3D printer on moon or Mars could make tools from local rocks

No blue cheese: Manufacturing with moon rocks is feasible, researchers have shown.

(Credit:
Tim Hornyak/CNET)

NASA is already experimenting with printing components for rockets to Mars, but the fun doesn't have to stop at liftoff.

Researchers at Washington State University and NASA have published a paper suggesting that rocks on the moon or Mars could be used to print useful objects like tools or replacement parts.

The study in Rapid Prototyping Journal describes an additive manufacturing process called "laser engineered net shaping" (LENS).

The laser-assisted technique can be used to create metal parts from computer-aided design (CAD) files. The study marks its first use with simulated lunar material.

Along with their collaborators, WSU's Amit Bandyopadhyay and Susmita Bose, a husband and wife research team in the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, experimented with 10 pounds of simulated lunar regolith provided by NASA. They managed to create structures from the regolith that didn't exhibit any visible cracks, according to the study.

"It doesn't look fantastic, but you can make something out of it," Bandyopadhyay said in a release.

Manufacturing parts or tools locally for construction or repairs could dramatically reduce the cost of missions to Mars or the moon, while additives from Earth could be used to strengthen regolith products.

The team plans to show how the material can be used to perform remote repairs. It will also try to create parts using simulated Martian soil.

"It is an exciting science fiction story, but maybe we'll hear about it in the next few years," Bandyopadhyay said in the release.

"As long as you can have additive manufacturing set up, you may be able to scoop up and print whatever you want. It's not that far-fetched," he added.

Good thing the moon isn't really made of cheese. Would Gruyere make a good wrench?

Read More..

Black Hole Blast Biggest Ever Recorded

Astronomers have witnessed a record-breaking blast of gas and dust flowing out of a monster black hole more than 11.5 billion light-years away.

The supermassive gravity well, with a mass of one to three billion suns, lurks at the core of a quasar—a class of extremely bright and energetic galaxies—dubbed SDSS J1106 1939. (See "Black Hole Blasts Superheated Early Universe.")

"We discovered the most energetic quasar outflow ever seen, at least five times more powerful than any that have been observed to date," said Nahum Arav, an astronomer at Virginia Tech and co-author of the study to be published in The Astrophysical Journal.

Using the powerful telescopes of the European Southern Observatory in Chile, Arav and his team were able to clock the speed and other properties of the outflow.

Belching out material as much as 400 times the weight of our sun every year, the blast is located nearly a thousand light-years from the quasar and has a velocity of roughly 18 million miles (29 million kilometers) per hour.

"We were hoping to see something like this, but the sheer power of this outflow still took us by surprise," said Arav.

The central black hole in this quasar is true giant dynamo. It's estimated to be upward of a thousand times more massive than the one in the Milky Way, producing energy at rates about a hundred times higher than the total power output of our galaxy. (See black hole pictures.)

Clues to Galaxy Evolution

Supermassive black holes are large enough to swallow our entire solar system and are notorious for ripping apart and swallowing stars. But they also power distant quasars and spew out material at high speeds.

(See "Monster Black Holes Gobble Binary Stars to Grow?")

The outflows have been suspected to play a key role in the evolution of galaxies, explained Arav, but questions have persisted for years in the astronomical community as to whether they were powerful enough.

This newly discovered super outflow could solve major cosmic mysteries, including how the mass of a galaxy is linked to its central black hole mass and why there is a relative scarcity of large galaxies across the universe.

"I believe this is the smoking gun for several theoretical ideas that use the mechanical energy output of quasars to solve several important problems in the formation of galaxies and cluster of galaxies," said Arav.

While Kirk Korista, an astronomer not connected to the study, believes these claims may be a bit premature, the research is expected to shed new light on the most powerful and least understood portions of typical quasar outflows.

"The superb spectroscopic data of this quasar have allowed for a breakthrough in quantifying the energetics of what is probably a typical quasar outflow," said Korista, an astronomy professor at Western Michigan University.

"This definitely is an important step in piecing together the story of galaxy evolution, and in elucidating the role of quasars in that story."

Read More..

Dos, Don'ts of Powerball Office Pools

Powerball fever is sweeping the nation.

The Powerball jackpot is at a record high of $550 million. And with the winnings so high, everyone is rushing to buy a ticket in the hope that they'll be the lucky winner.

A popular means of lotto ticket purchasing is an office pool -- in which a group of colleagues pools their money, buys a slate of tickets together and promises to share the winnings equally. It can be a fun bonding experience with your co-workers, but there are do's and don'ts to abide by, on the off-chance that your ticket(s) have the winning numbers.

DO

Write a Contract

It may seem too serious for what's supposed to be fun and harmless, but this amount of money can make people a little crazy, so it's worth taking precautions. You don't need to draft a formal, notorized document -- a simple piece of paper with the terms of your pool and everyone's signature suffices. Make sure to store a copy of the contract in a safe place.

Make Sure Everyone Contributes an Equal Amount

Sure, if you contribute $2 and your colleague contributes $4, that's not a big difference. But if you win, that colleague will have a claim to 50 percent more of the pool than you, and that will undoubtedly create some office tension.

Photocopy the Tickets for All Participants

Yes, it's unlikely that someone would lie about the tickets outcome, say they lost when they won, claim the money, and then come into the office and continue acting like nothing had happened. But it's unlikely that you're going to win the lottery in the first place, so normal reasoning does not apply here.

Make a List of People Who Opted Out This Time

DON'T

Rely on a Verbal Contract

Words won't hold up in a court of law if someone claims the winning ticket first and runs off with all of the winnings for themselves.

Let Anyone Contribute Money on Behalf of Someone Else

It's a nice idea to include all of your colleagues, even the ones who are out of the office the day you buy the tickets, or short of cash for the pool. But if you do win, those individuals who did not actually put up any of their own money for the tickets will almost certainly not be seen as having a legitimate claim to the winnings.

Trust the Tickets to the Interns

They're working for little to no money, so their loyalty is probably low.

Run Multiple Pools at Once

Read More..

Football: Redknapp's QPR debut yields point

LONDON: Harry Redknapp's first match as Queens Park Rangers manager saw the Premier League basement club collect a point in a goalless draw away to Sunderland on Tuesday.

It was QPR's first point since they drew 1-1 with Reading on November 4 but the result meant the west London club, who last week sacked Mark Hughes as their manager, remained bottom of the table.

But in the day's other top-flight match Aston Villa moved out of the bottom three after Christian Benteke's goal 10 minutes from time secured a 1-0 win at home to fellow strugglers Reading.

Victory moved Villa two points clear of the relegation zone, with QPR eight from safety.

"We worked hard and we deserved a point tonight," said Redknapp, whom QPR's Malaysian owner Tony Fernandes hopes can repeat the rescue missions that helped both Portsmouth and Tottenham stay in the Premier League after poor starts to top-flight campaigns.

"We defended well and denied them chances," Redknapp, also told Sky Sports. "I feel more optimistic tonight than on Saturday (when QPR lost 3-1 to Manchester United).

"I saw enough tonight to think we can go on a small run and keep ourselves in the pack," the veteran English manager insisted.

Sunderland manager Martin O'Neill was left with a feeling of "frustration," saying: "I was hoping we would win the game.

"I know QPR will be buoyed by Harry Redknapp's appointment but I thought we could create enough to win. There were chances at both ends but it was a frustrating evening."

Meanwhile under-pressure Villa manager Paul Lambert, who for the second match in a row didn't even have club record signing Darren Bent on the bench, let alone in the starting line-up, was delighted with Benteke's 80th minute header that secured a valuable win at Villa Park.

"Benteke's done fantastic for me. He was up against a big lad. It was a fantastic header."

Lambert added: "Darren Bent just has to play well and train well. He has a future, everybody has.

"Nothing against anybody in the club, but I've got 25 lads to look after. Bent and Benteke can play together -- they did against Southampton.

"I've got to pick a team I think will win."

Tuesday's matches saw the Premier League welcome its 250 millionth fan through the turnstiles, over 20 years after the League launched on August 15, 1992.

Attendances at the Stadium of the Light (36,513) and Villa Park (28,692) pushed the figure beyond the 250 million barrier.

-AFP/ac

Read More..

Yelp CEO: Yep, Google can be pretty evil

Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman speaks during a Business Insider conference in New York.

(Credit:
Dan Farber/CNET)

NEW YORK--Sure, Google can be pretty evil, Yelp Chief Executive Jeremy Stoppelman said.

Stoppelman, speaking at a Business Insider conference, responded to a question from Nicholas Carlson, Business Insider deputy editor, about whether Google is evil. While he didn't straight out call the larger company the devil, he did say that Google has some evil business practices, such as ranking its reviews higher than those from competitors like Yelp.

Stoppelman said that any disruptive businesses, like Uber and Airbnb, are guaranteed backlash, and government and business entities shouldn't necessarily be allowed to limit those businesses. However, Google's practices are likely "worth taking a look at," he said.

"If you happen to be the gateway for the vast majority of users on the Internet and you restrict information and put your house property ahead of everyone else, you potentially harm consumers," Stoppelman said. "We can all agree that's probably not a good thing."

We've reached out to Google and will update when we hear back.

Yelp's problems with Google have been well documented. The company spurned a takeover offer from the search giant several years ago, and it has criticized Google for using Yelp reviews without providing credit. In addition, Stoppelman testified in Congress a year ago that Google didn't play fair with its search results. The Federal Trade Commission has been investigating those complaints, trying to determine if Google ranks search results from its own products higher than those of its competitors.

Meanwhile, Stoppelman said that doing anything local doesn't happen quickly. Yelp was founded about eight years ago, but only went public earlier this year. By comparison, other local advertising and offer companies like Groupon turned to the public market much more quickly after their founding. Groupon in particular has faced concerns about its growth and strategy in recent months.

"Doing anything in local requires depth," Stoppelman said. "And depth takes time. One of the key insights we had early on was we focused on a city-by-city approach."

He noted that Yelp quickly realized that it wouldn't be easy to generate revenue through advertising. That's why it quickly moved to a subscription-based advertising product from its earlier plans for focusing on performance-based ads.

Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman at a Business Insider conference

(Credit:
Dan Farber/CNET)

Stoppelman noted that most businesses were basic Internet users and were uncomfortable with performance-based ads. Instead, they preferred paying fixed rates for a certain period of time.

"They were used to something fixed fee, a set-it-and-forget-it model," he said.

Yelp, which went public in March, has grown quickly, but it also has long faced doubts about its ability to survive as a standalone firm and maintain its brisk growth. Competition is also a constant concern, with the company rivaling larger companies like Google and startups like Foursquare. The latter company earlier this month launched a rating system to compete with Yelp.

While it seems that Foursquare is treading on Yelp territory, the competition goes both ways. Yelp revamped its site in August to highlight social connections. The new feature included a news feed of sorts that shows friends' activity on the site, including comments, check-ins, photos, and tips. Yelp also recently rolled out in-app restaurant menus for its mobile users.

Stoppelman today noted that Yelp is "in the midst of a really big transformation" where mobile becomes a bigger part of the business.

"In 2008, Yelp was a Web site with a little app. Now Yelp is an app with a really big Web site," he said, adding that five years from now, mobile likely will be even more important.

"We are a mobile first company," Stoppelman said.

He added that it's hard to say what tangential businesses Yelp will get into but noted "it's fair to say we're really focused."

"In a lot of other companies, we're seeing a lot of pivots, a lot of transitions and concern about the core business. We're lucky not to be in that circumstance right now
Our core business is strong, and people are writing more reviews than ever. We're still very much focused on what we've been doing. We are still managing that transition, but we're lucky enough to not have to change an engine mid-flight," Stoppelman said.

Read More..

Pictures: Falcon Massacre Uncovered in India

Photograph courtesy Conservation India

A young boy can sell bundles of fresh Amur falcons (pictured) for less than five dollars. Still, when multiplied by the thousands of falcons hunters can catch in a day, the practice can be a considerable financial boon to these groups.

Since discovering the extent of Amur hunting in Nagaland this fall, Conservation India has taken the issue to the local Indian authorities.

"They have taken it very well. They've not been defensive," Sreenivasan said.

"You're not dealing with national property, you're dealing with international property, which helped us put pressure on [them]." (Related: "Asia's Wildlife Trade.")

According to Conservation India, the same day the group filed their report with the government, a fresh order banning Amur hunting was issued. Local officials also began meeting with village leaders, seizing traps and confiscating birds. The national government has also requested an end to the hunting.

Much remains to be done, but because the hunt is so regional, Sreenivasan hopes it can eventually be contained and stamped out. Authorities there, he said, are planning a more thorough investigation next year, with officials observing, patrolling, and enforcing the law.

"This is part of India where there is some amount of acceptance on traditional bush hunting," he added. "But at some point, you draw the line."

(Related: "Bush-Meat Ban Would Devastate Africa's Animals, Poor?")

Published November 27, 2012

Read More..

Egypt Erupts Over Morsi's 'First Step for Tyranny'

Nov 27, 2012 1:33pm

Khalil Hamra/AP Photo

CAIRO – Waves of protesters poured into Cairo’s Tahrir Square today to protest the far-reaching constitutional declaration made by President Mohammed Morsi last week that has essentially granted him unchecked power.

Click here for images of the demonstrations in Tahrir Square.

The new declaration frees Morsi from judicial oversight and with no parliament currently in place, many said longtime dictator Hosni Mubarak had simply been substituted with another.

“This is the first step for tyranny, he’s trying to put all the power in his hands and this is against the constitution and the law,” said Hassan Gamal, a professor of orthopaedic surgery. “No exceptions for anybody. Mubarak was tyrant because of the exceptions. We’re not going to tolerate any exceptions anymore.”

Liberal groups had called for the mass protest against Morsi, many of which have long complained of Islamists’ strength in post-Mubarak Egypt, led by Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood. Protesters today said they were afraid of the constitution being written by an Islamist-dominated constitutional assembly, which will be put to a referendum once finished.

“The Muslim Brotherhood, they say something and then do the opposite,” said English teacher Nadine Mustafa. “We are in the 21st century, we want democracy, we don’t want a pharaoh ruining the country. This is ridiculous.”

Morsi’s office published the seven-article declaration on Thursday, the second of which states that Morsi’s laws and decrees “are final and binding and cannot be appealed by any way or to any entity” until the constitution is approved and a parliament elected.

Violence immediately broke out with clashes between Morsi opponents, supporters and police leading to more than 500 injuries and at least three deaths. To prevent more violence, the Muslim Brotherhood on Monday night cancelled their own rallies planned for today, though supporters did turn out in Alexandria.

“He’s a president that was elected to office with no constitution, no parliament and no defined powers in the state. It’s an exceptional circumstance,” argued Muslim Brotherhood senior adviser Jihad Haddad, who accused Mubarak-appointed judges of blocking Morsi’s attempts to reform the country’s institutions.

Morsi’s office insisted that the powers are only temporary. Haddad said the declaration will only be valid until a draft of the constitution is submitted.

“[Morsi] tried to do this through the only available avenue and choice,” Haddad said. “It does terrify [Morsi opponents] because the only thing they can rely on is trust and that trust was given to us during the presidential elections.”

SHOWS: World News

Read More..

Football: Napoli close on Juve, Inter stumble

ROME: Napoli climbed to second in Serie A, two points behind Juventus, by defeating Cagliari 1-0 on Monday. The win moved them ahead of Inter Milan who lost 0-1 at Parma in a later game.

As Juventus had lost 0-1 to city rivals AC Milan on Sunday, a win for Inter would have moved them to within one point of the Turin side, but in Parma they were up against a side unbeaten at home in eight months.

Both teams had their chances in a tight first half with Fredy Guarin coming closest for the visitors, while a deflected Marco Marchionni cross was well saved by Samir Handanovic early on.

Inter came closest to taking the lead after 62 minutes when Guarin sent in a tremendous pile-driver of a shot from almost 30 metres out that was parried over the bar by Antonio Miranti.

Japanese winger Yuto Nagatoma was proving a handful for the Parma defence down the right and Argentine striker Diego Milito had an opening after 72 minutes but failed to get any power on his shot and it was easily saved by Handanovic.

Two minutes later, the visitors paid the price as Parma opened the scoring.

Nicola Sansone picked up the ball wide left near the halfway line and drove through the Inter defence to fire in a low right-footer that Handanovic got a hand to but could not keep out of his bottom right corner.

Inter powered forward in search of an equaliser, but it was Parma who nearly scored a second with a tremendous header from Yohan Benalouane on a free-kick from Jaime Valdes, but Handanovic reacted quickly to nudge it over the bar.

In the night's other game, a Marek Hamsik's strike after 73 minutes was enough to give Napoli a 1-0 win at Cagliari, taking them past Fiorentina and Inter into third place, two points behind Juventus.

- AFP/fa

Read More..

Galaga fighter gets modern makeover

Spare quarters not included.

(Credit:
Wave Corporation)

A new model kit gives us a better idea of what the spaceship from Galaga really looks like.

At long last, we can take a real glimpse at one of the most well-known spaceships of all time: the fighter that starred in the classic arcade game Galaga. The Galaga Fighter GFX-D002b non-scale model kit -- by Japanese hobby company Wave -- takes the classic 1981 8-bit icon and transforms it into a 21st century star fighter.

Similar to most model kits, the 3,780-yen ($46) Galaga Fighter comes in the box unpainted, but at least includes some decorative decals to get your engine purring. Designer Hiroshi Yokoyama created this modern interpretation of the arcade spaceship, and if you buy two, you can even lock them together for the dual fighter look. We weren't able to dig up any information about sizing, but it appears larger than the palm of your hand. Expect the Galaga Fighter to hit store shelves in Japan on March 2013 -- 32 years after the arcade game hit the scene in the States.

Anyone else having visions of high-definition Galaga gameplay?

(Credit:
Wave Corporation)

Read More..

Space Pictures This Week: Space "Horse," Mars Rover, More

• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  High Horse

  Photograph by Greg Parker, Your Shot
  

  The Horsehead Nebula rears its pretty head in a November 17 photograph submitted to National Geographic's Your Shot photo community.

  Taken from the New Forest Observatory in the United Kingdom, the image shows how the nebula's horse head is part of a larger cloud of dust. Situated about 1,500 light-years away, the Horsehead Nebula is visible only because its obscuring dust is silhouetted against another, brighter nebula, according to NASA.

  (See "'Soccer Ball' Nebula Discovered by Amateur Astronomer.")

  Published November 26, 2012

  
  











• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  











• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Green Lit

  Photograph by Jeremy La Zelle, My Shot
  

  Green curtains of aurora stretch over the sky in the Alaska Arctic in a picture submitted to National Geographic's My Shot on November 17.

  "The constantly changing kaleidoscope of colors are reminiscent of a fireworks display—but without sound," photographer Jeremy La Zelle wrote with his submission.

  "All we hear is the quiet peaceful sounds of a freezing Alaska night."

  (See "Aurora Pictures: Best Fall Photos of Northern Lights.")

  Published November 26, 2012

  
  











• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Martian Vista

  Image courtesy Caltech/NASA
  

  NASA's Curiosity rover snapped this picture after moving 83 feet (25 meters) eastward on November 18—the 102nd Martian day, or sol, of its mission to study whether life once existed on Mars.

  The view shows Yellowknife Bay, part of the Glenelg area of the Gale Crater, which is located near the base of a three-mile-high (five-kilometer-high) mountain rich with layered sediment deposits laid down over hundreds of millions of years.

  (Read more about the Gale Crater.)

  Published November 26, 2012

  
  











• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Gilded Mountains

  Image courtesy ESA

  The sands of the Sahara appear like golden brush strokes around the Tibesti Mountains in a March 2012 satellite image recently released by the European Space Agency.

  Located in Chad and Libya, the mountains' highest peak is Emi Koussi-pictured above as a circular structure in the lower-right portion of the dark area.

  Lava flows can be seen extending from the westernmost volcano, Toussidé.

  (See volcano pictures.)

  Published November 26, 2012

  
  











• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Photograph by Quang Nguyen Luong and F. Motte, Herschel SPIRE/ESA

  Published November 26, 2012

  
  

');

---

 $'+ doc.ngstore_price_t +'';
html += ' $'+ doc.ngstore_saleprice_t +'';
} else {
html += ' $'+ doc.ngstore_price_t +'';
}
html += '

';

$("#ecom_43331 ul.ecommerce_all_img").append(html);




o.totItems++;

}// end for loop
} // end if data.response.numFound != 0

if(o.totItems != o.maxItems){
if(o.defaultItems.length > 0){
o.getItemByID(o.defaultItems.shift());
} else if(o.isSearchPage && !o.searchComplete){
o.doSearchPage();
} else if(!o.searchComplete) {
o.byID = false;
o.doSearch();
}
}// end if
}// end parseResults function

o.trim = function(str) {
return str.replace(/^\s\s*/, '').replace(/\s\s*$/, '');
}

o.doSearchPage = function(){
o.byID = false;

var tempSearch = window.location.search;
var searchTerms ="default";
var temp;

if( tempSearch.substr(0,7) == "?search"){
temp = tempSearch.substr(7).split("&");
searchTerms = temp[0];
} else {
temp = tempSearch.split("&");
for(var j=0;j 0){
o.getItemByID(o.defaultItems.shift());
} else if(o.isSearchPage){
o.doSearchPage();
} else {
o.doSearch();
}

}// end init function

}// end ecommerce object

var store_43331 = new ecommerce_43331();





store_43331.init();

Read More..