Scientists who start out as non-programmers balk at learning Java or C++. Python is easier to learn, which accounts for much of its widespread use in academia.

"Customer journey" is one of those horrible words thought out by marketing drones in expensive suits. When I'm a customer, I don't go on a fucking journey (if I want to journey, I'll take my luggage and go travel); companies have customer treatment, which can be good or poor, and that's it, fucking period.

...was what you US Americans used to have. Now all you've got left is the Bill. Also, didn't you use to have something named a Constitution. I seem to remember it wasn't perfect, but it was a lot better than whatever you've got now.

I've probably got a benign from of Crohn, and have always refused any invasive measure or method of diagnostic, exactly in order to avoid risking what unfortunately happened to the author of TFA. I'm keeping it in check, more or less, with anti-inflammants and some care in my diet. Not ideal, and I know it may be progressing, but then again.. I'm 51. I'll sit out the ride until I die.
  For the rest, I'd not be too anxious about the thing. If your gut doesn't protest, you may possibly be best off by leaving it where it is. In any case: all the best !

If I have a discussion with, say, a non-techie on, say, power usages, and most of the figures we quote are of the order of magnitude of some hundreds of kiloWatts, then it makes perfect sense to treat an outlier as several thousand kiloWatts, and not as a few Megawatts, it seems to me. An engineer would immediately folow me making a jump into Megawatts, a non-techie not necessarily so.

That is new to me. AFAIK it could be any of the queens. But I may be referring to outdated knowledge on Apis mellifera.

Seeing a swarming event actually happen is, indeed, awesome. Although I have no bees now because of my way of life, last summer a swarm temporarily settled in a tree close the veranda windows of my house - the buzzing ! - and stayed there over night (a sweet, warm summer night, they'd chosen their moment well). Next morning they were gone, and I still hope they're doing OK for themselves.

Son of a beekeeper here. All correct! Also, they have fairly intelligent swarming behaviour. When times are "economically" good, the sexless worker bees charged with feeding the queen will begin feeding certain larvae the special queen food, so these larvae - instead of becoming sexless workers - become queens. One of the new queens will then take part of the swarm with her (sometimes it will be the old queen btw). Individual bees decide on joining or not joining the outgoing swarm. We know they have a decision mechanism involving criteria - we simply don't understand the mechanism yet. Bees are fascinating.

What I don't understand: friends of mine (Austrians) recently bought a house in Florida. Almost directly on the coast. I told them that, with climate change, they'll be swimming in their living room soon enough.

Really.

Here in Europe there is an https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_public_access_catalog that will let you order a book from say, a Madrid university library while perusing the Vienna Technical University's library. Hundreds and hundreds of libraries participating.

OP here. Obviously, my submission had the bad luck of making it to the Slashdot front page simultaneously with the US presidential elections and their unexpected outcome. Yet I am appalled, truly appalled and disgusted, at what ACs have posted here (see above).

It is now clear to me that after many, many years there is nothing anymore for me on Slashdot. This is it. The level had gone down already for years. The repeated and increasingly vocal racism and vulgarity, the inanity, the name-calling, the bigotry - it had already been putting me off for a long time. Yet I had hoped that, at least for such momentous scientific news as Verlinde's theory, there could have been a discussion worthy of that name.

Slashdot's latest acquirer has done a prolly valiant job to try and turn things around, an effort before which I flourish my hat. It is clear to me, however, that it was too little and too late. I'm leaving slashdot. I will keep reading submissions as an anonymous reader, and that's it. So long, Slashdot !

to the police state that the USA has become. Where the US constitution isn't perfect, it was far better than what you poor bastards have now.

This is simultaneously one of the most stupid and the most insidious arguments for burning more fossil fuels I've ever read. Sheesh, dude, who pays you ? Tar Sands of Alberta, Inc. ?