Christmas in space

Astronauts reveal what festive celebrations are like in orbit, why Velcro is crucial at dinnertime, and why space stations and alcohol do not mix. 

25 December 2010. The day Santa Claus surprised not only children around the world, but also astronauts on board the International Space Station (ISS). In the American section of the station, European Space Agency (ESA) Paolo Nespoli was the first to wake. He opened the door of his sleeping compartment to discover a sock attached to the handle, filled with gifts.
“I still remember how startled I was when I opened the door and saw the package there,” Nespoli recalls. “As the others woke and opened their doors, we looked at each other and realised none of us had brought these into orbit.”
This wasn’t the first time that Father Christmas had apparently visited space. The earliest recorded Santa sighting came during the missions of Gemini 6 and 7 in December 1965. Shortly after a rendezvous between the two spacecraft in orbit, Gemini 6 astronaut Thomas Stafford reported seeing “a satellite going from north to south, probably in a polar orbit.”
“Looks like he might be going to re-enter soon,” Stafford informed an increasingly anxious mission control. “Stand by…you might just let me try to pick up that thing.”
Then, over the radio, came the strains of Jingle Bells performed by Stafford and his fellow crewmember, Wally Schirra, on sleigh bells and harmonica – the first musical instruments ever smuggled into space

Christmas has always been important to American astronauts, particularly to the many who have been religious. The most overt expression of this came during the Apollo 8 mission, 45 years ago, when the first humans orbited the Moon. On Christmas Eve 1968, after witnessing the blue marble of Earth rise above the desolate lunar landscape, Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders broadcast live to the home planet from lunar orbit. Nasa had not prepared anything for them to say and left it up to the crew. They read – in turn – from the book of Genesis, and Borman concluded the broadcast with: “good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas, and God bless all of you – all of you on the good Earth.”
Even to non-believers, the Bible reading was incredibly powerful, but not without controversy. Nasa was later taken to court by a prominent atheist for introducing religion into a government programme. The case was thrown out by the United States Supreme Court, citing the fact that the government had no jurisdiction over something that happened in lunar orbit.
Today, despite the variety of cultures represented on board the ISS – which might include European, American, Japanese or Russian – 25 December has become a traditional holiday in space. Apart from any essential maintenance, crewmembers have most of the day off and will gather for a festive meal in the social hub of the ISS, the Russian service module. This section even boasts a table, which is covered in Velcro to hold everything down.
Some crews opt for the space-equivalent of an Earth Christmas meal and tuck into sliced turkey, reconstituted potatoes and processed vegetables. But this can be cloyingly bland and Nespoli recalls that he chose tortellini, barbeque steaks, and vegetables instead. They are also allowed extra treats from home such as chocolate, cookies or nuts. Although anything particularly crumbly has a tendency to clog the air conditioning ducts.
After that the crew might play music, watch a movie or call friends and family on the ground. “You’re sad that you can’t be with family and friends but, at the same time, you recognise the uniqueness of the situation,” says Nespoli. “Being able to call people from space and wish them merry Christmas is very special.”

Fast(en) food

Velcro is vital for the Christmas meal, it keeps the food and utensils on astronauts' trays. (Nasa)

ption

Peace on Earth Since the iconic Earthrise at Christmas photo was taken by the Apollo 8 crew in 1968, the festive season has been entwined with space.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tree-mendous

The third manned Skylab mission created this Christmas tree out of food cans. (Nasa) 

 

NSA considering Snowden amnesty

The US National Security Agency is considering offering an amnesty to fugitive intelligence contractor Edward Snowden if he agrees to stop leaking secret documents, an NSA official says.

The man in charge of assessing the leaks' damage, Richard Ledgett, said he could be open to an amnesty deal.
Disclosures by the former intelligence worker have revealed the extent of the NSA's spying activity.
But NSA Director Gen Keith Alexander has dismissed the idea.
Mr Ledgett spoke to US television channel CBS about the possibility of an amnesty deal: "So my personal view is, yes it's worth having a conversation about.
"I would need assurances that the remainder of the data could be secured, and my bar for those assurances would be very high, would be more than just an assertion on his part."
But Gen Alexander, who is retiring early next year, rejected the idea of any amnesty for Mr Snowden.
"This is analogous to a hostage taker taking 50 people hostage, shooting 10, and then say, 'if you give me full amnesty, I'll let the other 40 go'. What do you do?"

The NSA is trying to be more open about what the agency does with the data it collects

The NSA is trying to be more open about what the agency does with the data it collects

In an earlier interview with the Reuters news agency, Mr Ledgett said he was deeply worried about highly classified documents not yet public that are among the 1.7 million Mr Snowden is believed to have accessed.
Edward Snowden's disclosures have been "cataclysmic" for the agency, Mr Ledgett told Reuters.
Earlier this month, a UK newspaper editor told UK MPS only 1% of files leaked by Mr Snowden had been published by the newspaper.
The state department says its position has not changed and that Mr Snowden must return to the US to face charges, says the BBC's Suzanne Kianpour.
The US has charged Mr Snowden with theft of government property, unauthorised communication of national defence information and wilful communication of classified communications intelligence.
Each of the charges carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence.
At the weekend, the NSA allowed a CBS television crew into their headquarters for the first time in its history, in an effort to be more open about what the agency does with the data it collects.

BT has announced the launch of a new 'porn filter' switched

BT has announced the launch of a new internet filter designed to protect children online.

The controls will automatically be switched on for new users. Customers who do not want the service will have to actively choose to turn it off.
The filter is designed to block sites deemed unsuitable for children.
The move comes after the government called for internet service providers to filter legal pornography and other adult subjects "by default".
The BT Parental Controls filter will cover any internet-enabled device connected to its home broadband service.
The implementation of the controls will be pre-selected for new users who are setting up their internet connection for the first time.
There will be three set filter levels - strict, moderate and light - or customers can choose to turn the filter off.
Existing users of BT's broadband will be contacted during 2014 and asked to make a decision on whether or not they want to set up the new service.
Search blocked Sites that show pornography, refer to illegal drugs or promote self-harm will all be blocked. Other categories of sites that the filter can be set to block include nudity, social networking and gaming.
Users can also personalise the filters to block access to sex-education sites and search engines.

Sites considered unsuitable for children will be blocked by default

Sites considered unsuitable for children will be blocked by default

BT currently has 6.8 million broadband customers.
"BT takes the issue of online child protection extremely seriously and we are very pleased to be able to launch the whole-home filter to help parents keep their families safe online," said BT's managing director of consumer commercial marketing and digital, Pete Oliver.
The National Crime Agency's Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command (CEOP) said it welcomed the move by BT.
The government has said by the end of 2014, 20 million homes - 95% of all homes in Britain with an existing internet connection - will be required to choose whether to switch on a whole-home "family- friendly" internet filter.
Sky and Talk Talk have already implemented their own version of a "family-friendly" filter. Virgin is expected to introduce something similar in the new year.
In November, Google and Microsoft announced that 100,000 search terms that related to illegal material would be blocked by their search engines.

'Netra' for internet surveillance will shortly launch by Government

KOLKATA: The government will shortly launch 'Netra', the defence ministry's internet spy system that will be capable of detecting words like 'attack', 'bomb', 'blast' or 'kill' in a matter of seconds from reams of tweets, status updates, emails, instant messaging transcripts, internet calls, blogs and forums.

The system will also be able to capture any dubious voice traffic passing through software such as Skype or Google Talk, says a telecom department note seen by ET. "Intelligence Bureau and Cabinet Secretariat are currently testing 'Netra', which will be deployed by all national security agencies," the note says. "The specifications of the 'Netra' system can be taken as frozen following tests by the Intelligence Bureau and Cabinet Secretariat, and can be considered for providing multiple user access to security agencies," it adds.

The 'Netra' internet surveillance system has been developed by Centre for Artificial Intelligence & Robotics (CAIR), a lab under Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO).

To hasten its deployment, the home ministry will shortly approach DRDO to allocate additional manpower resources to Bangalore-based CAIR, which is also working with the government's telecom technology arm, Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DoT) to formalise a strategy for tracking internet use.

The 'Netra' deployment strategy was recently discussed by an apex inter-ministerial group headed by DoT's member (technology) and included top officials of the Cabinet Secretariat, home ministry, DRDO, CAIR, Intelligence Bureau, C-DoT and Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In). The panel also deliberated on ways to respond to computer security incidents, track system vulnerabilities and promote effective IT security practices across the country.

During the meeting, it was also decided that 300 GB of storage space for intercepted internet traffic would be given to a maximum three security agencies, including the IB and Cabinet Secretariat, while an extra 100 GB would be assigned to the remaining law enforcement agencies, the minutes of the inter-ministerial panel meeting showed. Deployment of 'Netra' by security agencies is slated to pave the way for a national internet scanning & coordination centre, which India plans to establish along the lines of existing facilities in the UK, US, China and Iran.

Tablets and apps might be doctor's orders of the future

If you have ever sat in a doctor's waiting room, next to someone with a hacking cough and with only a pile of out-of-date Reader's Digests for company, then you may have asked whether the system was fit for 21st Century living.
The NHS seems under increasing pressure, from GP surgeries to accident and emergency rooms. It feels as if the healthcare system is in desperate need of CPR - the question is will technology be the thing that brings it back to life?
Daniel Kraft is a trained doctor who heads up the medicine school at the Singularity University, a Silicon Valley-based organisation that runs graduate and business courses on how technology is going to disrupt the status quo in a variety of industries.

Tricorders were a must-have on the Starship Enterprise

 

When I interview him he is carrying a device that looks suspiciously like a Tricorder, the scanners that were standard issue in Star Trek.
"This is a mock-up of a medical tricorder that can scan you and get information. I can hold it to my forehead and it will pick up my heart rate, my oxygen saturation, my temperature, my blood pressure and communicate it to my smartphone," he explains.
In future, Dr Kraft predicts, such devices will be linked to artificial intelligence agents on smartphones, which in turn will be connected to super-computers such as IBM's Watson, to give people instant and accurate diagnoses.
"It may say, 'Daniel, this is looking bad - you need to go to the emergency room', or it might say this is probably just the flu because there is a lot in the neighbourhood and your symptoms are consistent with that."
No such device is yet on the market but in the US there is currently a $10m (£6m) prize on offer to design one that is suitable for use in the home; 300 teams are competing.

Devices can enable doctors to closely monitor a patient

Devices can enable doctors to closely monitor a patient

Wearable devices such as Nike's FuelBand or Jawbone's Up are making people ever more aware of their health.
 
Wristbands
 
These days it seems as if there is an app for every medical condition. Diabetics can monitor their blood sugar levels via their smartphones, there are apps to track diet, pregnancy and menstrual cycles. It is even possible to get smartphone-enabled blood pressure cuffs.
Dr Kraft is wearing four wristbands, monitoring a range of things including his heart rate, his sleep pattern and how many steps he takes each day.
Such devices, he says, make him the "CEO of his own health" and he thinks that doctors will increasingly be prescribing such tools instead of handing out pills.
"I might prescribe you exercise. I might say, 'Here's a band and I want you to wear this and I want to see that you are improving your exercise.'"
Last year, the UK's Department of Health said that it was looking at the possibility of doctors prescribing apps, although they are currently unregulated, leading some medical experts to question what role they should play in healthcare.
In September the US Food and Drug Administration said that it would regulate only the small number of apps that act like medical instruments.
 
Surgery via Glass?
 
"Such tools can be valuable but there are privacy issues about whether patients want to share their data with their doctor as well as how accurate such data is," said Mary Hamilton, managing director of consultancy Accenture's technology labs.

Google Glass could prove a useful tool for surgeons

 

Accenture and Philips recently conducted a proof-of-concept demo in which a surgeon wore Google Glass, allowing him to simultaneously monitor a patient's vital signs and react to surgical procedural developments without having to turn away from the patient.
Such devices could also be used to instantly bring up patient data when a doctor conducted his ward rounds, says Ms Hamilton.
If wearable technology and the data it generates does get integrated into the health service, GPs will know exactly whether a patient is following doctor's orders.
"If you do a good job your healthcare premiums might get lowered or the NHS might give you an incentive like tickets to a concert," says Dr Kraft.
Insurance firms such as PruHealth are already offering lower premiums for those who can prove they have healthy lifestyles.
 
Citizen scientists
 

Citizen scientists are offering new ways to solve medical problems

 

Last year, speaking at a health conference, tech entrepreneur and co-founder of Sun Microsystems Vinod Khosla made the extraordinary claim that in the future 80% of what doctors do will be replaced by technology.
He likened current healthcare to "witchcraft" and argued that machine learning would be a much more efficient, accurate and cheaper diagnosis tool.
The shift is already happening, says Dr Kraft. "There are robotic anaesthesiologists coming online and applications to take pictures of a skin lesion that can do a better job than dermatologists."
Meanwhile IBM's Watson is giving human doctors a run for their money when it comes to diagnosing cancer.
In February the super-computer was made available to rent to any hospital or clinic that wanted to get its opinion on oncology-related matters - and with its ability to take in and analyse vast quantities of data, it may just be just the extra medical mind that doctors need.
But it isn't just machines changing the way medicine is conducted.
When 14-year-old Jack Andraka discovered a new way of testing for pancreatic cancer just by searching Google and borrowing some lab space from nearby Johns Hopkins University, it was an indication that the old way of doing things might be over.
Prof Raymond McCauley runs the US's first ever bio-hack lab, where members of the public are invited to come in and "play around with DNA" and conduct other experiments.
"Things that were major government and academic projects a few years ago are now things that junior high school students are doing in their basements," he says.
Whatever the future for healthcare there is little question that the system is in desperate need of an overhaul.
"Healthcare today in many ways is broken," says Dr Kraft.
"There are lots of challenges with costs, ageing populations, fragmented big data but we have the opportunity with many of these new and exponential technologies... to help reinvent elements of health and medicine.
"Then we can actually do healthcare rather than what we are doing today, which is sickcare."

Revenge porn site owner arrested in San Diego

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