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Supermoon alert: Biggest full moon of 2012 due Sat

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Skywatchers take note: The biggest full moon of the year is due to arrive this weekend.

The moon will officially become full Saturday (May 5) at 11:35 p.m. EDT. And because this month's full moon coincides with the moon's perigee — its closest approach to Earth — it will also be the year's biggest.

The moon will swing in 221,802 miles (356,955 kilometers) from our planet, offering skywatchers a spectacular view of an extra-big, extra-bright moon, nicknamed a supermoon.

And not only does the moon's perigee coincide with full moon this month, but this perigee will be the nearest to Earth of any this year, as the distance of the moon's close approach varies by about 3 percent, according to meteorologist Joe Rao, SPACE.com's skywatching columnist. This happens because the moon's orbit is not perfectly circular.

This month's full moon is due to be about 16 percent brighter than average. In contrast, later this year on Nov. 28, the full moon will coincide with apogee, the moon's farthest approach, offering a particularly small and dim full moon.

Though the unusual appearance of this month's full moon may be surprising to some, there's no reason for alarm, scientists warn. The slight distance difference isn't enough to cause any earthquakes or extreme tidal effects, experts say.

However, the normal tides around the world will be particularly high and low. At perigee, the moon will exert about 42 percent more tidal force than it will during its next apogee two weeks later, Rao said.

The last supermoon occurred in March 2011.

To view this weekend's supermoon to best effect, look for it just after it rises or before it sets, when it is close to the horizon. There, you can catch a view of the moon behind buildings or trees, an effect which product n optical illusion, making the moon seem even larger than it really is.

What’s next for Google? Secret docs reveal plans that didn’t pan out

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Google TV. Driverless cars. Robotic homes. What’s next for the sprawling tech giant Google?

Rarely seen internal corporate documents filed in a California court -- part of the ongoing legal battle between the search giant and Oracle that some are calling the “World Series” of lawsuits -- reveal Google’s plans for the future.

And things didn’t pan out quite as the search giant thought they might. 

A variety of businesses including online commerce, software, and even the highly touted Google TV were cited in the 2010 documents, and didn’t work out as well as Google thought they would, an analyst who reviewed the documents told  Reuters.

"Google TV and commerce ambitions look aggressive compared to what we believe they are today," said Susquehanna Financial Group analyst Herman Leung. The documents reveal Google expected YouTube to become a $5 billion business by 2013 -- with potentially more than half of those revenues coming from the TV business.

The only maker of Google TV products, Logitech, cancelled its offering in November (Google said in January that other makers would replace them).

YouTube earned $300 million that year, the documents reveal.

Google Music was also expected to be a massive contributor, Reuters reported, with music sales driving Android revenue to $3.7 billion.

The information comes from a presentation made to the company’s board of directors that was complied in Oct. 2010. Google attempted to convince U.S. District Judge William Alsup to keep the internal documents secret, Reuters said, but Alsup denied the request in court last week.

A Google spokesman said the documents don’t represent current thinking about its business operations.

"Our industry continues to evolve incredibly fast and so do our aspirations for our various products and services," Jim Prosser said.

Does Google Drive own your data? Policy actually no worse than rivals

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By Leslie Meredith

Soon after yesterday's launch of Google Drive -- the company's brand new service that promises to store all your data online, in the “cloud” -- the Twittersphere erupted with concerns about what Google could do with your content.

And no wonder — Google's controversial privacy policy seems to give it the right to do pretty much anything with your stuff.

Google's unified policy took effect on March 1 and covers not only the new Drive, but other Google properties. The relevant section of Google's terms of service starts off with a reassuring statement: "Some of our Services allow you to submit content. You retain ownership of any intellectual property rights that you hold in that content. In short, what belongs to you stays yours." But here's the sticky part:

"When you upload or otherwise submit content to our Services, you give Google (and those we work with) a worldwide license to use, host, store, reproduce, modify, create derivative works (such as those resulting from translations, adaptations or other changes we make so that your content works better with our Services), communicate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute such content."

This last bit conjures up visions of Google employees acting out your screenplay at their next all-hands meeting. Unlikely. And it's important to note that rival services, including Dropbox, Microsoft SkyDrive and Apple's iCloud , all use similar language (though a little lighter on the legalese).

Dropbox, for example, cutely refers to your "information, files, and folders that you submit" collectively as "your stuff." It then says that "you retain full ownership to your stuff. We don’t claim any ownership to any of it."

Microsoft likewise says for all its services (presumably also its newly upgraded SkyDrive), "We don't claim ownership of the content you provide on the service. Your content remains your content."

But a lesser-known cloud service, SugarSync, doesn't appear to address the issue at all in its terms of service.

Apple, Dropbox, Google and Microsoft all say they don't claim ownership, but they still need expansive permissions to deliver their services. In this context, "public" refers to a user being able to access their documents from a public computer and all those scary verbs — communicate, publish, perform, display and distribute — refer to your ability to access your material from any device. And derivative works are versions of your original document that are created based on user requests such as translations.

However, all the factories say that they can revise their terms — and not all promise to notify you if they do.

It comes down to trust. Sure, the pages of your next great American novel may be safer under lock and key, but easy to edit when inspiration strikes? Not so much.

It's important to remember that rivals Google, Microsoft, Dropbox, Apple and others are accountable for making a profit — abusing customer data would be business suicide. However, any digital media stored in the cloud is at risk of compromise, but it's becoming a risk that many are willing to take in exchange for instant access.

 

Google and James Cameron to hunt for natural resources on asteroids

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A new factory backed by two Google Inc. billionaires, film director James Cameron and other space exploration proponents is aiming high in the hunt for natural resources—with mining asteroids the possible target.

The venture, called Planetary Resources Inc., revealed little in a press release this week except to say that it would "overlay two critical sectors—space exploration and natural resources—to add trillions of dollars to the global GDP" and "help ensure humanity's prosperity." The company is formally unveiling its plans at an event Tuesday in Seattle.

While the announcement may cause some people to snicker at what could be a page out of a sci-fi novel or a Hollywood movie scene, Planetary Resources is making its debut just as scientists at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and other groups are embracing the notion of mining "near-Earth asteroids" and providing blueprints for how such a feat would be accomplished.

The possibility of extracting raw materials such as iron and nickel from asteroids has been discussed for decades, but the cost, scientific expertise and technical prowess of fulfilling such as feat have remained an obstacle. NASA experts have projected it could cost tens of billions of dollars and take well over a decade to land astronauts on an asteroid.

Tuesday's event is being hosted by Peter H. Diamandis and Eric Anderson, known for their efforts to develop commercial space exploration, and two former NASA officials.

Mr. Diamandis, a driving force behind the Ansari X-Prize competition to spur non-governmental space flight, has long discussed his goal to become an asteroid miner. He contends that such work by space pioneers would lead to a "land rush" by companies to develop lower-cost technology to travel to and extract resources from asteroids.

"I believe that opening up the resources of space for the benefit of humanity is critical," Mr. Diamandis said in an interview with Forbes magazine earlier this year about plans to launch an asteroid mining company.

People listed by Planetary Resources as members of its "investor and advisor group" include Larry Page, Google's chief executive, and Eric Schmidt, the company's executive chairman; Mr. Cameron, whose film "Avatar" depicted a corporate venture to extract natural resources from another planet; former Microsoft Corp. executive Charles Simonyi, who has made two trips to space and funded other related activity; Ram Shriram, a Google director and venture capitalist; and Ross Perot Jr., son of the Texas technology entrepreneur and former presidential candidate Ross Perot.

Former NASA Mars mission manager Chris Lewicki is listed in the press release as president and chief engineer of Planetary Resources, with Messrs. Diamandis and Anderson as co-chairmen.

None of the men could be reached for comment. A spokeswoman for Planetary Resources, which discloses few details on its website, declined to comment.

The news conference announcing the launch of the factory is scheduled to be held at the Charles Simonyi Space Gallery at the Museum of Flight in Seattle on Tuesday.

Asteroid mining could take several forms, including sending humans in a spacecraft to an asteroid so they could explore and mine it. In another scenario, robotic spacecraft could be launched either to mine an asteroid directly or transport it closer to Earth so that humans could more easily reach it.

Such mining could yield a large amount of water, oxygen and metals to help further space exploration by allowing humans to fuel spacecraft, build space stations and other constructs. The resources could potentially be brought back to Earth as well.

Earlier this month, a study by NASA scientists concluded that, for a cost of $2.6 billion, humans could use robotic spacecraft to capture a 500-ton asteroid seven meters in diameter and bring it into orbit around the moon so that it could be explored and mined. The spacecraft, using a 40-kilowatt solar-electric propulsion system, would have a flight time of between six and 10 years, and humans could accomplish this task by around 2025.

 

Buried treasure in Burma: Squadron of lost WWII Spitfires to be exhumed

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Yar -- it's buried PILOT treasure! 

Like a treasure chest stuffed with priceless booty, as many as 20 World War II-era Spitfire planes are perfectly preserved, buried in crates beneath Burma -- and after 67 years underground, they're set to be uncovered.

The planes were shipped in standard fashion in 1945 from their manufacturer in England to the Far East country: waxed, wrapped in greased paper and tarred to protect against the elements. They were then buried in the crates they were shipped in, rather than let them fall into enemy hands, said David Cundall, an aviation enthusiast who has spent 15 years and about $200,000 in his efforts to reveal the lost planes.

The 62-year-old man -- a British farmer bytrade -- realized the fate of the aircraft thanks to an offhand comment a group of American veterans made to a friend, he told the Sydney Morning Herald.

 

''They told Jim: 'We've done some pretty silly things in our time, but the silliest was burying Spitfires.' And when Jim got back from the U.S., he told me,'" Cundall said.

The location of the planes, which remains a closely kept secret, was confirmed during a recent trip to the Far East country, he said.

''We sent a borehole down and used a camera to look at the crates. They seemed to be in good condition," Cundall told the Herald.

The Spitfire Mark XIV planes are rare for more than one reason: They used Rolls Royce Griffon engines rather than the Merlins used in earlier models to achieve tremendous speeds. Griffon-powered planes could reach 440 mph thanks to the hefty, 2,050-horsepower engines.

When production of the planes ultimately ended in 1947, 20,334 Spitfires of all versions had been produced, but just 2,053 of them were Griffon-powered versions, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica.

The planes were deemed surplus and were buried in Aug., 1945 -- potentially along with another eight later in the year. At that time, propeller planes were falling out of fashion in favor of newer jet-engine designs -- Cundall said Spitfires "were 10 a penny." British military officials decided burying them was cheaper and more practical than bringing them home.

International sanctions prevent military material from leaving the country, but a recent visit by British Prime Minister David Cameron may enable the safe exhumation and return of the planes to England.

Only about 35 Spitfires are currently flying

Eyeless shrimp and mutant fish raise concerns over BP spill effects

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Eyeless shrimp, fish with oozing sores and other mutant creatures found in the Gulf of Mexico are raising concerns over lingering effects of the BP oil spill.

On April 20, 2010, an explosion aboard the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon rig killed 11 people and spewed an estimated 4.9 million barrels into the Gulf, in the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

Two years later, scientists and commercial fishers alike are finding shrimp, crab and fish that they believe have been deformed by the chemicals unleashed in the spill, according to an extensive report by Al Jazeera English.

"At the height of the last white shrimp season, in September, one of our friends caught 400 pounds of these," Tracy Kuhns, a commercial fisher from Barataria, La., told Al Jazeera, showing a sample of the eyeless shrimp.

 

Darla Rooks, another lifelong fisher from Port Sulfur, La., told the broadcaster she was seeing "eyeless fish, and fish lacking even eye sockets, and fish with lesions, fish without covers over their gills and others with large pink masses hanging off their eyes and gills."

Rooks added that she had never seen such deformities in Gulf waters in her life -- a refrain common to most fishers featured in the report -- and said her seafood catch last year was "ten percent what it normally is."

A survey led by the University of South Florida after the spill found that between two and five percent of fish in the Gulf now have skin lesions or sores, compared to data from before the spill, when just one-tenth of one percent of fish had any growths or sores.

Scientists blamed the mutations on the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) released from the spill's submerged oil as well as the two million gallons of the dispersant Corexit that BP used in an attempt to clean up the spill.

"The dispersants used in BP's draconian experiment contain solvents, such as petroleum distillates and 2-butoxyethanol. Solvents dissolve oil, grease, and rubber," Riki Ott, a toxicologist and marine biologist explained to Al Jazeera. "It should be no surprise that solvents are also notoriously toxic to people, something the medical community has long known."

BP has maintained that Gulf seafood is safe, saying in a statement, "Seafood from the Gulf of Mexico is among the most tested in the world, and, according to the FDA and NOAA, it is as safe now as it was before the accident."

On Wednesday BP sealed an out-of-court, $7.8 billion settlement with lawyers acting on behalf of thousands of individuals and businesses affected by the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Under the deal, the Gulf seafood industry is slated to receive over $2 billion for economic loss.

Making sense of 4G and other myths

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By Kim Komando

If you're confused about 4G, welcome to the fastest-growing club! AT&T claims to have the nation's largest 4G network. Verizon touts America's fastest 4G LTE network with "a higher standard of coverage." The advertising war is on.

AT&T recently befuddled millions of iPhone 4S customers. After upgrading to iOS 5.1, users discovered that the 3G network indicator next to the signal bar had mysteriously changed to 4G. Many thought, "Lucky me!" Not so fast.

Since the carriers and gadget makers won't call the whole thing off, it's time to take a fresh look at the state of 4G.

The term 4G refers to the fourth generation of cellular wireless technology. It all began in the 1980s with those 1G analog wonders that were the size - and weight - of a brick. Late, digital networks allowed users of 2G cellular phones to send text and email. 3G networks, of course, ushered in the age of smartphones and data.

With 4G technology, the distinction between voice and data goes away. It essentially turns a cellular phone into a Voice-over-IP system. That means faster, clearer communication.

How fast? The International Telecommunication Union defines 4G as the ability to download data at speeds of 100 megabits per second to 1 gigabit per second. The 1Gbps standard is for home and low-mobility situations, such as someone walking around with a phone. The 100Mbps standard is the theoretical maximum download speed that a user traveling in a car or train would experience.

Although current networks in the U.S. are nowhere near those kinds of speeds - and won't be for a few more years - the rollout of 4G LTE is an important interim leap.

LTE (Long Term Evolution) theoretically maxes out at 100Mbps. Real-world speeds are more like 20Mbps or less. Mobile Internet speeds can vary greatly from one location to another. Cell towers are scattered, and when many users are connected to a tower at the same time, speed bogs down.

Still, LTE speeds can put some home broadband connections to shame.

Verizon has brought 4G LTE to more than 200 million people in 203 cities. More than 260 million customers in 400 markets will be able to access 4G LTE by the end of the year.

AT&T's 4G LTE network is live in 28 markets. The carrier expects to complete its LTE network by the end of 2013.

Sprint customers in Baltimore, Kansas City, Dallas, San Antonio, Houston and Atlanta are slated to receive 4G LTE service by mid-2012.

T-Mobile will launch 4G LTE next year.

If you're an AT&T customer in a city that doesn't have LTE yet, your 4G is actually HSPA+. T-Mobile 4G users are also on a HSPA+ network. Current Sprint 4G customers, meanwhile, are using the WiMAX standard.

Although marketed as 4G, HSPA+ and WiMAX are more like souped-up 3G. If you're going to be buying a smartphone in the near future, it's important to know exactly what you're getting. If it's an HPSA+ or WiMAX phone, it'll only be a little faster than 3G. It's also a good idea to check whether you're in a 4G LTE coverage area (or will be soon).

AT&T says the iPhone 4S can take advantage of its HPSA+ network speeds. However, the phone doesn't have the chipset that would allow it to join a true 4G LTE network.

The new iPad does. But it's currently only compatible with the 700MHz and 2,100MHz LTE bands that North American carriers use. That's why the 4G LTE iPad doesn't work in Australia; carrier Telstra uses the 1,800MHz frequency.

This points out what could be a looming problem for globe-trotting Americans. In order to feed the mobile data beast, carriers in Europe and elsewhere may adopt entirely new bands as they build out their 4G networks in coming years. Your "world" 4G smartphone or tablet may revert to slower standards if it isn't compatible with some of those new frequencies.

So, are you ready for 5G?

Google to buy its own web domain

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Is google.google the new google.com?

Google confirmed this week that it is in the process of acquiring the .Google top-level domain (TLD) name ahead of ICANN’s April 12 deadline (which was extended due to some slight technical speed bumps).

This means that, outside of the traditional google.com web address (.com is one of 22 TLDs including .org, .edu and .net), we might also see .google variations such as play.google or video.youtube. Google did not reveal specific plans, but confirmed that it had applied for Google’s trademarked TLDs.

We plan to apply for Google's trademarked TLDs, and we're currently exploring opportunities to apply for new ones as well," a Google spokeswoman said in a statement. "We want to help make this a smooth experience for web users—one that promotes innovation and competition on the Internet."

ICANN opened the door last June for companies interested in registering for so-called “generic” TLDs, which could essentially be dot-anything -- quickly giving rise to the controversial .xxx domain. April 12 was set as the final deadline date for applications but due to technical issues, the date has now been extended to April 20.

Trademark owners who register will have complete control over their own domain helping to eliminate phishing, malware, and fraud.

So far, few companies have announced their plans, but the likes of Google, Deloitte, and Canon among others have confirmed applying, according to AdAge. Others, like Facebook and Pepsi, remain on the sidelines keeping faith in good 'ol .com.

"Consumers are always going to think about first going to MountainDew.com or Pepsi.com before they think about Drink.Pepsi," a company spokesman told AdAge.

"And that's not going to change anytime soon, and maybe not for a few years."

Whales sensed Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster

By Peter Gwynne

A technique that monitors whales through the sounds they emit has answered a key issue raised by the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico two years ago this month.

The sound-monitoring technique revealed that sperm whales retreated from the immediate area around the spill caused by the explosion.

"There's obvious evidence of relocation," said team member Azmy Ackleh, professor and head of mathematics at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

The discovery is important because it provides information about a species almost hunted to extinction for its valuable oil in the 19th century.

Sperm whales are listed as endangered under the terms of the United States Endangered Species Act, and estimates of their population vary between 200,000 and 1.5 million worldwide.

However, said Vassili Papastavrou, lead whale biologist for the International Fund for Animal Welfare who did not work on the study, "sperm whales are difficult animals to count, because they spend so much of their lives beneath the surface. The overall population estimates are so uncertain that it is not possible to determine trends."

The discovery of their relocation also indicates the value of "passive" acoustic technology, which quietly listens for things instead of actively bouncing sounds off objects to find them. This approach, first tried in the 1980s, uses hydrophones mounted on buoys to detect "clicks," the powerful sounds emitted by the sperm whales. The University of Louisiana team, led by Natalia Sidorovskaia, associate professor and chair of the physics department, has extended the technology to localize and track sperm whales and to estimate their populations, and to do the same for other marine mammals, including other types of whales and dolphins.

Traditionally, zoologists have measured the location and size of whale populations by spotting them from boats or tagging individual whales with radio transmitters. While visual surveys are often inaccurate, tagging is very expensive.

The use of sound overcomes both problems.

"The usefulness of passive acoustics is generally under-appreciated, and the effort to develop it as a long-term monitor tool is timely," said Donald Baltz, professor and chair of the department of oceanography and coastal sciences at Louisiana State University, who was not involved with the study.

"As long as we can hear the whales, we can count them," Sidorovskaia said. "Passive acoustic measurements are not dependent on weather or light conditions and are much cheaper."

Sperm whales transmit three types of sound, Sidorovskaia said. An echolocation signal is used in the way humans use radar, which helps the whales locate the ocean bottom and identify prey. A second signal serves as communication between whales. And the third is a short-range echolocation signal emitted when they are very close to their prey. Sidorovskaia said it's probably "for more accurate short-range prey tracking."

The range of frequencies in the sound signals, otherwise known as bandwidth, differentiates sperm whales from other whales, in much the same way that different cell-phone providers use different parts of the radio-frequency spectrum for managing communications.

"Each animal has a particular bandwidth," Ackleh explained. "It's a low bandwidth for sperm whales."

By using enough hydrophones, the team can determine more than the density of sperm whales in any part of the sea.

"We can determine the range and depth of the whales," Sidorovskaia said. "We can even track whales' diving patterns based on the signals they produce."

The team used passive acoustics to monitor a "resident population" of female sperm whales and their calves off the Louisiana coast in 2001, 2002 and 2007.

After the Deepwater Horizon explosion and spill, team members realized that the hydrophones they used for those recordings had been placed nine, 25, and 50 miles from the ill-fated oil rig.

So they set up fresh hydrophones in the same locations, collected acoustic signals characteristic of sperm whales, and applied statistical methods to compare the species' population before and after the spill.

"A comparison of the 2007 and the 2010 recordings shows a decrease in acoustic activity and abundance of sperm whales at the nine-mile site by a factor of two, whereas acoustic activity and abundance at the 25-mile site has clearly increased," the team wrote in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

Just why the sperm whales moved away from the site is unclear. One possibility is that they followed their food sources out of the spill area. Sperm whales feed on giant squid, for which they dive about half a mile below the sea surface. They are also known to follow fishing boats and snag fish off their lines.

The team has garnered other firsts in applying passive acoustics. For example, it is building a library of whales' "voiceprints" based on the sounds they make, which they can then use to locate and track single whales.

"This is very new," Sidorovskaia asserted. "Our group would claim the initial idea."

Other research involves listening for beaked whales and refining the technology for more precise location of marine mammals.

"We're looking at a two-dimensional circle in the water now," Ackleh said. "We hope eventually to detect animals in three-dimensional spheres."

Forget Kevlar! Liquid body armor hardens on impact

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By Allison Barrie

A revolutionary new armor relies on a liquid that hardens when something hits it, promising unprecedented protection while letting soldiers move freely, unrestricted by bulk and weight.

Protection for warriors has long meant weight and bulk from ceramic plates and Kevlar that cover large areas of the body but reduce maneuverability, agility and speed. And in war zones like Iraq and Afghanistan, temperatures can reach 120 degrees Fahrenheit, meaning heavy armor can also accelerate fatigue. 

The new super gel from global defense, aerospace, and security factory BAE Systems means body armor that will provide far greater protection at a drastically lighter weight -- with more flexibility to boot.

The liquid can even be pasted between sheets of Kevlar, the body armor standard considered five times stronger than steel -- and transforming it into super armor thinner and about half the weight of the average bullet-proof vest.

Formally known as Shear Thickening Liquid, the fluid has special particles that are freely suspended. The particles collide when the fluid is disturbed, which creates a resistance to the disturbance.

When the force of the disturbance is large enough, the particles will then actually “lock” together. So when a bullet hits the material at speed, the liquid armor absorbs the impact energy and hardens extremely quickly.

Imagine slowly stirring a container of Shear Thickening Liquid: You would feel little resistance initially, and the faster you stir the more the resistance would increase, explained Stewart Penney, head of business development for design and materials at BAE.

The special liquid can also be incorporated into conventional Kevlar body armor; when put together the liquid and Kevlar provide excellent freedom of motion and armor 45 percent thinner than existing types.

The liquid goo would also restrict the movement of the Kevlar fabric’s yarn, expanding that the area over which impact energy is dispersed.

When a bullet strikes, conventional body armor tends to bend inward, preventing death but often leaving considerable damage and pain. This wide dispersal of energy could prevent painful bruising, cracked or broken ribs and even trauma to internal organs that accompany being shot in the armor.

A video shows researchers at BAE Systems’ Advanced Technology Center testing the material by firing bullets from a 9mm handgun into 10 layers of Kevlar combined with the liquid armor and then 31 layers of untreated Kevlar.

It shows the liquid armor being struck by a bullet, and the impact dispersing over a wide area -- meaning the chances of a fighter being injured or killed by the force of a bullet is reduced because it is not concentrated on one small area.

With standard ceramic plates, a flak jacket can weigh approximately 25 pounds. BAE Systems is confident that the liquid armor could weigh half as much -- meaning greatly reducing burden for warfighters, allowing them to do their jobs more effectively.

Next steps for liquid armor could include developing it so that it can withstand the force of more powerful weapons such the AK47.

Beyond the military, there is great potential for developing a version that could be very useful for first responders like police forces and ambulance crews.

Cutting-edge body armor can reduce the risks for the warfighter and first responder whose work can be very dangerous, and could go a long way to keeping them safe while allowing them the freedom of movement to do their job.

Well-preserved strawberry-blond mammoth discovered in Siberia

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 By Jennifer Viegas

A juvenile mammoth, nicknamed "Yuka," was found entombed in Siberian ice near the shores of the Arctic Ocean and shows signs of being cut open by ancient people.

The remarkably well preserved frozen carcass was discovered in Siberia as part of a BBC/Discovery Channel-funded expedition and is believed to be at least 10,000 years old, if not older. If further study confirms the preliminary findings, it would be the first mammoth carcass revealing signs of human interaction in the region.

The carcass is in such good shape that much of its flesh is still intact, retaining its pink color. The blonde-red hue of Yuka's woolly coat also remains.

"This is the first relatively complete mammoth carcass -- that is, a body with soft tissues preserved -- to show evidence of human association," Daniel Fisher, curator and director of the University of Michigan's Museum of Paleontology, told Discovery News.

Fisher, who is also a professor, worked with an international team of experts to analyze Yuka. French mammoth hunter Bernard Buigues of the scientific organization "Mammuthus" saved the specimen from falling into the hands of private collectors.

Although carbon dating is still in the works, the researchers believe Yuka died at least 10,000 years ago, but may be much older. The animal was about 2 ½ years old when it died.

Fisher described what likely happened on that fateful day:

"It appears that Yuka was pursued by one or more lions or another large field, judging from deep, unhealed scratches in the hide and bite marks on the tail," Fisher said. "Yuka then apparently fell, breaking one of the lower hind legs. At this point, humans may have moved in to control the carcass, butchering much of the animal and removing parts that they would use immediately.

"They may, in fact, have reburied the rest of the carcass to keep it in reserve for possible later use. What remains now would then be 'leftovers' that were never retrieved."

He explained that the removed parts include most of the main core mass of Yuka's body, including organs, vertebrae, ribs, associated musculature, and some of the meat from upper parts of the legs. The lower parts of each leg and the trunk remain intact.

Buigues added that it appears the humans were particularly interested in the animal's fat and its large bones, which they kept close to the body of the carcass. He believes it is possible that a ritual may have taken place involving the bones.

 

Kevin Campbell of the University of Manitoba also studied Yuka. Campbell famously published the genetic code of mammoth hemoglobin a few years ago.

"Most permafrost-preserved mammoth specimens consist solely of bones or bone fragments that currently provide little new insight into the species' biology in life, even if DNA can be extracted and sequenced from these samples," Campbell said. "This extremely rare finding of a near complete specimen, like the discovery of the baby mammoth Lyuba in 2007, will be a boon to researchers as it will help them link observed phenotypes (morphological features that we can see) with genotype (DNA sequences)."

Such information could help reveal whether or not mammoths had all of the same hair colors that humans do. An intriguing and controversial application would be to bring a mammoth back to life via cloning.

Campbell supports pursuit of that goal, saying it "may well lead to important new discoveries in bioengineering." Buigues is also in favor and said, "I'm not against having a mammoth in my garden in future."

Tim Walker, producer and director of a forthcoming BBC/Discovery Channel show called "Woolly Mammoth"that will feature Yuka, told Discovery News that cloning a mammoth could take years or even decades.

"Then, if it did happen, wouldn't a single mammoth be lonely and sad?" he asked. "They were, after all, communal animals."

 

Google begins testing ‘Terminator’-style smartphone glasses

Google on Wednesday unveiled Project Glass, a secret program designed to bring augmented-reality to the masses.

The team leading the initiative, including Babak Parviz, Steve Lee and Sebastian Thrun, are part of Google’s clandestine Google X labs, a branch of the factory that focuses on futuristic tech and big picture concepts, such as space elevators, robots and driverless cars.

Now with the project ready for public testing, the team has begun releasing fresh information, including a new video, on their Google + page with requests for feedback.

“We’re sharing this information now because we want to start a conversation and learn from your valuable input,” the team wrote in a post. “Please follow along as we share some of our ideas and stories. We’d love to hear yours, too. What would you like to see from Project Glass?”

According to a February report from the NYTimes, Google’s new Android-powered glasses will allow you to check your email, update your Facebook, or even check-in to your favorite restaurant. The device creates a direct link to your smartphone, providing real-time information in a heads-up display (HUD).

It is the company’s first official venture into wearable computing.

With its 3G or 4G data connection, GPS, and numerous environmental sensors, the glasses could be a boon for augmented reality and wearable technology. Integration with Google services and your smartphone means walking to work may never be more productive.

One new feature is an integrated navigation system, as described by 9 to 5 Google blogger, Seth Weinthrub, who first discovered the project in December.

“The navigation system currently used is a head tilting to scroll and click,” Mr. Weintraub wrote on his blog. “We are told it is very quick to learn and once the user is adept at navigation, it becomes second nature and almost indistinguishable to outside users.”

Reports suggest the new smart goggles will feature a built-in camera, cost in the region of $250 to $600.

The new product looks to be part of a long term strategy to expand the Android B2B platform to as many devices possible. Last year the company announced Android@Home, a push to connect "every appliance in your home."

“As an open platform,” said Google director of product management Hugo Barra, “Android was always meant to go well beyond the mobile phone.”

 

Gas-pump gimmicks: Scams and 'black science' seek to dupe car-owners

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By Kelley Vlahos

The Internet is teeming with quick and easy ways to get more mileage out of your car. But mechanics and watchdogs urge caution for drivers across the country forced to fill ‘er up despite those rising prices: The actual results are not only dubious, but may even end up hurting your car.

“There’s a lot of black science out there,” said Bill Moss, a lifelong mechanic and director of the mechanics division at the Automotive Service Association.

“Americans are ripe for anything that will improve their fuel economy. There are a ton of charlatans in our industry,”

 If the goal is getting the most miles out of a single gallon of gas -- the heart of fuel economy -- there are a number of technologies offering a better way there. They range from tiny pills you can pop into your tank to reprogramming the computer in your car.

 

But mechanics warn the big savings you’ll gain from any of them will be marginal at best, negligible at worst.

Fuel Additives. Envirotabs promises a longer engine life, a reduction in harmful emissions and better gas mileage, all with the use of simple gas-tank tablets. They range from $30 for a starter kit to $512 for a package with 8,100 100-gram tablet.

Although they offer a money-back guarantee after 60 days, company representatives did not return a request for comment.

Mechanics say one should be skeptical of this apparent one-size-fits-all solution.

“As far as Envirotabs and any other ‘magic in a bottle,’ they simply are not supported by science,” said Pete Rudloff, who runs Pete’s Garage in Newark, Del., and coordinates the Delaware Training Group, which encourages on-going education and training among auto technicians.

“The auto manufacturers put a lot of money in engineering optimum performance and emissions with realistic fuel mileage, and they know how much their target buyer values fuel economy. If there were a magic solution that only required dropping a few pellets in the fuel tank they would be all over it,” .

Additives can produce build-up that can have a harmful effect on gas lines, catalytic converters and engines, many experts say. While putting fuel cleaners and injectors into the tank are fine -- periodically or when necessary -- they won’t enhance mileage, only make the car do what it was built to do.

The federal government weighed in on pill popping and other Internet sensations last year -- including MPG-CAPS (which claim to “treat” the combustion chamber) and a $90 magnet that one attached to the fuel line to improve mileage -- after testing some 100 products for their claims of improving fuel efficiency.

“We have yet to find any device or additive that can produce that kind of result,” said Joni Lupovitz, of the Federal Trade Commission, at the time.

Handheld computer programmers. Often used by real gear heads and sports car tinkerers to enhance horsepower and acceleration, these small devices can be used to tweak your car’s central computer to get better miles to the gallon. The programmers are sold all over the net, starting at the low end of $200 a pop.

“Save on Fuel Costs & Help Save the Environment!” touts one advertisement for the SCT/Ford Economizer. A tech-support representative who chatted

said diesel owners could see a 2 to 3 mile increase in MPG, while gas drivers would see perhaps a 1 to 2 mile increase when using the device.

As always, there’s more than meets the eye, Moss said. While he acknowledges that cars can be reprogrammed (and not all can) to achieve a slight increase in fuel economy, there are downsides -- mainly, that one might have to give up a little horsepower in exchange

 

Typically the first thing to go would be the power,” he said. So basically, you’re offsetting.

“There are a lot of ways to modify your car but when there is something that results in a desirable characteristic, there is always an equal, opposite reaction,” said Moss, who works at Ferris EuroService Automotive in Warrenton, Va. Final verdict: Probably not worth the trouble.

Computer Control Module. Another variation on reprogramming the car’s onboard computer claims to give it enhanced performance. In this case, a tiny device is affixed to the computer to give it tailor-made instructions. Again, it’s mostly used by a niche group of car owners to increase horsepower, but it can also be used to modify fuel economy.

Rudloff insists that reprogramming throws off a careful balance between power, emissions and fuel economy built into the car by the manufacturer. The 1 or 2 more MPG gained by adding a module will come at “the expense of poor vehicle emissions” and power.

“Basically you can trade a little fuel economy for polluting the air you are breathing,” he charged.

Others acknowledge that the cost of these computer products far exceed any savings you will achieve at the pump.

So when it comes down to it, there are no magic bullets and no power pills -- aside from eliminating one’s need to drive altogether or going out and purchasing a hybrid or diesel engine vehicle (which for some commuters, could save quite a bit over time, say mechanics).

But some common sense tactics are still the best bet overall.

According to the Consumer Federation of America, consumers can do a number of things to improve gas mileage by as much as 13 percent. Keep your air filter clean, maintain the right tire pressure and alignment, avoid idling too much, and get rid of extra weight on the car.

And drive right, too: Don’t speed or ride the brakes, and try not to accelerate or slow down too abruptly.

“I always tell my customers that their money is best utilized by keeping their car in tip top shape,”. “Not wasting it on gizmos that have no scientific foundation.”

RIM plans to return to business route to give up most of the consumer market

Dispatch of sina science and technology Beijing time 30 March morning news, RIM announced Thursday that it will give up most of the consumer market, to focus on business users.

 

With the apple iPhone and Android in mobile phone competition after failure, RIM plans to return to the source, will focus on business users to him. Blackberry (the Po) mobile phone has always been that "security", it is enterprise personage love, President Obama is also the fan.

 

In recent years, RIM smartphones in the prevailing in the field, and its products to iPhone and Android phone rival. The company's new CEO torsten cane · friendly (Thorsten Heins) said, if you want to turn things around, the company needs to "big change".

 

He said: "we will be to focus on the enterprise market, make full use of in this market leading position. We think that if always try to get all people like, satisfy all the needs, blackberry will not succeed. Therefore, we plan to use of their own advantages."

 

RIM also has announced on Thursday, former joint CEO Jim baal zeri (Jim Balsillie) from the board of directors has to leave. In addition, the factory software CTO David Jacques (David Yach) and global business COO Jim Rowan (Jim Rowan) also will be leaving.

 

As a safe and reliable E-mail device, RIM's blackberry smart phone market in the enterprise long-term dominant, President Obama in the White House even after all refused to give up his blackberry.

 

RIM has been trying to broaden its appeal, hopes to expand into the consumer market, but because can't surpass the competition and in trouble. RIM hope that is about to release of the blackberry 10 operating system, but the system of time but released several put off. Blackberry's third party applications also behind the iPhone and Android mobile phones.

 

Because each big enterprise employees have choose Android and iPhone, and give up the blackberry, leading to the enterprise market share RIM have also been affected.

 

Apple in 2011 the final three months of sold 37 million iPhone, more than three quarters of the RIM total shipments. During the March 3 in the quarter, RIM's blackberry rate was only 11.1 million department.

 

RIM is working to develop tablet computer, hope to challenge apple iPad. But the product of our company PlayBook but because of the lack of original email and blackberry Messenger service and information are criticized. Last December, RIM will be the price of this product is down from $500 to $200, less than the cost.

RIM said, is for the existing consumer business seeking cooperation and other opportunities, so that focus on company business. "We can't micromanager, must want to do something you're good at." Friendly said.

 

In be asked whether will be other company acquisitions, friendly said: "this is not we now the key."

 

Friendly on January this year as RIM CEO, he is in the RIM of the quarterly performance is not up to market expectations after the comments. RIM fourth quarter net losses of $125 million, or $0.24 per share loss. Not including disposable project, adjusted earnings per share for $0.80, a low expectations analysts, on average $0.01. The company fourth quarter revenue realized $4.2 billion, $5.6 billion compared to the same period last year fell 25%, lower than the average $4.5 billion analysts expected.

 

Specific to the fiscal year 2012, RIM a net profit of $1.2 billion, or $2.22 eps, realize the business income is 18.4 billion dollars. Fiscal year 2011 net profit of $3.4 billion, or $6.34 eps, realize the business income is 19.9 billion dollars.

 

RIM Thursday in nasdaq stock (the Po) market conventional trading at $13.73 a barrel, a day before the rose $0.06, or 0.44%. The news announced that, after the shares in after-hours trading dropped $0.33, to $13.40, down 2.4%.

Amazing! Google's self-driving car allows the blind to drive



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By Jeremy A. Kaplan

"This is some of the best driving I've ever done," Steve Mahan said the other day.

Mahan was behind the wheel of a Toyota Prius tooling the small California town of Morgan Hill in late January, a routine trip to pick up the dry cleaning and drop by the Taco Bell drive-in for a snack.

He also happens to be 95 percent blind.

Mahan, head of the Santa Clara Valley Blind Center, “drove” along a specially programmed route thanks to Google’s autonomous driving technology.

Look, ma! No hands. And no feet!” Mahan jokes at one point in a video of the event, posted online Wednesday by Google. “I love it,” he added

 

Google announced the self-driving car project in 2010. It relies upon laser range finders, radar sensors, and video cameras to navigate the road ahead, in order to make driving safer, more enjoyable and more efficient -- and clearly more accessible. The search engine giant was awarded a patent on the system in December.

In a Wednesday afternoon post on Google+, the company noted that it has hundreds of thousands of miles of testing under the belt, letting the company feel confident enough in the system to put Mahan behind the wheel.

“There’s much left to design and test, but we’ve now safely completed more than 200,000 miles of computer-led driving, gathering great experiences and an overwhelming number of enthusiastic supporters,” Google wrote.

“The concept of it is pretty awesome,” Eric Bridges, government affairs director for the American Council of the Blind, told FoxNews.com.

“There are a lot of hoops that are going to need to be jumped through in the years to come: Things like driver’s licenses and regulatory stuff to allow these vehicles to traverse roadways. But the technology is absolutely intriguing,” he said.

 

Mahan has no driver's license, of course -- just one of the hurdles that had to be crossed: Google enlisted the aid of Sergeant Troy Hoefling with the Morgan Hill Police Department to accompany the drive.

Bridges, who is himself completely blind, took a ride in Google’s self-driving car last year, on a visit to the company’s Mountain View, Calif., facility.

"We had it out on the Interstate and allowed it to take over. It was pretty amazing, going in between lanes, making sure there was enough distance between us and the car next to us in another lane,” he said.

Bridges noted that the technology has incredible potential not just for the disabled.

“Wouldn’t it be wild if you called for a taxi and a car showed up with no one in it? Wouldn’t that just be nuts? But conceivably, that could happen, given this technology.”

“They’re helping to change the world in a lot of ways,” he added.

The video underscores the incredible potential of technology to help enable the disabled, but Google cautioned that it may be years before such technology is ready for the public.

“We organized this test as a technical experiment outside of our core research efforts, but we think it’s also a promising look at what this kind of technology may one day deliver for society if rigorous technical and safety standards can be met.”

 

Google puts anti-apartheid icon Mandela's life online

At a news conference in Johannesburg Tuesday, Mandela's archivists and Google said their $1.25 million project to digitally preserve a record of the anti-apartheid leader's life is now online. The project was first announced a year ago.

Researchers - and anyone else - from around the world now have access to hundreds of documents, photographs and videos. The archive has been launched with more than 1,900 entries, and more are being added.

"The Mandela Digital Archive Project shows how the Internet can help preserve historical heritage and make it available to the world," Steve Crossan, director of the Google Cultural Institute, said Tuesday.

Similar Google projects have focused on the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Yad Vashem Holocaust materials.

Mandela, who spent 27 years in prison for fighting against racist white rule, became South Africa's first black president in 1994 and served one five-year term. He now is officially retired and last appeared in public in July 2010.

Mandela inaugurated his memory center in 2004 as part of his charity and development foundation. The center houses an archive and hosts conferences and other events to promote justice and reconciliation worldwide.

Verne Harris of the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory said seeing the efforts of his center and Google realized "is invigorating."

In one video, former President F.W. de Klerk, who shared the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize with Mandela for negotiating himself out of power, recalled being asked to address parliament alongside Mandela in 2004. It was the 10th anniversary of the day Mandela became South Africa's first black president. Mandela took de Klerk's arm as lawmakers applauded.

"It is, if you now look back, a symbol of how reconciliation can manifest itself," de Klerk said in one of a series of videos in which people reflect on encounters with Mandela.

A photograph on the archive site shows Tutu, his wife and their grandchildren with Mandela after a church service on the Tutus' 50th wedding anniversary. In a caption, Tutu's granddaughter Nyaniso Burris remembers shaking Mandela's hand that day when she was 8 and telling her grandfather, "I won't wash this hand for the rest of forever."

In lines of neat handwriting in blue ink on paper that could have been torn from a schoolgirl's notebook, Mandela muses on Valentine's Day, characteristically referring to himself in the third person. The 1995 note appears to be a draft of a letter to a young admirer, in which Mandela said his rural upbringing by illiterate parents left him "colossally ignorant" about simple things like a holiday devoted to romance.

"Moving to the cities one was gradually drawn into mainstream politics, and there was little room for upgrading oneself with information on such issues," Mandela wrote. "Only during the last five years did I receive Valentine cards and gifts."

 

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Jupiter is melting, scientists say

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 By Brian Jacobsmeyer

Jupiter might be having a change of heart. Literally.

New simulations suggest that Jupiter's rocky core has been liquefying, melting, and mixing with the rest of the planet's innards. With this new data, astronomers hope to better explain a recent puzzling discovery of a strange planet outside of our solar system.

"It's a really important piece of the puzzle of trying to figure out what's going on inside giant planets," said Jonathan Fortney, a planetary scientist at the University of California Santa Cruz who was not affiliated with the research.

Conventional planetary formation theory has modeled Jupiter as a set of neat layers with a gassy outer envelope surrounding a rocky core consisting of heavier elements. But increasing evidence has indicated that the insides of gas giants like Jupiter are a messy mixture of elements without strictly defined borders.

This new research on a melting Jovian core bolsters a mixing model of gas giant planets and would provide another avenue for heavier elements to flow throughout the planet.

"People have been working on the assumption that these planets are layered because it's easier to work on this assumption," said Hugh Wilson, a planetary scientist at the University of California Berkeley and a coauthor of the new research appearing in Physical Review Letters.

Although scientists had previously toyed with the idea of melting cores in large planets, nobody sat down and did the necessary calculations, said Wilson.

Scientists have to rely on calculations of Jupiter's core environment because the conditions there are far too extreme to recreate on Earth. Wilson and his UC-Berkeley colleague Burkhard Militzer used a computer program to simulate temperatures exceeding 7,000 degrees Celsius and pressures reaching 40 million times the air pressure found on Earth at sea level.

Those conditions are thought to be underestimates of the actual conditions inside Jupiter’s core. Nonetheless, the authors found that magnesium oxide -- an important compound likely found in Jupiter's core -- would liquefy and begin drifting into Jupiter's fluid upper envelope under these relatively tame conditions.

Researchers believe that similarly-sized gas giant exoplanets -- planets found outside of our solar system -- probably have similar internal structures to Jupiter. Consequently, scientists were baffled earlier this year when they found a planet with approximately the same volume as Jupiter yet four to five times more mass.

Called CoRoT-20b, the new planet was announced in February, and its discoverers searched for a suitable explanation for its unusual density. Using conventional models, the astronomers calculated that the core would have to make up over half of the planet. For comparison, Jupiter's core only represents about between 3-15 percent of the planet’s total mass.

With a core that large, CoRoT-20b presented a huge problem for traditional assumptions surrounding planet formation.

"It's much easier to explain the composition of this planet under a model where you have a mixed interior," said Wilson.

Even the team that discovered the planet noted that a mixing model could allow for a more palatable planet density. Wilson's simulations not only add credence to the mixing model of giant planets but also suggest that this specific exoplanet's core is probably melting just like Jupiter's.

This melting may help explain why the exoplanet's heavy elements are likely stirred up and distributed throughout its volume, said Wilson.

Santa Cruz's Fortney agrees that most of the exoplanet's heavy elements likely reside in the outer envelope. Nonetheless, he expects other factors played a larger role in how the planet's interior became mixed: "It's more of a planet formation issue."

Several other events, such as two gas giants colliding together, might explain the ultra-high density of this new planet, Wilson admits. Certain processes may also limit the effectiveness of the melting and mixing process.

Liquefied parts of a gas giant's core may have trouble reaching the outer envelope due to double diffusive convection -- a process commonly found in Earth's oceans. When salty water accumulates at the bottom of the ocean, its density keeps it from mixing thoroughly with the upper layers. In a similar fashion, the heavy elements in Jupiter's core may have trouble gaining enough energy to move upward and outward.

Scientists don't know how much this hindrance will affect potential mixing inside Jupiter, and many other questions remain to be answered about the melting process.

"The next question is, 'How efficient is this process?'" said Fortney.

Researchers will have more tools to answer this question once NASA's Juno probe reaches Jupiter in 2016. With the spacecraft's instruments carefully analyzing Jupiter's composition, Wilson believes that there will be signatures of mixing and core erosion.

The world’smost powerful laser fires most powerful laser blast in history

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The largest laser in the world was turned on for a fraction of a second last week -- and it unleashed the most powerful laser blast in history.

The National Ignition Facility (NIF) -- a laser test facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, Calif. -- turned on its 192 laser beams for a brief instant on March 15, unleashing a record-setting 1.875-megajoule blast into a target chamber.

The lasers were combined, gathered and focused through a series of lens into a 2.03-megajoule shot, said Ed Moses, NIF director -- a record for the facility.

That pulse of energy lasted for just 23 billionths of a second, yet it generated 411 trillion watts of power, NIF said -- 1,000 times more than the entire United States consumes at any given instant.

“It’s a remarkable demonstration of the laser from the standpoint of its energy, its precision, its power, and its availability,” Moses told Nature magazine. 

But it’s barely half the battle. NIF hopes to dramatically increase the power of the laser shots by the end of year, intending to ultimately use the facility to harness the energy reaction that occurs naturally within the sun: fusion.

“This event marks a key milestone in the National Ignition Campaign’s drive toward fusion ignition,” Moses said.

In fission, atoms are split and the massive energy released is captured. The NIF aims for fusion, the ongoing energy process in the sun and other stars where hydrogen and helium nuclei are continually fusing and releasing enormous amounts of energy. In the ignition facility, beams of light converge on pellets of hydrogen isotopes to create a similar, though controlled, micro-explosion.

As the beams move through a series of amplifiers, their energy increases exponentially. From beginning to end, the beams' total energy grows from one-billionth of a joule to a potential high of four million joules, NIF said -- a factor of more than a quadrillion. 

And it all happens in about five millionths of a second.

Because the laser is on for the merest fraction of a second, it costs little to operate -- between $5 and $20 per blast, said spokeswoman Lynda Seaver. But the potential is enormous.

NIF’s managers hope by the end of the year to reach a break-even point, where the energy released is equal to if not greater than the energy that went into the blast.

“We have all the capability to make it happen in fiscal year 2012,” Moses told Nature.

Experts aren't so sure, citing challenges that NIF and other types of fusion have had in the past. 

Glen Wurden, a plasma physicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, told Nature scientists should be wary of putting all their eggs in the laser basket. 

“It’s premature right now,” he told the magazine, citing the troubles that have plagued a competing approach to fusion and its flagship project in France. 

Three online dating sites agree to screen for predators

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Three online dating giants agreed to screen for sex offenders and take other safety steps after a woman was assaulted on a date, the California attorney general's office announced Tuesday.

Match.com, eHarmony and Spark Networks signed a joint statement of business principles intended to provide an example for the industry and help guard against sexual predators, identity theft and financial scams.

"Consumers should be able to use websites without the fear of being scammed or targeted," Attorney General Kamala D. Harris said in a statement.

Among other things, the companies agreed Monday to check subscribers against national sex registries, supply members with online safety tips, and provide a quick way to report abuses. Some of the companies already are using some of those practices.

The dating services also will provide the attorney general's office with reports of suspected criminal activity, she said.

The statement is nonbinding and carries no enforcement penalties, but it does publicly hold dating sites to account for their members' safety, said Lynda Gledhill, a spokeswoman for the attorney general's office.

"They can't be sued by private parties based on this agreement. We fully expect that the companies will, in good faith, comply," she said.

Match.com, based in Dallas, was a pioneering dating website. Owned by IAC/InterActiveCorp, It now operates in 24 countries and territories in 15 languages.

Based in Santa Monica, eHarmony operates in the United States, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom.

Spark Networks Inc., based in Beverly Hills, runs a number of dating sites geared to specific religions and ethnicities.

Last year, an estimated 40 million Americans used an online dating service and spent more than $1 billion on dating website memberships, according to the attorney general's office.

In statements, the three factories all said they make the safety of their members a priority and hoped the statement would encourage other companies to adopt similar policies.

The statement was prompted by the 2010 sexual assault of a Los Angeles-area woman by a man she met through Match.com, Gledhill said. Alan Wurtzel had a string of previous convictions for sexual battery.

Prosecutors said that on their second date in 2010, Wurtzel drove the woman to her home, followed her inside and assaulted her.

The defense at first argued the sex was consensual, but Wurtzel last year pleaded no contest to sexual battery by restraint and was sentenced to a year in jail. He also was ordered to register as a sex offender.

The woman sued Match.com, seeking a court order requiring the website to check applicants' backgrounds to weed out convicted sex offenders. She dropped the suit last year after the site provided proof of such screening.

EXCLUSIVE: The gadgets of 2025: Frog unveils vision of the future

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By John Brandon

What if you could peek into the future?

Other than changing your investment strategy, you might want to know how the gadgets and tech we use will change. Maybe Yahoo will die a slow death … or become the next powerhouse. Apple might continue to dominate, or the phone and a tablet we use today could become the dinosaurs of tomorrow.

Technology defines our culture, and it will define it even more in the future.

For three days, FoxNews.com met with Frog, the global design and innovation firm in San Francisco that helped shape the original Mac computers and many of the most popular gadgets we use. Here are the concepts for the future that Frog developed after "frogthink" with their most brilliant brains.

The Digital Urn
One tragedy of the digital age is that seniors are sometimes forgotten. Some people over 70 or 75 tend to be confused by Facebook and Twitter; younger people are so inundated with tech that they live in a deep fog, hardly aware of the aging population.

The answer: a digital urn that would store memories of loved ones in a way that is easier to memorialize.

The two-part system would involve an ear clip that collects and stores brain activity as audio and video. The ear clip then would become a digital urn you give to a loved one to wear around their neck to make a statement about your life.

Roger Kay, a technology analyst with Endpoint Technologies, says the concept might seem a bit depressing, but it’s a step we may need to take. “This will call up high-fidelity memories of a loved one,” he says.

Immersive Space
Decades ago, futurists predicted a virtual reality machine would envelop our minds with sights and sounds, putting us on a mountaintop or walking beside a gurgling brook. Recent research suggests our minds do not cope well with that level of immersion – we know it’s not real.

A better idea: an immersive space like the videoconferencing systems of today, with high-resolution displays and crystal clear audio. As display technology evolves, we’ll abandon the need for a gadget in our hand for a stand-alone visual environment at the workplace and at home, controlled by gestures and our voice.

“I want one!” says Dr. Jakob Nielsen, the famed usability design expert with the Nielsen Norman Group. “More fun than the 3D TV screens, which are mainly headache-inducing. However, note that content creation for full-immersion rooms will be much more expensive than the creation of today's video games, so it'll be a mixed blessing and probably only available to fairly rich people.”

Kay says a dedicated room like this might be expensive, but by 2025, the costs for massive displays may be more feasible. Like the digital urn, this retreat area may be the only way to escape.

Smart Play
Kids will get bored in the future – that’s easy to predict! -- and parents will gravitate to any toy that can transform itself in purpose and intent ... something like a Lego Mindstorm without the programming.

This Smart Play toy would use a flexible OLED display that’s super-crisp. For example, a doll could change color and design when a child taps it onto a piece of clothing (or another doll). Or the doll could mimic any background object, say when the child turns the doll to “see” the fabric.

Nielsen says transforming toys are inevitable – but he suggests they may not come until 2050. “I kind of shudder at the thought of the scenes in Toy Story coming to life,” he joked. Kay says morphing toys may come even sooner than 2050, especially if there is a major breakthrough in nanomaterials research.

Soft Paper
Mark Zuckerberg will love this one. Flexible displays always seem to be stuck on a TBD list. This flexible material, made of OLED, will replace most paper. The electrical charge will occur when the paper flexes. The soft paper will make data sharing more visual and physical, less about which gadget you own.

“Finally, an iPad in your pocket: big when you want to look at it, small when you want to carry it,” Nielsen said. “This solves a huge need and will become popular quickly once the tech has been perfected.”

Digital DNA
Forget plastic surgery -- or even make-up. Using an in-home appliance, women or men will interact with a touchscreen mirror that will change how you look with the touch of a button. For example, you could try a different eye color, skin tone, or even alter the length of your eyelashes.

Once you’ve seen the “new you” in the mirror, you can step into a DNA re-sequencing machine. Scientists will know how to make the minor adjustments to your DNA for instant results. Once you have programmed your look, it will stay active until the next time you step into the DNA sequencer.