Gizmorama - September 24, 2014

Good Morning,

How would you like to get involved in the exploration of Mars? Great, because NASA wants your help. Seriously!

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

Until Next Time,
Erin

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*---- NASA to get citizens involved in Mars exploration ----*
NEW YORK (UPI) - NASA is hosting an exhibit at the World Maker Faire in New York, and they announced Saturday they have launched a new website called NASA Solve and have opened registration for the Mars Balance Mass Challenge competition. "The Mars Balance Mass Challenge seeks design ideas for small science and technology payloads that could potentially provide dual purpose as ejectable balance masses on spacecraft entering the Martian atmosphere," according to their website.

They're looking to get citizens involved in attempting to design a payload that can help analyze Mars and can "provide the necessary weight to balance planetary landers." Competitors who can complete the challenge by the November 21 deadline will have a chance to win the $20,000 award. "This challenge is a creative way to bring innovative ideas into our planning process, and perhaps help NASA find another way to pack more science and technology into a mission," said Lisa May, lead program executive for NASA's Mars exploration program.

On top of the new challenge, NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft is expected to reach Mars on Sunday night around 10PM. The spacecraft left Earth's atmosphere over ten months ago. You can watch MAVEN make it to Mars on their website. They expect the spacecraft to help them understand Mars' atmosphere so the concept of humans visiting the planet can be further explored.


*-- New Android phones will make it harder for the police to get your information --*
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (UPI) - Google just made it a lot harder for law enforcement to get their hands on the information users keep in their smartphone.

On Thursday, the company announced the next generation of their Android operating system will encrypt data by default. Adding another layer between what their customers keep in their smartphone and police.

It has offered encryption on some devices for years, but experts say few users knew how to use it. Now Google is designing a feature that does it automatically -- only someone who has the password can see what's on the phone.

This move will allow Android -- the world's most popular operating system -- to offer the same protection for its customers that Apple does for its iPhone users.

It means that even when law enforcement has a search warrant for information on a device it will be impossible for them to get it.

According to Google this has been a long time coming. It is also part of a shift by U.S. technology companies to make their products less prone to snooping by the government in the aftermath of revelations of spying by the National Security Agency.

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