| Hampture underwater colony established for science, leads the way for future hamster space exploration Aug 14th 2012, 23:53  Animals have had a rough time of it, when it comes to scientific exploration. Look no further than Laika, the first animal to orbit Earth, soon to become a the first animal to die in orbit, not too long after achieving that earlier distinction. The dwarf hamsters that occupy Hampture seem to be considerably happier in their own scientific explorations than the Soviet mutt, at the moment. Bob Averill brought the project to our attention last week on our visit to Portland, Oregon. According to the official blog, the project is an attempt to "learn firsthand what is involved in designing and constructing a complete underwater habitat capable of sustaining complex organisms." It also may well be a gateway to sending the hamsternauts into space via Skystation Mk1. Averill is also looking to turn Hampture into a salable product, though Kickstarter, for one, has apparently balked at the idea. In the meantime, you can check out a streaming feed of the habitat after the break and read up on the making of the project in the source links below. Continue reading Hampture underwater colony established for science, leads the way for future hamster space exploration Hampture underwater colony established for science, leads the way for future hamster space exploration originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Aug 2012 19:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink |  I Chose Hampture, Space Hams | Email this | Comments | | Phone companies see loss of broadband subscribers for first time in Q2, cable continues to gain Aug 14th 2012, 23:09  It wasn't all that long ago that the phone company was the source for internet access, first with traditional dial-up and later with DSL. That quickly began to change as cable companies started offering their own alternative, though, and the AP is now reporting that the second quarter of this year saw something of a milestone. According to its tally, the eight largest phone companies in the US lost a collective 70,000 broadband subscribers in Q2 (DSL or otherwise), while the four biggest cable companies continued to grow with 290,000 new subscribers. As it notes, AT&T is the main culprit for that overall decline, with it losing 96,000 broadband subscribers while the other phone companies all saw modest growth. It also notes that second quarter is a generally weak one for all broadband providers, what with college students cancelling their subscriptions before heading home -- but, then again, this is the first time that the phone companies haven't seen at least some growth during the period. Of course, this is also just home broadband we're talking about -- mobile broadband is another matter altogether. Filed under: Internet Phone companies see loss of broadband subscribers for first time in Q2, cable continues to gain originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Aug 2012 19:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | AP / Time | Email this | Comments | |
