damitr - Slashdot User

Submission + - SPAM: To Understand UAP, We Need Megapixel Imagery

Submitted by damitr on Tuesday August 03, 2021 @08:11AM

damitr writes: Avi Loeb argues that to find what Unidentified Aerial Phenomenas (UAP) really are we should try to get megapixel imagery of them. He further elaborates a common problem with alleged footage of the UAPs being blurry or of low resolution is the fact that the camera 'apertures are hundreds of times smaller than the desired meter-scale telescopes.' Using meter scale telescopes will give us images of UAP in sufficient resolution so that we 'distinguish whether it bears the metaphorical label “Made in China” or “Made in Russia” from the alternative: “Made on Exoplanet X.”'
Interestingly Loeb compares search for UAPs with that of dark matter citing similarities between the two endeavors .
Link to Original Source

Submission + - Japan on Track to Introduce Flying Taxi Services in 2023 (ieee.org)

Submitted by damitr on Thursday September 10, 2020 @12:37PM

damitr writes: > Last Friday, start-up company SkyDrive Inc. demonstrated the progress made since then when it held a press conference to spotlight its prototype vehicle and show reporters a video taken three days earlier of the craft undergoing a piloted test flight in front of staff and investors.

> Also in 2018, the Japanese government formed the Public-Private Conference for Air Mobility made up of private companies, universities, and government ministries. The stated aim was to make flying vehicles a reality by 2023. Tomohiko Kojima of Japan’s Civil Aviation Bureau told Spectrum that since the Conference’s formation, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has held a number of meetings with members to discuss matters like airspace for eVTOL use, flight rules, and permitted altitudes. “And last month, the Ministry established a working-level group to discuss certification standards for eVTOLs, a standard for pilots, and operational safety standards,” Kojima added.

> “What SkyDrive is proposing is entirely do-able,” says Wright. “Almost all rotor-only eVTOL projects are limited to sub-30-minute endurance, which, with safety reserves, equate to about 10 to 20 minutes flying.”

This I think is a rather achievable target.

Submission + - Antilla: The most expensive home in the world (business-standard.com)

Submitted by damitr on Thursday May 15, 2014 @06:30AM

damitr writes: With an expenditure upwards 1 billion dollars, Antilla of Mukesh Ambani situated in Mumbai is tagged to be the most expensive home in the world.
Ambani's 27-storey, 400,000-square-foot Antilia, named after a mythical island in the Atlantic, tops the list with a value of over $1 billion. "The title of the most outrageously-expensive property in the world still belongs to Mukesh Ambani's Antilia in Mumbai," Forbes said. The house has six storeys of underground parking, three helicopter pads, and reportedly requires a staff of 600 for upkeep. The Business Standard article compares it with other buildings:
"Putting Antilia's scale and cost into perspective, Forbes compared it to '7, World Trade Center', a 52-storey tower that stands near Ground Zero in Manhattan with 1.7 million square feet of office space, reportedly built for $2 billion."
The amount of money spent apart, the first look at Antilla makes one wonder why would one spend so much money to build something so ugly?

Comment Re:So what? (Score 1) 393

by damitr on Monday April 07, 2014 @05:20AM (#46681779) Attached to: Why Are We Made of Matter?

There is one more kind of matter: Doesn't matter

Submission + - What GPS device to use?

Submitted by damitr on Tuesday February 25, 2014 @07:45AM

damitr writes: What do slashdotters recommend as a good standalone GPS device for field? I do not want to use tabs or phones as battery seems to be a major problem. The device should be capable of recording and offloading GPS tracks. Driving instructions and maps are not a necessity, a long battery is.

Submission + - Which email service to start with? 1

Submitted by damitr on Friday September 13, 2013 @04:07AM

damitr writes: We are in a process to launch a digital literacy program for youth. Which email provider(s) would slashdotters suggest for starters. Google mail is one of the obvious choices, but we do not want to promote just one company. And also there are concerns of privacy, and usability. Considering these issues, which email providers would you suggest for complete newbies?

Comment Re:All phones? (Score 1) 298

by damitr on Friday September 13, 2013 @04:02AM (#44838531) Attached to: NSA Can Spy On Data From Smart Phones, Including Blackberry

The same reason why all others are allowing that.

Comment Re:All phones? (Score 1) 298

by damitr on Sunday September 08, 2013 @12:43PM (#44790623) Attached to: NSA Can Spy On Data From Smart Phones, Including Blackberry

Unless Apple already has backdoors for NSA on OSX and iOS.

Comment Re:Tier 1 journals do the same (Score 1) 68

by damitr on Wednesday August 28, 2013 @11:02AM (#44696713) Attached to: Brazilian Journals' Self-Citation Cartel Smashed

Yes, rightly said so. And in most of the cases it is considered to be "good" to cite from "respectable" journals. Who wants citations from obscure journals nobody has heard about?

Submission + - Indian Army confuses Venus, Jupiter for UFOs (kashmirtimes.com)

Submitted by damitr on Wednesday August 21, 2013 @12:55PM

damitr writes: ...the Indian Army mistook Jupiter and Venus as unidentified flying intruders making nocturnal sorties from China into the skies above eastern Ladakh for over six months until astronomers brought their fears to ground, it has been disclosed.

Requested by the army, the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore, deputed two astronomers to Ladakh earlier this year to resolve the mystery of the two objects that the army had been observing in the sensitive border zone since August 2012.

Submission + - Escher for Real

Submitted by damitr on Sunday June 02, 2013 @07:16AM

damitr writes: The work of M.C. Escher needs no introduction. We have all learned to appreciate the impossibilities that this master of illusion's artwork presents to the layman's eye. Nevertheless, it may come as a surprise for some, but many of the so-called 'impossible' drawings of M. C. Escher can be realized as actual physical objects. These objects will resemble the Escher's drawing, of the same name, from a certain viewing direction. This work below presents some of these three-dimensional models that were designed and built using geometric modeling and computer graphics tools. Gershon Elber (http://www.cs.technion.ac.il/~gershon/EscherForReal/) of Technion, Israel Institute of Technology designed a software which enables one to make physical models of the 'impossible' drawings and used 3D printers to print them. The two videos on youtube "Escher for real" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmr4HqjSSw4 and "Impossibly real"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMiuTMHUBiM make the story clear.

Comment Re:Not using it anymore from now on (Score 2) 87

by damitr on Tuesday April 09, 2013 @06:50AM (#43399469) Attached to: Mendeley Acquired By Elsevier

I agree to this. Slashdot post for Future : More Researchers Moving On To Zotero! It is not just for fun Elsevier have taken up Mendeley, soon your papers will be scrutinized whether they have been downloaded legally or you have an unauthorized copy of the same. And if found using unauthorized copies, you know what they did to Aaron.

Submission + - Indian Supreme Court rejects Novatris patent on cancer drug 1

Submitted by damitr on Monday April 01, 2013 @02:10AM

damitr writes: In a landmark judgement, India’s Supreme Court today rejected a patent plea by Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG for cancer drug Glivec, boosting the case for cheaper drugs for life-threatening diseases. http://www.firstpost.com/business/sc-rejects-novartis-patent-plea-on-blockbuster-cancer-drug-glivec-680460.html A patent on the new form could have give Novartis a 20-year monopoly on the drug.During the hearing, the apex court had questioned the pharma company on the high price of the cancer drug. A month's dose is around $ 2200 much higher than $150 which is the price of the generic drug. The firm had tried to dispel the impression that its drug would be beyond the reach of poor cancer patients, which sounds like familiar Newspeak . "The purpose is not to make money from the poor. This is not the purpose, but am I not entitled for patent for our drug? We are fighting the case on principle," senior advocate for the company. www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/novartis-plea-for-cancer-drug-patent-sc-verdict-tomorrow_844565.html If remains to be seen what the implications of this judgement are, and meanwhile Novartis had threatened that a refusal by India’s Supreme Court to grant patent protection for the medicine would have repercussions for multinational drug companies’ activities in the country, meaning they will be no longer giving new medicines in India. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c377e20a-99eb-11e2-83ca-00144feabdc0.html

Submission + - $ 35 Indian tablet almost gone

Submitted by

damitr

on Thursday March 28, 2013 @04:21AM

damitr writes: "With a lot of fanfare the Indian Government had launched (http://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/10/05/1711248/india-launches-35-tablet) a $35 tablet labelled as Aakash (The Sky). The project took a lot of scepticism, but the government went ahead with the project. But delays in production and deployment of the tablet means that the project is almost shelved. The manufacturer has been unable to supply the required 100,000 units deadline for which is March 31 2013 http://www.zdnet.com/in/india-sets-march-31-deadline-for-aakash-2-delivery-7000013135/. The new minister Pallam Raju who took over the ministry looking after the project says: "Aakash is only a tablet... there are other such devices as well. While work will continue to develop it and increase its productivity, manufacturing is obviously a problem," The $35 tablet that now stares at an uncertain future. http://www.indianexpress.com/news/hrd-may-dump-aakash-tablet-hints-pallam.../1092213/ And in a few days time we will know what happens to the project."

Submission + - $50 GNU/Linux Tablet (gizbot.com)

Submitted by

damitr

on Monday December 03, 2012 @03:54AM

damitr writes: "A manufacturer in India Wishtel will be launching GNU/ Linux tablet for around $50 (INR 2800) called the PrithV.

"Wishtel PrithV will be loaded with educational suite to offer self learning software’s for pre-primary, tertiary, higher education for languages, science: physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, geography, math: algebra, calculus, geometry, medicine, economics, computing and more.

PrithV has been designed to perform basic tasks like emails, web browsing, media and office applications. The company intends to offer their solutions to Universities and Schools worldwide and empower every student with a PC enabled knowledge.""

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