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Submission + - U.S. Navy Deploys Its First Laser Weapon in the Persian Gulf (bloomberg.com)

Submitted by Beck_Neard
Beck_Neard writes: FTA: "The U.S. Navy has deployed on a command ship in the Persian Gulf its first laser weapon capable of destroying a target.

"The amphibious transport ship USS Ponce has been patrolling with a prototype 30-kilowatt-class Laser Weapon System since late August, according to officials. The laser is mounted facing the bow, and can be fired in several modes — from a dazzling warning flash to a destructive beam — and can set a drone or small boat on fire."

Comment ok by me (Score 1) 2

by zlives (#48373557) Attached to: Gas Prices Are Too Damn Low

"indexing the gas tax to inflation," as long as a minimum wage increase tied to inflation is in place and a health cost increase is also tied to inflation rate.

Submission + - scientists discover diamond nanothreads (cnn.com)

Submitted by sokol815
sokol815 writes: Penn State University scientists discovered diamond nanothreads can be created from benzene when compressed. The compression brings the benzene molecules into a highly reactive state. It was expected that the molecules would create a non-ordered glass-like material, but due to the slow speed of decompression used, the benzene molecules ordered themselves into a naturally repeating crystal. The experiment took place at room-temperature. Early results indicate that these nanothreads are stronger than previously produced carbon nanotubes, and may have applications throughout the engineering industry.

Submission + - Patent troll hits major pharma company (seekingalpha.com)

Submitted by walterbyrd
walterbyrd writes: We often hear of patent trolls in the tech industry, but rarely see this from major pharma companies. However, the term applies perfectly to AbbVie's strategy to either prevent Gilead from selling Harvoni or compelling royalties. . .

AbbVie cannot commercialize Harvoni since they do not own any patents to the individual drugs that make up the combination, sofosbuvir and ledipasvir. However, it is perfectly legal to apply for and obtain "method of use" and "utility" patents for products that a company does not own and this is what ABBV has accomplished with its five patents.

Submission + - AT&T to "Pause" Gigabit Internet Rollout Until Net Neutrality Is Settled

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: AT&T days it will halt its investment on broadband Internet service expansion until the federal rules on open Internet are clarified. "We can't go out and just invest that kind of money, deploying fiber to 100 cities other than these two million [covered by the DirecTV deal], not knowing under what rules that investment will be governed," AT&T Chief Randall Stephenson said during an appearance at a Wells Fargo conference, according to a transcript provided by AT&T. "And so, we have to pause, and we have to just put a stop on those kind of investments that we're doing today."

Submission + - Gas Prices Are Too Damn Low 2

Submitted by HughPickens.com
HughPickens.com writes: Pat Garofalo writes in an op-ed in US News & World Report that with the recent drop in oil prices, there's something policymakers can do that will offset at least some of the negative effects of the currently low prices, while also removing a constant thorn in the side of American transportation and infrastructure policy: Raise the gas tax. The current 18.4 cent per gallon gas tax has not been raised since 1993, making it about 11 cents per gallon today, in constant dollars. Plus, as fuel efficiency has gotten better and Americans have started driving less, the tax has naturally raised less revenue anyway. And that's a problem because the tax fills the Highway Trust Fund, which is, not to put too fine a point on it, broke so that in recent years Congress has had to patch it time and time again to fill the gap. According to the Tax Policy Center's Howard Gleckman, if Congress doesn't make a move, "it will fumble one of those rare opportunities when the economic and policy stars align almost perfectly." The increase can be phased in slowly, a few cents per month, perhaps, so that the price of gas doesn't jump overnight. When prices eventually do creep back up thanks to economic factors, hopefully the tax will hardly be noticed.

Consumers are already starting to buy the sort of gas-guzzling vehicles, including Hummers, that had been going out of style as gas prices rose; that's bad for both the environment and consumers, because gas prices are inevitably going to increase again. According to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, taxes last year, even before the current drop in prices, made up 12 percent of the cost of a gallon of gasoline, down from 28 percent in 2000. And compared to other developed countries, US gas taxes are pretty much a joke. While we're at it, an even better idea, as a recent report from the Urban Institute makes clear, would be indexing the gas tax to inflation, so this problem doesn't consistently arise. "The status quo simply isn't sustainable, from an infrastructure or environmental perspective," concludes Garofalo. "So raise the gas tax now; someday down the line, it will look like a brilliant move."

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