The Pentagon has canceled its $100 billion tanker competition, various news sources are reporting. According to MarketWatch, "the Department of Defense will likely notify the companies and Congress later in the day of its decision, noting that it's unable to pick a winner by January."

Breaking: Pentagon Cancels Tanker Competition (Updated) | Danger Room from Wired.com

Computers that automatically scour the Web for news stories may have been behind the resurfacing this week of a 2002 story that panicked investors and cratered UAL Corp.'s stock, according to reports Wednesday.

The Wall Street Journal said the old article about a bankruptcy filing that appeared on Google's news service Monday was traced to the Mountain View-based company's "crawler."

Reports: Google crawler, clicks may have revived 2002 UAL bankruptcy story - The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area:

The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is a proposed plurilateral trade agreement that would impose strict enforcement of intellectual property rights related to Internet activity and trade in information-based goods. The agreement is being secretly negotiated by the governments of the United States, Japan, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Canada, and Mexico, and the European Commission.[1][2] If adopted the treaty would establish an international coalition against copyright infringement, imposing strong, top-down enforcement of copyright laws in developed nations. The proposed agreement would allow border officials to search laptops, MP3 players, and cellular phones for copyright-infringing content. It would also impose new cooperation requirements upon Internet service providers (ISPs), including perfunctory disclosure of customer information, and restrict the use of online privacy tools. The proposal specifies a plan to encourage developing nations to accept the legal regime, as well.

Ugh

Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A new paper published appearing Thursday in the prestigious scientific journal Nature presents the worst-case scenario for runaway climate change that could leave the Earth entirely ice-free within a generation.

If global temperatures continue to rise, massive amounts of methane gas could be released from the 10,000 gigaton reserves of frozen methane that are currently locked in the world's deep oceans and permafrost. Passing this climate tipping point would result in global warming that would be far worse and more rapid than scientists' current estimates.

The new paper suggests that exactly this type of cascading release of methane reserves rapidly warmed the Earth 635 million years ago, replacing an Ice Age with a period of tropical heat. The study's lead author suggests it could happen again, and fast -- not over thousands or millions of years, but possibly within a century.

This is a few months old now but I don't remember seeing it at the time.

Could Methane Trigger a Climate Doomsday Within a Human Lifespan? | Wired Science from Wired.com

On Sept. 2, in the wake of news that he had ordered a study of what it would take to extend space shuttle operations from 2010 to 2015, NASA Administrator Mike Griffin discussed his reasoning in an interview with Space News. The following is a transcript of that interview.

SPACE.com -- An Interview with NASA Chief Mike Griffin

I'm sorry. You're not going to like what I have to say here. There isn't much that I will say below that I Like either, but I'll give you the best analysis that my brain can produce. Any and all who wish to argue or disagree are welcome, even encouraged to do so. Tell me where I'm wrong. Please!

Internal NASA email from NASA Administrator Griffin regarding Space Shuttle, ISS, Russia, Ares, Orion, OSTP, OMB and Budgetary Issues | SpaceRef - Space News as it Happens

Shares of United Airlines lost nearly all their value Monday morning when a false rumor swept financial markets that the struggling carrier had filed for bankruptcy protection.

United shares traded at one cent in late morning on the New York Stock Exchange, down 99.92 percent, or $12.29. Its volume was more than 29 million shares. Trading in United shares was halted at 11:08 a.m., pending news from the company. At the time, shares were still down 27.07 percent, at $8.97.

United Shares Fall on False Report of Bankruptcy - NYTimes.com

A federal agency has joined some of the nation’s biggest landlords in trying to repeal stronger safety requirements for new skyscrapers that were added to the country’s most widely used building code last year, arguing that they would be too expensive to meet.

Agency Fights Building Code Born of 9/11 - NYTimes.com

Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Bob Kerrey (D-NE) have introduced legislation that would force U.S. encryption users to adopt vulnerable and costly "key recovery" systems. The bill provides only token relief from current export controls, and would create strong incentives to coerce American consumers and businesses to adopt untested and potentially insecure third-party access to sensitive encryption keys.

Ok, so I'm not completely on crack ... it was Kerrey, not Kerry.

CDT | Analysis of S. 909: McCain-Kerry Bill

Scientists have for the first time recorded individual brain cells in the act of summoning a spontaneous memory, revealing not only where a remembered experience is registered but how the brain is able to re-create it.

Scientists catch cells in the act of remembering - International Herald Tribune