I very much agree with you. You should put solar panels where they can catch most sunlight. These tiles are a funny gadget for some architects to make a small-scale project (a driveway somewhere, or maybe the entrance for a theme park). But as a large scale energy source, this is hopeless.

1. The efficiency of the solar panels is reduced because of lots of dirt, and because of the very thick glass protection on top of it.
--> As a result of the lower efficiency, the solar panels will not be an interesting investment for energy.
2. The tiles are way more expensive than ordinary asphalt or bricks.
--> As a result of the higher costs, the tiles will not be an interesting investment for a road surface.

If we would really be running out of space, this may be efficient. But as the OP said, we still have lots of roofs, and plenty of other empty spaces. Use that first.

Where you said "week", I say "month".

But I agree that sometimes change is not bad, but only takes some getting used to. However, there are cases where change is indeed quite bad: the new Google Maps is a step back compared to the previous version, and our beloved slashdot beta would be a step back too.

Looking at the screenshot, I would want some features (logout, preferences) near the top-right corner, like on each and every other website on this planet. Also, I want to access sent mail in 1 click. All other stuff is free for the marketing gurus to play with.

The main question I have is: does it improve anything for me? (And also, since this is a prototype, I wonder how much this will be watered down until I get it on my screen).

Eehm... based on your own analysis, I would think that the aliens are in deep trouble, not us.

There is no foundation for the assumption that aliens would treat us like Europeans did in Africa and America. However, here is plenty of support for the assumption that Europeans (or humans in general) would make that same mistake again and exploit the aliens. After all, we're still exploiting each other right now.

Glad to read that they at least suggest that this thing gets connected to the main electicity grid (so they also deliver electricity when the car isn't charging, which is most of the time). Also, I guess you should just charge the car from the grid as well. Many people will tend to drive in the day, and charge at night, so, off the grid really seems silly. A rough estimate tells me that the panels could deliver as much as 10 kW (if you're lucky), so size-wise this is not enough to charge the car quickly. Another reason to stay on the grid.

So, using a flat surface of the carport roof for solar panels? Good idea. But it's just not really relevant to involve the car in this story, as you'll be charging it from the grid, like everyone else with an electric car.

In those days, tax was not a percentage. You just had to pay a certain amount, or else. That's not a system that I'd like to see reinstalled.

Dalton already has a unit named after him (the unit used to indicate atomic/molecular mass), although it is not an SI unit...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A...

For many years, people said that nuclear power is very cheap. This was its major selling point. No need to buy large quantities of fuel. Now, it turns out that the costs of the energy are paid by the generations living when the power plant is already shut down.

Sure, we can then move the goal posts of this old discussion to talk about CO2 emissions and other pollution, but it would only be fair to compare nuclear to sustainable sources such as wind/solar. On a CO2 emission, they may be comparable, but since nuclear is apparently a little more costly than we previously thought, perhaps wind and solar energy are becoming more attractive?

I agree. If it was never meant to be carried around, why make it so small? Sounds like it needed a slightly larger cooling system to make it work properly.

Cooling capabilities of any device are proportional to the outside surface area of the device (where it can get rid of the heat), and this thing has too little outside surface area. Sometimes the marketing guys really should listen to the engineers.

Universal Hydrogen shortages expected soon!! -- that better?

It's an interesting read... and although none of it is breaking news, it's definitely stuff for nerds and I am happy that /. link to it.

Yeah, yeah... tl;dr. Not interesting if you're living in New York, capital of the USA.

Only the mad conspiracy hatters will be disappointed, because they already know that planet X is on a collision course with us. But then, they don't care about new findings,unless they support their theory. Amateur astronomers however will be just as excited when a planet is found much further away.

It's actually a very exciting and interesting article... it means that in the near future, we won't be searching for a needle in a haystack. We know pretty much where to find the needle, if there is any. To me, that is even more reason to search, which hopefully opens up some funding for the scientists who produce these awesome results.
For me personally, the really exciting thing is that there is so much out there. Perhaps no earth-sized planet, many more dwarf planet than I had ever dreamed...

There's basically 3 types of information for traders:
1. Official public information from the company itself (press releases, annual report, etc).
2. Analysis by external parties
3. Unofficial (non-public) information from within the company - trading using this is called insider trading, and this is already against the law.

So, when companies release information (category 1), everybody can trade. I do realize now that large companies have press releases on a daily basis. So, maybe the timespan of a week/month was a little long. But at least something that reflects the timespan between press releases (hours? at least not milliseconds) would still be a good idea.

It is acceptable to send people on a one-way if the goal is that these people survive and colonize. I would add a condition that they have a fair chance to grow old and possibly have offspring who themselves can survive there as well... meaning that (on the long run) the colony is large enough to be self sufficient.
If the goal is to set up a base camp (e.g. on Mars) with the intention to grow this base camp into a colony later, this condition is met, and I would think it is ethical to send someone on his/her way.

And it doesn't matter if it is NASA or anyone else who is organising the mission.

The way I understand it is that traders (computers) have to hold on to shares for a minimum of 500 ms, which means that whatever the market does in those milliseconds cannot be acted upon. However, others can act in the meantime.

Personally, I think that it should be law that if you buy shares in any company (or fund or whatever), you have to hold on to them for a minimum of a week or a month. Shares represent actual physical companies which own factories and employ real people. Those things don't change in 500 ms. They change over a much larger amount of time. And I believe that the stock market would be healthier if this was reflected in its trading. Obviously, when new information comes out (press release: "The factory of company X has just gone up in flames"), everybody's counter should be set to zero, but shares sold in such a case cannot be bought back a fraction of a second later (because whoever just bought them has to hold on to them for a week/month).

I don't pretend that this plan is waterproof. I'm sure someone will shoot a big hole in it in the replies below... I just wish that the stock market would represent what it's supposed to represent: a place where people can invest in our real economy.

Pants have pockets. Phones fit in pockets. Problem solved. And I know that women tend to not use pockets - I cannot understand why - but they have purses and handbags that are specially designed to hold many things including a phone. Either way, the problem that a wearable smart gadget tries to solve is not a problem in the first place.

Also, I don't have to track my fitness, because I am usually there myself to observe my fitness with my own eyes.