Could we divert a giant asteroid: related news

KDE on KDE 4.0 (Groklaw)

Lately a lot has been said (or bemoaned) in the community about KDE 4, the 4.0 release and the KDE developers. In the following article we would like to address some common misconceptions about KDE 4 as we see it. As we firmly believe in KDE 4 and the future of the Free Desktop, we expected the heated discussions about KDE4 and especially the 4.0 release to go away - and we were wrong about that. As blogging about the issues raised didn't seem to reach the audience we intended, we took the opportunity presented by Groklaw for this article with both hands. We sincerely hope it sheds some light on why the KDE community did what it thought it had to do and we hope it shows we do take the criticism seriously.

NBCU Wireless GM On iPhone: 'We Didn't Feel That We Had To Be There On Day One'

When it comes to the iPhone, large entertainment companies are sitting on the sidelines. NBC Universal (NYSE: GE) can’t justify investing in one platform, but instead is putting equal time and investment across the board at this point, Salil Dalvi, NBCU’s GM of wireless, told mocoNews. He’s not yet convinced there’s a huge advantage of building on-device applications for the iPhone’s updated operating system. “We didn’t feel that we had to be there on day one … One of the real surprises from my perspective is it just really changes how we approach the market,â€� Dalvi said. “We’re taking a look at it. We haven’t ruled it in or ruled it out at this point … Do we get 80 percent of what the benefit is just by offering a highly-optimized experience on a web site?â€� For games, thereâ€

Could we divert a giant asteroid?

A century ago this week, an asteroid fireball exploded over Siberia with the power of 185 Hiroshima bombs. Steve Connor asks how we can prevent a similar catastrophe in a major world city

Impact: Could we divert a giant asteroid?

A century ago this week, an asteroid fireball exploded over Siberia with the power of 185 Hiroshima bombs. Steve Connor asks how we can prevent a similar catastrophe in a major world city

Impact Earth: Could we divert a giant asteroid?

A century ago this week, an asteroid fireball exploded over Siberia with the power of 185 Hiroshima bombs. Steve Connor asks how we can prevent a similar catastrophe in a major world city

We are not alone - NASA astronaut

I am totally with you Jeda of Melbourne... To think that we human on Earth are the only one in this universe is a total arrogance that is beyond comprehension. We, along with all things exists are made out of the same particles that made up the rest of the Universe. Instead of welcoming the findings and entertaining the possibilities, the ruling governments allow fear to set in and squashed all evidence. We need to change it to the perspective of love... not fear. Perhaps and just perhaps that if we collectively realized that we do indeed share the airspace with other civilizations it might give us a better incentive to unite as one to move our consciousness to a new height. And we might start to treat our own kind a little bit more humanely without the differentiations of country, race and religion.

I think it's fair to say we lacked a proven goalscorer last season, but at least we found the back of the net. The last three pre-season games have seen a goal drought of worrying proportions.

Now I realise pre-season stands for little. The results don't matter, it's the performances but when you've not scored in 3 games - two of which were against teams who we should really have hit the back against - then you start to get a bit jittery. Now, let's not get this out of context. On Friday night we had seven players missing who would be in a starting line up and shortly afterwards lost Stephen McPhee which means we effectively were playing our second string. However, that still doesn't mean we shouldn't have done better against Shrewsbury and at least scored a goal.

iPhone games: Ars staff favorites

The App Store has introduced a bevy of third-party apps in every category imaginable. Admittedly, some are of questionable quality, but others, we have discovered, are made of pure win with a sprinkle of crack cocaine. At the Ars Orbiting HQ, we find ourselves frequently chatting about which apps we can't live without, and games are naturally at the top of everyone's lists. And, because we love our readers, we thought we might share with you a list of our favorite iPhone games that you should check out. Here we go, in no particular order:

Our Solar System: An Island of Calm in a Violent Universe (and it's special, too)

We humans like to think we're special, but astronomically speaking we've been shot down quite severely and humbly put in our place. We're not at the center of our solar system, nowhere near the center of our galaxy and certainly not at the center of the universe. But now comes great news for the human psyche from scientists trying to explain solar system formation. As far as solar systems go, we have thought ours was just average and that all solar systems were like ours. But in looking at the 300 plus extrasolar planets that have been discovered and the systems they are in, none so far are anything like our home solar system. In fact, say scientists at Northwestern University, we may be special after all. In a study using computer simulations (this is the week for computer simulations, see here and here), researchers ran more than a hund

Could we divert a giant asteroid?

Once upon a time a fireball exploded over Siberia with the power of 185 Hiroshima bombs. Steve Connor ponders the probability of a similar catastrophe in a major city

My LittleBig Game

We are now getting close to finishing LittleBigPlanet – it’s due for release in October so that doesn’t leave us much time. At the moment we’re basically making proper seat of the pants last minute changes and panicking about everything. There’s a lot of pressure to live up to but the game’s looking really good and it’s shaping into something that I know we’re going to be proud of here at Media Molecule, which is great because when we first pitched it we weren’t even quite sure of what we were going to create...

Internet Radio's "Last Stand"

We've been discussing the plight of Internet radio for some time, as the Copyright Royalty Board imposed royalties that industry observers predicted would prove lethal to the nascent industry. We discussed Web radio's day of silence in protest, which won the industry a reprieve, and the futile efforts to find relief in Congress. Now it's looking as if the last act is indeed close. Death Metal Maniac sends along this Washington Post story with extensive quotes from Pandora CEO Tim Westergren, who said: "The moment we think this problem in Washington is not going to get solved, we have to pull the plug because all we're doing is wasting money... We're funded by venture capital. They're not going to chase a company whose business model has been broken.

LittleBigPlanet will have 'global server'

"We're confused, Mr. Pete Smith, producer of upcoming platform-a-thon LittleBigPlanet. When we spoke to you during today's LittleBigPlanet breakdown session you said that "the game will have a global server." Now we hear that you told CVG something a little different. User generated content will be region locked? Normally we'd say "we're not sure who to believe" at this point, but seeing as both statements come from the same person, we're doubly confused."

The Coker Tour Blog 3

Tuesday morning we were up and rolling early. We had a 1 PM appointment in York, Pa at the Harley-Davidson assembly plant. From Charlottesville, Va. where we had stayed the previous night it was a four hour drive. The morning trip took us through the beautiful Virginia countryside then into Pennsylvania through the Gettysburg area. We arrived at the Harley-Davidson Assembly facility at 12:30 and at 1PM we took the one hour tour. Assembly had already begun on the 2009 models and they were going to debut in one week at the Harley dealers convention in Las Vegas. We were not able to see the 2009 models up close but did get a detailed look at the stamping area for fenders and the new 6 gallon tanks. It was a very interesting tour and nice to see that there really are still things that are "Made in America"

Sowing Nanophobia to Reap Regulation?

With the recent publication of a particular MWCNTs-in-mice experiment, and pundits' various comments thereupon, we're back where we always are on the "unknown risks" of nanotechnology. Do we embrace innovation or fear it? Do we seek to build communities and business networks based on knowledge and trust, or do we imagine that a comprehensive scheme of prohibitions and penalties will lead to better outcomes? The answer is by no means an anarchical free-for-all (we're way past that), but rather collaborative and interdisciplinary mechanisms for reducing uncertainty that are as innovative and forward-looking as nanotechnology itself.

Gravity Tractor Could Deflect Asteroids

Hugh Pickens writes "A new study at the Jet Propulsion Labs shows that weak gravitational pull of a "gravity tractor" could deflect an Earth-threatening asteroid if it was deployed when the asteroid was at least one orbit away from potential impact with Earth. First a spacecraft would be crashed directly into the asteroid, similar to the Deep Impact mission that impacted a comet in 2005. This would provide a big change of direction, but in a less controllable fashion that could push the path of the asteroid into a dangerous keyhole. But then a second spacecraft, the gravity tractor, would come into play, hovering about 150 meters away from the asteroid, to exert a gentle gravitational force, changing the asteroid's velocity by only 0.22 microns per second each day.

Netflix Changes Its Mind, Will Keep Profiles Feature

xChange writes "I too was disappointed at Netflix's decision to remove the Profiles feature, and let them know via email and telephone. I was surprised to find the following email in my inbox today: 'You spoke, and we listened. We are keeping Profiles. Thank you for all the calls and emails telling us how important Profiles are. We are sorry for any inconvenience we may have caused. We hope the next time you hear from us we will delight, and not disappoint, you.' I thought that it sounded too good to be true, and went to their blog to confirm, finding this entry. Netflix decided to listen to its customers, and keep a feature that many of us find essential for our use of their service. I am surprised, and very pleased."

Firefox's Effect On Other Browsers

An anonymous reader points out an interview with Mozilla's "evangelist," Christopher Blizzard, regarding the future of Firefox and how it affects other browsers. It's an Austrian site, so forgive the comma abuse. From derStandard: "It's sort of interesting though, part of our strategy is to make sure, that we continue making change and the indirect effect of this is that Microsoft continues to have to do releases, because if we get so far ahead that we're able to drive the platform they are not able to keep up and keep their users. I mean, we have this joke which says "Internet Explorer 7 is the best release we ever did", because they would not have done it, if we would have not built Firefox. And the same is true for Apple, they are doing a lot to keep up with us.

Binary Asteroid Glides Past Earth

A rare event has given astronomers a great view of a binary asteroid system. Tonight, asteroid 2008 BT18 passed 1.4 million miles from Earth, shining like a 13th magnitude star. Before July 7th, astronomers believed 2008 BT18 was "just another" near-Earth asteroid, but then the Arecibo radio telescope obtained a "delay-Doppler" image of the asteroid and found it in fact had a binary partner. Although binaries are fairly common in the Solar System, this was a rare opportunity for a ground-based telescope to capture such a clear view…

European spacecraft set to swing by asteroid

An artist's impression of Steins asteroid, which the ESA's Rosetta probe will encounter Friday at a distance of 800 kilometres. The asteroid is about five kilometres across.An artist's impression of Steins asteroid, which the ESA's Rosetta probe will encounter Friday at a distance of 800 kilometres. The asteroid is about five kilometres across.

ESA spacecraft set for flyby of Steins asteroid

An European Space Agency image taken from the ESA's webside on Friday, Sept 5. 2008 shows an artist's impression of ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft flying by asteroid (2867) Steins on Sept. 5, 2008 at 20:58 CEST (1858 GMT), with a closest approach distance of 800 kilometers. Steins is Rosetta’s first nominal scientific target. The spacecraft encountered the asteroid in the course of its first incursion into the main asteroid belt located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, while on its way to Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, which is scheduled for 2014. An European Space Agency image taken from the ESA's webside on Friday, Sept 5. 2008 shows an artist's impression of ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft flying by asteroid (2867) Steins on Sept. 5, 2008 at 20:58 CEST (1858 GMT), with a closest approach distance of 800 kilometers.

Big Brother is Watching Over the Red Planet

We have security cameras watching our daily habits, we watch voyeuristic TV shows of social misfits trapped in a house, we use webcams to transmit our musings on Youtube and we are constantly being monitored by hi-res satellite cameras. What can we possibly survey now? Surely every inch of the planet is under someone's watchful eye? This planet maybe. By a stroke of luck, ESA scientists have just realised that a surplus camera on board the Mars Express orbiter could be switched back on and used as an interplanetary webcam. Big Brother is now keeping a watchful eye on the Red Planet too…

E-shop alert

We don't buy anything in our household until we research it to death online. Over the past few years we have received the best deal we could find on a number of bigger ticket items such as golf clubs, my son's iPod, a new big screen TV, my daughter's laptop and a number of items for our vehicles. We've also booked almost all of our travel over the past few years via the Internet.

Risks of a short sale

We have had our house for sale for three years. We have a first and second mortgage on the property, which has now dropped by more than 50 percent in market value. So we owe more than we can get for it. We have an offer for a short sale approved by the lenders for both the first and second mortgages.

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