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Comment Re:Nobody Knows (Score 1) 884

> They slowed down to a very narrow margin above stall speed.
[...]

> They went into a high-speed dive.
> Because they were on manual backup control they could not exert enough force on the controls to recover before Vne or the flutter speed of something was attained.

Doesn't seem reasonable to me.

Your description is of an airplane going from just below stall speed to an airspeed that could damage the aircraft before the pilot is able to regain control. I don't think a "high-speed dive" could explain that. Once you're in a dive it should be pretty easy to get the nose up.

Going into something like a flat spin may be a possibility; I have no idea on how vulnerable airliners are to unrecoverable spins.

Comment The least bad outcome (Score 1) 192

I don't think this is a great situation, but it's probably the least bad situation we could end up with.

It's our own fault (collectively anyway) since we let copyright maximalists set the agenda. The issue became what should the owners get from this deal, rather than what society's claim on orphaned works ought to be. Ideally we would have had a law written that allowed some sort of scheme to deal with orphaned works, but instead we end up with a situation that benefits the means to set up the legal charade that's allowed this deal to happen.

It'll be interesting to see what ends up happening in the future. It seems possible that legislation could be created to at least break Google's exclusivity if not take it away entirely.

At least we'll now have access to these works, without Google, they'd likely stay in legal limbo indefinitely.

Comment Re:Watchmen non-fan (Score 1) 489

Amen.

Had the same experience, though I'm a bit less negative. I think it's a good read, but there are a lot of good reads out there.

I can see why it was highly influential, and I can see why people liked it at the time.

On the other had the idea of it being one of the 100 best modern novels is completely laughable.

Comment Re:Freeze the CPU (Score 1) 260

An SRAM cell is typically a cross coupled inverter (from what I've seen). There's not much potential for memory there. When the power supply reaches zero, the bit is gone.

With DRAM that's not quite the case, which is why the cold boot attack works. Even though the power supply is zero, the bit is still there on the cap.

Science

Rare Venomous Mammal Filmed 233

Smivs writes "The BBC are reporting that footage of one of the world's most strange and elusive mammals has been captured by scientists. Large, and with a long, thin snout, the Hispaniolan solenodon resembles an overgrown shrew. It can inject passing prey with a venom-loaded bite. Dr Sam Turvey, a ZSL (Zoological Society of London) researcher involved with the program, told BBC News: 'It is an amazing creature — it is one of the most evolutionary distinct mammals in the world.' Along with the other species of solenodon, which is found in Cuba (Solenodon cubanus), it is the only living mammal that can actually inject venom into their prey through specialized teeth. Little is known about the creature, which is found in the Caribbean, but it is under threat from deforestation, hunting and introduced species. Researchers say conservation efforts are now needed. The mammal was filmed in the summer of 2008 during a month-long expedition to the Dominican Republic — one of only two countries where this nocturnal, insect-eating animal (Solenodon paradoxus) can be found (the other is Haiti). The researchers from the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and the Ornithological Society of Hispaniola were able to take measurements and DNA from the creature before it was released."

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