US Power Grid Vulnerable to Just About Everything

from oilprice.com: As Washington hunts ill-defined al-Qaeda groups in the Middle East and Africa, and concerns itself with Iran’s eventual nuclear potential, it has a much more pressing problem at home: Its energy grid is vulnerable to anyone with basic weapons and know-how. Forget about cyber warfare and highly organized terrorist attacks, a lack of basic physical security on the US power grid means that anyone with a gun—like disgruntled Michigan Militia types, for instance--could do serious damage.

For the past two months, the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has been tasked with creating a security strategy for the electric grid and hydrocarbon facilities through its newly created Office of Energy Infrastructure Security. So far, it’s not good news.

“There are ways that a very few number of actors with very rudimentary equipment could take down large portions of our grid,” warns FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff. This, he says, “is an equal if not greater issue” than cyber security. FERC’s gloom-and-doom risk assessment comes on the heels of the recent declassification of a 2007 report by the National Academy of Sciences.

The National Academy of Sciences on 14 November warned that a terrorist attack on the US power grid could wreak more damage than Hurricane Sandy. It could cause massive blackouts for weeks or months at a time. But this would only be the beginning, the Academy warns, spelling out an “end of days” scenario in which blackouts lead to widespread fear, panic and instability.

Saturn's Hexagon Revisited

A fascinating feature of Saturn's pole is its hexagon! The Daily Galaxy reports on details of natural phenomenon  in article, "Saturn's Hexagon - One of the Most Bizarre Things Seen in the Solar System."  "One of the most bizarre things seen in the solar system is captured in the image...taken on 27 November by NASA's Cassini spacecraft. Cassini's camera zoomed into Saturn's polar hexagon storm's eye from a distance of about 250,000 miles (400,000 kilometers). The spacecraft observed in infrared wavelengths, which can peer through the top layer of clouds to reveal the complex texture beneath. NASA's Cassini spacecraft has been traveling the Saturnian system in a set of inclined, or tilted, orbits that give mission scientists a vertigo-inducing view of Saturn's polar regions, yielding spectacular images of roiling storm clouds and the swirling vortex at the center of Saturn's famed north polar hexagon."  Holy Hexes first visited Saturn's Hexagon in 2010, a link to post here.

US Military's Next X-37B Space Plane Launch Faces New Delay

from space.com: The next launch of the U.S. Air Force's X-37B space plane, a robotic spacecraft used to fly classified payloads into Earth orbit, has been delayed until next month pending final approvals, SPACE.com has learned. The secretive X-37B space plane, an Orbital Test Vehicle that resembles a miniature space shuttle, is now expected to be boosted in early December by a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket from Launch Complex 41 at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. It marks the latest in a series of delays for the unmanned space plane. The mission, called OTV-3, had been pushed back from Oct. 25 to Nov. 13, and then to Nov. 27. "We are working toward a planning date for OTV of Dec. 11," United Launch Alliance spokeswoman Jessica Rye said in a message to SPACE.com yesterday (Nov. 20).

Drone Tech: Nano Drones And Switchblade

The Young Turks (TYT) webcast reports latest in drone tech.  TYT Host Cenk Uygur reveals 50 countries have drones and adds, "they are cheap!"   There's also new variant of formation-flying swarms of Nano drones. Pentagon funds 5.5 lb drone, Switchblade,  soldiers can carry in a backpack and deploy with guided missile precision!  Has CIA drone warfare opened a Pandora's box?  

A Dose Of Daily Science Fiction

 A dose of Daily Science Fiction (DSF) to make your day better!  DSF website greets visitors: "'Science Fiction' means—to us—everything found in the science fiction section of a bookstore, or at a science fiction convention, or amongst the winners of the Hugo awards given by the World Science Fiction Society. This includes the genres of science fiction (or sci-fi), fantasy, slipstream, alternative history, and even stories with lighter speculative elements. We hope you enjoy the broad range that SF has to offer."  "Sapience And Maternal Instincts" recommended as excellent short story - a thumbs up!

Ban ‘Killer Robots’ Before It’s Too Late

We must ban killer drones and other robotic systems before it's too late!  Human Rights Watch (HRW) recommended recently that governments, "...should pre-emptively ban fully autonomous weapons [picture, UK Taranis drone] because of the danger they pose to civilians in armed conflict, Human Rights Watch said..." A 50 page HRW report, “'Losing Humanity: The Case Against Killer Robots,' outlines concerns about these fully autonomous weapons, which would inherently lack human qualities that provide legal and non-legal checks on the killing of civilians. In addition, the obstacles to holding anyone accountable for harm caused by the weapons would weaken the law’s power to deter future violations...It is jointly published by Human Rights Watch and the Harvard Law School International Human Rights Clinic," informs Human Rights Watch website. It's, perhaps, most important question confronting human civilization. Mankind has reached the 1984 Terminator movie world of Cyberdyne and Skynet. You may drop below fold for three minute You Tube video, "Pull the Plug on Killer Robots."

Sci-Fi Short Weekend: 'The Chameleon'

"The Chameleon" provides fast paced hard hitting suspense in five minutes! "A hostile race of aliens has invaded Earth and the government fears that the aliens are modifying their DNA to pose as humans. When a military officer abducted months ago mysteriously reappears, his wife is called in to ask him questions only she would know to find out who or what he really is. Starring James C. Burns (Call of Duty: Black Ops). Based on a story by science fiction author Colin Harvey,"  supplies You Tube plot summary.  It's another excellent sci-fi short with a twist at the end!