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Lost Mars Probe Briefly Phones Home, But the Window to Save the Phobos-Grunt Mission is Closing

Aly — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 09:51:51 GMT

The Phobos-Grunt That Wasn't A Roscosmos rendering of Phobos-Grunt approaching Mars and its moon Phobos. Roscosmos

Finally, Russia’s Phobos-Grunt spacecraft has called home. The European Space Agency has confirmed that Roscosmos’ marooned spacecraft--stuck in Earth orbit after a failed booster firing failed to set it on a course for Mars earlier this month--made contact with an ESA tracking station in Perth, Australia, yesterday. But no telemetry data was exchanged in the brief contact, and the prospects for the mission are still next to hopeless.

A quick primer: Phobos-Grunt launched on November 8 from Kazakhstan’s Baikonur Cosmodrome and found Earth orbit as intended. But two booster firings were supposed to send the 29,000-pound spacecraft on a course for Mars, where it would drop off a Chinese orbiter at the Red Planet before finding its way to Mars’ moon Phobos. Neither firing happened, and the window to correct the problem and recover the mission is swiftly closing.

Yesterday’s contact marks the first exchange of signals with Phobos-Grunt since that November 8 launch. And, as luck would have it, yesterday’s contact was made during the ESA’s final attempt to contact Phobos-Grunt before giving up. Now, the Perth station’s 49-foot antenna will attempt to establish communication a second time tonight.

Still, hopes aren’t high for the troubled mission. No meaningful data was swapped the first time and there’s no telling if any telemetry data will be swapped tonight if indeed Perth can reestablish contact. If mission handlers can’t get an idea of what’s going on aboard Phobos-Grunt, they can’t fix the problem. And if the mission isn’t rescued, Phobos-Grunt will likely make an uncontrolled reentry as early as late December or January, with some parts of the spacecraft perhaps surviving and plunging all the way to Earth. Which seems to be happeninga lot lately.

Amazon Kindle Touch Review: Should You Touch Your Books?

Aly — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 08:42:01 GMT

Touch the Kindle.Dan Bracaglia

The Kindle Touch is Amazon's top-of-the-line e-ink reader, a compromise between a tablet like the Kindle Fire (easy typing, faster navigation) and the e-ink, single-focus ebook reader named simply Kindle. But Amazon's relentless price slashing makes me wonder if there's a need for this in-between.

WHAT'S NEW

This is the first touchable Kindle. That's the big difference. Otherwise, not too much is brand-new compared to past Kindles: it's got the same e-ink screen as the $80 Kindle, the same (optional) WhisperSync 3G as the Kindle Keyboard, the same massive catalog of books, the same ease of use we've all come to frankly demand from Amazon.

WHAT'S GOOD

I should say up front that I was not sure I'd like the Touch. Ebook readers are one of the few devices that I had always assumed needed buttons--you didn't want to get your fingergrease all over the screen, didn't want to touch the screen at all. The Kindle's buttons fell perfectly under your thumb--why change that? But I really like the way the Touch's operations work. The interface is very simple: touch along the top border for the menu, along the left border to go back one page, and anywhere else--more than half of the screen's surface--to go forward one page. It works, and it's more responsive than I expected. Also, I have yet to leave an excessively disgusting fingergrease smear on the screen, and it escapes the reflectivity problem seen in some of Sony's touch-enabled e-ink readers.

What I especially love is how the touchscreen allows Amazon to slice off the lower few inches of the older Kindle without losing any functionality. You don't need to use the keyboard that much, really, but when you do, the $80 Kindle's directional pad was a real pain. The touchscreen on the Touch eliminates the need for that sacrifice, so it's small and functional. The hardware feels great; small, light, attractive. I like the new home button, too.

WHAT'S BAD

The touchscreen isn't perfect. I can't think of a better layout for the "touch zones," but if you're holding the book in your right hand and need to go back a page, you have to stretch awkwardly across the width of the Kindle to tap the screen along the left edge, like playing a game of Twister with your fingers. That really hurts your ability to read one-handed, a major benefit of the Kindle over books. The other option is a swipe, like you use to flip pages on a tablet or smartphone's Kindle app. But that doesn't feel natural, since the page doesn't move with your finger the way it does on an LCD, and I found myself forgetting which direction I was supposed to swipe.

Kindle Touch Keyboard: Dan Nosowitz

I found more accidental presses with the Touch than I have with any button-using Kindle, and Amazon's eternally frustrating opposition to actual page numbers can sometimes make it hard to figure out where you were and how to get back when you accidentally turn a few pages. Sometimes it just feels too sensitive. The screen isn't capacitive like a smartphone or tablet, so any brush with any object--not just electrical-stimulus-giving fingers--will trigger a touch.

A Note About 3G
The Touch uses WhisperSync, Amazon's not-lauded-nearly-enough system of syncing bookmarks (among other things--read more about WhisperSync over in our Kindle Fire review) between devices. WhisperSync works on Wi-Fi-only Kindles, but not that well; you have to be connected to Wi-Fi, after all. With the 3G-enabled Kindles like the higher-end Kindle Touch, you are constantly synced. Read your book on the subway, stick it in your backpack, and then the next time you're waiting in line, or in the bathroom, or whatever, whip out your smartphone, open the Kindle app, and your place is saved. It's great. Plus, with 3G, you can download new books anywhere.

Alas, Amazon seems to have made a change in their 3G plan. Before, the Amazon 3G was an almost suspiciously good deal: it was entirely free (as in, no signing up, no monthly plan, no nothing), and let you browse the web as much as you wanted, with the not inconsiderable limitation of using the Kindle's e-ink screen. You were never going to watch Hulu, but you could, even in other countries, check the news or your email, for free. No more. My 3G-enabled Kindle Touch demands that I connect to Wi-Fi before using the web browser. That kind of sucks, and I could see it being discouraging for those thinking about springing for the $50 more expensive 3G versions.

THE PRICE

There are two tiers, with two options each. The Wi-Fi-only Kindle costs $100 (with ads; they are only on the homescreen, never showing while you're reading) or $140 (without ads). Add 3G, and it'll run you $150 (with ads) or $190 (without ads). I find the ads only mildly irritating, which is high praise, though I do like the artist portraits Amazon uses for the screensaver on the ad-free versions.

Kindle Touch Store: Dan Nosowitz

THE VERDICT

So, I am somewhat divided on the Kindle Touch. I like the touchscreen for some things--selecting books from my list, shopping in the store, entering text--but for the thing I do most with my Kindle, turning pages, I'm not convinced it's better. The loss of 3G web browsing stings, though I still love WhisperSync. What's very weird about this new Kindle is the way the $80 Kindle has made it feel overpriced, when it never did before. Is it really worth the extra cash? I'm not so sure.

The other question, the more basic one, is: should you even get a Kindle? The only real competitor at this point is Barnes & Noble's Nook line, which is also great. The Nook Simple Touch is very comparable to the low-end Kindle Touch: tiny, touchscreen, $100, library book access, large catalog. Amazon has free books online; Barnes & Noble has free books in-store. Really, it's a toss-up for me: I happen to like the Simple Touch's design a little more, but I'm already locked in to Amazon's marketplace. You're choosing a vendor more than a device at this point, so I'd recommend going with whichever you're more comfortable with.

You won't be unhappy with either--both of these devices are right at the top of the game, and all my faffing around about the Touch shouldn't conceal the fact that Kindles, including the Touch, are awesome--but I'm hesitant to recommend it over the vastly cheaper non-touch version.

Gene-Based Treatment for Skin Cancer May Make Its Way Into Skin Creams Within Five Years

Aly — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 08:38:21 GMT

Developing squamous cell cancer (SCC) of the skin via MedicalXpress

Good news for the countless people across the globe suffering from some kind of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), which includes a large proportion of those dealing with skin cancer. Australian researchers have discovered the "stop signal” gene for SCC that is absent in virtually every SCC tumor they looked at. Without it, cells replicate uncontrolled causing a tumor, but knowing what gene is missing gives researchers the means to develop new strategies to treat and prevent this common form of cancer.

Squamous cell carcinoma is the second-most prevalent form of skin cancer, and 700,000 cases are diagnosed in the U.S. alone every year. Yet up until now, SCC’s genetic underpinnings were somewhat mystifying to medical researchers. Scientists couldn’t figure out why, at some point, some skin cells begin multiplying in an uncontrolled manner, eventually resulting in cancer.

The answer apparently was hiding in a single gene that plays a key role in the development of skin during the fetal stage of life. This gene is missing in SCC tumor cells and, as it turns out, provides the signal for cells to stop multiplying. That’s huge news for the fight against skin cancer, as well as other varieties of SCC that occur elsewhere in places like the head and neck. Knowing what they now know, researchers should be able to target treatments at that missing signal that could prevent--or at least halt--the spread of SCC.

Moreover, the researchers think that drugs that are already in clinical trials for other cancers might be effective in treating SCC skin cancers. If so, that could cut years off the development process.

North Face's ThermoBall Wants to Revolutionize Jacket Insulation

Aly — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 08:36:23 GMT

North Face Thermoball: Baffles The North Face

The problem is as follows. The perfect winter insulation should be ultra warm, extremely light and packable, and stay warm when wet. No single insulation--not the classic goose down, not the best efforts of synthetic insulation makers--has met all three of those criteria, and folks like hikers, skiers, and snowboarders have had to settle. But North Face claims its newest jacket technology, which uses ball-shaped synthetic insulation that behaves like down, is the perfect compromise.

Goose down has been the preferred insulation for outdoor adventurers and enthusiasts for generations. It’s not only the warmest and lightest insulation, but it feels luxurious to wear--lofted goose down traps warm air while softly conforming to your body’s shape. But down is expensive, and if it gets wet from sweat, melting snow or rain, it becomes matted and loses its insulating properties. Plus, down has to be encased in expensive "down-proof” fabrics that prevent quills from poking through or migrating around the inside of the jacket.

Synthetic insulation, on the other hand, isn’t affected by moisture--it stays warm even if it’s wet--but it’s heavier and less compressible than down. And it’s stiff, comparatively. The long linear fibers of synthetic insulations don’t contour to your body’s curves nearly as well as down, so it's never managed to achieve the same cozy feel. Synthetic insulation also isn’t as warm for its weight as down. So those battling the winter elements have had to choose: dryness and affordability, or suppleness and warmth?

ThermoBall, created by noted outdoors/college campuses company North Face, is a synthetic insulation that closely mimics down. Unlike traditional continuous-filament synthetic insulations, which are laid out in flat sheets comprised of thousands of long filaments, ThermoBall is made from short strands of polyester that have been spun and frayed into millions of fuzzy miniature cotton-ball-like balls, 0.15-0.2 inches in diameter. They float inside hundreds of tiny pockets, or baffles (seen above), sewn into a jacket. They are designed to cluster like feathers, maintaining air pockets (which are key for retaining warmth) rather than clumping together into a solid mass.

Triangular baffles help keep the insulation lofted so it traps body-heated air, where insulation’s "warmth” comes from. Triangular baffles aren't new, but the ones in the ThermoBall jacket are smaller than any it's been possible to use with down, since the individual balls in ThermoBall are smaller than each down feather.

The request for a better synthetic came specifically this time from world-renowned mountaineer Conrad Anker and the rest of the North Face climbing team in 2008 after an aborted attempt to climb Mount Meru in India’s Garhwal Himalaya. "We spent two years developing new products that would help us do better on the next attempt," Anker says. "ThermoBall was one of those products.”

ThermoBall was conceived as a solution to that trip's shortcomings, and so the team began work in The North Face’s materials lab, hitting the new jacket with a battery of tests ranging from odor retention tests to bombarding the jacket with water to test its hydrophobic coating, as well as lots and lots of abrasion tests to make sure the jacket would stay together and not spew tiny balls of warmth everywhere. After six months of testing, the lab's designers sent it to their athletes for real world feedback.

"As an athlete tester, I have no idea what I am getting a lot of the time,” said Anker. "The North Face’s designers say, ‘try this and give us your feedback.’ So I do. When I got the first ThermoBall jacket, I noticed it stayed warm even when it got soaked with sweat on a long run," while staying "soft and comfortable" to wear.

North Face Thermoball: Hooded Jacket: The North Face

In June, The North Face sent revised and updated versions of ThermoBall with nine athletes to climb Alaska’s Denali. When the team reached base camp, The North Face designers were there to get fresh and immediate feedback from the climbers. Then it was back to the drawing board to further refine the insulation and the ThermoBall jacket. Those refinements mostly focused on the "face" fabric, the outer skin or material that faces the outside world. The original fabric used for the face turned out to be too light, which handicapped the jacket's warmth. The testing was important not just for extreme climbers, but also for your average, you know, cold person.

"Having the ThermoBall jacket on Meru on our second attempt this fall provided mental comfort," says Anker. "We didn’t have to worry about our jackets getting wet. When there are three guys sleeping in a portaledge, there is condensation. We slept in these jackets as well as wearing them when we were climbing as part of a five layer system. And they did the job.” Jimmy Chin, Renan Ozturk and Conrad Anker successfully climbed the central pillar of Mount Meru reaching the 20,700-foot summit this October.

So, ThermoBall is designed to feel like down when you’re wearing it—soft and cozy, rather than stiff. It’s comparable to down in weight, and it compresses like down when you need to stuff a ThermoBall jacket into a pack. ThermoBall weighs about the same as down, but North Face claims its ratio of weight to warmth is 15 percent better than the best synthetic material, even though by specific clo ratings (the rating used to measure thermal insulation), down is still superior.

ThermoBall is highly water repellent and warm even if it gets wet. And, because there are no quills to worry about, North Face is able to use a tightly woven fabric with silk-like threads as the inside and outside of the jacket, making it lighter in weight as well.

ThermoBall may not crush those dastardly, incredibly warm geese, but it's an interesting step forward, and North Face promises that further ThermoBall developments are in store. The biggest problem so far? ThermoBall is still not as warm as down. That's the main obstacle to this being the ultimate winter jacket tech. But the team is convinced they'll get there eventually.

NORTH FACE THERMOBALL HOODED JACKET

Release date: July 2012
Features: Pre-cinched hood, cuffs, bottom hem (to keep warm air inside), shoulder panels to resist backpack wear, large zip handwarmer pockets, machine-washable.