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Submission + - Why Tesla Cars Aren't Bricked By Failing Batteries (itworld.com)

Submitted by
itwbennett
itwbennett writes: "Don't believe recent claims made by a blogger that non-functioning batteries in the Tesla Roadster cause the electric cars to be bricked, says IDC analyst Sam Jaffe. 'Here's the primary fact that the blogger in question doesn't understand: the Tesla battery pack is not a battery,' says Jaffe. 'It's a collection of more than 8,000 individual batteries. Each of those cells is independently managed. So there's only two ways for the entire battery pack to fail. The first is if all 8,000 cells individually fail (highly unlikely except in the case of something catastrophic like a fire). The second failure mechanism is if the battery management system tells the pack to shut down because it has detected a dangerous situation, such as an extremely low depth of discharge. If that's the case, all that needs to be done is to tow the vehicle to a charger, recharge the batteries and then reboot the battery management system. This is the most likely explanation for the five 'bricks' that the blogger claims to have heard about.'"
China

Submission + - Where Next Generation Rare Earth Metals May Come From (theatlantic.com)

Submitted by
retroworks
retroworks writes: "Great piece in The Atlantic by Kyle Wiens of IFIXIT.org, who visited and photographed the Molycorp Mountain Pass rare earth facility in California's Mojave Desert. The mine is the only source of rare earths in North America, one of the only alternatives to the mineral cartels in China, and one of the only sources for the key metals such as tantalum needed in cell phones. There is of course actually one other source of rare earth metals in the USA — recycled cell phones. Is the best "state of the art" mining as good as the worst state of the art recycling? If the US Department of Energy subsidizes the mine, will China open the floodgates and put it out of business? Or will electronics be manufactured with alternative materials before the mine ever becomes fully scaleable?
       "
Google

Submission + - Google's Smart Glasses (usatoday.com)

Submitted by
rivin2e
rivin2e writes: "Google seems to be working on a pair of sunglasses with the ability to "stream real-time information right to its lenses." These 'smart glasses' will cost between $250-$600 and be available to the public by the end of the year. At would also appear that Google isn't worrying about money, but rather use this as an open experiment. Driving your car should be fun with these."

Submission + - NSA concerned about Anonymous taking down power grid (pcmag.com) 1

Submitted by
rivin2e
rivin2e writes: "Something that comes as somewhat as a shock to me. The NSA "apparently" has concerns that anonymous, the cybernetic DDoSing group, will take down the nation's electrical grid via cyber-attacks.

" 'GlobalBlackOut is another Fake Operation. No intention of #Anonymous to cut Internet,' @AnonOps tweeted," and fighting on their side for this one, I personally don't understand why the thought would cross their minds.

However,"This is not the first time the government has tangled with Anonymous," and nor will it be the last."
Moon

Submission + - Moon may contain magma (csmonitor.com)

Submitted by
rivin2e
rivin2e writes: "It would seem our neighbor, the moon, has something hidden bellow the surface. "Images collected by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter hints the moon has probably seen tectonic activity within the last 50 million years." It would appear from the article that the moon is changing alot more than we think, even if it doesn't seem like it.

I for one, am still waiting for that big black obelisk to be dug up."

Comment I made the front page!?! (Score 2) 267

by rivin2e (#38767906) Attached to: SOPA Goes Back To the Drawing Board, PIPA Postponed
wow... who knew that things that i was doing for a research paper would get me to the front page. Anyways as i had said in the story, Hopefully the next draft of this bill will create a better foundation to stop piracy and not just assert control over the internet. As for megaupload, i need to read up on that.
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft Pushes for Gay Marriage in Washington St (theatlantic.com)

Submitted by
plsenjy
plsenjy writes: "An article in the Atlantic outlines how Microsoft Corp. has submitted its support for a Washington State provision allowing gay couples to marry.http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/01/microsoft-calls-for-gay-marriage-in-washington-state/251680/ Citing their inability to compete for top talent in the face of discrimination, Microsoft joins other firms such as Nike, Vulcan, and others to effectively change moral policy from the top-down."
The Courts

Submission + - Supreme Court rules Congress can re-copyright publ (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by Fuzion
Fuzion writes: In a 6-2 ruling, the court ruled that just because material enters the public domain, it is not “territory that works may never exit.” For a variety of reasons, the works at issue, which are foreign and produced decades ago, became part of the public domain in the United States but were still copyrighted overseas. In dissent, Justices Stephen Breyer and Samuel Alito said the legislation goes against the theory of copyright and “does not encourage anyone to produce a single new work.” Copyright, they noted, was part of the Constitution to promote the arts and sciences.

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