Cutting Edge

The Pirate Bay now offering banned 3D-printed gun files

For those who worry that even 24 hours without the ability to download 3D-printed gun blueprints is too much, fret no more: The Pirate Bay is on the case.

On Thursday, the U.S. State Department successfully demanded the removal of a set of 3D-printed firearm files from Defcad, a file-sharing site run by Defense Distributed, the group at the center of the 3D-printed gun controversy.

The founder of Defense Distributed, Cody Wilson, told CNET on Thursday that he had been expecting the State Department's action, though he felt that the International Traffic in Arms Regulations permitted Defcad to … Read more

International Space Station springs system coolant leak

The International Space Station is leaking ammonia coolant used to prevent the station's power systems from overheating, but it doesn't pose a danger to the crew, NASA announced Thursday.

Crew aboard the space station alerted Mission Control to the appearance of small white flakes floating away from the station's P6 truss solar array this morning, NASA said in a statement. The ammonia loop affected is the same loop at which spacewalking astronauts attempted to troubleshoot a leak last November, NASA reported.

"There's a very steady stream of flakes or bits coming out as the truss … Read more

U.S. State Department latest to crack down on 3D-printed guns

The latest governmental attack on 3D printed guns came from the U.S. State Department on Thursday.

In a letter sent to Defense Distributed, a nonprofit advocating for the creation of 3D printed firearms, the State Department demanded the removal from a public Web site of a set of 3D files used to print gun components. The State Department said that the online dissemination of the files could violate restrictions on exporting guns covered by International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR)

Defense Distributed founder Cody Wilson said he obeyed the federal directive. It followed the announcement yesterday by California state … Read more

Why fear of 3D-printed guns is overblown

Despite politicians lining up to regulate 3D printed guns, and a new directive from the U.S. State Department arguing that disseminating 3D files for such weapons may violate weapons export rules, some think that it may all be much ado about nothing.

On Thursday, Forbes reported, the State Department demanded that Defense Distributed, a nonprofit dedicated to creating 3D printed guns, take down a set of files that theoretically enable anyone to print their own firearm.

"The government says it wants to review the files for compliance with arms export control laws known as the International Traffic in … Read more

Landsat watches over the Earth, documenting 28 years of change

NASA's Landsat 5, which recently set a Guinness World Record for the "Longest Operating Earth Observation Satellite," has been delivering high-quality, global data of Earth's land surface for 28 years and 10 months.

Using the annual Landsat satellite imagery captured since 1984, Google has created dramatic composites, alongside other Google Earth satellite imagery, depicting our changing world, the death and growth of natural lands, and humans' impact on the landscape.

The animated GIFs shown here chronicle the development and destruction of life on Earth, pulsing like a living being, with forests receding, water evaporating, and cities … Read more

3D holograms show if baby's smiling in the womb

Remember back in the olden days, when you had to wait till your baby came out of the womb to start determining whose nose and chin it had?

Pioneer, maker of speakers, receivers, and headphones, is moving into the in-utero-baby-picture realm with 3D holograms that give a remarkably detailed look at an infant's early visage.

The company does that using a full-color hologram printer. The device, which fits into a briefcase, can record a full color card-size hologram in 120 minutes, and a single-color hologram in 90 minutes. … Read more

Study: What motivates people to exercise? Money

A new study out of Stanford University and the University of Michigan suggests that some people appear more motivated by money than their own health.

Researchers followed a group of people insured by Blue Care Network, which -- rather controversially -- developed an incentives program that allowed its obese members to choose between paying as much as 20 percent more for health insurance or exercising. In real dollars, that added up to as much as $2,000 extra a year. (Those unable to walk due to medical reasons were exempt with a doc's note.)

Those who wanted to pay … Read more

Fiery annular solar eclipse to be broadcast live on Internet

It's that time again where certain people on Earth are lucky enough to see an annular eclipse, or "ring of fire."

People on the ground in much of Australia, Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands will be able to gaze toward the sky Thursday evening and witness the eclipse. However, the rest of us, who aren't in that part of the world, can watch the action live on the Slooh SpaceCamera Web site via an Australia-based telescope.

An annular eclipse is no ordinary eclipse; it's a rare and spectacular occurrence. Rather than a complete … Read more

Relive Earth's wild history of meteor strikes

Aside from death and taxes, there's another thing certain in life: meteors. To get a historical perspective on just how many dazzling space rocks have fallen through our skies in recent times, peep at Carlo Zapponi's visual graph called Bolides, which puts meteor strikes in a chronological view.

Inspired by the Greek word bolis (missile), Bolides features data from a range of historical meteor records, ranging from MetBase to London's Natural History Museum catalog of meteorites, and displays the data in a way that makes you want to click around and explore. … Read more