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Submission + - Respected US Swim Coach John Leonard Suggest China Using Genetic Manipulation (dailymail.co.uk) 4

Submitted by doston
doston writes: Top US swimming coach John Leonard, the executive director of the World Swimming Coaches Association, has branded Ye's performance as "unbelievable" and "disturbing" and her speed over the final 50-metres as "flat out impossible".

Leonard told The Guardian that the race brings back memories of Irish swimmer Michelle Smith's four medal win at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996; she was later given a four year ban after failing a drug test.

He added that because she is from China — which has been dogged by swimmers testing positive for performance enhancing drugs in recent years — adds even more suspicion.

He has even suggested that the Chinese could be using genetic manipulation to enhance performances.
Earth

Submission + - The US turns a blind eye to SILEX, a dangerous new enrichment technology (thebulletin.org)

Submitted by __aaqpaq9254
__aaqpaq9254 writes: Scott Kemp has a disturbing look at SILEX, a new technology that "happens to be well suited for making nuclear weapons." There are many disturbing aspects the this article, not least that the NRC, which is required to consider the critical question of proliferation, has so far punted when it comes to examining that question. "The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has refused to consider the proliferation risk in its decision to issue a license for the first commercial SILEX facility, despite a statutory obligation to do so. Only a few weeks remain for Congress to intervene."

Comment "Wiretap requests" (Score 5, Interesting) 64

That hardly means wiretaps in general. For all I know, they're just emboldened to the point of not bothering with red tape. Where I worked (ex telecom engineer), the feds weren't obliged to present any special documents. The services I managed had a simple URL and a simple login/password where the government could login and look at customer data at any time.
Toys

Submission + - Lego dart gun shoots pencils over 100 feet (blogspot.com) 1

Submitted by
DroidFreak
DroidFreak writes: "What do you do when Mylar balloons get stuck on a ceiling 20 feet out of reach? You build a Lego dart gun to get them down of course! This "weapon" has a frame made of Legos; fires darts made of pencils, tape, and Kleenex; and is powered by rubber bands. It can shoot over 100 feet angled and can punch through aluminum cans. Best of all, my blog post includes instructions on how to build this gun so you too can have the power to fell Mylar balloons 20 feet above your head!"
Your Rights Online

Submission + - UK communications law could be used to spy on physical mail (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The BBC reports that the UK's Draft Communications Bill includes a provision which could be used to force the Royal Mail and other mail carriers to retain data on all physical mail passing through their networks. The law could be used to force carriers to maintain a database of any data written on the outside of an envelope or package which could be accessed by government bodies at will.
Such data could include sender, recipient and type of mail (and, consequentially, the entire contents of a postcard). It would provide a physical analog of the recently proposed internet surveillance laws.
The Home Office claims that it has no current plans to enforce the law.
Network

Submission + - HTC EVO LTE signal woes confirmed (techhive.com)

Submitted by doston
doston writes: After experiencing lousy 3G connectivity with my own EVO LTE, Tech Hive has confirmed mobile network connection problems and reports widespread customer grumbling. Sprint's LTE phone, with no LTE network and unusable 3G, might just be the slowest smartphone in America.
Space

Submission + - Swedes Discover Spherical Object Embedded in Baltic Sea Floor (www.cbc.ca) 2

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Swedish sea scavengers revealed a curious discovery — a disc-shaped object, roughly 60 metres in diameter, and rising about 4 metres out of the seabed, with a 400-metre trail leading to its position.
A lack of detailed photographs has caused speculation that this may be nothing more than a hoax, or information campaign, but there is a promise of more details, from the crew, as they uncover their find with better equipment.

Submission + - Ask Slashdot: Best keyboard for both gaming and coding?

Submitted by thelehmanlip
thelehmanlip writes: I'm going to begin working from home, and hoping to standardize my keyboard and mouse setup. What is the best keyboard that's both good for extended typing as well as for gaming?
Biotech

Submission + - Monsanto may have to repay 10 years of GM soya royalties in Brazil (nature.com)

Submitted by scibri
scibri writes: Biotech giant Monsanto is one step closer to losing billions of dollars in revenues from its genetically-modified Roundup Ready soya beans, after the Brazilian Supreme Court ruled the company must repay royalties collected over the past decade.

Since GM crops were legalized in 2005, Monsanto has charged Brazilian farmers royalties of 2% on their sales of Roundup Ready soya beans. The company also tests Brazilian soya beans that are sold as non-GM — if they turn out to be Roundup Ready, the company charges the farmers 3%. Farmers challenged this as an an unjust tax on their business.

In April a regional court ruled against Monsanto, though that ruling has been put on hold pending an appeal. The Supreme Court, meanwhile has said that whatever the final ruling is, it will apply throughout the whole country.

Comment Re:Not that similar (Score 1) 259

by doston (#40331239) Attached to: Bonobos Join Chimps As Closest Human Relatives

As I understand it, a typical Bonobo makes the horniest human look like a monk. They fuck practically their entire waking lives. They have almost no sexual taboos -- a female won't have sex with her offspring, but that's about it. A human who wanders into their camps will be propositioned immediately and often..

I often wonder if the lack of knowledge about them (it's not so long since researchers stopped calling them "pygmy chimps" and started regarding them as a separate species) comes from sheer embarrassment.

Jane Goodall enjoys a good visit weekends.
Science

Submission + - Did Neandertals Paint Early Cave Art? (sciencemag.org)

Submitted by sciencehabit
sciencehabit writes: Dating experts working in Spain, using a technique relatively new to archaeology, have pushed dates for the earliest cave art back some 4000 years to at least 41,000 years ago, raising the possibility that the artists were Neandertals rather than modern humans. And a few researchers say that the study argues for the slow development of artistic skill over tens of thousands of year--not a swift aquisition of talent, as some had argued.

Comment Re:Employer could always be nice (Score 1) 380

by doston (#40327473) Attached to: Employees Admit They'd Walk Out With Stolen Data If Fired

It depends. I know of one company who was informed by their competition that a fired employee was trying to, uh, promote themselves by explaining what data he had available for them. The reason they did this was because otherwise they would risk HUGE settlement costs after wards. Just not worth the risk.

Thank you for a great example of an extenuating circumstance.

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