Prison Planet.com ? DHS' X-ray scanners could be cancer risk to ...

Declan McCullagh
CNet
January 13, 2012

Internal Homeland Security documents describing specifications for border-crossing scanners, which emit gamma or X-ray radiation to probe vehicles and their occupants, are raising new health and privacy concerns, CNET has learned.

Even though a?public outcry has prompted Homeland Security to move away from adding X-ray machines to airports?it purchased 300 body scanners last year that?used alternative technologyinstead?it appears to be embracing them at U.S.-Mexico land border crossings as an efficient way to detect drugs, currency, and explosives.

A 63-page set of specifications (PDF), heavily redacted, obtained by theElectronic Privacy Information Centerthrough the Freedom of Information Act, says the scanners must ?be based on X-Ray or gamma technology,? which use potentially dangerous ionizing radiation at high energies, and ?shall be capable of scanning?cars, SUVs, motorcycles and busses.?

?Society will pay a huge price in cancer because of this,? John Sedat, professor of biochemistry and biophysics at the University of California at San Francisco, told CNET. Sedat has?raised concernsabout the health risks of X-ray scanners, and the European Commission in November?prohibitedtheir use in European airports.

Full article here

Print this page.

Comment Rules

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Source: http://www.prisonplanet.com/dhs-x-ray-scanners-could-be-cancer-risk-to-border-crossers.html

carrier iq linda perry world aids day horse slaughter horse slaughter kristin cavallari world aids day 2011

Drone designed to scout Saturn's moon

Physicist Jason Barnes was just 6 years old in 1982 when scientists first came up with the Cassini spacecraft mission that would tour Saturn's rings and moons more than two decades later. Now, a fully grown Barnes has the even wilder idea of sending a robotic aircraft soaring through the skies of Saturn's mysterious moon Titan.

The "AVIATR" drone design looks eerily similar to those of U.S. military drones patrolling the skies above Earth's battlefields. But it could fly through Titan's skies far more easily than those of Earth ? the Saturn moon has seven times less gravity and more than three times denser atmosphere to give wings extra lift. That would allow the drone to stay airborne almost forever on nuclear batteries with two-light bulbs'-worth of power as it scouts the surface of Titan.

"Because it would be electrically powered by ASRGs (Advanced Stirling Radioisotope Generators), we could theoretically go forever on that power," said Barnes, a physicist at the University of Idaho. "The nominal mission is a year, but we don't really have an upper limit. We could maintain flight indefinitely."

A robotic airplane could fly on Titan more efficiently than a hot-air balloon, say Barnes and his colleagues. It could also swoop below Titan's atmospheric haze and take detailed images of the moon's surface that usually lies hidden from the cameras of Cassini or other spacecraft in orbit.

We have the technology
Flying an aircraft on a moon of Saturn where methane falls as rain may seem wildly futuristic, but the drone doesn't require much new technology. One of the AVIATR drone designers, Richard Foch of the Naval Research Laboratory, has already created tens of drones for the U.S. Navy.

"We're really taking advantage of the fact that the Defense Department has spent tens of billions of dollars to create the tech we need," Barnes told InnovationNewsDaily. "If you proposed it 10 years ago, it'd be crazy ? you would need a lot of development just to create the autonomous software to do long-term navigation."

The drone would enter Titan's atmosphere in an aeroshell similar to one that protected the Huygens probe dropped by Cassini in 2005. Once a parachute had deployed to really slow down the descent, the aircraft would unfold its wings tucked beneath it, turn on the propeller and fly out of the aeroshell.

The power source is one of the few exceptions for new technologies. The ASRGs being developed by NASA resemble more-efficient versions of existing nuclear batteries that harness energy from the radioactive decay of material such as Plutonium 238.

Flying to save energy
That still only amounts to about 250 watts, or two-light bulbs'-worth of power, for AVIATR. The power supply limits how much information the drone can beam back to Earth when using the satellite dish tucked into its oversized nose.

Rather than load up the drone with extra batteries, the mission designers came up with a clever solution. AVIATR could climb to 8.7 miles (14 kilometers) up in Titan's atmosphere, stop its propeller and then redirect all power to the upload beam as it glides down to just 2 miles (3.5 km) above the moon's surface.

The drone is expected to beam about 1 gigabyte of data about Titan's methane rainfall, winds, clouds and other weather information back to Earth within a year ? the equivalent of about 200 songs in mp3 format. A side-view camera could reveal views of Titan's clouds stretching out across the horizon.

Picturing a moon of Saturn
AVIATR would also carry a high-resolution camera ? similar to the HiRISE camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter ? capable of imaging objects as small as 10 inches (25 cm) per digital image pixel. That would allow it to take images at the peak of its climb to build a mosaic map of Titan's surface, even as it also captures high-resolution images at the bottom of its glide.

The drone could even fly along the shoreline of one of Titan's many lakes, or observe one of the moon's many extraterrestrial features that seem strangely similar to those on Earth.

"Titan is a wild and diverse place," Barnes said. "We want to get Huygens-quality imaging on tens of sites on Titan: lakes, sand dunes, mountains and channels."

1. More space news from msnbc.com

   1. Planet hunters are amazing even themselves

      Science editor Alan Boyle's blog: Even the astronomers on the science team for NASA's Kepler planet-hunting mission are marveling at the new worlds they're finding.

   2. Zoom in on the black hole next door
   3. How a black hole throws fastballs
   4. 'Saturn on Steroids': Alien world may have rings

Putting Titan on the menu
The AVIATR drone originally began as part of a bigger Titan mission involving a space orbiter and a robotic craft called the Titan Mare Explorer intended to splash down in one of Titan's largest seas. But its proposed $715 million budget has now left it stranded in the price range of NASA's New Frontiers class of missions.

New Frontiers missions must target scientific targets deemed high priority by the Planetary Science Decadal Survey ? but Titan was not on the menu for the most recent round. Now Barnes has settled in for a career-long quest to build up support for Titan in the 2019 survey, so that a mission might launch in the late 2020s.

Still, the physicist takes heart from past researchers who didn't give up in the decades-long quest to launch the Cassini-Huygens mission.

"People laid the groundwork for me, so I'm going to try returning the favor by doing the groundwork for future missions," Barnes said.

The AVIATR is detailed in the Dec. 20, 2011, online edition of the journal Experimental Astronomy.

You can follow InnovationNewsDaily senior writer Jeremy Hsu on Twitter @ScienceHsu. Follow InnovationNewsDaily on Twitter @News_Innovation, or on Facebook.

? 2012 InnovationNewsDaily.com. All rights reserved. More from InnovationNewsDaily.com.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45946425/ns/technology_and_science-innovation/

iron bowl iron bowl bo jackson bo jackson ibogaine weather houston weather houston

PayPal tests in-store payment system at Home Depot

NEW YORK (AP) ? EBay's PayPal service is testing out a payments system in brick-and-mortar Home Depot stores.

PayPal spokesman Anuj Nayar said Friday that the system is being tested in just five stores and involves a small number of PayPal employees. That means it's not available to the general public and likely won't be for some time.

The move is part of eBay's strategy to expand beyond the desktop computer into mobile devices and other aspects of everyday life.

EBay CEO John Donahoe had mentioned the plans in October during the company's earnings conference call. But he did not say which retailer was participating.

To pay using PayPal, customers will be able to enter their phone number and a pin code, or use a special PayPal card.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2012-01-06-EBay-PayPal%20at%20Home%20Depot/id-4c97b625d204437c8499914e43975661

lsu alabama national championship cordova beezow doo doo zopittybop bop bop lsu game lsu game truffles

Albanian charged in attempted Florida car bombing

[unable to retrieve full-text content]

Source: www.vnnforum.com --- Monday, January 09, 2012
If it is legit and not staged like in cases involving Arabs I can only say I am sorry that he didn't succeed and cause mass carnage. Quote: Muslim man charged in attempted Florida car bombing 09 Jan 2012 20:36 Source: reuters // Reuters (Updates with details of attempted attack) By Barbara Liston ORLANDO, Fla., Jan 9 (Reuters) - A 25-year-old Muslim man born in Kosovo was charged on Monday with trying to obtain explosives and firearms to attack Florida businesses and a police station, authorities said. Sami Osmakac, a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Kosovo - a disputed Balkan state once a part of the former Yugoslavia that declared its independence from Serbia in 2008 - was charged with one count of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction. He was arrested Saturday night after taking possession from an undercover FBI agent of what he believed to be explosives and firearms. He then armed what he thought was a car bomb intended to explode outside an Irish bar, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney. The devices were rendered inoperable by the agents. Osmakac also planned to strap on an explosive belt and "get in somewhere where there's a lot of people," according to the release. Osmakac hoped to take hostages and demand the release of some unidentified prisoners. He told the undercover agent that police could "take me in five million pieces," according to the release. "We all have to die, so why not die the I ...

Source: http://www.vnnforum.com/showthread.php?t=137637&goto=newpost

paulina gretzky paulina gretzky wayne gretzky wayne gretzky occupy los angeles occupy los angeles comedian patrice o neal

Man allegedly identified 3 at wedding who were kidnapped, slain by cartel

A man described as a family friend faces charges for allegedly identifying a New Mexico bridegroom and his relatives to a cartel hit squad before they were abducted during a wedding and then tortured and killed in Ju?rez.

Gonzalo Delgado Chavez, 22, was allegedly paid $1,000 to identify members of the Morales family from La Mesa, N.M., to a hit squad in 2010, according to court documents.

The slayings were among the more brazen acts of violence since a drug war erupted between the Ju?rez and Sinaloa drug cartels in 2008.

Delgado, who is in custody, was indicted in September on a charge of conspiracy to kill in a foreign country. He made a routine courtroom appearance Friday in U.S. District Court in El Paso.

Bridegroom Rafael Morales Valencia, 29, his brother, Jaime Morales Valencia, 25, and their uncle, Guadalupe Morales Arreola, 51, were kidnapped by gunmen who burst in at the conclusion of the wedding ceremony at Se?or de la Misericordia Catholic church.

Another man, Alonso Sotelo Corral, was fatally shot in the church parking lot as he ran away or tried to intervene during the abduction on May 7, 2010.

Three days later, the bodies of the kidnapped men were found in the bed of a pickup in Ju?rez. The men appeared to have been tortured.

Rafael Morales was a U.S. citizen, his brother was a legal permanent resident and their uncle was Mexican citizen with a visa, stated a criminal complaint filed by a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent.

Relatives

had said the victims were from La Mesa in Do-a Ana County. The family is originally from the city of Namiquipa in the central part of Chihuahua, but the brothers grew up in the United States.

The father of Rafael and Jaime Morales had said the wedding took place in Ju?rez because that is where the bride was raised. She is a U.S. citizen.

According to the criminal complaint by the DEA, Delgado was also from Namiquipa, knew the victims and was suppose to be an usher at the wedding. Delgado is a legal U.S. resident.

The document, citing informants (unnamed cooperating defendants), alleged that Delgado was a drug smuggler for the Sinaloa cartel and was hired in El Paso by a man named Irving Enriquez to point out the victims.

The document stated the victims were reportedly targeted because they were affiliated with the Ju?rez cartel.

One of the unnamed informants is described in documents as a member of the Sinaloa cartel who had been in charge of a "hit team" in Ju?rez and worked directly for Jose Antonio Torres Marrufo.

Torres has been identified in court cases as the reputed top boss in Ju?rez of the group know as the "Gente Nueva" of the Sinaloa cartel.

The documents stated that informants told the DEA that Torres ordered the kidnapping at the wedding, interrogated the men and then gave the final order to have them killed.

Other documents reveal that Delgado was arrested after being stopped March 16 at the Santa Teresa border crossing. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers allegedly found 38 kilos of marijuana hidden in a car Delgado was driving. Delgado allegedly confessed that he was to be paid $2,800 for driving the load from Ju?rez to El Paso. He was sentenced to a year in prison as part of a plea agreement.

Federal agents also arrested Enriquez in March after he allegedly bought a cache of firearms in a deal in the parking lot of the Love's truck stop west of Las Cruces. A criminal complaint filed by the FBI alleged Enriquez ordered 20 automatic AK-47s, ten 9 mm pistols and ten .308 rifles.

The gun sellers turned out to be undercover agents. All 40 weapons were recovered.

Daniel Borunda may be reached at dborunda@elpasotimes.com; 546-6102.

Source: http://www.lcsun-news.com/ci_19698674?source=rss_viewed

bonjovi dead amber portwood sam shepard sam shepard san francisco 49ers san francisco 49ers 49ers news

Beyonce And Jay-Z's New Baby Girl: What Will She Wear?1676995

Style advice for Blue Ivy Carter from New York's top baby shops.
By Christina Garibaldi

Photo: Kevin Mazur/ WireImage

Beyoncé and Jay-Z's new baby girl, Blue Ivy Carter, made her big debut Saturday at New York's Lenox Hill Hospital. With both of Blue's parents in the fashion business — Beyoncé is the co-owner of the House of Deréon, and Jay-Z is the co-founder of Rocawear — we are pretty certain that Miss Carter is going to have impeccable style. So, what are the latest trends for super-stylish baby fashionistas? MTV News hit up some of the top baby shops in New York City to find out what Beyoncé and Jay-Z's newest addition might be wearing. "Baby girls at this time of the year, it's definitely cashmere, cashmere, cashmere," said Carolina Zapf, president of Baby CZ in Manhattan. "Pink is still the big color, but there is a lot of trends towards neutrals, cream and also, for a little more-forward child, gray."

Since Blue Ivy's name hints that her parents might have a favorite color, it's safe to assume that Bey and Jay will dress their little girl in her namesake hue. "I'm a big fan of blue on little babies. I think it's wonderful," Zapf said. "There are just a few mothers who will do it. You can do a blue-striped sweater, but then put a cream flower hat with it to make sure that nobody thinks the baby is a boy." For the days baby Blue wants to let out her own music style, her parents could hit up New York's downtown Babesta, which sells everything from Wu-Tang Clan-inspired onesies to baby concert tees. The shop's CEO, Jennifer Cattaui, said moms are buying "a lot of the rock and roll stuff." "It's kind of what we're known for. It's either the real rock or the fringe. The bestselling items are the Run-D.M.C. bib and the Wu-Tang onesie." Do you think Blue Ivy Carter will be a trendsetter? Sound off in the comments!

Related Videos

• All About Beyonce And Jay-Z's New Arrival

Related Artists

• Jay-Z
• Beyoncé

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1676995/beyonce-jay-z-blue-ivy-carter.jhtml

tim howard scores nick cannon kidney failure consumer financial protection bureau casey anthony video recess appointment eastman kodak eastman kodak

Why Ford didn?t win car of the year

Paul Sancya / AP

A 2012 Ford Focus on an assembly line.

By Dan Carney

The Hyundai Elantra narrowly won a hotly contested three-way race for the North American Car of the Year award Monday, beating the Volkswagen Passat and Ford Focus.

The Elantra certainly deserves the accolade. It?has sexy styling, thrifty fuel efficiency and an affordable price.?But it also owes its award to Ford?s current problems with technology.

Compared to the Elantra, Ford?s Focus has vastly superior driving dynamics, with?crisper, more responsive steering and tauter, better-controlled suspension. By most measures, the Focus was the 2012 winner-in-waiting.

Why, then, didn?t the Focus win?

?It was that transmission,? explained juror John Davis, host of Maryland Public Television?s long-running MotorWeek show. Davis is referring to the Ford PowerShift dual-clutch automatic, the computer-shifted manual transmission that Ford passes off as an automatic in the Focus.

Similar to the abominable MyFord Touch infotainment interface and the obtuse Ford Sync voice control technology, the PowerShift is another technical overreach by Ford that is undermining the company?s otherwise excellent products.

Geoff Robins / AFP - Getty Images

Upscale sedans, fuel-efficient electric cars ? and old-school muscle cars ? make their debuts at the 2012 North American International Auto show.

For example, Consumer Reports magazine declined to confer its ?Recommended? label on the Ford Edge crossover because of the difficulty using that model?s MyFord Touch interface. And J.D. Power has documented widespread consumer dissatisfaction with Ford?s signature technologies.

Now the company's poor execution of another advanced technology has undercut its otherwise excellent Focus. In manual transmission guise the Focus is unequalled in the compact segment, but the balky, lurching PowerShift automatic is the transmission most consumers choose.?

?I haven?t heard from anyone who likes it,? noted juror Jim McCraw.

For the next twelve months Hyundai will enjoy the ability to tout the Elantra as the North American Car of the Year, while Ford chokes on Hyundai?s dust. What might have been if Ford had employed a properly developed conventional automatic transmission rather than the troublesome dual-clutch computer-shifted manual technology of the PowerShift?

Related stories:

Hyundai?s Elantra wins car of the year

Detroit looks to muscle into the midsize segment

Three trends to look out for at the Detroit auto show

Source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/09/10071041-why-ford-didnt-win-car-of-the-year

david lee roth joe bodolai ben nelson extreme couponing taylor lautner act sinead o connor