Comment That may be temporarily true, (Score 2) 253
....but I think we all know where evolution is headed.
Submission + - Man Injects Penis With Olive Oil, Gets Penis Cancer (huffingtonpost.com)
An anonymous reader writes: "His "coconut sized" genitalia was just the beginning.
A man was admitted to a Bangkok hospital after an unlicensed olive oil injection meant to enlarge his penis caused an infection so horrible his testicles swelled to the size of the medium size fruit, the Bangkok Post reports."
A man was admitted to a Bangkok hospital after an unlicensed olive oil injection meant to enlarge his penis caused an infection so horrible his testicles swelled to the size of the medium size fruit, the Bangkok Post reports."
Submission + - Hard Disk capacity set to increase up to five times (technologyreview.com)
Dupple writes: A technique that enables the nanopatterned layers that store data in hard disk drives to assemble themselves has been improved to better suit mass production, and could enable disks that store five times as much data as the largest available today.
Using self-assembly instead of machines that print or etch out features has long been considered a potential solution to a looming barrier to expanding the capacity of hard-disk designs. Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin have now worked out a solution to a problem that made self-assembly incompatible with existing factories.
Using self-assembly instead of machines that print or etch out features has long been considered a potential solution to a looming barrier to expanding the capacity of hard-disk designs. Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin have now worked out a solution to a problem that made self-assembly incompatible with existing factories.
Submission + - Old Electric-Car Batteries Put into Service for Home Energy Storage
Hugh Pickens writes writes: "Josie Garthwaite writes that old electric car batteries degraded below acceptable performance levels for autos still have enough life to serve the grid for at least ten years with a prototype announced by GM and ABB lashing five Chevy Volt battery packs together in an array with a capacity of 10 kilowatt-hours — enough to provide electricity for three to five average houses for two hours. "In a car, you want immediate power, and you want a lot of it," says Alexandra Goodson. "We're discharging for two hours instead of immediately accelerating. It's not nearly as demanding on the system." Deployed on the grid, community energy storage devices could help utilities integrate highly variable renewables like solar and wind into the power supply, while absorbing spikes in demand from electric-car charging. "Wind, it's a nightmare for grid operators to manage," says Britta Gross, director of global energy systems and infrastructure commercialization for GM. "It's up, down, it doesn't blow for three days. It's very labor-intensive to manage." The batteries would allow for storage of power during inexpensive periods for use during expensive peak demand, or help make up for gaps in solar, wind or other renewable power generation. One final advantage of re-using electric car batteries is that the battery—the most expensive part of an electric car—remains an asset beyond its useful life in the vehicle. "If there is a market in stationary power for spent batteries, consumers could recognize this as an increased resale value at end of life, however small," says Kevin See."
Comment Re:Why did they change the requirements? (Score 1) 421
I predict that they will switch to autonomous drone technology before they ever raise pilot pay.
Comment Re:Great.... but... (Score 1) 39
Might be good for squeezing more data on an optical drive?
Comment Re:hooooorah no can they please pay back double... (Score 1) 171
For $150k you could buy a nice mansion (or two) in Detroit.
For $150k in Los Angeles or San Francisco, you could probably buy a nice tent or cardboard box.
Comment Is this was the "F - K" line? (Score 1) 821
I can't be the only person who incorrectly read that.
Comment Forget about talking to cars -Talk2 traffic lights (Score 5, Interesting) 239
There's few things more irritating to me than waiting for a red light when there are no other vehicles at an intersection.
All I want is a simple way to communicate to the traffic light to let it know that I am approaching so I don't have to stop. It seems that most automatic lights I have encountered wait until I have come to a near full stop - which partially defeats the purpose.
Implement this and then BAM - instant time savings and 3+ Miles per gallon savings for every vehicle on the road.
6 Homeless People Saved By the Internet 94
An anonymous reader writes "With Ted Williams's story (the homeless man with the golden voice, saved by the internet) blowing up online, and in the traditional media, we figured it was time to tell the stories of 5 other homeless people who've found success, be it financial or personal, through the wonderful use of this series of tubes we call The Internet."
4chan Declares War On Snow 201
With all the recent hacktivism in the news, Anonymous has decided to take on a new and powerful enemy: snow. On Sunday the group announced that it will "do everything in its power to shut snow down by attacking the Weather Channel and North Face websites, boycotting outerwear, and voting for the sun as Time’s 2010 Person Of The Year." I'm sure there are a lot of people in Minneapolis right now that would wish them luck.
Grad Student Invents Cheap Laser Cutter 137
An anonymous reader writes "Peter Jansen, a PhD student and member of the RepRap community, has constructed a working prototype of an inexpensive table-top laser cutter built out of old CD/DVD drives as an offshoot of his efforts to design an under $200 open-source Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) 3D printer. Where traditional laser cutters use powerful, fixed-focus beams, this new technique dynamically adjusts the focal point of the laser using a reciprocating motion similar to a reciprocating saw, allowing a far less powerful and inexpensive laser diode to be used. The technique is currently limited to cutting black materials to a depth of only a few millimeters, but should still be useful and enabling for Makers and other crafters. The end-goal is to create a hybrid inexpensive 3D printer that can be easily reconfigured for 2D laser cutting, providing powerful making tools to the desktop."
Comment Re:escalators too (Score 3, Insightful) 698
I use the same technique in reverse to make my headlight switch last longer.
Comment Re:This will be interesting. (Score 2, Insightful) 380
maybe younger drivers are more likely to notice the problem sooner and shift into neutral faster than older drivers?
One Quarter of Germans Happy To Have Chip Implants 170
justice4all writes "If it means shorter lines at the supermarket, a quarter of Germans would be happy to have a chip implanted under their skin. The head of Germany's main IT trade body told the audience at the opening ceremony of the CeBIT technology exhibition that one in four of his countrymen are happy to have a microchip inserted for ID purposes."
