I'm not sure which trait you're referring to. That they're topological, having "a full pairing gap in the bulk and gapless surface states"? That's not the case for superconductors, generally.

Topological Insulators (2D and 3D) are strange, but definitely not an "IF". Check this: http://arxiv.org/abs/1002.3895 from 2010. Several have been predicted and confirmed experimentally previous to this.

SmB6 is great because it's not based on weak interactions (like other topological insulators) but on strongly-correlated electrons, and the new relation of the Kondo insulator to the Topological Insulator.

Look at top-film lists for any genre or time-period and then see which of those are available on Netflix (streaming). It's less than 1 in 10. Then look at new releases. Very few are available on Netflix for download. Selection is a big divider for Netflix and brick/mortars. These two areas (popular/classic favorites and new releases) are Netflix weaknesses that are local video store strengths. Hang on to these and try to do them well.

Common weaknesses are general selection. The fact is there are millions of movies out there, and not even Netflix can offer all of them. I'd really like to see all the films of Francois Truffaut, for example, but you can't on Netflix. You also can't at your local video store. But this is where I like what another slashdot commentor said: let the user sponsor the dvd. I think they said through buy-back, which is a good option if the store wants the disc, but if not, I'd also let them purchase the dvd and share in any profits from rentals and let them own the disc after a time if no one's renting it.

One area where video rentals could have innovated 10 years ago but are still resisting is in video research. Put up a kiosk in your store where people can do movie research and that shows them whether the movie they want is available (for rent, and whether currently in-stock) in your store. Put this online too, so people can look it up before they drive all the way to your store. You already have computerized systems that tell the store the same info, so it can't be too hard to make it available to the customers. Even Netflix is squandering this possibility, especially since they split the dvd and streaming business lines. Now when you search for a movie that is not in their streaming-only system, it doesn't show you the title and say 'sorry-not available for streaming' or give you the option to rent-by-mail, it actually suggests totally different movies, making you think you entered the wrong title or something. And while you're at it, give the users a flat-screen tv to watch movie trailers on while they're there.

There are ways for brick/mortar's to survivce for a bit longer, but I give dvd/hd rental companies 3-5 years max, for the ones that really try to hang on. The ideas I've given above are areas where locals can offer big advantages over digital streaming services, but those wrinkles will be ironed out soon enough in streaming. I guess then you could try to target poor areas where the net isn't ubiquitous. Long-term, perhaps there is a way to take advantage of the meat-space aspect of local stores, but I can't think of any, except for the general fostering of community. Sorry I can't help in this area, but if you want to survive long-term, it's got to be in the community--something that puts customers face-to-face and interacting in a fun way.

I'd like to be able to select only the newscast segments I'm interested in, queue them up, and watch them all at once. In addition to removing bloat and irrelevant segments, it also would cut out those annoying teasers.

Added bonus (next gen): selecting to hear either the long or the short story for each bit.

First off, you should pick up an undergraduate text on "Modern Physics," which should include a really basic intro to both special and general relativity. Any text will do, but I own the one by Tipler/Llewellyn. This kind of text will be fairly light on the math, but will include some. This will also get you started with some really basic problems which should show that while you may not fully understand General Relativity (GR), you can do some really basic problems (e.g. gravitational redshift).

I. Calculus. Sounds like you already know some.

II. Differential Equations
        A. Ordinary
        B. Partial

III. Linear Algebra (Some texts teach ordinary differential equations and linear algebra together)

IV. Math Methods for Physicists (Arfken and Weber). Use this more for reference than for learning. Any math you need beyond the above set will be fairly specialized, so you can study by topic.

V. The best intro to relativity is in David J. Griffiths "Intro to Electrodynamics", a widely used textbooks for undergraduate physics majors. This only covers special relativity, but it's probably a really good place to start. For the graduate level, refer to Jackson's "Classical Electrodynamics," or possibly an easier equivalent.

VI. Another text by Griffiths is "Introduction to Elementary Particles", which includes some really useful stuff on relativity at the undergraduate level but for physics majors.

VII. (admission: I haven't studied General Relativity because I'm in another area of physics (CM), but I've harbored a secret desire to study it and maybe someday will steel away and do it.) A really common book is "Spacetime and Geometry: An Introduction to General Relativity" by Sean Carroll. I've flipped through this and it looks extremely well written, so when I do go ahead with my study, this is probably the book I'll select. Another good one is "A First Course in General Relativity" by Bernard Schutz. These are both graduate level texts, and I can't imagine there being an undergraduate level text.

This may take a long time and will be occasionally difficult, but it is certainly doable. Good luck.

The first immortal cell line ever grown was that of Henrietta Lacks in 1951, who had cancer, and her cells are still living in many labs throughout the world--about 20 tons worth (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrietta_Lacks)! Scientists, literally, won't let her die.

It's also common in Japan to say "the west" (seiyou (characters won't render on slashdot--why?)), to refer to what we also mean by 'the west,' meaning specifically europe instead of asia, but also referring to the U.S., and culturally, yes, it's fairly ambiguous. For example, in Murakami Haruki's 'All God's Children Can Dance', in the first vignette Omura is brought to a love hotel that looked like a "seiyou no shiro" (a western castle).

The Japanese word for west itself, nishi is commonly used for referring to Spain, as in nissei (a conjunction of nichi (nippon) and sei/nishi (west) meaning Japan-Spain (eg. Japan-Spain relations).

Of course, in spherical polar coordinates, north and south have non-circular definitions, but east/west is 2Pi-periodic. On the other hand, we do get a sort of branch cut with the International Date Line, so that to Japan, all the rest of the world is to the west. I'm guessing Japan is okay with this idea since it fits in with 'the Land of the Rising Sun', which it's too bad has nothing to do with Hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises."

On the topic of the article, I don't think this means the actual demise of game development in Japan, just the expansion beyond its own borders, which I think will be interesting to see how it turns out.