SpaceX’s "autonomous spaceport drone ship" measures 300 by 170 feet (91 by 52 meters) with its "wings" extended.Image: SpaceX SpaceX will attempt one of the boldest maneuvers in the history of rocketry early Tuesday morning (Jan. 6) during a supply mission to the International Space Station for NASA, and you can watch the attempt live online. The California-based private spaceflight company will try to land the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket on a floating platform in the Atlantic Ocean, shortly after the booster launches SpaceX’s robotic Dragon cargo capsule from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 6:20 a.m. ET Tuesday. NASA officials have said there is a 60% chance of good launch weather for the planned launch. You can watch the SpaceX launch live on Space.com, courtesy of NASA TV, beginning at 5 a.m. EST (1000 GMT). “The odds of success are not great — perhaps 50% at best,” SpaceX representatives wrote of the platform landing in a mission update last month. “However, this test represents the first in a series of similar tests that will ultimately deliver a fully reusable Falcon 9 first stage.” SpaceX will offer its own launch webcast on the company’s website beginning at 6 a.m. ET). Developing a fully and rapidly reusable rocket is a key priority for SpaceX and its billionaire founder, Elon Musk, who has said that such technology could cut the cost of spaceflight by a factor of 100. SpaceX has made strides toward this ambitious goal already. For example, the company successfully brought a Falcon 9 first stage down for a soft ocean splashdown twice last year — once in April and again in July. But Tuesday’s test will be much more challenging. The drone ship measures just 300 feet long by 170 feet wide (91 by 52 meters) with its “wings” extended, and the 14-story-tall Falcon 9’s leg span is about 70 feet (21 m), SpaceX representatives said. “During previous attempts, we could only expect a landing accuracy of within 10 km [6 miles],” they wrote in the update. “For this attempt, we’re targeting a landing accuracy of within 10 meters [33 feet].” Furthermore, although the drone ship will be equipped with position-stabilizing thrusters, it will not be anchored. Three separate engine burns will help get the rocket stage on course and slow its speed from 2,900 mph (4,600 km/h) down to 4.5 mph (7.2 km/h) at the time of touchdown. The landing legs will deploy during the final burn, company representatives said. SpaceX has also outfitted the Falcon 9 stage with four independently steerable “hypersonic grid fins,” which will be deployed upon atmospheric re-entry to aid in precision targeting. As bold as Tuesday’s test is, SpaceX has even more ambitious goals in mind for 2015. “Over the next year, SpaceX has at least a dozen launches planned, with a number of additional testing opportunities,” company representatives wrote. “Given what we know today, we believe it is quite likely that with one of those flights, we […]
Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson apologizes to Mike Brown’s family in a video statement. Image: Vimeo / Devin James Group Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson apologized to the family of Mike Brown in a video on Friday, about six weeks after a white officer under his command shot and killed the unarmed black teenager in the middle of a street in Ferguson, Missouri. “I want to say this to the Brown family: no one who has not experienced the loss of a child can understand what you’re feeling,” Jackson said in the video, in which he reads from a prepared statement. “I am truly sorry for the loss of your son.” Jackson also said he was sorry that it took officers a number of hours to remove Brown’s body from the street, but that “the time that it took involved very important work on the part of investigators who are trying to collect evidence and gain a true picture of what happened that day.” You can watch the full video, below. The killing of Brown, 18, on Aug. 9 incited a firestorm of protests in Ferguson and a national conversation about how black people are treated by police officers. Though demonstrations are not as common now as they were in August, another protest started on Sept. 23 after a memorial to Brown was destroyed. Police in Ferguson after the incident, which included officers from the St. Louis County department, were heavily criticized for responding to protesters with riot gear and military-style vehicles, something Jackson also addressed in his video. “I do want to say to any peaceful protester who did not feel that I did enough to protect their constitutional right to protest, I am sorry for that. The right of the people to peacefully assemble is what the police are here to protect.” The FBI is investigating the killing of Brown, who was shot six times after what police say was an altercation between the teenager and the police officer. Officer Darren Wilson, who killed Brown, has not spoken publicly about the incident, and is currently on paid administrative leave. Read more: http://mashable.com/2014/09/25/ferguson-police-chief-apologizes/
Curiosity, NASA’s most advanced planetary rover, will land on Mars at 1:31 a.m. EDT on Aug. 6. And if you’re in New York City, you can watch it happen live in Times Square. NASA TV will broadcast the landing on the Toshiba Vision screen starting at 11:30 p.m. on Aug. 5 and ending at 4:00 a.m. the next morning. Programming will come directly from Mission Control at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “In the city that never sleeps, the historic Times Square will be the place for New Yorkers to participate in this historic landing,” said NASA Science Mission Directorate’s John Grunsfeld. “When you think of all the big news events in history, you think of Times Square, and I can think of no better venue to celebrate this news-making event on Mars.” In order to properly hear the broadcast, viewers will have to tune in to online radio station Third Rock Radio. If you’re not in the New York metro area, you’ll still be able to follow the event. The landing will be live streamed on the NASA homepage and on the TuneIn app. So, make sure your devices are fully charged and ready for noises that are literally out of this world. Image courtesy of Flickr, alanosaur “I am No Man” Doesn’t Cut It: The Story of Eowyn Why All Those Sexist Complaints About The New Ghostbusters Movie Are Garbage Study Says Binge-Watching Is For Lonely & Depressed People & Those Who Lack Self-Control The Pirate Bay Has Returned To the Land Of the Living After Two Months This article originally published at Geekosystem here Read more: http://mashable.com/2012/08/01/nasa-curiosity-times-square/
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been granted political asylum by Ecuador, the country’s Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino announced Thursday. However, the question remains how he will get out of the country’s embassy in London without trouble from officials, who have said they plan to stop his exit. Assange is hoping to avoid being sent to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over allegations of rape and sexual assault. He fears the country will then turn him over to the U.S. Among the first to break the news on Twitter was @BBCBreaking. Julian #Assange says being granted asylum by Ecuador is a “significant victory” bbc.in/OkGFDz #Wikileaks — BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) August 16, 2012 The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office quickly shared their reaction to the government of Ecuador’s decision on Twitter. We are disappointed by the statement from Ecuador’s Foreign Minister that #Ecuador has offered political asylum to Julian #Assange. — Foreign Office (FCO) (@foreignoffice) August 16, 2012 According to the BBC, the UK may be able to revoke diplomatic protection from an embassy under domestic law. However, WikiLeaks has labeled that as impossible under international law. UK Diplomatic & Consular Premises Act 1987 may allow diplomatic immunity of an embassy on British soil to be revoked – BBC’s @stuartdhughes — BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) August 15, 2012 Which is of course just spin. The UK is under a binding obligation to recognize asylum, the rights of refugees and its other UN agreements. — WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) August 16, 2012 WikiLeaks spokesperson Kristinn Hrafnsson told the Agence France-Press on Thursday that she hopes “that the UK authorities are sensible enough not to enter the embassy without permission, which would risk upsetting diplomatic relations all over the world.” Sweden’s government has told the Ecuadorian ambassador to its country that the asylum decision is “unacceptable,” per the Associated Press: BREAKING: Sweden summons Ecuador’s ambassador, calls Assange asylum decision “unacceptable” — The Associated Press (@AP) August 16, 2012 UK-based Citizen journalist James Albury has uploaded video of earlier demonstrations outside Ecuador’s embassy in London. According to Albury, Ecuadorian nationals were protesting the possible intrusion of British law enforcement into Ecuador’s sovereign territory. Your browser does not support iframes. Assange first requested asylum from Ecuador June 19 and has resided at the country’s London embassy ever since. This story initially cited @AntDeRosa as one of the first tweeters, but has been edited. Alex Fitzpatrick contributed to this report. Julian Assange: His History and Story Julian Assange Julian Assange, 40, is an Australian-born political activist and journalist known for his controversial website WikiLeaks, which has published leaked documents that allege government and corporate misconduct. Assange fell into his career path after he was a hacker-activist in his early days. Photo courtesy Wikimedia Exposing the Government From publishing material about extrajudicial killings in Kenya to toxic waste dumping in Côte d’Ivoire, Assange has long sought to bring controversial concepts to the forefront. On 28 November 2010, WikiLeaks and its five international print media partners (Der Spiegel, […]
Today’s Google Doodle celebrates the birthday of Dian Fossey, American zoologist best known for her study of gorillas. Google Doodle pays tribute to zoologist Dian Fossey Image: Google Fossey studied gorilla groups over the period of 18 years in Africa, founding the Karisoke Research Center in Rwanda. A lot of her work consisted of preventing the killing of gorillas by poachers; after one of her favorite gorillas named Digit was killed, she founded the Digit Fund with the purpose of raising money for anti-poaching patrols. Fossey was killed in her cabin in 1985; the perpetrator was never found. Fossey’s life was fictionalized in the 1988 film Gorillas in the Mist (based on Fossey’s book of the same name), starring Sigourney Weaver. The movie was nominated for five Academy Awards and won two Golden Globes. Top 10 Animated Google Doodles The Christmas Google Doodle Each package gets larger with a mouse-over, and a click on it returns search results pertinent to a specific country or the particular items featured in a scene. This one is from December 24, 2010. Charlie Chaplin Google Doodle The Google Doodle team stars in an homage to the silent film era’s greatest star’s 122nd birthday, April 15, 2011. Google Logo Repelled by Cursor This one’s done in HTML5 and was published Sept. 7, 2010. To get the full effect, here’s one you can interact with. John Lennon Google Doodle This Doodle commemorated John Lennon’s 70th birthday in October 2010. Martha Graham Debuting May 10, 2011, this Google Doodle marks dance choreographer Martha Graham’s birthday. Robert Bunsen Commemorated the birthday of the inventor of the Bunsen burner, German chemist Robert Bunsen on March 31, 2011. Thomas Edison The great inventor’s birthday was honored on February 11, 2011. Independence Day Marking Independence Day 2010. Pac-Man’s 30th Anniversary A real crowd pleaser was this playable Pac-Man game, which appeared on May 21. 2010. Here’s a playable version. Read more: http://mashable.com/2014/01/16/google-doodle-dian-fossey/
Dr. Kent Brantly was serving as medical director for the Samaritan’s Purse Ebola Consolidated Case Management Center in Monrovia when he tested positive for Ebola, the organization says.Image: Facebook Samaritan's Purse An American patient who was diagnosed with Ebola and airlifted to the United States for treatment has released his first statement since the ordeal began. Doctor Kent Brantly, an American aid worker from North Carolina, said in a statement Friday he is “growing stronger every day.” He was infected with the Ebola virus while working for U.S. aid group Samaritan’s Purse at a Liberian hospital that treated Ebola patients. Post by Samaritan’s Purse. He released the statement from the isolation unit of Atlanta’s Emory University Hospital where he is being treated. There is no known cure for Ebola, and Brantly is being treated with an experimental serum. Brantly thanked those who have been praying for his recovery, and said his focus remains on following God. The full statement: I am writing this update from my isolation room at Emory University Hospital, where the doctors and nurses are providing the very best care possible. I am growing stronger every day, and I thank God for His mercy as I have wrestled with this terrible disease. I also want to extend my deep and sincere thanks to all of you who have been praying for my recovery as well as for Nancy and for the people of Liberia and West Africa. My wife Amber and I, along with our two children, did not move to Liberia for the specific purpose of fighting Ebola. We went to Liberia because we believe God called us to serve Him at ELWA Hospital. One thing I have learned is that following God often leads us to unexpected places. When Ebola spread into Liberia, my usual hospital work turned more and more toward treating the increasing number of Ebola patients. I held the hands of countless individuals as this terrible disease took their lives away from them. I witnessed the horror first-hand, and I can still remember every face and name. When I started feeling ill on that Wednesday morning, I immediately isolated myself until the test confirmed my diagnosis three days later. When the result was positive, I remember a deep sense of peace that was beyond all understanding. God was reminding me of what He had taught me years ago, that He will give me everything I need to be faithful to Him. Now it is two weeks later, and I am in a totally different setting. My focus, however, remains the same – to follow God. As you continue to pray for Nancy and me, yes, please pray for our recovery. More importantly, pray that we would be faithful to God’s call on our lives in these new circumstances. BONUS: The Ebola Outbreak: What You Need to Know window._msla=window.loadScriptAsync||function(src,id){if(document.getElementById(id))return;var js=document.createElement(‘script’);js.id=id;js.src=src;document.getElementsByTagName(‘script’)[0].parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}; _msla(“//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#appId=116628718381794&xfbml=1&status=1&cookie=1″,”facebook_jssdk”); Read more: http://mashable.com/2014/08/08/american-ebola-patient/
Russian’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during a meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Havana, Cuba, on April 29, 2014.Image: Ramon Espinosa/Associated Press Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov believes the crisis in Ukraine is bordering on civil war, and he wants to know if American mercenaries are partly to blame. “When Ukrainians kill Ukrainians, I believe this is as close to a civil war you can get,” the Russian diplomat said to Bloomberg’s Ryan Chilcote in an interview that aired Wednesday morning in the United States. Lavrov then questioned German media reports of American mercenaries at work in Ukraine in the interview. “I sent a message through our ambassador to Washington asking [they] respond to these assertions in the German media,” he said. “Rumors to this effect were spread before and John Kerry rejected them. Now they popped up again and we would like to see whether this is true or not,” he said. German media had reported there were 400 elite mercenaries working alongside the Ukrainian military to fight the pro-Russian separatists laying siege to eastern Ukraine. The rumors of American mercenaries at work in Ukraine last surfaced in a statement on the Russian foreign ministry’s website on April 8. U.S. contractor Academi (formerly Blackwater) denied the accusations at the time. “Academi is not taking part in any operations in Ukraine, and in the future this is not planned,” a spokesperson for the company stated. White House spokesperson Jay Carney called the rumors “bogus,” and the American ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt said they were “rubbish.” Dozens have been killed in recent weeks as pro-Kiev forces square off with pro-Russian rebels in a number of east Ukrainian cities. Rebels in two of them — Donetsk and Luhansk — held referendums on Sunday in which residents there voted for autonomy from Ukraine’s central government. A number of Russian and eastern Ukrainian officials have been sanctioned by U.S. and European Union officials for their alleged roles in the unrest. Watch the full interview on YouTube: Read more: http://mashable.com/2014/05/14/ukraine-civil-war-lavrov/
In 2011, Tim Pool didn’t hear about the Occupy Wall Street movement from the news — he discovered it through social networks like YouTube and Facebook. He ended up seeing a video of a police officer dragging a protester by his leg, and Pool noticed that the protester’s hands were bleeding. It was at that moment that Pool decided to see what was going on for himself. He hopped on a bus from Chicago to New York City, and soon he was in the thick of things. Pool started filming and documenting the protests, armed with only his smartphone. Before long, he became one of the foremost independent journalists broadcasting Occupy Wall Street and the events that followed online. “My stance has always sort of been to learn and experience to try and better understand,” he told Mashable‘s Zoe Fox at the 2012 Social Good Summit on Sunday. “I like to get all the facts before I make a decision about what the answer’s going to be.” Because he gathered so much information, he realized that it was safer and more efficient to broadcast everything live with the UStream mobile app. On Nov. 17, 2011, a notable day of protests, he reached an impressive 750,000 viewers. Pool explained that as the protests continued, he often had to get creative with his use of tech as he filmed for long periods of time — sometimes up to 21 hours straight. In addition to his smartphone, he had an external battery that could power a phone for approximately 15 hours. “With just a smartphone, you can send tweets, you can send messages [and] photos, and do a broadcast for a very long amount of time. However, that’s not to say that there aren’t pitfalls. They overheat, they shut down,” he said. Pool and his friend put together a makeshift cooling system using a computer fan plugged into an external battery. They have also used “drones” — remote-controlled quadrocopters — to film events from the air. However, due to the ban on the commercial use of drones, Pool says they are reluctant to use them. “There [are a] million things that need to be built that [are] going to change and further decentralize the ability to share information,” he said. “As time goes on, we’re going to see more and more people with the ability to share information with each other. Bringing more people into the conversation is really what is going to create what I consider social good.” What’s next? Pool says he would like to work on a documentary about Occupy Wall Street, but, surprisingly, he can’t find anyone who wants to go through “terabytes and terabytes” of footage. Read more of Mashable’s coverage of the 2012 Social Good Summit: Day One: Hillary Clinton Opens the Social Good Summit [VIDEO] How the U.S. Chief Technology Officer Is Making Data Awesome Can Mobile Phones Help Fight Pediatric AIDS? How Is Social Media Changing Diplomacy? Peter Gabriel Makes Case For Internet Freedom ITU […]
Massachusetts guard Derrick Gordon came out as the first openly gay male athlete in D1 menâImage: Ty Wright/Associated Press University of Massachusetts Minuteman Derrick Gordon stepped forward as the first openly gay male athlete in Division 1 men’s basketball. The sophomore shooting guard broke the news to his teammates in a meeting on April 2, during which UMass coach Derek Kellogg, who has a wife of nine years, broke the ice by first telling his players, “I wanted to let you all know I’m gay.” Gordon, taking the cue, jumped in: “No, he’s not. But I am.” This is the happiest I have ever been in my 22 Years of living…No more HIDING!!!…Just want to live… http://t.co/rR9KO8nGCu — Derrick Gordon (@flash2gordon) April 9, 2014 “I was thinking about summer plans and just being around my teammates and how it was going to be,” Gordon said in an interview with ESPNW. “I just thought, ‘Why not now? Why not do it in the offseason when it’s the perfect time to let my teammates know and everybody know my sexuality.” Gordon, whose team lost in the first round of March Madness, is reportedly “over the moon,” according to OutSports. “‘Happy’ is not even the word,” Gordon told the organization. “It’s a great feeling. I haven’t felt like this. Ever. It’s a lot of weight lifted off my shoulders. I can finally breathe now and live life happily. I told all the people I need to tell.” window._msla=window.loadScriptAsync||function(src,id){if(document.getElementById(id))return;var js=document.createElement(‘script’);js.id=id;js.src=src;document.getElementsByTagName(‘script’)[0].parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}; _msla(“//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js”,”twitter_jssdk”); Read more: http://mashable.com/2014/04/09/umass-derrick-gordon-gay/
Google’s taking on an ambitious global initiative — using technology to expose, map and disrupt illicit networks of drug smugglers, arms dealers and human traffickers. The tech giant is hosting its second annual summit, this time called the Illicit Networks: Forces in Opposition (INFO), in Los Angeles on Tuesday and Wednesday. The INFO summit will focus on how technology can expose and disable these illegal networks. In attendance will be tech leaders, Googlers, government officials and survivors. Google says it’s been working with frontline fighter groups to gain an understanding of how these criminal trades function. The summit is part of Google Ideas — the “think/do tank” the company launched in Oct. 2010 to tackle some of the world’s toughest problems. The search giant wrote in a blog post Tuesday that it plans to take on illicit networks, expanding from its first challenge, counter-radicalization. Included in the conversations of these networks, are organ harvesting, arms trading and drug smuggling. Google hosted a Summit Against Violent Extremism one year ago, bringing together former right-wing extremists, jihadists, gang members, militants and survivors. The illegal trade of goods is no small problem, representing a trillion-dollar industry and claiming hundreds of thousands of lives annually. This year’s summit is a joint initiative from Google, the Tribeca Film Festival and the Council on Foreign Relations. Google cites a 2003 U.N. estimate that the illegal drug trade alone is worth $320 billion, totaling more than the gross domestic product of 88% of countries. It also points to the more than 50,000 causualties of the ongoing drug cartel war in Mexico over the past five years. As for specific ways Google plans to use technology to disrupt illicit networks, we’ll have to wait until the conference concludes to find out. Google doesn’t highlight any particular technologies it’s using to try to bring an end to criminal business activities. Do you have any ideas about how Google can use technology to expose illegal practices? What would you like to see come out of this summit? Let us know in the comments. Read more: http://mashable.com/2012/07/17/google-drug-cartels/
