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Submission + - Samsung "Conroes" the APS-C sensor market (slrlounge.com)

Submitted by GhostX9
GhostX9 writes: SLR Lounge just posted a first look at the Samsung NX1 28.1 MP interchangeable lens camera. They compare it to Canon and Sony full-frame sensors. Spoiler: The Samsung sensor seems to beat the Sony A7R sensor up to ISO 3200. They attribute this to Samsung's chip foundry. While Sony is using 180nm manufacturing (Intel Pentium III era) and Canon is still using 500nm process (AMD DX4 era), Samsung has gone with 65nm with copper interconnects (Intel Core 2 Duo — Conroe era). Furthermore, Samsung's premium lenses appear to be as sharp or sharper than Canon's L line and Sony's Zeiss line in the center, although the Canon 24-70/2.8L II is sharper at the edge of the frame.

Submission + - Are There One Or More Planets Larger Than Earth In Trans-Neptune Orbits?

Submitted by BarbaraHudson
BarbaraHudson writes: NBC News reports that at least two planets larger than Earth likely lurk far beyond Pluto, just waiting to be discovered, a new analysis of the orbits of "extreme trans-Neptunian objects" (ETNOs) suggests. The potential undiscovered worlds would be more massive than Earth and would lie about 200 AU or more from the sun — so far away that they'd be very difficult, if not impossible, to spot with current instruments. "The exact number is uncertain, given that the data that we have is limited, but our calculations suggest that there are at least two planets, and probably more, within the confines of our solar system," lead author Carlos de la Fuente Marcos, of the Complutense University of Madrid, said.

Submission + - Science skeptic Ted Cruz to oversee NASA and US Science programs (huffingtonpost.com)

Submitted by romanval
romanval writes: In a move that shows how the last election is turning the U.S. into a bizzaro state, Senator Ted Cruz (R- Tx); a man who claims there isn't enough evidence to prove climate change is occurring, is to chair the Subcommittee on Space, Science and Competitiveness, where he will oversee NASA and U.S. science programs. Fellow climate change denier Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) will also chair the Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and the Coast Guard upon his confirmation.

Submission + - 300 Stanford professors call for full fossil fuel divestment (blueandgreentomorrow.com)

Submitted by mdsolar
mdsolar writes: Some 300 professors from Stanford University, California, have called for the school to fully divest from the fossil fuels industry, arguing that the magnitude of climate change calls for a thorough commitment, not a partial solution.

In May last year, the board of trustees at the prestigious university decided not to make any more direct investments in coal mining companies, stating that the energy source is polluting and no longer necessary given the clean alternatives now available. The school also said it would divest from the holdings it currently owns in such firms.

However, professors at the university are now calling for the school to get rid of all fossil fuel investments.

A letter from the professors, which has been published in the Guardian, notes that companies currently own fossil fuel holdings sufficient to produce 2,795 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide – five times the amount recommended if global warming is to remain with the 2C limit, past which scientists have warned that the effects of climate change will become more extreme and unpredictable.

Submission + - Nuclear Waste Accident Costs Los Alamos Contractor $57 Million 1

Submitted by HughPickens.com
HughPickens.com writes: The LA Times reports that Los Alamos National Security, the contractor managing the nuclear weapons laboratory at Los Alamos, NM has been slapped with a $57-million reduction in its fees for 2014, largely due to a costly nuclear waste accident in which a 55-gallon drum packaged with plutonium waste from bomb production erupted after being placed in a 2,150-foot underground dump in the eastern New Mexico desert. Casks filled with 3.2 million cubic feet of deadly radioactive wastes remain buried at the crippled plant and the huge facility was rendered useless. The exact causes of the chemical reaction are still under investigation, but Energy Department officials say a packaging error at Los Alamos caused a reaction inside the drum. The radioactive material went airborne, contaminating a ventilation shaft that went to the surface giving low-level doses of radiation to 21 workers. According to a DOE report, the disaster at WIPP is rooted in careless contractors and lack of DOE oversight (PDF). "The accident was a horrific comedy of errors," says James Conca, a scientific advisor and expert on the WIPP. "This was the flagship of the Energy Department, the most successful program it had. The ramifications of this are going to be huge. Heads will roll."

The accident is likely to cause at least an 18-month shutdown and possibly a closure that could last several years. Waste shipments have already backed up at nuclear cleanup projects across the country, which even before the accident were years behind schedule. According to the Times, the cost of the accident, including likely delays in cleanup projects across the nation, will approach $1 billion. But some nuclear weapons scientists say the fine is an overreaction. "It was a mistake by an individual — a terrible mistake — and Washington now wants to punish a lot of people," says Conca. "The amount of radiation that was released was trivial. As long as you don't lick the walls, you can't get any radiation down there. Why are we treating this like Fukushima?"

Comment Re:Perfect poker strategy... uhm, maybe. (Score 1) 340

by Todd Palin (#48777673) Attached to: Researchers "Solve" Texas Hold'Em, Create Perfect Robotic Player

I figured it might be, but I am constantly amazed at the people that think the game involves all luck and no skill. I have been playing hold-em for many decades and still consider myself to be a slightly above average player. Your tongue in cheek advice is actually a good plan for beginners. Only play good hands and fold when a flop misses you. You will lose, but not as badly as you would if you tried to be creative. Hopefully playing this strategy would let you learn as cheaply as possible.

Comment Re:Perfect poker strategy... uhm, maybe. (Score 1) 340

by Todd Palin (#48771381) Attached to: Researchers "Solve" Texas Hold'Em, Create Perfect Robotic Player

Not that simple. A good player will win with the worst hand at times. A good player will also sometimes fold with the best hand due to uncertainty and risk management. Good players sometimes fold to a bluff for perfectly good reasons. They also sometimes bluff and lose. But, the good player will learn from these decisions so that they make better decisions next time. You never know what your opponent holds, but you try to understand their strategy over time to exploit their play.

Comment Re:Perfect? Really? (Score 2) 340

by Todd Palin (#48771237) Attached to: Researchers "Solve" Texas Hold'Em, Create Perfect Robotic Player

Try actually playing the game, preferably against a highly skilled player. You might just discover that it is a lot more complicated than you think it is. Sharing cards is one of the things that allows skilled players to excel. BTW, there are no wild cards in hold'em.

Seriously, play the game and see for yourself. I would love to have such a clueless opponent.

Submission + - Ansel Adams Act Would Allow Photographs in Public Spaces (congress.gov) 1

Submitted by davidannis
davidannis writes: Photographers have been harassed for taking pictures in public places since 9/11. One was arrested for participating in an Amtrak contest. The park service is charging fees. Representative Steve Stockman (R, Texas) addresses the problem with the Ansel Adams Act which he introduced today. It says "It is contrary to the public policy of the United States to prohibit or restrict photography in public spaces, whether for private, news media, or commercial use." The act prohibits government agencies from prohibiting photography for National Security Reasons without a court order, from charging photographers fees, and prohibits equipment from being confiscated.

Federal law enforcement officers or private contractors shall not seize any photographic equipment or their contents or memory cards or film, and shall not order a photographer to erase the contents of a camera or memory card or film.

Submission + - How many habitable planets are in our galaxy?

Submitted by StartsWithABang
StartsWithABang writes: For the past three years, Kepler has been looking at 150,000 stars, searching for planetary transits. The science haul has been huge, but mostly larger planets close in to their parent stars. Nevertheless, a few rocky, habitable-zone planets have been discovered. Whether we take optimistic or pessimistic estimates, what do we expect for the rest of the galaxy? At minimum, some 6 billion habitable-zone, rocky planets. And likely many more!

Submission + - Scientist Says Curiosity May Have Found Fossils on Mars (viralglobalnews.com)

Submitted by mpicpp
mpicpp writes: A scientist named Nora Noffke says she thinks that the Curiosity rover may have found fossils on Mars. Noffke’s findings have been published in the journal Astrobiology. The study theorizes that certain rocks on Mars might have been formed by microbes, Discovery reports.

To create her hypothesis, Noffke closely examined photographs taken by Curiosity and compared them to rocks on Earth that have definitely been formed by living organisms. She says the pictures returned by the rover look extremely similar to microbe-created rocks on our own planet. The specific photos Noffke studied were taken in Gale Crater, specifically in the Yellowknife Bay area which houses the Gillespie Lake outcrop. The bottom of the lake and bay, which once contained water, consists of sedimentary sandstone.

While there have been previous papers theorizing that certain rocks prove life on Mars due to the presence of fossils, those have often been debunked. Noffke’s work has been so thorough, though, that even NASA is impressed.

NASA spokesperson Chris McKay explained, “I’ve seen many papers that say ‘Look, here’s a pile of dirt on Mars, and here’s a pile of dirt on Earth. And because they look the same, the same mechanism must have made each pile on the two planets. That’s an easy argument to make, and it’s typically not very convincing. However, Noffke’s paper is the most carefully done analysis of the sort that I’ve seen, which is why it’s the first of its kind published in Astrobiology.”

Submission + - Microbe found in grassy field contains powerful antibiotic (sciencemag.org)

Submitted by sciencehabit
sciencehabit writes: For much of the last decade, a team of researchers in Boston has eagerly exhumed and reburied dirt. It’s part of a strategy to access an untapped source of new antibiotics—the estimated 99% of microbes in the environment that refuse to grow in laboratories. Now, their technique has yielded a promising lead: a previously unknown bacterium that makes a compound with infection-killing abilities. What’s more, the team claims in a report out today, the compound is unlikely to fall prey to the problem of antibiotic resistance. That suggestion has its skeptics, but if the drug makes it through clinical trials, it would be a much needed weapon against several increasingly hard-to-treat infections.

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