Behind-the-scenes: NASA ‘s Nexus-powered drones

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Find out how NASA tweaked the Nexus handset to control drones used in the International Space Station.

You could call them drones, or satellites -- NASA prefers the latter -- but these small flying robots that are being used on the International Space Station are powered by Nexus S smartphones.

Ars Technica has a lengthy writeup on how the space agency hacked smartphones to power its SPHERE (Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites) satellites after their original CPUs had become too slow for their needs. Modern handsets made sense since they have integrated cameras, sensors, Wi-Fi connectivity, and of course, a capable processor.

Some of the tweaks NASA had to make include turning off the radio permanently on the handsets, adapting the device to use AA batteries instead of the usual lithium ion, and getting the drivers and sensors to work properly in a zero-gravity environment.

The affordability of the Nexus S handset was cited as one of the reasons for choosing the device, while its removable battery feature allowed NASA to adapt the phone for space. The Intelligent Robotics Group responsible for the project is also said to be building newer versions of the SPHERE satellite using the Nexus 4 smartphone.

(Source: Crave Asia)

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Behind-the-scenes: NASA 's Nexus-powered drones

NASA ‘Super Guppy’ Swallows Supersonic Jets (Photos)

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Super Guppy Swallows T-38s

Two retired NASA T-38 trainers mounted on a transport pallet atop a mobile transporter are positioned for loading aboard NASA's Super Guppy prior to ferrying them to El Paso, Texas, for disassembly. Image released March 21, 2013.

Workmen carefully guide the first of the T-38s into place as it is hoisted onto its pallet. Image released March 21, 2013.

The second retired T-38 joins its companion on the special transport pallet. Image released March 21, 2013.

As the Super Guppy awaits its cargo in the background, workmen secure the second T-38 to its transport pallet. Image released March 21, 2013.

After opening the nose section of the Guppy, hoisting the T-38s onto a specially designed pallet atop a mobile transporter, loading the pallet and T-38s onto the Guppy and then reclosing the Guppy's nose section about a 2.5-hour process the Guppy departed for El Paso. Image released March 21, 2013.

A NASA Super Guppy transport plane "swallowed" two NASA T-38 aircraft whole March 18, right out on NASA Dryden Flight Research Center's back ramp. Image released March 21, 2013.

The Super Guppy is the latest iteration of its kind the last of three outsized aircraft to have transported a number of NASA's hefty payloads ranging from Saturn rockets to International Space Station modules. Image released March 21, 2013,

NASA's outsized SGT Super Guppy-Turbine transport aircraft lifts off the runway at Edwards Air Force Base after a prior visit.

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NASA 'Super Guppy' Swallows Supersonic Jets (Photos)

NASA center in Va may cut contractor work force

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NORFOLK, Va. (AP) -- The large contractor work force at NASA's Langley Research Center could soon shrink as a result of automatic federal spending cuts that took effect earlier this month, according to NASA officials.

The Hampton facility has about 1,900 civil servants and 1,700 contract workers who are employed by a variety of private companies. Among other things, workers at Langley conduct space technology, aeronautics and atmospheric research. The center's civil servants and contractors also participate in a variety of educational and public outreach programs that sometimes take them out of state.

Center Director Lesa Roe told employees last week that she's expecting a $17.4 million cut to Langley's $228 million management and operations budget for the rest of the fiscal year. Roe said the center has imposed restrictions on monetary awards and travel, but that reductions to the contractor work force could also be necessary, according to a post on the center's website.

"We're going to continue to work through this," Roe said in the post. "We're going to work with all of you guys, make the most of what we have and continue to deliver on the great results that we've had in the past."

Center spokesman Rob Wyman said in an e-mail to The Associated Press that it is unclear exactly how many workers' jobs could be affected by the cuts.

"The impacts will depend upon the amount of work that has to be removed from current contracts. The company will then decide how to best manage the reductions," he said.

It wasn't immediately clear Monday when a decision on the contractor work force would be made.

Wyman said the center's $2 million fund for employee performance awards, group awards and special act awards was only available to civil servants, but that the program has been put on hold as a result of the cuts. Restrictions on travel apply to both civil servants and contractors, Wyman said.

"Basically, anything that isn't deemed mission critical won't be funded. This will impact such things as certain kinds of training, participation in different kinds of conferences or scientific symposiums, a wide array of different kinds of things that travel is required to support," he said.

For example, he said the center's workers won't be participating in the National Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colo., in April. He said any employee that's traveling must be substantively involved with the purpose of the trip and alternative methods of participation such as video teleconferencing can't be available.

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NASA center in Va may cut contractor work force

NASA ’s Operation IceBridge Surveys Greenland and Earth’s Polar Ice Sheets

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NASA P-3B Orion waits outside the hangar at Thule Air Base with the Greenland Ice sheet in the background. The aircraft is set to begin the 2013 season of NASAs Operation IceBridge mission to survey Earths polar ice sheets in unprecedented three-dimensional detail. The plane just arrived from NASA Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia where the author visited it before departure see authors P-3B photos below. Credit: NASA/Goddard/Michael Studinger

NASAs Operation IceBridge has begun the 2013 research season of Ice Science flights in Greenland and the Arctic to survey the regions ice sheets and land and sea ice using a specially equipped P-3B research aircraft from NASAs Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Va.

Operation IceBridge began in 2009 as part of NASAs six-year long effort to conduct the largest airborne survey of Earths polar ice ever flown.

The goal is to obtain an unprecedented three-dimensional, multi-instrument view of the behavior of Greenland, Arctic and Antarctic ice sheets, ice shelves and sea ice which have been undergoing rapid and dramatic changes and reductions.

Were starting to see how the whole ice sheet is changing, said Michael Studinger, IceBridge project scientist at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Thinning at the margins is now propagating to the interior.

The P-3 exiting the hanger pre-flight in Thule. Credit: NASA

The airborne campaign was started in order to maintain a continuous record of measurements in changes in polar ice after NASAs Earth orbiting ICESat (Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite) probe stopped collecting data in 2009.

ICESat-2 wont be launched until 2016, so NASAs IceBridge project and yearly P-3 airborne campaigns will fill in the science data gap in the interval.

The P-3B Orion just arrived from NASAs Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia where I visited it before departure see my P-3B photos herein.

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NASA ’s Operation IceBridge Surveys Greenland and Earth’s Polar Ice Sheets

NASA ‘s hold on outreach sparks outcry; Uwingu aims to help fill gap

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L. Calcada / N. Risinger / ESO

An artist's conception shows the planet Alpha Centauri Bb, orbiting one of the stars in a nearby triple-star system. A commercial venture known as Uwingu says it will use proceeds from a contest to give Alpha Centauri Bb a new name to support endangered educational and public outreach efforts.

By Alan Boyle, Science Editor, NBC News

NASA's plan to suspend educational and public outreach activities due to budget sequestrationhas sparked protests from some of the space agency's biggest fans, and a commercial venture known as Uwingu wants to help fill the gap. Uwingu says it willdirect proceeds from its contest to name the closest exoplanet toward projects that are facing budget cuts.

The venture was set up last year to offer space-themed entertainment that would raise money for education and space science. Just last week, Uwingu kicked off an effort to come up with a "people's choice" name for Alpha Centauri Bb, an Earth-sized planet that was detected last year just 4.3 light-years away.

It takes $4.99 to nominate a name, and 99 cents to cast a vote. The contest closes on April 15, and the winner will be announced the next day. Some of the proceeds will go toward paying the company's expenses, but the target is to put at least half of the money into a fund to support research and education.

Rough patch for NASA When the company made its public debut, the founders said the Uwingu Fund could serve as a lifeline for scientists and educators if NASA's budget ran into a rough patch. Sequestration certainly qualifies as a rough patch: The automatic spending cuts will force NASA to scale back its budget by roughly $900 million for the fiscal year.

As part of its plan to comply with sequestration, NASA officials on Friday ordered the suspension ofeducational and public outreach activities, also known as EPO. Planetary scientist Alan Stern, Uwingu's CEO and a former NASA associate administrator, said the suspension has put educational and public outreach programs "under severe and sudden stress."

"At Uwingu, we believe that private and commercial funding of space-based initiatives including research and EPO is more important now than ever," Stern said in a statement Monday. "That's the purpose of The Uwingu Fund, which is fueled from people participating in the naming contest for Alpha Centauri's planet. Today we're announcing that Uwingu is taking action to combat the severe, adverse impact of sequestration on NASA EPO by directing all Uwingu Funds proceeds raised through this contest to grants to EPO professionals and projects."

In the grand scheme of things, education and public outreach aren't the most expensive things that NASA does. The continuing resolution that governed spending for the current fiscal year set aside $137 million for the agency's education account, and sequestration would trim that figure by $7 million. NASA budgets additional funds for public outreach on a mission-by-mission basis, but the expense is still a small proportion of NASA's $17.8 billion budget.

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NASA 's hold on outreach sparks outcry; Uwingu aims to help fill gap

NASA ‘s hold on outreach sparks protests; Uwingu aims to help fill gap

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L. Calcada / N. Risinger / ESO

An artist's conception shows the planet Alpha Centauri Bb, orbiting one of the stars in a nearby triple-star system. A commercial venture known as Uwingu says it will use proceeds from a contest to give Alpha Centauri Bb a new name to support endangered educational and public outreach efforts.

By Alan Boyle, Science Editor, NBC News

NASA's plan to suspend educational and public outreach activities due to budget sequestrationhas sparked protests from some of the space agency's biggest fans, and a commercial venture known as Uwingu wants to help fill the gap. Uwingu says it willdirect proceeds from its contest to name the closest exoplanet toward projects that are facing budget cuts.

The venture was set up last year to offer space-themed entertainment that would raise money for education and space science. Just last week, Uwingu kicked off an effort to come up with a "people's choice" name for Alpha Centauri Bb, an Earth-sized planet that was detected last year just 4.3 light-years away.

It takes $4.99 to nominate a name, and 99 cents to cast a vote. The contest closes on April 15, and the winner will be announced the next day. Some of the proceeds will go toward paying the company's expenses, but the target is to put at least half of the money into a fund to support research and education.

Rough patch for NASA When the company made its public debut, the founders said the Uwingu Fund could serve as a lifeline for scientists and educators if NASA's budget ran into a rough patch. Sequestration certainly qualifies as a rough patch: The automatic spending cuts will force NASA to scale back its budget by roughly $900 million for the fiscal year.

As part of its plan to comply with sequestration, NASA officials on Friday ordered the suspension ofeducational and public outreach activities, also known as EPO. Planetary scientist Alan Stern, Uwingu's CEO and a former NASA associate administrator, said the suspension has put educational and public outreach programs "under severe and sudden stress."

"At Uwingu, we believe that private and commercial funding of space-based initiatives including research and EPO is more important now than ever," Stern said in a statement Monday. "That's the purpose of The Uwingu Fund, which is fueled from people participating in the naming contest for Alpha Centauri's planet. Today we're announcing that Uwingu is taking action to combat the severe, adverse impact of sequestration on NASA EPO by directing all Uwingu Funds proceeds raised through this contest to grants to EPO professionals and projects."

In the grand scheme of things, education and public outreach aren't the most expensive things that NASA does. The continuing resolution that governed spending for the current fiscal year set aside $137 million for the agency's education account, and sequestration would trim that figure by $7 million. NASA budgets additional funds for public outreach on a mission-by-mission basis, but the expense is still a small proportion of NASA's $17.8 billion budget.

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NASA 's hold on outreach sparks protests; Uwingu aims to help fill gap

NASA Pulls Technical Database Offline During Security Investigation

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NASA has taken its huge database of technical reports offline in response to the arrest last weekend of a former contractor suspected of spying for China.

The space agency decided to shut down the NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) as part of a broad security review spurred by the arrest of Bo Jiang, who was grabbed by FBI agents Saturday (March 16) on a China-bound plane at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C.

"Ive closed down the NASA Technical Reports database while we review whether theres a risk," NASA chief Charles Bolden told the House Appropriations Committee Wednesday (March 20) during a hearing set up to probe possible security lapsesat space agency centers.

Questioning NASA security

Jiang had worked as a contractor for the National Institute of Aerospace at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va. He's suspected of attempting to take sensitive technology back to his native China; officials say he lied to law enforcement about the electronics gear he was carrying aboard the plane. [NASA Chief Talks to Congress About Security (Video)]

Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) announced Jiang's arrest at a press conference Monday (March 18), during which he also voiced concern about the information freely available in databases like the NTRS.

"NASA should immediately take down all publicly available technical data sources until all documents that have not been subjected to export control review have received such a review and all controlled documents are removed from the system," Wolf said.

At Wednesday's House hearing, Bolden pledged to undertake a broad internal review of space agency security protocols.

NASA has taken other actions in addition to closing down the NTRS, Bolden added. For example, he has tightened access to NASA facilities for people from countries viewed as espionage threats, including China, Burma, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan.

No new access will be granted to citizens of those nations until further notice, Bolden said, and the ability of existing NASA workers from those countries to access agency facilities via remote computers has been temporarily suspended.

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Brits ignorant of Nanotechnology

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A survey in London reveals that most Britons have no idea what nanotechnology is and the rest think it will have a beneficial effect in the future

News |

LONDON: Most Britons have never heard of Nanotechnology and have no idea what it is, according to a survey released.

But the majority of the 29 per cent of people questioned in the poll who were aware of it think the ultra-small scale technology will have a beneficial effect in the future.

The survey was carried out by the Royal Society, an academy of leading scientists and the Royal Academy of Engineering.

"Nanotechnology involves studying and working with matter at an ultra-small scale, and a nanometer is just one-millionth of a millimeter in length. It is not really a shock to discover that most people have not heard about nanotechnology, because it is still a relatively young field," said Professor Nick Pidgeon, a member of a scientific working group on nanotechnology.

Only 19 per cent of the 1,005 adults in Britain who participated in the poll were able to give some sort of definition of nanotechnology. Sixty-nine percent of people who had an idea of what it was said it would make things better in the future.

Nanotechnology has fascinated scientists with its possibilities to develop minuscule computers and tiny medical devices. But it has also inspired fears about the dangers of nanoparticles and a fictional account of a plague of self-replicating robots turning the world into gray goo.

Two workshops conducted with the public to explore their views about the technology revealed that people reacted both positively and negatively when it was explained to them.

People thought it would be useful in medicine for early diagnosis and treatment but had concerns about its reliability and long-term potential side effects.

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Brits ignorant of Nanotechnology

Research and Markets: Global Nanotechnology Drug Delivery Market 2012-2016: IOTA NanoSolutions Ltd., Lena Nanoceutics …

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DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/rcp9ds/global) has announced the addition of the "Global Nanotechnology Drug Delivery Market 2012-2016" report to their offering.

TechNavio's analysts forecast the Global Nanotechnology Drug Delivery market to grow at a CAGR of 73.97 percent over the period 2012-2016. One of the key factors contributing to this market growth is the low R&D cost. The Global Nanotechnology Drug Delivery market has also been witnessing an increase in customer support services. However, the increasing safety concerns could pose a challenge to the growth of this market.

Commenting on the report, an analyst from TechNavio's Healthcare team said: ''Pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies are focusing on capitalizing on the potential of nanotechnology-enabled drug delivery. Nanotechnology-enabled drug delivery systems are helping pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to counter the threat of generics. Reformulation helps in extending the product life cycle, and novel reformulations help an existing drug candidate to qualify as a new chemical entity. This increases profitability and discourages competition during the drug's most profitable years.''

According to the report, increasing government funding is one of the major drivers in the Global Nanotechnology Drug Delivery market. Government programs in various countries such as the US, the UK, Germany, and China exist for funding various R&D initiatives in nanotechnology, which is boosting the growth of the market.

Further, the report states that various manufacturing issues constitute one of the major challenges in the Global Nanotechnology Drug Delivery Market.

The key vendors dominating this space are IOTA NanoSolutions Ltd., Lena Nanoceutics Ltd., GlaxoSmithKline plc, Celgene Corp., and SkyePharma plc.

The other vendors mentioned in the report are Merck & Co. Inc., Pfizer Inc., AlphaRx Inc., Amgen Inc., Angiotech Pharmaceuticals Inc., Biophan Technologies Inc., Calando Pharmaceuticals Inc., Cephalon Inc., Cerulean Pharma Inc., Copernicus Therapeutics Inc., CritiTech Inc., CytImmune Sciences Inc., Elan Corp. plc, Debiotech SA, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Nano Interface Technology Inc., Spherics Inc., Spectrum Pharmaceuticals Inc., SoluBest Ltd., Sigma-Tau Pharmaceuticals Inc., PharmaNova Inc., Particle Sciences Inc., Novavax Inc., Nanotherapeutics Inc., NanoSight Ltd., NanoCarrier Co. Ltd., NanoBioMagnetics Inc., Nano Interface Technology Inc., Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., Kuecept Ltd., and Izon Science Ltd.

Key questions answered in this report:

- What will the market size be in 2016 and what will the growth rate be?

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Research and Markets: Global Nanotechnology Drug Delivery Market 2012-2016: IOTA NanoSolutions Ltd., Lena Nanoceutics ...

BrightScope Releases Top 25 Companies in the Health and Medicine Industry With the Best 401k Plans

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SAN DIEGO, CA--(Marketwire - Mar 26, 2013) - BrightScope (www.brightscope.com), a leading provider of independent financial information and investment research, today announced the Top 25 companies with the highest ranked 401k plans containing more than $100 million in assets in the health and medicine sector. This is the third list in a new series that BrightScope will regularly issue to highlight the strongest plans within leading industries across the nation.

BrightScope obtains an increasing amount of its data directly from plan sponsors and record keepers, and augments these primary sources with data from publicly available sources such as the Department of Labor and the Securities and Exchange Commission. By analyzing and interpreting this data, BrightScope provides unprecedented transparency into the 401k industry.

"Like all important life matters, whether it's physical health or financial well-being, due diligence and research should be a priority," said Mike Alfred, CEO and co-founder of BrightScope. "That is where these lists and the BrightScope rating can help -- it gives employers and employees easy access to information about their 401k plan and provides benchmarks for creating more robust and reliable offerings."

Key statistics found on the list of health and medicine companies with the best 401k plan:

Top 25 health and medicine companies with the highest ranked 401k plan containing more than $100 million in assets:

Company - Plan Name - BrightScope Rating

1. Oregon Anesthesiology Group, P.C. - Oregon Anesthesiology Group, P.C. 401(k) Profit Sharing Plan - 92.10

2. Sutter Medical Group, Inc. - Sutter Medical Group 401(k) Profit Sharing Plan - 91.61

3. Spectrum Medical Group, P.A. - Spectrum Medical Group, P.A. 401(k) Profit Sharing Plan - 91.54

4. Anesthesia Service Medical Group, Inc. - Anesthesia Service Medical Group, Inc. 401(k) Profit Sharing Plan Trust - 91.05

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BrightScope Releases Top 25 Companies in the Health and Medicine Industry With the Best 401k Plans

Food and medicine airlifts across NI – Video

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Basics such as bread and milk are being distributed to residents by air while a number of PSNI and Red Cross 4x4s are distributing packages to homes where there is vehicular access.

A huge number of agencies are now involved in attempts to get the region back on its feet - NI's emergency services and mountain rescue teams are just some of those involved.

Aerial shots taken from UTV's helicopter show Co Antrim farms and roads blanketed in snow as disruption to work and travel continues.

PSNI Chief Superintendent Chris Noble said: "All the agencies are working closely together to ensure those affected by the continuing hazardous weather conditions have essential supplies such as food and medicine.

"We are all working hard to get the supplies to those in areas where vehicular access is difficult. Some of these people have now been snowed in for four days and it is vital we ensure they have adequate food and medical supplies," the District Commander said.

"While there has been an improvement in conditions in many areas, there are still hazardous conditions in a number of areas."

Chief Supt Noble appealed for motorists to only travel if absolutely necessary.

In some areas, heavy snow drifts left roads impassable, and many motorists were forced to abandon their cars.

A Met Office yellow warning for ice is in place until Tuesday morning.

"I would also appeal to walkers to be mindful of the dangers of snow covered hills and mountains. Do not place yourself in unnecessary danger," the senior police officer added.

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Food and medicine airlifts across NI - Video

In Twist, Fake Medicine Could Save Rare Animals

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Fake and diluted ingredients, including herbs and animal parts,are increasingly finding their way into traditional Chinese medicines. Investigators have found many supposedly medicinal powders diluted with everything from flour to corn starch to sand.

Sometimes the dilutions are the result of cutting corners by manufacturers, but often its done by middlemen and retailers seeking to increase their profit margins.

PHOTOS:Most Threatened Species

There is little or no governmental regulation of these medicines, and the problem is getting worse. As one traditional Chinese medicine manufacturer noted, counterfeiters are posing a great threat, as fake products are made to closely resemble genuine ones.

Counterfeiters can produce fake medicinal herbs with starch and gypsum powder, or mix dirt or dust with the herbs to increase their weight.

Dilution, Inert Ingredients and Placebos

Many legitimate, regulated drugs and food products contain inert or inactive ingredients or fillers. Sometimes these ingredients help delay or speed up the bodys absorption of a drugs active ingredient, for example, while fillers in food may add flavor or bulk, coloring or increase shelf life.

While some Chinese herbs and medicines have active ingredients and work as promised, many others do not, and their efficacy relies on the placebo effect. Because the placebo effect works when the patient believes a drug or treatment is effective, there are relatively few complaints from consumers themselves. The effectiveness is often the same whether the medicines are real, diluted or fake.

This is not to say that altered, diluted, or fake medicine of any kind is good, of course. Though most of the ingredients used to dilute drugs are relatively harmless, some can be toxic. In some cases Chinese herbal medicines may even be contaminated with prescription medications.

A 2002 study in The Journal of Internal Medicine reported that an analysis of 2,600 samples of Chinese herbal remedies in Taiwan showed that 24 percent were adulterated with at least one synthetic medicine. The case reports showed that two or more adulterants were present in 14 of 15 Chinese herbal medicines.

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In Twist, Fake Medicine Could Save Rare Animals