Airborne 03.30.15: Provisional TC-HondaJet, NASA/Mars, Lightspeed’s Bluetooth – Video

Posted on by


Airborne 03.30.15: Provisional TC-HondaJet, NASA/Mars, Lightspeed #39;s Bluetooth
Also: New York Airways 1962, Mica Wants Privatized ATC, Ares UAV, Textron ProAdvantage, Boeing SC Union Vote, Whirly Girls The Honda Aircraft Company has announced that the HondaJet has ...

By: Aero-News Network

Read the original post:

Airborne 03.30.15: Provisional TC-HondaJet, NASA/Mars, Lightspeed's Bluetooth - Video

NASA's Opportunity rover endures another bout of amnesia

Posted on by

NASA's Opportunity Mars rover has suffered another bout of amnesia, less than a week after engineers installed a software upgrade intended to fix the robot's memory issues.

The long-livedOpportunity roverbegan experiencing problems with its flash memory the kind that can store data even when the power is off in late 2014. On March 20, mission engineers uploaded new software that aimed to fix the issue by bypassing an apparently faulty "bank." (The rover has seven such flash memory banks.)

But Opportunity experienced another brief amnesia episode on March 25, NASA officials said.

"Although we are a little disappointed at the occurrence of an amnesia event only five days after reformatting, we are not surprised," John Callas, Opportunity project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California,said in a statement. There is still no clear understanding of what is causing the problems. Only time will tell if we have been successful in mitigating the most serious flash problems."

Opportunity was experiencing multiple computer resets per day before mission team members began operating the rover in a "no flash memory" mode in December. No such serious issues have resurfaced since the March 20 reformatting, NASA officials said. The brief March 25 event didn't result in the loss of any sciencedata, and Opportunity resumed its work shortly thereafter.

Opportunity and its twin, Spirit, touched down three weeks apart in January 2004 to search for signs of past wateractivityon Mars. Both rovers found plenty of such evidence and continued to operate long beyond their initial three-month prime missions: Spirit stopped communicating with Earth in 2010, and Opportunity is still rolling along.

Indeed, last week Opportunity completed thefirst-ever marathon beyond Earthwhen its odometer ticked over to 26.219 miles (42.195 kilometers). Second place in the off-world driving competition belongs to the Soviet Union's Lunokhod 2 rover, which traveled 24.2 miles (39 km) on the moon in 1973.

Follow Mike Wall on Twitter@michaeldwallandGoogle+.Follow us@Spacedotcom,FacebookorGoogle+. Originally published onSpace.com.

See the original post here:

NASA's Opportunity rover endures another bout of amnesia

NASA tests Mars flying saucer

Posted on by

This artist's concept shows the test vehicle for NASA's Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD), designed to test landing technologies for future Mars missions.(Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

NASA has given the world another glimpse of its revolutionary flying saucer technology, which will play a crucial role in future Mars missions.

The 15-foot wide, 7,000-pound test vehicle underwent a spin test on a table at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. during a live broadcast Tuesday, ABC News reports.

The flying saucer is part of NASAs Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) project, which aims to develop landing vehicles for future missions.

NASA says the project tests breakthrough technologies that will enable large payloads to be safely landed on the surface of Mars, or other planetary bodies with atmospheres, including Earth. According to the space agency, the technologies will also offer access to more of the red planets surface by enabling landings at higher-altitude sites.

As part of its LDSD research, NASA will fly a rocket-powered saucer-shaped test vehicle into near-space from the Navys Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai, Hawaii, in June.

Last year an LDSD test in Hawaii was deemed a success by engineers, despite the vehicles huge parachute apparently failing to deploy properly, according to Space.com.

Link:

NASA tests Mars flying saucer

NASA takes its 'flying saucer' for a test spin

Posted on by

On Tuesday afternoon, just about lunch time, a "flying saucer" was undergoingaspin testin a clean room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The saucer is technically a 15-foot wide, 7,000-poundaerodynamic test vehicle. It is designed to help engineers try out new technologies for landing spacecraft, and someday people, on Mars.

The vehicle does bear a passing resemblance to a flying saucer, but if you are hungry, it also looks like a giant pie.

Journalists who had been invited to watch the spin test at the lab in La Caada Flintridgewere asked to duck behind a bulletproof shield once it got going, but it is not clear that was entirely necessary.

The test was similar to the type a mechanic might run to make sure the wheels of your car are balanced. The saucer never spun faster than 30 revolutions per minute, and it didn't seem like anything might fly off it.

"What we are trying to do here is to make sure the center of the mass is as close to where the spin motor will go as possible," said Paul Lytal, an engineer working on the project.

In a few weeks the saucer will be shipped toHawaii, where it will be lifted to an altitude of 160,000 feet via a balloon about the size of the Rose Bowl. Then a rocket will take it 20,000 feet higher to the thin air of the stratosphere.

The atmosphereon Mars is 1% as dense as Earth's, but it is similar in density to our stratosphere. By deploying new decelerating technologies at these heights, the engineers hope to see how they might work in a Martian-like environment.

"The thing about Mars is it has just enough atmosphere to help you out, and just enough to give you trouble," said Kevin Burke, flight systems manager for what is known as the Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator project, or LDSD.

Since 1976, when NASA's Viking probe first landed on the Red Planet, the agency has relied on the same parachute design to help all its Mars landers and rovers descend to the surface intact.

See the original post here:

NASA takes its 'flying saucer' for a test spin

NEXT STOP MARS? NASA shows off innovative flying saucer technology

Posted on by

This artist's concept shows the test vehicle for NASA's Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD), designed to test landing technologies for future Mars missions.(Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

NASA has given the world another glimpse of its revolutionary flying saucer technology, which will play a crucial role in future Mars missions.

The 15-foot wide, 7,000-pound test vehicle underwent a spin test on a table at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. during a live broadcast Tuesday, ABC News reports.

The flying saucer is part of NASAs Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) project, which aims to develop landing vehicles for future missions.

NASA says the project tests breakthrough technologies that will enable large payloads to be safely landed on the surface of Mars, or other planetary bodies with atmospheres, including Earth. According to the space agency, the technologies will also offer access to more of the red planets surface by enabling landings at higher-altitude sites.

As part of its LDSD research, NASA will fly a rocket-powered saucer-shaped test vehicle into near-space from the Navys Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai, Hawaii, in June.

Last year an LDSD test in Hawaii was deemed a success by engineers, despite the vehicles huge parachute apparently failing to deploy properly, according to Space.com.

Read this article:

NEXT STOP MARS? NASA shows off innovative flying saucer technology

New pathways into the cell: Fundamental insights into drug delivery processes

Posted on by

Chemists, biologists and pharmacologists deal with the question of how complex active substances can be introduced into cells such that they are rapidly and easily available. Building on earlier research, interdisciplinary teams of scientists, with biology Professor M. Cristina Cardoso (TU Darmstadt), physics Professors Henry D. Herce (RPI, NY, USA and TU Darmstadt) and Angel E. Garcia (RPI, NY, USA), and chemistry Professor Christian P. R. Hackenberger (FMP, Berlin), have made some important advancements.

Time and time again, scientists are confronted with the particular biochemical properties of cell membranes, which do not allow large molecules to pass and reach the site inside the cell where they are needed. The scientists presented their results in two recently published articles in the journals Journal of the American Chemical Society and Angewandte Chemie.

Fatty acids open a new door to help curing diseases

A central dogma in cell biology is that charged molecules cannot directly cross into cells. Cells are enclosed by a lipid membrane, which forms a strong barrier, separating the interior and exterior of the cells. This barrier is the most important limitation for potent therapeutic compounds to reach the interior of cells and cure or destroy them, as it would be desirable in the case of, for example, cancer cells.

Scientists from the TU Darmstadt (Germany) and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (US) have now challenged this dogmatic view of the cell. In a ground breaking work published in the prominent chemistry journal "Journal of the American Chemical Society," they have shown how certain types of positively charged molecules, known as cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs), can directly open transient nano-tunnels across the cell membrane and inject into cells therapeutic drugs.

The health benefits of unsaturated fatty acids are well known. What was not known until now is that free fatty acids, naturally present on the cell membranes, can also facilitate the transport of these very special charged molecules.

This new research reveals how fatty acids form a complex on the cell membrane with CPPs, this complex nucleates a small transient channel connecting the interior and exterior of the cell, and the therapeutic drugs can travel through these tunnels into the cells. The fatty acids-CPPs complex can be thought as a syringe able to inject drugs into each individual cell. This complex acts as a molecular needle through which other therapeutic compounds can be directly delivered into the cells.

Cell-penetrating peptides have been known to enter cells for over 20 years although the mechanism has remained mysterious and a matter of intensive research. Understanding now how they are able to cross the cell membrane barrier will allow to harness the delivery of potent drugs that previously failed to enter cells but could now exert their beneficial effects inside cells. With this trick, new drugs could be developed to fight a wide range of diseases.

Since these peptides are highly charged the dogmatic view assumed that they might exploit pathways naturally present in cells to absorb nutrients from the environment. These pathways mainly trap and rapidly degrade the nutrients they absorb (which can be thought of as a digestive system of cells). This would be a problem to deliver intact therapeutic compounds. However, this new work shows that the fatty acids-CPPs complex directly delivers therapeutic compounds and thus bypasses the digestion machinery/degradation pathway of the cell. The drugs can directly enter the cell through the nano-tunnels and become readily available to work on their targets.

Fatty acids are essential to all forms of life and this work also shows that this transport mechanism present in human cells is also present in plants, insects and animals opening the door to target cells from all kingdoms of life.

See original here:

New pathways into the cell: Fundamental insights into drug delivery processes

Obituary: Verl Latham

Posted on by

The Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Survivors include his wife of 56 years, Maggie Latham of Dardanelle; son and daughter-in-law, Ronald and Paula Latham; daughter and son-in-law, Margaret and Kyle Elliott, all of Dardanelle; three brothers, Ronald Dale Latham, Manford D. Latham and Johnny Willie Latham, all of Dardanelle; four sisters, Eva Mae McGuire of Benton, Iva Lee Reece, Ima Faye Rose, both of Dardanelle, and Ava Sue Carter of Atkins; six grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren and a host of nephews, nieces and friends.

Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m., Wednesday, April 1, 2015, at Cornwell Chapel in Dardanelle with Don Erwin officiating. Burial will be in Moores Hill Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 6-8 p.m. today at the chapel.

Grandchildren will serve as pallbearers.

Arrangements are by Cornwell Funeral Home in Dardanelle. Online guest book and condolences at http://www.cornwellfuneralhomes.com.

Paid obituary

View post:

Obituary: Verl Latham

Morning news headlines: Labour's tax battle; Internet terror warning; binge drinking cost

Posted on by

Labour is risking a new clash with business with a pledge to reverse the Government's final cut in corporation tax just weeks after it is due to come into effect, if the party gains power after the General Election on May 7.

On the first full day of campaigning, shadow chancellor Ed Balls said the move would enable them to throw a lifeline to smaller firms - cutting business rates on 1.5 million small business premises - rather than the big firms who benefit from the reduction in corporation tax.

However the Conservatives warned that it could lead to the loss of almost 100,000 jobs, putting economic security at risk, "for the sake of making a political point.".

The parents of two British medical students stabbed to death while in Malaysia on a placement have said they are "pleased" after a man was found guilty of murder, but added that the verdict will not bring their sons back.

Newcastle University students Aidan Brunger, of Kent, and Neil Dalton, of Ambergate, in Derbyshire, were killed in Sarawak on the island of Borneo in August last year.

Zulkipli Abdullah, a 23-year-old fishmonger, was sentenced to death at the high court where prosecutor Muhamad Iskandar Ahmad said he had told friends he wanted to "test his strength" against bigger and taller foreigners before going after the two men.

Britain's intelligence agencies are engaged in a "technology arms race" with terrorists, cyber criminals and other "malicious actors" bent on causing the country harm, the head of MI6 has warned.

Alex Younger said the agencies were facing opponents "unconstrained by consideration of ethics and law" who were exploiting internet technology to "put our people and agents at risk".

In his first public comments since taking over last year as Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) - as MI6 is more properly known - Mr Younger said traditional human espionage was becoming increasing intertwined with "technical operations".

Binge-drinking is costing UK taxpayers 4.9 billion a year, a study has suggested.

See more here:

Morning news headlines: Labour's tax battle; Internet terror warning; binge drinking cost

Facebooks Scrapbook lets parents tag kid pics

Posted on by

Nate Swanner

If a child is under 13, they arent allowed an official place on Facebook. Thats meant to protect them from less than savory characters, but can prove difficult for parents who want to upload pics and tag their kids. A Facebook study showed up to 65% of parents simply tag their partners when uploading a pic of their child, which in turn allows a wider audience of friends to view the pics. With that in mind, Facebook created Scrapbook, which allows parents to track photos of kids not yet on Facebook.

The way Scrapbook works is as simple as it sounds. Take photos, upload them to the scrapbook, and thats that. Youll soon be able to invite others to view the scrapbook, too.

Scrapbooks can have shared ownership, and the tags are customizable. If you call your child Junior instead of by its given name, tag the scrapbook Junior or JR, or whatever you like. Owners of the scrapbook choose which photos get tagged, and only they choose which photos are tagged for the album.

To start a scrapbook, head into your profile, click About, and select the Family and Relationships section. Scrapbook invites are there waiting for you.

Scrapbooks are currently US-only, and available for the desktop, Android, and iOS. Its currently a pilot program, so expect more updates to roll out incrementally as Facebook learns just how their users take advantage of the feature.

Source: Facebook

Link:

Facebooks Scrapbook lets parents tag kid pics

Goading a vulnerable person to jump to their death is sickening

Posted on by

There is a growing trend to film incidents and upload clips to social media. We are passive consumers of tragedy, absolved of responsibility to take action, to intervene. Photograph: Michael Bowles /Rex Features

In an incident so sickening it is hard to find words to describe it, a man in Telford is reported to have fallen to his death after being goaded into jumping by a crowd of onlookers. In a case reminiscent of that of Shaun Dykes, the 17-year-old who died in 2008 after jumping from a Derby city centre car park following taunts from the crowd below, Ian Lam, 42, apparently fell as police were trying to talk him down, to shouts of jump from the crowd below, some of whom were reportedly filming the incident on their phones.

An inquest will be held into Lams death and we must wait for the coroners report to establish exactly what happened. In Dykess case, the coroner ruled that those who were taunting him were responsible, at least in part, for his death. But no one has ever been arrested or charged for their role in the incident. Indeed, one of the police officers involved is reported as saying that there was no specific offence that people could be charged with if they were merely passing comments.

In the latest incident police have said that they will take action, though this may focus more on those who filmed and uploaded clips of the mans death on to social media.

Appalling as such behaviour is, causing unimaginable distress to those who knew and loved the deceased, as well as encouraging copycat deaths, those who goaded Dykes into jumping with shouts of Go on jump, Get on with it and How far can you bounce? are to my mind almost as guilty as if they had physically pushed him off the car park. A review of the law is urgently needed if such behaviour does not currently constitute a serious criminal offence.

Of course, the fact that we need a law at all to stop people goading vulnerable and highly distressed individuals into jumping off car parks says something pretty alarming about the state of our society. There is nothing new about crowds gathering to witness and even to celebrate the misfortunes of others take the tricoteuses for example, or the crowd who clapped and whistled after the public flogging of Saudi Arabian blogger Raif Badawi. But in the case of Dykes, the crowd were not merely witnesses but active participants in the event, goading a boy into killing himself apparently, at least in part, to provide them with smartphone footage to upload to social media.

There is something truly terrifying about this level of detachment and what it suggests about our capacity to recognise and process reality.

It seems to me that the popularity of reality TV shows, along with widespread use of smartphones and social media, may be starting to interfere with our ability to distinguish real life from entertainment, and hence our capacity to empathise with other people. Watching a clip, we are at once present at and absent from the events taking place on our screens. We are passive consumers of tragedy, absolved of responsibility to take action, to intervene.

Of course, smartphones and social media can be put to good use too. Both have been used to expose atrocities and criminal behaviour. But this depends upon viewers stepping out of the passive role and engaging with reality.

With Dykes, a grotesque reversal saw smartphone users engaging in the tragedy itself, goading a boy into jumping to his death, before uploading a clip for passive online consumption.

Continue reading here:

Goading a vulnerable person to jump to their death is sickening

Makeup artist Carli Bybel finds fame on YouTube

Posted on by

Makeup artist Carli Bybel finds fame on YouTube Makeup artist Carli Bybel finds fame on YouTube

Updated: Tuesday, March 31 2015 10:41 PM EDT2015-04-01 02:41:31 GMT

Carli Bybel is a familiar face on YouTube. The former freelance makeup artist joined YouTube three years ago to do makeup tutorials. Her channel exploded. She now has over 2 million subscribers from all over the world and nearly 2 million followers on Instagram.

Updated: Tuesday, March 31 2015 4:14 PM EDT2015-03-31 20:14:20 GMT

Monmouth County and Holmdel Police responded to the Village Elementary School on Tuesday following reports of an armed intruder that turned out to be a hoax.Students and staff evacuated the school as a precaution. An all-clear was given after cops investigated.

Updated: Tuesday, March 31 2015 2:34 PM EDT2015-03-31 18:34:15 GMT

The owners of Atlantic City's former Revel casino say they hope to sell it "soon," even as they seek an extension through the end of June to wrap up its bankruptcy case.

The owners of Atlantic City's former Revel casino say they hope to sell it "soon," even as they seek an extension through the end of June to wrap up its bankruptcy case.

Updated: Monday, March 30 2015 12:27 PM EDT2015-03-30 16:27:10 GMT

A person familiar with a Justice Department investigation says prosecutors are moving toward charging a Florida eye doctor over his dealings with New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez.The person said prosecutors are expected to bring criminal charges soon against both Dr. Salomon Melgen and Menendez. The person insisted on anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation on the record.Justice Department spokesman Peter Carr declined to comment Monday.

Read the original:

Makeup artist Carli Bybel finds fame on YouTube