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Science

Submission + - Sceptical climate researcher withholds code (newscientist.com) 1

Submitted by xav_jones
xav_jones writes: New Scientist is reporting that Nicola Scafetta, a physicist at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina — whose work is often highlighted by climate-change sceptics, including US senator James Inhofe — is refusing to provide the software he used to other climate researchers attempting to replicate his results. Emails between Rasmus Benestad of the Norwegian Meteorological Institute in Oslo and Scafetta over the past week had Scaffetta repeatedly refusing to provide the code. "If you just disclose your code and data, then we will manage to get to the bottom of this," Benestad writes in one email. "I really do not understand why you are not able to write your own program to reproduce the calculations," responds Scafetta.
NASA

Submission + - Voyager Makes an Interstellar Discovery (nasa.gov)

Submitted by azoblue
azoblue writes: The solar system is passing through an interstellar cloud that physics says should not exist. In the Dec. 24th issue of Nature, a team of scientists reveal how NASA's Voyager spacecraft have solved the mystery.

Comment Similar problem happened to me (Score 5, Interesting) 386

by xav_jones (#30479006) Attached to: DRM Flub Prevented 3D Showings of <em>Avatar</em> In Germany
While watching the latest Batman movie the screen went dark and stayed that way for about 20 minutes. Speaking to the attendants afterward, they said their projectors had lost the internet link which authorized the movies to be shown. All projectors in the cineplex went down since all were digital (theatre was in Riverside, CA).

Comment Re:Teachers aren't the ONLY problem (Score 1) 801

by xav_jones (#30208074) Attached to: Obama Kicks Off Massive Science Education Effort
Oh I wish I had some mod points because that post needs to go up. The parent cited the performance of other countries with similar or heavier restrictions and then blamed the US's problem on teacher unions as if those other countries also do not have teacher unions imposing similar restrictions. The attitude towards education -- from parents, children and teachers -- needs an overhaul in the US if it hopes to match the academic performance of other countries.

Comment Ironkey (Score 1) 1007

by xav_jones (#30054604) Attached to: Best Tool For Remembering Passwords?
I've been thinking almost the same thing for a little while now. One of the solutions I think might work is an IronKey. While remembering passwords isn't so much of an issue for me it will be for my wife if, heaven forbid, something should happen to me.I'd very much like her to have easy access to important information -- things like banking passwords, insurance and retirement accounts come to mind. I'd also probably put scans of important documents on there -- not that you could use a printed copy -- but more of a database to make ordering new documents easier if there was an emergency and those documents were lost. It is also important that it be as cross-platform as possible, since I may not be around to get it to work. :\ I haven't really come across a software-only solution that fulfills most of these criteria.

Comment Re:California Stops? (Score 2, Insightful) 366

by xav_jones (#29542645) Attached to: Microsoft Releases Prototype of Research OS "Barrelfish"
The overuse of stop signs in southern California is unbelievable. Even on streets that one would naturally expect to flow through there are many 3- and 4-way stops. Having grown up with Australian traffic infrastructure and driven extensively in Europe the multitude of unnecessary stops in California is maddening -- not to mention environmentally unfriendly and inefficient. It may be ego but by sheer numbers of rolling stops being done here the title is not undeserved.

Comment Re:The real story (Score 1) 687

by xav_jones (#29109289) Attached to: World's Only Diesel-Electric Honda Insight

As an aside, is anyone else thinking that 78MPG is just terrible for a diesel hybrid? The British Top Gear show tested three diesels, driving about 700-800 miles. The largest diesel car, a Jaguar, averaged about 65MPG with the A/C blasting and all the comfort of a Jaguar. A small car like the Insight should be on the high side of 90MPG surely?

British or US miles per gallon? More correctly, miles per British gallon or US gallon? 1 US gallon = 0.83267384 Imperial gallons so miles per British gallon are 1.2 times higher than miles per US gallon. Thus the Jag at 65mpg(Imp) is equivalent to approximately 54mpg(US). Gotta love the non-metric stuff. How quaint.

Comment Re:bankrupt then what? (Score 1) 492

by xav_jones (#28904997) Attached to: RIAA Awarded $675,000 In Tenenbaum Trial

You don't have to die waiting for surgery in countries with socialised health care.

Nevertheless, THOUSANDS do, each and every year. Far more than die under the US semi-free market system.

Mostly because the onerous taxes, regulations and laws required to support such a "great" system leave the bulk of the population so impoverished that they can't AFFORD to seek medical care outside the government system.

I won't ask for citations on those statements but will restate my opinion that most people, "impoverished" or not, could accumulate large debts paying for it privately -- just as the original poster stated he did under the US system.

Comment Re:bankrupt then what? (Score 1, Flamebait) 492

by xav_jones (#28904343) Attached to: RIAA Awarded $675,000 In Tenenbaum Trial
You don't have to die waiting for surgery in countries with socialised health care. In fact, there is no difference between a nationalised health care system and what-ever-it-that-the-US-has in the situation described. The option to pay outright for the medical procedure is, I believe, always available. At least it has been in the three countries I've lived significant lengths of time in (Australia, Germany and the US). You can always rack up a large debt and file for bankruptcy in nationalised systems too. It's just not the number one reason for personal bankruptcies in those countries.

Comment Re:Collusion (Score 1) 1186

by xav_jones (#28014517) Attached to: US To Require That New Cars Get 42 MPG By 2016

Market-based solutions like cap and trade have been effective in other areas, and are probably the most reasonable precautionary measure with regard to CO2.

I'm not so sure about your first assertion. Wind Turbines in Europe Do Nothing for Emissions-Reduction Goals -- see about halfway through the article for the way 'cap and trade' has been working out.

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