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Submission + - Affluenza (independent.co.uk)

Submitted by Taco Cowboy
Taco Cowboy writes: A wealthy Texan teenager, 16-year-old Ethan Couch, who mowed down and killed four pedestrians while driving drunk has been sentenced to 10 years’ probation at a private rehab centre, rather than 20 years in jail as prosecutors had demanded

The reason ?

The judge believed that that teenager was "a victim of Affluenza"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affluenza

Dr G Dick Miller, the psychologist hired by the defense, testified that Couch, from Keller in Texas, had been raised in a household by indulgent parents who never established boundaries for his behaviour, giving him “freedoms no young person should have”

If you are richer than God, you can get away from anything, including murder

Submission + - Herschel space telescope shuts down (gizmag.com)

Submitted by cylonlover
cylonlover writes: All good things come to an end and the European Space Agency’s Herschel Space Observatory mission is no exception. After more than three years in orbit, the most powerful infrared telescope ever flown in space has ceased scientific operations after the last of the liquid helium used to supercool its instruments ran out.

Among its accomplishments, Herschel produced evidence that galaxies in the first billions of years of the universe contributed many more stars than previously thought, shone new light on the part played by dark matter and filaments in the formation of galaxies, suggested that supermassive black holes may affect star formation by removing gases from galaxies by means of radiation pressure. It also studied phenomenon such as the debris halo around the star Fomalhaut, which resembles our Solar System’s Kuiper Belt and may give clues to the formation of the planets.

Submission + - CERN celebrates 20 years of a free, open web

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Twenty years ago CERN published a statement that made the World Wide Web ("W3", or simply "the web") technology available on a royalty-free basis. By making the software required to run a web server freely available, along with a basic browser and a library of code, the web was allowed to flourish.

Submission + - German Ministry of Education throws away PCs for 190,000 € due to infection (google.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: German IT magazine Heise reports (original in German) that the Ministry of Education in Schwerin had a Conficker virus infection on 170 machines, that was dealt with by simply throwing them on the trash. Other German authorities have now decided that "the approach taken is not up to the principle of efficiency and economy" and that the 187,300 Euro invested in this radical form of virus removal were inappropriate. The ministry had earlier estimated the cost of cleaning their desktops and servers by more conventional means to 130,000 Euro.

Comment Re:So how do I pass these radioactive bacteria? (Score 1) 53

by AcMNPV (#43534291) Attached to: Radioactive Bacteria Attack Cancer
According to the article, this is one of the major concerns and was tested on non tumor cells in the mouse model. They showed that liver and spleen had elevated radiation levels for the first day but that dropped relativly fast and no radiation was detected after a week. They also checked the liver cells for radiation damage and couldn't find anything. Still, your concern is valid and cancer therapy induced tumors are just as bad as the tumors they are supposed to kill. Good luck with your treatment!

Submission + - British Co. Makes Petrol From Air (independent.co.uk)

Submitted by TDyl
TDyl writes: A small British company has produced the first "petrol from air" using a revolutionary technology that promises to solve the energy crisis as well as helping to curb global warming by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Air Fuel Synthesis in Stockton-on-Tees has produced five litres of petrol since August when it switched on a small refinery that manufactures gasoline from carbon dioxide and water vapour.

The company hopes that within two years it will build a larger, commercial-scale plant capable of producing a ton of petrol a day. It also plans to produce green aviation fuel to make airline travel more carbon-neutral.
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft Offers Advice on New IE Zero-Day (securityweek.com)

Submitted by wiredmikey
wiredmikey writes: In response to reports of a recently discovered Zero-Day vulnerability targeting versions of Internet Explorer 9 and earlier, Microsoft has confirmed the issue and has offered guidance to customers.

While a patch is developed, Microsoft says that using their EMET tool will mitigate the vulnerability. “Deploying EMET will help to prevent a malicious website from successfully exploiting the issue described in Security Advisory 2757760. EMET in action is unobtrusive and should not affect customers’ Web browsing experience,” Microsoft explained.

In addition, customers can set Internet and Intranet settings to high in order to block ActiveX and Active Scripting. Finally, customers also have the option to configure Internet Explorer to prompt before running Active Scripting or to disable Active Scripting in the Internet and local intranet security zones.

The advice to use EMET won’t work in some organizations due to compatibility issues. But if switching browsers is an option, it’s a wise alternative, and EMET does have its uses if there are no compatibility issues. So the general advice isn’t wrong, it’s just not one size fits all.
News

Submission + - Slashdot Gets Acquired as Part of $20 Million Deal (geek.net) 1

Submitted by wiredmikey
wiredmikey writes: Dice Holdings (Owner of Job sites including Dice.com) reported this morning that it has acquired Geeknet's online media business, including Slashdot and SourceForge.

"We are very pleased to find a new home for our media business, providing a platform for the sites and our media teams to thrive," said Ken Langone, Chairman of Geeknet. "With this transaction completed, we will now focus our full attention on growing ThinkGeek."

Dice Holdings acquired the business for $20 million in cash. In 2011, the online media properties generated $20 million in Revenues.

Submission + - Eve Online Players Rename Universe To Commemorate Dead Player (themittani.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Sean Smith, Known as Vile Rat in Eve Online was killed in an attack on the US Consulate In Benghazi. While most news agencies lead with the death of the US Ambassador in the same incident the Eve Online community has rallied around Vile Rat. In the game he was a Director and Diplomat for Goonswarm Alliance, and a former member of the Council For Stellar Management. Hundreds of outposts, Starbases and Spaceships are being renamed in rememberance of Vile Rat. Even enemies of goonswarm's current campaign are honoring the passing of this hugely popular player.
Science

Submission + - DNA Code Illuminates Rise of Brains (businessweek.com) 1

Submitted by
DevotedSkeptic
DevotedSkeptic writes: "DNA analysis of an extinct human ancestor that lived 80,000 years ago has pinpointed fundamental genes tied to the brain’s evolution, showing how genome testing is changing anthropology and archaeology along with medicine.

At least eight genes that rose to prominence in human DNA since the time of the ancient relatives, called Denisovans, affect nerve growth and language, an international team of researchers said today in the journal Science. The cognitive power conferred by these genes may have keyed the development of complex thinking skills, culture and civilization said Svante Paabo, a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany.

“This is perhaps in the long term, to me, the most fascinating part about this; what it will tell us in the future about what makes us special in the world,” he said yesterday on a conference call.

New DNA techniques are reshaping knowledge of human evolution just as quickly as they’re sparking the development of medical tests and treatments. Using a tiny amount of material from an ancient finger bone, scientists were able to analyze the ancient ancestor’s genes as closely as those of anyone who walked into a lab today, said David Reich, a Harvard Medical School genetics professor who contributed to the study.

Almost every cell in an organism holds a complete copy its genome, the chemical code for making proteins and tissues. The Denisovan genome analyzed in the study gives a broad visual picture of the individual it came from, holding genes that predict brown hair, brown eyes and dark skin in humans."
Space

Submission + - Nuclear Powered LEDs for Space Farming (forbes.com)

Submitted by
DevotedSkeptic
DevotedSkeptic writes: "The nearside of the Moon will never resemble your Granddad’s back forty, but agriculture remains the key to living and working off-world. All the mineral ore in the solar system can’t replace the fact that for extended periods on the Moon or Mars, future off-worlders will need bio-regenerative systems in order to prosper.

Here on earth, researchers still debate how best to make those possible, but nuclear-powered state of the art LED (Light-emitting Diode) technology is arguably what will drive photosynthesis so necessary to provide both food and oxygen for future lunar colonists.

Future long-term lunar residents will need to grow their food either in sub-lunar lava tubes or in greenhouses shielded with several meters of lunar surface regolith. With no atmosphere, the moon is regularly exposed to lethal doses of cosmic rays, solar coronal mass ejections and x-flares, not to mention micro-meteorites that would be enough to wreck anyone’s corn.

Although during the two weeks that make up the long lunar day astronauts might be able to funnel refracted sunlight into covered greenhouses or subsurface lava tunnels, they will be left without a light source during the long lunar night.

Current solar-powered battery storage technology isn’t adequate to sustain artificial light sources for two weeks at the time. Thus, the most practical solution is simply to use some sort of Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (RTG), not unlike the one powering the current Mars Science lab, to power the LEDs that will spur photosynthesis in lunar greenhouses.

Cary Mitchell, a plant biologist at Purdue University, says that as lunar light sources, LEDs would be cool, solid state and robust; lasting 50,000 hours at least, or some five times longer than conventional horticultural light sources. He also notes that that they could survive the journey to the lunar surface where they could then be strung inside inflatable lava tunnel greenhouses or in radiation-hardened, solid greenhouses on the surface.

On earth, Mitchell says it takes roughly 50 square meters of agriculture to provide both food and oxygen life to support one human. But, as he points out, who can say how productive plants are ultimately going to be on the moon, in gravity that is only one sixth that of earth?"
GNOME

Submission + - Torvalds pours scorn on De Icaza's desktop claims (itwire.com) 2

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Linux creator Linus Torvalds has poured scorn on claims made by the co-founder of the GNOME Desktop project, Miguel de Icaza, that he (Torvalds) was in any way to blame for the lack of development in Linux desktop initiatives.

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