pifactorial - Slashdot User

Comment Recursion (Score 2, Insightful) 599

by pifactorial on Saturday February 13, 2010 @08:12PM (#31131132) Attached to: Gov't Proposes "National Climate Service" For the US

Based on the mercurial history of climate science over the past few decades, we might also need a National Climate Service Service to help us track changes in the climate of climate science research...?

Comment Re:Oh no, not D-Wave. (Score 2, Insightful) 106

by pifactorial on Sunday December 13, 2009 @12:26PM (#30423112) Attached to: Google Demonstrates Quantum Computer Image Search

Yeah, my first thought was basically, "Ah, Google got a hold of them. That explains why they've been quiet for so long." It's kind of funny that even Google admits they don't quite know what's going on ("various institutions are still in the process of characterizing the chip"), but the fact that it actually, you know, works, has to count for something.

Submission + - Gigantic spiral of light observed over Norway (dailymail.co.uk) 6

Submitted by Ch_Omega on Wednesday December 09, 2009 @08:39AM

Ch_Omega writes: A mysterious light display appearing over Norway last night has left thousands of residents in the north of the country baffled. Witnesses from Trøndelag to Finnmark compared the amazing display to anything from a Russian rocket to a meteor to a shock wave — although no one appears to have mentioned UFOs yet. The phenomenon began when what appeared to be a blue light seemed to soar up from behind a mountain. It stopped mid-air, then began to circulate. Within seconds a giant spiral had covered the entire sky. Then a green-blue beam of light shot out from its centre — lasting for ten to twelve minutes before disappearing completely.

The Norwegian Meteorological Institute was flooded with telephone calls after the light storm — which astronomers have said did not appear to have been connected to the aurora, or Northern Lights, so common in that area of the world."

Article in English here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1234430/Mystery-spiral-blue-light-display-hovers-Norway.html
More pictures here(in Norwegian): http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/distrikt/troms_og_finnmark/1.6902392?index=false

Comment Survive and reproduce? (Score 5, Interesting) 90

by pifactorial on Monday November 02, 2009 @12:10PM (#29951084) Attached to: Bacteria Could Survive In Martian Soil

To my knowledge many species of bacteria can survive indefinitely in practically any environment, but not while actively metabolizing. I am curious whether any of the species the article is talking about could actually survive and spread, if they would just stick around for a while and die out, or if they would only survive in a dormant state.

Comment Re:Blashphemy ! (Score 2, Informative) 379

by pifactorial on Wednesday February 06, 2008 @02:38PM (#22323570) Attached to: 111 Years Ago, Indiana Almost Legislated Pi

When I was in elementary school, I came up with (44713649/1500)^(1/9), which I believe is accurate to 11 decimal places, and is useless for any purpose but proving that I don't get out much.

Submission + - Amazing Cancer Drug Found; Scientist Annoyed.

Submitted by

sporkme

on Thursday February 15, 2007 @03:26AM

sporkme writes: "A scientist was frustrated when the compound she was working with destroyed her sample of cancer cells. Further research revealed that the substance was surprisingly well suited as a cancer treatment. From the article:

"I made a calculation error and used a lot more than I should have. And my cells died," Schaefer said. A colleague overheard her complaining. "The co-author on my paper said,' Did I hear you say you killed some cancer?' I said 'Oh', and took a closer look." They ran several tests and found the compound killed "pretty much every epithelial tumor cell lines we have seen."
Lab test results on hapless mice have resulted in the destruction of colon tumors without making the mice sick. The PPAR-gamma compound is expected to be especially useful in combating treatment-resistant types of cancer."

Slashdot Top Deals