over the past decade. The Arctic's receding surface ice triples the chances that future winters in Europe and north Asia will be especially cold with heavy snow and other weather complications:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hwIixVf3dEodLigiCqing9TAv-6A?docId=CNG.3b29b364e92472d3587fc96ce6d6698b.301
Peer-reviewed journal from Britain's prestigious Royal Society published a paper written by a group of 8- to 10-year-olds from a UK elementary school investigating the way bumblebees see colors and patterns. The 3-century-old scientific organization with some of the world's top scientist said that the children reported findings that were a "genuine advance" in the field of insect color and pattern vision:
http://www.rdmag.com/News/2010/12/Optics-Biology-UK-science-journal-publishes-study-by-8-year-olds/
Apple has worked with the Cherokee Nation to develop Cherokee language software for the iPhone (coming soon to the iPad), the first American Indian language supported by the Apple platform. The Cherokee language used to be widespread among Cherokee Nation, but today only 8,000 out of the 290,000 Cherokee members can speak the language, and most of those are 50+ years old. Tribal leaders realized that they had to do something to entice younger generations to learn the language or it would be lost forever--so, they found a way to make the cool technology in Cherokee:
http://www.ecnmag.com/News/2010/12/Cherokee,-Apple-partner-to-put-language-on-iPhones/
http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/26980/page1/
For the first time since the peak of the Cold War, another country (China) has matched the US in the number of rocket launches in a year. China's 15th launch this year was for their GPS-style navigation satellite. China is apparently behind only the US and Russia on a space-capability basis and they will soon pass Russia:
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/12/china-matches-u-s-space-launches-for-first-time/
Nice work if you can get it. BAE Systems just won $150,000 to bombard computers with high-powered electromagnetic radiations to see whether they'll fritz out. The objective: learn how to fry the other guy's electronics while protecting your own.
BAE was awarded $150k to bombard computers with high-powered electromagnetic radiation to see whether or not the radiation will fry the computers. The Air Force program will investigate how much radiation is needed to fry the enemy's computers and how to protect US computers from high power electromagnetic radiation:
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/12/air-force-doles-out-cash-to-microwave-computers/
Scientists say that global warming is the reason for the freezing European winters over the past decade. The Arctic's receding surface ice triples the chances that future winters in Europe and north Asia will be especially cold with heavy snow and other weather complications:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hwIixVf3dEodLigiCqing9TAv-6A?docId=CNG.3b29b364e92472d3587fc96ce6d6698b.301
Peer-reviewed journal from Britain's prestigious Royal Society published a paper written by a group of 8- to 10-year-olds from a UK elementary school investigating the way bumblebees see colors and patterns. The 3-century-old scientific organization with some of the world's top scientist said that the children reported findings that were a "genuine advance" in the field of insect color and pattern vision:
http://www.rdmag.com/News/2010/12/Optics-Biology-UK-science-journal-publishes-study-by-8-year-olds/
Apple has worked with the Cherokee Nation to develop Cherokee language software for the iPhone (coming soon to the iPad), the first American Indian language supported by the Apple platform. The Cherokee language used to be widespread among Cherokee Nation, but today only 8,000 out of the 290,000 Cherokee members can speak the language, and most of those are 50+ years old. Tribal leaders realized that they had to do something to entice younger generations to learn the language or it would be lost forever--so, they found a way to make the cool technology in Cherokee:
http://www.ecnmag.com/News/2010/12/Cherokee,-Apple-partner-to-put-language-on-iPhones/