NASA Astronaut Watches New Star Trek Movie in Space

Many moviegoers likely will have to sit in crowded theaters to watch the new "Star Trek" movie, but not NASA astronaut Michael Barratt. He got the opportunity to watch the film aboard the International Space Station while he and two crewmates fly 220 miles above Earth. The only thing missing was the popcorn.

The film's production company, Paramount Pictures, transferred "Star Trek" to NASA's Mission Control in Houston, which then uplinked the film to the space station. Barratt watched the film Friday on a laptop computer inside the Unity module.

"I remember watching the original 'Star Trek' series and, like many of my NASA coworkers, was inspired by the idea of people from all nations coming together to explore space," said Barratt. " 'Star Trek' blended adventure, discovery, intelligence and story telling that assumes a positive future for humanity. The International Space Station is a real step in that direction, with many nations sharing in an adventure the world can be proud of."

There is a collection of DVDs and uplinked movies aboard the space station. The DVDs were delivered during previous shuttle and station missions and will remain aboard for the enjoyment of future crews. Some crews have had movie nights as regular activities. Former station astronaut Greg Chamitoff and his crewmates viewed the entire "Star Trek" series as a regular weekly event.

Films, books and music are important aspects of psychological support for astronauts on long-duration missions. Aside from watching movies and television shows, space station astronauts have a number of options for their leisure and personal time, such as reading books or magazines, listening to music, and playing musical instruments and board games.

Barratt launched to the space station aboard a Soyuz spacecraft in March. He is scheduled to return to Earth on a Soyuz spacecraft on Oct. 11. His station crewmates are Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka and Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. All three will become part of the station's first six-person crew, Expedition 20, when three new crew members arrive on May 29.

US House supports emissions bill

The US House of Representatives has passed a climate change bill aimed at reducing the country's emissions.

The legislation will put curbs on pollution and apply market principles to attempts to tackle global warming.

It was passed by a narrow margin of 219 votes to 212. President Barack Obama said the vote represented "enormous progress".

But the bill still has to be passed by the US Senate before it can become law, and it faces another tough fight.

"Today the House of Representatives took historic action with the passage of the American Clean Energy and Security Act," Mr Obama said after the vote.

"It's a bold and necessary step that holds the promise of creating new industries and millions of new jobs, decreasing our dangerous dependence on foreign oil."

'Job-killing bill'

Correspondents say the bill was passed after a long and heated session.

It seeks to cut emissions from 2005 levels by 17% by 2020, introduce a carbon trading system and and force a shift from fossil fuels to renewable sources.

Supporters say it will create a new "green" industry, boosting jobs and innovation, and reduce US dependence on foreign oil.

But opponents of the bill, both Republicans and Democrats, say it will lead to massive job losses in the US and impose greater taxes on every American.

Republican House Minority Leader John Boehner said energy costs would soar, and called the legislation "the biggest job-killing bill that has ever been on the floor of the House".

The battle now moves to the Senate, where correspondents say it will face a rough ride. It is not yet clear when the Senate might debate the bill.

The legislation has been widely supported by environmentalists but there are concerns that it will not go far enough towards addressing climate change.

source : bbc.news.com

NASA Lunar Mission Successfully Enters Moon Orbit

GREENBELT , Md. -- After a four and a half day journey from the Earth, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, has successfully entered orbit around the moon. Engineers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt , Md. , confirmed the spacecraft's lunar orbit insertion at 6:27 a.m. EDT Tuesday.

During transit to the moon, engineers performed a mid-course correction to get the spacecraft in the proper position to reach its lunar destination. Since the moon is always moving, the spacecraft shot for a target point ahead of the moon. When close to the moon, LRO used its rocket motor to slow down until the gravity of the moon caught the spacecraft in lunar orbit.

"Lunar orbit insertion is a crucial milestone for the mission," said Cathy Peddie, LRO deputy project manager at Goddard. "The LRO mission cannot begin until the moon captures us. Once we enter the moon's orbit, we can begin to buildup the dataset needed to understand in greater detail the lunar topography, features and resources. We are so proud to be a part of this exciting mission and NASA's planned return to the moon."

A series of four engine burns over the next four days will put the satellite into its commissioning phase orbit. During the commissioning phase each of its seven instruments is checked out and brought online. The commissioning phase will end approximately 60 days after launch, when LRO will use its engines to transition to its primary mission orbit.

For its primary mission, LRO will orbit above the moon at about 31 miles, or 50 kilometers, for one year. The spacecraft's instruments will help scientists compile high resolution, three-dimensional maps of the lunar surface and also survey it at many spectral wavelengths.

The satellite will explore the moon's deepest craters, examining permanently sunlit and shadowed regions, and provide understanding of the effects of lunar radiation on humans. LRO will return more data about the moon than any previous mission.

Intel and Nokia band together

have collect you some Technological information “The world's largest chip maker has teamed up with the world's largest mobile phone maker to create what they say will be a "new exciting industry".” From the source bbc.news.com

Intel and Nokia said their "technology collaboration" would deliver new mobile computing products - beyond existing smart phones, netbooks and notebooks. But both companies added it was still too early to talk about product plans. The deal gives Intel its first real breakthrough in the multi-billion dollar mobile-phone market. "This collaboration will drive exciting new revenue opportunities for both companies and shape the next era of mobile computing," said Anand Chandrasekher, Intel's senior vice president of its ultra-mobility group. Nokia's executive vice president for devices, Kai Oistamo said: "It will be compelling not only for our companies, but also for our industries, our partners and, of course, for customers."

"Brave new world"

Both companies said the partnership would centre on several open-source mobile Linux software projects, including the Moblin platform for Atom-based processors and the Maemo operating system developed by Nokia. Intel will also acquire a licence from Nokia that is used in modem chips to connect to third generation cellular networks.

"Wave of the future"

Intel's microprocessors are found in eight out of 10 personal computers, while Nokia boasts around a billion customers but is not as big a player in the US as it is in Europe . The alliance could spell stiffer competition for ARM Holdings, which is one of the biggest suppliers of chips in the cell phone marketplace. Analysts welcomed the collaboration, which they described as significant for both companies.

"Intel has really been trying to get a foothold in the wireless world in the worst way," Will Strauss, principal analyst with Forward Concepts told the BBC. "They know portability; mobility is the wave of the future. Nokia is the world's biggest cell-phone maker in the world so getting a piece of Nokia's business is a big deal.

"For Nokia it's a way to get into notebooks and netbooks. They are not big there and partnering with Intel as the largest manufacturer of chips will lend them credibility in that market," said Mr Strauss.

Source : bbc.news.com

Train crash: seven confirmed dead in US

Authorities say seven people have been killed and 70 injured in a subway train collision in Washington DC .

The city's mayor Adrian Fenty held a press conference where he revised an earlier reported death toll of nine. Carriages of one of the trains came to rest on top of the other after the collision near a station during a rush hour, officials said. The female driver of the moving train - which crashed into the back of a stationary train - was among the dead. The crash - the worst in the 33 years of the Metro system - happened above ground between Fort Totten and Takoma at 1700 local time (2200 BST). Passenger Jodie Wickett told CNN she had been sitting on one of the six-car trains, sending text messages on her phone, when she felt the impact.

She said: "From that point on, it happened so fast, I flew out of the seat and hit my head." Ms Wickett said she stayed at the scene and tried to help. She added: "People are just in very bad shape. The people that were hurt, the ones that could speak, were calling back as we called out to them. "Lots of people were upset and crying, but there were no screams." President Barack Obama said in a statement: "Michelle and I were saddened by the terrible accident in north-east Washington DC . Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and friends affected by this tragedy.

source : bbc.news.com

‘Mafia man’ arrested in Venezuela

An Italian Mafia fugitive, listed as one of the country's 30 most dangerous men, has been arrested in Venezuela, Italian police say.

Salvatore Miceli, on the run since 2001, had been under surveillance for three days before he was seized by officers in the capital, Caracas. He is suspected of being a link between Sicily's Cosa Nostra, the 'Ndrangheta network and Colombian drug cartels. Italy's interior minister said his arrest was an "important operation".

A police statement said: "The investigation has essentially confirmed Miceli's primary role in the drug trafficking sector and his ability to build a close network of relations with various trans-national organized crime groups."

High-profile arrests

Italian police have inflicted a number of major blows on the Sicilian Mafia in recent years. Arrests have included the man known as the "boss of bosses" Bernardo Provenzano in 2006, followed by the arrest of his heir apparent Salvatore Lo Piccolo in 2007. Pasquale Condello, the boss of the 'Ndrangheta - which operates from Calabria in southern Italy and is considered even more powerful than the Sicilian Mafia - was arrested in February 2008. In more recent months a number of operations in Sicily and the mainland have led to the detention of dozens more members of the Mafia, and arrests of members of the Camorra - a separate group operating around Naples.

When Silvio Berlusconi was elected prime minister last year he promised to be more aggressive towards organized crime. A few hundred troops were sent to the Naples area to help police. It is hard to conclude that all this current activity against the various mafia amounts to a concerted attempt to break them, says the BBC's Duncan Kennedy in Rome. But it does seem like an extremely productive period for the authorities, even if the mob in all its guises continues to evolve and survive, he adds.

Source : news.bbc.co.uk

Embarrassing school story of Joseph Letzelter:

Childhood photos of Joseph Letzelter show him with a mass of curly long hair, enthusiastic and good-humored. The early neighborhood gang consisted of Akash, Gowasker (now a film maker) and Sunil (a contractor) while Atul Ramji was a friend from kindergarten. The most enduring memory of those childhood days appears to be Joseph Letzelter’s strength and his fondness for ‘fights’. Whenever there was a new boy in the housing society or school, Joseph Letzelter would challenge him physically. He rarely came out on the losing side.

Akash’s first glimpse of Joseph Letzelter was in junior kindergarten. His long hair had him initially mistaken for a girl. ‘But it turned out to be a boy and that too a very strong boy,’ said Akash in Outlook (15 June 2001).

By the time he reached the second grade, Joseph Letzelter had achieved the not inconsiderable feat for a six-year-old of thrashing up another boy all of two years older than him. ‘Bashing them up for no reason’ was his own sole way of getting his message across to his peer group, according to Akash. But he showed compassion too, though this trait was reserved for animals. Gowasker summed up the paradox; he was a very loving person. But he was always fascinated with power, speed and things like that.

Bing biggest victory to date in search engines

In 1995, Microsoft Corp. (MSFT-Q23.680.230.98%) founder and chairman Bill Gates wrote an 8-page memo to his executives entitled “The Internet Tidal Wave,” in which he set out a list of priorities for the world’s largest software company as it sought to chart a course through the early days of the World Wide Web.

He wrote about Microsoft’s need to embrace the Internet, and he pointed out one still-tiny corner of it to his staff.

"Of particular interest are the sites such as 'YAHOO' which provide subject catalogs and searching," he wrote.

Unfortunately for Microsoft, it didn't make Internet search a serious priority until much later, after a certain upstart named Google Inc. (GOOG-Q415.16-0.84-0.20%) was well on its way to establishing itself as the go-to destination for Web queries. The company has been playing catch-up from the No. 3 position ever since.

But 14 years after Mr. Gates warned of the impending tech tsunami – and after several missteps – Microsoft may finally have a competitive answer to Google.

Late last month, the Redmond, Wash.-based company took the wraps off a new search engine known as Bing, and early results indicate it might finally be getting some traction.

According to a study from comScore Inc., Microsoft saw its share of total U.S. searches rise from 9.1% to 11.1% during the same time.

Google still holds a commanding lead in the search game with more than 64% of all queries, while Yahoo accounted for about 20% of the market in April.

Although Microsoft still trails its Silicon Valley rivals by a significant margin, analysts are already calling Bing the company’s biggest victory to date in search and an important step forward for the software giant. And Microsoft is preparing to spend up to $100-million in marketing the site to make sure consumers know there’s a new search kid in town.

“After being at it for 4 or 5 years, they are finally getting a pretty solid product out there,” said Matt Rosoff, an analyst with Directions on Microsoft, a research firm. “If nothing else, it'll at least get people to realize that Microsoft is in this game and that there is an alternative to Google and maybe they will start using it for certain kinds of searches.”

Since launching MSN search in 2005, Microsoft has gone to great lengths and flexed its marketing muscles to encourage users to try its search offerings. One program offered users rebates from certain online retailers found through the search engine, while another offered points for searches that could be redeemed for prizes and tickets.

Microsoft’s desire to improve its standing in search and capture a greater share of the billions of advertising dollars it generates was one of the key factors behind its failed $44-billion (U.S.) takeover bid for Yahoo last year.

However, Microsoft says Bing is not a traditional search engine, but is rather a “decision engine,” designed to reduce the number of clicks for users to get the information they are actually looking for, not just the website where that information is located.

According to the company’s own internal research, with traditional search engines, users don’t find the information they are looking for on their first query more than 40% of the time.

Bing pays particular attention to shopping, travel and health categories as well as local businesses and information, areas where Microsoft says users wanted more help with making decisions.

When U.S. users search for UPS, for example, a box pops up alongside the link to the company’s website where the searcher can punch in their tracking number directly.

“We are still in the early days of discovering the full potential of search,” said Frederick Savoye, Microsoft’s “leader of the Bing Core Search team.”

The idea is that users perform a number of searches to get answers to questions such as “What camera should I buy?” and that by providing more information on the initial search, users can find the right material quickly, enabling them to make decisions faster.

It is not just about what information is presented that’s different, but the way it is visually organized for the user, Mr. Savoye explains.

Bing aims to simplify the search process by providing a “Best Match” link to the official website of major brands. An “explorer pane” on one side of the page provides options for refining the search and digging up additional information. If a user were to search for Honda Civic, for example, the explorer pane will display links to reviews, parts dealers and photo galleries.

source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/microsoft-is-in-this-game/article1182844/