Planet Mars – here we come!

First we drill…

For the first time ever, people have drilled into a rock on Mars, collecting the powdered remains from the hole for analysis.

Images sent back from NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity on Wednesday confirmed that the precious sample is being held by the rover’s scoop, and will soon be delivered to two miniature chemical labs to undergo an unprecedented analysis. (Related: “Mars Rover Curiosity Completes First Full Drill.”) (more at: nationalgeographic.com)

And in a few years from now we are arriving!

Dennis Tito, the millionaire investment whiz who became the first paying passenger to visit the International Space Station in 2001, is said to be planning a privately backed, 501-day mission to Mars in 2018. But the full details — including whether humans will go along for the ride — may have to wait until a Washington news conference next week. (more at: nbcnews.com)

Google touchscreen Chromebook – soon!

As the divide between laptops and tablets continues to shrink, word is that Google has already developed its first Chrome-powered touchscreen laptop.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the tech giant’s new device would come with cloud computing and could go on sale as soon as this year.

This endeavor would put Google in closer competition with Microsoft, which has already developed its own Windows touch-screen laptops. According to the Wall Street Journal, 25 percent of all Windows 8 laptops sold in the U.S. last month had touch screens.

Microsoft also has a major claim on the low-cost laptop market. But, Google edged into this territory over the past year too. According to the Wall Street Journal, Google sold nearly 100,000 $199 and $249 Chromebooks in the U.S. during the fourth quarter of last year. (more at: cnet.com)

Geeks against diseases

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, and other Silicon Valley power players on Wednesday announced their funding of the Life Sciences Breakthrough Prize, a new biology competition intended to incentivize the search for cures for humanity’s most troublesome diseases.

Russian entrepreneur Yuri Milner, who last year established a similar $3 million prize for achievements in physics, Brin’s wife Anne Wojcicki, founder of genetics company 23andMe, and Zuckerberg’s wife Priscilla Chan were also named as founding sponsors. Zuckerberg, Wojcicki, Milner, and Apple and Genetech chairman Art Levinson make up the Life Sciences Breakthrough Prize foundation board, with Levinson serving as chairman. (more at: pcmag.com )

Fabebook, Apple, Twitter under attack – what we know until now?

In the past five days, first Facebook and then Apple disclosed that attackers exploited zero-day vulnerabilities in Java browser plug-ins used by their employees, although apparently failed to steal any customer or user data from either company. Twitter, which earlier this month warned that about 250,000 users’ accounts were compromised by attackers, didn’t say at the time how the company’s systems had been hacked, but did strongly urge users to disable Java. (more at informationweek.com)

Apple must stay cool or else…

Apple Inc. has kept its power to determine the course of consumer electronics even as it faces tougher competition in mobile phones and tablets, said Steve Wozniak, who co-founded the company with Steve Jobs in 1976.

Companies such as Amazon.com Inc. and Google Inc. “all have great ideas, but sometimes you need a critical mass of loyal users that will instantly buy and go this direction,” Wozniak said in an interview at Bloomberg’s Berlin office this week. “Apple is really good at setting a standard with a new device. Apple still has its halo in that regard.” (more at: bloomberg.com )