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Science

Atomic Weight Not So Constant 147

Posted by kdawson from the thulium-and-thalium dept.
DangerousBeauty writes "Yahoo has a Canadian Press story up about new changes to the periodic table of elements concerning the weights of specific elements — it seems that the weights fluctuate based on where they are found in nature. Quoting: '"People are probably comfortable with having a single value for the atomic weight, but that is not the reality for our natural world," says University of Calgary associate professor Michael Wieser.' He is is secretary of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry's Commission on Isotopic Abundances and Weights."

Comment Oh gods.... (Score -1, Troll) 473

by jamax (#34457470) Attached to: Medical Researcher Rediscovers Integration

Oh gods.... I'm not overly sentimental (I think), but I've almost cried over humanities' fate after reading the abstract..

This.. clown (it's the nicest epithet I can think of, since it imples at worst an improper attempt at joke) is called a researcher.. He or she comes daily to his/her work (I assume) to this Roosevelt Hospital Center, NY and probably even wears some sort of white labcoat (when not busy with composing doctorate about exciting new uses for those holes and buttons which exist on the front of his/her coat.. ("You just wait till I tell you what happens if you combine the two! You'll never guess! I'll call the process "Tais' button-hole pairing bond" and win a Nobel!")

Honestly, I can't understand how THIS could happen anywhere.. I'm just sad now...
Math

Medical Researcher Rediscovers Integration 473

Posted by timothy from the it's-all-mathy dept.
parallel_prankster writes "I find this paper very amusing. From the abstract: 'To develop a mathematical model for the determination of total areas under curves from various metabolic studies.' Hint! If you replace phrases like 'curves from metabolic studies' with just 'curves,' then you'll note that Dr. Tai rediscovered the rectangle method of approximating an integral. (Actually, Dr. Tai rediscovered the trapezoidal rule.). Apparently this is called 'Tai's Model.'"
Image

Smart Wallets React To Spending By Shrinking Screenshot-sm 98

Posted by samzenpus from the smaller-by-the-hour dept.
fangmcgee writes "These high-tech wallets are digitally programmed to react to your bank account levels by shrinking in size, refusing to open, or vibrating whenever a transaction is processed. From the article: 'The Proverbial Wallets come in three attractive styles to fit your spending needs: The Mother Bear has a constricting hinge that makes it harder to open the closer you approach your monthly budget, while the Bumblebee buzzes every time a transaction is processed. The Peacock inflates and deflates with the amount of cash in your account, which puts your assets on “display” for potential mates, according to the designers.'"
Security

Next Step For US Body Scanners Could Be Trains, Metro Systems 890

Posted by timothy from the how-to-radicalize-americans dept.
Hugh Pickens writes "The Hill reports that Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says terrorists will continue to look for US vulnerabilities, making tighter security standards necessary. '[Terrorists] are going to continue to probe the system and try to find a way through,' Napolitano said in an interview with Charlie Rose. 'I think the tighter we get on aviation, we have to also be thinking now about going on to mass transit or to trains or maritime.' Napolitano added she hoped the US could get to a place in the future where Americans would not have to be as guarded against terrorist attacks as they are and that she was actively promoting research into the psychology of how a terrorist becomes radicalized. 'The long-term [question] is, how do we get out of this having to have an ever-increasing security apparatus because of terrorists and a terrorist attack?' says Napolitano. 'I think having a better understanding of what causes someone to become a terrorist will be helpful.'"
The Internet

Submission + - Wikileaks Vows Release '7x' Bigger Than Iraq Logs (computerworld.com)

Submitted by CWmike
CWmike writes: Wikileaks has promised to release a load of information seven times bigger than the Iraq War Logs, which raised the Internet group's profile around the world and caused some nations to take notice of the issue of leaks of top-secret documents online. In a note on Twitter, Wikileaks said, 'Next release is 7x the size of the Iraq War Logs. Intense pressure over it for months,' and asked supporters to continue donating to the cause. A District Court in Stockholm last Thursday decided to detain Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, 'on probable cause suspected of rape, sexual molestation and unlawful coercion.' Wikileaks did not say what the new release of information would be about.
Privacy

Whitehat Hacker Moxie Marlinspike's Laptop, Cellphones Seized 484

Posted by timothy from the why-do-you-hate-america dept.
Orome1 writes "The well-known whitehat hacker and security researcher who goes by the handle Moxie Marlinspike has recently experienced firsthand the electronic device search that travelers are sometimes submitted to by border agents when entering the country. He was returning from the Dominican Republic by plane, and when he landed at JFK airport, he was greeted by two US Customs officials and taken to a detention room where they kept him for almost five hours, took his laptop and two cell phones and asked for the passwords needed to access the encrypted material on them."

Submission + - Sweden issues remand request in Assange rape case

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Swedish Director of Prosecution, Ms. Marianne Ny, has requested the District Court of Stockholm to detain Mr Assange in his absence. Says Ny: 'I request the District Court of Stockholm to detain Mr. Assange in his absence, suspected of rape, sexual molestation and unlawful coercion. The reason for my request is that we need to interrogate him. So far, we have not been able to meet with him to accomplish the interrogations.' The suspicions against Assange stem from an alleged rape which took place in August in Enköping in central Sweden, three cases of sexual molestation in Stockholm and Enköping, and one case of illegal coercion in Stockholm. If the court grants the request, it would allow authorities to issue an international arrest warrant for Assange.
Piracy

Submission + - StarCraft 2 Pirated 2.3 Million Times (softpedia.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: A report from TorrentFreak cites, amongst other statistics, the fact that the torrent file for the real time strategy Starcraft 2: The Wings of Liberty has been downloaded more than 2.3 million times since the game has been released in July of this year, leading to a total of 15.77 Petabytes of data downloaded.
Science

Submission + - CERN Physicists Trap Antimatter Atoms

Submitted by mernilio
mernilio writes: A research group at CERN, the European lab for particle physics in Geneva, has managed for the first time to confine atoms of the stuff. Fleeting antimatter atoms have been produced in the lab for years, but until now the ability to trap the elusive atoms for detailed study has been out of reach.
Government

Submission + - Man Records TSA Ejection After Refusing Body Scan (signonsandiego.com) 3

Submitted by bonch
bonch writes: A man refusing a full-body scan and 'groin check' was ejected from the San Diego International Airport by the TSA as he recorded the incident with a cell phone sitting on his luggage. John Tyner, who posted his account of events along with the video on his blog, refused to pass through a full-body scanner, citing privacy and health concerns. Tyner was escorted to a security area for a patdown but, after hearing a description of the procedure, told the agent, 'You touch my junk and I'm going to have you arrested.' This led to a series of encounters with supervisors as well as a visit from a local police officer. Tyner was told that he was not being detained against his will, but that if he left the area, he would be hit with a civil suit and a $10,000 fine. He walked out the airport anyway, posting his account two hours later. The new TSA procedures have generated criticism from both passengers and airline crew, and one activist has proposed a National Opt-Out Day.
Education

Which Language To Learn? 897

Posted by kdawson from the future-proofing-the-skillset dept.
LordStormes writes "I've been a Java/C++/PHP developer for about 6 years now. However, I'm seeing the jobs for these languages dry up, and Java in particular is worrisome with all the Oracle nonsense going on. I think it's time to pick up a new language or risk my skills fading into uselessness. I'm looking to do mostly Web-based back-end stuff. I've contemplated Perl, Python, Ruby, Erlang, Go, and several other languages, but I'll put it to you — what language makes the most sense now to get the jobs? I've deliberately omitted .NET — I have no desire to do the Microsoft languages."

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