Black Horizon: Feb 1, 2009

Sunday, February 1, 2009

U.S. won't renew Blackwater's Iraq contract

U.S. won't renew Blackwater's Iraq contract: "The State Department will not renew the contract of security contractor Blackwater Worldwide when it expires in May, a senior State Department official said Friday.

(Via CNN.com - U.S..)

TSA will keep an eye on fans at Super Bowl

TSA will keep an eye on fans at Super Bowl: "Some of the security officials at this weekend's Super Bowl will be scrutinizing the body language and demeanor of fans as part of the effort to spot suspicious and possibly dangerous people in the crowd.

(Via CNN.com - U.S..)

NASA investigates problems with Mars Spirit rover

NASA investigates problems with Mars Spirit rover: "

They've manged to make it to the five-year mark despite a few considerable bumps in the road, but it looks like one of the Mars rovers has once again hit a snag, and NASA is now furiously trying to sort out the problem. Apparently, the issue first arose earlier this week when Spirit reported that it had received its driving commands but didn't move. Things were then further complicated later in the day when Spirit failed to record its daily activities, and it seems to have been all downhill since, with the rover unable to even locate the sun in order to reorient itself. What's more, while they're still trying to run some diagnostics to pinpoint the problem, NASA engineers say that the troubles could possibly be caused by cosmic rays hitting the rover, which we all know can only lead to one thing.... zombie rovers.

Filed under: Robots