A Second Earth in Our Solar System?

 

From the article:

Rocky planets, possibly with conditions suitable for life, may be more common than previously thought in our galaxy, a study has found.

New evidence suggests more than half the Sun-like stars in the Milky Way could have similar planetary systems.

There may also be hundreds of undiscovered worlds in outer parts of our Solar System, astronomers believe.

Wow thats alot of planets in our solar system, I thought it was between 8 and 14 or something.

Speaking at the AAAS meeting, Nasa’s Alan Stern said he thought only the tip of the iceberg had been found in terms of planets within our own Solar System.

More than a thousand objects had already been discovered in the Kuiper belt alone, he said, many rivalling the planet Pluto in size.

“Our old view, that the Solar System had nine planets will be supplanted by a view that there are hundreds if not thousands of planets in our Solar System,” he told BBC News.

He said many of these planets would be icy, some would be rocky, and there might even be objects with the same mass as Earth.

“It could be that there are objects of Earth-mass in the Oort cloud (a band of debris surrounding our planetary system) but they would be frozen at these distances,” Dr Stern added.

“They would look like a frozen Earth.”

Yes lets haul one of the frozen planets into the warmth of the sun and then populat.

Excitement about finding other Earth-like planets is driven by the idea that some might contain life or perhaps, centuries from now, allow human colonies to be set up on them.

Both are good things, life on a second planet in our solar system then the univers might not be so lonely as we thought, colonization kinda speaks for itself.

Original site.

WOG out.

Second Life a recruitment agency for terrorists?

From the article (Sorry for it being kinda long):

U.S. intelligence officials are cautioning that popular Internet services that enable computer users to adopt cartoon-like personas in three-dimensional online spaces also are creating security vulnerabilities by opening novel ways for terrorists and criminals to move money, organize and conduct corporate espionage.Over the last few years, “virtual worlds” such as Second Life and other role-playing games have become home to millions of computer-generated personas known as avatars. By directing their avatars, people can take on alternate personalities, socialize, explore and earn and spend money across uncharted online landscapes.

Nascent economies have sprung to life in these 3-D worlds, complete with currency, banks and shopping malls. Corporations and government agencies have opened animated virtual offices, and a growing number of organizations hold meetings where avatars gather and converse in newly minted conference centers.

Intelligence officials who have examined these systems say they’re convinced that the qualities that many computer users find so attractive about virtual worlds — including anonymity, global access and the expanded ability to make financial transfers outside normal channels — have turned them into seedbeds for transnational threats.

“The virtual world is the next great frontier and in some respects is still very much a Wild West environment,” a recent paper by the government’s new Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity said.

“Unfortunately, what started out as a benign environment where people would congregate to share information or explore fantasy worlds is now offering the opportunity for religious/political extremists to recruit, rehearse, transfer money, and ultimately engage in information warfare or worse with impunity.”

The government’s growing concern seems likely to make virtual worlds the next battlefield in the struggle over the proper limits on the government’s quest to improve security through data collection and analysis and the surveillance of commercial computer systems.

Virtual worlds could also become an actual battlefield. The intelligence community has begun contemplating how to use Second Life and other such communities as platforms for cyber weapons that could be used against terrorists or enemies, intelligence officials said. One analyst suggested beginning tests with so-called teams of cyber warfare experts.

Well thats it just great, the U.S. intelligence must be a bunch of really paranoid people to think of something like this.

Do they actually believe that there are terrorists in every little nuck and cranny?

Pathetic, really pathetic…..

Original site.

WOG out.

Visible Body: 3D Human Anatomy

About:

Visible Body 3D Human Anatomy web site. The only fully interactive, 3D human body model available on the web. Free to use at http://www.visiblebody.com

Wow thats really advanced and no dowloading, I´m definitely going to get my hands on this.

WOG out.

Save you brain with walking

About:

Sanjay Gupta looks into modern brain research. Posit Science’s Brain Fitness Program is one of the highlights. The BFP is geared towards regaining lost ground due to age/inactivity, and is comprised of 6 core “games”, focused on auditory recognition and memory recall. Similar games, but focused on visual cues rather than audio, are in the works (“Cortex”). I have not demo’d this visual product yet, but a good online program can be found at www.lumosity.com (free 14 day trial – the birdwatching game is original and inventive.)

Your brain is the most importan thing you have, take care of it.

Here is some more links to beef up your brain:

Brain Fitness: 15 Fun Activities to Keep Your Mind Sharp

33 New Ways to Overclock Your Brain

8 Little-Known Ways to Think More Effectively

WOG out.

Norway Builds Giant Shelter For The End Of The World

From the article:

A “doomsday” vault built to withstand an earthquake or nuclear strike is ready to open deep in the permafrost of an Arctic mountain, where it will protect millions of agriculture seeds from man-made and natural disasters. The vault is to be officially inaugurated on Tuesday, less than year after crews started drilling in Norway’s Svalbard archipelago, about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) from the North Pole. The vault has the capacity to store 4.5 million seed samples from around the globe, shielding them from climate change, wars, natural disasters and other threats.

Wow less then a year, thats some fast building, do they now something we don´t?

Original site.

WOG out.