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Earth

Submission + - Political Idealogy Shapes How People Perceive Temperature (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by
benfrog
benfrog writes: "In what likely isn't that much of a surprise, a study has shown that political ideology shapes how we perceive temperature changes (but not drought/flooding conditions). (An abstract of the study is here. 8,000 individuals were asked about temperatures and drought/flood events in recent years, then their political leanings. Answers regarding drought/flood events tended to follow the actual changes in conditions, while answers regarding temperature tended to follow people's political beliefs."
Ubuntu

Submission + - Canonical unveils WebApps for Ubuntu (pcpro.co.uk)

Submitted by
nk497
nk497 writes: "Canonical has revealed a system to make web apps behave more like native applications in Ubuntu. The Ubuntu WebApps feature will "allow applications that normally run in the web browser to have some functionality outside that browser, within the Ubuntu desktop," product manager Pete Goddall said. Basically, sites can be pinned to the launcher — which sounds a bit like IE9's pinning system, but WebApps can also interact with the OS, displaying notifications for new messages in Gmail, interacting with Last.FM via Ubuntu's sound controls, and when right clicking on photos, including Facebook as an upload option. WebApps will land in 12.10 in October, but there will also be an add-on version for people staying on long-term support version 12.04."
Technology

Submission + - Engineers Bother Trying to Improve Inkjet Printers With Biomimicry (inhabitat.com)

Submitted by formaggio
formaggio writes: If you thought the inkjet printer was going the way of the dodo, think again:

"A team of University of Missouri engineers have used biomimicry to create a clog-free printer that will save both time and money by keeping ink-jet nozzles clean and running efficiently. However, what might be the most bizarre aspect of their creation, is that they have based it on the human eye."

Research money well spent?
Media

Submission + - Nanorobots eradicate Hepatitis C in the lab (ieee.org)

Submitted by Joiseybill
Joiseybill writes: The IEEE reports that University of Florida researchers have designed a particle on a gold substrate that selectively kills the Hepatitis C virus with 100% effectiveness in the lab. Cool, but instead of calling it a 'nanoparticle', or 'nanozyme' as the science folks wanted, the press release is calling this a 'nanobot' to sound 'cool' and garner more headlines.
Science

Submission + - German Scientists Claim To Have Created Worlds Lightest Material, Aerographite

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: A team of German scientists have claimed that their new material, aerographite, is the world's lightest material. Made from interwoven porous carbon tubes, aerographite weighs just 0.2 milligrams per cubic centimeter, and could be used in the construction of new, lighter lithium ion batteries.

Submission + - Resources for identifying telecommunications right-of-way locations?

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: With threats to network neutrality, such as Verizon's recent lawsuit, I've been thinking of creating a map plotting all the locations where telecommunications companies currently use public lands via right-of-way laws. It seems that this would convey just how much telecommunications depends on public infrastructure. However, it's been difficult identifying where these locations are. Short of crowdsourcing, does anyone know of resources that could be used to create such a map?
Botnet

Submission + - Watching a Botnet From the Inside (threatpost.com)

Submitted by Trailrunner7
Trailrunner7 writes: When you hear about botnets such as Rustock, Mariposa or Grum being taken down, one of the tactics that's usually involved is sinkholing. The technique, which involves pointing the infected machines to a server controlled by good guys rather than attackers, often is used as one of the last steps to take the botnet offline. But some recent work done by researchers at Damballa took a slightly different tack and used the sinkhole as a way to study a recently discovered botnet in operation, and what they found in their traffic analysis was pretty interesting.

The Damballa researchers had come across the botnet, which they have not named, in recent weeks and were looking at the way that the network used a domain-generation algorithm to come up with new command-and-control domains for infected machines to contact. Many botnets use this same method, as it give them the ability to react quickly when one domain is taken down or blacklisted by a large number of security products. When that happens, the botmaster can simply send out an instruction for all of the bots to connect to the new domain. Or the bots can be programmed to connect to various new domains at regular intervals, based on the date or other variables.

In this case, the researchers saw that a lot of bots were trying to connect to some domains that had not been registered yet. So they did some quick statistical analysis and picked out some of the most frequently requested domains and registered the domains themselves. The Damballa researchers then pointed the domains to a sinkhole maintained by the Georgia Tech Information Security Center and sat back and watched the action.
Security

Submission + - Unbreakable crypto: Store a 30-character password in your subconscious mind (extremetech.com) 1

Submitted by
MrSeb
MrSeb writes: "A cross-disciplinary team of US neuroscientists and cryptographers have developed a password/passkey system that removes the weakest link in any security system: the human user. It’s ingenious: The system still requires that you enter a password, but at no point do you actually remember the password, meaning it can’t be written down and it can’t be obtained via coercion or torture — i.e. rubber-hose cryptanalysis. The system, devised by Hristo Bojinov of Stanford University and friends from Northwestern and SRI, relies on implicit learning, a process by which you absorb new information — but you’re completely unaware that you’ve actually learnt anything; a bit like learning to ride a bike. The process of learning the password (or cryptographic key) involves the use of a specially crafted computer game that, funnily enough, resembles Guitar Hero. Their experimental results suggest that, after a 45 minute learning session, the 30-letter password is firmly implanted in your subconscious brain. Authentication requires that you play a round of the game — but this time, your 30-letter sequence is interspersed with other random 30-letter sequences. To pass authentication, you must reliably perform better on your sequence. Even after two weeks, it seems you are still able to recall this sequence."
Earth

Submission + - Dumping iron at sea to fertilize algae does sink carbon (nature.com) 1

Submitted by
ananyo
ananyo writes: "In the search for methods of geoengineering to limit global warming, it seems that stimulating the growth of algae in the oceans might be an efficient way of removing excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere after all.

Despite attracting controversy and a UN moratorium, as well as previous studies suggesting that this approach was ineffective, a recent analysis of an ocean-fertilization experiment eight years ago in the Southern Ocean indicates that encouraging algal blooms to grow can soak up carbon that is then deposited in the deep ocean as the algae die. Each atom of added iron pulled at least 13,000 atoms of carbon out of the atmosphere by encouraging algal growth which, through photosynthesis, captures carbon. The team reports that much of the captured carbon was transported to the deep ocean, where it will remain sequestered for centuries — a 'carbon sink' (abstract)."

Submission + - Man who protested TSA by stripping is acquitted by judge (oregonlive.com)

Submitted by AbrasiveCat
AbrasiveCat writes: In an update to an earlier Slashdot story http://idle.slashdot.org/story/12/04/18/1637222/man-protests-tsa-with-nudity, the Portland Oregon man who was arrested after stripping naked at a TSA checkpoint at Portland Airport was acquitted of indecent exposure charges. He successfully argued that he was protesting TSA actions, and his actions were protected speech under the Oregon Constitution.

So our answer from Alice's Restaurant for everyone to strip for TSA.
"You know, if one person, just one person does it they may think he's really sick and they won't take him. And if two people, two people do it, in harmony, they may think they're both faggots and they won't take either of them. And three people do it, three, can you imagine, three people walking in singin a bar of Alice's Restaurant and walking out. They may think it's an organization. And can you, can you imagine fifty people a day,I said fifty people a day walking in singin a bar of Alice's Restaurant and walking out. And friends they may thinks it's a movement."
Movies

Submission + - Sony's Entertainment Access Glasses Provide Closed Captions for Deaf People (gizmag.com)

Submitted by Zothecula
Zothecula writes: We're smack in the middle of summer, which means there are plenty of blockbuster movies to choose from in theaters right now. If you're deaf, though, a trip to the movies can be frustrating. Not many theaters screen movies with closed captions, since most people without hearing problems would rather not see them. The only other option is usually to have a special ear piece on, but that only works if a person has any of their hearing left. Fortunately, Sony is outfitting certain theaters with its new Entertainment Access Glasses, which can display captions right in front of the wearer's eye that no one else can see.

Submission + - ESA Summer of Code in Space 2012 (esa.int)

Submitted by
phyr
phyr writes: "The European Space Agency is looking for student coders to join the Summer of Code in Space. ESA will pay 4000 Euros to each student for contributing to a space related open source project for the summer. Accepted student applicants are paired with a mentor from the participating projects, thus gaining exposure to real-world software development scenarios. Mentor organizations have been selected. Students now have until July 27 to submit their applications. Check out the ideas pages of each project such as for the NEST SAR Toolbox"
Movies

Submission + - Watch A CGI Film From 1963 (itworld.com) 1

Submitted by
jfruh
jfruh writes: "Computer animation and CGI special effects didn't really hit the cinematic mainstream until the 1990s; even the original Tron, contrary to popular belief, used mostly conventional animation techniques. That's why it's somewhat startling to see this bit of computer animation from 1963, even though it's just simple black-and-white line drawings. One of the most interesting things about it is that it wasn't developed by people trying to push the boundries of filmmaking; rather it was created by scientist Edward Zajac because he wanted to visually model how a satellite would orient itself in orbit."

Submission + - Why the European Commission's Assurances on ACTA & CETA Don't Add Up (michaelgeist.ca)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Last week, Slashdot reported on revelations that the Canada — EU Trade Agreement's intellectual property chapter draws heavily from the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement followed by a response from the European Commission that there was nothing to be concerned about. Michael Geist has done a deep dive into the EC response, identifying six major areas of concern given the current uncertainty with CETA, its linkages to ACTA, and the influence of the EU — South Korea FTA.
Science

Submission + - Neanderthals roasted veggies, and may have used them medicinally (nature.com)

Submitted by scibri
scibri writes: The vision of Neanderthals as inflexible carnivores has been used to suggest that they went extinct as a result of food scarcity, whereas omnivorous humans were able to survive. But evidence is mounting that plants were important to Neanderthal diets — and now a study reveals that those plants were roasted, and may have been used medicinally.

Researchers used organic compounds embedded in 50,000-year-old dental plaque to study the Neanderthal diet. The plaque contained a range of carbohydrates and starch granules, hinting that the Neanderthals had consumed a variety of plant species. By contrast, there were few lipids or proteins from meat.

They also found, lurking in the plaque of a few specimens, a range of alkyl phenols, aromatic hydrocarbons and roasted starch granules that suggested that the Neanderthals had spent time in smoky areas and eaten cooked vegetables (Abstract).

Among the compounds found were chemicals from plants such as yarrow and camomile, which taste bitter and have no nutritional value. So why they would intentionally eat them? The researchers think they may have been using them medicinally — the plants are used by modern herbalists as anti-inflamatories and antiseptics.
Idle

Submission + - Man sues to have 'Google' declared a generic word (paidcontent.org)

Submitted by
vu1986
vu1986 writes: ""Arizona man David Elliott wants a court to declare that “google” is a word that means “search on the internet” and to cancel Google’s trademarks for the term.

Elliott filed the complaint after Google won a ruling this month that forced him to hand over more than 750 website names such as “googlegaycruises.com” and “googledonaldtrump.com.” He claims he needs the names to start a business based on “commerce.. charity, and more.”""
Software

Submission + - Augmented reality: Window to what is lost! (paritynews.com)

Submitted by hypnosec
hypnosec writes: Imagine a 65 million year old dinosaur coming to life. You might ask if I am kidding. A Canadian museum has come up with an app that uses augmented reality to bring back these extinct species of animals to life. Through the app, ROM Ultimate Dinosaurs, Canada based Royal Ontario Museum is giving a virtual view of dinosaur. Visitors can point their smartphones at select markers spread across the museum and they can see the dinosaur come to life in flesh and bones. Visitors can also use iPads that point towards skeletons and are mounted across the museum. Augmented reality is coming of age and is exceedingly being utilized in museums, exhibitions and art galleries across the globe to deliver different experiences to their visitors.

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