Gizmorama - October 17th, 2012

Good Morning,

The mapping of the cosmos has been going since man has looked to the skies. Now, learning that dead stars could be the key to a cosmic 'GPS' I begin to think, could long-distance space travel becoming a reality for all Earthlings?

Learn about this and other interesting stories from the scientific community in today's issue.

Until Next Time,
Erin

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*-- Dead stars could be cosmic 'GPS' --*
LONDON - Dead stars could be the future of spacecraft navigation, replacing earth-based systems with a cosmic "global positioning system," British researchers say. The European Space Agency has commissioned scientists at Britain's National Physical Laboratory and the University of Leicester to investigate the feasibility of using dead stars known as pulsars to navigate spacecraft in deep space. Such navigation currently relies on radio transmissions between a distant craft and a network of ground-stations on Earth, which with the large distances involved can take hours, days or even longer, affecting a spacecraft's ability to react rapidly according to its location. The scientists said they are exploring the use of X-rays from dead stars, called pulsars, to allow spacecraft to navigate autonomously. Pulsars are highly compact and rapidly rotating neutron stars that emit intense electromagnetic radiation observed as pulses that could make suitable sources for navigation using a technique similar to GPS. This could allow spacecraft to navigate autonomously without needing to communicate with Earth, researchers said. "Using on-board X-ray detectors, spacecraft could measure the times of pulses received from pulsars to determine the position and motion of the craft," Setnam Shemar of the National Physical Laboratory said. "The University of Leicester will use their experience in X-ray astronomy to come-up with potential designs of the device and NPL will develop timing and navigation algorithms to determine the potential accuracy of this technique," Shamar said in a laboratory release. Using pulsars as nature's own GPS in space might one day enable humanity to navigate far beyond the outer reaches of our solar system, the researchers said.


*-- U.K. River Thames in species invasion --*
LONDON - Nearly 100 species not native to Britain have invaded the River Thames making it one of the most highly invaded freshwater systems in the world, scientists say. Researchers at Queen Mary, University of London, say the finding suggests legislative efforts to prevent the introduction of invasive species across Britain have been unsuccessful. The cost to the British economy of invasive non-native species is $2.7 billion every year, a university release said Tuesday. "We have identified 96 freshwater non-native species in the River Thames catchment and modern invasion rates (post 1961) reveal that one non-indigenous species is discovered every 50 weeks," researcher Michelle Jackson said. "Our research suggests that globalization has facilitated species invasions because shipping activity and population size in the catchment had a positive correlation with the discovery of non-native species." The second-longest river in Britain, the Thames flows through Oxford, Reading, Windsor and London before reaching the North Sea in Essex. "Invasive species are major drivers of biodiversity and ecosystem service loss, and multiple invaders have the potential to amplify one another's impact," Jackson said. "Our research highlights the need to establish how these multiple invaders interact."


*-- Google, Samsung partner on high-end tablet --*
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - A Google Nexus 10-inch class tablet is being developed in partnership with Samsung and will be co-branded with both names, a U.S. analyst says. The unit's 10.1-inch screen will boast a pixel density higher than Apple's third-generation iPad, Richard Shim, an analyst at NPD DisplaySearch, told CNET. The display will have pixels-per-inch number of about 299, topping the 264 PPI on the 9.7-inch Retina iPad, he said. The partnership with Samsung is a significant broadening of Google's relationship with the South Korean company. Google already cobrands the Galaxy Nexus Samsung smartphone. Although there's no word on a possible price point, Shim says it will probably be in iPad territory. "It's going to be a high-end device," Shim said in contrast to Google's current $199 Nexus 7. Information about the 10.1-inch Nexus comes from "supply chain indications," which typically indicate a high likelihood a product will be produced, Shim said.


*-- Spam-seeking app protects Facebook users --*
RIVERSIDE, Calif. - Computer scientists in California say they've created an application to detect spam and malware posts on Facebook that is highly accurate, fast and efficient. The researchers at the University of California, Riverside, have introduced the term "socware" to describe a combination of "social malware," encompassing all criminal and parasitic behavior on online social networks. In a recent four-month experiment the free application MyPageKeeper successfully flagged 97 percent of socware, a university release reported Tuesday. During the experiment, the researchers analyzed more than 40 million posts from 12,000 people who installed MyPageKeeper and found 49 percent of users were exposed to at least one socware post during the trial. "This is really an arms race with hackers," computer science Professor Michalis Faloutsos said. "In many ways, Facebook has replaced email and websites. Hackers are following that same path and we need new applications like MyPageKeeper to stop them." The application works through ongoing scanning of the walls and newsfeeds of subscribed users, identifying socware posts and alerting the users. For example, the presence of words such as "FREE," "Hurry," "Deal" and "Shocked" provide a strong indication of the post being spam, the researchers said.

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