NASA Images, Zodiac and Japanese pop culture, Hackers are not crackers

[Nostromics Newsletter]

Nostromics Newsletter

Nostromics science gifts product news, educational resources & science tidbits

Nostromics Newsletter, 20 October 2010 - You are welcome to share this mail

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NASA Images

Looking for NASA images may be challenging. The agency has been operating a wide variety of space missions and research activities for decades, and related multimedia is spread among several different web sites. The NASA Images site solves the problem by providing access to a single, searchable portal of NASA image, video and audio collections.

You can access material via an historical project timeline (e.g. Mercury, Apollo, Hubble) at the top of the NASA Images home page, browse by topic (e.g. Solar System, Aeronatics, Astronauts), or do a full text search ("Search by Keyword" box at the top right). Each image or resource includes complete data and description, and can be downloaded at full resolution.

The Zodiac and Japanese pop culture

The legends and myths associated to zodiacal constellations tell ancient stories from Greek and classical mythology. But the cultural influence of the Zodiac survived the end of those civilizations. It lives on to our days in unexpected contexts, for example Japanese pop culture.

Saint Seiya, or Knights of the Zodiac, is a manga comics and cartoons series by Japanese writer and illustrator Masami Kurumada. It tells the adventures of warriors, called the "Saints" or "Knights", who defend the incarnation of Greek goddess Athena against other Olympian gods who want to rule Earth. The knights' armor designs are inspired by zodiacal constellations.

We have several science gifts featuring constellations of the Zodiac, such as the Gemini Hooded Sweatshirt, the Scorpius Dark Sweatshirt and many more. See the Constellations and Kids Constellations sections of Nostromics Store.

More science gifts and products at Nostromics Store.

Hackers are not crackers

When computer crimes are reported by the media, their perpetrators are often called "hackers". Hackers are actually respectable and responsible persons, the bad guys are instead the "crackers".

Hackers are persons who enjoy legitimately exploring computing systems and pushing their capabilities. Those who break security systems and perform computer crimes should more appropriately be referred to as "crackers" or "black hat hackers".

There are many hackers among well known high profile computing industry entrepreneurs. Apple co-founder Steve Jobs is a hacker, as well as Microsoft founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen, and also Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg.

-- Paolo Amoroso & Mauro Arpino (Nostromics), science educators - Milan, Italy

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Copyright (C) 2010 by Paolo Amoroso and Mauro Arpino