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Mars

Craig Venter Wants To Rebuild Martian Life In Earth Lab 142

Posted by timothy from the stacking-up-the-if-thens dept.
Hugh Pickens writes "Karen Kaplan reports in the LA Times that Craig Venter is making plans to send a DNA sequencer to Mars. Assuming there is DNA to be found on the Red Planet – a big assumption, to be sure – the sequencer will decode its DNA, beam it back to Earth, put those genetic instructions into a cell and then boot up a Martian life form in a biosecure lab. Venter's 'biological teleporter' (as he dubbed it) would dig under the surface for samples to sequence. If they find anything, 'it would take only 4.3 minutes to get the Martians back to Earth,' says Venter, founder of Celera Genomics and the Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR). 'Now we can rebuild the Martians in a P4 spacesuit lab.' It may sound far-fetched, but the notion of equipping a future Mars rover to sequence the DNA isn't so crazy, and Venter isn't the only one looking for Martian DNA. MIT research scientist Christopher Carr is part of a group that's 'building a a miniature RNA/DNA sequencer to search for life beyond Earth,' according to the MIT website 'The Search for Extra-Terrestrial Genomes.' SETG will test the hypothesis that life on Mars, if it exists, shares a common ancestor with life on Earth. Carr told Tech Review that one of the biggest challenges is shrinking Ion Torrent's 30-kilogram machine down to a mere 3 kg – light enough to fit on a Mars rover."

Comment Re:That's like applying to be Canadian... (Score 1) 385

by keith_nt4 (#41456689) Attached to: Woz Applying For Australian Citizenship Because of the NBN

Since not a single republican voted for the ACA I don't think the republicans got "what they wanted".

Also, Obama doesn't want what Canada has: In Canada's system everybody, from the PM down to the normal citizens, use the same system. That would never happen in US. As Obama said when he was trying to pass it he is perfectly happy with his own health care. Healthcare isn't his problem, it's "the problem of uninsured". He and everybody else in power would continue going to their private doctors. Only the rest of us would deal with the the health care system.

And lastly I think he's happy with what was passed. My personal theory on the ACA is that it was about creating a new union, public or other wise, out of the country's doctors/medical providers thus creating a permanent voting block for his party long after he is gone from office (or at least revenue stream via union dues). Obviously a ridiculous notion.
Medicine

US Doctors Back Circumcision 1264

Posted by Soulskill from the yep-we're-going-there dept.
ananyo writes "On 27 August, a report by the American Academy of Pediatrics concludes for the first time that, overall, boys will be healthier if circumcised. The report says that although the choice is ultimately up to parents, medical insurance should pay for the procedure. The recommendation, coming from such an influential body, could boost U.S. circumcision rates, which, at 55%, are already higher than much of the developed world. The researchers estimate that each circumcision that is not performed costs the U.S. health-care system $313."

Comment Re:Notice the intolerance? (Score 3) 570

by keith_nt4 (#41103179) Attached to: 'Wiki Weapon Project' Wants Your 3D-Printable Guns

I've had quite enough conservative trolls spewing their vitriol against liberals, progressives and Democrats, that they then follow-up with a complaint that its the liberals censoring and rating them because they're called on their personal attacks and petty insults.

And other conservatives? Resounding silence.

I don't know which conservatives you've been referring to. If Rush Limbaugh is an example he was calling for Akin to drop out for like a week. Romney called for that as well. No idea where this "silence" is coming from. Maybe you just mute all conservatives?
The Internet

Where the Candidates Stand On Net Neutrality 420

Posted by samzenpus from the choosing-sides dept.
nmpost writes "Net neutrality is one of the biggest issues with regard to the internet today. At the heart of the issues is how much control ISPs will be allowed to have over their networks. Each candidate has come out with a strong position on the matter, and whoever wins will have a drastic effect on the future of the internet. Barack Obama has been a proponent of net neutrality. Under his watch, the FCC has implemented net neutrality rules. These restrictions did not apply to wireless networks, though; a gaping loophole that will be problematic in the future, as mobile internet is exploding in popularity. Until it is addressed, Obama can only be given a barely passing grade with regard to net neutrality. Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney has come down on the other side of the issue. The former Massachusetts governor strongly opposes net neutrality. According to Politico, Romney believes net neutrality will restrict ISPs, and that they alone should govern their networks. The governor has stated that he wants as little regulation of the internet as possible."
Businesses

Why the Tablet Market is Really the iPad Market 657

Posted by samzenpus from the price-war-has-started dept.
Hugh Pickens writes writes "James Kendrick writes that after Apple introduced the iPad, companies shifted gears to go after this undiscovered new tablet market but in spite of the number of players in tablets, no company has discovered the magic bullet to knock the iPad off the top of the tablet heap. 'What's happening to the 7-inch tablet market is what happened to the PC market several times. Big name desktop PC OEMs, realizing that consumers didn't care about megahertz and megabytes — yes, that long ago — turned to a price war in order to keep sales buoyant,' writes Adrian Kingsley-Hughes. 'Price becomes the differentiating factor, and this in turns competition into a race to the bottom.' Historically, when a race to the bottom is dictated by the market, it's more a sign of a lack of a market in general. If enough buyers aren't willing to pay enough for a product to make producers a profit, the market is just not sufficient. Price is a metric that most people know and understand because it's nowhere as ethereal or complicated as CPU power or screen resolution. Given a $199 tablet next to another for $299, the $100 difference in the price tag will catch the eye before anything else. But if price is such an important metric, why is the iPad — with its premium price tag — so popular? Simple, it was the first tablet to go mass market, and cumulative sales of around 85 million gives the iPad credibility in the eye on potential buyers. 'So the problem with the Kindle Fire — and the Nexus 7 — is the same problem that's plagued the PC industry. Deep and extreme price cuts give the makers no wriggle room to innovate,' writes Kingsley-Hughes. 'By driving prices down to this level so rapidly, both Amazon and Google have irrevocably harmed the tablet market by creating unrealistic price expectations.'"

Comment Re:An auspicious date (Score 1, Insightful) 558

by keith_nt4 (#40846239) Attached to: Windows 8 Is Ready

I disagree that a bad Windows 8 will result in consumers/developers leaving Windows. If no other reason the simple fact is there is simply no alternative: Macs are too expensive (I've tried many times to convince family members to switch, always came down to cost). Linux is just a hopeless mess (ex. Less than a year ago there was a thread on slashdot about the state of audio drivers in Linux and not being able play two audio streams at once. An issue resolved in Windows more than 15 years ago...)

PC gamers will continue to game on windows, normal users will continue to get their hotmail and check the weather on windows, and few businesses will want to take to the training time/money of switching to a different OS and compatibility issues that go along with it, although I suspect businesses would have stayed on 7 for several more years even if 8 had a traditional UI.

Comment Re:TV doesn't have the budget to do superheroes we (Score 1) 396

by keith_nt4 (#40757063) Attached to: What's Next For Superhero Movies?

In a way Dr. Who is a "super hero" in that he can travel through time and seems amazingly good at avoiding death no matter the circumstance. And at least to my spoiled American eyes has an incredibly low production value. And yet the writing is amazing the latest doctor seems to be winning best actor awards. They do a lot with the budget/production they have in other words.

If a show could be made along those lines - low budget/production values but super-great acting/writing - I think just about any super hero show could work. There's a lot of "if" in that statement however.
Security

Obama's Portrait of Cyberwar Isn't Complete Hyperbole 240

Posted by Soulskill from the just-mostly dept.
pigrabbitbear writes "It's hard to imagine what cyberwarfare actually looks like. Is it like regular warfare, where two sides armed with arsenals of deadly weapons open fire on each other and hope for total destruction? What do they fire instead of bullets? Packets of information? Do people die? Or is it not violent at all — just a bunch of geeks in uniforms playing tricks on each other with sneaky code? Barack Obama would like to clear up this question, thank you very much. In an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal the president voiced his support for the Cybersecurity Act of 2012 now being considered by the Senate with the help of a truly frightening hypothetical: 'Across the country trains had derailed, including one carrying industrial chemicals that exploded into a toxic cloud,' Obama wrote, describing a nightmare scenario of a cyber attack. 'Water treatment plants in several states had shut down, contaminating drinking water and causing Americans to fall ill.' All because of hackers!"
Communications

Gloves Translate Sign Language Into Auditory Speech 78

Posted by Unknown Lamer from the babel-gloves dept.
Zothecula writes about some pretty cool sensor gloves. From the article: "Since beginning in 2003, the Microsoft Imagine Cup has tasked students the world over with developing technology aimed at solving real-world problems. In this, its 10th year, students were asked to build their project around a specific Millennium Development Goal ... The winners have just been announced ... [and winning] first place (and US$25,000) in the Software Design category was the Ukraine's quadSquad with their EnableTalk gloves that translate sign language into speech in real time."

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