Warning on space attack devastation

Britain’s critical national infrastructure could be crippled in a high-altitude space attack by a rogue state or terrorists, MPs have warned. Britain’s critical national infrastructure could be crippled in a high-altitude space attack by a rogue state or terrorists, MPs have warned. A nuclear device detonated up to 500 miles above the earth’s surface could generate an electro-magnetic pulse (EMP) with a “devastating” effect on power supplies, telecommunications and other vital systems, the Commons Defence Committee said. It warned that countries…

• Series of tremors and quakes rock Iceland volcano Katla

Cyborgs, Software Spies and Shadow Wars: Our 5 Years (Un)covering the Hidden Pentagon

I’d like to pretend there was some master plan, that the site you see before you crept out of our skulls fully formed. But the truth is, when Sharon Weinberger and I launched Danger Room five years ago this week, we were just winging it. We wanted to write about the things we thought were cool: the Pentagon’s super-soldier project; China’s cyborg pigeons; the Navy’s puke rays and lightning guns. So we did. Sure, we had a few explicit goals. Most of them were quickly abandoned. We slowed down the cracked-out pace. We stopped covering martial arts…

Nazis succeeded in fake notes plan

Nazi forgers succeeded in flooding Europe with fake British bank notes, “destroying” confidence in the UK currency, according to secret MI5 files. Nazi forgers succeeded in flooding Europe with fake British bank notes, “destroying” confidence in the UK currency, according to secret MI5 files. Papers released by the National Archives show that by the end of the Second World War the forgeries were so rife, British bank notes would not be accepted on the Continent. The Germans first began forging the notes in 1940 in preparation for Hitler’s planned invasion…

• ‘Ve hav vays of making you relax’: How SS recommended yoga to death camp guards as a good way to de-stress

Drones set sights on U.S. skies

WOODLAND HILLS, CALIF. – Daniel Garate’s career came crashing to earth a few weeks ago. That’s when the Los Angeles Police Department warned local real estate agents not to hire photographers like Garate, who was helping sell luxury property by using a drone to shoot sumptuous aerial movies. Flying drones for commercial purposes, the police said, violated federal aviation rules. “I was paying the bills with this,” said Garate, who recently gave an unpaid demonstration of his drone. His career will soon get back on track. A new federal…

Seven Adult-Sized Humanoid Robots Together for First Time in the U.S.

ScienceDaily (Feb. 21, 2012) — Seven adult-sized humanoid robots will take the stage during Drexel University’s celebration of National Engineers Week, in a first-of-its-kind assembly of robotic technology. A showcase event on Feb. 20 will introduce all seven of the Korean HUBO robots to the community. Their presence — together in one place — is a unique event that serves as a key milestone for a nationwide, collaborative robotics research effort funded by the National Science Foundation. Each robot is 1.3 meters, or about 4-feet, 3-inches, tall…

World’s First Lab-Engineered Burger Just Months Away

A team of privately funded Dutch researchers have reached a benchmark in the science of bioengineering. Using only stem cells, they’ve managed to grow a strip of muscle tissue in a Petri dish with the aim of eventually developing techniques for the mass production of eco-friendly lab-engineered meat. By October of this year, Dr. Mark post of Maastricht University hopes to have world-renowned chef Heston Blumenthal of England’s famous Fat Duck restaurant cook-up the world’s first lab-engineered hamburger for an as yet…

Dolphins ‘should be recognised as non-human persons’

The animals have distinctive cultures, societies and personalities and are so complex that they should be considered in the same light as people, experts said. Isolating dolphins and orcas in tanks at amusement parks is morally wrong because the animals are even more socially driven than humans, they added, while killing them is tantamount to murder. The marine experts hope to persuade international authorities to enshrine in law the rights of cetaceans, a group of water-dwelling mammals which also includes porpoises. Discussing their “declaration…

Anonymous Hacks Greek Ministry Website, Demands IMF Withdrawal, Threatens It Will Wipe Away All Citizen Debts

If there is one war that Greece could not afford to join, that is with the global computer hacking collective known as Anonymous. Yet as of minutes ago, that is precisley what happened, after Anonymous, as part of what it now calls Operation Greece, took down the Greek Ministry of Justice (http://www.ministryofjustice.gr/). While the pretext for the hacking appears to have been an arrest of the wrong people, is seems to have angered Anonymous to the point where they have left an extended message of demands on the Greek website, warning that unless…

Egyptian Government Daily: U.S. Striving to Divide Egypt into Four Countries

As part of Egypt’s crackdown on civil society organizations receiving funding from foreign countries, chiefly from the U.S. – a move that has sparked a crisis in Egypt-U.S. relations – a judicial investigation of these organizations’ activities is currently underway. In February 2012, Egyptian authorities announced that a raid on premises of these organizations had yielded maps attesting to a plot to partition Egypt.[1] Subsequently, the Egyptian government daily Al-Ahram published an article by journalist Muhammad Duniya claiming that 30 years…

• Syrian troops kill 27 in village raids

Gangster with alleged ties to Iranian secret services said to be behind murder plot

Piece by piece, the tools for an alleged Iranian-directed murder team were smuggled into Azerbaijan on the Caspian Sea. A sniper rifle with silencer. Pistols. Sixteen pieces of plastic explosives and detonators. Finally came a dossier with photos, names and exacting details – down to workplace drawings – for Israeli targets in the capital of Azerbaijan. Each step, according to authorities in Baku, was overseen by Iran’s intelligence services for what could have been a stunning attack weeks before the suspected shadow war between…

• Did Iran plot to kill Israelis in Azerbaijan?

• The bombs hidden in $27 portable radios: Iranians using well-disguised explosives against Israeli targets around the world

FBI removes hundreds of training documents after probe on treatment of Islam

The FBI has removed hundreds of counterterrorism training documents after a months-long review found inaccuracies and other problems in their description of Muslims. The review was triggered after a September blog in Wired magazine revealed training documents that reportedly called the Prophet Muhammad a “cult leader,” claimed “devout” Muslims have been generally violent for hundreds of years and made other controversial statements. The FBI did not get into details about which documents were taken out, but a law enforcement source…

• Gun-rights groups decry proposed surtax on Illinois ammo sales

IAEA: Iran refuses access to suspect nuke site

Hopes for defusing the Iranian nuclear crisis were thwarted Wednesday when the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Iran did not agree to clear up nuclear weapons allegations and refused access to a site during a visit by senior agency officials. “It is disappointing that Iran did not accept our request to visit Parchin during the first or second meetings,” said IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano, referring to a military site where a simulated nuclear warhead was allegedly tested. “We engaged in a constructive spirit, but no agreement was…

• Obama to address pro-Israel lobby amid heightened tensions over Iran’s nuclear program

• Iran threatens preemptive action

Oil price hits eight-month high on Iran-Israel war fears

Vitol, the world’s largest independent oil trader, gave the stark warning about the risk of a record price spike after unveiling its annual results. The Swiss-based trading house – which is privately owned – said it had notched up record revenues of $297bn for 2011, putting it far ahead of rivals such as Glencore and Trafigura. Vitol’s sales were up 44pc from $206bn last year on volumes of oil, carbon and gas trade of 457m tonnes, up from 399m tonnes in 2010. The company’s results – which do not include profit numbers – are just $78bn shy of…

• Former Obama Advisor Says We Can’t Prevent Terrible Economic Downturns

Greek Crisis Raises New Fears Over Credit-Default Swaps

Greece’s debt restructuring is dragging credit-default swaps back into the spotlight. The last time this financial instrument was on the global stage was in 2008, when the American International Group’s credit-default swaps brought the insurer, as well as the wider financial system, to the brink of collapse. A.I.G. had unique weaknesses, and regulators have started to overhaul the credit-default swap market since 2008. European policy makers have nonetheless looked warily at credit-default swaps, at least until recently, while they structured the…

• Battle over EU financial firewall threatens to derail Greek bailout

• Doubts over viability of new Greece rescue deal

• After Greece deal, Portugal and Ireland may be next

• Greek debt accord hostage to political passions

• Dominique Strauss-Kahn arrested in prostitution case

• ‘Mademoiselle’ banned on official French forms

Santorum’s ‘Satan targeting U.S.’ speech resurfaces

A 2008 speech in which Rick Santorum declares “Satan is targeting” the United States has resurfaced on the campaign trail, even as the Republican presidential hopeful faces controversy over recent comments questioning President Barack Obama’s “theology.” Santorum, an outspoken social conservative, made the speech during an August 2008 visit to a Catholic university in Florida, telling the audience that America was in the midst of a “spiritual war” because Satan was corroding the country’s foundations. “Satan has done so by…

• Evangelist Franklin Graham questions Christianity of Obama and Romney

• Lugar faces hearing on residency, reportedly uncertain about address on license