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New Anticensorship Scheme Could Make it Impossible to Block Individual Sites

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— A radical new approach to thwarting Internet censorship would essentially turn the whole web into a proxy server, making it virtually impossible for a censoring government to block individual sites.

The system is called Telex, and it is the brainchild of computer science researchers at the University of Michigan and the University of Waterloo in Canada. They will present it Aug. 12 at the USENIX Security Symposium in San Francisco. (more…)

Meteorites: Tool Kits for Creating Life on Earth

Science

Washington, D.C.— Meteorites hold a record of the chemicals that existed in the early Solar System and that may have been a crucial source of the organic compounds that gave rise to life on Earth. Since the 1960s, scientists have been trying to find proof that nucleobases, the building blocks of our genetic material, came to Earth on meteorites. New research, published next week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, indicates that certain nucleobases do reach the Earth from extraterrestrial sources, by way of certain meteorites, and in greater diversity and quantity than previously thought. (more…)

So You’re Planning a Trip to…..Paris

Holidays 'n Travels

So you’re planning a trip to the ‘city of lights’, Europe’s most romantic city! Although the prospect of seeing famous sights such as the Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame and Sacré Coeur is an exciting one, here are a few tips to keep in mind both before setting off and during your stay in Paris. (more…)

NASA Mars Rover Approaches Long-Term Goal

Science

The NASA Mars rover Opportunity has gained a view of Endeavour crater from barely more than a football-field’s distance away from the rim. The rim of Endeavour has been the mission’s long-term goal since mid-2008.

Endeavour offers the setting for plenty of productive work by Opportunity. The crater is 14 miles (22 kilometers) in diameter — more than 25 times wider than Victoria crater, an earlier stop that Opportunity examined for two years. Observations by orbiting spacecraft indicate that the ridges along Endeavour’s western rim expose rock outcrops older than any Opportunity has seen so far. The selected location for arrival at the rim, “Spirit Point,” is at the southern tip of one of those ridges, “Cape York,” on the western side of Endeavour. (more…)

Brain’s Map of Space Falls Flat When It Comes to Altitude

Science

Animal’s brains are only roughly aware of how high-up they are in space, meaning that in terms of altitude the brain’s ‘map’ of space is surprisingly flat, according to new research.

In a study published online in Nature Neuroscience, scientists studied cells in or near a part of the brain called the hippocampus, which forms the brain’s map of space, to see whether they were activated when rats climbed upwards. (more…)

comScore Reports $37.5 Billion in Q2 2011 U.S. Retail E-Commerce Spending, Up 14 Percent vs. Year Ago

Technology

*comScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni to Present Update on Q2 2011 E-Commerce Trends in Upcoming Webinar*

RESTON, VA, August 8, 2011 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released its Q2 2011 U.S. retail e-commerce sales estimates, which showed that online retail spending reached $37.5 billion for the quarter, up 14 percent versus year ago. This growth rate represented the seventh consecutive quarter of positive year-over-year growth and third consecutive quarter of double-digit growth rates. (more…)

Microsoft Facility Helps You Make Yourself at Home in the Future

Technology

*The first Microsoft Home was built in 1994 to show people how technology could transform everyday experiences, and now years later, the reinvented full-scale model home continues imagine a future in which interacting with computers is as comfortable as coming home.*

REDMOND, Wash. – Aug. 8, 2011 – If there’s no place like home, there’s definitely no place like the Microsoft Home.

There’s a doorbell, but a palm-scan or mobile phone will also open the front door. Sensors let you know your plants need watering. You can check the inventory of your fridge and pantry via your phone while you’re out shopping. Grace, the home’s computer, will even help you check on your grandmother, remember to take your medicine, study up for a big anatomy test, or make focaccia without the need for a recipe book.

“Grace, what’s up?” asks Microsoft Home tour guide Jonathan Cluts once inside the front door. A pleasant-voiced computer responds with updates about appointments, messages, and even information about the weather, traffic and the electric scooter that is charging outside the front door. (more…)

Study Assesses Nations’ Vulnerabilities to Reduced Mollusk Harvests from Ocean Acidification

Environment

Changes in ocean chemistry due to increased carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are expected to damage shellfish populations around the world, but some nations will feel the impacts much sooner and more intensely than others, according to a study by scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). (more…)