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Space  Traveling  Humans are going to Mars. We don’t know exactly when, who it will be, or exactly what spacecraft will be the first to make the journey, but with several space-faring nations setting their sights firmly on the red planet, it’s going to happen sooner rather than later. To make that goal a reality, groups like NASA are going to need the help of companies like Lockheed Martin, and the latter  just released  its newest vision for what an orbiting Mars space station and reusable lander. The station, which is built with our current scientific understanding of Mars in mind, features a pair of what Lockheed Martin is calling “MADVs,” or Mars Ascent/Descent Vehicles. Those vehicles function as landers to ferry astronauts to and from the surface of the planet, with the space station itself acting as a “base camp.” “Sending humans to Mars has always been a part of science fiction, but today we have the capability to make it a reality,” Lisa Callahan, vice p...

Cryptocurrency-related cyber attacks are on the rise . As cryptocurrency continues to explode in value and public awareness, we can only expect this trend to continue. I was recently the target of such an attack. I also personally know of multiple other cases of the same attack being successfully carried out. Even worse, this type of attack is becoming ever more common and is likely to see an even bigger boost thanks to the  professional excellence of firms like Equifax , making it an urgent topic as almost everyone is at immediate risk. This article describes this increasingly common attack vector and provides immediate steps you can take to protect yourself. I will also provide additional tools and best practices to further safeguard yourself and your funds more generally. As a computer programmer active in the crypto ecosystem since early 2013, I’ve always been too aware of the constant threat of cybersecurity attacks and the possibility that I could be targeted at any time. ...

Gold ownership Reflecting gold’s historical repute as a scarce and valued resource, Bitcoin has become known in many investment circles as “digital gold.” With its unprecedented rise, Bitcoin’s worth is now estimated to be about twice that of an ounce of physical gold. On August 7, 2017, the startup  GoldMint was launched with the intent of ushering in a new digital era of gold as a store of value. This project aims to provide a unique set of gold ownership solutions for cryptocurrency investors and enthusiasts worldwide. It is holding an  initial coin offering  (ICO) that starts in less than 12 hours.  The GoldMint project reaffirms the notion that physical gold is a respected method of payment and wealth preservation, all tied to its value and scarcity. Gold ownership, however, requires expensive security, safekeeping and insurance. GoldMint’s innovative approach seeks to address these inherent issues. GoldMint purchases, sells and repurchases their native dig...

Bitcoin  To a complete outsider, the worlds of art and cryptocurrency do not appear to be linked. But for content creators of all kinds, blockchain technology provides an ideal solution to preserve intellectual property, create demand and increase value for digital content. The digital revolution is often blamed for making life harder than ever for artists. We are always hearing stories of artists realizing their work has been ripped off by a major brand or that they are not being paid or credited for the content they create. However, thanks to blockchains, ownership rights can be restored in favor of artists. The very digital landscape that proves so difficult for artists could well increase the possibility of profits for artists online. Physical art was one of the first big applications of blockchain technology. The concept of integrating blockchain technology into the art industry is not untested. Blockchains have  already been a part of the physical art world  f...

Bitcoin While China tightens its grip on its cryptocurrency community, Japan is openly embracing cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology, legalizing bitcoin, and encouraging and funding blockchain research. Even Japan’s banks are onboard, working collaboratively to develop a blockchain platform specifically for the financial sector. With its 120 member banks, the  Japanese Bankers Association  (JBA) is creating a Collaborative Blockchain Platform and is actively looking for a company to supply its blockchain technology on an ongoing basis. Experimenting with the Collaborative Blockchain Platform, the JBA will initially determine which financial services best lend themselves to the new platform, likely including settlement/transfer services, know-your-customer (KYC) systems and financial infrastructure such as their Zengin System and Densai Net System. Japanese bitcoin exchange bitFlyer is stepping up to the plate to take on tech giants including Fujitsu, Hitachi and NT...

Google Add Your Comment   After  several weeks  of  rumors ,  Google announced  this evening an “agreement” that will see HTC employees who worked on the Pixel join the Alphabet company’s hardware division. The deal is valued at $1.1 billion, while HTC will continue to run its smartphone business. In a blog post this evening, hardware chief Rick Osterloh announced that Google “signed an agreement with HTC” to “fuel even more product innovation in the years ahead.” This acquihire will see “a team of HTC talent” — pegged at around 100 engineers this morning — join Google’s hardware division. With this agreement, a team of HTC talent will join Google as part of the hardware organization. These future fellow Googlers are amazing folks we’ve already been working with closely on the Pixel smartphone line, and we’re excited to see what we can do together as one team. Osterloh specifically notes that the incoming team has already worked with Google on...

Bitcon China is clamping down on cryptocurrency, that much is clear. But while the developing story dominates headlines, a notable trend is the lack of official information. Chinese officials seem to systematically decline requests for comments, local sources are willing to provide information on condition of anonymity only, while leaked documents remain unverified. Despite this lack of clarity, here’s what’s known so far. Effects on Trading The most important thing we know for sure is that Chinese bitcoin exchanges will be closing down, or at least exiting China. BTCC — the oldest bitcoin exchange in the world — was the first exchange to announce they’d be closing shop within the Asian country, by the end of this month. The exchange  cited  guidelines  published by the Chinese central bank (the People’s Bank of China; PBOC), which initially appeared to only affect ICOs, as its reason for closing down. Other exchanges quickly followed BTCC's lead.  ViaBTC ...

Bitcon China is clamping down on cryptocurrency, that much is clear. But while the developing story dominates headlines, a notable trend is the lack of official information. Chinese officials seem to systematically decline requests for comments, local sources are willing to provide information on condition of anonymity only, while leaked documents remain unverified. Despite this lack of clarity, here’s what’s known so far. Effects on Trading The most important thing we know for sure is that Chinese bitcoin exchanges will be closing down, or at least exiting China. BTCC — the oldest bitcoin exchange in the world — was the first exchange to announce they’d be closing shop within the Asian country, by the end of this month. The exchange  cited  guidelines  published by the Chinese central bank (the People’s Bank of China; PBOC), which initially appeared to only affect ICOs, as its reason for closing down. Other exchanges quickly followed BTCC's lead.  ViaBTC ...

Smartphone s If you always leave Bluetooth on your phone on, you might want to rethink things. A vulnerability known as BlueBorne was  discovered this week by security research firm Armis . With it, researchers were able to infiltrate Samsung Galaxy Phones and the Google Pixel as well as an LG Sports Watch and a car audio system, all by exploiting the Bluetooth connection. Other devices  are also vulnerable . Specifically, iPhones and iPads that haven’t been upgraded to iOS 10, as well as a number of other Android, Microsoft, and Linux products. A BlueBorne attack reportedly only takes 10 seconds to do and can give a hacker control of your Bluetooth-enabled device, even if it isn’t connected to anything when the attack begins. Google and Microsoft put out security patches to get rid of the vulnerability this week. If you haven’t updated your phone in the past few days, you should go ahead and do that right now. No really, do it now. The issue brings up a much bigger prob...

Facebook While Facebook prepares to offer readers a way to  subscribe and pay for news  directly from inside its app, the social network continues to tinker with how it presents publishers’ content elsewhere. In the latest development, TechCrunch has learned and confirmed that Facebook has removed Instant Articles — Facebook’s self-hosted, faster-loading article format for mobile — from Messenger. “As we continue to refine and improve Instant Articles — and in order to have the greatest impact on people and publishers — we’re focusing our investment in Instant Articles in the Facebook core app and are no longer offering Instant Articles in Messenger,” a spokesperson said. “We believe that Messenger is an exciting channel for new and interesting news consumption experiences, including the opportunity to build unique messaging experiences in Messenger that many publishers (including TechCrunch) have executed successfully via the Messenger Platform.” Instant Article...

War game NATO has put Moscow on notice that it will be keeping a close eye on a major military exercise with Belarus next week, in a region still on edge after Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014. Similar drills in the past included a simulated invasion of Poland by tens of thousands of Russian troops culminating in a nuclear strike on Warsaw, and the coming show of force, codenamed "Zapad 2017" (West 2017) has sparked months of speculation and fears along NATO's eastern flank. Observers say that while there is little chance of Russia using the exercise as cover for an actual invasion, there are concerns about what troops and equipment it will leave behind afterwards. Moscow has said about 12,700 Russian and Belarusian troops will take part in the exercises, to be held in Belarus and Russia's exclave of Kaliningrad from September 14 to 20, but Lithuania and Estonia have put the figure as high as 100,000. "We are concerned about the nature and the lack...

Bitcoin  Yesterday  a video teaser  from blockchain technology company Blockstream created  waves of excitement  among enthusiasts of both cryptocurrencies and space. Most participants speculated that Blockstream was about to implement the idea, promoted by Bitcoin developer Jeff Garzik (among others), of a satellite system that streams the Bitcoin blockchain to the whole planet from space. The speculations were, indeed, correct. Today, the company is announcing  Blockstream Satellite , a new service that broadcasts real-time Bitcoin blockchain data from satellites in space to almost everyone on the planet. Blockstream Satellite covers across two-thirds of the Earth’s land mass and, according to the company, additional coverage areas will soon come online to reach almost every person on the planet by the end of the year. “Bitcoin is a powerful and transformative internet native digital money that has blazed a trail of disruption, with its full potential...

100 Bitcoin The Bitcoin community is not taking kindly to  BitPay  this week.  Influential  developers are accusing the major payment processor of fraud, Bitcoin users on  social media  are calling for boycots, bitcoin.org  is  removing recommendations of the company’s products, and NBitcoin developer Nicolas Dorier has  launched  an initiative to fork some of BitPay’s projects altogether. Here’s why. Bitcore The controversial issue has to do with Bitcore . Bitcore is a type of Bitcoin node developed by BitPay. It is specifically designed to offer a development platform, on top of which it is easy to build all kinds of Bitcoin applications. Anyone can use this open-source tool; some of the better-known applications that utilize it include video-streaming service  Streamium ,  Trezor ’s web interface and BitPay’s own  Copay  wallet. Within the  next a couple of days , most likely on August 23, the long...

Luxurious home for bitcoins The Russian real estate firm Kalinka Group has  announced  that once of its clients is selling his luxurious home for bitcoins. The 4200 square foot country mansion is located in the village of Nikolino, situated in a fashionable neighborhood off the Rublevo-Upenskoe highway. According to the Kalinka Group, this is the first time in the history of the Russian real estate market that a client has offered to sell a property for cryptocurrencies. "Such transactions are still a novelty, even for world real estate markets,” Ekaterina Rumyantseva, the chairman of the board of Kalinka Group, said in a statement. “We are pleased to be pioneers and open new frontiers in business.” She pointed out that Russian legislation has not yet defined the rules for working with bitcoins, and so far there is no legal definition of the cryptocurrency. Also, as there is no regulatory or legal framework governing the sale, the agency's service fees will still be paid i...

CIVIC Blockchain-driven digital identity fraud firm Civic has partnered up with  wikiHow​  ​to provide its user base with login security. The partnership will mean that around 150 million monthly wikiHow users will now able to use Civic’s identity platform to log in securely with a verified identity, without needing a username and password. Vinny Lingham, CEO of Civic, said in a statement: “We are pleased to officially welcome wikiHow to Civic’s Partner Network. This collaboration illustrates our continuing, strong momentum in building our ecosystem for on-demand, secure and low-cost access to identity verification services.” Civic says it will help improve wikiHow’s user experience, providing users with a more secure account creation and login process. WikiHow is an open source online “how-to” platform that operates in 87 different languages. Its focus is on “teaching anyone in the world how to do anything” in a collaborative, shared-learning environment. The advantage...

Bitcoin In July, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)  moved in on the "Wild West" world of ICOs , which has sent the blockchain world reeling. Now, the Israel Securities Authority (ISA) has announced its own plans to form a panel to regulate Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs). This week, the ISA announced that its chairman, Prof. Shmuel Hauser, has put together a committee to examine the regulation of ICOs. The committee will investigate the applicability of securities regulations on ICOs based on shared ledgers that are being offered to the Israeli public. On July 31, the Israeli Bitcoin Association (IBA) made its own  official public statement on the topic of ICOs. The IBA cautioned potential ICO participants that it’s important to understand the huge risks that exist in investing in ICOs. This new world tends to captivate innocents tempted by the hope of getting rich quick. We implore the public considering investment in ICOs to treat the matter with serious ...