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Archive for August, 2011

The U.S. Military’s Plan for London-Like Riots

August 12, 2011 Comments off

theatlanticwire

With British Prime Minister David Cameron authorizing the use of rubber bullets and water canons in wake of the turbulent London riots spreading through Britain, questions have been raised about how authorities in the U.S. would respond to a similar domestic disturbance threatening the nation’s stability. According to National Journal‘s White House correspondent Marc Ambinder the U.S. already has a game plan in place. “If what happened in London ever happened in the US, the military has plans — CONPLAN 3501 and 3502 — to suppress the ‘insurrection,’ he tweeted. The mysterious reference to a numbered military plan generated a flurry of interest on Twitter as NPR host Michele Norris shot back:”I want to know more about the military’s plan to suppress any potential ‘insurrection.’– CONPLAN 3501 and 3502????”

Interestingly, the CONPLAN (which stands for Read more…

Categories: London, Riots, Uncategorized, United States Tags: , , , ,

Pakistan successfully launches communication satellite

August 12, 2011 Comments off

paktribune

XICHANG: Pakistan successfully launched into space its state-of-the-art PakSat-1R communication satellite here from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China`s Sichuan Province, late Thursday night.

A select group of senior Pakistani officials witnessed the Long March-3B rocket successfully carrying the communication satellite from the launch pad here with rounds of applause and jubilations visible on their faces.

Prominent among those present included Director General SPD Lt. General (Retd.) Khalid Ahmed Kidwai, Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir, Pakistan`s Ambassador to China Masood Khan, Secretary Defence Lt. General (Retd) Syed Ather Ali and Chairman Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO), Major General Ahmed Bilal, besides senior officials from the Chinese government.

PakSat-1R, a geostationary and advanced communication satellite, has been Read more…

Categories: China, Pakistan, Technology Tags: , , , , ,

Unusual Fault Pattern Surfaces in Earthquake Study

August 12, 2011 Comments off

spacedaily


This 3-D view of the surface rupture of the April 4, 2010, El Mayor-Cucapah earthquake (red line) reveals a new fault line connecting the Gulf of California with the Elsinore fault, which could become a major part of the boundary between the Pacific and the North America Plates. Image credit: Caltech Tectonics Observatory

Like scars that remain on the skin long after a wound has healed, earthquake fault lines can be traced on Earth’s surface long after their initial rupture. Typically, this line of intersection between the area where the fault slips and the ground is more complicated at the surface than at depth.

But a new study of the April 4, 2010, El Mayor-Cucapah earthquake in Mexico reveals a reversal of this trend. While the fault involved in the event appeared to be superficially straight, the fault zone is warped and complicated at depth.

The study-led by researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and documenting findings from the magnitude 7.2 event, which was centered in the Baja California state of Mexico-is available online in the journal Nature Geoscience.

The El Mayor-Cucapah earthquake happened along a system of Read more…

Categories: Earth changes Tags: , , , ,

Facial recognition in use after riots

August 12, 2011 Comments off

AP

AP PhotoLONDON (AP) — Facial recognition technology being considered for London’s 2012 Games is getting a workout in the wake of Britain’s riots, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press on Thursday, with officers feeding photographs of suspects through Scotland Yard’s newly updated face-matching program.

The official said that the Metropolitan Police’s sophisticated software was being used to help find those suspected of being involved in the worst unrest the force has faced in a generation, although he cautioned that police had a host of other strategies at their disposal.

“A lot of tools are being used to hunt down these criminals, and that’s just one of them,” the official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about an ongoing investigation. “The issue is that you have to have a good picture of a suspect and it is only useful if you have something to match it against. In other words, the Read more…

Categories: Biometrics, London, Riots Tags: , , , ,

Electronic skin tattoo has medical, gaming, spy uses-Mark of the Beast?

August 12, 2011 Comments off

A hair-thin electronic patch that adheres to the skin like a temporary tattoo could transform medical sensing, computer gamingand even spy operations, according to a US study published Thursday.

The micro-electronics technology, called an epidermal electronic system (EES), was developed by an international team of researchers from the United States, China and Singapore, and is described in the journal Science.

“It’s a technology that blurs the distinction between Read more…

Categories: Biotechnology, Technology Tags: , , , , , ,

Superfast Military Aircraft Crashed in Pacific Ocean, DARPA Says

August 12, 2011 Comments off
Falcon Hypersonic HTV-2 Payload Fairing Jettisoned
The Falcon hypersonic HTV-2 aircraft emerges from its payload fairing before gliding back to Earth.
CREDIT: DARPA

This story was updated at 5:42 p.m. ET.

An unmanned military plane billed as the “fastest aircraft ever built” crashed into the Pacific Ocean today (Aug. 11) after a malfunction caused it to stop sending signals while flying at more than 20 times the speed of sound, military officials said.

The flying prototype, called the Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 (HTV-2), plunged into the ocean after shifting into a mode that allows it to fly Mach 20, or about 13,000 mph, according to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which oversaw the Read more…

Categories: military, United States Tags: , , , , ,

Iran, Brazil discuss expansion of ties

August 12, 2011 Comments off

Ali Ahani

presstv
During the meeting, the two sides called for “the speedy implementation of agreements” reached by Iran and Brazil in the past, IRIB reported.

The Iranian and Brazilian officials also emphasized the importance of further interactions among political, economic and parliamentary institutions of the two countries.

The Brazilian deputy foreign minister described Iran as one of “the important partners of Brazil” and an “influential” country in the world.

Louisa noted that Tehran and Brasilia will attempt to Read more…

Categories: Brazil, Iran Tags: , , ,

UN wants new global currency to replace dollar

August 12, 2011 Comments off
telegraph

The dollar should be replaced with a global currency, the United Nations has said, proposing the biggest overhaul of the world’s monetary system since the Second World War.
Crumpled dollar bill - UN wants new global currency to replace dollar

A number of countries, including China and Russia, have suggested replacing the dollar as the world’s reserve currency

In a radical report, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has said the system of currencies and capital rules which binds the world economy is not working properly, and was largely responsible for the financial and economic crises.

It added that the present system, under which the dollar acts as the world’s reserve currency , should be subject to a wholesale reconsideration.

Although a number of countries, including China and Russia, have suggested replacing the dollar as the world’s reserve currency, the UNCTAD report is the first time a major multinational institution has posited such a suggestion.

In essence, the report calls for Read more…

Categories: Dollar, United Nations, United States Tags: , , , , , , ,

Russia developing new air defense systems

August 11, 2011 Comments off

rian.ru

Russia developing new air defense systems

Russia is developing two air defense systems as part of future multilayered aerospace defense network, Air Force Commander Col. Gen. Alexander Zelin said on Tuesday.

“The Morfey is a short-range air defense system with effective range of five kilometers,” Zelin said. “It is designed to protect military installations and has both active and passive weapons [launchers and radars].”

Another system, the Vityaz, is a further development of the S-300 medium-range air defense system, whose combat capabilities largely surpass those of its predecessor.

“In fact, it could be considered a brand new system,” Zelin said, adding that the Vityaz would have a launcher with 16 missiles compared to only four on the S-300.

Both systems will complement the Read more…

Categories: military, Russia Tags: ,

China quake measuring 5.8 leaves 26 injured

August 11, 2011 Comments off

ibnlive

Beijing: Twenty-six people were injured, three of them critically, and a number of houses damaged when a 5.8-magnitude earthquake on Thursday hit northwest China, the official media said.

The epicentre of the quake was at the border area between the region’s Atux City in the Kizilsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture and Jiashi County in Kashghar, state news agency Xinhua reported.

The quake that struck Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region occurred at 6:06 pm local time, the China Earthquake Networks Center said.

The quake that struck Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region occurred at 6:06 pm local time.

It has also toppled more than 30 units of housing, according to a spokesman with the Jiashi County Committee of the Communist Party of China.

Two days ago three persons were injured and more than 40,000 people affected when a 5.2-magnitude earthquake hit southwest Yunnan Province.

Categories: China, Earthquake Tags: , ,