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Could patent peace be at hand?

As the tech world was focused on the Apple-Samsung patent trial, Apple and Google were talking to try to resolve the myriad intellectual property and patent disputes between the companies.

Apple's CEO Tim Cook and Google's Larry Page talked before last week's verdict in the Samsung-Apple trial and plan to talk in a few weeks, to a person familiar with dealings told CNET. Talks are also reportedly taking place between the companies at a lower echelon. Back to the future: Apple and Microsoft on collision course, again

When the Samsung decision got announced last Friday afternoon, … Read more

NASA twin satellites to probe mysteries of the Van Allen belts

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- An Atlas 5 rocket boosted a pair of satellites into the maelstrom of the Van Allen radiation belts early today, kicking off a $686 million mission to probe the structure of the belts and how they're buffeted by the sun and to improve forecasting to reduce the threat they pose to astronauts, power grids and increasingly critical satellite systems.

"Today, 11 years hard work was realized by the science team," said Nicola Fox, the deputy project scientist at Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory. "They're now at home in … Read more

Zoom around in this massive Mars mosaic

When Curiosity touched down on Mars earlier this month, we Earthlings experienced an out of this world multimedia experience showing off amazing angles of the Red Planet. A few days ago, NASA released perhaps the best Mars panorama yet, which simply blows away the rest, at least in terms of size. … Read more

Curiosity rover captures stunning vistas of rugged Mars

NASA's Curiosity rover, giving earthlings a glimpse of its ultimate target, has beamed back spectacular high-resolution photos of the rugged foothills of Mount Sharp, showing a khaki-colored landscape marked by towering hills, gaping canyons, and sand dunes reminiscent of the American Southwest, scientists said Monday.

In one view, the rover photographed a scientifically intriguing transition from relatively flat rock beds made up of water-influenced minerals to steeply inclined unhydrated layers marking a dramatic, geologically sudden discontinuity that signals a major change in martian history.

But for sheer visual impact, it was a zoomed-in view of the Mount Sharp foothills … Read more

Neil Armstrong, first man on the moon, dies at 82

Neil Alden Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon and an enduring icon of the the space age for taking "one giant leap for mankind," died today after complications from cardiovascular surgery. He was 82.

"We are heartbroken to share the news that Neil Armstrong has passed away," his family said in a statement. "Neil was our loving husband, father, grandfather, brother, and friend.

"Neil Armstrong was also a reluctant American hero who always believed he was just doing his job. He served his nation proudly, as a navy fighter pilot, test … Read more

Angry Birds go to Mars, make first contact with astronaut pig

It seems like only yesterday that Angry Birds blasted into space. Now it seems they've made contact with Martians.

Well, sort of. Rovio, in partnership with NASA (no, really), just released a new "Red Planet" update for Angry Birds Space (Android | iOS).

The episode comes as part of a free update that went live yesterday in the App Store and Google Play store.

In these 20 new levels, the pigs have hijacked the Curiosity Mars Rover. As always, it's up to the birds to save the day.

Speaking of which, Red Planet introduces no new fowl … Read more

Curiosity lands on Mars again, this time in HD

You thought you knew all about the Curiosity rover's Mars landing. You looked at the photos. You watched the NASA folks explode with delight on video. You proposed to Mohawk Guy on Twitter.

Then along comes a new look at the landing. The Curiosity Rover Twitter feed just unleashed an HD video mashup of the landing with play-by-play audio from our favorite space nerds at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory mission control.… Read more

Curiosity flight director's family lives on 'Mars time'

If you happen to see a family in Southern California with kids ages 8, 10, and 13 at the beach just before midnight or perhaps bowling at 4 a.m., they're not related to Edward Cullen or any other vampires. They're just living on Martian time.

It's all part of NASA engineer David Oh's grand experiment to allow his family to share in an adventure of planetary proportions he's been involved in at work lately. Oh is the flight director for the Curiosity rover, currently wheeling its way along the surface of the Red Planet and occasionally blasting a Martian rock with a laser every now and then.… Read more

Curiosity takes a spin on Mars, completes short test drive

In a major milestone, the six-wheel Curiosity Mars rover took its first baby steps today, rolling about 15 feet forward, performing a slow 120-degree pirouette, and then backing up 8 feet to prove the $2.5 billion science lab is, in fact, mobile -- and ready to rove.

The short test drive began at 7:17 a.m. PT and took about 16 minutes to complete. The actual drive time was about a third of that, but the rover was programmed to stop and take multiple pictures of its tracks in the dusty, pebble-strewn soil of Gale Crater.

The move … Read more

Curiosity fires ChemCam laser for first time on Mars

On August 19, 2012, NASA's Curiosity rover used the ChemCam, its laser-camera combo unit, for the first time on Mars, firing an energy beam at a small rock called "Coronation."

Having excited the atoms in a target rock into an ionized, glowing plasma with its million watt laser, ChemCam can then use its telescopic camera to watch the light emitted and analyze it with three spectrometers for information about elemental composition.

This first firing of the laser was primarily for target practice and calibration, but the ChemCam team expects to eventually take about a dozen compositional measurements … Read more