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Idaho State University lost a dirty bomb's worth of plutonium
Well this isn't good. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the federal agency tasked with administering the nation's supply of fissile materials, announced on Friday that Idaho State University may be subject to fine for losing a gram of weapons-grade plutonium. While the quarter-sized chunk of radioactive rock isn't nearly enough to generate a mushroom-cloud, it is sufficient for use in a so-called "dirty bomb," according to agency spokesman Victor Dricks. And to show that the NRC isn't fooling around, that fine will run ISU a tidy $8,500. Wait, that's it?
US nuclear regulator hit by two foreign cyberattacks in three years
It's no secret that the White House is eager to protect the energy grid against cyberattacks, but it's now clear that the government is speaking from bitter, first-hand experience. Nextgov has confirmed that foreign hacker groups broke into the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's systems twice within the past three years, compromising PCs and accounts by tricking users into installing malware. A third, individually-launched attack also happened during the same time frame. While investigators couldn't determine the origins due to internet providers deleting their logs, the targets suggest that the attacks were government-backed -- the NRC knows the contents and health of reactors across the US. That logically draws suspicion toward China or Russia, although these could have simply been black market operators hoping to sell to the highest bidder.
Study: NASA can't afford a trip to Mars, but deserves the cash to do it
It's no secret that NASA's long-term goal is to get people to Mars. But how realistic is that objective, really? Unfortunately, the prospects aren't looking good right now. The National Research Council has conducted a review of NASA's space program that suggests its budget isn't practical for anything more than trips to lunar space, and might not even stretch that far. So long as the administration's finances aren't keeping up with inflation, any attempt to push past low Earth orbit would "invite failure" and "disillusionment," the Council says.
Rich Green, Nokia CTO, takes leave of absence for 'personal reasons'
Rich Green's only been with Nokia since 2010, making his way onto the leadership team in February when the Elopcalypse rolled through Espoo. As CTO, the former VP of Sun Microsystems is charged with defining Nokia's technology vision; be it hardware, software, user experience, cloud services, or developer programs. So yeah, he's the guy looking at what's next, what's beyond Windows Phone and S40. Well, we just got official word from Nokia that he's taking a leave of absence for an unspecified duration for "personal reasons." Of course, that could mean anything -- business is always personal, regardless of those empty bromides tossed around whenever something distasteful happens between corporate personalities. The story first broke in the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, citing two independent sources claiming that Green likely won't be returning to the company because of disagreements over strategy. Interesting, don't you think? Update: Reuters says that Henry Tirri, head of Nokia Research Center, will be acting CTO
A grand tour of nanotechnology at Nokia Research Center, Cambridge
We've all seen what a bumpy ride Nokia's had over the last few months -- disappointing profits, the departure of a couple of old friends, and the slight delay of the forthcoming N8. Despite all that, Espoo seems to have at least one stronghold that remained unshaken throughout the storm: its research center in Cambridge, UK. Yep, we're talking about the magical place where Nokia and University of Cambridge co-develop the core technologies for the futuristic Morph concept. Actually, "futuristic" might be too strong a word here, as we were fortunate enough to see some of Nokia's latest research at the heart of Morph -- namely flexible circuitry and nanowire sensing -- demonstrated live yesterday. Curious as to how well the demos went? Then read on -- you know you want to.%Gallery-103427%
Nokia's Explore and Share concept uses super fast, mystery wireless
The Nokia Research Center has another tech tease that gives us a glimpse into one of our many possible mobile computing futures. The so-called, Explore and Share concept starts by placing an N900 onto a "writer" that's tethered to a PC at a retail store. At that point, the PC recognizes the handset and serves up a number of options to the purchaser. For the purposes of the demo, an unnamed Finn selects an album that downloads to the handset in less than 10 seconds. Less than 10 seconds, wirelessly! If we assume that the 18 track Bruce Springsteen album is somewhere between 100MB and 200MB then we're looking at a 10MBps to 20MBps transfer rate. Nokia doesn't admit to what tech it's using, referring to it only as "a new radio technology." It's certainly not NFC which tops out at 424kbps, or Bluetooth 3.0 + HS which tops out at 3MBps. It also negotiates much faster than WiFi (though that could just be editing trickery). It's closer to Wireless USB's real-world data rates of around 15MBps or TransferJet's 375Mbps effective throughput. Or as a long shot, maybe Bluetooth 4.0 which targets 60Mbps (theoretical) transfer rates. Regardless, it's fast so we have to agree with Nokia when it deadpans: "Sounds great. Doesn't. It." Check out the action after the break.
Nokia's mobile radar handset responds to movement, not emotion (video)
Seems like Helsinki's always got something interesting to show in its Nokia Research Center (NRC). Today's conceptual adventure involves radar, or RADAR (RAdio Detection And Ranging) if you prefer. Without going into too much technical detail, Nokia demonstrates a handset that uses electromagnetic waves to measure the speed of an impressively stoic Finn as he walks towards and away from a prototype handset that can identify the direction of movement. It also works through fabric to help turn typically mundane tasks such as volume adjustment into an aerobic art form. No really, see for yourselves in the video after the break.
Nokia and Reuters develop an N95-based "Mobile Journalism Toolkit"
The rise of the cameraphone has certainly changed the face of journalism, and old-guard wire service Reuters isn't about to get passed by -- the company has entered into a long-term partnership with Nokia to develop new mobile reporting technologies, and the two companies have recently completed trials of an N95-based "Mobile Journalism Tookit" that takes moblogging to a whole new level. Reporters were given a hardware bundle that consisted of an N95, a Nokia SU-8W portable keyboard, a Sony condenser mic with special N95 adapter, a tripod, and two Power Monkey power stations, including the solar-capable Explorer, all of which linked into a custom mobile CMS that allows stories to be posted almost instantly. Reuters also partnered with Comvu for GPS-linked video streaming, and the N95 also provides a host of other metadata about each piece of content as it's filed. Although the trial is now over, both Reuters and Nokia plan on using the kits to teach journalism students and to promote the cause of citizen journalism. Let's hope that means they start teaching people how to take non-blurry cameraphone spy shots, eh?Read -- Mobile Journalism Toolkit press releaseRead -- Posts from the Reuters mobile journalism trialRead -- Toolkit contents
