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Math

Submission + - Surfer Devises 'Theory of Everything' (telegraph.co.uk)

Submitted by
Dylan Knight Rogers
Dylan Knight Rogers writes: "Surfer dude physicist Garrett Lisi has devised a 'theory of everything' based upon the complex mathematical constructs of the 'E8'. From the article:

E8 encapsulates the symmetries of a geometric object that is 57-dimensional and is itself is 248-dimensional. Lisi says "I think our universe is this beautiful shape." What makes E8 so exciting is that Nature also seems to have embedded it at the heart of many bits of physics. One interpretation of why we have such a quirky list of fundamental particles is because they all result from different facets of the strange symmetries of E8. Lisi's breakthrough came when he noticed that some of the equations describing E8's structure matched his own. "My brain exploded with the implications and the beauty of the thing," he tells New Scientist. "I thought: 'Holy crap, that's it!'
His most interesting treatise on physics can be found here."
Movies

Submission + - A Convenient Truth - Preview goes online (climatefilm.com)

Submitted by
Anonymous Coward
Anonymous Coward writes: "A CONVENIENT TRUTH" PREVIEW GOES LIVE
Feature length preview of "A Convenient Truth", a film about the world getting better, goes online.

Shot in late 2006, after watching Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth, Jack Guest was inspired to find a A Convenient Truth about climate change. He invested his life savings and took a film crew to Sweden (by boat), a country aiming to break its dependency on oil by 2020. There he met a full range of people, from politicians and scientists, to families and entrepreneurs.

The feature length preview film tells the story of Jack's journey to Sweden, with part one released today:

www.climatefilm.com/preview

In December of the same year Jack continued his journey, crossing the Atlantic by cargo ship in search of love, a low carbon footprint, and time to enjoy the ride. Things didn't go exactly according to plan. With a light hearted tone A Convenient Truth's positive message is that things can get better and that change does not have to mean sacrifice.

The film is heading for release in early 2008.

Jack Guest, Director of Participate Productions said: "We've split our feature length preview of A Convenient Truth into five parts and will be releasing a new part online weekly following the launch on the 15th November, so it can reach as many people as possible. The film's global message is that things can get better, that the world can work for everyone, and that we will make it happen.""
Social Networks

Submission + - An Exceptionally Simple Theory of Everything

Submitted by
lrohrer
lrohrer writes: "Surfer physicist, Garrett Lisi, proposes alternative to string theory. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/11/14/scisurf114.xml Lisi's inspiration lies in the most elegant and intricate shape known to mathematics, called E8 — a complex, eight-dimensional mathematical pattern with 248 points first found in 1887, but only fully understood by mathematicians this year after workings, that, if written out in tiny print, would cover an area the size of Manhattan. E8 encapsulates the symmetries of a geometric object that is 57-dimensional and is itself is 248-dimensional. Lisi says "I think our universe is this beautiful shape.""
United States

Submission + - Scariest real world websites...

Submitted by
lrohrer
lrohrer writes: "This article talks about some very scary things Hillary Clinton is ACTUALLY saying: http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=58414. I plan to pass it to every adult that comes to my door. There are many other real sites that are really not for the faint heart. there is always http://www.irs.gov/ What are some other scary real world websites? Today's Slashdot poll should reflect these too."
Biotech

Submission + - Butterflies quickly evolve and avoid extinction (reuters.com)

Submitted by PenguinX
PenguinX writes: This link to Reuters brings back the age old question? is it, A) Fate? B) Luck? C) Will power? D) The omni one? or E) some other multiple choice answer? Because i'm a romantic i'm going for C. Yes butterflies do have wills. But on a more sobering thought, what if these butterflies genetic coding's were locked away behind some patent or copyright. No more butterfly i guess. So if creation itself uses an open source system, why is their so many closed sourced systems being used? Its the devils work i say, God damm it! i should of picked D.
Editorial

Submission + - Factory soot leads to increased pacific storms.

Submitted by Cryolithic
Cryolithic writes: From the Vancouver Sun

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html ?id=e28e0f63-8add-4f03-aa2e-f64a8499bad5&k=5988

Soot from the factories of Asia is changing weather across the Pacific Ocean and causing storms like the December howler that clobbered Vancouver's Stanley Park, a new study says.

"The intensified Pacific storm track is climatically significant," and is the first time climate scientists have been able to measure the effect of "aerosols" — minute airborne particles — on climate, the team writes.
United States

Submission + - US copying laptop hard disks+password upon entry

Submitted by
Flo
Flo writes: "According to Fefe, a German blogger, U.S. officials copy hard disks of laptops upon entry. They even insist on the disclosure of passwords so they can decrypt files. Allegedly they even take people into coercive detention to retrieve the passwords. Fefe's sources are one member of the (German) Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) and one employee of SAP. He also claims to have received confirmation for this from "two other large companies"."
Space

Submission + - the largest non-commercial rocket launch in Europe

Submitted by jaweekes
jaweekes writes: The TV program "Top Gear" recently launched the "largest non-commercial rocket launch in European history" in the form of a rocket-propelled Reliant Robin. From the article http://www.bbc.co.uk/topgear/show/production_notes /shuttle.shtml "What could possibly be so difficult about building a space shuttle? Quite a lot, as it turns out. This was easily Top Gear's most ambitious film and, while everything didn't go quite according to plan, we're still very proud of the results. Here are just a few of the things that happened when we tried to put an ageing three-wheeler into space."

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