The Mars Curiosity Rover has touched a Martian rock for the first time. And, in the process, it gave us the closest, most detailed view of the Red Planet (a tiny part of it) yet, using her Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera at ten, two and one inches from the rock. More »
In the 60s and 70s, America spent $109 billion on getting rocks from the Moon back to Earth*. In 2012, America spent a couple billions on moving an Earth’s rock to Mars**. Moving rocks is a lot of fun! More »
NASA claims that new mysterious spheres discovered by the Mars Opportunity rover are puzzling researchers to no end. According to Opportunity’s principal investigator, Steve Squyres of Cornell University in Ithaca, “this is one of the most extraordinary pictures from the whole mission.” More »
I’ve seen interpolated videos of the historic Mars Curiosity’s landing before, but this one truly left me in awe. It was painstakingly made during a period of four weeks. It’s truly feels like being aboard the ship. More »
Whew – what a day! For those who missed it, Apple held its big event today, revealing the iPhone 5 and new versions of the of the iPod Touch and the iPod Nano. You can see most of the day’s news in our iPhone 5 event wrap-up and our iPod Touch and Nano wrap-up, but of course, even more news about these new iDevices hit after those event wrap-ups were posted. For instance, we went hands-on with the iPhone 5 and then later with the 5th generation iPod Touch before getting the chance to check out Apple’s new EarPods, which have undergone a redesign just in time for the launch of the iPhone 5. If you’re more of an iPod Nano kind of person, then you’ll be pleased to know that we also have you covered in our hands-on with the 7th generation iPod Nano.
Later on in the day, Apple announced pricing for its new Lightning connector adapters (which can get a little steep in places), and released the iOS 6 Golden Master seed for developers ahead of the operating system’s release on September 19. A full list of iPhone 5 specs made it to the Apple Store this afternoon, and we found out that the iPhone 5 will offer both a GSM and CDMA version. iTunes 10.7 was delivered this afternoon as well, as was a gallery of iLuv’s upcoming iPhone 5 products. Toward the end of the day, Apple released a video featuring Jony Ive and Bob Mansfield giving us an introduction to the iPhone 5, and we ask where the iPhone 5′s rumored NFC functionality went.
As big as Apple’s event was, it wasn’t the only thing worth writing about today. A new report suggests that Windows Phone 8 may not be as far along as we thought, and Foxconn is in the public eye again after an undercover worker published a report on the conditions at the now-famous factory. Google was touting the latest Android numbers today, saying that 500 million Android devices have been activated worldwide.
We actually had quite a few stories about NASA today, with the Mars Orbiter finding signs of dry ice snowfall on the surface of the Red Planet. NASA scientists have viewed a massive impact on the surface of Jupiter, and perhaps most importantly, NASA celebrated the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s historic moon speech. Famous (or infamous, depending on whether or not you work for the RIAA) music sharer Jammie Thomas has lost her appeal, meaning that the court is still making her pay that whopping $220,000 fine, and finally tonight, Microsoft has been awarded a patent for an interesting new technology that makes us immediately think of Star Trek.
That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up. Be sure to have a look at our Apple portal to catch anything you might have missed from Apple’s presentation, but otherwise, enjoy the rest of your evening!
SlashGear Evening Wrap-Up: September 12, 2012 is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
This morning we’re heading into iPhone 5 week with a collection of smaller updates before the storm – expect this essentially throughout the week throughout the tech news reporting universe: and things are going to get creative, without a doubt. Google Fiber is ramping up with 180+ Fiberhoods already on the map – coming soon! The Samsung Galaxy Note II had its 13 megapixel camera plans cut down by LG’s Optimus G if tips are true. If you’re a fan of Steam, you’re going to flip out over Valve’s Big Picture Mode starting today!
If you’re a fan of The Fifth Element you’ll enjoy the remote-controlled cockroach that’s suddenly become a reality – for real! The crew at HTC have a large collection of LTE patents that they’ll be arming against Apple soon and very soon. Meanwhile the iPhone 5 4G LTE is right around the corner – but who will be working with it on their network?
There’s a brand new theory out there that says Mars was too hot to support life. The FBI has just rolled out a $1 billion nationwide facial recognition system so they can see you – always. More airlines have been tipped to join Apple’s passbook.
The FCC will not be taxing the internet, thank goodness. The folks at UltraViolet have announced that they’re getting better sound than ever with Dolby Digital Plus. Fashion Week is working with Google Glass via FVF Diane von Furstenberg. There’s a full-frame sensor-toting Sony RX1 digital camera out there in the wild. HP has released several products overnight, including the rather iMac-looking HP SpectreONE all-in-one PC.
SlashGear Morning Wrap-Up: September 10th, 2012 is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Scientists have hoped that evidence will be found on Mars that the planet could’ve harbored life in the past. The NASA Curiosity Rover is on the surface of Mars right now searching for evidence of liquid water on the surface of the planet in the past. A new theory has surfaced that suggests the discovery of geological evidence of past flowing water in clay on Mars could be a red herring.
Scientists are searching Mars and looking for clues in clay formations on the planet that indicated water flowed on or under the surface of Mars in the past. However, a paper published online over the weekend by Nature Geoscience argues that clays discovered on the surface the planet could have been formed in hot Martian magma that was rich in water. The paper suggests that clays formed by magma rich in water would’ve been too hot to support microbial life.
The paper was co-authored by Bethany Ehlmann, a planetary geologist from the California Institute of technology. The theory put forth in the paper contrasts two other theories about Mars. One of the other theories is that liquid water that flowed across the Martian surface would’ve interacted with surrounding minerals and formed the clays scientists are searching for.
Another theory suggests that underground water was warmed by the planet’s internal heat and could have provided an environment conductive microbial life before and being bound in the mineral structure of the clays being searched for. According to Ehlmann, the clay scientists are searching for could have formed as lava cooled from 1500°C. Temperatures that high wouldn’t be a good habitat for microbial life according to the scientist.
New theory suggests Mars was too hot to support life is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
There’s plenty of science suggesting Mars was once home to water. But new research suggests that much of the evidence, in the form of clay, could have come from lava and not lakes—and that would decrease the chance of life having existed on the red planet. More »
You’ve probably taken some pictures of yourself at some point or another, but none of them were on Mars. Yesterday, everybody’s favorite currently-active Mars rover, Curiosity, sent back a self-shot that is literally out of this world. More »
As NASA promised, Curiosity has stopped at the quarter pole toward its first scientific destination to test its robotic arm and attached scientific instruments. After 100 yards of driving, the rover extended its 7-foot limb, and will now spend six to ten days checking its predetermined positions and range of motion. That will ensure the appendage is ready after surviving the chilly vaccuum of space and subsequent setdown, and will let its minders see how it functions in the unfamiliar Martian gravity and temperatures. The JPL scientists in charge of the six-wheeler will also peep the Mars Hand Lens Imager and made-in-Canada Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer to warrant that they’re up for all the geology to come. If all goes well, the rover will start scooping, drilling and analyzing in earnest when it hits Glenelg, then Mount Sharp — so, we’d limber up first before tackling all that, too.
Curiosity rover starts light robotic arm workout in preparation for scientific main event originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Sep 2012 15:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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