Comment Re:Ahh, true democracy (Score 0, Offtopic) 436
completely offtopic but `hoi' in `hoi polloi' is an article, therefore adding `the' is somewhat redundant :-)
Comment Re:It's Nick's, all Nick's (Score 1) 243
The most relevant is T.S.Kuhn's The Copernican Revolution. The most interesting (and with a much larger scope) is Paul Feyerabend's Against Method.
Comment Re:It's Nick's, all Nick's (Score 1) 243
This seems like the only bit of discussion where people actually know something about the history of science and know that things weren't as clear cut then as we seem to think now. Anyway, I guess you're suggesting that Copernicus was the third case, i.e. he proposed a theory that could be empirically validated/falsified and was (presumably) better than the previous model. Well, in fact Copernicus' system was significantly worse in empirical adequacy (correspondence to observation) than Ptolemy's (at that time), wasn't really all that simpler (Copernicus assumed, with Aristotle, that planets have circular orbits and therefore needed epicycles too). Copernicus' system only received `real scientific' support much later from Newton's mechanics (but that was based on Copernicus so it's a bit circular). From several historical studies (Kuhn's for one) it seems that Copernicus' motivation for a heliocentric theory was a) that Ptolemaic system verged too far from Aristotle (orbits of planets weren't circular any more with all those epicycles) and b) the worship of the Sun in the renaissance period. Doesn't sound like `science' (as you define it) to me...
Submission + - First Evidence of Another Universe? 2
blamanj writes: Three months ago, astronomers announced the discovery of a large hole at the edge of our universe. Now, Dr. Laura Mersini-Houghton thinks she knows what that means. (Subscription req'd at New Scientist site, there's also an overview here.) According to string theory, there are many universes besides our own. Her team says that smaller universes are positioned at the edge of our universe, and because of gravitational interactions, they can be observed, and they're willing to make a prediction. The recently discovered void is in the northern hemisphere. They contend another one will be found in the southern hemisphere.
Submission + - Vista vs. the Gibbon 4
ricegf writes: If you had 7 computers running various versions of Windows and Linux, on which machine would you choose to do most of your work? Rupert Goodwins describes his experience thus: 'So here's the funny thing. I've used Windows since 1.0. I've lived through the bad times of Windows/386 and ME, and the good times of NT 3.51 and 2K. I know XP if not backwards, then with a degree of familiarity that only middle-aged co-dependents can afford each other. Then how come I'm so much more at home with Ubuntu than Vista?'
Submission + - Wife Runs DNA Test on Husband to See if He Cheats
NEMESIS09 writes: "A state forensics scientist who said she tested DNA in her husband's underwear to find out whether he was cheating could be disciplined if investigators determine she violated the use of state equipment. I'm really glad my wife isn't a Forensic Scientist! ;0)
http://kutv.com/watercooler/local_story_186145825. html"
http://kutv.com/watercooler/local_story_186145825
Feed Bacterial Infection May Contribute To Cardiovascular Disease (sciencedaily.com)
Half of the population of Swedish twenty-year-olds are carriers of the bacterium Chlamydia pneumoniae, an ubiquitous pathogen previously known to cause acute respiratory disease. It now appears that this bacterium also contributes to cardiovascular disease, the single greatest killer disease in the western world.
Feed The Stem Cells That Weren't There -- Surprising Finding May Lead To New Diabetes (sciencedaily.com)
Diabetes researchers, investigating how the body supplies itself with insulin, discovered to their surprise that adult stem cells, which they expected to play a crucial role in the process, were nowhere to be found. Many researchers had proposed that adult stem cells develop into insulin-producing cells, called beta cells, in the pancreas. Instead, the beta cells themselves divide, although slowly, to replenish their own population.
Submission + - New Replacements For Diesel and Gasoline
An anonymous reader writes: A chemical engineering research team from Purdue University has put forth a process to make liquid fuels similar to diesel and gasoline. The process is claimed to be fully renewable, more energy efficient than current oil refining processes and carbon-free in production and distribution. What do Slashdotters think?
Submission + - Intel releases 2.93GHz quad-core QX6800
AnInkle writes: Intel's new QX6800 debuts, and The Tech Report runs the gamut of multi-threaded 64-bit benchmarks, to find out what $1199 can get in a CPU, or if you should get by on the cheap and stick with the $999 QX6700. With popular games, Folding@Home in Linux, real-world scientific applications, and detailed power consumption, the 2.93GHz quad-core QX6800 is compared to over a dozen competitors from both Intel and AMD. The results aren't surprising, but the commentary sure is fun.
Submission + - MIT Professor: Who Cares About Global Warming?
Jomama writes: Noted climate expert Richard S. Lindzen, the Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Meteorology, writes in a recent Newsweek article that the global warming debate is irrelevant because global warming is actually a good thing that has naturally occured throughout the Earth's history. From the article:
Looking back on the earth's climate history, it's apparent that there's no such thing as an optimal temperature — a climate at which everything is just right. The current alarm rests on the false assumption not only that we live in a perfect world, temperaturewise, but also that our warming forecasts for the year 2040 are somehow more reliable than the weatherman's forecast for next week.
Submission + - Microsoft to offer DRM-free music too
Fjan11 writes: According to a Dutch Microsoft spokesman the company is planning to offer DRM-free music on Zune marketplace. No indication is given on when this will happen however. This is an embarassing 180 because Microsoft claimed DRM was "necessary for the business model" only a few weeks ago when Steve Jobs published his letter.
Feed Taking measure of the cult of the amateur (com.com)
A provocative new book warns that society stands to lose more than it gains from the democratization of the digital world.
Submission + - Hurricane Forecasts Were Dust-Busted
SeaDour writes: "A NASA study is claiming that one of the major reasons last year's hurricane season was so tame compared to the initial forecasts may have been due to increased dust storm activity in Africa's Sahara Desert. The dust particles drifted over the Atlantic, blocking sunlight to the water below which allowed it to cool significantly. "Dust concentrations may play as big a role as other atmospheric conditions, like El Nino, and offer some predictive value, so they should be closely monitored to improve hurricane forecasts," said lead author William Lau."
Submission + - ATI Catalyst 7.3, BSOD on Vista
The Great Danton writes: Recently, Tech ARP wrote about how the ATI Radeon X1950 GT graphics card had managed to obtain Vista certification without a working driver. The first working driver for the Radeon X1950 GT finally appeared on March 28, 2007, the Catalyst 7.3. Should X1950 GT owners jump for joy? Not quite yet as ATI didn't do a pretty good job with this driver set either. This article will show you how wrong it would go if you decided to install it on your Vista system. A nightmare would be an understatement.
