Comment Re:lack of pessimistic locking (Score 1) 193
There is no such thing as a lack of pessimistic locking. First in, best dressed!
Space Exploration Needs Extraterrestrial Ethics 162
An anonymous reader writes "Professor Andy Miah notes there's already international government policies taking hold on outer space — and a need for new ethical guidelines. 'For instance, what obligations do we owe to the various life forms we send there, or those we might discover? Can we develop a more considerate approach to colonizing outer space than we were able to achieve for various sectors of Earth?' And what rights do astronauts have? 'Could our inevitable public surveillance of their behavior become too much of an infringement on their personal privacy?' But more importantly, professor Miah notes that 'the goods of space exploration far exceed the symbolic value,' pointing out that 'A vast amount of research and development derives from space exploration ... For example, the United Kingdom's 2007 Space Policy inquiry indicated that the creation of space products contributes two to three times their value in GDP.'"
Comment Re:Yeah, it's called blissful ignorance (Score 1) 380
Christiaan Huygens, a contemporary of Newton and a formidable scientist in his own right had a different view:
"The World is my Fatherland, Science is my Religion"
"The World is my Fatherland, Science is my Religion"
Brain Surgery Linked To Sensation of Spirituality 380
the3stars writes "'Removing part of the brain can induce inner peace, according to researchers from Italy. Their study provides the strongest evidence to date that spiritual thinking arises in, or is limited by, specific brain areas. This raises a number of interesting issues about spirituality, among them whether or not people can be born with a strong propensity towards spirituality and also whether it can be acquired through head trauma."
One critic's quoted response: "It's important to recognize that the whole study is based on changes in one self-report measure, which is a coarse measure that includes some strange items."
Why the First Cowboy To Draw Always Gets Shot 398
cremeglace writes "Have you ever noticed that the first cowboy to draw his gun in a Hollywood Western is invariably the one to get shot? Nobel-winning physicist Niels Bohr did, once arranging mock duels to test the validity of this cinematic curiosity. Researchers have now confirmed that people indeed move faster if they are reacting, rather than acting first."
"Tube Map" Created For the Milky Way 142
astroengine writes "Assuming you had an interstellar spaceship, how would you navigate around the galaxy? For starters, you'd probably need a map. But there's billions of stars out there — how complex would that map need to be? Actually, Samuel Arbesman, a research fellow from Harvard, has come up with a fun solution. He created the 'Milky Way Transit Authority (MWTA),' a simple transit system in the style of the iconic London Underground 'Tube Map.' (Travel Tip: Don't spend too much time loitering around the station at Carina, there's some demolition work underway.)"
Comment Re:Australian citizens, PLEASE do the right thing. (Score 1) 352
Hello, it's SOUTH Australia we're talking about not Australia as a whole! btw the whole thing has blown over already, they canned the idea due to public outrage!
A Hyper-Velocity Impact In the Asteroid Belt? 114
astroengine writes "Astronomers have spotted something rather odd in the asteroid belt. It looks like a comet, but it's got a circular orbit, similar to an asteroid. Whether it's an asteroid or a comet, it has a long, comet-like tail, suggesting something is being vented into space. Some experts think it could be a very rare comet/asteroid hybrid being heated by the sun, but there's an even more exciting possibility: It could be the first ever observation of two asteroids colliding in the asteroid belt."
Aussie Scientists Find Coconut-Carrying Octopus 205
An anonymous reader writes with this excerpt from an AP report: "Australian scientists have discovered an octopus in Indonesia that collects coconut shells for shelter — unusually sophisticated behavior that the researchers believe is the first evidence of tool use in an invertebrate animal. The scientists filmed the veined octopus, Amphioctopus marginatus, selecting halved coconut shells from the sea floor, emptying them out, carrying them under their bodies up to 65 feet (20 meters), and assembling two shells together to make a spherical hiding spot. ... 'I was gobsmacked,' said Finn, a research biologist at the museum who specializes in cephalopods. 'I mean, I've seen a lot of octopuses hiding in shells, but I've never seen one that grabs it up and jogs across the sea floor. I was trying hard not to laugh.'"
Comment Re:American stupidity. (Score 1) 405
The cassette was in fact Dutch Stupidity (Philips)
Canadian Blood Services Promotes Pseudoscience 219
trianglecat writes "The not-for-profit agency Canadian Blood Services has a section of their website based on the Japanese cultural belief of ketsueki-gata, which claims that a person's blood group determines or predicts their personality type. Disappointing for a self-proclaimed 'science-based' organization. The Ottawa Skeptics, based in the nation's capital, appear to be taking some action."
Comment Re:Should they get off tax-free? (Score 1) 511
All Christians are Catholic, Roman Catholics are those that have the Bishop of Rome (aka the Pope) as head of their Church. They revere Saints, as do some other 'Non' Roman Catholics. Strict Protestants such as Calvinists are still Christians and therefore Catholics, but abhor the notion of Saints as they see them as 'False' gods.
Submission + - Crikey! Snail named after Steve Irwin (abc.net.au)
PigIronBob writes: Queensland Museum scientist Dr John Stanisic has named the rare species of tree snail crikey steveirwini.
Comment Locking scheme (Score 1) 283
Use the primary key and an integer counter (date time stamps are to messy), apply the update with the primary key and counter as the 'where ' clause, if the update fails someone else has edited the record, and the user will need to refresh and try again.
Pre-emptive locking is very messy , I would not recommend it. Often it is a kneejerk reaction to bad operational procedures within the production environment. You need to ask: what are multiple users doing trying to edit the same row at the same time?
The counter based scheme sounds harsh but in reality it seldom leads to conflicts when the operations are run in a sensible manner.
