Jun 15, 2015
In just less than one month, the New Horizons spacecraft will make its closest approach to the dwarf planet Pluto, 7,5-billion kilometres from Earth. New Horizons will also venture into the Kuiper Belt, a relic of solar system formation. New Horizons launched on 19 January 2006; it swung past Jupiter for a gravity boost and scientific studies in February 2007, and is conducting a six-month-long reconnaissance flyby study of Pluto and its moons that started in early 2015. The closest approach to Pluto will occur on 14 July 2015, after which it could head farther into the Kuiper Belt to examine one or two of the ancient, icy mini-worlds in that vast region, at least 1-billion miles beyond Neptune’s orbit.
Jun 12, 2015
The insurance industry needs to radically change its business models, or risk becoming irrelevant. That’s the harsh warning from Simon Winter, executive director: banking, financial services, capital markets and insurance at Dell EMEA, who tells IT-Online that insurance is one of the last unreconstructed industries left. Kathy Gibson reports from Dell Innovation Day in Copenhagen.
Jun 11, 2015
Kaspersky Lab has announced that its internal networks were the victim of an advanced attack which attempted to steal information about its products and clients. According to the company’s blog post, the attack was complex and stealthy, exploiting several zero-day vulnerabilities. “We’re quite confident that there’s a nation state behind it,” the blog post said. “We’ve called it Duqu 2.0.” This is due to its similarity to the “Duqu” malware found in 2011, used in attacks against Iran, India, France and Ukraine. Duqu was at the time linked to the Stuxnet malware, believed to be created by the US’ and Israel’s spy agencies.
Jun 9, 2015
Apple has launched Apple Music, a streaming music service and worldwide live radio station from Apple broadcasting 24 hours a day, as well as a platform to allow music fans to connect with artists. Apple Music combines the largest and most diverse collection of music into programmed playlists for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, PC, Apple TV and Android devices. Apple Music will be available starting on June 30 in over 100 countries.
Jun 8, 2015
The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has acquired a close-up image of a “fresh” (on a geological scale, though quite old on a human scale) impact crater in the Sirenum Fossae region of Mars. This impact crater appears relatively recent as it has a sharp rim and well-preserved ejecta. The steep inner slopes are carved by gullies and include possible recurring slope lineae on the equator-facing slopes.
