Elon Musk: Mars base will open the way to other stars

The SpaceX founder says he'd like to "die on Mars". Why the obsession with going to the Red Planet?

Why are you so keen to get humans to Mars?
Because this is the first time in 4 billion years of Earth's history that it has been possible. That window may be open for a long time - and I hope it is - but it may not be. We should take advantage just in case something bad happens. It wouldn't necessarily be that humanity gets eliminated; it could just be a drop in technology.

Why go to Mars, when advances in telepresent robotics could give us all the physical sensations of being there?
Maybe I'm just being romantic but I do think there is some value to being there in person. We can learn a lot from robotics but it is no substitute for being there. And having a base on Mars, where there is a lot of travel to and from Earth, will create a powerful incentive for developing technology that will enable us to travel to other star systems.

Like the exoplanet recently found in Alpha Centauri 4 light years away?
I think you could figure out how to get there. With a nuclear thermal rocket you could definitely reach a tenth of the speed of light. It would take 40 years, though, which is a long time. You'd have to start off not too old if you wanted to see it.

What could change that?
There are some interesting things I've seen lately about warp drives. You can't exceed the speed of light but you can warp space and effectively travel many times the speed of light. That's kind of exciting. People have found increasingly smarter ways of minimising the energy required [to warp space]. Before, you would need the mass-energy of Jupiter.

Is a warp drive something that SpaceX, your space exploration company, could use?
Sure we'd love to have a warp drive. I'm not going to hold my breath on that one.

As a pioneer, is it nerve-wracking to know that the world is watching you and SpaceX?
I'm getting more comfortable with it. It was super-white knuckles in the beginning. We made many mistakes. We only made orbit on the fourth flight. We reached the edge of space on flights 2 and 3, but didn't have enough velocity. If flight 4 hadn't worked, it would have been curtains for SpaceX.

Your Dragon capsule has just returned cargo from the International Space Station. When will you start taking astronauts?
We're hoping to do our first flight with people in three years. Actually, if somebody were to stowaway on the present version of Dragon they'd be able to go to the space station and be fine.

Will you be on the first crewed flight?
It's really up to NASA, our customer. I used to do quite dangerous things, like flying a fighter jet at low altitude. Then I had kids and companies and I want to see them grow up, so I've curtailed my dangerous activities. I'd like to go up, but I won't be the first. The very first flight will be on automatic pilot, so there will be no people on board.

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PM Lee meets former US National Security Advisor Scowcroft at Istana

SINGAPORE: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong met former US National Security Advisor General Brent Scowcroft at the Istana on Monday morning.

Mr Scowcroft is also President of the Scowcroft Group, an international business advisory firm.

PM Lee and General Scowcroft exchanged views on a wide range of issues, including developments in the US as well as international and regional developments, according to Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

While in Singapore, General Scowcroft will also meet Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Law Mr K Shanmugam and former Minister Mentor Mr Lee Kuan Yew.

- CNA/jc

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Chrome gains a mobile foothold -- on Android only

The mobile browser market is more volatile than the PC browser market, but Apple consistently keeps the top spot. Chrome now accounts for more than 1 percent of mobile browser usage, Net Applications has found.

(Credit:
data from Net Applications; chart by Stephen Shankland/CNET)

Chrome has made a dent in the
mobile browser market -- but only on
Android so far.

Although Google released Chrome for iOS in June, the browser accounted for only 0.01 percent of browser usage on iOS in November, Net Applications' latest statistics show. On Android, it was 4.03 percent for the month, and in the mobile market overall, it reached 1.14 percent of usage.

Chrome is available only for Android devices running version 4.0 or later of the mobile operating system, which means most people can't use it even if they want to. On iOS, Chrome uses Apple's version of the WebKit rendering engine, as required by Apple rules, but wraps it with Google's user interface and other extras. Chrome is "exceptionally profitable" for Google because it drives search traffic and because Google doesn't have to share resulting ad revenue with other browser makers.

In that mobile market, Apple's
Safari continues to dominate with 61.5 percent of usage among people who visited the Web site that use Net Applications' analytics software. Android's unbranded browser has been rising through the second-place ranks, up to 26.1 percent of usage in November from 16.4 percent a year earlier.

Google's mobile-browser growth has come at the expense of the former No. 2, Opera Mini, which has plunged from 20.1 percent in November 2011 ago to 7.0 percent in November 2012. Opera Mini is popular on older-generation phones, but the Norwegian company is struggling to transfer that usage to modern smartphones. It's still ahead of Firefox, which doesn't even show in Net Applications' statistics, though Mozilla has begun pushing hard for influence in the mobile market.

Microsoft's IE leads the desktop browser market, with Chrome and Firefox jockeying for second place.

(Credit:
data from Net Applications; chart by Stephen Shankland/CNET)

Mobile browsing -- that done with smartphones and tablets -- now accounts for 10.4 percent of all browser usage. On personal computers, which was responsible for 89.3 percent of browser usage in November, the market is much more stable.

Here, Internet Explorer maintained its lead with 54.8 percent of usage. Second-place Firefox reclaimed a bit of lost ground lost in October to reach 20.4 percent in November. Chrome dropped to 17.2 percent; Safari and Opera were mostly level at 5.3 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively.

Mobile browser usage has surpassed a tenth of all browsing, according to Net Applications

(Credit:
data from Net Applications; chart by Stephen Shankland/CNET)

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Photos: Kilauea Lava Reaches the Sea

• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Into the Sea

  Photograph by Hugh Gentry, Reuters

  A spectacular natural phenomenon was on display early this week as lava from a vent in Hawaii's Kilauea volcano flowed into the ocean, sending up plumes of steam as it made contact with the waves.

  Though lava can still be viewed from Kalapana near the Big Island's Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, ocean entry is no longer occurring, according to the National Park Service.

  Published November 30, 2012

  
  











• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Sea of Fire

  
  Photograph by Hugh Gentry, Reuters
  

  The lava traveled 7 miles (11 kilometers) from Kilauea’s Pu'u O'o vent to the ocean. When lava reaches the water, it cools and hardens, forming a lava delta that can be dangerous to nearby onlookers, according to Reuters.

  The news service reported that no communities on the Big Island were threatened by the lava flow.

  Published November 30, 2012

  
  











• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Volcanic Flare

  
  Photograph by Hugh Gentry, Reuters
  

  A burst of volcanic activity erupts from Kilauea’s crater in Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park on November 27.

  The volcano has been erupting continuously for nearly 30 years. No major damage has been suffered by a town since 1986, according to Reuters.

  Published November 30, 2012

  
  











• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Fiery Encounter

  Photograph by Hugh Gentry, Reuters

  “Ocean entries are beautiful but dangerous,” said Janet Babb, spokeswoman for the U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, in a statement reported by Reuters. She warned that the steam could be more hazardous than it appears.

  Published November 30, 2012

  
  











• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Point of Contact

  
  Photograph by Matt Northam, My Shot
  

  A plume of smoke billows where lava from Kilauea meets the sea in this aerial photo taken November 27.

  Published November 30, 2012

  
  











• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Photograph by Peter Vancoillie, Your Shot

  Published November 30, 2012

  
  

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Boehner on Fiscal Cliff Talks: 'You Can't Be Serious'

President Obama and his White House team appear to have drawn a line in the sand in talks with House Republicans on the "fiscal cliff."

Tax rates on the wealthy are going up, the only question is how much?

"Those rates are going to have to go up," Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner flatly stated on ABC's "This Week." "There's no responsible way we can govern this country at a time of enormous threat, and risk, and challenge ... with those low rates in place for future generations."

But the president's plan, which Geithner delivered last week, has left the two sides far apart.

In recounting his response today on "Fox News Sunday," House Speaker John Boehner said: "I was flabbergasted. I looked at him and said, 'You can't be serious.'

"The president's idea of negotiation is: Roll over and do what I ask," Boehner added.

The president has never asked for so much additional tax revenue. He wants another $1.6 trillion over the next 10 years, including returning the tax rate on income above $250,000 a year to 39.6 percent.

TOBY JORRIN/AFP/Getty Images

Obama Balances Fiscal Cliff, Defense Department Appointment Watch Video

Boehner is offering half that, $800 billion.

In exchange, the president suggests $600 billion in cuts to Medicare and other programs. House Republicans say that is not enough, but they have not publicly listed what they would cut.

Geithner said the ball is now in the Republicans' court, and the White House is seemingly content to sit and wait for Republicans to come around.

"They have to come to us and tell us what they think they need. What we can't do is to keep guessing," he said.

The president is also calling for more stimulus spending totaling $200 billion for unemployment benefits, training, and infrastructure projects.

"All of this stimulus spending would literally be more than the spending cuts that he was willing to put on the table," Boehner said.

Boehner also voiced some derision over the president's proposal to strip Congress of power over the country's debt level, and whether it should be raised.

"Congress is not going to give up this power," he said. "It's the only way to leverage the political process to produce more change than what it would if left alone."

The so-called fiscal cliff, a mixture of automatic tax increases and spending cuts, is triggered on Jan. 1 if Congress and the White House do not come up with a deficit-cutting deal first.

The tax increases would cost the average family between $2,000 and $2,400 a year, which, coupled with the $500 billion in spending cuts, will most likely put the country back into recession, economists say.

Read More..

Tiny tug of war in cells underpins life

TUG of war could well be the oldest game in the world. Cells use it for division, and now researchers have measured the forces involved when an amoeba plays the game.

Hirokazu Tanimoto and Masaki Sano at the University of Tokyo, Japan, studied what happens during the division of Dictyostelium - a slime mould that has barely changed through eons of evolution. The amoeba uses tiny projections or "feet" to gain traction on a surface.

The pair placed the amoeba on a flexible surface embedded with fluorescent beads. They used traction force microscopy to measure how the organism deformed the pattern of beads: the greater the deformation, the greater the force.

Dictyostelium normally exerts a force of about 10 nanonewtons when it moves, but the pair found this roughly doubles during division. That's because the cell uses its feet to pull itself in opposite directions, as if playing tug of war with itself.

The forces involved are about 100 billion times smaller than those used in the human form of the game, Tanimoto says (Physical Review Letters, in press).

If you would like to reuse any content from New Scientist, either in print or online, please contact the syndication department first for permission. New Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available for use of articles and graphics we own the copyright to.

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Deal or no deal? Online discounters face woes

NEW YORK: It looks like a tough sell for the online daily deals sector.

After much excitement last year and a hyped public offering from Groupon, the main players are now focusing on saving money themselves as consumers show deal fatigue.

Sector leader Groupon, which went public a year ago with an offering at $20 a share, has seen its stock slide some 80 per cent. This week, chief executive Andrew Mason kept his job despite swirling rumors that he was to be ousted.

Rival LivingSocial said meanwhile it was cutting 400 jobs, or nearly 10 per cent of its staff, in a retrenchment which follows big losses for the company.

Lou Kerner of The Social Internet Fund said these firms are in trouble because of a "bubble" which inflated their value based on unrealistic expectations.

"Shoppers are very excited about the coupons at first, but over time they get fatigued and usage drops off. The business model needs to evolve," Kerner said.

The firms aim to make money by selling members deals for discounts on activities, items or services and then splitting the money with the businesses involved.

Both firms have been seeking to diversify, but have been struggling to become profitable.

"People dramatically overestimated the value of their email lists," Kerner told AFP.

"They have a lot of emails, which is valuable, and people like deals... But they need to get better deals that work better for merchants, that are more attractive to the buyers."

LivingSocial spokesman Andrew Weinstein said in an email that the Washington-based firm is seeking to realign costs "after two years of hyper-growth" in a move to "help us set the company on a path for long-term growth and profitability."

LivingSocial remains privately held, but Amazon, which owns a stake in the firm, has been forced to take a write-down of $169 million recently on that investment under accounting rules requiring a charge against earnings to reflect the lower estimated value of the company.

Groupon in November reported a loss of $3 million in results that came up shy of most analyst forecasts for a small profit, creating more pressure for the Chicago-based firm.

Groupon remains plagued by concerns about its accounting methods, as well as its strategy as it moves into direct retail sales.

Living Social claims to have 70 million members worldwide, and Groupon more than 200 million. But analysts say those numbers don't necessarily lead to profits.

"The type of customer attracted to these deals is often not the type of customer that the retailers want," said technology analyst and consultant Rob Enderle.

"In addition there is a ton of competition, making it very likely that several of these firms will fail."

The two firms are facing competition from small and large players: Google, for one, has a similar service called Google Offers, and recently snapped up the marketing firm Incentive Targeting to give it more tools.

Facebook began an effort in the sector but ended it last year after just four months.

Trip Chowdhry of Global Equities Research remains cautious on the deals sector.

Chowdhry said the deals firms have "a nice concept, a noble concept, but without any strong business model behind it."

"If you have some other business then it's fine," Chowdhry said. "You can drive traffic or business to something else. If you don't have something else, you're losing money."

- AFP/ck

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McAfee nabbed? His blog says maybe, following CNN interview

The bizarre real-life potboiler concerning on-the-lam antivirus-software pioneer John McAfee continued today, as -- following a cloak-and-dagger CNN interview with the fugitive -- McAfee's own blog posted an item saying he may have been captured at the Belize-Mexico border.

The item, pictured above and reported earlier by news agency AFP, says little more than that and calls the report of the capture "unconfirmed." We'll update this post -- or link to a new, separate story -- when we know more. (Editor's note: See bottom of story for updates.)

Earlier, CNN managed to track McAfee down for an on-camera interview somewhere in his longtime country of residence, Belize -- where he's in hiding after his neighbor was shot to death. A CNN article accompanying an online video of the interview says its reporter had to provide a secret password and partake in a secret-agent-like, twisting-and-turning
car ride to get to the millionaire turned mystery man.

In the brief interview, which you can check out here, McAfee says, "I will certainly not turn myself in, and I will certainly not quit fighting. I will not stop my blog." He says he'll either get arrested or get away and clarifies that "Get away doesn't mean leave the country. It means they will, No. 1, find the murderer of Mr. Faull and, No. 2, the people of this country -- who are by and large terrified to speak out -- start speaking out,"

McAfee has been on the run since November 12, when his neighbor Gregory Faull was discovered with a bullet in his head. McAfee and Faull had reportedly had run-ins with each other over McAfee's dogs and armed security guards. In an interview with Wired that same day, McAfee said he thought the killers had actually been looking for him and not Faull.

Other aspects of the tale include the fact that the 67-year-old McAfee's home was raided in May and that police said they found multiple unlicensed firearms and McAfee with a 17-year-old girl. They also said he was manufacturing an antibiotic in his home without a license. McAfee's blog provides another unusual twist. Apparently begun about a week after Faull's murder, it includes entries from McAfee himself about his flight. In one such post, McAfee writes that he is traveling with a 20-year-old woman named Samantha, whom he credits with helping to keep him fed, clothed, and in hiding:

"She has also helped me evade detection by grabbing me and kissing me, in public, in a fashion that causes passerby's to feel embarrassment at the thought of staring and by creating emotional scenes that cause the curious to momentarily forget what they were looking for," he wrote. "She is acutely aware of her surroundings and is as street smart as a sober hobo."

Today's CNN report noted that police in Belize have said they don't consider McAfee a suspect in the killing; they want him only for questioning. The news agency also noted that McAfee maintains that his troubles began when he refused to bribe a government official and that he will be killed if he's arrested.

Again, the post on McAfee's whoismcafee.com/The Hinterland blog says the report of McAfee's capture is unconfirmed, so it remains to be seen if it turns out to be true. If nothing else, however, the post adds yet another chapter to this strangely unfolding tale.

Update, December 2 at 12:23 a.m. PT:
Peter Delevett at the San Jose Mercury News' SiliconBeat blog is reporting that McAfee has not been apprehended and is still on the run.

Read More..

Photos: Kilauea Lava Reaches the Sea

• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Into the Sea

  Photograph by Hugh Gentry, Reuters

  A spectacular natural phenomenon was on display early this week as lava from a vent in Hawaii's Kilauea volcano flowed into the ocean, sending up plumes of steam as it made contact with the waves.

  Though lava can still be viewed from Kalapana near the Big Island's Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, ocean entry is no longer occurring, according to the National Park Service.

  Published November 30, 2012

  
  











• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Sea of Fire

  
  Photograph by Hugh Gentry, Reuters
  

  The lava traveled 7 miles (11 kilometers) from Kilauea’s Pu'u O'o vent to the ocean. When lava reaches the water, it cools and hardens, forming a lava delta that can be dangerous to nearby onlookers, according to Reuters.

  The news service reported that no communities on the Big Island were threatened by the lava flow.

  Published November 30, 2012

  
  











• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Volcanic Flare

  
  Photograph by Hugh Gentry, Reuters
  

  A burst of volcanic activity erupts from Kilauea’s crater in Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park on November 27.

  The volcano has been erupting continuously for nearly 30 years. No major damage has been suffered by a town since 1986, according to Reuters.

  Published November 30, 2012

  
  











• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Fiery Encounter

  Photograph by Hugh Gentry, Reuters

  “Ocean entries are beautiful but dangerous,” said Janet Babb, spokeswoman for the U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, in a statement reported by Reuters. She warned that the steam could be more hazardous than it appears.

  Published November 30, 2012

  
  











• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Point of Contact

  
  Photograph by Matt Northam, My Shot
  

  A plume of smoke billows where lava from Kilauea meets the sea in this aerial photo taken November 27.

  Published November 30, 2012

  
  











• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Photograph by Peter Vancoillie, Your Shot

  Published November 30, 2012

  
  

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Wikileaks Case: Guards Deny Intimidating Manning

(Brendan Smialkowski/AFP/Getty Images)

Bradley Manning’s former guards testified today that they did not intimidate the man accused of leaking hundreds of thousands of classified cables to the anti-secrets website Wikileaks during  a Jan. 18, 2011 incident that resulted in Manning being placed on a temporary suicide risk watch.

Manning’s attorneys cite the event as a key reason why his pre-trial confinement at the Marine brig in Quantico, Va., was unlawful and warrants the dismissal of the charges against him.

Manning faces life imprisonment on charges that he leaked the classified military and diplomatic cables to Wikileaks.  Details of those charges will come at a trial scheduled for February and are not being discussed at this week’s hearing, which is focused on his nine-month confinement at Quantico from July 2010 to April 2011.

On Jan. 18, 2011 Manning was being moved to his daily “recreation call” in a room at the brig when he experienced an apparent anxiety attack.  Manning said Thursday the guards escorting him seemed to have an aggressive attitude that made him feel nervous and ultimately feel faint.

Manning testified Thursday that he “lost my demeanor” during a later discussion with brig officials about the incident that led them to place him on temporary suicide risk watch.

Former Marine guards Lance Corporal Joshua Tankersly and Lance Corporal Jonathan Cline testified today that Manning had been moving around while his hand and leg restraints were placed on him for the escort to the exercise room.  They said they reminded Manning that he should respond properly to their orders by referring to their ranks when he answered them.

When Manning entered the recreation room they described a situation in which Manning fell backwards and landed on his backside.

They then said that when out of his leg restraints Manning ran to a weightlifting machine, hid behind it and began to cry.  Both Cline and Tankersly said they could not explain Manning’s behavior.  Both guards were ordered to leave the room and were replaced by two other guards who escorted Manning back to his cell.

Cline said he was puzzled when a supervisor later told him “we intimidated him or something like that.”

Each guard said he could not recall if they sounded harsh when they talked to Manning on the way to the exercise room.

They both said that aside from the January incident, Manning was courteous and professional in his interactions with them.  Both described him as an average prisoner, though Tankersly acknowledged that Manning was a high profile detainee who had the attention of high-ranking officials at the base.

“It’s hard to put ‘average’ on such a high profile, when you have higher ups on base come and check through to that see all was OK,” Tankersly said.

Gunnery Sgt. William Fuller, one of the senior officers at the brig, also testified today about his participation in a Classification and Assessment board that routinely assessed whether Manning’s Maximum Custody and Prevention of Injury status should be downgraded. The board never reduced Manning’s status during his stay.

Fuller acknowledged that before the January incident he and another brig official had considered a downgrade because Manning was “doing pretty good.”

He said the Jan. 18incident “kind of reset things … we had to keep him on Prevention of Injury.”

Fuller also cited Manning’s quiet interactions with him as a reason for keeping Manning on that status.

According to Fuller “he wouldn’t communicate … it seemed like he didn’t really want to talk” and that concerned him, given training he had received that being withdrawn could be an indicator of suicidal behavior.

Fuller admitted that the conversations were really just quick interactions to see how Manning was doing..  When asked to provide examples of longer exchanges he had with other prisoners, Fuller provided brief sentences.  That led David Coombs, Manning’s defense attorney to say sarcastically, “so if he’d thrown in more words then he would have classified as a Chatty Patty?”

Manning’s attorneys claim that a protest on Jan. 17 by Manning supporters, at the entrance to the base, may have motivated an aggressive attitude towards the detainee.

Cline recalled other guards “were annoyed” by the protest” because it would close parts of the base and hinder or interrupt how they got home.”  But Tankersly said the protest had no impact on Manning’s treatment.

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