“In the 21st century, Russia should preserve its status of the leading space power. Therefore, the development of our space capabilities is set to be the top priority of state policy. Our attention to this industry will be increasing,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said.Putin said that by 2020, the Russian government is planning to allocate some 1.6 trillion rubles (about $52 billion) to the national space industry. By 2030, the turnover of the space industry globally might grow by five times, reaching $1.5 trillion from its current $300-400 billion. Russia must use this window of opportunity to ensure it achieves a leading role in the world’s space industry, Putin explained.Putin said he had authorized the government to consider transforming the national space agency into a space industry ministry, since most space industry enterprises belong to the Russian state. At the same time, he stressed that the creation of a ‘space ministry’ should only be done after the Roskosmos national space agency is “fully equipped.”Despite the progress it has already made, Russia’s satellite industry still lags behind the satellite programs of other industrialized states in the commercial and civil spheres. The Russian satellite industry must concentrate on “the most promising” application of science and technology, Putin said.For decades Russia’s space program has been primarily oriented towards manned space flights, which comprised 58 percent of the space budget. That explains the underfinancing of other space industries, such as communication satellites, remote mapping of our planet and deep space exploration. Russia must “keep the leader’s experience of the manned flights and catch up in other space exploration programs,” Putin said, adding that to achieve this, Russia is already constructing new launching site.Construction of the new Vostochny cosmodrome in the Amur Region in Russia’s Far East, near the Chinese border, will cost Russia almost $20 billion. Putin said the installation will host a scientific center, and proposed a name for the town being constructed for the personnel of the launch site – Tsiolkovsky, for the founder of Russian and Soviet rocket construction, astronautic theoretician Konstantin Tsiolkovsky.Vostochny Cosmodrome will feature two launch pads, one each for light- and medium-class Soyuz-2 rocket boosters. The pads are due to be completed by 2015. Beginning in 2018, Vostochny will be capable of performing manned space launches.But the development of new installations in Russia does not mean that the old Soviet Baikonur cosmodrome that Moscow is currently leasing out from Kazakhstan for $115 million a year will be suspended. With the contract valid until 2050, Russia would not abandon the world’s largest – though outdated – cosmodrome in Baikonur, Putin said.Simultaneously to the president’s visit to Vostochny cosmodrome, the Russian Parliament has proposed to make Cosmonautics Day, April 12, an official holiday celebrated nationwide. For over half of a century, the USSR and later Russia celebrate the day when Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space in 1961, when he orbited Earth for 108 minutes. In 2011, the UN established the International Day of Human Space Flight, to be celebrated on 12 April. … Read More
Why are we supposed to have sympathy for rapists?
It’s a case that’s shown the world that an outpouring of public compassion and sympathy is possible in the wake of a sexual assault. But not for the victim. It’s all been directed at its now-convicted assailants.Long before 17-year-old Trent Mays and 16 year-old Ma’lik Richmond were declared guilty in juvenile court on Sunday of raping a Steubenville, Ohio, classmate, they were already being cast as the story’s victims. Those poor boys – young athletes with their whole lives ahead of them – until one fateful night changed everything. Just last week, ABC News declared that “the juvenile trial set to begin there is every parent’s nightmare” — because having your child on trial, not being raped and abused, is a parental nightmare. The story’s final line? Not about the victim, but about the boys, “who face incarceration in a detention center until their 21st birthdays and the almost-certain demise of their dreams of playing football.” And this weekend, when the verdict was handed down, CNN’s Poppy Harlow lamented to Candy Crowley, “I’ve never experienced anything like it, Candy. It was incredibly emotional — incredibly difficult even for an outsider like me to watch what happened as these two young men that had such promising futures, star football players, very good students, literally watched as they believe their life fell apart.” Crowley seemed to agree, pondering “the lasting effect of two young men being guilty in juvenile court of rape, essentially.” You know, essentially.Continue Reading… … Read More
Encrypt Your Smartphone Communications for Free
I’ve
written before about the promise of encrypted communications
for defeating
snoopy government officials. But the most promising product
seemed to be Silent Circle, which is a bit spendy. Fortunately,
somebody who actually knows what he’s talking about has reviewed a
few alternatives, and he gives another offering a pretty
enthusiastic thumbs-up. Even better, it’s free.
Writes
Matthew Green at Gizmodo:
RedPhone and TextSecure are developed by Moxie Marlinspike’s
Open Whisper Systems. Note that OWS is actually Moxie’s second
company — the original Whisper Systems was purchased by Twitter a
couple of years back — not for the software, mind you; just to get
hold of Moxie for a while. ;
RedPhone does a much of what SilentCircle does, though without
the paid subscription and termination to POTS. In fact, I’m not
quite sure if you can ;terminate it to POTS [regular
phone numbers] (I’ll update if I find out.)
Specifically, RedPhone encrypts phone calls between smartphones
that both use the software, and TextSecure does the same for text
messages. Green, who works at the Security and Privacy Applied Reasearch
(SPAR) Lab at Johns Hopkins University, adds:
After reading Moxie’s RedPhone code the first time, I literally
discovered a line of drool running down my face. It’s really
nice.
RedPhone and TextSecure are open source software products of
WhisperSystems, which
means that those in the know can keep an eye on the guts of the
software to make sure no errors creep up or, worse, that something
nasty gets inserted. They’re available, at least for now, only for
smartphones running Android. If I had any storage space left on my
bargain-basement phone, I’d give ‘em a try. … Read More
Meditation Benefits: Pain-Relieving Powers Of This Practice (VIDEO)
Meditation relieves stress, offers mental clarity and can even make you feel more satisfied at work.
Now, experts say the powers move beyond the brain: the practice can be used to relieve physical pain. Mediation could ease the pain many experience post-surgery and for those going through chemotherapy. Find out more about these promising benefits in the video above, then let us know in the comments how meditating benefits you.
For more on meditation, click here.
Inside Story Americas – Has Bolivia’s coca-growing scheme worked?
http://www.youtube.com/v/wOvucFHqpZc?version=3&f=videos&app=youtube_gdata Link to original - Inside Story Americas – Has Bolivia’s coca-growing scheme worked?
U.S. firms rush special payouts to beat tax hike
US companies are rushing to make huge payouts to shareholders before year-end to beat a tax increase on dividends expected to emerge from deficit talks under way in Washington. Big-box discounter Costco became the latest firm Wednesday to set a dividend before December 31, promising a special cash…
‘Emily Owens, M.D.’ Cancelled: CW Opts Not To Pick Up Additional Episodes Of Freshman Drama
The CW has decided not to pick up medical drama “Emily Owens, M.D.” for a full season, The Huffington Post has confirmed. The network will still complete production and air the 13 episodes in its original order, but the series — which starred Meryl Streep’s daughter Mamie Gummer — will not receive a back nine. It’s a bad day to star in a female-led medical show, as Fox also announced that the final episodes of “The Mob Doctor” would air on Mondays and Saturdays over the winter hiatus — in other words, it’s being burned off to make way for more promising series during the regular primetime schedule. Read More…
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