space_biker - Slashdot User

Submission + - Darth Vader hot air baloon launch in Belgium

Submitted by

gevmage

on Monday April 23, 2007 @02:10PM

gevmage writes: "Someone in Belgium has created a hot air balloon shaped like Darth Vader's head.

No, really. With the help of "Fan Wars", the maker of the balloon got permission from Lucasfilm to make the baloon, which was first inflated in March of 2007. It doesn't say if the balloon has actually flown yet."

Submission + - 10 Ways to Reduce Global Warming and Save Humanity

Submitted by

A Better Where To Find

on Sunday April 22, 2007 @04:15PM

A Better Where To Find writes: "Top 10 Ways to Reduce Global Warming and Save Humanity is a list I put together in honor of Earth Day. We need to act before it's too late!"

Submission + - Cattle Produce More Greenhouse Gases Than Cars

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 09, 2007 @01:10PM

An anonymous reader writes: EARTHtimes.org has an article covering a letter that PETA sent to Al Gore. The letter points out that rearing cattle produces more greenhouse gases that driving cars. PETA sites a U.N. report to support their case. Will Al Gore put his mouth where his mouth is and become vegetarian?

Submission + - F-22 Raptor Gets Zapped by International Date Line

Submitted by

Anonymous Coward

on Tuesday March 06, 2007 @01:12PM

Anonymous Coward writes: "Lockheed's F-22 Raptor is the most advanced fighter in the world with its stealth capabilities, advanced radar, state of the art weapons systems and ultra-efficient turbofans.

But while the simulated war games were a somewhat easy feat for the Raptor, something more mundane was able to cripple six aircraft on a 12 to 15 hours flight from Hawaii to Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan. The U.S. Air Force's mighty Raptor was felled by the International Date Line (IDL).

When the group of Raptors crossed over the IDL, multiple computer systems crashed on the planes. Everything from fuel subsystems, to navigation and partial communications were completely taken offline. Numerous attempts were made to "reboot" the systems to no avail.

http://www.dailytech.com/Lockheeds+F22+Raptor+Gets +Zapped+by+International+Date+Line/article6225.htm "

Submission + - Big Biz Buys Into Eco-Responsibility?

Submitted by DebNY on Monday February 26, 2007 @02:46PM

DebNY writes: Reuters has a special report on renewable energy that includes an article on how big business is getting into the eco-responsbility game. Companies like XCel Energy are trying to figure out which customers are best suited for alternative energy sources, and other businesses are evaluating how to go green.

Submission + - Tomb of Mary,Joseph & Jesus found?

Submitted by

Aryabhata

on Monday February 26, 2007 @01:48PM

Aryabhata writes: "MSNBC reports, that this week the Discovery Channel, together with HarperSanFrancisco, will announce the release of "The Jesus Family Tomb," a television documentary and a book that aim to show that the tomb located in a nondescript suburb called East Talpiot, is, well, the family plot of Jesus Christ. Spearheaded by a well-known TV director named Simcha Jacobovici, and produced by "Titanic" director James Cameron, "The Jesus Family Tomb", is a slick and suspenseful narrative about the 1980 discovery of a first-century Jewish burial cave and the 10 bone boxes, or ossuaries, found therein. With the help of statisticians, archeologists, historians, DNA experts, robot-camera technicians, epigraphers and a CSI expert from New York's Long Island, Jacobovici puts together a case in which he argues that the bones of Jesus, Mary and Mary Magdalene, along with some of their lesser-known relatives, were once entombed in this cave."

Submission + - Plasma To Produce Clean Energy From Waste

Submitted by

kbox

on Sunday February 25, 2007 @06:23PM

kbox writes: "Mention trash incineration to most people and the image that usually springs to mind is a dirty, smelly practice that is about as far from 'green' as you can get. However, this isn't the case with a technology called Plasma Gasification, which is not only very eco-friendly, it's also powered by the very garbage that it processes. It also produces clean energy and commercially useful byproducts.

While the technology of processing materials with plasma has been around for some time now, Joseph Longo, CEO and founder of Startech Environmental Corporation has developed a device that can handle pretty much any type of waste put into it and turn it into a clean source of energy."

Submission + - Hover Technology: Now a Possibility

Submitted by

Alexinator

on Sunday February 25, 2007 @05:42PM

Alexinator writes: "http://stealthytech.com/20070225/hover-technology- now-a-possibility/ HoverTechech has spent 15 years researching and developing the technology we need in order achieve the goal of a hover car, or hover board. A recent discovery by Bill Butler named "Magneto-Ion Theory" will make this possible, and very soon too."

Submission + - NASA to Duct Tape Psychotic Astronauts

Submitted by Thib on Friday February 23, 2007 @05:43PM

Thib writes: After NASA astronaut Lisa Novak reportedly tried to kidnap and kill another woman in a much-publicized love triangle last month, NASA added five pages to a thousand-page document detailing all procedures for dealing with medical emergencies. Their guidelines: duct tape. From the CNN article: "The documents, obtained this week by The Associated Press, say the astronaut's crewmates should bind his wrists and ankles with duct tape, tie him down with a bungee cord and inject him with tranquilizers if necessary." The article features various tidbits from previous NASA and Russian missions and from previous stays in the International Space Station and in the Mir space station. NASA is also thinking of revising its policies on psychological screening.

New Software Stops Mars Rover Confusion 126

Posted by Zonk on Thursday February 22, 2007 @03:26PM from the robots-getting-smarter dept.

MattSparkes writes "The Mars rover Spirit used to get quite confused when it came upon a rock. Because it could only plan routes of a metre or two it couldn't understand how to navigate around large objects, and frequently used to rock back and forth for hours trying to figure it out. NASA have written new software called D* for the rover Opportunity, which should allow it to autonomously plan routes up to 50 metres long. The new software still won't be able to avoid sand-traps, though."

Submission + - Leaving Vista for Ubuntu

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 22, 2007 @03:18PM

An anonymous reader writes: Tanker Bob blogs over at MobileTechReview.com about his increasing frustrations with Windows, DRM and the like. So he details how he jumped ship to Linux (Ubuntu with KDE). It's got a blow-by-blow that's technical yet useful for newbies thinking of making the switch. The article is here: http://www.mobiletechreview.com/ubbthreads/showfla t.php?Cat=&Board=tankerbobblog&Number=26899&page=0 &view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1

Submission + - Linux on Dell Laptops? It could happen.

Submitted by MilwaukeeCharlie on Thursday February 22, 2007 @03:17PM

MilwaukeeCharlie writes: CIO magazine is reporting that a Dell-hosted blog called Dell Idea Storm, unveiled Feb 16, has generated over six thousand requests for Linux to be pre-installed on Dell laptops, making it the most popular request on the blog.

Other popular requests were for Open Office and Firefox. Are advocates of open source software better organized in posting to Dell Idea Storm? With how many grains of salt should we take these requests, considering the unscientific nature of online polls? Finally, do you think it will ever happen?

Submission + - New Wing Commander game officially announced by EA

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 22, 2007 @02:41PM

An anonymous reader writes: A new Wing Commander game is to be released on to XBox Live Arcade this summer. It will be the first completely new WC game since 1998. Press release: http://www.ea.com/article.jsp?dcr=ea&id=wca

Submission + - New Details on Xerox Inkless Printer

Submitted by

Iddo Genuth

on Thursday February 22, 2007 @02:24PM

Iddo Genuth writes: "Xerox is developing a new printing technology which does not require ink of any kind. The new technology includes reusable paper which can be printed and erased dozens of times and has the potential to revolutionize printing. New details on this upcoming technology, which was first reported on September 2006, are now revealed."

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