Concert Posters (Media Arts)

Re: In search for extraterrestrial life, here are the likeliest places to find it.

Scientists are becoming more convinced that there is alien life, and they say that there are several possible scenarios that could lead to their discovery:
- Mars. The planet has water undergroung and used to have even more water, which is key to life. Scientists believe that there's a good chance microbes would be living underground, even though they haven't found any evidence of this.
- Europa. The moon of Jupiter has radiation on the surface that would kill life. However, under a frozen ocean there is a chance that some type of microbes live in the liquid part below, perhaps near hydrothermal vents.
- Enceladus. The small moon of Saturn has supersonic plumes of gas and dust that shoot from its surface that could indicate it could have all-important liquid water.
-Titan. Saturns largest moon has liquid oceans, but they're most likely methane.
- On a planet outside our solar system. It is possible that astronomers using telescopes could detect an atmosphere on such a planet that could only be explained by photosynthesis or biological processes.
- On Earth. Scientists could fine life that came a board a meteorite or comet. They also could fine life deep in the sea or beneath Antarctica's ice, that is so unusual that it probably came from space.
- In radio signals. Scientists are scanning for alien transmissions from space.

I think if we were to find any aliens, they probably wouldnt be the small, big eyed, green things we picture. Probably more like small organisms like bacteria or something.... It's still an alien though, I guess. The one part about finding aliens on Earth kinda creeps me out. To think that there might be alien life on this planet is weird... However, if scientists discover new organisms, how would they be able to tell if its from another planet or has always been on this planet?

Re: Private spacecraft makes history as first to reach orbit, returns to Earth

For the first time ever, a private company has launched a spacecraft into orbit and then guided it back to Earth. The capsule that belonged to Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX), splashed into the Pacific on Wednesday afternoon. It was launched three hours earlier atop the company's Falcon 9 rocket. NASA ordered up the demonstration as a first step to handing over space station supply runs and astronaut rides to private businesses. Only governments had managed to recover spacecraft re-entering from orbit. SpaceX's spacecraft, called Dragon, circled the Eath twice before parachuting into the Pacific upon command.

I don't have much of an opinion about this, probably because there was little information in the article. However, I do think that its pretty cool that technology is advancing pretty fast. Who knows, maybe we'll soon be able to take a joy ride around the Earth.

Re: Canadian blogger gets bail in Iran

An Iranian rights group says a Canadian-Iranian blogger has been temporarily freed from prison on bail of about $1.5 million. Hossein Derakhshan is serving a sentence of more than 19 years as part of Iran's widespread crackdown on the media and web. The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said Thursday that Derakhshan is expected back in prison in a few days. It's unclear who posted the bail. Derakhshan founded the first Farsi-language blog a decade ago and is often called the father of Iran's internet activism. In 2006, Derakhshan angered Iranian authorities by visiting Israel in what he called a peace mission.

The fact that he's in jail because of his blog is kind of ridiculous. I don't know much about whats illegal in Iran, but arresting someone for trying to promote peace and awareness is dumb. He shouldn't have to suffer for trying to make the world a better place, and whoever posted his bail definitely agrees with me.

Re: Parents blue after kids rack up big iTunes bills buying expensive game add-ons

"The Smurfs' Village", a game for the iPhone and other Apple products, was released a month aago and became the highest-grossing application in the iTunes store; but its free to download. Kelly Rummelhart of Gridley, Calif., stated that her 4-year-old son was playing on her iPad and racked up $66.88 in charges on her credit card without knowing what he was doing. Rummelhart had no idea that is was possible to buy things with real money inside the game. Apple introduced "in-app purchases" last year, which let developers use the iTunes billing system to sell items and add-ons in their games and applications. When the publishing company of the game "The Smurfs' Village", says purchases by children are "lamentable". When it realized what was happening, it added a warning about the in-app purchases to the game's description in the App Store, and it's updating the game to include warnings inside it as well.

If I was one of the parents who had a child spend this much money on app purchases without them actually being aware of it, I would be mad at the game too. And also the fact that the purchases are like, $60 for something that helps you in a game. It should be at most $5. Atleast the app is trying to warn parents and hopefully their children about the purchases.

Re: Baby mice produced from two males

Scientists in Texas have created baby mice from two males, which raises the possibility that double father offspring could someday repopulate vulnerable species. This advance could even help same-sex human couples have children carrying both parents' genes. The researchers first cloned a mother mouse from a  male. The female carried the male DNA then mated with another male. Therefore, the offspring had the same genes from two males. The authors of the study called their findings "a new form of mammalian reproduction" and suggested that "it may also be possivle to generate sperm from a female donor and produce viable male and female progeny with two mothers."

I think these advances in science and biology are pretty amazing. It'll definitely help same-sex marriages become the norm in the US and Canada, which to me is a good thing.

 

Re: Accused teen music hacker issues apology

A German teen under investigation for hacking into the computers of Lady Gaga, Kelly Clarkson and other top recording artists for their music, has apologized. "I'm sorry for everything I've done - I never thought it would go so far. We were only interested in the music," Deniz A., told Germany's Bild newspaper in an interview that was published on wednesday. In a letter that was published in Bild, the 18-year-old says he is ashamed and "did not thing about the consequences." Him and his 23-year-old accomplice apparently earned more than $13, 000 from selling the rare tracks online. This raised the suspicion of a Kelly Clarkson fan, who informed the singer's management. They then reported the illegal sales to the authority. They young man are also accused of blackmailing Kesha with an explicit photo. Formal charges have yet to be filed but Duisberg state prosecuter Rolf Haferkamp said he expects the probe to be completed soon.

To be honest, I don't really think he's that sorry. He's probably sorry he got caught. However, I don't think they deserve to rot away in jail, because no one got hurt, they didn't discriminate against a race, and they didn't make anyone lose their livelihood. Their only intention was to make some money.