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A public school in Los Angeles has become a magnet for Korean families who want their kids to learn English while escaping the intense rigor of the Korean school system. In the U.S., they move from school district to school district, cherry-picking the best schools as their kids rise through the grades.
from News
Building a satellite, that’s not really much of a problem anymore. Getting them launched, well, that’s what separates the big boys from the wannabes. Virgin’s Richard Branson believes he has the answer to that — LauncherOne. The delivery system for Earth orbiters is based around the WhiteKnightTwo, the same launch platform used by SpaceShipTwo to reach its sub-orbital heights. The tube-like rocket of the LauncherOne is carried up to 50,000 feet by its mother ship, before detaching and initiating its two-stage rocket engines. The current design is capable of delivering 500-pound payloads into Low Earth Orbit, while lighter satellites of 225 pounds could reach Sun-Synchronous Low Earth Orbit. Virgin Galactic says it has already signed up its first customers, including SkyBox Imaging and GeoOptics. Sadly, there’s no word on when or how much it’ll cost to get the spy satellite you built in your backyard placed in the heavens. Check out the video and the PR after the break.
Update: We now know another of Virgin Galactic’s customers. Asteroid mining startup Planetary Resources has announced that it will “launch several constellations of Arkyd-100 Series spacecraft in the coming years aboard LauncherOne.”
from Engadget
German authorities are investigating thousands of Credit Suisse customers who are suspected of evading taxes with the help of insurance products sold by the Swiss bank.
Initially seeking $950,000, Ouya drew over $2 million in its first day of fundraising.
from Wired Top Stories
Safety lapses by pipeline company Enbridge and “weak regulation” by the U.S. are to blame for the 2010 Michigan oil spill, the NTSB said.
Watch an obstruction in a mouse artery disappear in minutes thanks to a novel biology-inspired therapy
In 2010, a lake of caustic, poison mud from an aluminum manufacturing operation spilled out and destroyed a nearby town, along with much of the native life. Humans were killed and burned, property destroyed. And it still looks like Mars. More »
from Gizmodo