Comment Ultimate Kickstarter (Score 1) 128
We are developing this exciting new energy source and will continue testing it in the outer spiral arms of the Milky Way, where there's no intelligent life.
Submission + - Why a scorpion-eating mouse feels no pain (nature.com)
ananyo writes: When the grasshopper mouse attacks a bark scorpion, it barely notices the arachnid's intensely painful sting. Now researchers know why: the rodents have a mutation in the cellular pathway that controls their pain response, making them resistant to scorpion venom. The finding suggests a potential target for researchers trying to develop pain-relieving drugs.
Submission + - Man arrested over 3D-printed "gun" which is actually spare printer parts (pcpro.co.uk)
nk497 writes: Police in Manchester have arrested a man for 3D printing the components to a gun — but some have suggested the objects actually appear to be spare printer parts. Police arrested a man after a "significant" discovery of a 3D printed "trigger" and "magazine", saying they were now testing the parts to see if they were viable. 3D printing experts, however, said the objects were actually spare parts for the printer.
"As soon as I saw the picture... I instantly thought 'I know that part'," said Scott Crawford, head of 3D printing firm Revolv3D. "They designed an upgrade for the printer soon after it was launched, and most people will have downloaded and upgraded this part within their printer. It basically pulls the plastic filament, and it used to jam an awful lot. The new system that they've put out, which includes that little lever that they're claiming is the trigger, is most definitely the same part."
"As soon as I saw the picture... I instantly thought 'I know that part'," said Scott Crawford, head of 3D printing firm Revolv3D. "They designed an upgrade for the printer soon after it was launched, and most people will have downloaded and upgraded this part within their printer. It basically pulls the plastic filament, and it used to jam an awful lot. The new system that they've put out, which includes that little lever that they're claiming is the trigger, is most definitely the same part."
Submission + - Mice eat scorpions (on Arrakis?)
postagoras writes: Grasshopper mice have evolved biochemical pathways that thwart scorpion venom by reacting to it as a painkiller, says SciAm. Muad'dib, Bene Gesserit refuse to comment.
Comment WE live in a virtual world (Score 1) 89
Funny- most life forms have filters to *ignore* vast amounts of sense data. That's what most of the neurons are doing. The virtual worlds we implement are just way more parsimonious... that's why these rats (and marketing people) can get away with using so few neurons.
Comment Johnny Von Scissorhands (Score 1) 101
Can it carve another robot with a chainsaw?
Comment Re:40: I'm 55... (Score 2) 317
55 too, still coding... dunno what all the fuss is about. Programming nowadays is a helluva lotta fun... each line of code compares to 10K lines of assembly language, deployment is continuous rather than once every six months, what you deploy is always in beta... it's Paradise!
Comment Andreesen on MBAs (Score 1) 487
There's a decent interview of Marc Andreesen in the NY Time Sunday Magazine for today, 7/10/11.
Quote:
M.B.A. graduating classes are actually a reliable contrary indicator: if they all want to go into investment banking, there’s going to be a financial crisis. If they want to go into tech, that means a bubble is forming.
Comment Words on play - play on words (Score 1) 283
The quote is backwards, it was actually "I can't shoot this thing in real because it all has to be done in CG.'"
The first three books would be an excellent play, which is the heart of his problem.
Submission + - Terabytes of Mars Pictures Released to Public (arizona.edu)
Riding with Robots writes: "The team that runs the high-rez camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has just released more than 1,200 Mars images to the Planetary Data System, NASA's mission data archive. The team has also released 1.7 Terabytes of data to a user-friendly site that allows users to quickly home in on each image, most of which are a gigabyte-sized files measuring 20,000 by 50,000 pixels. Not all the images have been thoroughly studied yet: in the announcement, the camera's lead scientist said, 'These images must contain hundreds of important discoveries about Mars. We just need time to realize what they are.'"
Submission + - GNU Emacs 22.1 Released!
pundit writes: "GNU Emacs 22.1 has been released, and is available for download on the GNU FTP site and its mirrors. This new release features support for the GTK+ toolkit, enhanced mouse support, a new keyboard macro system, improved Unicode support, and drag-and-drop operation on X, plus many new modes and packages including a graphical user interface to GDB, Python mode, the mathematical tool Calc, the remote file editing system Tramp, and more!"
Submission + - Space Exploration Strategy
postagoras writes: NASA and 13 space agencies from around the world are releasing the latest product of their Global Exploration Strategy discussions. The document, "The Global Exploration Strategy: The Framework for Coordination," reflects a shared vision of space exploration focused on solar system destinations where humans may someday live and work.
