Former astronaut to lead starship effort
The Pentagon’s premiere research agency has chosen a former astronaut to lead a foundation that is designed to take humanity to the stars.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) and Nasa are sponsoring the project, known as the 100-Year Starship.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16427876
X-37B spaceplane ‘spying on China’
The unpiloted vehicle was launched into orbit by the US Air Force in March last year and has yet to return to Earth.
The Pentagon has steadfastly refused to discuss its mission but amateur space trackers have noted how its path around the globe is nearly identical to China’s spacelab, Tiangong-1.
There is wide speculation that the X-37B is eavesdropping on the laboratory.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16423881
Hackers plot DIY Sputniks for Internet freedom
Hackers at the Chaos Communication Congress in Berlin, which wrapped up over the weekend, are toasting the New Year with a newly announced plan for a hacker-owned satellite communications network. The anti-censorship allies want to counter the spate of legislative and government efforts that seek to interfere with Internet freedoms.
http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-01-hackers-plot-diy-sputniks-internet.html
Apple’s Jonathan Ive gets knighthood in honours list
Jonathan Ive, Apple’s head of design, has been awarded a knighthood in the New Year Honours list.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16367022
Facebook going public this New Year
“The Facebook IPO will be the biggest financial event in the tech industry for 2012,” Forrester Research analyst Josh Bernoff said, and one of the biggest initial public offerings ever in the United States.
Nick Einhorn, an analyst at Renaissance Capital, said he expects Facebook to file its IPO paperwork with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the first quarter and start trading on Wall Street later in the year.
With an expected deal size of $10 billion, Facebook would slip into sixth place on the list of largest US IPOs between AT&T Wireless Group ($10.62 billion) and Kraft Foods ($8.68 billion), according to Renaissance Capital.
A market capitalization of $100 billion would put Facebook on a par with McDonald’s ($103 billion), well ahead of Boeing ($54 billion) but behind Apple ($376 billion) and another Internet giant, Google ($209 billion).
Facebook’s current annual revenue, mostly from online advertising, is estimated to be around $5 billion compared to $108 billion for Apple and $36 billion for Google.
http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-01-long-awaited-facebook-ipo-looms-year.html
