Wednesday, December 25, 2013
The world’s smallest computer measures just one cubic millimetre.
World’s smallest computer, measuring in at just over one cubic millimeter, this miniscule microprocessor was designed as an implantable eye pressure monitor for glaucoma patients. You may think something this size would have to scrimp on the hardware, but modern nanotechnology allows the computer to contain a microprocessor, pressure sensor, battery, memory chip, and a tiny antenna that allows it to transmit data to a reader device placed near the eye.
The system takes 15 minutes to collect pressure data and requires 10 hours of indoor light or an hour and a half of sunlight to recharge its battery. This opens the door for millimeter-sized systems in the future with all sorts of applications. Nanotechnology such as this could be used for constant monitoring of other body parts, the environment, or for making virtually any item ‘smart‘ and thereby traceable!
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Meet the 14-year old Oz runner who's 'faster' than Usain Bolt!!!!
Originally from the NSW southcoast, James Gallaugher made the record at his weekend performance in Townsville
MELBOURNE: An Australian schoolboy has got his name written in record books after running 200m in 21.73secs - a record for his age group - it was also about 0.08sec quicker than whatUsain Bolt ran as a 14-year old.
Originally from the NSW southcoast, James Gallaugher made the record at his weekend performance in Townsville, News.com.au reported.
He is one of the people making their claim for selection for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Originally from the NSW southcoast, James Gallaugher made the record at his weekend performance in Townsville, News.com.au reported.
He is one of the people making their claim for selection for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
7 Most Stylish Hollywood Celeb Kids of 2013.....
Although we can’t boast of a time machine, it ain’t difficult to hazard a guess as to who will be hogging the fashion headlines ten years from now.
Forget all the yummy mummies, these days it is their kids who are stealing all the spotlight. Here’s a look at the fashion brigade’s newest recruits:
Aila Wang
Aila Wang
At the wee age of four, this little stunner is making heads turn with her miniature fur coats and mini leather skirts. Given that she is the niece of legendary designer Alexander Wang, the killer dressing sense probably comes as part of the lineage.
Harper Seven Beckham
Harper Seven Beckham
At an age when we were still trying to get the alphabet right, li’l Beckham is fielding off modeling offers. Zero points for guessing where she gets that poshness from.
Mason Disick
Some rave about his dressing style, others dig the way Kourteney Kardashian’s son co-ordinates his ensembles with those of his parents.’ All we’d like to say is that any kid who can rock a hat like him has our undying respect.
Suri Cruise
Suri Cruise
Meet Hollywood’s pint-sized darling who is known to step out in nothing lesser than a perfectly co-ordinated outfit, helped along with her killer taste in shoes and accessories; we spy a fashionista in training.
Flynn Bloom
Flynn Bloom
Given that he has Miranda Kerr, a Victoria’s Secret model and sex icon for a mom, we guess it’d be safe to bet that Flynn Bloom has style and flair programmed into his genes.
Romeo Beckham
Romeo Beckham
While sister Harper is fielding off modeling contracts, the second Beckham guy is busy being named the Most Stylish Kid in Britain and modeling for Burberry. Plus, the guy can carry off a hat. Respect.
Marion & Tabitha Broderick
Marion & Tabitha Broderick
Stealing the spotlight from Sarah Jessica Parker is a job we never thought possible, but suffice it to say that her twin mini-fashionistas have the style gurus wrapped around their tiny pink finger.
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
MTV names Miley Cyrus 2013 Artist of the Year ......
The former child star twerked her way to the top. Her eye-popping duet with Robin Thicke on the MTV Video Music Awards was one of the year's most talked about cultural events.
MTV said the VMA duet on "We Can't Stop" and "Blurred Lines" was the year's most watched video on its websites. Similarly, the MTV artist site devoted to Cyrus had more visits than any other artist's.
Besides "We Can't Stop," the song "Wrecking Ball" and album "Bangerz" were big hits for Cyrus, who also had notable appearances on "Saturday Night Live" and MTV's European music awards show.
MTV executives pick their top artist. One Direction won last year, and Katy Perry won the year before.
This year, Cyrus was an easy choice, said Amy Doyle, head of MTV's music and talent programming strategy.
"She dominated the music charts and critics' best-of lists while creating some of the year's most memorable moments," Doyle said.
For the list of Top Artists: usat.ly/18RYNCH
Obama, Cameron 'selfie' at Mandela memorial causes online stir!!!!
In a candid moment, Denmark's Helle Thorning-Schmidt can be seen holding up her smartphone, with Obama lending a helping hand.
PARIS: US President Barack Obama may have moved the masses attending Nelson Mandela's memorial service with his stirring eulogy today, but it was his grinning "selfie" with the Danishand British premiers that set social networks abuzz.
In a candid moment captured by AFP photographer Roberto Schmidt, Denmark's Helle Thorning-Schmidt can be seen holding up her smartphone, with Obama lending a helping hand, as they pose for a picture with David Cameron, all three of them smiling broadly in their seats at Soweto's World Cup stadium.
First Lady Michelle Obama, sitting to the left of her husband, does not join in with the lighthearted moment, keeping her eyes firmly trained on the podium where world leaders were paying tribute to South Africa's anti-apartheid hero Mandela, who died Thursday aged 95.
The so-called selfie — short for self-portrait — was quickly picked up by major international news outlets and went viral on social media sites, with many questioning whether the moment of mirth was appropriate for the occasion.
In a candid moment captured by AFP photographer Roberto Schmidt, Denmark's Helle Thorning-Schmidt can be seen holding up her smartphone, with Obama lending a helping hand, as they pose for a picture with David Cameron, all three of them smiling broadly in their seats at Soweto's World Cup stadium.
First Lady Michelle Obama, sitting to the left of her husband, does not join in with the lighthearted moment, keeping her eyes firmly trained on the podium where world leaders were paying tribute to South Africa's anti-apartheid hero Mandela, who died Thursday aged 95.
The so-called selfie — short for self-portrait — was quickly picked up by major international news outlets and went viral on social media sites, with many questioning whether the moment of mirth was appropriate for the occasion.
10 Most Passive Aggressive Status Updates People Put Up On Facebook......
1. “Everybody around me is getting married, engaged, pregnant while I’m too busy being awesome/hoping I sound awesome/now really hoping people think I’m cool and nonchalant”
Does anyone remember indulging in some blood pact where every does stuff together? No? Exactly!
Does anyone remember indulging in some blood pact where every does stuff together? No? Exactly!
image courtesy: 748.photobucket.com
2. “I can’t believe some people are so *insert a wide variety of judgemental tripe which sounds like it’s written by a heartbroken thirteen year old*
Have a problem? How about actually talking to the person and avoiding step – Douchebag 101.
image courtesy: motherboard.vice.com
3. “I am so awesome, I am the queen/king of the world, I don’t care what people think of me, they can go blow themselves up, I am so over this, I am such an evolved human being”
Not only are these status updates annoying, they also beautifully showcase that you have the emotional maturity of a toddler.
image courtesy: mygifdump.tumblr.com
4. “Some things really show you who your real friends are and who are FAKE! *insert angry/upset emoticon* *feeling blessed/upset/sad*
This is like a magic trick – watch your “true friends” slowly inch away as you type this update.
This is like a magic trick – watch your “true friends” slowly inch away as you type this update.
image courtesy: www.pichaus.com
5. “blah…blah..blaah..blaaah..blaah…you know who you are”
The bullshit fairy called, she wants her powers back!
image courtesy: www.jamspreader.com
6. “I give up...I tried and tried and I’m not good enough for you. Someone should’ve warned me! *assorted encrypted relationship rubbish*”
Feel free to cry us a river when we hide you from our timeline!
image courtesy: www.sheknows.com
7. “I can’t believe this happened to me”
Really? Do you really need 500 people to comment on your status message with inane responses such as “what happened”, “call me”, “what”, “huh”?
7. “I can’t believe this happened to me”
Really? Do you really need 500 people to comment on your status message with inane responses such as “what happened”, “call me”, “what”, “huh”?
image courtesy: www.culturalist.com
8. “I have the biggest news ever!”
Can’t believe that you need to put it up on Facebook but you can’t really tell someone said biggest news on Facebook. Just please go walk in to a wall!
image courtesy: izifunny.com
9. “I can’t believe how people talk behind my back, if you have the *insert sexist statement*, tell me to my face”
Hey…hey…we think we found Sherlock!
image courtesy: nottingham.tab.co.uk
10. “People (says people while actually referring to one person in particular) think they’re so much better than others!”
Maybe, just maybe because they aren’t spending all their time writing cryptic facebook statuses!
image courtesy: mrwgifs.com
Public Ouster in North Korea Unsettles China.......
BEIJING — North Koreans had long known Jang Song-thaek as the No. 2 figure in their country, the revered uncle and mentor of Kim Jong-un, the paramount leader. Then on Monday state-run television showed two green-uniformed guards clutching a glum-looking Mr. Jang by the armpits and pulling him from a meeting of the ruling party after he was denounced for faction-building, womanizing, gambling and other acts as dozens of former comrades watched.
The spectacle of Mr. Jang’s humiliating dismissal and arrest was a highly unusual glimpse of a power struggle unfolding inside the nuclear-armed country. But the major impact may be outside, and nowhere is the downfall more unnerving than in China.
North Korea’s longtime protector and economic lifeline, China has considered strategically close relations with North Korea a pillar of foreign policy and a bulwark against the United States military presence in South Korea. Despite Chinese irritation with North Korea’s nuclear tests and other bellicose behavior, China had built a good relationship with Mr. Jang as the trusted adult who would monitor Mr. Kim, who is less than half his age.
Any shift by China concerning North Korea has the potential to significantly alter the political equilibrium in Asia, where the divided Korean Peninsula has been a fact of life for more than 60 years. While there is no indication that the Chinese intend to change their view, it seemed clear that even Beijing’s top leaders were surprised by Mr. Jang’s abrupt downfall on Sunday, and even more on Monday by the North Korean state television broadcast.
“Jang was a very iconic figure in North Korea, particularly with economic reform and innovation,” said Zhu Feng, professor of international relations at Peking University, and a specialist in North Korea. “He is the man China counted on to move the economy in North Korea. This is a very ominous signal.”
Mr. Jang’s dismissal was a shock not only because he had long been considered a core member of the country’s ruling elite and a regent and confidant of Mr. Kim, who assumed power only two years ago upon the death of his father, Kim Jong-il. The way that Mr. Jang was dismissed also was considered extraordinary, as the North Korea government has almost always maintained secrecy over its inner workings, power struggles and skulduggery during the more than six decades of rule by the Kim family.
“Kim Jong-un was declaring at home and abroad that he is now the truly one and only leader in the North, that he will not tolerate a No. 2,” said Yang Moo-jin, an analyst at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, South Korea.
Mr. Jang had visited China on a number of occasions and had been considered the most important advocate of the Chinese style of economic overhaul that the government in Beijing has been urging North Korea to embrace.
At 67, Mr. Jang is of the same generation as China’s leaders. Unlike the 30-year-old Mr. Kim — who has not been to China and who remains a mystery despite the lineage to his grandfather Kim Il-sung, North Korea’s revolutionary founder — Mr. Jang was seen by Beijing as a steady hand and a trusted conduit into North Korea’s top leadership. He was one of China’s few high-level North Korean interlocutors.
That the video of Mr. Jang’s arrest on Sunday at a Politburo meeting by military officers was released to the North Korean public, replete with tearful underlings shown denouncing him, was particularly unsettling for China.
Mr. Jang went to Beijing in August 2012 for a six-day visit and met with President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao. Special economic zones, where Chinese and other foreign investors would get preferential treatment in North Korea, were high on the agenda.
Just last month North Korea’s official media announced that 14 new special economic zones would be opened, and although they were relatively small, they were seen as a sign of fruition of some of the reforms China has advocated.
“Those zones were a consequence of Jang’s efforts,” Dr. Zhu said. “It’s possible Jang went too far on decentralizing and that threatened Kim Jong-un’s position.”
China’s official media gave prominent attention to the accusations against Mr. Jang, including some of the florid language used in North Korea’s own state-run news media that recited the litany of his newly disclosed transgressions at party expense: womanizing, gambling, drug abuse, “wining and dining at back parlors of deluxe restaurants” and, perhaps most important, a politically motivated ambition to challenge Mr. Kim as the “unitary center.”
But also among the crimes that Mr. Jang was said to have committed was selling resources cheaply, an accusation that appears to have been aimed directly at China, the biggest buyer of North Korea’s iron ore and minerals.
Soon after assuming power, Mr. Kim complained that North Korea’s resources, one of its few sources of outside income, were being sold too cheaply. He demanded higher prices for minerals, rare earths and coal, exported by the growing number of joint ventures between China and North Korea.
Mr. Kim’s complaints were widely reported in China and angered bargain-conscious Chinese mine operators, several of whom abandoned their North Korean operations.
Now, the climate for Chinese investment in North Korea, which was not particularly good, would be likely to worsen, said Andrei Lankov, author of “The Real North Korea” and professor of history at Kookmin University in Seoul.
China’s Foreign Ministry offered restrained comments on Monday regarding Mr. Jang’s dismissal, calling it an internal affair of North Korea.
“We will stay committed to promoting the traditional friendly, cooperative relationship” between China and North Korea, said the Foreign Ministry spokesman, Hong Lei.
Mr. Jang’s demotion raised the possibility of further instability in North Korea at a time when China is already confronting increased tensions with two of its other North Asian neighbors, Japan and South Korea.
An overriding fear of China’s is the collapse of the government in North Korea, an ally dating to the Korean War, which could lead to the reunification of the Korean Peninsula under a government in South Korea allied with the United States.
“China worries about instability which might be provoked by such acts” as Mr. Jang’s dismissal, Mr. Lankov said.
Cheong Seong-chang, a senior analyst at Sejong Institute in South Korea, said the dismissal could signal more internal strife. “Given the extremely harsh stance against Jang and his followers,” he said, “a round of bloody purges will be inevitable as the regime roots out poisonous weeds from its leadership ranks.”
Another concern for China was the question of whether Mr. Kim would conduct a new nuclear test, said Roger Cavazos, an American expert on North Korea, who is currently visiting Shanghai.
In February, in an act of open defiance to the Chinese, Mr. Kim authorized the country’s third nuclear test. The Chinese had urged the new North Korean leader not to risk open confrontation with the United States by detonating the weapon. Shortly afterward, in a rare public criticism, China’s new president, Xi Jinping, accused North Korea of creating regional instability for “selfish gains.”
“Every Chinese I have spoken with were worried that Kim Jong-un would test soon,” said Mr. Cavazos, a former United States Army intelligence officer who is now at the Nautilus Institute, a group that studies international security.
Mr. Cavazos said Chinese academics were concerned that Mr. Kim was “more and more out of control.” He added, “Every nuclear test by North Korea puts China in a bad position.”
That is in large part because as North Korea gets closer to demonstrating that it can miniaturize a nuclear weapon to fit atop a missile, the more the United States will increase its missile defenses in Northeast Asia.
As Mr. Kim rearranged the top echelons of the government, it was possible that the military would emerge the winner, said Cai Jian, deputy director of the Center for Korean Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai. It was most likely that “the military forces will become stronger” and that the “hard-liners will become more hard-line.”
Mr. Cavazos agreed. “The military was demonstrating its loyalty to Kim Jong-un, and Kim Jong-un was demonstrating his loyalty to the military.”
First look: HTC Desire 700.......
HTC has introduced three new dual-SIM, mid-range smartphones, the Desire 501, Desire 601 and Desire 700.
HTC has introduced three new dual-sim, mid-range smartphones, the Desire 501, Desire 601 and Desire 700, with the last being positioned as the premium handset among the three. We spent some time with the Desire 700 dual-sim and here are our first impressions:
The Desire 700 dual sim (CDMA) looks more like its other Desire siblings and not like the HTC One, unlike the global variant of Desire 700. Once you hold the phone in your hands, you'll realize that unlike the HTC One, the Desire 700 dual sim is predominantly made of plastic.
Desire 700 dual sim features what HTC calls BoomSound, which is essentially the dual frontal stereo speakers with built-in amplifier, just like the HTC One. The phone also featured green coloured accents integrated with the front speaker grills, and the camera lens at the back.
At 149 gram, the Desire 700 dual sim is not very bulky to carry. However, it is taller, broader and thicker than the HTC One.
The front of the Desire 700 is dominated by its 5-inch qHD display that offers a resolution of 540x960 pixels. Unfortunately, the screen leaves a lot to be desired (no pun intended), especially when the phone has been priced rather steeply, upwards of Rs. 30,000. The bigger size of the display reduces the pixel density to just about 220ppi (pixels per inch), resulting in images and text appearing less sharp, and at times pixilated, compared to 720p and full-HD displays.
The Home and the Back capacitive keys are placed just below the display for navigation, while the 2.1-megapixel front-facing camera and the sensor array sit above the display.
The edges of the phone are soft and resemble the HTC mini's soft plastic ones than the One's chamfered metal edges. The right edge features a metallic volume rocker key, while there's nothing on the left edge. The Power/Screen lock key, made of soft plastic, sits at the top with the 3.5mm headset jack.
We fail to understand the logic behind HTC's placement of the Power key. For a device this large, this positioning just makes the phone cumbersome to use. We'd have preferred the key to be placed at the right or left edge. The bottom edge houses the micro-USB port.
Desire 700 dual sim comes with a removable back, also made of soft plastic sporting a matte finish. The 8-megapixel rear shooter and the LED flash accompanying it, are located towards the left hand side in a circular ring, surrounded by a green accent. There's HTC branding at the middle. The back cover hides two micro-SIM card slots, the microSD card slot and the 2100mAh battery, which is removable.
HTC Desire 700 dual sim supports GSM as well as CDMA networks and offers dual-sim functionality with both the lines active at the same time.
HTC Desire 700 dual sim is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor and 1GB RAM. It runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean with HTC Sense 5, the company's custom UI layer running on top. Just like the HTC One, it supports Blink Feed offering a feed of news and social network updates on the user's home screen. In our brief use, we did not experience any lags while navigating through the interface or launching apps.
Look out for our detailed review of the phone soon.
The Desire 700 dual sim (CDMA) looks more like its other Desire siblings and not like the HTC One, unlike the global variant of Desire 700. Once you hold the phone in your hands, you'll realize that unlike the HTC One, the Desire 700 dual sim is predominantly made of plastic.
Desire 700 dual sim features what HTC calls BoomSound, which is essentially the dual frontal stereo speakers with built-in amplifier, just like the HTC One. The phone also featured green coloured accents integrated with the front speaker grills, and the camera lens at the back.
At 149 gram, the Desire 700 dual sim is not very bulky to carry. However, it is taller, broader and thicker than the HTC One.
The front of the Desire 700 is dominated by its 5-inch qHD display that offers a resolution of 540x960 pixels. Unfortunately, the screen leaves a lot to be desired (no pun intended), especially when the phone has been priced rather steeply, upwards of Rs. 30,000. The bigger size of the display reduces the pixel density to just about 220ppi (pixels per inch), resulting in images and text appearing less sharp, and at times pixilated, compared to 720p and full-HD displays.
The Home and the Back capacitive keys are placed just below the display for navigation, while the 2.1-megapixel front-facing camera and the sensor array sit above the display.
The edges of the phone are soft and resemble the HTC mini's soft plastic ones than the One's chamfered metal edges. The right edge features a metallic volume rocker key, while there's nothing on the left edge. The Power/Screen lock key, made of soft plastic, sits at the top with the 3.5mm headset jack.
We fail to understand the logic behind HTC's placement of the Power key. For a device this large, this positioning just makes the phone cumbersome to use. We'd have preferred the key to be placed at the right or left edge. The bottom edge houses the micro-USB port.
Desire 700 dual sim comes with a removable back, also made of soft plastic sporting a matte finish. The 8-megapixel rear shooter and the LED flash accompanying it, are located towards the left hand side in a circular ring, surrounded by a green accent. There's HTC branding at the middle. The back cover hides two micro-SIM card slots, the microSD card slot and the 2100mAh battery, which is removable.
HTC Desire 700 dual sim supports GSM as well as CDMA networks and offers dual-sim functionality with both the lines active at the same time.
HTC Desire 700 dual sim is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor and 1GB RAM. It runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean with HTC Sense 5, the company's custom UI layer running on top. Just like the HTC One, it supports Blink Feed offering a feed of news and social network updates on the user's home screen. In our brief use, we did not experience any lags while navigating through the interface or launching apps.
Look out for our detailed review of the phone soon.
Nasa's Mars rover Curiosity finds evidence of life-friendly ancient lake..........
Scientists also reported that the clays, which form in the presence of water, were younger than expected, a finding that expands the window of time for when Mars may have been suited for life. (Nasa photo via Reuters)
RELATED
SAN FRANCISCO: Scientists have found evidence of an ancient freshwater lake on Mars well suited to support microbial life, the researchers said on Monday.
The lake, located inside Gale Crater where the rover landed in August 2012, likely covered an area 31 miles (50km) long and 3 miles (5km) wide, though its size varied over time.
Analysis of sedimentary deposits gathered byNasa's Mars rover Curiosity shows the lake existed for at least tens of thousands of years, and possibly longer, geologist John Grotzinger, with the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, told reporters at the American Geophysical Union conference in San Francisco.
"We've come to appreciate that is a habitable system of environments that includes the lake, the associated streams and, at times when the lake was dry, the groundwater," he said.
Analysis of clays drilled out from two rock samples in the area known as Yellowknife Bay show the freshwater lake existed at a time when other parts of Mars were dried up or dotted with shallow, acidic, salty pools ill-suited for life.
In contrast, the lake in Gale Crater could have supported a simple class of rock-eating microbes, known as chemolithoautotrophs, which on Earth are commonly found in caves and hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor, Grotzinger said.
Scientists also reported that the clays, which form in the presence of water, were younger than expected, a finding that expands the window of time for when Mars may have been suited for life.
Previous studies from Mars orbiters, landers and rovers have provided increasing evidence for a warmer, wetter, more Earth-like Mars in the planet's past. Ancient rocks bear telltale chemical fingerprints of past interactions with water.
The planet's surface is riddled with geologic features carved by water, such as channels, dried up riverbeds, lake deltas and other sedimentary deposits.
New related studies on how much radiation blasts the planet set new boundaries for how long any organic carbon, which so far has not been found on Mars, could have been preserved inside rocks within about 2 inches (5cm) of the surface, the depth of Curiosity's drill.
But finding rock samples with relatively short exposure times should not be a problem. An age-dating technique, used for the first time on Mars, reveals that winds are sand-blasting away the rock faces at Gale Crater.
One of the mudstones at Yellowknife Bay, for example, has been exposed to the destructive effects of cosmic rays for only about 70 million years, well within the period of time to detect organics, said Don Hassler with the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado.
The Yellowknife Bay samples also showed hints of possible organics that may have been destroyed in the rover's laboratory oven due to highly oxidizing chemicals known as perchlorates, which so far seem to be ubiquitous in the Martian soil.
Scientists will continue to look for rocks that may have higher concentrations of organics or better chemical conditions for their preservation, Grotzinger said.
"A key hurdle that we need to overcome is understanding how those organics may have been preserved over time, from the time they entered the rock to the time that we actually detect them," said Curiosity scientist Jennifer Eigenbrode with Nasa's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
Curiosity currently is en route to a three-mile high (5km) mound of layered rock rising form the floor of Gale Crater, a formation known as Mount Sharp.
Based on the new information gleaned from the Yellowknife Bay samples, scientists are developing a new strategy to look for organics there.
Even if life never started on Mars, organic material presumably would have been deposited on the surface by crashing comets and asteroids.
The lake, located inside Gale Crater where the rover landed in August 2012, likely covered an area 31 miles (50km) long and 3 miles (5km) wide, though its size varied over time.
Analysis of sedimentary deposits gathered byNasa's Mars rover Curiosity shows the lake existed for at least tens of thousands of years, and possibly longer, geologist John Grotzinger, with the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, told reporters at the American Geophysical Union conference in San Francisco.
"We've come to appreciate that is a habitable system of environments that includes the lake, the associated streams and, at times when the lake was dry, the groundwater," he said.
Analysis of clays drilled out from two rock samples in the area known as Yellowknife Bay show the freshwater lake existed at a time when other parts of Mars were dried up or dotted with shallow, acidic, salty pools ill-suited for life.
In contrast, the lake in Gale Crater could have supported a simple class of rock-eating microbes, known as chemolithoautotrophs, which on Earth are commonly found in caves and hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor, Grotzinger said.
Scientists also reported that the clays, which form in the presence of water, were younger than expected, a finding that expands the window of time for when Mars may have been suited for life.
Previous studies from Mars orbiters, landers and rovers have provided increasing evidence for a warmer, wetter, more Earth-like Mars in the planet's past. Ancient rocks bear telltale chemical fingerprints of past interactions with water.
The planet's surface is riddled with geologic features carved by water, such as channels, dried up riverbeds, lake deltas and other sedimentary deposits.
New related studies on how much radiation blasts the planet set new boundaries for how long any organic carbon, which so far has not been found on Mars, could have been preserved inside rocks within about 2 inches (5cm) of the surface, the depth of Curiosity's drill.
But finding rock samples with relatively short exposure times should not be a problem. An age-dating technique, used for the first time on Mars, reveals that winds are sand-blasting away the rock faces at Gale Crater.
One of the mudstones at Yellowknife Bay, for example, has been exposed to the destructive effects of cosmic rays for only about 70 million years, well within the period of time to detect organics, said Don Hassler with the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado.
The Yellowknife Bay samples also showed hints of possible organics that may have been destroyed in the rover's laboratory oven due to highly oxidizing chemicals known as perchlorates, which so far seem to be ubiquitous in the Martian soil.
Scientists will continue to look for rocks that may have higher concentrations of organics or better chemical conditions for their preservation, Grotzinger said.
"A key hurdle that we need to overcome is understanding how those organics may have been preserved over time, from the time they entered the rock to the time that we actually detect them," said Curiosity scientist Jennifer Eigenbrode with Nasa's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
Curiosity currently is en route to a three-mile high (5km) mound of layered rock rising form the floor of Gale Crater, a formation known as Mount Sharp.
Based on the new information gleaned from the Yellowknife Bay samples, scientists are developing a new strategy to look for organics there.
Even if life never started on Mars, organic material presumably would have been deposited on the surface by crashing comets and asteroids.
Katy Conquers All......
After her marriage flamed out, Katy Perry thought her new album would be dark and brooding. Instead, she turned personal pain into professional triumph, and now prepares to tour with a message of rising from the ashes.
KATY PERRY HAS HAD A HELL OF A COUPLE OF YEARS. In case you missed it: Amid a best-selling tour for a multiplatinum album, there was a divorce, a walk on the dark side, then a new relationship, a breakup, a make-up, and a return to a lighter side—all of which led to the release last October of her third album, Prism, that has since produced the chart-toppers "Roar" and "Unconditionally" and debuted at No. 1 with the biggest sales week of her career. Got all that?
KATY PERRY HAS HAD A HELL OF A COUPLE OF YEARS. In case you missed it: Amid a best-selling tour for a multiplatinum album, there was a divorce, a walk on the dark side, then a new relationship, a breakup, a make-up, and a return to a lighter side—all of which led to the release last October of her third album, Prism, that has since produced the chart-toppers "Roar" and "Unconditionally" and debuted at No. 1 with the biggest sales week of her career. Got all that?
Being Perry is a vigorous effort, even as she shoots whipped cream out of her bra and sings about kissing girls and teenage dreams to hordes of "KatyCat" fans. Her last album, Teenage Dream, tied with Michael Jackson's Bad for the most No. 1 hits (five) off of a single record, and her multimillion-dollar empire includes partnership deals with CoverGirl, Eylure eyelashes, and Popchips; three best-selling fragrances (Purr, Meow!, and Killer Queen); and voicing Smurfette in The Smurfs movies. And she's not about to slow down now. "I'm never going to be lazy, because there are 500 other people waiting in line for this position," she says.
Today, the 29-year-old singer-songwriter is in rehearsals at the CenterStaging studios in Burbank, California, for her tour that kicks off in May and will travel all over the globe through fall 2015. In a faded zip-up Aviator Nation sweatshirt borrowed from boyfriend John Mayer and leopard-print sweatpants, Perry looks more like a track athlete at an away game than pop's reigning Teen Dream Pop Queen. Around her, dancers and backup vocalists warm up, and band members rehearse "Roar," which Perry will perform later in the week on Saturday Night Live. Her assistant lugs four large black bags, explaining that these are Perry's closet giveaways; crew members draw a number and take turns going through the mountains of clothing that Perry is off-loading. (She is generous with concert tickets, too. On tour, she bikes around in a baseball cap and sweats with 10 tickets in her pocket to give to unsuspecting kids.)
If you wonder how Perry has time for a personal life with all this empire-building, often that is part of the enterprise, too. "I feel like my secret magic trick that separates me from a lot of my peers is the bravery to be vulnerable and truthful and honest. I think you become more relatable when you're vulnerable. When you try to market yourself like some supernatural figurine who can't be fucked with, I always resort back to Scripture: Pride comes before a fall."
Perry has put a lot of thought into how to be relatable—she famously started out as Katheryn Hudson, a pastor's kid with a gospel contract whose parents wanted to keep her away from all things secular and sinful. After getting her GED, Perry reinvented herself, moving to Los Angeles at 17 to pursue a career like that of Fiona Apple, one of her musical influences. By the time she was 23, three record labels had dropped her and two cars had been repossessed. "It built a lot of character, having to earn all of it over and over. Once you have it, you're so appreciative."
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