By Sharon Gaudin
May 14, 2009 05:55 PM ET

NASA disclosed today that an investigation earlier this week that found multiple dings in the space shuttle Atlantis' heat shield must be restarted because about 40 tiles were missed. The crew of the Atlantis had spent nine hours inspecting the heat shields on Tuesday.

Using the shuttle's robotic arm, astronauts collected data and images of critical areas of the shuttle's thermal protection system, especially on the craft's nose and the edges of its wings. Part of a routine checkup after any shuttle launch, the inspection took up most of the crew's first full day in space. A few hours after the inspection began, NASA announced that dings or scratches were found in some of the shuttle's outer tiles.

Scratches were found on the forward part of the shuttle's right wing, close to where it connects to the fuselage, according to NASA spokeswoman Katherine Trinidad. The damage, found on four different heat shield tiles, looks minor, but NASA will continue to investigate it. The damage seems to be related to a debris impact that occurred about 104 seconds after the Atlantis lifted off Monday afternoon.

After today's spacewalk wrapped up late this afternoon, NASA announced that they have discovered that an area of the shuttle's heat shield had not been inspected at all. The area is below the forward thrusters on the vehicle's port nose. The NASA astronauts will again use the robotic arm and sensors attached to it to run another inspection before the scheduled spacewalk begins Friday morning.

By Lester Haines
13th May 2009 15:25 GMT

Space shuttle Atlantis is poised to rendevous with the Hubble Space Telescope on its final servicing mission to the venerable eye in the sky. Shortly before 15:00 GMT, NASA reported: "Orbiting nearly 50,000 feet (9 1/2 statute miles) behind the telescope, Atlantis' crew performed a precisely-targeted thruster firing called the Terminal Initiation, or TI burn, setting the stage for the final phase of the rendezvous with the Hubble Space Telescope.

"Atlantis will close the final miles to the telescope during the next orbit of Earth. During that time the shuttle’s rendezvous radar system will begin tracking Hubble by measuring the distance and rate of closure. Capture of Hubble will occur in a little over two hours." NASA specifies that the "actual grapple of the telescope using the shuttle’s robotic arm is scheduled for 12:54 p.m. EDT" (16:54 GMT). Back on Earth, engineers "continue to examine the images captured during Tuesday’s inspection of Atlantis’ thermal protection system and exterior surfaces".

This revealed "one area of damage on the forward part of the spacecraft where the wing blends into the fuselage". According to NASA this is "very minor and of no concern for the mission, and the flight team notified the crew late Tuesday that no focused inspection of that particular area is necessary". Atlantis's mission STS-125 will see five space walks, during which the crew will "refurbish, restore and renew the Hubble Space Telescope".

by William Harwood
May 10, 2009 12:53 PM PDT

The shuttle Atlantis' countdown is proceeding smoothly toward launch Monday on an $887 million mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope. Forecasters are predicting a 90 percent chance of acceptable weather in Florida and only a slight chance of showers near an emergency runway in Spain.

On Saturday, the shuttle's fuel cell system was loaded with liquid oxygen and hydrogen to power the ship's electrical generators and early Sunday, the main engine avionics system was activated and checked out. There are no technical problems of any significance at launch complex 39A, and engineers are on track preparing the spacecraft for fueling early Monday.

The three-hour fueling process is scheduled to begin around 4:51 a.m. If all goes well, commander Scott Altman, pilot Gregory C. Johnson, flight engineer and robot arm operator Megan McArthur, and spacewalkers John Grunsfeld, Michael Massimino, Andrew Feustel, and Michael Good will head for the pad around 10 a.m. to strap in for launch at 2:01:49 p.m.

The primary goals of NASA's fifth and final mission to service and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope are to install two new instruments--the Wide Field Camera 3 and the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph--six fresh batteries, six stabilizing gyroscopes, a replacement science data computer, a refurbished fine guidance sensor, and new insulation panels.

by Chris Matyszczyk
April 20, 2009 6:52 PM PDT

On Friday, I wrote about the killer who appeared to be using Craigslist to meet masseuses. Police said they believe he is responsible for the murder of Julissa Brisman, at the Marriott Copley Place in Boston, as well as several other incidents at Boston hotels.

On Monday, police announced that they have arrested Philip H. Markoff, 22, in connection with the murder. He is a premed student at Boston University, a school spokesman confirmed to the Boston Herald. Markoff has been charged with murder, unlawful possession of a firearm, and kidnapping. The Boston Herald quoted Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis as saying: "We are very, very happy to have this man off the street in such a timely way."

It appears that computer experts were among those police turned to in order to track down the suspect. Craigslist had already stated in these comment pages: "There appears to be a psycho on the loose around Boston. We always help the cops out fast with the help they need from us, but they tell us not to comment on current investigations."

6:24PM BST 20 Apr 2009

Prof Hawking, who works at the university, is undergoing tests at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge. A university spokesman said the 67-year-old physicist, who is best known for his book A Brief History of Time, was taken to Addenbrooke's by ambulance. "Professor Hawking is very ill," he added.

Prof Hawking suffers from motor neurone disease and is wheelchair bound. He speaks with the help of a voice synthesiser. He developed symptoms of the disease while studying in the 1960s and is one of the world's longest surviving sufferers. He has worked at Cambridge's Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics for more than 30 years and since 1979 has been the University's Lucasian Professor of Mathematics.

Prof Hawking was awarded a CBE in 1982, became a Companion of Honour in 1989 and is a Fellow of the Royal Society. He lives in Cambridge and has three children and one grandchild. Prof Hawking was born in Oxford but his family moved to St Albans, Hertfordshire, when he was eight. He studied at St Albans School before reading physics at University College Oxford then moving to Cambridge to carry out research in cosmology.

One of Prof Hawking's last public appearances was last September when he unveiled a £1 million clock erected at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. "Professor Hawking is very ill and has today been taken by ambulance to Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge," said the University spokesman. "He is undergoing tests. He has been unwell for a couple of weeks."

By Bill Ray
16th April 2009 13:30 GMT

Google's Latitude service proved an unwitting aid to police tracing a stolen purse in San Francisco, guiding the boys in blue to the miscreants in moments. The story comes from local-TV channel CBS-5, and relates the story of one Janina Valiente, who had her bag snatched while waiting for a bus.

The woman realised that Google's Latitude service would still be running on her phone and borrowed a passer-by's handset to call her sister. She was able to see the thieves progress to a nearby junction, where police apprehended them still holding the bag and contents. Latitude enables users to share their location with friends, or sisters, and Janina apparently installed the app as a joke so she could "stalk" her sister in LA, though it turned out to be rather more useful as CBS-5's video re-enactment demonstrates.

Network operators routinely track mobile phones, and store historical location information, but they charge police for this, and the faster the police want the information the more they have to pay, so they'd be very unlikely to bother for a nicked bag. But Google shares the information for free, so enabling the swift recovery of the bag at minimal expense.

Clearly we should all be signing up to Google's Latitude and putting a copper or two in as our friends. That way the police wouldn't have to pay the network operators for tracking information and technically-illiterate thieves would just have to target iPhone owners - who can't leave Latitude running in the background.

April 15, 2009

Chants like "Give me liberty, not debt" and "Our kids can't afford you" were heard across several U.S. cities Wednesday as anti-tax "tea party" protesters took to the streets to voice their opposition to big government spending.

Thousands of protesters -- some dressed in colonial wigs with tea bags hanging from their eyeglasses -- showed up in states from California to Kentucky to Massachusetts, holding signs and reading speeches lambasting the Obama administration's tax-and-spend policies. "I have two little kids and I know we are mortgaging their futures away," one protester at a rally in Austin, Texas told FOX News. "It makes me sick to my stomach."

The demonstrations are part of a larger grassroots movement against government spending called Taxed Enough Already, or TEA -- giving name to the Tax Day Tea Parties -- and come more than 235 years after the original Boston Tea Party revolt against taxes. Protesters gathered in cities across the country.

Shouts rang out from Kentucky, which just passed tax increases on cigarettes and alcohol, to Salt Lake City, where many in the crowd booed Republican Gov. Jon Huntsman for accepting about $1.5 billion in stimulus money. Even in Alaska, where there is no statewide income tax or sales tax, hundreds of people held signs and chanted "No more spending."

April 13, 2009

Adm. William Gortney said Monday that it took only three shots for Navy snipers to kill the trio of pirates holding captain Richard Phillips hostage on a lifeboat drifting in the high sea.

Interviewed from Bahrain, Gortney said the takedown happened shortly after the hostage-takers were observed by sailors aboard the USS Bainbridge "with their heads and shoulders exposed." Asked how the snipers could have killed each pirate with a single shot in the darkness, Gortney described them as "extremely, extremely well-trained."

He told NBC's "Today" show the shooting by the snipers was ordered by the captain of the Bainbridge after the pirates "exposed themselves" to attack. Military officials were widely praising the snipers for three flawless shots, which they described as remarkable, coming at night and from the stern of a ship on rolling waters.

Defense officials also indicated, speaking anonymously, that the Navy snipers got the go-ahead to fire after one of the pirates was seen holding an AK-47 so close to Phillips that the weapon appeared to be touching him. Two other pirates popped their heads up, giving snipers all three of their targets, one official said.

by Larry Dignan
April 8th, 2009 @ 7:22 am

Updated: Spies have reportedly been probing the U.S. electrical grid for months and planting software that could be activated at a future date, according to a Wall Street Journal. The report highlights the latest vulnerabilities facing U.S. power infrastructure.

The Journal notes that the spies are from China, Russia and other countries. While the news isn’t that surprising—given how vulnerable U.S. infrastructure is—it is notable because electrical grids were initially thought to be somewhat hacker proof until recently. Why? Grids run on an old mish-mash of software, which is often proprietary.

However, recent events indicate that so called SCADA systems—(Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition), which collect data from sensors and machines and send them to a centrally managed repository—are also at risk. To wit, last June Core Security detailed how SCADA systems were vulnerable. And even silly electronic road sign pranks show how SCADA systems are vulnerable. How bad is it? According to the Journal report, a SCADA attack may be a disaster waiting to happen.

The ability to hack into electric grids isn’t new–you can find reports here, here and here—and the usual techniques such as social engineering, exploits and other hijinks work well. In addition, the House Subcommittee on Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity, and Science and Technology had a big hearing on electric grid threats a year ago and the General Accountability Office has also highlighted the issues in a report on network controls.

April 01, 2009

LONDON -- President Barack Obama sought Wednesday to rally the world's top and emerging powers to help cope with a global economic downturn, saying, "We can only meet this challenge together."

The president also disputed criticism that the United States was feuding with other nations about the need to pump more money into economic stimulus policies, saying any differences are "vastly overstated." "I am absolutely confident that this meeting will reflect enormous consensus about the need to work in concert to deal with these problems," Obama said ahead of the G-20 economic crisis summit.

Obama prodded nations to spur growth and work together on regulatory reform, and not fall into the kind of protectionism and other mistakes that helped fuel the Great Depression. "That is a mistake that we cannot afford to repeat," Obama said alongside British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Obama called the world's economic challenge the most serious one since World War II.

He said he came on behalf of the United States to "listen, not to lecture." "Having said that," Obama added, "we must not miss an opportunity to lead." Asked about whether the U.S. was to blame for causing the economic slide, Obama said he preferred to look ahead, not back. He said he had no worries about the stability of the U.S. economic system.

March 31, 2009

TERRA BELLA, Calif., March 31, 2009 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ ----Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella, Inc. announced today that it is voluntarily recalling from nationwide distribution specific lots of bulk roasted shelled pistachios and 2,000 lbs., 1,700 lbs., 1,800 lbs. and 1,000 lbs. tote bags of roasted inshell pistachios sold to wholesale customers due to potential contamination with the Salmonella organism.

This voluntary recall affects certain bulk roasted inshell and roasted shelled pistachios shipped on or after September 1, 2008. The bulk product was distributed throughout the United States. The Company is voluntarily taking this precautionary measure after learning that a small amount of roasted shelled pistachios processed by Setton Pistachio and received by a commercial customer in late 2008 recently tested positive for Salmonella.

This voluntary recall is not in any way related to the recent recalls associated with peanuts or peanut butter. The Company is asking those firms who received bulk product and have further processed, repackaged, or distributed the affected products to recall those products and contact FDA. In addition, the company is voluntarily recalling the following retail product: Setton Farms brand roasted salted shelled pistachios in 9 oz. film bags, UPC Code: 034325020252 with a "Best Before" date between 01/06/10 and 01/19/10.

This product was distributed in the following states: SC, GA, FL, NC, VA, TN, KY. Consumers should not consume this product and should return what they may have to the place of purchase for a full refund. Setton has established a toll free number, (888) 228-3717 for consumers to call for further information. Salmonella can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems.

March. 1, 2009

Paul Harvey died Saturday in a Phoenix hospital near his winter home. The radio broadcasting legend was 90. The "Chicago Tribune" quotes Bruce DuMont, president of the Museum of Broadcast Communications saying of Harvey, he was "the most listened to man in the history of radio. Tom Langmyer, WGN Radio Vice President and General Manager said, "Paul Harvey was one of the greatest broadcasters of all time. He wove stories of life together in a way that will never be matched." Read more atarkansasmatters.com.

By Maura Judkis
March 02, 2009 11:20 AM ET

Google changed its nameplate this morning to honor Theodore Geisel, or Dr. Seuss, who would have been 105 today. The search engine's name is spelled out by some of his most beloved characters, but one of his best is not among them. The tale of the Lorax was Seuss' environmental fable published in 1971.

In it, he speaks out against the destruction of the environment through the Lorax, a sage figure who speaks for the trees, only to watch his habitat destroyed by an unsustainable business. After the plants are killed and the animals leave the barren wasteland behind, the polluting Once-ler realizes the terrible mistake he's made, and urges a young boy to plant the last-ever Truffula seed to restore the beauty of the land.

(And to give this a news peg, we recently learned that our consumption of soft toilet paper, instead of paper from recycled fiber, may be a worse environmental sin than driving a Hummer. Truffula trees?) Just for fun, here's a clip of the beginning of the TV special based on the book.

February 17, 2009

President Obama will dispatch more than 17,000 troops to Afghanistan, the White House announced Tuesday. "This reinforcement will contribute to the security of the Afghan people and to stability in Afghanistan," Obama said in a statement.

"I recognize the extraordinary strain that this deployment places on our troops and military families. I honor their service, and will give them the support they need." Obama said the deteriorating security in Afghanistan made the troop increase necessary, adding that the country has not received the strategic attention or resources it needs. Although 17,000 troops have been authorized to go, the Pentagon identified and mobilized only about 12,000.

Of those troops, 8,000 will be Marines and the 4,000 others will comprise an Army Stryker Brigade.The additional 5,000 troops will be identified and announced at a later date. But sources provided FOX News with the identity of all 17,000 troops: 10,000 will be Marines stationed in the South; 3,800 with an Army Stryker Brigade; 1,000 Special Operations Force trainers and 3,200 force enablers.

Obama also said he is withdrawing some U.S. troops from Iraq. He said that will give the Pentagon more flexibility in shifting troops to Afghanistan. The troop increase is a down payment on a larger influx of U.S. forces that has been widely expected this year. It will get a few thousand forces in place in time for the increase in fighting that usually comes with warmer weather and ahead of national midyear elections.

By Jon Stokes
February 16, 2009 8:30

It took a major recession with accelerating unemployment to make it happen, but the feds are finally getting serious about cracking down on abuses of the H-1B immigrant visa program. Still, Ars argues that we should "mend it, not end it," especially with American job loses mounting.

Back before I gave up on the beat, I used to write quite a bit about abuses of the H-1B program, particularly by technology companies who exploited the program and foreign-born workers for cheap labor. Why did I give up? Covering the issue became a waste of time, because the government wouldn't actively investigate the program, and a mere shouting match between nativist anti-H-1B activists and the program's supporters is only interesting for so long when there are no new developments.

But this past Thursday, there was, at long last, a real development: a federal grand jury indicted 11 people in six states for using the H-1B program to commit immigration fraud, and specifically for violating prevailing wage laws. "What we found here is that some folks have found some ways to make misrepresentations to the government that disadvantage American workers who did not have the opportunity to apply for the real jobs that existed," US Citizenship and Immigration Services official Michael Aytes told CNN-IBN.

All 11 of those indicted were Indian nationals who worked for Vision Systems Group, and there are at least five other companies under investigation. An Iowa US Attorney involved in the case told BusinessWeek that the government is only "at the tip of the iceberg" with these initial investigations and expects to uncover much more fraud.