Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading!

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×
The Military

Submission + - US Air Force Seeks Air Force One Replacement

Tyketto writes: The United States Air Force has taken the first public step in the search for a replacement of the Boeing VC-25, also known as Air Force One, saying that it is no longer cost effective to operate and modernize the two 19 year old VC-25s, which are converted Boeing 747-200s. Airbus has already submitted data for the A380, and while Boeing has had the Air Force One contract for nearly 50 years, delays with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Boeing 747-8, and the KC-X Tanker competition may see the USAF look to Europe for its next presidential aircraft.
Communications

Submission + - Development 2.0 Challenge Winners Announced

Katie writes: "Yesterday Columbia University and UNICEF received the first-place award in the 'Development 2.0 Challenge' of the US Agency for International Development (USAID). The award was for an innovative system that uses low-end mobile phones to monitor children's health and nutritional status in Malawi. The project is part of UNICEF's new strategy for using mobile and web-based technology to facilitate communication in Africa and around the world. Runner-ups of the Challenge include two other mobile projects: Ushahidi and Click Diagnostics."
Transmeta

Submission + - Largest particle collider conducts successful test (weather.com)

mercutioviz writes: "If the economy doesn't destroy the world, maybe CERN will, as they've conducted their first successful test. From the article: The world's largest particle collider successfully completed its first major test by firing a beam of protons around a 17-mile underground ring Wednesday in what scientists hope is the next great step to understanding the makeup of the universe.
After a series of trial runs, two white dots flashed on a computer screen at 10:36 a.m. indicating that the protons had traveled the full length of the $3.8 billion Large Hadron Collider."

Sci-Fi

Submission + - Synchrotron gets sci-fi writer in residence (www.cbc.ca)

kandela writes: "CBC News is reporting that Nebula and Hugo award winning author Robert J. Sawyer is to become the first ever writer in residence at the Canadian Light Source synchrotron facility (see also their media release).

Sayer will spend two months at the facility, where he is hoping to be inspired by the everyday grind of scientists, "I spent a lot of time visiting science labs over the years, but it's always the VIP tour," he said in an interview Wednesday. "You are in and you are out in a couple of hours, and everyone has shown you all the things they want you to see but none of the day-to-day grind of the work as well. I want to get the flavour of that."

As a scientist who has worked at synchrotron facilities (and occasional sci-fi writer myself (page 4)), I'm excited to see what a professional can do with that environment for inspiration."

Portables

Submission + - Intel's third-gen Classmate PC tablet previewed (techreport.com)

J. Dzhugashvili writes: As the OLPC organization cuts huge chunks of its staff, Intel has revealed its third-generation Classmate PC for kids in developing nations. The Tech Report has posted a hands-on preview with plenty of photos and a look at the machine's hardware and capabilities. Apparently, the new Intel netbook has plenty of perks, including a convertible tablet design with a stylus and 8.9" touch-sensitive screen, a 1.6GHz Atom processor, Windows XP, and 3.3-5 hours of battery life (depending on the model).
Data Storage

Submission + - USB 3.0 is ten times faster; get it in 2010 (blorge.com)

thefickler writes: "Seagate and Symwave are jointly demonstrating the first consumer applications of USB 3.0 at CES, showing a Seagate FreeAgent drive running through a Symwave USB 3.0-compatible storage controller device. According to Symwave, this will result in 'speeds previously unattainable with legacy USB technology.' Which means, if you understand PR-write, it will be much faster."
Science

Rare Venomous Mammal Filmed 233

Smivs writes "The BBC are reporting that footage of one of the world's most strange and elusive mammals has been captured by scientists. Large, and with a long, thin snout, the Hispaniolan solenodon resembles an overgrown shrew. It can inject passing prey with a venom-loaded bite. Dr Sam Turvey, a ZSL (Zoological Society of London) researcher involved with the program, told BBC News: 'It is an amazing creature — it is one of the most evolutionary distinct mammals in the world.' Along with the other species of solenodon, which is found in Cuba (Solenodon cubanus), it is the only living mammal that can actually inject venom into their prey through specialized teeth. Little is known about the creature, which is found in the Caribbean, but it is under threat from deforestation, hunting and introduced species. Researchers say conservation efforts are now needed. The mammal was filmed in the summer of 2008 during a month-long expedition to the Dominican Republic — one of only two countries where this nocturnal, insect-eating animal (Solenodon paradoxus) can be found (the other is Haiti). The researchers from the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and the Ornithological Society of Hispaniola were able to take measurements and DNA from the creature before it was released."

Comment Re:Science, or practice? (Score 2, Insightful) 232

They're not just used for scalpel practice - they're used for anatomical studies so that when your surgeon is opening you up, they know what all your organs actually look like and don't spend half an hour playing "find the body part we want". In order to be successful in dissection and surgery, you need to have practice on real flesh, because it's never as neat as the plastic models of the body would make you think.
Quickies

Submission + - U.S. scientists learn how to levitate tiny objects (yahoo.com)

AVIDJockey writes: Scientists have found a way to levitate the very smallest objects using the strange forces of quantum mechanics, and said on Wednesday they might use it to help make tiny nanotechnology machines.

They said they had detected and measured a force that comes into play at the molecular level using certain combinations of molecules that repel one another. The repulsion can be used to hold molecules aloft, in essence levitating them, creating virtually friction-free parts for tiny devices.

Sci-Fi

Submission + - Scientists discover way to levitate tiny objects (msn.com)

mytrip writes: CHICAGO — U.S. scientists have found a way to levitate the very smallest objects using the strange forces of quantum mechanics, and said on Wednesday they might use it to help make tiny nanotechnology machines.

They said they had detected and measured a force that comes into play at the molecular level using certain combinations of molecules that repel one another.

The repulsion can be used to hold molecules aloft, in essence levitating them, creating virtually friction-free parts for tiny devices, the researchers said.

Medicine

Submission + - Is love just a chemical cocktail? (bbc.co.uk)

Hapless Hero writes: A professor of neuroscience at Emory University theorizes that romantic love, despite the myriad ways poets have been describing the most written-about emotion for centuries, is nothing more profound than a series of chemical reactions. From the BBC.co.uk article:

Professor Young argues that love can be explained by a series of neurochemical events that are happening in specific brain areas. If that is true then, he says, one would no longer have to rely on oysters or chocolates to create a loving mood. Instead, it will be possible for scientists to develop aphrodisiacs — chemicals that would make people fall in love with the first person they see. And for those who have fallen in love with someone they shouldn't have fallen in love with, an antidote to unrequited love. There is even the prospect of a genetic "love test" to assess whether two potential love birds are predisposed to a happy married life.

Are we headed towards our very own real-life love potions? Or is there something deeper going on in true love?

Security

Submission + - Trojan Virus Insists "Downloading is wrong.

NoisySplatter writes: "Ernesto, founder of TorrentFreak.com, reports that a new trojan, "Troj/Qhost-AC", has been found distributed on The Pirate Bay.

The virus was disguised as a serial key generator and the offending torrent has since been removed, but the source has not been identified. Troj/Qhost-AC makes changes to the user's hosts file that redirect The Pirate Bay, Suprbay, and Mininova to 127.0.0.1. In addition to making three of the most popular torrent sites inaccessible the virus also plays a sound file saying, "downloading is wrong".

It looks like someone has finally stepped up to the plate to challenge Madonna for the title of "Most Obnoxious Anti-Piracy Stunt". Of course this could just be the software industry's attempt at outdoing the RIAA and MPAA."
Space

Submission + - South Korea Goes SETI (blogspot.com)

Adam Korbitz writes: "South Korea has joined the ranks of nations engaged in SETI:

South Korea has some of the best telecommunication technology in the world. If only eavesdropping on alien chatter was as easy as flipping open a cell phone. The Gwacheon National Science Museum said its brand new 7.2-meter telescope, to be activated this month, will be used to search for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence. Local astronomers are analyzing radio signals detected by the telescope, which is now under a test run, according to Lee Kang-hwan, who will head the museum's SETI (search for extra-terrestrial intelligence) program. The telescope's targets will include the Milky Way and about 250 planetary systems, Lee said. ``Our radio telescope is one of the first instruments of its kind specializing in finding indications of alien life,'' Lee said. ``There've been consistent efforts in several countries to search for radio signals produced by extra-terrestrial life, but no substantial results have been reported. Science needs more research in this area, and we are glad to be part of the process,'' he said.

"

Slashdot Top Deals

"Protozoa are small, and bacteria are small, but viruses are smaller than the both put together."

Working...