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Space

Could Betelgeuse Go Boom? 383

Posted by timothy from the betelgeuse-betelgeuse-betelgeuse-winona dept.
An anonymous reader writes "The answer is No. In space, nobody can hear you scream. However, it might go supernova in the near future, if it hasn't already. I wanna see that, even if it would permanently disfigure Orion. Ka freaking bam!"

Computers Key To Air France Crash 911

Posted by kdawson from the who-or-what-do-you-trust dept.
Michael_Curator writes "It's no secret that commercial airplanes are heavily computerized, but as the mystery of Air France Flight 447 unfolds, we need to come to grips with the fact that in many cases, airline pilots' hands are tied when it comes to responding effectively to an emergency situation. Boeing planes allow pilots to take over from computers during emergency situations, Airbus planes do not. It's not a design flaw — it's a philosophical divide. It's essentially a question of what do you trust most: a human being's ingenuity or a computer's infinitely faster access and reaction to information. It's not surprising that an American company errs on the side of individual freedom while a European company is more inclined to favor an approach that relies on systems. As passengers, we should have the right to ask whether we're putting our lives in the hands of a computer rather than the battle-tested pilot sitting up front, and we should have right to deplane if we don't like the answer."
Government

Submission + - Poll suggestion 1

Submitted by rueger
rueger writes: Now that the government owns 60% of GM, we should also nationalize:

Banks
Insurance Industry
The Phone Company
Microsoft
Seven-11
MySpace
Cowboy Neal's corporate overlords.
Software

Submission + - What data recovery tools do the pros use? 2

Submitted by
Life2Death
Life2Death writes: "I've been working with computers for a long time, and every once and a while someone close to me has a drive go belly up on them. I know there are big, expensive recovery houses that specialize in mission-critical data recovery, like if your house blew up and you have millions of files you need or something, but for the local IT group, what do you guys use? Given that most people are on NTFS (Windows XP) by the numbers, what would you use? I found a ton of tools when I googled, and everyone and their brother suggests something else, so I want to know what software "just works" on most recoveries of bad, but partially working hard drives. Free software always has a warm spot in my heart."

Comment About 30 years here... (Score 1) 622

by Onyma (#28127507) Attached to: 45-Year-Old Modem Used To Surf the Web
I have a three-some of working Commodore PETs (2001, 4032, SuperPET) with associated disk & tape drives. All still work though some of the floppies get read errors now. I had a term package and modem for the SuperPET... I should set it all up again sometime and try the same feat for fun. The 2001 puts me back bordering 30 years... sigh. Thanks, now I feel old. :)

Comment And CE isn't popular? (Score 4, Insightful) 410

by Onyma (#28112023) Attached to: Zune HD Unveiled, Set For Fall Release
"The new Zune will be based on a custom version of Windows CE, while the iPod Touch runs on the already popular iPhone platform, for which thousands of applications are available."

This makes it sound like CE is just some new kid on the block. I mean I don't deny the popularity of the iPhone platform and the benefit of their app store, but common, CE is no flash in the pan for applications either. Not to mention Visual Studio makes it a BREEZE to develop for.

Comment Oh this makes me happy... (Score 2, Interesting) 502

by Onyma (#28085825) Attached to: World's "Fastest" Small Web Server Released, Based On LISP
I first learned LISP using the watered down version included in AutoCAD while writing huge customization projects in the 80's. I loved the language so much I dove into it full force and enjoyed it thoroughly. To me it was so inherently elegant I wanted to use it everywhere. Obviously however making a living meant most of us had to focus our energies elsewhere but something like this makes me all giddy again. I think I have some playing to do!
Space

Submission + - Mars Robot May Destroy Life It Was Sent to Find 2

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens
Hugh Pickens writes: "New Scientist reports that instead of identifying chemicals that could point to life, NASA's robot explorers may have been toasting them by mistake. Even if Mars never had life, comets and asteroids that have struck the planet should have scattered at least some organic molecules over its surface but landers have failed to detect even minute quantities of organic compounds. Now scientists say they may have stumbled on something in the Martian soil that may have, in effect, been hiding the organics: a class of chemicals called perchlorates. At low temperatures, perchlorates are relatively harmless but when heated to hundreds of degrees Celsius perchlorates release a lot of oxygen, which tends to cause any nearby combustible material to burn. The Phoenix and Viking landers looked for organic molecules by heating soil samples to similarly high temperatures to evaporate them and analyse them in gas form. When Douglas Ming of NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, and colleagues tried heating organics and perchlorates like this on Earth, the resulting combustion left no trace of organics behind. "We haven't looked the right way," says Chris McKay of NASA's Ames Research Center. Jeffrey Bada of the University of California, San Diego, agrees that a new approach is needed. He is leading work on a new instrument called Urey which will be able to detect organic material at concentrations as low as a few parts per trillion. The good news is that, although Urey heats its samples, it does so in water, so the organics cannot burn up."
Space

Submission + - Life may have originated billions of years earlier (examiner.com)

Submitted by mmmscience
mmmscience writes: http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-1242-Science-News-Examiner~y2009m5d21-Life-may-have-originated-millions-of-years-earlier A new theory states that life as we know it may have started much earlier than previously thought. Contrary to previous beliefs, a computer model shows life would have survived a large asteroid event 3.9 billion years ago, meaning life could have started as early as 4.4 billion years ago when the oceans first formed. This theory helps explain the geological evidence of life at 3.83 billion years ago--life which shouldn't have existed if the Late Heavy Bombardment (which threw Kansas-sized asteroids at the Earth) managed to wipe out all living things during its 20-200 million asteroid-happy era.

Comment Newton 2 (Score 4, Interesting) 165

by Onyma (#28040071) Attached to: Apple Tablet Rumors Again (Still?)
I knew I kept my Newton for a reason... now I can be snotty and say "Oh yeah, I had one first" when it becomes popular. Now where did I put it...

Seriously as said above I can't see it selling that cheaply but I really did love the Newton despite its quirks. I still believe it died because it was just a little too far ahead of its time. Palm drove the last nail in its coffin with a smaller, lighter, more practical device. I would be interested to see what Apple could come up with for a tablet now with their focus on touch egonomics and a decade+ of hardware advancement.

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