Images of the Week, July 23-27, 2012

By Dan Nosowitz Posted 7.27.12 at 4:09 pm 6 Comments

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Fertilizing Asteroid

NASA/JPL-Caltech

This is NASA's artist's rendition of the asteroid that struck Earth about four billion years ago. It was thought to have sterilized the planet due to heat, but a new study suggests that this was not the case--and that it may have even helped our planet along on its evolution to hosting life. Read more here.

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Read the article: The Most Amazing Science Images of the Week, July 23-27, 2012

6 Comments

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zechio

07/27/12 at 5:47 pm

Re: Why Samsung Gets Sued.

Absolutely pathetic job there Popsci. I expected a lot better from you. Do at least 5 seconds of research before posting such things. A quick bit of research finds things such as the Samsung F700, revealed barely a month after the original iPhone. There is absolutely no way for them to redesign a phone in that short of time. Not to mention other prior art ( They had a ways to go, but it was very clear the direction they were headed..) such as their media player revealed nearly a year before the iPhone ( SGH-Z610 ).

F700 ( On the left ): http://phandroid.com/2012/07/25/apples-entire-case-against-samsung-summed-up-in-a-single-image/samsung-f700-lg-prada-phone/

SGH-Z610: http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/29/samsungs-touchscreen-sgh-z610-sees-fcc-approval/
( Quite different from the iPhone and later Samsung phones, but also very far from the phones shown in the OP image, clearly showing the direction Samsung was looking to head. )

A more valid ( but still invalid ) mock up would be:

http://mediacdn.disqus.com/uploads/mediaembed/images/310/9860/original.jpg

The design wasn't stolen, because there is nothing at all special about the design. It's freaking obvious, and natural to go that way for a touch based phone. Neither side should have any patents for such a basic design. It is like patenting a curved windshield on a car. It was a natural part of the design process.

As for Samsung products being pulled off store shelves: Those same products are back on store shelves. Also, Apple has been ordered to place a notice on their website, as well as deliver a notice to a number of news and financial companies, that Samsung did NOT copy the iPad. However, they have a temporary hold on this judgement until the hearing in August because they do not wish to advertise for a competing company on their website. ( Understandable. )

I can't wait for more judges to start hitting Apple with some real fines and such. It's one thing to protect your rightful IPs, but it's another to wage a holy war to stifle all competition for such absurd nonsense.

How about Popsci post the image of Apples court documents where they modified the image of I think it was the Galaxy Tab to look more similar to the iPad? You would think forging court documents would include jail time...

I wish both sides would stop this ridiculous patent war. I just want to gather up all parties involved and start smacking them upside the head.

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psycho_anna

07/28/12 at 12:21 am

i come to popsci to see whats new in innovation and all science stuff... there are a lot of other sites where i can see apple v/s samsung stuff . dont get us to die of bore with such pics..and then we start an apple v/s samsung war here too in popsci please dont mess this beautiful website u hav and also no baised reviews too for one company.. and absoulute hate for others.. and i didnt like the title "best of the weired breed"

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oderfla

07/29/12 at 11:39 am

Apple is suing because Samsung is using the same rectangular shape...pathetic.
Don't worry Samsung, Apple dosen't have a patent on circles...yet.

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efruntz

07/29/12 at 6:38 pm

Honestly, I think we can all agree this is pathetic. HEY APPLE, WHEN IS ENOUGH MONEY, ENOUGH????????? Your the richest technology company in the world. Heres a tissue cry babies, maybe a bottle also??

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boucains

08/02/12 at 11:55 am

It's more than the shape - it's the icons, "look & feel" and probably other things we can't obviously see in this graphic. That's not the point.

The courts have said that if you do not attempt to protect your intellectual property then others have the right to use it. The most famous case of this (at least in the US) is Disney. They will sue **anyone** if they use anything that resembles any Disney intellectual property and products.

Jack Cain

Bucks, Blisters or Blood - Everyone needs to pay for the freedoms we enjoy!

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boucains

08/02/12 at 12:05 pm

Better this week Dan.

I remember Sally Ride - that was a BIG deal back in the day. I can see why she could be an inspiration to the folks at PopSci, but I'm wondering why her private life matters. Her accomplishments didn't have anything to do with her orientation.

Jack Cain

Bucks, Blisters or Blood - Everyone needs to pay for the freedoms we enjoy!