BACKFLIP: AT&T Announces Availability of First Android Device with Motorola

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MOTOBLUR offers AT&T customers a new way to connect to their favorite people, content and applications, whether it’s work or personal email, messaging or social networking. Motorola’s exclusive Android experience syncs contacts, posts, messages, photos and much more — from sources such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Gmail, Picasa, work and personal e-mail, and Last.fm — and automatically delivers them to live widgets for immediate reply, right from the home screen. And, for customers who prefer multi-tasking, AT&T’s 3G network offers the added advantage of talking and surfing the Web and accessing applications at the same time.
BACKFLIP features a unique form-factor with an original reverse flip design, spacious keyboard and BACKTRACK touch panel, allowing the display to be hands-free while one’s fingers work behind the screen. BACKFLIP runs on the nation’s fastest 3G network and is powered by MOTOBLUR, Motorola’s Android-powered content delivery service created to make phones more personal and socially smart.
MOTOBLUR keeps track of contacts so it’s easy to keep up. Users can flip through messages and updates on the BACKFLIP and respond in a flash, without having to log in and out of applications. MOTOBLUR helps consumers keep a pulse on what’s happening on their social and news networks. Only MOTOBLUR can sync Facebook, MySpace and Twitter with phone book and email contacts, while threading status updates and profile pics through calls, messages and address book. From the home screen, consumers can update their status to Facebook, MySpace and Twitter at once.

Range Rider Lawn Tractor

The Range Rider lawn tractor features a powerful Kohler engine and a hydrostatic transmission with cruise control that allows for an infinite range of speeds. With a 42" deck, cast iron front axle and comfortable controls like a Soft Touch steering wheel and rubber foot pads to reduce vibration, the Range Rider has the power and convenient features you're looking for in a lawn tractor. **Available at Lowe's by special order only**
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42" dual-blade side discharge mowing deck
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Automatic transmission with foot pedal controls and cruise control - drives like a car!
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Cast-iron front axle for durability and strength
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Infinite range of speeds and superior control with hydrostatic transmission
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Cruise control lets you lock in the perfect pace
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Rubber footpads help reduce vibration
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Heavy duty StepThru frame for easy on and off
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Standard cup holder
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Accepts optional FastAttach mulch kit, bagger or bumper with no tools required
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2-year limited warranty
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20 HP* Kohler engine
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*as rated by engine manufacturer

CERN Gears Up Its Computers for More Atom Smashing

A deluge of high-energy physics data is headed toward servers in Geneva, Switzerland, later this month. That's because the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) now says it plans to restart its Large Hadron Collider (LHC) soon for a run that could last as long as two years at a collision energy of seven TeV (tera–electron volts, 3.5 TeV per beam). As CERN ramps up the world's most powerful particle accelerator to operate well beyond its previous best performance, the lab's computer systems must likewise be tuned so they can properly capture and analyze all of this new output.Rather than adding a platoon of new computers, and possibly overextending the information technology infrastructure's power and cooling capacity, CERN is testing a virtualized server environment that it hopes to have in place by the end of the year. Server virtualization, which involves using software to segment a server machine's processing and storage capacity, has become a popular technique in recent years to make better use of underutilized machines and drive up efficiency in data centers.CERN plans to divide its 4,000 servers (which run about 32,500 processors) into about 35,000 virtual servers by the end of the year and manage the subsequent workflow with the help of software from Platform Computing Corp., in Markham, Ontario. Over the next two or three years the lab could further slice up its servers into as many as 80,000 virtual servers.Simply adding more server machines to CERN's data centers was not an option. "We are limited in the amount of power and cooling available," says Tony Cass, group leader of the Fabric Infrastructure and Operations group at CERN. "We want to wring every last drop out of the resources we have to do physics. Even 10 percent more capacity means that much more toward improving the physics."In addition to the particle accelerator itself, LHC has several particle detectors—including ATLAS and CMS—on site that capture data produced during the collisions. "To produce physics results, scientists at CERN first have to turn the 1s and 0s produced by the detectors into meaningful pictures showing the tracks of the different quantum particles produced in the collisions," Cass says. "Then they need to analyze these images to understand what they mean."Detector data capture and analysis requires tremendous computing power, but not always in equal amounts. Sometimes more crunching is needed to create the images, other times it is necessary for the analysis. To allocate and reallocate processor resources, Cass and his team have to determine how many servers would be required to perform a certain task—analysis, for example. If they find that more computing resources are needed elsewhere, they have to stop the batch-processing work being done on the servers, reconfigure them, and then start them again. Virtual servers, however, can be allocated and reallocated dynamically using Platform Computing's software, without the need to interrupt processing work already in progress.The LHC, which first went online in September 2008, is designed to accelerate bunches of protons to the highest energies ever generated by a machine, colliding them head-on 30 million times a second, with each collision generating thousands of particles at nearly light-speed. If successful, the LHC could help physicists answer questions about the subatomic composition of matter and energy in the universe.Unfortunately, the LHC's first run lasted little more than a week before it had to be halted due to a problem with two superconducting magnets. The device was brought online again briefly in November to conduct a few experiments but has been down since December while CERN upgrades the equipment. More than 10,000 researchers in 85 countries plan to use the world's most powerful particle accelerator to test different predictions concerning high-energy physics.

'Thinking' robot to explore depths of Arctic waters

Engineers at Indian Arm, B.C., troubleshoot Explorer's communications link to reduce the risk of the robot failing to find its way home after mapping the Arctic in spring.PAUL_handleError, google_render_ad);
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Video: Canada's Yellow Submarine
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By Paul Watson Arctic-Aboriginal Affairs
INDIAN ARM, B.C.–Through a hole cut in the High Arctic ice, Canada's latest pioneer will dive to lightless depths to fathom a mountainous undersea world unseen by human eyes.
Shaped like a six-metre-long torpedo, Explorer will creep through the darkness at the speed of a briskly paddled canoe, under pressure so powerful it would crush a car into a block of steel scrap.
In March, a small team of Canadian government and industry experts plans to launch the autonomous unmanned vehicle (AUV) from an ice camp north of Borden Island, in the eastern Arctic, more than 4,100 kilometres northwest of Toronto.
The yellow craft will be on a critical mission to map the sea floor, at a depth of some five kilometres, as Canada rushes to compile evidence supporting its claim to a vast northern territory before a 2013 deadline.
For close to four days at a time, Explorer will be prowling like a lone shark, a multi-million-dollar trailblazer on a perilous voyage with no one to watch its steel-hulled back.
If the robot runs into trouble – like a massive seamount rising up into the darkness, turbulent currents or a curious sea creature – it won't be able to call for help from humans high above on shifting ice. Explorer will have to think for itself.

Distance from Earth to Moon

The Earth has only one natural satellite in the form of the Moon. The distance from the Earth to the Moon can be measured in terms of km, miles, light years. It takes 1.2 seconds for light to travel the distance from the Earth to the Moon. The average distance between these celestial bodies is 384,400 km...
The Moon which revolves around the Earth is the fifth largest of all moons present in our solar system. Its diameter is 3,474 km and is slightly greater than a quarter of the Earth's diameter. The total surface area of moon is less than 10% of Earth's surface area. The gravity experienced on the surface of moon is 17% of the Earth's gravitational force. The volume of the moon is 2% that of the Earth. The gravitational interactions which take place between the Earth and the moon slows down the rotation of the former. The transfer of kinetic energy which takes from the Earth to the moon is the reason behind this slowdown. It also causes tides on the surface of Earth. The effect of this gravitational interaction on the moon is seen in the form of its orbit being raised. Information about the distance from the Earth to the Moon is provided in the following paragraphs. Read more on facts about moon.

AT&T to invest $2B in mobile network

(CNET) -- AT&T said Thursday that it will invest an additional $2 billion in its network in 2010 to make sure it keeps up with the growing demand from new smartphones and other 3G data devices, such as the Apple iPad, on its network.
During its fourth quarter 2009 conference call, Chief Operating Officer John Stankey said AT&T plans to spend between $18 billion and $19 billion in 2010 upgrading its wireless and backhaul networks to handle the onslaught of new traffic. This is roughly $2 billion more than the company had invested in the previous year.
Specifically, Stankey said AT&T will add 2,000 new cell sites and upgrade existing cell sites with three times more fiber links than it had in 2009. This will increase capacity for the backhaul network that connects the cell towers to AT&T's main network. The backhaul portion of the network is a critical component to AT&T's network; with these upgrades in place, Stankey said the company will be able to easily upgrade in the future to 4G wireless technology.
AT&T will begin testing its 4G network using LTE, the same technology Verizon Wireless is using for its 4G network, starting in 2010, with a few commercial deployments ready in 2011 and more commercial deployments in 2012.
AT&T, which is the only wireless operator in the U.S. selling the iPhone, has been the target of much criticism over this past year, as many iPhone subscribers, particularly in densely populated urban areas, have complained about dropped calls, slow Internet access, and poor all around service. Some critics claim the company has not been spending enough on network upgrades to keep up with growing demand.
Stankey acknowledged that AT&T has faced some difficulties, particularly in cities like New York and San Francisco. But he said the company is "closing the gap."
He said there are periods of time during the week in some sections of Manhattan where nearly 70 percent of the phones active on its network are data-intensive devices. He said to deal with this surge in usage, AT&T is increasing 3G radio capacity in those trouble areas by more than one third. The company will also add additional radio network controllers on existing cell sites.

Why Was Haiti Earthquake So Devastating?

Washington ― More than 3 million people in Haiti are estimated to have been affected by the earthquake that struck January 12. Registering at magnitude 7.0, it is the most violent earthquake to hit that island nation in a century. Deaths, injuries and damage are yet to be tallied.
According to experts, magnitude 7 earthquakes ― considered “severe” by seismologists ― occur around the world 12 to 15 times each year. What made the Haiti earthquake especially devastating?
In addition to the magnitude (strength) of an earthquake, an earthquake’s location relative to population centers its depth under the earth are determining factors for the damage that may result, according to Michael Blanpied, associate coordinator of the Earthquake Hazards Program at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
In a recorded interview for USGS, Blanpied said the epicenter for the Haiti earthquake was just 10 miles (15 kilometers) from the capitol city of Port-au-Prince, where nearly 1 million people live. He also noted that Haiti, which suffers from widespread poverty, has not constructed many buildings resistant to earthquakes. Compounding the problem, he said, is that the earthquake has been followed by at least six aftershocks of moderate magnitude that have further damaged already weakened buildings and imperiled rescue efforts.
The initial earthquake is estimated to have occurred just 6.2 miles (10 kilometers) under the earth’s surface. Shaking from relatively shallow earthquakes is more severe, Blanpied said. In addition, soft ground amplifies the shaking, which increases the threat of destruction to the buildings above it.
Landslides, which could bury buildings and claim more victims, remain a possibility, Blanpied said. “The only positive thing about this earthquake is that, because it did occur on land, it did not generate a tsunami,” he said. Tsunamis are huge ocean waves capable of traveling miles inland on land masses. The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, generated by an undersea earthquake, killed some 300,000 people.
Haiti is no stranger to earthquakes. The nation, which occupies the western part of the island of Hispaniola and is situated between Puerto Rico and Cuba, has experienced numerous slight to moderate earthquakes in the recent past.
“The island is caught between two tectonic plates,” Blanpied explained. “The North America and the Caribbean tectonic plates are sheering the island, crushing it, grinding it. And as that occurs, earthquakes pop off. … This is quite an earthquake-prone region.”
According to the USGS, at least 1,783 deaths worldwide resulted from earthquake activity in 2009. The deadliest earthquake of that year was a magnitude 7.5 event that killed approximately 1,117 people in southern Sumatra, Indonesia, on September 30. The most powerful earthquake for 2009 ― registering at magnitude 8.1 ― occurred September 29 in the Samoa Islands region. The tsunami it generated killed 192 people.
More information about earthquakes is available at the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program Web site.