? 2013 ScientificAmerican.com. All rights reserved.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/europa-report-report-160800741.html
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Monday, August 5, 2013
The Europa Report: A Report
I have to say, being asked to review a film for Scientific American has to be one of the most randomly awesome things that's happened to this scientist, especially since the film is about Europa. As a UCLA PhD, most of my friends were graphics and production guys, so I've got to try to put in my former Los Angelino-$0.02. As someone totally, completely UTTERLY obsessed with Europa, I've thought through the moment of first contact myself thousands of times. What could it be like to see under that ice??? How would I feel? So, imagine my absolute joy to learn that there was a full-length feature film coming out that centered on exactly this scenario...what might happen if we sent people to Europa? Mind you, I've always imagined a robots-first scenario, but I would volunteer tomorrow for a one-way trip to see Europa in all its icy glory orbiting Jupiter with my own eyes. So premise? Check. Then I found out: it's a horror movie. SWEET!! I've often kidded, in fact, and only half-jokingly, that with my luck, we'll send a sub down, and in the first live pictures, a huge sea spider will crawl across the view and I'll have a heart attack right there. I'm an arachnophobe but I would still love to see that happen...so of course that's what I imagined would crawl out of the ice in the Europa Report . If I think about sci-fi movies, Mars has gotten it's fair share of the press--Mission to Mars, Total Recall, Mars Attacks! You get my drift. Little Europa has starring in indie films and making quick appearances waiting for the big break, for a cameo as one of the sister moons to Pandora in James Cameron's Avatar. In 2010: A Space Odyssey, we got to hear these ever-ominous words (to which NASA seems to be listening), "all these worlds are yours, except Europa. Attempt no landing there." But this didn't stop the team who wrote and filmed The Europa Report. The movie is set in the not-so-distant future, with exciting new science results compelling humanity to make Europa its first stop in space. We hear from the director of a private corporation, with international membership, which has decided that Europa is too compelling to ignore, and have chosen it as the first target for human exploration (By now I'm cheering, since I agree!!!!) The movie sets up the way we set up for any space mission...press conferences, talking about the science, introducing the intrepid crew who've been training for years for this moment, commentary from mission directors, images of crew capsules being towed down city streets. But we also get the picture...something has gone terribly wrong. We're to be left for most of the film wondering just what has happened to Europa One. In fact, the whole beginning of the film was incredibly exciting. The reasons that the Europa One team cites for going to Europa are a mixture of ripped from the headlines science about lakes on Europa, (OMG that's our paper, our lakes on the silver screen! Bucket list, check!) and a fictional heat signature emanating from Conamara Chaos that the whole world agrees are too compelling to ignore. The film feels more like a documentary, and for the most part, pretty believable. You could imagine what it would be like to be one of these crew members. The eerie and beautiful scene of the spacecraft passing the moon, becoming the farthest out that humanity has ever gone, and then realizing that there are years of travel ahead, just puts into perspective how far we have left to go as a species, and that moment isn't lost on the film. I'm not going to ruin the movie for you by describing in detail all of what comes next--a flight to Europa, loss of data relay to the ground, the launch of a crew vehicle down to the surface, Blair Witch-style photography mixed with crew interviews and commentary from mission control after the fact are all spliced together in a kind of back-and-forth in time that builds suspense for the landed mission. And, spoiler alert, a cameo by a creepy, apparently evil and radioactive version of one of my favorite animals. So onto the science. The producers said they cared about the science, and they proved it. I've made a list of the things they've gotten right and the few they've gotten wrong. The Good: The launch of Europa One is particularly well done--it's a mix of footage from the cape and Apollo-reminiscent external camera views as the rocket launches, and then as the boosters fall away. There's nothing more enthralling than standing at Cape Canaveral, waiting for the moment your mission is going to leave this world and head for another--I'm not sure I can describe it well enough, but the film does a great job of capturing the experience. The flyovers use actual images from NASA spacecraft. I choked up at the first flyover of Europa (seriously, heart in throat). They took the Galileo images that I know so well and brought them to life. I've had that dream so many times...flying past beautiful Jupiter, with its flowing atmosphere like a real life Monet, and glimpsing the bright glittering surface of Europa speckled with brown indications of a hidden dynamic world. I could feel the awe bubbling up. They correctly represent the scientists--unlike what you might guess from the Big Bang Theory or from Michael Bay movies, scientists aren't all pocket protector nerds and certainly aren't sex-starved supermodel-hot-yet-misunderstood blondes (I can barely afford my student loan payments, you won't be seeing me in a Gucci suit at the office anytime soon). We're mostly excited, slightly obsessive people with average wardrobes (ok perhaps slightly worse than average) who just want to tell you how awesome it is that we get to work on something we'd probably do for free. We would certainly walk the extra hundred meters to get that once in a lifetime sample of figure out what the glowing light is. They captured the reality of spaceflight in our current time: with funding for science and space at its lowest point since the 80's and with increasing risk aversion, there are things public spaceflight just may not accomplish. Hopefully, the rise of private space flight will lower launch costs and let the public sector do what it does best--frontier, fundamental research. But unless priorities change soon, there are things we just can't--and really won't--with public space programs. The movie shows exactly what we all know--technology is incredible and moving fast, but there are things we just can't do with robots, tasks for which a human is still required. The "Meh" I'm guessing the rockets they launched from are not large enough, despite being well done. Visually, the launch looks like an Atlas V with more boosters, though perhaps they are going for the new SLS-style launch. But I was still underwhelmed. Ok, we have to talk about gravity. Every movie has its way of dealing with gravity. In this one, we've got actors at least trying to raise their arms like they are in zero G. There's the spinning spacecraft to "simulate" gravity. And there are some shots where the actors go flying about through the cabin, so ok, I'll give it to them. Ice thickness is a debate (I'd argue mostly solved) in the science community. The preponderance of evidence says the ice shell is really think, at least 10 km and probably closer to 20 km (But don't worry, there is still water up close to the surface and the ice shell thickness probably doesn't matter the way we once thought for the possibility of life there). And while we think there are places where the ice shell disrupts, it's probably NEVER thin enough that a spacecraft would crack the ice, much less a person. But, this is a horror movie, so I guess we can let them have that. Ice 11: there's a point where the actor playing the landing module pilot describes, "we've landed on Ice 11." Ice 11 is pretty cool, literally, forming at a temperature below about 80 K, which I might add is much, much colder than Europa's surface. It's been reported in some very ancient ice in Antarctica, at temperatures higher than that, so maybe it's possible on Europa as well. And while it can be formed in high radiation, that assumes the temperature hasn't cycled past the stability point for ice 11. If you go to Europa to land on a warm spot, I'd wager it's not too likely that the dynamic, recycling surface, especially where it's warm (and apparently thin), is made of Ice 11. At least they didn't say Ice 6, then we'd have to throw down. As much as I hate to say it, launching people to Europa as a first deep space target is pretty insane. The amazing complexity of life support, planning, logistics, etc, would just not be well suited to going there first, not to mention the travel times and complexity of the orbital tour into Europa orbit (which would have been really cool to see in the film!! Hi there, Ganymede!). The Ugly Clich? crazy Russian scientist...I'm getting sick of this one. But there's only one part of the movie I absolutely hated: light coming down through the ice (because of the horrifically cool radiationopus, I'll give them the light going up through the ice, who am I to know what monsterpusses might be capable of?). As I can tell you first hand, precious little light makes it through even the eight meters of sea ice, common off the coast of Antarctica. And there is just no way Europa's ice is that thin, anywhere. Might there be cracks? Sure. But not translucent ice. So at 5 AU, with less intense solar flux than here at Earth, there's certainly not going to be light transmitted through the ice. Just put some headlights on your subs, like we do, and it will STILL look as cool. And by the way, if you go all the way to Europa, melt or drill into the ice with a probe, and let it swim around, wouldn't it occur to you to have a way of measuring when you broke through? I have to say, "I guess the ice must be thinner than we thought" just doesn't cut it for this scientist. But lets not leave it on a bad note. The movie is fun. It's beautiful. The acting is alright actually, in fact at times, it's rather personal (well, except the landing module pilot who has the emotion of a sandwich, and that awkward moment when one of the crew is lost and everyone just stands around, as if waiting to hear "cut"). What I think the film does well is transmit the sense of what could be. From the crew who sacrifice themselves to send back proof of life, to the awe that the folks on the ground feel at the grandeur of the moment, to the documentary-style crew interviews, the movie shows why we study space, and why we dream of going there. As explained by James Corrigan (played by Sharlto Copley of District 9 fame), we're trying to understand ourselves, our place in the universe, and if we are alone. Space science inspires the kind of awe that might lift humanity up, asking us to look outside our selves to a bigger and better sense of who we are and our connection to this amazing universe where we find ourselves. Overall, the film is an enjoyable voyage not short on awe for those who care to jump on board. Images: Europa: NASA/JPL/DLR; movie still, courtesy of Magnet Releasing. Follow Scientific American on Twitter @SciAm and @SciamBlogs. Visit ScientificAmerican.com for the latest in science, health and technology news.
? 2013 ScientificAmerican.com. All rights reserved.
? 2013 ScientificAmerican.com. All rights reserved.
Sunday, August 4, 2013
Low cost iPhone 5C to boast 8MP camera: Reports
Low cost iPhone 5C to boast 8MP camera: Reports
While the much hyped low-cost iPhone is making news with leaked pictures and videos budding online every now and then. However, much has not been reported about the specifications till now.
A latest report by Chinese website IT168, reports that the low-cost iPhone, which might be named iPhone 5C, would feature an 8-megapixel camera and that the camera part on the phone would be similar to the iPhone 5's camera completed with the blue lens glass.
The iPhone 5S, touted as the next generation iPhone, is expected to get an upgrade interns of the camera resolution. It is rumoured to sport a 12-megapixel camera lens.
Source: http://www.mynews.in/News/low_cost_iphone_5c_to_boast_8mp_camera_reports_N552574.html
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Saturday, August 3, 2013
American economy adds modest 162,000 jobs in July
FILE - In this Monday, July 15, 2013 file photo, a woman waits to talk with employers at a job fair for laid-off IBM workers in South Burlington, Vt. The government issues the jobs report for July on Friday, Aug. 2, 2013. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot, File)
FILE - In this Monday, July 15, 2013 file photo, a woman waits to talk with employers at a job fair for laid-off IBM workers in South Burlington, Vt. The government issues the jobs report for July on Friday, Aug. 2, 2013. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot, File)
Chart shows unemployment rate and monthly job creation; 2c x 3 inches; 96.3 mm x 76 mm;
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The U.S. economy is steadily adding jobs ? just not at a consistently strong pace.
July's modest gain of 162,000 jobs was the smallest since March. And most of the job growth came in lower-paying industries or part-time work.
The unemployment rate fell from 7.6 percent to a 4?-year low of 7.4 percent, still well above the 5 percent to 6 percent typical of a healthy economy. The rate fell because more Americans said they were working, though some people stopped looking for a job and were no longer counted as unemployed.
All told, Friday's report from the Labor Department pointed to a less-than-robust job market. It suggested that the economy's subpar growth and modest consumer spending are making many businesses cautious about hiring.
The report is bound to be a key factor in the Federal Reserve's decision on whether to slow its bond purchases in September, as many economists have predicted it will do. Some think July's weaker hiring could make the Fed hold off on any pullback in its bond buying, which has helped keep long-term borrowing costs down.
Friday's report said employers added a combined 26,000 fewer jobs in May and June than the government had previously estimated. Americans also worked fewer hours in July, and their average pay dipped.
For the year, job growth has remained steady. The economy has added an average of 200,000 jobs a month since January, though the pace has slowed in the past three months to 175,000.
Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at IHS Global Insight, called the employment report "slightly negative," in part because job growth for May and June was revised down.
Scott Anderson, chief economist at Bank of the West, said it showed "a mixed labor market picture of continued improvement but at a still frustratingly slow pace."
The reaction from investors was muted. Stock averages closed with modest gains. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.6 percent from 2.71 percent ? a sign that investors think the economy remains sluggish and might need continued help from the Fed.
Beth Ann Bovino, senior economist at Standard & Poor's, said she thinks the Fed will delay any slowdown in its $85 billion a month in bond purchases.
"September seems very unlikely now," she says. "I'm wondering if December is still in the cards."
Still, it's possible that the lower unemployment rate, along with the hiring gains over the past year, could convince the Fed that the job market is strengthening consistently. Job growth has topped 140,000 each month for nearly a year, and unemployment has steadily declined.
"While July itself was a bit disappointing, the Fed will be looking at the cumulative improvement," said Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist at Capital Economics. "On that score, the unemployment rate has fallen from 8.1 percent last August to 7.4 percent this July, which is a significant improvement."
The government uses a survey of mostly large businesses and government agencies to determine how many jobs are added or lost each month. That's the survey that produced the gain of 162,000 jobs for July.
It uses a separate survey of households to calculate the unemployment rate. That survey captures hiring by companies of all sizes, including small businesses, new companies, farm workers and the self-employed.
The household survey found that 227,000 more people said they were employed last month. And 37,000 people stopped looking for work and were no longer counted as unemployed.
The number of self-employed jumped 241,000, or 2.6 percent, to 9.7 million ? the most in eight months. This group includes freelance workers, construction contractors, lawyers and other professionals with solo practices and farmers and ranchers.
Combined, those factors explain why the unemployment rate declined from 7.6 percent to 7.4 percent.
More than half of July's job gain in the survey of big companies and government agencies came from retailers, restaurants and bars, which tend to offer lower pay. That extends a trend that's limiting Americans' incomes and possibly slowing consumer spending. Retailers, for example, added nearly 47,000 jobs ? the biggest gain for any industry last month. Restaurants and bars added 38,400.
One Atlanta-based retailer, Cellairis, which sells mobile phone accessories, says it hired about 75 employees last month to meet growing demand. The company has 650 U.S. outlets, most of them mall kiosks. It plans to add 45 walk-in stores this year.
"People are willing to spend more now to protect and personalize their devices," said CEO Taki Skouras.
By contrast, employers in higher-paying industries, like Stripmatic, a steel parts maker in Cleveland, remain wary. Stripmatic hasn't hired anyone since adding five workers in the first three months of the year. Revenue has fallen 10 percent below projections this year.
The company's exports have picked up a bit in Mexico and Brazil but remain flat in Asia. Company President Bill Adler says he's concerned that slower growth in China could hamper his overseas sales.
Low-paying industries have accounted for 61 percent of jobs added this year, even though they represent only 39 percent of U.S. jobs overall, according to government data analyzed by Moody's Analytics. Mid-paying industries have accounted for fewer than 22 percent of the jobs added.
Some job gains were made in higher-paying fields last month. Financial services, which include banking, real estate and insurance, added 15,000 positions. Information technology added 4,300 and accounting 2,500. And manufacturing added 6,000 jobs, though that figure was offset by an equivalent loss in construction.
One growing source of better-paying jobs is local governments. They've now added jobs for five straight months and have helped offset job cuts by state and federal governments.
The result is that governments overall are much less of a drag on hiring than in the first three years of the economic recovery, which began in the summer of 2009. All told, they've shed 39,000 jobs in the 12 months that ended in July. That's down from a loss of 137,000 in the 12 months that ended in July 2012.
Most of the hiring by local governments has been for teachers and other jobs related to education. Local property tax revenue, a key source of funding for localities, fell after the recession but has begun to recover in some communities. Nationwide, home prices have risen, a trend that typically leads to higher property tax revenue.
More broadly, many of the jobs added in July were only part time. The number of Americans who said they were working part time but would prefer full-time work stands at 8.2 million ? the highest since last fall. Part-time jobs accounted for 65 percent of the jobs added in July and 77 percent of those added this year.
The government defines part-time work as being fewer than 35 hours a week.
The percentage of adult Americans either working or actively seeking work dipped in July to 63.4 percent. This is called the "labor force participation rate." The participation rate has been generally declining since peaking at 67.3 percent in 2000. That's partly the result of baby boomers retiring and leaving the workforce.
Job gains are being slowed by the economy's tepid growth. It grew at an annual rate of just 1.7 percent in the April-June quarter, the government said this week. That was an improvement over the previous two quarters, but it's still far too weak to rapidly lower unemployment.
Recent data suggest that the economy could strengthen in the second half of the year.
___
AP Economics Writers Paul Wiseman and Martin Crutsinger contributed to this report.
___
Follow Christopher S. Rugaber at http://twitter.com/ChrisRugaber .
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Motorola states the Moto X ? Android os users obtain wood
When Google purchased Motorola, the Android neighborhood was abuzz readily. Motorola is often a world renowned class-leader in quality. Keeping that in mind, the world waited for a mythical and legendary smartphone to be released as a result of the wedding. Unfortunately, whilst Motorola do release great phones such as the Droid Razr HD, these were not necessarily the Droids i was looking for. These days, Google as well as Motorola announce?the Motrola X, seeking to deliver for the high anticipations.
The tagline for this brand new smartphone ?s all Yours ? this is because you can modify the phone wish. According to Talkabout, the smartphone ?is truly your own, because you design it. Through the online facilities, Moto Producer, you choose the colours, and decide on information: front, rear, accents, storage, wallpapers, even add a brand or a short message. If you are done, we all assemble your current Moto Times right here in the USA and deliver it for you for free in four nights or a smaller amount. Choose from a lot more than 2,Thousand possible combos, with more in the future. We?ll be continually exploring brand new offerings, such as real timber backs, beginning later in.
Yes, you read that right; ?you will get a timber chassis. With luck , the Moto X doesn?t termites ? it will bring the latest meaning towards the word push chair!
While the custom remaking are exciting, it is just one of the major selling points of the Moto Times. Another is the actual tight intergrated , with Yahoo Now. Should you aren?t aware, Google Now is just like Apple?s Siri ? on steroids. It is a marketing assistant that can build your life simpler. However, as opposed to Siri, Google Now learns with regards to you through Google?s services. Like magic, the Talkabout X will be taught where you live, just what sports squads you like and much more (a bit terrifying at first yet ultimately great).
While Google Now could be available on various other Android ?smartphones, the Moto Times focuses on speaking through tone of voice. The virtual assistant is called by stating OK Search engines Now. Talkabout says the product ?is ready when you find yourself. It takes action to your speech ? absolutely no touching essential. With Touchless Manage you can check the next thunderstorm, get guidelines, or a single thing without training a kids finger. Moto X doesn?t guess just like other mobile phones do. It knows.
While this specific looks like an excellent feature in demos, the idea remains to be seen how it work in real life. Apple?s Siri looks great in demos as well as commercials too, but is considered to be a gimmick, from best, through some.
So, the customizations and also voice interaction are great. Nonetheless, this is Android we are talking about ? these customers like features. Luckily, your Moto By does not dissatisfy:
Display ? ?4.6 AMOLED (RGB) / Hi-def 720p
Rear Photographic camera ? 10MP CLEAR PIXEL
Front Camera ? 2MP 1080p High-definition video
Battery ? 2200 mAh.
Operating System ? Android mobile phone 4.Only two.2
Central processing unit ? Motorola X8 Cellular
RAM ? Two GB
Safe-keeping ? 16GB or even 32GB
Unfortunately, Moto will soon always be launching a new line of Android phones pertaining to Verizon which can be very similar otherwise better than this gadget. Consumers may have a hard time choosing which telephone to buy. Whilst the customizations with the Moto X are cool, some people place a case on his or her phone, which may cover the custom-design anyway.
According to Motorola, Motrola X will likely be available in the usa, Canada along with Latin America starting in late August/early September. Will you be buying it?
Source: http://www.lazyhacks.com/2013/08/motorola-states-the-moto-x-android-os-users-obtain-wood.html
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Pregnancy in horses: Helping horses come to term
[unable to retrieve full-text content]It is not only humans that sometimes experience difficulty having children. Horses too have a low birth rate, with many pregnancies failing within the first few weeks after conception. The reason is currently unknown but recent research suggests that a particular class of blood cells may be involved.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/bkHwyzZl4AA/130802080235.htm
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Friday, August 2, 2013
Oil falls after data show tepid US jobs growth
The price of oil fell Friday after two days of big gains, as investors took profits following a report that showed job growth slowed in the U.S. last month.
Benchmark crude for September delivery fell 95 cents to close at $106.94 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil still finished the week up $2.24 a barrel, or 2 percent, due to a gain of $4.81 over Wednesday and Thursday.
U.S. employers added 162,000 jobs in July, the government said, a modest increase and the fewest since March. Although the unemployment rate dropped to a 4 1/2-year low of 7.4 percent, that was one of few hopeful signs in an otherwise lackluster report.
At the pump, the average price for a gallon of gasoline held steady at $3.63. That's up 15 cents from a month ago and 10 cents higher than at this time last year.
Brent crude, traded on the ICE Futures exchange in London, fell 59 cents to finish at $108.95 per barrel. Brent gained $1.78 a barrel for the week.
In other energy futures trading on the Nymex:
_ Heating oil fell 3 cents to end at $3.07 a gallon.
_ Natural gas fell 4 cents to finish at $3.35 per 1,000 cubic feet.
_ Wholesale gasoline fell 3 cents to end at $2.99 a gallon.
___
Pamela Sampson in Bangkok contributed to this report.
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