Comment Re:The Apple product cycle in action (Score 1) 195
David, you keep posting the same thing on every Apple story. The joke is getting a bit stale; stop beating the dead horse...
Submission + - Yellowstone Supervolcano larger than first thought (ksl.com)
drewtheman writes: New studies of the plumbing that feeds the Yellowstone supervolcano in Wyoming's Yellowstone National Park shows the plume and the magma chamber under the volcano are larger than first thought and contradicts claims that only shallow hot rock exists. University of Utah research professor of geophysics Robert Smith led four separate studies that verify a plume of hot and molten rock at least 410 miles deep that rises at an angle from the northwest.
Submission + - Quantum effects predicted 40 yrs ago demonstrated. (sciencedaily.com)
dumuzi writes: 40 years ago Vitaly Efimov predicted very cold systems (atoms) would produce trimers at specific bond strengths. "A lot of people didn't believe him," said Hulet "... physicists can handle two-body problems quite well and many-body problems fairly well, but when there are just a few objects, like the three bodies in these Efimov trimers, there are just too many variables."
As Hulet points out, there is still no general mathematical solution for the most classic of all "three-body" problems — the sun-Earth-moon problem.
What Efimov offered in 1970 was not a general solution for the three-body problem, but it was the next-best thing — a universal relationship that would hold true for any particle but only under a particular set of circumstances.
Hulet, working at Rice University, confirmed that trimers form at specific resonate bond strengths using ultracold lithium atoms, he also confirmed tetramers, all as predicted by Efimov. This is Rice Univeristy's summary of the findings, and here is the paper.
As Hulet points out, there is still no general mathematical solution for the most classic of all "three-body" problems — the sun-Earth-moon problem.
What Efimov offered in 1970 was not a general solution for the three-body problem, but it was the next-best thing — a universal relationship that would hold true for any particle but only under a particular set of circumstances.
Hulet, working at Rice University, confirmed that trimers form at specific resonate bond strengths using ultracold lithium atoms, he also confirmed tetramers, all as predicted by Efimov. This is Rice Univeristy's summary of the findings, and here is the paper.
Submission + - SPAM: MySQL creator launches campaign to 'save' database
alphadogg writes: The creator of MySQL has launched a Web-based campaign to "save" the open-source database from the "clutches" of Oracle, which is attempting to purchase its current owner, Sun Microsystems. Oracle announced plans to buy Sun in April for $7.4 billion, but the deal has been held up while European authorities conduct an antitrust review. One key concern of regulators, as well as open-source advocates, is the future of MySQL under Oracle, which holds a healthy share of the database market with its own proprietary product. But if users speak up now, European authorities could stop the merger or force Oracle to provide certain concessions and guarantees around MySQL, Michael "Monty" Widenius said in a blog post. [spam URL stripped]
Link to Original Source
Link to Original Source
NASA WISE Satellite Blasts Into Space 139
coondoggie writes "After a three day delay, NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer this morning blasted into space courtesy of a Delta II rocket and will soon begin bathing the cosmos with infrared light, picking up the glow of hundreds of millions of objects and producing millions of images. The space agency says the WISE spacecraft will circle Earth over the poles, scanning the entire sky one-and-a-half times in nine months. The idea behind the spacecraft is to uncover objects never seen before, including the coolest stars, the universe's most luminous galaxies and some of the darkest near-Earth asteroids and comets."
Submission + - A Look At The Features In Ubuntu 10.04 (ghacks.net)
alancronin writes: A sneak peek at Ubuntu including a screenshot of the (more) transparent interface and the promised boot times.
Submission + - Zelda: The Hero of Time Debut (dailymotion.com)
zcomuto writes: Following the public debut of the comically low-budget Zelda: Hero of Time fan movie, it is now publically available for free to stream today, with a torrent download coming in the next few weeks. As the title may suggest to some, it has a loose basis on Ocarina of Time. For those wishing to watch it, they can do so below.
Submission + - Chandrayaan-1 finds organic matter in the Moon (dnaindia.com)
Titoxd writes: DNA India reports that data collected from the Indian Space Research Organisation's Chandrayaan-1 might have found "signs of life in some form or the other on the Moon". Chandrayaan-1's sensors detected organic matter signatures shortly before its Moon Impact Probe crashed into the lunar surface late last year. Interestingly, the article points out that Apollo 11 found similar traces back in 1969.
Submission + - SPAM: NASA WISE satellite blasts into space
coondoggie writes: After a three day delay, NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer this morning blasted into space courtesy of a Delta II rocket and will soon begin bathing the cosmos with infrared light, picking up the glow of hundreds of millions of objects and producing millions of images. The space agency says the WISE spacecraft will circle Earth over the poles, scanning the entire sky one-and-a-half times in nine months. The idea behind the spacecraft is to uncover objects never seen before, including the coolest stars, the universe's most luminous galaxies and some of the darkest near-Earth asteroids and comets.
[spam URL stripped]
Link to Original Source
[spam URL stripped]
Link to Original Source
Comment Re:Oh, you can tell (Score 2, Informative) 207
Try http://download.wikimedia.org/. Note that the files there are huge.
Comment Re:It's finished, dummies (Score 3, Interesting) 632
That's pretty close to reality. There's not much to do anymore, at least for me. I still keep up with my watchlist, and visit frequently to remain aware of what is going on, but my time is spent doing other useful things. And yeah, internal politics get boring after a while...
Comment Re:Firewire Drive mode (Score 1) 339
As far as I remember from my Apple-using friends, the Macs have a key combination you can press while booting, and instead of starting the OS, they start a special mode in their firmware which makes them to appear like a harddrive on their firewire port. This makes one able to rescue or repair a Mac even if the system is completely b0rked, just as if the harddrive was removed and connected to an external FireWire box.
Yes, that's Target Disk Mode.
Comment LOL (Score 1) 773
It's official, Cuban has lost it. Does he really think that $1M will persuade any of the big players? Heck, even Wikimedia (sixth in Alexa rankings) is not trying to make a profit, would only meet 12% of its operational expenses with a free million. Does he really think Amazon or Ebay would let go one of their major revenue streams?
That said, maybe Windows Live (5th in Alexa) wouldn't mind the extra million...
Comment Re:Going or coming? (Score 2, Informative) 447
Not sure about Canada, but when driving to Mexico, they have what is essentially a glorified traffic light. If you get a green light, you are not searched and you are free to go. If you get a red light, you have to be pulled over to get your car search (usually just a cursory inspection). They care more about you not bringing stuff in without paying duties than about you being a spy, though. This approach is also reflected in waiting times: In the Douglas, AZ crossing, you would rarely wait more than a minute to go to Agua Prieta, Son., but you would need to wait a couple of hours while driving from Agua Prieta back into the US.
English Wikipedia Reaches 3 Million Articles 192
FunPika writes "It has taken more than eight years and the work of vast numbers of people around the world, but the English version of Wikipedia has finally amassed more than three million articles.
The site broke through the 3 million barrier early on Monday morning UK time, with the honors taken by a short article about Norwegian actor Beate Eriksen — a 48-year-old cast member of a popular local soap opera."
