Gizmorama - October 3rd, 2012

Good Morning,

When you research science and technology you can't help but be surprised by what you find out. Today's issue features 4 very different stories, each one more engrossing than the next.

Enjoy.

Until Next Time,
Erin

P.S. EVTV1 is back and better than ever! This video portal was created to weed through the online clutter to bring you the best animal video clips...funniest videos...most popular...PLUS the most unusual. New videos are added daily! It's the future of entertainment available today, all in one place.

Visit and Enjoy: EVTV1.com

***
*-- Samsung Galaxy phones can be attacked --*
BERLIN - Malicious hackers can trigger a full factory reset of Samsung's best-selling Galaxy S3 smartphone, deleting valuable data, a German security researcher says. Ravi Borgaonkar, a researcher based at the Technical University of Berlin demonstrated how simple 11-digit code string, hidden in a Web page or even a text message, can initiate a reset a phone owner cannot stop, deleting contacts, photographs, music and apps. Borgaonkar unveiled the security vulnerability at a technical conference in Argentina, Britain's The Daily Telegraph reported Tuesday. The code can also trigger a factory reset on the Galaxy S2 and other devices that use Samsung's version of Google's mobile operating system, combined with the Korean company's "TouchWiz" interface, Borgaonkar said. Android phones from other manufacturers seem to be immune and "it's possible to exploit this attack only on Samsung devices," he said. A Spanish telecoms engineer and security blogger who tested the attack said "what were Samsung engineers smoking when they set a code to do a factory reset?" "This will hard reset the phone, no user confirmation needed," Pau Oliva said. "Yes, you can remotely wipe any friend's Galaxy S3 now." Samsung representatives did not respond to requests for comment, the Daily Telegraph said.


*-- Study: Urban coyotes practice monogamy --*
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Coyotes living in cities don't stray from their mates and couples stay together for life, which may help them thrive in urban areas, U.S. researchers say. Scientists at Ohio State University said genetic samples of 236 coyotes in the Chicago area over a six-year period found no evidence of polygamy nor of one mate ever leaving another while the other was still alive. "I was surprised we didn't find any cheating going on," OSU wildlife ecologist Stan Gehrt said. "Even with all the opportunities for the coyotes to philander, they really don't." Loyalty between mates may be a key to their success in urban areas, he said. Living in food-rich cities encourages female coyotes' natural ability to produce large litters of young, so it's important for females to have faithful partners to help raise them all, Gehrt said. "If the female were to try to raise those large litters by herself, she wouldn't be able to do it," Gehrt said in an OSU release. "But the male spends just as much time helping to raise those pups as the female does." Unlike males of polygamous species, a male coyote "knows that every one of those pups is his offspring" and has a clear genetic stake in helping them survive, Gehrt said.


*-- Deepest-ever view of universe in new image --*
MUNICH, Germany - Ten years of images from the Hubble space telescope have been combined for the best, deepest-ever view of the universe, U.S. and European astronomers say. The photo, assembled by combining a decade of NASA/European Space Agency Hubble observations of a patch of sky within the original Hubble Ultra Deep Field, has been dubbed eXtreme Deep Field or XDF, the Hubble European Space Agency Information Center in Munich, Germany, reported Tuesday. Collating images collected through long years of observation, the resulting image reveals about 5,500 galaxies, both nearby and very distant, making it the deepest image of the Universe ever taken. "The XDF is the deepest image of the sky ever obtained and reveals the faintest and most distant galaxies ever seen," said Garth Illingworth of the University of California, Santa Cruz, principal investigator of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field 2009 program. The universe is 13.7 billion years old, and the XDF reveals galaxies going back 13.2 billion years in time. "XDF allows us to explore further back in time than ever before," Illingworth said. Before Hubble was launched in 1990, astronomers had been able to see galaxies as much as 7 billion light-years away, just halfway back to the big bang.


*-- U.S. weather satellite fails, shut down --*
WASHINGTON - An important weather satellite monitoring the U.S. East Coast has shut down, necessitating activation of a spare satellite to take its place, officials said. After several days of glitches and problems, the GOES-13 failed Monday, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officials said. Launched in 2006, its mission was to track weather systems across the eastern United States while another satellite performed similar functions for the western U.S. region. GEOS-13's monitoring responsibilities have been transferred to a replacement, GOES-14, which was launched in 2009 into a storage orbit as an in-space spare if needed, SPACE.com reported. "NOAA maintains backup GOES satellites in case unforeseen events occur, providing full redundancy for monitoring severe weather over the United States and its territories," NOAA officials said. The replacement GOES-14 will be the primary monitoring satellite for East Coast weather until the GOES-13 satellite's malfunction can be diagnosed and repaired, they said.

***
Missed an Issue? Visit the Gizmorama Archives