Brand New Look at the Face of Mars

Brand New Look at the Face of Mars

JOSHUA A. KRISCH

The New York Times 

What really lies across the surface of Mars? Rovers have scurried about the red planet for years, drilling, scooping and analyzing for signs of life, past or present. But to really understand the Martian landscape, scientists need to look at the entire surface. What they have needed is a global geologic map.

The red planet is long overdue for a new one. The last major effort in Martian cartography was published in 1987, scraped together from the early Viking probes’ scant images and datasets. Since then, four additional orbiters with superior imaging capabilities have journeyed into Martian orbit, collected data and transmitted their findings back to Earth.

Now, scientists at the United States Geological Survey have used that data to create an updated map of the entire Martian surface. The new map shows that ancient rock — dating back billions of years ago, when Mars’s environmental conditions might have closely resembled Earth’s— exists in many more locations than previously thought. Because the map highlights the location of the oldest rocks on Mars, it could help future missions chart a course for these areas.

“We are disproportionately interested in the early part of Martian history,” said David Beaty, the chief scientist for the Mars Exploration Directorate at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., who was not involved in the research. “It was during that period that more water would have been around, which is one of the key aspects of the origin of life.”

The project, funded by NASA, was not simply a compilation of photographs from Martian orbit. Recent probes, such as the Mars Global Surveyor launched in 1996, were outfitted with advanced topographical instruments that helped cartographers pinpoint the subtler features of the Martian landscape.
[Video: Rotating globe of Mars geology. Watch on YouTube.]

One important instrument was the laser altimeter, which could fire up to 600 million laser beams at a planet’s surface. By measuring the time it took to bounce a laser beam off the Martian landscape, the researchers estimated the heights of peaks and the depths of valleys. This tool, among others, “greatly improved topographic mapping accuracy of the planet,” said Kenneth L. Tanaka, a scientist at the geological survey and lead author of the map. “It’s based on a lot more data than the previous Mars map.”

Digital mapping technology also played an important role in the research. Dr. Tanaka, who was a junior author on the original 1987 Mars map, recalled trying to chart the Martian surface before the digital age.
“We were drafting maps by hand, using ink,” he said.

The new Mars data is already available through the geologic survey’s website, and Dr. Tanaka says he suspects that scientists around the world will make use of it. But at least one important revelation has already come out of his research.
“We now have a better idea of where really old rocks are and where really young rocks are,” Dr. Beaty said.

Future Mars missions will probably focus on older rocks, because they represent a chapter of Martian history that may have featured water. And if more ambitious plans to send humans to Mars ever pan out, astronauts will want to find safe and scientifically meaningful locations to land and begin their research.
“The map is a fantastic piece of work,” Dr. Beaty said. “It’s a pretty big deal for forward exploration of the planet.”

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Microsoft announces Nokia Lumia 530, priced at €85 / $115

Microsoft announces Nokia Lumia 530, priced at €85 / $115

by Andy Weir

Neowin

Earlier this year, Nokia announced the Lumia 630, which it has recently been launching in markets around the world. It was positioned as the "new entry-level Windows Phone 8.1 device", and it's a pretty good one too - although it's not perfect, as we discovered in our recent review. Nonetheless, the 630 is certainly affordable, but an even cheaper Lumia has now arrived.

Microsoft today announced the Nokia Lumia 530, which slots in below the 630 in its range. It features a 4-inch LCD with FWVGA (854x480px) resolution, a quad-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 processor, 512MB of RAM and 4GB of onboard storage (along with a microSD slot, which accepts cards up to 128GB).

There's a 5MP camera on the back too, although there's no flash and no front-facing camera either. It includes a 1430mAh battery (Nokia's BL-5J, which it also used in the earlier Lumia 520), which the company says is good for up to 22 days of standby time on the new device, along with up to 13.4 hours of talk time and 51 hours of music playback time.

Four colour options are available - bright green, bright orange, white and dark grey. Like many other devices in the Lumia range, the 530 features interchangeable shells, so the colours can be changed as desired.
The Lumia 530 is the most affordable Nokia Windows Phone ever, and the first to be launched at a sub-€100 EUR price point. When it goes on sale in August, the single-SIM model will be priced at just €85 EUR (around $115 USD / £67 GBP) before taxes and subsidies, while the dual-SIM variant will go on sale for "under €100" ($134 / £79). Exact local pricing may vary in each market.

The new device is the first to represent Microsoft's push into the very lowest price points previously covered by its Asha devices, which, as the company recently announced, it plans to discontinue in the coming months.

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Arrests made after eBay Stubhub thefts

Arrests made after eBay Stubhub thefts

BBC News 

The US has charged six men in connection with a scam that defrauded eBay's Stubhub of about $1m (£587,000).

The charges came after more than 1,600 accounts belonging to the online ticket resale service were broken into and used to make purchases without the owners' permissions.

The attack involved a "global cybercrime ring", according to New York County's district attorney office.
Three other men have been arrested in London in connection with the thefts.
It is the second breach to have been disclosed by eBay this year.

However, in this latest case the firm said its servers had not been hacked.
"The arrests today relate to fraudulent transactions that were detected on existing Stubhub customer accounts in 2013," said spokesman Glenn Lehrman.
"These legitimate customer accounts were accessed by cybercriminals who had obtained the customers' login and password either through data breaches of other websites and retailers, or through the use of key-loggers and/or other malware on the customer's own PC.

"Once fraudulent transactions were detected on a given account, customers were immediately contacted by Stubhub's trust and safety team, who refunded any unauthorised transactions."
City of London Police commissioner Adrian Leppard added: "This is an important investigation, targeting cybercriminals who are believed to have defrauded Stubhub out of $1m, by hacking its United States' customers' accounts to fraudulently purchase and sell tickets, and then laundered their criminal profits through legitimate UK bank accounts."

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the US Secret Service and the New York City Police Department (NYPD) were also involved in the investigation.

Three of the men charged by the US are from Russia, while the others are Americans.
Vadim Polyakov, aged 30, and Nikolay Matveychuk, aged 21, are both charged with money laundering and crimes relating to identity theft.
The two Russians are alleged to have used information taken from San Francisco-based Stubhub's accounts as well as credit card details stolen from additional victims to purchase more than 3,500 e-tickets from the site.

These included tickets for concerts featuring Justin Timberlake, Elton John and Jay-Z, as well as Broadway shows and sports events.
They are accused of then passing the tickets to three men from New York and New Jersey.
Daniel Petryszyn, aged 28, Laurence Brinkmeyer, aged 29, and Bryan Caputo, aged 29 are charged with reselling them.
It is alleged that they carried out instructions to funnel the proceeds to PayPal accounts controlled by Polyakov and other associates as well as to multiple bank accounts in the UK and Germany.
One of these accounts is said to have belonged to Sergei Kirin, a 37-year-old Russian, who is charged with laundering the cash.

In addition, Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance Jr said that further sums were sent to other unnamed money launderers in the UK and Germany.
"Cybercriminals know no boundaries - they do not respect international borders or laws," he said.
Polyakov was arrested while visiting Spain on 3 July when he was picked up outside a Barcelona hotel by local authorities who were working with US Secret Service agents.
The Secret Service is responsible for investigating computer and telecommunications fraud as well as money laundering.
In addition, the NYPD has searched the homes of the three Americans to find additional evidence of their involvement in the scheme.

The City of London police force said it had also arrested a 27-year-old, a 39-year-old and a 46-year-old in connection with the crimes.
The Canadian police added they had arrested an additional suspected money launderer in Toronto.

Second attack

The arrests follow a separate attack reported by eBay in May.
The firm made users change their passwords to its main online marketplace after hackers accessed a database containing names, encrypted passwords, email addresses, physical addresses, phone numbers and dates of birth.

It said at the time that it had no evidence of that attack resulting in unauthorised activity on its members' accounts.

One expert said the breaches should act as a wake-up call to the online business community as a whole.
"We have long warned that personal data nabbed in one heist can be used to launch other, socially-engineered cyberattacks," said Paul Ayers from the data security firm Vormetric.
"Today we finally have confirmation of such an eventuality.

"Encryption of all data, regardless of where it resides, is a must - ensuring that no matter whose hands it falls into, it remains illegible and essentially useless."

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Facebook phone = fail, Facebook on phone = $$$

Facebook phone = fail, Facebook on phone = $$$

Nicole Lee

Engadget 

Facebook Home, the lock-screen replacement that changed any Android handset into a "Facebook phone,"
wasn't as popular as CEO Mark Zuckerberg had hoped. Fortunately, however, its other mobile efforts have proved tremendously successful. Continuing on their success in the mobile space, the social networking giant's second quarterly results reported around 1.07 billion active mobile users a month as of June 30th, which is an increase of 31 percent compared to last year and a slight climb over last quarter. What's particularly notable is that of the $2.68 billion the company made from advertising this quarter (it made a tidy sum of $2.91 billion overall), 62 percent of it came from mobile ads. That's definitely higher than the 41 percent it made from mobile ads this time last year, and is on trend with what we saw earlier this April.

And don't expect the advertising push to slow down either. In the earnings call, COO Sheryl Sandberg mentioned that video ads, which Facebook has just started rolling out, have been doing quite well. Indeed, the company is looking to leverage its recent acquisition of LiveRail to further those video ad efforts on Facebook and elsewhere. The recent launch of Facebook's Audience Network, which will allow developers to make money using Facebook's mobile network, will also likely contribute to the company's revenue coffers in the coming months. In regards to the recent implementation of the "Buy" button on a few ads, Sandberg says that is still in its early days and that it simply streamlines the process of buying -- none of that sales money actually goes to Facebook itself.
As for other apps like Messenger, Instagram and even Whatsapp, the firm is still focused on building them up before thinking revenue. However, Zuckerberg did allude that Messenger in particular could have "some overlap" with payments over time, and might provide some clues as to why it hired David Marcus from Paypal to head up its messaging efforts. Still, Zuckerberg says that's probably a long ways off, adding that the current status of Messenger is where Facebook itself was back in 2006. Creative Labs apps like Paper and Slingshot were not mentioned in the call, but we're assuming they're part of the company's long-term plans as well.
Finally, Zuckerberg did have something to say about the Oculus acquisition that closed just a few days ago. "This hits on a different part of our strategy," he says, pointing out that it'll likely take years before the deal turns a profit. "I always say some of the stuff we talk about is further out than you think, and this stuff is even further out than that."

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Is Justin Bieber Trying to One-Up One Direction's Style?

Justin Bieber has really been stepping up his style lately, and his recent outfits have been surprisingly over-the-top! Though some of his fashionable creations are totally unique, we were starting to get the feeling we had seen similar versions of the Biebs' outfits before: on the guys of One Direction! We wonder if Justin is getting some serious style inspiration from the guys of 1D, and then totally one-upping their looks by taking them to the extreme.

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Taylor swift Truce with Selena:

We thought that Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez were fighting with each other, but it looks like Taylor is calling a truce. While Selena was notably absent from Taylor's epic Fourth of July party, Taylor wished Selena a happy birthday in the most adorable way!

She posted a photo on Instagram showing her "S" necklace, along with the caption, "Usually this S represents 'Swift' but today I'm wearing it because SELENA IS 22!!!!"

Fans think it's adorable that Taylor still loves her bestie, despite their rough patch! While we knew Taylor was annoyed about Selena's and Justin Bieber drama , now that things are cooling offbetween Jelena, maybe things are also better between Taylor and Selena?  Recently Selena was spotted hanging out with Taylor's good friend, model Cara Delevingne, which also hints that Selena and Taylor might be fixing their friendship.

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Find Out the Real Reason Zayn Malik Wasn't at Louis Tomlinson's Mom's Wedding:

Fans loved seeing One Direction all dressed up for Louis Tomlinson's mom's wedding, but we were kind of surprised that one member of the band failed to show up! Although people have speculated that Zayn Malik is leaving the band — and his absence at the wedding is evidence — apparently he couldn't make it because he was in Liverpool spending time with his fiancé Perrie Edward's brother Jonnie Edwards. Zayn has shown a serious appreciation for the outdoors lately, posting a camping photo on his recently-unveiled Instagram. It's good to know that he wasn't just missing out on Louis' mom's wedding for no reason

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Xiaomi Hoping Mi 4 Smartphone Can Take on Apple's iPhone

Xiaomi Hoping Mi 4 Smartphone Can Take on Apple's iPhone

Reuters

Xiaomi launched its flagship Mi 4 smartphone at a glitzy event in Beijing, where the Chinese budget handset maker's chief executive sought to challenge larger U.S. rival Apple Inc.

The Mi 4 comes as budget handset makers in China are competing more aggressively on price and generous features, with even high-end manufacturers feeling the pressure.

South Korea's Samsung Electronics Ltd said this month that its disappointing smartphone shipments were due to poor sales in China, which had 1.27 billion mobile subscribers in June.

Dressed in a black T-shirt and blue jeans, Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun took aim repeatedly at iPhone makerApple during the presentation on Tuesday, comparing the design and manufacturing process of his new 4G handset to the U.S. firm's more expensive offerings.

"Our product really is better than the iPhone," said Lei.

"Our white version is also better than their white version," he joked. "Even our white color is whiter!"

Apple, which was due to announce second-quarter earnings later on Tuesday, was not immediately available to comment.

The forthright Jun spent nearly an hour on stage describing the Mi 4 phone's construction - particularly its beveled metal rim whose similarity with Apple's phones drew murmurs of "iPhone" from the journalists at the event.

The Mi 4, which goes on sale July 29 for 1999 yuan ($320), has a 5 inch, 1080p screen and a Qualcomm Inc Snapdragon 801 2.5GHz processor. An equivalent iPhone 5s costs $650.

Analyst Neil Shah at technology consultant Counterpoint said that while Xiaomi was gaining swiftly in emerging markets, it did not pose a real threat to Apple just yet.

"Right now it's more a big talk rather than real threat to Apple," said Shah.

"In emerging markets they are growing in leap and bounds, attracting buyers who aspire to Apple but they can't afford to buy Apple.

"But if tomorrow Xiaomi raise their price to Apple levels, they won't sell. They're trying to build that brand equity by comparing themselves to Apple."

Founded in 2010 by Lei and seven others, Xiaomi seeks to cut costs by eschewing brick-and-mortar stores in favor of web-based distribution and word-of-mouth marketing.

Xiaomi became the world's sixth-largest smartphone vendor in the first quarter of 2014, according to data firm Canalys, after repeatedly doubling its sales. The company was valued at $10 billion last year, drawing industry speculation that the fast-rising company could threaten Apple and Samsung, which dominate the premium market.

Xiaomi sold 18.7 million smartphones in 2013 and on Tuesday maintained a 60 million sales target for 2014. For comparison, Huawei Technologies Co Ltd has said it is targeting 80 million smartphone sales for the year. 

© Thomson Reuters 2014

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How Wearable Technology Made Carmelo Anthony a Tech Investor

How Wearable Technology Made Carmelo Anthony a Tech Investor

William Alden, The New York Times

The idea that turned Carmelo Anthony into a venture capitalist came to him during practice with the New York Knicks last season.

The basketball star became interested in the sophisticated sensors that players had recently started wearing to track their performance, said Stuart Goldfarb, a former executive at NBC and Bertelsmann who is a friend of Anthony's. The devices, made by companies like Catapult Sports of Australia, were not broadly available to consumers.

"We started talking about how sensor-based devices available to consumers were really primitive," Goldfarb said.

"Sensors were bound to get much better and had the ability to disrupt the whole health care system," he added. "But for them to work well and become adopted, they really had to become lifestyle-type products. We wanted to participate in that."

The result of that brainstorm was a venture capital partnership between Anthony and Goldfarb that they unveiled Monday. Their firm, called M7 Tech Partners, has a broader mandate than just wearable technology, with plans to invest also in digital media and other consumer technology companies.

Reflecting that scope, the first investment by M7 - whose name is a nod to Anthony's nickname, Melo, and his jersey number - is in a startup called Hullabalu that makes storytelling apps for children. Goldfarb declined to say how much M7 invested in Hullabalu, but he noted that Anthony was drawn to the company because he has a young son.

The two partners each bring different strengths to the new firm, Goldfarb said. While Goldfarb has an operational and marketing background, Anthony could theoretically use his celebrity to help promote a startup's product.

They are using their own money to invest, though Goldfarb declined to say how much. The capital, he said, comes equally from the two men. They spent the summer looking at "dozens of companies," and they expect to announce their next investment later this week, he said.

Wearable technology has become a hot topic in Silicon Valley recently, as companies like Samsungand Pebble have released "smart" watches. In a statement, Anthony emphasized his interest in the wearable technology sector.

"We are actively looking for ventures with strong leaders creating breakthrough products that resonate with consumers," Anthony said. "I particularly have my eye on companies that are involved with wearable technology and connected devices - these will be huge areas for the future." 

© 2014 New York Times News Service

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Adorable Bomb-Sniffing Dogs May Be Replaced with Less Adorable Bomb-Sniffing Lasers

Adorable Bomb-Sniffing Dogs May Be Replaced with Less Adorable Bomb-Sniffing Lasers

Polly Mosendz

The Wire

Researchers at UC Berkeley may be putting bomb-sniffing dogs out of a job. The researchers have developed laser sensors that can detect explosives.
Mechanical engineering professor Xiang Zhang was the head of the team which was able to create these lasers. The lasers are able to pick up "incredibly minute concentrations of explosives," and can even detect the type of explosive as well.
The research team tested their laser sensors with a variety of different explosives, and were able to detect even airborne chemicals with very low concentrations. The team was able to determine their sensor can pick up DNT at 0.67 parts per billion (One part per billion is comparable to one blade of grass in a football field.) For ammonium nitrate, it was at 0.4 PPB and nitrobenzene at 7.2 PPB.
Ren-Min Ma, one of the leaders of the research team, said "Our technology could lead to a bomb-detecting chip for a handheld device that can detect the tiny-trace vapor in the air of the explosive’s small molecules."
These scientists believe their new laser technology is more effective than existing explosive detection methods, including bomb-sniffing dogs. Dogs are not only expensive to train, but just as any dog would, they get tired. They also can get distracted, and of course, they need potty breaks. (Plus, if a bomb does go off, no dogs get hurt.) The research team also believes their system is more effective than swabbing at airports. The laser may also be used for detecting unexploded land mines, which kill between 15,000 and 20,000 people every year.

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The cloud is a big money maker for Microsoft as it rethinks hardware and content

The cloud is a big money maker for Microsoft as it rethinks hardware and content

Dana Wollman

Engadget 

We always want to know how Microsoft is doing, but today we're paying especially close attention: The company just released its earnings for its fourth fiscal quarter, the first full quarter that new CEO Satya Nadella was on the job. Also, let's not forget that Microsoft just announced it's cutting 18,000 jobs and axing Xbox Entertainment Studios. So how'd the company do? Not bad, actually: The company says revenue is up, largely thanks to its cloud business (previously led by Nadella himself). In particular, Microsoft has its loyal business customers to thank: The company saw big gains in commercial cloud revenue (up 147 percent), Windows licenses and server products. Other honorable mentions include Bing (up 40 percent), Microsoft Office 365 subscriptions and revenue from PC makers.

Largely missing from the report: mentions of hardware. Though the company's new mobile business added nearly $2 billion in revenue, but the firm also took a $38 million hit on Surface RT inventory after canceling the Surface Mini, according to Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood. Basically, then, there are few surprises here: Microsoft made the most money off its bread and butter -- things like enterprise services, the cloud and its core Windows business. And to be honest, we expected as much. Consider that earlier this month, Nadella posted an open letter to employees, reiterating that its mission was to offer productivity tools in a "cloud-first" world. That would indeed seem to be what Microsoft is good at.

All told, the company generated $4.61 billion in profit on $23.38 billion in revenue. To put that in perspective, revenue for the fourth-quarter was up 18 percent over the year-ago period. Profit by 7 percent, but that's to be expected considering Microsoft recently closed its massive $7 billion purchase of Nokia's mobile division. That's it for raw numbers, but Microsoft will be holding a conference call later today to discuss its earnings in more detail. We'll be tuning in, and will update this post as we learn more.
Update: On a call with investors, Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood confirmed that that $38 million hit the company took on "Surface RT inventory" was actually a product that had been in development, but was later canceled. That would be the Surface Mini.

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Samsung's 105-Inch Curved UHD TV Only Costs $120,000

Samsung's 105-Inch Curved UHD TV Only Costs $120,000

Mario Aguilar

Gizmodo

Rich people rejoice, Samsung's huge 105-inch curved 4K television finally has an actual price you can instruct your accountant to write on a check. That number is $119,999.99. For the sake of simplicity let's just call that $120,000.

So what do you get for $120,000? A totally beautiful television, obvs. We first laid eyes on an early version of the 5120 x 2160 resolution UN105S9 back at CES and it was glorious. As we've learned before, the TV'sgentle curve offersimproved viewing angles compared to a regular flat panel. That's important because if you're going to have a television this large in your home you; might as well invite some plebs in to watch it with you. And don't forget to share the caviar. [Samsung]

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