It's All the Sun's Fault

Yes, it's 2012. No, December 21st hasn't quite come yet. But we may not have to wait to view a possible foreshadowing of what may come this December. Last Sunday night (March 4), the sun erupted with a level 2-3 solar flare headed toward the earth. Solar flares are short outbursts of energy that result from inconsistent magnetic properties of the molecules that are associated in nuclear fusion of the sun. They release large amounts of energy and many highly accelerated particles, that can pose a problem to systems if the energy bursts reach the earths atmosphere. For example, if your GPS wasn't working this past Sunday, you now know who to blame. The intensity of the Sunday storm was the highest recorded solar flare (on a scale of 1-5, 5 being the most intense) since 2005. However, four days later, Thursday morning, a solar flare will glance of the side of the earth with an intensity level of a 5. This solar flare may disrupt GPS systems, our power grids, radio communications, and any satellites near its path. Though this solar flare will not hit the earth directly, there is a possibility that in the future, a solar flare will be released that will have a serious impact on our survival.

For more information, visit the solar flare Wikipedia page.

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Cheating On Tests- The Pentagon Does it Too

The F-35 Joint-Strike Fighter is supposed to become the next step in American stealth fighters with the current military budget listing the retiring of more than 100 existing Air Force while leaving intact plans to produce almost 2,500 F-35s. This would be almost doubling the amount of F-35s in service despite a recent listing 13 serious design flaws in the F-35. Recently the F-35 passed a key Pentagon test of its combat capability, but it may not have been quite as successful as the military would like us to believe. The review council, which includes the vice chiefs of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps, eased the regulations for the standard flying profile of the F-35, allowing it an additional 50 feet on the required takeoff. While Stephen O'Bryan a former vice president of Lockheed Martin (the company producing the F-35) insists the F-35 is meeting or exceeding every single one of the Key Performance Parameters that the services have mandated," I won't be convinced of the plane's effectiveness until it passes a test that isn't rigged (of which it has yet to do), regardless of how many members of the company that produce it tell me otherwise.

For more information, visit Wired.
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Cities of the Future

In Rio de Janeiro IBM has set up a central data center to monitor everything from weather to traffic patterns in a program called Smarter Cities.  This allows for precision control of things like traffic light timing and the power grid, making cities more efficient.  As the population of the world increases, it will become more and more important to make cities as energy efficient as possible.  It is a very difficult job to manage the infrastructure of a large city.  Many cities have go infrastructure control in individual departments, but no city has the same level of integration as in Rio de Janeiro.  This system brings the data streams of 30 different agencies together in one location, allowing more informed decisions to be made about the city.  For example, if the traffic is especially bad in rush hour, the city may want to increase the traffic flow through an area.  This integration will allow cities to be more efficient and easier to manage.  Providing this level of integration is expected to be a large source of revenue for IBM in the future.  If the experiment in Rio de Janeiro works out, IBM to do the same in other cities.  By 2050 75% of the population of the world is expected to be living in cities.  Such megacities will need good infrastructure and integration between departments to run the city intelligently.  If IBM can make Rio de Jeneiro into a “smart city,” they will have a large demand from other cities for similar service.  However, in Rio de Janeiro, challenges remain.  The city consists of sprawling growth that was often poorly planned.  Many of the people live in crime-ridden slums, called favelas.  The crumbling infrastructure is a challenge for IBM.  If the company can create a “smart city” out of Rio de Jeneiro, it can do the same anywhere.

Read more at the New York Times website.
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The iPhone: It'll send you to jail!

The iPhone's potential is somewhat immeasurable; it can fix a presentation on the way to work, help your kid shut up and go to sleep by playing "SpongeBob", and much more.  Now in West Virginia, it can be used to report suspicious activity to the local Homeland Security Office.  Whether it’s the new, possibly KGB agent secretary, or just your annoying neighbor, the picture you took with your iPhone will give the West Virginia “Fusion Center” information on local residents.  This report doesn’t even have to be as a result of a crime or even suspected crime, just any suspicious activity making you nervous.  The procedures are slightly hazy; it’s not clear how long information on citizens can be kept and filed, or if it’s even used.  This can possibly quell the “trigger happy” concerned citizen, wanting to report every neighbor for mowing their lawn or getting the mail.  Kentucky has a similar system in place, using basically the same concept.  Is the era of the local vigilante throwing terrorists in the slammer upon us?  I don’t think so, especially because there was no terrorism in either state in 2011.  All this means is that next time, you probably shouldn’t let your “buddy” snap your picture with his iPhone, so that he can use “Fat Booth.”   

For more information, visit Wired.
Picture found here.