Facebook steps up battle on ´fake likes´

SAN FRANCISCO: Facebook said Friday it has stepped up its battle against spammers who promise to deliver "likes" to its members, and warned users on using such scams.

The world´s most popular social network said that to date, it has obtained legal judgments of nearly $2 billion against fraudulent activities on Facebook.

It was not clear how much of that was actually collected.Facebook´s moves appeared to counter concerns that users -- including politicians and companies selling products -- are buying "likes" to make them appear more popular.

Read More

Deep space ‘snowball’ nears close shave with Mars

WASHINGTON: A comet the size of a small mountain is about to skim past Mars, and NASA hopes its spacecraft will be able to photograph the once-in-a-million-years encounter.

The comet, known as Siding Spring (C/2013 A1), is set to hurtle past Mars at a close distance of about 88,000 miles (141,600 kilometers).

The closest pass is expected to happen Sunday at 2:27 pm (1827 GMT).

Astronomers do not expect it will come any where near colliding with Mars, but they do hope it will be close enough to reveal clues about the origins of the solar system.

Read More

Comet Siding Spring whizzes past Mars

WASHINGTON: A comet the size of a small mountain whizzed past Mars on Sunday, wowing space enthusiasts with the once-in-a-million-years encounter.

 

The comet, known as Siding Spring (C/2013 A1), made its closest encounter with Mars on Sunday at 2:27 pm (1827 GMT), racing past the Red Planet at a dazzling 126,000 miles (203,000 kilometers) per hour.

 

At its closet, Siding Spring was 87,000 miles (139,500 kilometers) from Mars -- less than half the distance between Earth and our moon.

Read More