What goes around, comes around: U.S. hackers attack China

What goes around, comes around: U.S. hackers attack China:
Dozens of reports of cyber-attacks on U.S. companies originating in China have emerged over the past few years. But as these attacks were taking place, hackers in the U.S. were allegedly targeting at least two websites belonging to China's military. China officials claim U.S. hackers targeted the Defense Ministry's website and a site belonging to its newspaper, the People's Liberation Army Daily, an average of 144,000 times per month in 2012, The Associated Press reported. Defense Ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng issued the accusation, and said that the Chinese military has never supported any hacking activity targeting the U.S. "Like other countries, China faces a serious threat from hacking and is one of the primary victims of hacking in the world," Geng told reporters. "Numbers of attacks have been on the rise in recent years."

This Black Hole Spins at (Almost) the Speed of Light

This Black Hole Spins at (Almost) the Speed of Light:

NASA and the ESA have teamed up to measure how fast a black hole, that weighs 2 million times more than our sun, spins—and the result's mind boggling. More »

Invisible Motion Captured in Video by Scientists

Invisible Motion Captured in Video by Scientists:

When you see people or things, there's literally always more than meets the eye—a person's heart rate and blood flow or slight movements in an object, for example. But most of that is invisible to us! Maybe not for long. A team of MIT scientists have managed to reveal those invisible motions in video. It's fascinating. More »

Strange supernova remnant harbors Milky Way’s youngest black hole

Strange supernova remnant harbors Milky Way’s youngest black hole:

Composite X-ray/optical/radio image of the supernova remnant W49B. The structure and composition of this remnant hints that it was a gamma ray burst - one of the most violent explosions known - and likely harbors a black hole at its center.

X-ray: NASA/CXC/MIT/L.Lopez et al.; Infrared: Palomar; Radio: NSF/NRAO/VLA

While stars like our Sun go gently into that good night, stars more than 25 times more massive explode in violent supernovae. Since stars that big are rare, their explosions are too, so astronomers typically have to do forensic work on supernova remnants in our galaxy. One particular remnant is one the brightest X- and gamma-ray sources around, marking it as a relatively recent explosion. By studying the remnant, astronomers have determined it likely harbors the youngest black hole in the Milky Way, and the original explosion may have been extremely energetic.
Laura A. Lopez, Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz, Daniel Castro, and Sarah Pearson used long-exposure X-ray observations to study the remnant. They found distinct signs of a supernova with strong jets shooting from the poles. The astronomers failed to find any sign of a neutron star, meaning the supernova must have left a black hole instead. And the emissions suggest it's only 1,000 years of age, which would make the black hole the youngest known in our galaxy.
Over their lifetimes, stars fuse light atoms into slightly heavier ones, but fusing most of the elements in the periodic table requires the intense energies of a supernova. By mapping certain of these elements—iron in particular—in a supernova remnant, astronomers can recreate the conditions under which the star died.

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Automate Everything In Your Home Using Siri and a Raspberry Pi

Automate Everything In Your Home Using Siri and a Raspberry Pi:

We've shared quite a few DIY tips for automating your home, but YouTube user Elvis Impersonator takes it a step further with voice control, controlling everything in his house with the help of Siri and a Raspberry Pi. More »

Ubuntu smartphones set for October launch in two markets

Ubuntu smartphones set for October launch in two markets:

Sure, Ubuntu for smartphones is slated to appear as a downloadable image for the Galaxy Nexus late this month, but you'll have to wait until fall to get your hands on honest-to-goodness Ubuntu phone hardware. According to the Wall Street Journal, Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth says Ubuntu handsets will hit two "large geographic markets" in October, and that the open source OS has struck the fancy of carriers, to boot. However, Shuttleworth remained coy regarding which regions will see the devices launch in October and which manufacturers will be serving up hardware.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile
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Via: CNET
Source: Wall Street Journal